Lesson Learned

With all of my children and my husband being sick, I slacked in my duties to take care of myself. Well...lesson learned. I am now sicker than I was 2 weeks ago. Hooray for me. So, for all of you Mom's out there, make sure that you keep up on your health, because you are no dood to your family if you keep getting sick. So sick that you have no energy or desire to do anything. It's not fun.

On a more positive note, today I saw a hockey game on TV. I haven't watched a game yet this season. It was the Penguins V. The Capitals. IT WAS AWESOME! I was rooting for The Capitals. When I turned the game on, they were losing...Penguins 1: Caps 0.  The Caps ended up winning...and I freaked Tim out several times. He was laying on the couch with me enjoying the game and all of the sudden I would start whooping and cheering. LOL It was so funny to watch his reactions.

Superbowl was today. Not really interested. I watched it with my hubby...well, I can't say I watched it. I watched the commercials. LOL

Glad it's Sunday and Nathan goes back to school tomorrow. It will be nice to have a little break for a few hours. :)

Toofless Wonder! ;)

Nathan just came downstairs and says to me, "Mom! I have another wiggly tooth!" He is so excited. Currently he is missing his two front top teeth and missing one and a half teeth on the bottom front...soon to be 2 and a half. LOL I have no idea how he's gonna eat anything!

I will post a picture tomorrow.

Man they grow up so fast!

Sickie Sickie

Tim and Greg are so sick! They started getting stuffy on Monday night. By Tuesday, Tim was a total wreck. He coughed all day long. Coughed so much that he threw up several times throughout the day.

Today, Wednesday, Greg has taken a turn for the worse as well. Greg is so pitiful when he's really sick. He has absolutely no energy and he just lays around not talking or moving. It's just so so sad. :(

My poor boys are so sick. I hope they get better soon! :(

Turning A New Page?

Well, as most of you know, we have had a  very difficult with Nathan and his behavior at home, school and on the bus. So far, he has received two bus slips (one more and he gets kicked off for good). He keeps getting in trouble in the classroom for being defiant and argumentative.  He is always fighting with me...most days it's a struggle to get him to do anything.

Last week, on Wednesday his teacher called to let me know that she had one of  THE WORST days with him to date. He was just being a hellraiser all day. We talked for about 15 minutes and as soon as she hung up I just broke down. I had no idea what I was going to do. I was giving up. I decided I couldn't take it anymore.

After thinking about it I decided that it wasn't right for me to give up. He's only 7. The twins are just 3. I cannot give up yet. We have SO MUCH time still to go. But I don't know what to do anymore. Nothing works with this boy. I wanted to utilize the school's counselor, thinking that they could observe him at school and that might give them some insight into his behavior and personality...but they had to cut that position because they have lost funding. GREAT! So I found a psychiatrist in town through our insurance. Called her and got an appointment the very next day.

She met with James and I first, we went through the family tree. Talked about what problems or issues there are in siblings and other relatives, then got into what the reason was for our visit. She had us fill out an assessment form for Nathan and had me give one to his teacher as well. She had her first meeting with Nathan today after school. I think it went really well! She thinks that he could possibly benefit from being put on Strattera. She is going to speak with the pediatrician and get back to me.

Nathan has another appointment next week on Tuesday after school again. I hope she can get this little boy to open up and tell us what his thoughts and feelings are. I just want him to have the best chances in life and to achieve everything he can! I love him so very much, but something has got to change. I don't want him to continue to struggle in school...and I do NOT want his  behavior to rub off on the two younger ones any more than it already has.

I want to be a good Mom. My kids deserve that. They are such good boys, I just can't get them to listen to me. I'm hoping that if I wasn't always struggling with Nathan, I would have more patience to work with all of them to teach them the rights and wrongs of the world.

I just want to be a good Mom.

I love my boys. <3

Sickie Sickie!

