Long Overdue

So, our trip to Tennessee seems like ages ago, what with all the stuff that's gone on since we've returned. But I'd be a bad blogger, and an even worse sister if I didn't at least share with you the pride of getting to watch Jessica graduate with university honors, Suma Cum Laude. Yep, there ain't no dummies in this family.

Way to go, Jess!






Of course, we did lots of other stuff while we were there:

We took the kids hiking in the woods... ok, so we went hiking in the woods and carried the kids, mostly.





We even dragged Nana to Chuck E. Cheese for an evening of bad pizza and mayhem


We built a bear... or two.


We visited with family, and generally just had a great and relaxing time.






I wish we could have stayed longer.

Easter, mostly in pictures

EDIT: For some reason Firefox is showing the pictures in their unedited size and orientation for me. They are perfect in Explorer, though. No idea how to fix it. Is it the same for you guys, too? If so, my apologies, but I ain't doing it over unless someone can tell me a quick and easy fix.

The easter bunny was very good to the munchkin this year. And before you roll your eyes at the Tony Stewart cupholder, it was a very specific request. My kid loves Home Depot.


Afterwards, we went to Granny and Daddy Dave's for egg hunting.




And some more easter goodies...



I remembered at about 8 o'clock the night before that I'd wanted to start a tradition of knit bunnies for J every easter, so I had to come up with something quick. Here's blinding yellow yarn meets quick pattern:

J took one look at it and told me "I like the blue one better." Referencing the one I made him last year. I had to agree.

And Dad showed off his hillbilly roots with his newest acquisition.



And I'll leave you with a dose of cuteness.


This one loves to be held on her back and a good tummy rub. The others, not so much. She'll be the first one to go with her sweet disposition.

That is all.

Christmas Recap

With the final hours of the year trickling by, I figured I had better try and squeeze in the Christmas recap. And holy crap! What in incredible Christmas we all had!

Of course, Santa and the family was more than generous with the gifting to the J-man. Between the Hot Wheels and the Planet Heroes and the Legos and the puzzles, my house is starting to look more like a Toys R Us research lab.

We did Christmas morning here at home, opening gifts from family out of state, and of course, reveling in the spoils of Santa. J was a little upset that Santa only nibbled at the humongous plate of cookies that he and Steven decorated together, but he got over it quickly as he dove into the goodies left under the tree.

He got all sorts of cool stuff, including this really neat Black and Decker drill and flashlight set with a battery pack that slides off-- Just like Dada's tools!

And here's the picture proving that he's way too familiar with the world of vet med:


Yes, he IS looking in the dog's ears with the flashlight. The picture I don't have to share with you is the one of him using the drill to "clean" the poor dog's ears. And sweet Kelli- she just stands there and takes it. She's perfectly content so long as someone's touching her.

After we opened all of our gifts at home, we packed ourselves in the car and headed over to my parent's house for round two where J was, once again, thoroughly spoiled. The whole time, I sat wondering where in the world all of these new toys were going to go! Some of the hits of the day (aside from the Planet Heroes, which he lusted after for months), were his Smart Cycle, and a giant flatbed Tonka truck complete with a battery operated bulldozer. The thing is about 3 feet long, and super cool.

He played so hard and for so long that around 5 pm, he actually fell asleep standing up. Yeah, I know, I thought that was only something done in cartoons, too. But sure enough, he did, standing right in the middle of the back porch, and when he did, he crashed, hitting his head on the table on the way down, and he slept until nearly 10.
Can you see the bump on his forehead?


The day was full of excellent goodies, and the kids were overjoyed and surprised by everything, but the biggest surprise of the day was mine. You see, when making my Christmas wish list this year, I included such useful things as a new set of headphones (Thanks Mom! They're great!), a new travel coffee mug to keep my car from having the aroma of week old spillage (thanks Jess. It's the best one I've ever used, right down to the clip that holds it to my purse handle!), a subscription to Interweave Knits (which I also got, thanks to Mom), and various other little stuff that I really needed and wanted, and never would have bought for myself. But at the end of the list, and more as a joke than anything else, I asked for a spinning wheel.

Yeah, I know, that's pretty steep, and more than I would ever want or expect anyone to spend, ever. I should have known that if it was on the list, and Dad had even a glimpse of it, it'd end up under the tree. But still, it took my breath away as the paper was torn from the box, revealing this:



Oh my goodness! It is the most lovely and wonderful thing ever, and I'm completely in love!

Of course, before I could play with it, I had to finish it and assemble it, and that my friends, is another post entirely.

You know, my SIL got one, too. She received hers almost a month ago, and how she managed to not spill it to me in all that time amazes me. She's a stronger woman than I!

I'll leave you now with just some of my favorite shots from the holiday.





Happy New Year everyone.

Random stuff from the past few weeks

In no particular order, here are some things I meant to blog about, but have neglected.

