Registered

A dear friend of mine from my beloved forum I have belonged to for 4 yrs (and found 50 of the best friends anyone could ever have) is going thru a crisis. Not just any crisis, but it involves her beautiful 4 yr old daughter. Suzy has been in and out of the hospital with her little girl, mostly in since the week of Thanksgiving. In addition she and her husband have a 3 yr old sone to take care of. Their daughter was originally thought to possibly have and was tested for leukemia. After a long battery of tests, it is Severe Aplastic Anemia, which is not that far off from all the symptoms and treatments of leukemia when you research it. Aside from the long hospital stays so far, the tests, needles, IV's and nasty medicines both orally and intravenously, and fevers, this child has to be so careful not to contract anything else on top of it since her immune system is so low. She has countless blood tests and platelet transfusions and the heartbreaking list goes on and on.

This is every mother's worst nightmare, all of a sudden your seemingly healthy child has a potentially life threatening disease. As mom of Lucas, also 4, this horrifies me and my heart breaks for these parents as I squeeze my son tight and pray each night for health for this little girl and also to keep my son healthy, myself, everyone, you just never know.

It is looking more and more like she will need a bone marrow transfusion, since the meds are currently not doing what they hoped it would. None of their family, including Suzy, her husband and their son are matches for her. And so I realized it had never occurred to me to become a bone marrow donor. I have donated blood, albeit sort of unsuccessfully, I am registered as an organ donor, but bone marrow never crossed my mind.

I registered today and am waiting for my kit to get a cheek swab to send to see if I am someone they would like on the donor list. Larry asked me if donating bone marrow would be painful. I answered "So what if it is?' What if I could save someone's life, or a life of someone's baby? I can certainly handle a tender spot form the needle for a few days if thats what it meant. I would hope someone would do the same for my son. I am sure I will not be a match for this little one, and I may never match anyone in need in my lifetime, but even if I were the only person in the country who could be a match to just one person, wouldn't that be worth it? I do believe it would be. Please consider it for yourself as well. What if this were your child?

A Wonderful Christmas

As always! Our house once again looks like Toys R Us exploded into it, and I don't think there is a boys toy left in his age range that Lucas does NOT have, but it was all worth it.

He was so excited and happy and loved all his presents, randomly telling us "merry Christmas and I love you" as he was opening gifts in the morning.

But we are mostly blessed to have wonderful family to spend it with. So glad Faith and the girls could be a part of it this year, but we missed Joe. Larry and I got wonderful gifts as well.

Larry is off this week so he gets the brunt of putting our house back together, especially since we decided to make our upstairs the play/family room and moved out bedroom to downstairs. its a lot of work but shaping up nicely and we are excited about it.

We look forward to seeing Liv and Noah this week, going to Noon years Eve at the Zoo and taking Lucas to see the Chipmunks on Fri. He really cannot wait to see that movie, but mostly he is enjoying all his nice new toys.

and of course, as soon as I can clear a path to my computer, there will be pictures. Soon, I hope : )

Holiday Singalong

The video is in my Photobucket account under new video, the pics are in under new pics. I have a few more video to upload, but I ran out of time, enjoy the ones that are up : )

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Busy as usual

Last week we took all three kids to see Santa. It was sweet and cute, as previously mentioned. Now, the pics to prove it.

Sat we took Lucas to Tower City to see the lights there and in Public Square. He had a blast, the decorations were not nearly as extravagant as last year, but he didn't remember or care. We planned to eat at the Hard Rock Cafe, but it was closed for a Private event. So we had to eat in the Food Court-on a Saturday-at Christmastime-on a Saturday. That was CRAZY, but once we ate and got thru that mess, we were fine : )

Lucas's Holiday Singalong yesterday was CUTE, too cute for words, video and pics SOON, I promise, hopefully tomorrow. he did more participating than at the Stomp musical, but still pretty much sttod there with a blank look most of the time. All the girls were belting out the songs, dancing and having a good time, and the boys looked like they were being tortured. it was awesome.

Wonderful day off

Any day off work is a good day, but yesterday i had LUCAS back! The Lucas who does not whine and fall apart at every little thing, who does not argue about every little thing and listens 9 times out of 10. The Lucas I have not seen the last 2-3 weeks! it was wonderful, from start to finish.

