Busy as always!

WOW, it's been over a month since I have had the time to blog.  I guess I'll be checking my Facebook statuses in order to see what we've been up to so I can Blog about it.  LOL!!

I can manage to remember this last week on my own though!  Monday July 21st was Adam's last day of Kindergarten!!  He seemed to have a good day and I was able to leave work a little early in order to surprise him by picking him up after school.  He had a t-ball game that night and was eating an early dinner when he started complaining his throat hurt and doing the barking cough thing.  It occured to me that maybe he shouldn't go spend 2 hours running around outside, BUT since he would be missing the next 2 games I really wanted him to go .  So we went.  He was fine all evening, the same but no worse.  3 am was a whole different story.  I woke up to him standing next to the bed completely hoarse, high fever, and very bad stridor.  I knew right away he had croup and took him into the bathroom and turned the hot water on full blast.  About 10 minutes later he was complaining that his neck and jaw hurt, and that the steam was hurting his eyes.  Made the call and was told to bring him to the ER as soon as we could.  Heidi got a 3:30am wake up call to come sleep on the sofa with Noelle and we were off.  The Children's Hospital at Parker Adventist is only 10 minutes max from our house.  Thank you E-470!!  The gave him liquid steroid and a Rx for 1 more dose for the next night and sent us on our way.  Might be the shortest ER visit ever, and that's just fine.  We were home and I was back to sleep by 5 am.  He has recovered nicely and managed to keep it to himself.

I had a nice relaxing few days by myself this past weekend.  Both of the kids have been camping with their Daddy, cousins, and Mama and Papa for the last few days.  They will get home today and life will return to normal.  I am excited to hear how much fun they had, although I admit I really enjoyed a little downtime from all of them. 

I have the next week off work and am looking forward to some fun times:

Thursday - Adam has a t-ball game.  This is a make-up game from an earlier day that was cancelled to to the really wet fields.

Friday - We are planning on going to Water World with Stef and a friend and her kids.  This will be both kids' first time and I haven't been for pry 8 years.

Saturday - Ren Fest!!!  We look forward to this day every year.  We also have pics up in Superior with J's extended family in the afternoon.  Should be interesting trying to get good pics of sweaty, sunscreened, tired people.  LOL!

Sunday - Rockies game!  This is also a make-up deal.  A few Sundays ago we went to the game because it was CYBSA day at the Rockies (this is the league Adam plays for).  The kids were supposed to be doing a pre-game parade on the track but it was cancelled because the track was really wet and icky from all the rain.  We stayed and watched all 8 1/2 innings and had a good time, even though we were bundled as if we were at a football game.  The guys who walk around selling refreshments and snacks had to change their tactics a little.  They had hot chocolate and whipped cream on their trays!  LOL!  After the game we will head home for our block party.  It is tons of fun and I am really looking forward to it!

Monday - We will all be trying to sleep in after a very late night!  I am hoping for a calm, quiet, relaxing day at home.  Adam does have a t-ball game in the evening though.

I wish everyone a very happy Independence Day on Sunday!!

Like being a teenager again

That's how it feels to me.  Wednesday I made a mistake.  I was not trying to cause trouble or drama.  I saw someone at a neighbor's house who I knew shouldn't be there and because I knew the homeowner would want to know about it I mentioned it to her.  She did some checking into it and we learned it was not who I thought it was.  The wrongly accused's husband is VERY upset with me, and for good reason.  I know I made a mistake and I'm sorry.


I HATE confrontation and avoid it at all costs.  I'm that person who doesn't say much, just listens.  I'm a great listener and unless I know it will be well received I keep my opinions to myself.  It's the best way to avoid confrontation and drama.

After realizing my mistake I knew I needed to apologize and make it right with the husband.  Thursday afternoon I swallowed my pride and walked over to his house, children in tow, to make my apologies.  The wife opens the door and tells me he ran upstairs and doesn't want to talk to me.  I told her I came to apologize.  She in turn asked where her apology was.  WHAT?!  I really don't believe I owe her any apology and I did not go to talk to her.  I admit it got ugly from there.  I may be mild tempered and quiet, but I get really defensive, really fast.  She asked what my problem was and I told her, flat out.  It wasn't pretty.  I cussed.  In front of my children.

I don't swear very often.  And NEVER in front of my kids.  I feel bad for speaking to her how I did.

Without going into details I'll just say I have ZERO respect for this person.  The decisions she has made the last few months astound me and, honestly, hurt me inside. I am head over heels in love with her son, he is 1.  I wouldn't be who I am if I could stand back and watch a child get tossed around in drama and have it NOT break my heart.

I tried several times to walk away.  She kept getting in my face and not allowing me to talk.  As we walked away Noelle turned to me and asked, "Mommy, why is she being so mean to you?"  Even a 3 year old knew her behavior was wrong.  I told her this person was not very happy so she is mean to other people.

I still feel very bad about the situation, I really do want to make it right.

I will try again today.

One last time.

I will try to watch my words and not lose my temper if confronted by her again.

I WILL swallow my pride and be a better person.

And now, I DO owe her an apology.