Have I showed you guys the stuff I got when Michele and I went to Orlando?

Well, here you go.


Two ounces of pretty roving to play with, two balls of Freedom Spirit, which I have no clue what to do with, but loved it and couldn't leave it behind. And the Green skein is Dream in Color Classy in "Happy Forest". This was the one purchase I had an intended knit for, and I think it's going to be the perfect yarn for it. Shhh... it's a Christmas gift for someone, so I couldn't show you progress pictures, even if I had them to show.

You see, before I could start working on anything else, I had committed myself to knitting a few chemo caps for my friend's Aunt. Now, we all know that I'm NOT a hat knitter. Not by a long shot. I don't know what it is about them, but they either turn out too small, too big, too floppy, circulation compromisingly tight, etc. I've never completed a hat that I'm happy with.

That said, chemo caps sounded like a nobel cause, and I was up for the challenge. Or, at least I thought I was. So I gave up all hopes of NaKniSweMo and tucked that yarn back in the cabinet along with the yarn for the Ballet Cami that Michele and I wanted to knit together, and I cast on for a cute little hat that I found at Kody May Knits. Check her out, she's got some really cute hats! I used Caron Simply Soft for it, in a solid and very bland color because my friend assures me that her aunt is a very plain person and wouldn't like anything too crazy.

It was a quick knit, but seemed awful short, so I added a pattern repeat to mine, and also lengthened the crochet at the brim to give it some extra length before gifting to said aunt.

The very next day, the hat was back in my possession because it was too short for her taste. Ugh! Nothing like getting a hat back when you don't like hats anyway. :)

My lazy solution was to add another few rounds of crochet to the bottom rather than ripping out the decreases at the top and picking up the pattern again. Overall, I suppose it works, but I'm most certainly not loving this hat at all. Could have something to do with the fact that I absolutely SUCK at crochet and so it looks sloppy and thrown together. But to make up for it, I cast on and knit a plain stockinette hat as well. Hopefully these will be good enough, and I can finally get on with my holiday knitting.


To be honest, I don't have very much of it to do. I'm only bestowing handknits on a couple of folks this year. It's just too much work and I have too much other stuff going on to try and make the handknit Christmas happen.

And just because they're cute, here are some pictures from Thanskgiving that I never shared.





And now, my friends, I'm off to earn a few bucks.

Happy Birthday, Honey

Today is Wil's birthday, and J and I have busied ourselves in the kitchen making him a white chocolate raspberry cheesecake as a surprise. I absolutely loathe cheesecake (yes, I do know I'm weird), so I'm sure he'll realize just how special he is. :)

We've also got a big pot of spaghetti sauce simmering on the stove for dinner. I wanted to make something fancy and gourmet to celebrate the occasion, but he's on call tonight, and there's no telling what time he'll get home. No sense trying to make something that needs timing.

I really wanted to be able to get him something nice as a gift this year, but financially, it's just not a possibility. For the past couple of years he's bemoaned the fact that we don't have a very complete tool set. Sure, we've got a hammer, some screwdrivers, even a pretty decent set of ratchets, but anything requiring more power than my hand can deliver requires a call to my sister, or a trip to the parents.

Now, it's not a big secret that I'm the handyman of the family. I do most of the repair work around here. Although, to his credit, he's gotten better at doing some things. For instance, a month or so ago, he broke his key off in the front door and had to replace the deadbolt, and even managed to do so without me here to stand over his shoulder.

So, he's feeling all manly now and wants tools. Since I know that I'll either get the wrong one, or spend too much, I made him go to Home Depot with me last night to pick out the set he wants. He'll have to wait until payday, but he'll be getting this:


Actually, the set we're getting him comes with a flashlight, too. We've decided that this is probably the best deal. Ryobi makes a decent product, and since they make a whole line of tools that use the same battery, it'll make adding on to the set in the future easier. I'll be quite excited to see just how handy hubby becomes.

Either way, it's what he wants, and I only wish I could get it today and surprise him. Oh well, poor planning leads to poor results, I guess. At least he's getting the cheesecake. :)

Today

Today J and I met Michele, her husband, and some of her co-workers at the college campus and participated in the Strides for a Cure 5k walk. Fortunately, my family has not been personally affected by breast cancer, and I've always jokingly sworn that it's one of the perks of having a less than spectacular rack, but it was humbling and amazing to see all the people out supporting the cause, many of them survivors, or walking in memory of loved ones. It gave me just the tiniest glimpse into what it must be for Erin and her family to walk in the Heart Walk in memory of their two children.

I hope to do it again next year, and maybe start my fund raising a bit earlier than the last minute, like this year.

The walk was invigorating, and the weather was gorgeous.