I told gramma-gramma she needed to sleep over more often if thats the effect it has. She slept over the night before last cause her power was out. oh how that thrilled Lucas, he "Loves a Sleepover"!

We went to the mall, Faith and the girls joined us, the kids got pics with Santa, and rode the train, grandma and I and Lucas continued on to shop, take Lucas to school, I got to a few more stores, picked Lucas up, got dinner ready and all was calm before Bones came on. Also in the process of finishing up christmas cards. They are photo cards this year, too cute is all I can say, didn't have enough initially, had to order more, now I need more stamps LOL Not organized at all this year, but its coming along. last couple of Christmas presents will be bought this weekend. Yay!

Lucas and Michaela did no fighting at the mall, they did not act fools together and were very cute holding hands as Lucas showed Michaela how to do the santa thing. And they were all giggles thru the train ride and lunch. And those girlies looked SO precious in their red outfits. Seriously, we would be bankrupt if we had had a girl

Christmas is in full effect at our house

We got the tree up this weekend. Lucas enjoyed the ornaments again, and I did not have to do nearly as much fixing as I did last year, when he would put 15 ornaments on one tree branch : )

I made the mistake of telling Lucas Fri evening that I looked out the window and saw Santa watching him, along with the whole thing on how kids cannot see him, only adults, he is magical blah blah, to use when he was misbehaving. Well, good lord, he is obsessed and wants us to look out the window every two seconds to tell him if Santa is out there or not. To top it all off, the threat only works for about 3 seconds when he is acting the fool. Good job mommy. Now he is still whining AND annoying me to go look out the window constantly and then whining some more if I refuse LOL. Not one of my better ideas, but what can you do.

I am almost done Christmas shopping. Only a couple more things to get and ideas in mind for those. Yay! I am trying hard not to let Christmas be discouraging this year, esp with the hard year its been money wise. We really cut back this year and I am making myself enjoy the season. Except for the cold weather, not loving it but it comes with the territory.

looking SO forward to Lucas's Holiday Singalong next Tues at school. That ought to b e just as amusing as the STOMP performance LOL

One more Xmas idea for the boy

if anyone else needed something or was still at a loss, the movie G-Force is coming out Dec 15, we saw it at the theater and liked it a lot and I know he will want it. Just keeping everyone posted, that boy is spoiled beyond belief

In other news

Lucas officially told me he hated me the other day. Why? it was time to go to bed. I guess I am an official parent now, isn't hating your parents some rite of passage? Yay me. He later apologized and assured me he loved me and did not mean what he said earlier. Love it. I am glad I don't take those things personally.

Lucas has had a rough couple weeks, resisiting bedtime, arguing and whining a bit more than usual. he is still dealing with an intermittent runny or stuffy nose, slight cough every so often and now has yet another cold sore on his inner lip. So I know that gets him down a bit, he seems fine most of the time, no fever, not much else we can do at the moment. He and Michaela have apparantly become very familiar and comfortable with the babysitting situation and the two of them are very much still going at it constantly . That is stressful for both kids, my sister and myself. They are both kids who are used to not having to so closely share their things and family members and it is just something they need to get over. I hope sooner rather than later. I feel bad for Faith for having to deal with it and it gets old and tiring fast. lets hope the holidays and New Year means the cousins will figure it out and get along. Kids are fun.

My friend Janice passed away yesterday. We knew it was coming and honestly I was surprised she made it thru Thanksgiving. It doesn't make it any easier though, but I am so glad she is not in pain anymore, I don't even know how she stood it. i knew I would not be able to go to the memorial service and that she did not expect me to, but it is on Sunday in NY and I am feeling very sad that I cannot be there. I feel like I should be. She considered me family and she had very little family. I would love to see Angelina and the boys, but its just too soon for me to even think about rearranging anything at this point. I will get thru it. I just like closure.