We have had a run of a 24-hour stomach bug going through our house. Nathan came home from school on Tuesday and he seemed perfectly fine. We did his homework and he was playing with his brothers. All of the sudden he said, my stomach hurts. Unfortunately, he complains about his stomach hurting quite often, so I didn't really think anything of it. Then all of the sudden, he starts throwing up. I felt so bad for him. I gave him his puke bowl and told him to go lay down in his room and relax. He got sick a few more times...of course all through this he keeps asking me to let him eat! I sent him to bed early...having a feeling that it was going to be a long night for him (and me).
Later that night Tim started crying and he started getting sick too! Poor little boy, he fights it so much and wouldn't let me or James hold him while he was sick. Tim stopped being sick around 1am and finally got to a point that he could go to sleep. He got sick again the next day after eating his lunch. I was very careful with him for the rest of day, only letting him stay by my side in case he got sick again.
Greg showed no signs of getting sick. I was feeling so lucky that only 2 of the boys were affected by the bug. OH I AM SO NAIVE! I had made plans with my Dad yesterday to go to their house this weekend to visit...We were on our way to Walmart to get the oil changed in the Van and to get all of the fluids checked and to buy some Deer Whistles. We get almost to the store and Greg said, My tummy hurts! But he never said anything more about it, so I thought it had passed. Then we pulled into the parking lot and he just let it rip. Stupid me, I made fish for lunch...let me tell you, that is a HORRIBLE smell. Once we got home and got him cleaned up, scrubbed the car seat put the cover in the washer. He got sick one more time after that last night.
I'm not looking foward to a fun day today. I have a feeling that Greg is going to be sick a few more times.

Ahh, illness. Seems we can't get away from them around here.

Game Time!

Santa gave the boys Hungry Hippos and Elefun for Christmas this year. They have been having so very much fun playing. Gregory is always saying that he wants to play Hippos and there is one for Timmy and one for Nathan and one for Me and one for Mommy! We all have Hippos and we can all go chomp chomp chomp and eat all the marbles all up! He is so excited! I love watching their excitement at all of the new things that they get to do.

To experience the world through their eyes must be such an experience. I would love to live a day in their little minds just to see how they think. I love that right now they think that everyone is their friend and a hug and a kiss can make ANYTHING better! I wish that the world could really be like that. I would love for a hug to make the world right again.

Ah, the joy of children.

I Have To Read The Books Again!

James and I are sitting here watching the latest Harry Potter movie and he is so frustrated not being able to remember what the heck happened in this book. He keeps asking me about the chain of events of the books. Now he's upset that he has to read the books over again. Such a hard life. LOL

Keepin' Up.

I am going to try to do better at keeping up with my blog. I really have been slacking when it comes to writing updates. It's been a year since my last blog entry! How horrible is that?! So, here's to hoping that I can keep up with the blog to keep people updated on our happenings up here.

Ten Down...40 To Go!

10 years ago today, I married my wonderful husband, James. I am sitting here thinking about how much our lives have changed in the last 10 years. We have 3 amazing boys that I love dearly. We have started a new chapter and moved to a small town in the Idaho Panhandle. I love James with all of my heart. He puts up with so much from me and he is great for doing it. Sure, life could be easier. But then, how would that be interesting? :)

I love you, James. Thank you for accepting me, even with all of my faults and shortcomings. I am making a personal resolution to try to become a better person, mother, wife and friend. It's going to be hard, but I hope that I can do it.

Here's to the next 10 years. May they be full of adventures and love to share.

I love Meeses to Pieces!!

So yesterday James was coming home from Urgent Care and he called me and said there is a moose in our driveway. Nathan and I were being lazy and still in our pj's so I ran, found a pair of flip flops picked Nathan up and ran outside so we could see the moose. There he was, the cutest little baby moose. He was all alone (as far as we could tell) eating some pine needles off of the low-hanging branches from the tree.

It has been such a neat experience living here. Truthfully, I do not mind the snow at all. I really am actually enjoying it quite a bit. It's a nice change of pace. I don't go out much, it's so time consuming to get the kids all bundled up to go out, and it is nearly impossible to push the stroller or a shopping cart in the snow...

Anyway, here are some pictures of the adorable baby moose. :)
Enjoy! :)

Camping!!

We just had our first camping trip since the twins were born. It was so much fun!! I really hope that we can start going more often. Gregory and Timothy had so much fun!! I have never seen them so dirty before. They dug in the dirt, ate some dirt, played with their big brother...so much fun so little time. Nathan, of course, had a great time. He loves to go camping!

We didn't know how it was going to work out in the pop-up with the twins, so I borrowed a tent from my friend, Michelle. We ended up sleeping in the trailer one of the 3 nights we were up there...it worked out great, which is fantastic news!!

We are going to try to go camping over Labor Day weekend with Teresa and Allen. Hopefully James will be able to get the time off of work!

Not the greatest birthday gift!

Well, the day of my party at Karin's house, our air conditioner decided to die! It was so hot. We ended up sleeping at Karin's house on Saturday night after the party, then on Sunday night, we slept in my parents' RV in their backyard. It was defenitely tight quarters, but much cooler than our house.

Luckily it was only a switch in the A/C unit that went out, but it was still ALOT more money than I wanted to spend!

Nathan buckling up, even though we aren't going anywhere!