Afterwards, we all gathered at the Panera across the street from the college. Unfortunately, we weren't the only ones with this brilliant idea, and the staff was overwhelmed with all of us. But we managed to get a bagel and some coffee. After the throngs receeded a bit, we wrangled our way into a booth and Michele and I got a little bit of time to talk yarn and knitting. Thomas, bless his heart, is a patient husband. Thanks for letting us hang out a while and bore you. :) J did well, too. He was a stellar example of a well-behaved 3-year-old for most of the time. His worst habit was popping up over the back of the booth to oogle the folks behind us. Oh well, he's three, they can get over it.

After breakfast/lunch at Panera, J and I came home and started packing up all the stuff in his room. You see, he's not ready to let go of ANY of his toys. Not even the baby toys that he didn't even realize were tucked in the back of the closet. But, I did manage to convince him to place them lovingly in boxes (which I sneakliy sorted into 'go' and 'stay' boxes)to get them out of the way until his new bed comes.

Speaking of new beds... his new one is set to arrive tomorrow via Aunt Wendy's truck. Yay!!!

Obviously, that means that we gave up on the pirate bed idea, and went with the bunks. It'll be a stretch trying to fit a double bed into his little room, even with the paring down of toys, but it's the better option in the long run. Having the bigger bed gives him room to grow, where the pirate bed will be too "baby-ish" in just a year or two.

So, we've cleaned out toys, moved all his furniture, and disassembled his baby bed, tearfully. He's so ready for his new beds, but he's also having a hard time letting go of the familiar. Now, let's be fair, he's never really slept in this bed, so I'm not sure why he's so attached to it, other than the fact that it's always been there. But now that it's apart, he's doing better with it. I think that when the new ones arrive tomorrow he'll forget all about it. And he's super excited about getting to pick out his own sheets. At the moment he says he wants sheets with the planet earth on them. Wonder where I can find those?

Anyway, J wants me to fix popcorn and come "rewax" with him and watch a movie in bed. These are then things I'm going to miss. *sigh*

Growing up is hard.

Celebration week

Wow has it been a busy week full of celebrations around here!

First, Amanda's birthday, which we celebrated from afar. Then two days later, my other sister's birthday, then Friday, hubby and I celebrated our fifth wedding anniversary. That's a whole lot of stuff for just one week!

Of course, with everyone's busy schedules, none of these occasions were actually celebrated on their actual days, but last night we left munchkin with the parents and hubby and I had the night to ourselves.

It's funny how much one changes after they've had a child. At 8:30 we were driving around town at a loss for things to do. Not fitting in at the bar scene, and not feeling like hanging out with the angsty teen crowd at the coffee house, and not really feeling like driving too far away since it was supposed to rain and be nasty all night, we finally just ended up at the book store sipping coffee and eating desserts while browsing magazines and people watching. Just 4 years ago we'd have just been getting our night started at 8:30, and instead we were both overwhelmed with the desire to just go home and get into our pajamas. After the book store, that's exactly what we did. But still, it was nice to have that quiet time without the kiddo to just hang out together.

J also went bowling for the first time ever on Saturday. We took him before dropping him off at the parents. He had a great time, and it's something we'll definitely do again.

Also on Saturday afternoon we all went to the store so Dada could see the cute little pirate bedroom set that J wanted for his room. Let's face facts here: J's three. For his entire life we've co-slept, and it's been wonderful. Neither of us have been in a real hurry to move him to his own room, but it's time. What better way to make the transition fun for him than to let him pick out his new bedroom furniture? Here's a little picture of the set he wants:


Okay, so it's not furniture that he's going to take off to college with him or anything, but it's cute, and he loves it, and it'll do for the next couple of years.

Unfortunately, it was found at a closeout store, and by the time we got around to actually buying it, they were sold out. We had the guy call around to all the stores in the county, and there are none left. There's a chance they might get some more in on the truck this week, though, so we're holding our breath and crossing our fingers.

If not, my sister has offered to let us take Steven's bunk beds, which are actually very nice. Now, I'm not sure that I'm ready for J to be climbing on bunks, but really it's what he's been wanting and asking for even before he saw the pirate bedroom. And we could take the ladder off until he's a little more coordinated with the climbing and only allow him up there when we're there to supervise him. And really, how many deaths are reported every year from bunk bed falls? So, we'll see.

Today we had this enormous celebrate everything at once sort of feast with the sister, the nephew, and the parents. I think that we probably ordered one of everything on the menu. It was a ridiculous amount of food, and we all had a ball picking and munching from all the various dishes. We all got to giggling because it was almost barbaric. Good thing the restaurant wasn't crowded, we would have caused a scene!

Now we're home, J and Dada are napping, and some folks are supposed to be stopping by to take a look at J's old crib/toddler bed. It's in perfect shape since he's only occasionally slept in it, and I'll be glad to see it go to someone who could really use it, but at the same time, it's sort of hard to watch something that symbolic go. My little baby is getting all grown up.

For your birthday

I really did want to get you something. Something nice. Something you really wanted. Sure, it would have been a little late, since I don't get paid until Friday. But still, you would have liked it a lot.