Bass Pro Shop

Larry, since becoming extremely interested the last year with fishing as a hobby, has also become very enthralled with Bass Pro Shops. I find myself liking them too, I have only been to two, but they are huge, and have lots of things to offer and look at. So when we got the flyer a few weeks ago that they were doing a Santa Wonderland there with free games, activities and crafts and pics with Santa for the kids, we planned a day trip to our nearest one, in Rossford, OH. Lucas and Larry and I had a really nice time, having lunch, ice cream, and letting Lucas take part in the slot car racing, RC cars, shooting of cool nerf and electronic guns, and he got to tell Santa what he wanted for Christmas, as well as make his own Santa Bobber ornament he can hang on the tree next weekend when we put it up. Way too cute. Larry also got the lights up on the house last weekend, tree will be next weekend, and is proud of this year's addittion of lighted garland around the front windows. I

t looks cute, as it does every year, like a gingerbread house

Funny boy

Recently Lucas told Grandma Jane he wanted a 'brake' for Christmas, you know, the kind you use to get the leaves in the backyard hahahaha, the kid wants a RAKE but he calls it a BRAKE

And to go along with the Brake, he loves the 'Breeze Blower' that blows the leaves. Too cute

You know he is truly his mother's child when he got upset that Larry would be driving the van one day while we were all going somewhere. Why? he does not like his daddy's driving, he doesn't go fast enough. Love that kid lol.

And you can tell Michaela has been spending a lot of time with Lucas when she exclaimed at the mall a couple weeks ago " Oh Holy GOD" yep, thats Lucas coming out right there. : ) In her tiny little girl voice, it was hilarious.

Lucas got his first Progress Report from preschool yesterday. He is doing well, and thats awesome. he needs a little more help with holding his pencils/crayons correctly, but that was the only area he needs some help on, aside form sometimes forgetting to use his inside voice. What inside voice I say? he only has one volume, LOUD : )

Other new stuff going on

A couple weeks ago I took Lucas BACK to the DR to address his allergy issues, that usually got pushed to the back burner due to his congestion turning into sinus infection after sinus infection.

After weeks of being congested, the poor kid, the dr said without allergy testing, which would be the next step, that Lucas is probably allergiv to dust mites, which makes sense, it is the most common household allergen. he suggested vaccuming under beds each week, getting dust mite covers for mattresses and pillows. Lucas sleeps with us, still, and we got him the pillow covers for his pillows, but we are waiting to see if we get ours for Christmas. They need to be ordered online for King sizes, as noone carries them in the stores it seems, but thought it might make good present ideas.

Lucas is now on veramyst nasal spray, so far so good, it seems to be working, and the dr was kind enough to show me where to get an online coupon and the script was free, better yet! So thats good.

Speaking of bedding and vaccuums, Larry got me my Christmas presents yesterday, cause he wanted me to pick them out. I got a lovely new bed set (ours was nasty and old and full of dust mites undoubtedly) and its lovely, but the best presetn EVER for an OCD like me

I got a DYSON VACCUUM> Oh I have wanted one forever and a day, I look at them longingly in every store when I pass one. They are beautiful. The only vaccuum ceritifed by the Allergy and Asthma Association as well as fabulous, I have been jealous of every person I know who owns one. Now I have one. I advised Larry and Lucas this was not 'the vaccuum', but he is 'The Dyson" and will be addressed as such. i wish I could have stayed home form work today to vaccuum everything, all day long. Super excited and lucky girl I am!!!!!!!!

Cranky this week

I have my reasons, but I think I have done a pretty good job of only taking it out on coworkers : )

The only way to bring something to anyone's attention sometimes on my team seems to be to paste something snarky on Facebook about the issue. sad, but true, and since I have never been afraid to rock the boat or be the one with the guts to say something that works out pretty well for me. Plus, noone here truly wants to mess with me, so I always get a result. however you need to do it, do it I figure. They leave me no choice. I will now at least , going forward, be told along with everyone else WHY we are signing a sympathy card for a member of our team. Too bad thats what it took to get there, but mission accomplished, everyone at work is welcome : ) i do not mind the abuse that came with it, I love a good argument. That is a long story short, no biggie.

Lets see, this week Faith, who is not quite well or sorted out yet, started watching Lucas. It seems to be going better than I could hope. Lucas and Michaela seem to be mostly getting the 'no fighting' thing, but I figured with Faith, who is way more calm, laid back and patient, not to mention creative with the kids, she would get good control over it quickly. Lucas is enjoying his time with his cousins, and listening to his aunt, so YAY!

I get to turn the tables and watch the baby girls tomorrow so Faith can get some stuff done.