Happy (Early) Mother's Day

Since I will be working all weekend, including Sunday, I let Adam give me everything he made me at school for Mothers Day already.  He painted a pot and planted a pretty flower in it at KE.  At Kindergarten he put together a "Mom's Survival Kit" and made a pinch bowl.  I feel so blessed to have such a great little boy in my life!!

Thank you Adam, I LOVE YOU!!

This week at art class...

After the not-so-great Ballet class Noelle participated attended in March I decided she needed a class that would allow me to be with her.  I think she is too old for a Mommy and me class, but was able to find an art class at our rec that is for 3-5 year olds and their chosen adult.  Noelle craves one-on-one attention so it is perfect for her to have 45 minutes of my time all to herself and away from home.  The class has been lots of fun!!  The first week I traced her body on a piece of paper and she colored and drew in all the details while we talked about what we have as parts of our body.  She is an amazing artist, especially for a 3 year old, and has an eye for detail that no 3 year old should have yet.

The second week we used clay to make a tic-tac-toe board and 10 tokens, 5 each of 2 separate designs.  Noelle loved working with the clay and getting her hands all dirty.  The teacher also let us use a rolling machine that flattened the board piece for us, great fun!

The third week, this week, we painted the tokens and board.  The teacher is great, she gave us only two colors at a time that would mix to make a third color (and still look pretty!).  Noelle chose a seashell and a swirly as her tokens so I made the board look like a pebbled walkway to go for a seashore theme.  I think it turned out really well and it was so much fun to make!

Dry -Erase Crayons

I have subscribed to the Crayola monthly newsletter for nearly 10 years now.(!!)  They have great ideas for crafts and always feature that month's holidays.  It is also my go-to site to print coloring pages for themes I do at work (Easter, Spring, winter, animals, etc...).The newsletter also features products by Crayola.  The last newsletter featured Dry-Erase Crayons!!  I hadn't heard of them before and was very excited because both my kids love to use dry-erase boards, but we (J and I) HATE the smell and stains on clothing caused by the traditional markers.  I went to Wal-mart right away and got some.  It even came with a cleaning mitt. 

The kids were so excited for a new way to color and draw! 

Adam drew a rocket ship.

Noelle is into fully coloring hers in with circles mostly.  I actually have to use a wet paper towel to clean her board since she pushes so hard when she draws.  LOL

(disclaimer-I have no clue what was up with either of the kid's hair this day!!  I will admit to putting the yellow shirt with the pink outfit though.)

March odd 'n' ends

Adam was the Big Cheese at school in mid March.  We were all excited that it was finally his turn.  The mouse had to do things with him and go where Adam did for the week.  We also filled in a poster with pics and words about Adam.

Riley, Adam, and the Big Cheese aka Mouse

I loved this shirt the instant I saw it.  I also got Audrey a pink Superman one!  Oh how I LOVE Old Navy!

Rockin' out on guitar!  You should see her on drums!

We had some really great weather near the end of March.  Audrey, Adam, Noelle, and I really took advantage of it.

Since I have not the slightest idea how to spell it, we'll just say he is enjoying a nice outdoor ball and stick game, LOL.

By far the coolest Happy Meal boxes EVER!!  We also took them to see this movie, it was great and I highly recommend it.

She really loves sitting with Bianca.

This is the tramp at Bianca's house.  The kids spent a weekend up north with Stef and I while I worked a couple overnights in a row.

For the love of...

PARKS!!  Noelle really enjoys being outside and will stay out all day if I let her.  When we finished up inside the Children's Museum she wanted to play at the park there.  When we got home we walked over to pick Adam up at school and she played at the park there too!

She is really great at swinging.  She likes to go high and fast and can pump her legs already.  We are still working on the leaning back part.

Tuckered out kid!  She climbed in my lap while I was working at the computer and fell asleep so I layed her on my bed figuring she would wake very soon.  She slept for a couple hours!!

Children's Museum 3/4/10

After reading a local mom's blog post about how much fun she and her kids had at the Children's Museum of Denver I decided we were due for a trip.

Her big catch!

I like to do the Facilitated ARTS a la Carte when we can.  Noelle made a really neat Flamingo at this one.

Venturing out 2/29/10

The neighboorhood boys really wanted to take the dogs, ours and Heidi's, to the field behind the house so that they could run and play.  I was okay with it as long as they caught Shadow if he ran off.  LOL

He actually didn't know what to think of the whole thing, he just sniffed around for a long time.  He did finally play with Tucker though.

Adam played Frisbee with the big kids.

A little mishap with a mud puddle!

Some of the Picadilly Posse kids (missing are Noelle, Kairi, and Keelie).

Gabe, Michael, Adam, Riley, and Codi

Zoo Playdate

Back in February Noelle and I went to the Denver Zoo with out friends Ali and Ethan.  We had a great time, as always!  These are my favorite pics from that trip!

Noelle loves finding perches to fet comfy in.

This Peacock hung out like this the whole time we ate lunch.  He felt trapped in a corner and took a good 15 plus minutes to make his way out of there.

Grumpy gorilla.  It took a couple minutes to get Noelle to go close to the glass, as soon as she did he came running at the glass towards her.  Poor kid, she didn't care though.