Instead, for your birthday, I'll be getting my septic tank sucked so that I don't have to wade through years worth of sludge in my shower anymore.

Trust me: You would have liked the first gift better. But I'm really thankful for the second. :)

Oh, and one other thing... if ever you think you'd like to buy a house, please come spend a weekend with me.

In all seriousness, happy birthday little sister. You're hardly the sweet little baby you once were, and you're certainly not the wild child you used to be. You're not even the crazy teenager you were just a few short years ago. What you are is a beautiful woman with a bright future and a sweet little girl of your own. I love you. Always have, always will. I hope you enjoy your day.

Just another post

Wow, I'm still catching up on everything from before we left on vacation. It seems like things such as dishes and laundry are never-ending. But besides that, things are just about back to normal.

So, vacation was great fun. The best part for me was watching all the kids play together. I really do wish we were all a bit closer together. It's a shame that they only get together once a year or so.

We took advantage of the fact that we had all the kids in the same place and took them to get portraits made together. They turned out super-cute, and I can't wait until I actually have the prints in my hands.

Other highlights of the trip included the boys catching their first fish in Daddy Dave and Granny's lake, going for a ride on the tractor, and the little boat, catching butterflies in the front yard, and watching deer run across the golf course behind Mom's house.

Then there was the children's museum and the fair, and so many other great things...

There wasn't a whole lot of knitting time to be had, but I did finish up the first sleeve of my shrug, started the second, and managed to sneak in a lesson to my very eager, and quick to pick it up, little sister. We'll have the whole family knitting sooner or later. insert evil laughter

We got home late Thursday, and I had to be back at work Friday morning, so this is really my first chance to catch up with anything.

Let's see... what else?

Oh yeah, I'm finally a full-fledged ravelry addict, although I haven't been able to play with it nearly as much as I would like to. It's awesome, to say the least. I could easily get lost there for hours at a time.

I'm also excited about the fact that the Florida Fiber-In is this coming weekend. I don't have a penny in my yarn budget, but it sure will be fun to go and gawk at all the fibers and prove once and for all that there really are knitters in FL. Thankfully, I'll be in good company since Michele and her husband just bought their house. She and I can go and daydream together. Yay!

J-man has his speech pathologist appointment tomorrow at 8 a.m. Yeah, the time sucks since neither of us are morning people, but I'm looking forward to getting some answers to all these worrisome mommy questions I have. She asked me to bring along some examples of foods that he won't/can't eat, and the cups he drinks from. Well, the cups are easy enough, but the foods? Well, should I really be cooking up steaks and chicken and roast beef at 8 in the morning? Funny how I know what he will and won't eat when I'm looking at prepared food, but now that I'm forced to think about it, I can't think of very many examples other than meats and some breads.

Anyway, off to do the rest of the laundry and maybe do a few other things. Just thought I'd offer some sort of post since it's been so long.

Birthday hangover

Well, the birthday party went off with barely a hitch.

Ok, so there were plenty of hitches. But, the party went off, none the less, and it's over, and the munchkin is officially another year older.

Amazing to think that he's three. It boggles my mind, the fact that I even have a kid, much less, a THREE year old. Wow! And every day with him is a blessing and a miracle, and I love him more with each passing moment. Before J-man I never could have fathomed how much it is possible to love another being. I mean, sure, there's family, and you love them wholly, and then there's the spouse, and you love them wholly, but then there's a child, and it's a totally different kind of love. Because no matter how much you SAY that you love your family and your husband/wife/significant other unconditionally, it's really all a bunch of bullshit, isn't it? They are a part of you, sure. But they didn't come from you... didn't come through you... aren't so much you, and so much themselves that it amazes you and leaves you breathless all in the same moment. And that is what a child is... amazing love, moments of speechless adoration, the height of emotion day after day.
I never knew that joy could be this enormous.

And with that I'll leave you with a few pictures from the party.

And yes, for those of you with keen eyes, they DID misspell his name on the cake.

Adventures in Potty Training

For two days I had J-man wearing exclusively underwear. Sure, we had a trickle of an accident here and there, but for the most part he was well on his way to big boy land. Even though he's too big for it, he likes sitting on his little kiddy potty chair. I nearly have to crowbar it off his butt when he's done, but it's working, and I'm not complaining.

The only time he's worn a diaper is when I sneak one on him at night after he's fallen asleep. Let's face it- no one wants to get up at 3 am to change wet beds.

I'm so proud of him, after the long struggle we've had with the potty off and on. I guess it's one of those things where you finally give in and say "he'll do it when he's ready." Well, he's ready now, even excitedly asking for underwear instead of diapers, which he used to fuss about having to wear.

So, two days of near perfect success, and what happens? I have to go back to work. Yeah, you see where this is going, don't you?

Let me preface this with the fact that I really do love my mother-in-law, and I'm extremely appreciative of all she does for us and for J.