Gregory and Daddy hangin' out in the RV.

30th Birthday

Well, my 30th birthday has come and gone. The girls at work were completely awesome!! They are great friends. They gave me the cutest little digital camera so I can always carry one around with me to take pictures of my adorable children...and they also gave me my favorite perfume of the moment...USHER! It smells so good! :) We wore vintage T-shirts to work for my day, which was alot of fun. That weekend, Karin offered up her house and we had a game party! We were going to play BINGO, but everyone is broke. Playin' games was so much fun! I have a fantastic boss! :)

Thank you to everyone for making my day so special. It was fabulous! :)

Laura, Machelle and I

Hangin' out!

Lenny, Chris, Lisa and Tara groovin' on Rock Band.

Kim and I playin' guitar hero and Nathan playin the PSP.

Karin, Machelle, Jim and Lenny jammin'!!

We all wore vintage T-shirts at work!

4th of July Celebration

We didn't really have any plans for the 4th. Marcella invited us to come watch Catalina perform at MCC before the fireworks. After much debate, we decided to drive by to see if we could watch from the parking lot. Well we ended up going in, and James and I were glad that we did. It wasn't too hot, which was nice. Marcella and her family are all very nice. Nathan of course had a blast playing with Alejandra and Camillo.
Catalina is an AMAZING gymnast. I had seen her do a few things at the daycare, but I had no idea how talented she is. I was blown away by her performance. I have always loved gymnastics, but never had the talent or skill to go anywhere with it.
The fireworks show was so much fun. Timothy just laid on my chest staring at the sky. I don't know if he was scared or just in awe. Gregory watched the show with Daddy, and he was just awe-struck for the first half, then kinda lost interest at the end.
We were totally unprepared to be there as long as we were. We had no blankets, food, chairs, camera...nothing. But we had a really good time, and we will probably go back next year...hopefully with the appropriate supplies.
:)

Kisses and Hugs

We were shopping at Costco on Saturday and the twins started lovin' on each other. Pretty much the entire time we were wandering the aisles of Costco, they were hugging, kissing and lounging on each other. It really was the cutest thing I have seen them do so far. They both have just learned how to kiss with their mouths closed, so I guess they decided that they needed to perfect it. :)


















I love this stage they are in now. They love to give hugs and kisses, both to each other and to everyone else. They are starting to say a few words here and there, it's fun to interact with them.

Good Times Go So Quickly

My Dad, Stepmom, Sisters and Brother just visited last week. It's been over a year since I have seen them last. In the picture above from left to right is Cassandra, Layton, Nathan and Kayla. The kids got along so well. Diane bought them each a Nerf Gun and they spent hours running around chasing each other.


We didn't really do anything touristy while they were here. They found this huge house they rented for the week. We pretty much spent a majority of our time at the house because it had a huge yard with a pool so it's built in entertainment for the kids. :) We had a family BBQ Thursday night, and another family lunch at Sweet Tomatoes on Sunday.


I forget how much I miss my family until I see them again. It is so hard to see them leave and I wish we had more time to spend together. Maybe someday we will be able to move away from this horrible, horrible desert, and we can move closer to them.

We love you guys and we miss you so much already! Next year we are coming up there. :)

The Many Faces of James

Those of you that know my husband, know how

he loves to "pose" for the camera. These were

some random shots that I took the other day

while he was doing his thang. :)

Who needs regular clothes anyway?

Nathan has learned that staying in your jammies all day on the weekend can be a very fulfilling day! Most Saturdays he doesn't get changed all day. He just plays around the house in his jammies or his underwear. When I ask him if he is going to get dressed today, he asks if we are going anywhere, when I tell him no, then he says he doesn't wanna get dressed. When he wants to play outside I tell him he has to get dressed, and of course, he changes his mind and just stays inside.

WHAT A LAZY BOY!! :)

Who is that Masked Man?!

Gregory got ahold of one of Nathan's swim masks and tried for about 20 minutes to put it on. He finally got so frustrated he brought it over to me, crying so that I could put it on for him. He walked around the house for about a half hour wearing it until it got so foggy he couldn't see anymore and kept walking into furniture.

Mini-Pool

James and I bought a small pool for the patio. The twins love it! Every day when we get home, they both try to climb inside, even though there is no water in it. Timothy cries every time he has to get out...just like he does in the bathtub.

On another positive note, my friend Jamie is going to attempt to teach Nathan how to swim. He used to teach for the city and I have convinced him that he needs to teach Nathan. Tonight I will be going out to buy the necessary supplies and hopefully Nathan will get over his fear of water and learn how to swim very quickly. :) I am so excited!