Ok, got the disclaimer out of the way. For those of you who don't know, my mother-in-law speaks and understands no English at all. I understand a little spanish and speak it even more poorly than I understand. We've always managed to get the important messages across with careful attention and lots of gesturing and an occasional phone call to hubby for translation.

So, when I showed up yesterday morning with a bag full of extra clothes and underwear, carrying a potty chair under my arm and declared "No diapers" and she nodded her head in agreement and commented on how cute the potty chair was, I thought we had an understanding. I then pointed to the clock, to each hour, and told her at each hour to remind him to go, all while pointing at the potty. She nodded and said "ok."

So, what did I find when I picked J up that evening? A kid having a fresh diaper put on!

Hold on for a second while I swallow my frustration.

Usually I'm not at all bothered, or at least I'm able to get over rather quickly, the things that she does that go against my grain. But this is potty training. What part of consistency does she not agree with? What part of "no diapers" is hard to understand? And how the heck am I going to EVER get him trained when he knows that when he goes over there he's going to get to do as he pleases.

When I got home I brought it up to hubby who, of course, defended his mother instead of just saying "I'll talk to her about it," or something supportive of my efforts. He and Mom think I'm pushing J too hard just because he had an accident. Umm... hello! No one goes from diapers all day to accident free overnight. He's going to have accidents, it's part of learning to go, isn't it?

Really, I have no clue how to do this, other than to hope that J will start insisting on underwear when he's there. Maybe if I just convince him enough that he doesn't need a diaper he'll start putting up a fight with his Abuela, too. Or is that wrong of me? I already know that hubby won't say a damn thing to his mother about it, no matter how much I bicker with him about it.

Aahh, the joys of communication.

I promise, soon I'll give you a post with something more substantial.

Happy 4th

Hope everyone is having a great 4th of July.

A brief rundown of our day for you:

I woke up early this morning, and being the good girl that I am, I made my coffee and set to work on some school work. I won't lie though; the idea of having 2 hours to knit on my mystery stole was incredibly hard to resist. Still, I'm already WAY behind on the school work, and I couldn't live with myself if I spent such valuable quite time on anything other than the dictation.

About an hour into it, J came padding down the hall sleepily and curled up in my lap for a little bit of cuddle time. He's got this new thing where he likes to have his picture taken. Of course, he couldn't have entered this phase while at Disney, or any other time where I might have liked to have taken a decent photo. Regardless, how can you resist?

This one turned out so cute, I might have to use it for everything.

After some good cuddling, we went and woke up Dada and went to get donuts for breakfast. Yeah, I know, you don't have to tell me how incredibly UNhealthy they are. But they're a special treat, and J really looks forward to them once a month or so. We all got dressed, or at least put on shoes with our jammies, and went to the local Dunkin' Donuts. Now, whoever is in charge of doin' the donuts totally screwed up this morning because by the time we got there at 9:30-ish, there were no donuts to be had. Ok, so they had SOME donuts, but they were the nasty maple, cream filled, rolled in coconut, topped with peanuts type. Not a single glazed or even just plain donut in the shop. And poor J... all he wanted was a "pink one with frinkles" and I couldn't make it happen for him. After giving an earful to the poor girl behind the counter about how a place with the word "Donut" in their title could possibly NOT have any donuts, we bought what we thought might possibly pass J's lips, and we sat and ate.

Now, here's the part where I get to eat the big old slice of humble pie. You see, I'm not so nice when I wake up in the morning. Most folks know not to mess with or interfere with my routine before 10 a.m., and I consider not having donuts at a donut shop meddling, so I was not so pleasant.

After getting J to eat half of his not pink or frinkly donut, I got him settled all into the car and just as we were pulling out, some lady yells "Ms! I think you left your purse inside!"

Sure enough, I had. The kind lady had been good enough to turn the found object in to the girl behind the counter, and I had to humbly, and very much looking like an idiot, go in and thank her (the girl I had just finished reaming about the no donut deal)profusely for saving my big green ugly bag for me. Gotta love mornings like that.

I came home and decided the best way to deal with my misplaced anger/annoyance would be to get out and do the yard. It needed doing in a big way, and I'd much rather do it myself than watch hubby do it while fighting back the urge to point out every blade he's missed.

The poor yard got the full wrath of my grumpiness and I emerged triumphant and with a yard nearly worthy of Southern Living's front page... or at least a little less Adam's Family-ish. I even have the blister on my thumb to prove it.

After a long shower, I was feeling human again, so we decided to go out and try again at having a good day.

Here's J all dressed up in his 4th of July garb.




He's so irresistible!

We somehow ended up at Best Buy. You see, I try to be a good wife, and electronics and cars are like hubby's yarn. Unfortunately, his passions are a little more expensive than mine, and so he never gets to indulge. For the nearly 8 years that we've been together the poor guy has dreamed of and saved for a new tv, only to have that money have to go to some other worthy cause like car repairs, or getting a house out of foreclosure (long story, and this post is long enough), or a month of unexpected bedrest during my pregnancy. He's quietly just stifled his little dream and given it up over and over.

Well, it was finally time for him to get his wish. We'd saved and saved, and tucked away here and there, and before one more thing came and took it away from him again, I finally convinced him to bite the bullet and just buy the damned thing.

Before:


And the glorious after!


This is not the permanent arrangement for those who may be wondering, but it works for now. Eventually we'll either wall-mount it, or we'll take the top off the existing entertainment center and use the base to hold the new beast. To be honest, I like it being up high enough to keep the little fingers away.

So hubby finally has the toy he's been lusting after for all these years. He's a happy man, and that makes me a happy wife.

Of course, the fourth wouldn't be complete without fireworks, which we did go to watch. But the weather was terrible for them, keeping the smoke low to the ground and obscuring the view of the show. Oh well. J was so exhausted he had no interest in them anyway.

Ok, so this monster post is drawing to a close. I am picking up an extra shift at work tomorrow and must wake up at an ungodly hour. But before bed, I think I'm going to go veg on the couch and ooh and aah over the 40" of HD LCD (I'll pretend I understand what all that means) goodness.

Just reflecting

Four years ago today this amazingly beautiful little boy was born into our family; My nephew. I still remember all of the anxious pacing and excited waiting for our phone call letting us know he had arrived, and that he and mom were doing ok.

It was love at first sight when the pictures started rolling in-- those blue eyes, those long fingers, those cheeks! He was absolutely perfect!

It's hard to believe that it's been 4 years since that day, even harder to believe that we've only been able to see him a handful of times. With 3000 miles separating us, I'm thankful every day for the internet where I can pretend that the gap isn't so wide through pictures and e-mailed updates. And I'm so thankful for the time that we do get to visit together.

He's a total flirt with the ladies-- a skill that will serve him well for years to come. :) Especially with those beautiful eyes of his! He's amazing-scary smart. Of course, one only needs to look at the parents to know where that came from. He's funny, imaginative, a defender of justice (or at least, a herder of Jonas), and an all around sweet and good boy.

He and J are the closest in age of all the cousins, and I wish they were able to grow up together and play together more. Maybe one day I can convice the husband an the in-laws to leave Florida, but until then, I hope he grows up knowing that his aunt and uncle waaay across the country love him and miss him and think of him all the time.

Happy Birthday to you, big boy! We love you very much!

Pictures forthcoming

It's been a wild and wonderful weekend, and I don't even know where to begin with it. Brother and nephew came to town for the weekend, and that alone is enough to make it great, but add into it a trip to the cape to watch the shuttle launch, and a trip to Disney, and it makes for a lot of excitement. I won't be surprised if J-man sleeps until noon today.

The nephew is an amazing kid, and I'm not just saying that because he's my nephew, either. He's insanely smart, witty, and a sweet big cousin to Jonas. Of course there have been the squabbles and a few bouts of crying (mostly on J's part), but for an almost 4 year old and an almost 3 year old, things couldn't be any better.

I haven't even really had a chance to go through the pictures on my digital to see if I've got any decent ones, but once I do, you know I'll have to share at least a few. Right now I'm still trying to recover from carrying J through much of Disney. He didn't like the stroller riding much, and his legs just couldn't keep up with us. Right now my lower back and legs feel like they're filled with lead jelly, if that makes any sense. But it was well worth it.

And with all the good going on, there always has to be some drama, and that part is being played by my car. When we got home from Disney in the wee hours of Sunday morning, we discovered that, along with all the mechanical problems that were already on our list of things to fix, the air conditioner had conked out. Figures... first week we've had temperatures in the mid- to high nineties. Now, I can drive around and ignore the "change oil" light for a while, and the brakes needed doing, and it needed a tuneup, and there's a whole list of other stuff that was being neglected, and I probably sound really spoiled, but I cannot drive around with J-man and no a/c. That's just cruel. And so, almost $1000 later, I'm still carless, but once I get it back, it should be virtually new. But talk about bad timing!

Anyway, just a fly-by sort of post just to confirm that I haven't abandoned the blog entirely.

Weekend Forecast

Busy, with a slight chance of chaos.

My brother and nephew are flying in tomorrow. I'm so excited to finally get to visit with them again. It's been more than a year since the last time we saw each other, and that visit was under less-than-desirable condiditons, so it'll to great to get to have some fun time together. And the kids are at an age where I think they'll really enjoy each other's company.

The reason for their visit is that they have tickets to the shuttle launch on Friday. Originally, I planned to work that day since I didn't have tickets myself, but Dad called me yesterday to let me know that there was one extra adult ticket, and that J-man gets in free since he's 2. Super cool! J's incredible stoked about getting to see the astronauts, and watch the shuttle launch. He ran around the house all evening saying things like "Roger" and "blast off!" and singing the Backyardigans "We're going to Mars" song.

Cute!

And I believe that Saturday plans are in the works for a trip to one of the theme parks.

But honestly, even if we were just sitting on the porch watching the kids run circles around us, it would be a great time.

In other news, the brand new gazebo lasted all of 4 days before toppling to it's death. We had a little bit of rain and wind from tropical storm/depression/whatever Barry over the weekend. Not enough that we felt it imperative to take the beast apart. I mean, we get worse rains and winds on any given day. But, sure enough, about 1:30 on Saturday afternoon, down it came, bending and twisiting every pole. Furthermore, with the very first drop of rain, some of the parts began rusting. What a piece of crap! I called the store we bought it from, and they told me that they wouldn't take it back, even though it was less than a week old, and that I should contact the manufacturer. Manufacturer wants over $200 to send some replacement parts, and so I'm going to have to do things the dirty way, it seems.

I refuse to be put out the amount of money we spent on that gazebo simply because it can't stand up to a 15 mph gust of wind. So, we'll go buy another one, take the needed parts, put the damaged parts into the new box, and return it that way. Yeah, it's dirty, but I don't feel like I'm being given any sort of feasible options. If the structure can't hold up to the elements (and by that, I don't mean hurricane force winds and torrential downpours) then it should not be labled for outdoor use.

Of course, with the new one, we will only place the canopy on it when it's actually in use. Sounds like a pain in the ass, doesn't it? Note to readers: When considering outdoor structures, choose one that is better designed than this thing. You see, the canopy has no vent in the top, which essentially turns it into a kite when the wind gets beneath it. Stake it however you want, a 10x10 kite is going to fly!

J just stumbled out of bed, so time to get the day started.

Still Here

Really, I am. I don't even have much of an excuse, aside from laziness, for not blogging as frequently. I guess I don't feel like I have a lot to talk about lately. We've been keeping busy with the day-to-day sort of stuff mostly, and nothing too incredible.

Last weekend was a whirlwind of activity,though, so we'll start there.

My grandmother and her brother and his wife came for a brief visit. I couldn't imagine driving over 1000 miles and only staying 48 hours! I had to work Saturday morning, but as soon as we locked up the doors at noon I was out of there! I was hoping to have enough time to go home, shower, and change out of my scrubs, but I didn't get that sort of luck. Fortunately, family loves you no matter how gross you look. :) And Saturdays aren't real filthy days, so I was relatively un-filthy.

We had a great visit with everyone and Dad and Bert made a fabulous dinner which included an entire beef tenderloin, mashed potatoes, beans and corn, and these absolutely to die for individual molten chocolate cakes. They were pure heaven and I know exactly what recipe I'll be going for the next time I have a craving.

Company left around 8 that night with the plan of meeting the next morning to do airboat rides and other touristy type stuff, and so we decided to tag along, too.

And in a weird and totally unlike him sort of moment, Jonas refused to come home with me.

"No Mama! I stay Granny's!"

Now, he does this occasionally, but the moment he sees that I'm not staying with him, he decides he wants to come home, afterall. So, I told him he could stay if he wanted, and I headed for the car. Well, he just stood on the porch and waved and said "Night-night Mama." So, I went home feeling very empty. I've only ever been without him when Wil was in the hospital. But, to be honest, I really did enjoy the quiet time. And he had a great time because Steven spent the night at Granny's, too. They had a regular sleep-over.

Next morning I rush back to the parent's house, we zip through a drive-through for an unhealthy and grease-laden breakfast that J-man loved so much he ate mine, too, and then it was off to the airboats!

I was concerned that J would be afraid of the really loud noise of the boat, but he seemed incredibly excited and eager to ride. And, might I add, quite adorable in his little lifevest?! Once we were on the boat I was holding my breath, knowing that any minute he was going to totally flip out and want off, but the noise didn't startle him at all. He loved wearing the protective headphones that they give you, too. The only thing that he hated was the 45 mph wind smacking him in the face. I got a good chuckle, only for a second, out of watching his cheeks flapping, before he ducked down in the seat, grabbed my hand, and pulled it over his eyes. But as soon as the boat stopped moving, he'd poke his head out and look around at what was going on. We got to see some gators up close and personal (almost too up close and personal). The ride was great, the day was perfect, and we all had a great redneckish time.

After returning I found a brochure that says this place does a 2 hour chartered eco-tour for groups of 4 to 6. I'll have to keep that in mind, as it sounds like a lot of fun, and would be an educational experience for Steven.

From the airboats we had some lunch, and then we stopped at the flea market where Dad bought the boys matching Camo t-shirts. It must be a redneck rite of passage or something-- airboat riding medal of honor?

We ended up back at the house for a bit, so J and I took a swim. I was surprised at how unafraid of the water he was. Lately it's been a struggle just to get him in the bath, so the pool was a real shocker. Of course, pools sound a lot more fun than hair washing.

Then, as if that wasn't enough, we all trekked over to the beach to watch the sun set. Although I'm not sure why, since we're on the east coast, and well, last time I checked, the sun set on the west. But regardless, it was great playtime for the boys and Granny. They built a sandcastle, and then experimented with adding a seaweed barrier as reinforcement to keep it from washing away. They watched a guy with a metal detector find a quarter about a foot below the surface, which thrilled J. And they practiced wave-chasing and crab-walking. Another huge surprise out of J. The last time we went to the beach he lasted all of 5 mintues because he's so manic about his hands being dirty. I guess that's one more phase he's outgrown.

And speaking of growing up... when we got back to the parent's house, Steven went to take his shower, and I tried to talk J into the hated bathtub. When he refused for the 100th time, Steven talked him into taking a shower "like a big boy" with him. So, into the shower he went. Steven taught him how to stand under the water and get wet, how to soap himself like a big boy, and how to rinse without getting soap in his eyes. Of course, they also took time to play battle of the space-men from the planet shower-drain. It was so precious watching Steven with J. He's so patient and good to him, and he couln't possibly be any better to him considering their age difference.

It was a long weekend, indeed, but a great one. And I realize that this post has been incredibly too long, but hey, it could be worse, I have so much more to tell you about. :) I'll save it for later and leave you with some pictures from over the weekend.

Day to day stuff

I don't really have a lot to blog about lately. Hubby is well, got clearance yesterday to back to work on regular duty. That's a relief since the paychecks have sucked lately and we've burned up all of our leave time.

Work is work for me. Nothing spectacular, nothing to complain about. I go, I do my job, I end my shift, I come home. I mean, it's exhausting, sometimes heart-wrenching, sometimes comical work, but it's good work. Besides, blogging about yorkies with explosive diarrhea and labs that eat their owner's underwear just doesn't appeal to a large audience, I don't think.

So, that leaves knitting, which there hasn't been any of since we got out of the hospita, execpt for some seaming and whatnot. I havne't even gone any further on the socks I was working on. I guess I burned myself out a little, if that's even possible. I did find a pattern that I want to knit, though. Just something simple, not too time consuming, and something useful with the scorching weather that we'll be enduring for the next 6 months. It's the Dream Swatch designed by Wendy Bernard. Really, such a simple little project, but it's pretty, practical, and perfect FL knitting. Acutally, there's not a single one of her patterns that I don't adore, but I think I'll start here, with something fairly mindless to work on. Maybe it'll ease me back into the addiction that is knitting.

In the world of MT training... my course registration expires on June 5th, and I'm nowhere near done. It's sort of a depressing subject for me because I've never NOT completed something, and I've never struggled with something that seems so easy as much as I have with this. It probably has more to do with me actually finding/making the time to sit here and type out reports. No self-discipline with the computer and the desk right in the middle of the living rooom. It doesnt' help to have a 2-year-old companion at all times. It doesn't make for good work time, for sure. And I could sit here and make excuses all day, but the fact is, I'm not going to finish it on time, I'm going to have to pay for an extension, and I'm completely bummed about the whole thing, and I'm starting to doubt whether or not it's something I'll be able to do from home and be efficient at.

What else? Hmmm... not a whole lot.

While Wil was in the hospital Dad ordered a new tail light for my car. Yeah, it's been busted for about 2 years now, and it's a wonder I haven't been ticketed yet. So, it arrived the other day, and Wil got the chance to prove his manliness by installing it for me.



But, once it was on, I noticed that the lens didn't seem to sit properly against the frame. Actually, the two weren't connected at all- as if the glue process was missed entirely. That's what happens when you order stuff from Ebay, I guess. So, off it came, and Dad, being the patient one, sat and glued the pieces together the way they were supposed to be. Then Wil got to feel extra manly by installing it for a second time!


Admire the creative use of a beer cap to hold the pieces apart while the glue set. Just another bit of backwoods ingenuity.

And voila! I have a new tail light. What a great Mother's Day gift! Perhaps you think I'm being sarcastic, but I mean that sincerely. If given a choice between flowers and chocolates and something practical and useful, I'm chosing the practical every time.

Speaking of Mother's Day.. mine started off with a scary thing happening. As we were getting dressed and ready to go, Jonas come running into our bedroom for some reason or another, he slipped and fell and conked his noggin against the doorframe so hard that it made his nose bleed. It was a terribly frightening experience, and I was afraid we'd be spending the day in the ER getting MRI's and whatnot. But after lying there feeling pathetic with an icepack on his head and doing his best to not fall asleep, he seemed fine, and so we carried on cautiously with our day. Apparently, his hard head is good for something.


By that afternoon it was apparent that he was just fine.


And as an afterthought, can I tell you how impressed I am with the VSmile system, simply for making a joystick that is capable of being configured for lefties? Such a little thing, but not one that any other game system has ever considered.