Ooh, some good news, for a ew weeks at least, Larry has been given mandatory OT for 10 hours at least 4 Fridays between now and Dec, could be more. Such a miracle since he's not had any, and had furloughs since july of LAST Yr. And luckily we have Heather to ask to babysit sometimes so Faith can get a break. Good stuff!

My growing boy

I love 4 yrs old. The temper tantrums are gone, and when he acts up, its very short lived (aside from when he and Michaela fight, but I know in time they will get that worked out and get used to each other).

I wish he could stay this age, cause he is just independent enough, super smart and funny, but he still likes his mama enough to cuddle and all that good stuff he will not want to do one day.

I can really tell how good this new school situation has been for him in the last 2 mos. I have seen his empathy, kindness, maturity, security, etc grow leaps and bounds. he loves school, just him asking to go to school and loving it was enough for me, but he feels so much more secure and happy, and that affects the rest of the way he acts, and behaves, and how he makes his decisions to become the independent boy he is. he even decided this morning he did not need his precious blankie to go with him to Heather's. he did not NEED that security, he is happy and comfortable enough there and with his life to not NEED it all day everyday anymore. That to me is HUGE.

The clinginess stage we were going thru earlier this year is GONE. He gives me a quick kiss wherever I have to leave him and is on his merry little way. he does not fuss, cry or carry on. he simply asks each day where he is going, and is ready to go. That also indicates he is happy and secure with everything right now.

He is appropriately silly, sweet and moody, nothing too extreme most of the time,.he is on a great even keel. His imagination is fabulous these days, and his favorite pasttime is playing Geotrax with daddy in the evenings. They have so much fun together and its nice for daddy to not be the 'odd parent out' anymore. it makes everything just easier and calmer.

I know he has to get older, get more independent, but he is finally at an age that I don't want to hurry up and get past. It was like that a lot the first couple years, cause he is an intense kid, and tantrums suck. But I really like where we are at now, so we are going to try and enjoy it!

Christmas for Lucas

if anyone is at a loss as to what to get the spoiled little angel and is interested in purchasing something from his parents that we have already bought, please let us know, there is no shortage of ideas from us crazy people. it should be illegal as usual how much crap this kid is going to get again for this Christmas

A Marathon couple of weeks

Well I found out this week that I have a lot more energy and patience with the flu and three kids than I could have ever imagined hahaha.

yes, I was lucky enough to get the nasty flu virus going around while I had Michaela and Morgan this past week. My biggest fear of course was that I would sicken all 3 kids. I felt horribly about that prospect. knock on wood so far, the kids are doing well.

it was busy, it was crazy. Lucas and Michaela spent the majority of the week fighting. Charming. And when the girls went back to Faith and Joe on Thursday, my son had the nerve to say to me " I wish I had someone to play with" Seriously?? cause kid, you had your cousin for 6 days and all you did was fight with her. What a brat he is : )

All things considered, all went well, everyone was bathed and fed, no bloodshed at any time, I consider it a success. The virus seems much better with the exception of a slight cough left for me, but it has moved onto poor Larry. he got it worse than me, or so it seems, I didn't have time or the luxury of slowing down enough to notice really. Moms don't get sick days.

I cohosted Lucas's school halloween party Wed, that was cute and good fun. We played some games, sang songs, gave them a snack, read a book. His class is so small it was nice to enjoy it without it being crazy.

Lucas's teacher gets a huge kick out of him (big surprise). She says she needs to write down for me daily all the funny things he says, once he had her laughing so hard she was in tears and she had to leave the room to gain her composure. He also asked her to play Kanye West when the kids were asked what song they wanted to hear. That cracked her up, I could not imagine why kanye was not part of the preschool cd's. Straight out of a cartoon is how she describes him and his animated personality. there is no shortage of comic relief with that kid, for sure.

Tonight will be trick or treat and tomorrow is our Princess/Diva's bday party. I have moved onto calling Michaela a Diva, she is 2, it fits well. I am sure her mom agrees : )

The Stomp Musical

It was adorable, it was hilarious.

I got 3 of the 6 videos to load in my Photobucket last night, it took FOREVER. I apologize it was all I got to, not even the pics yet, it really took forever and I was not staying up all night to upload, so I promise to have the rest uploaded by tomorrow, cause tonight we have to go right to Open House.

Lucas's friend Ameen, who he stood next to, is very shy. he was the boy at orientation who would not talk to anyone and cried the first day or two of school. poor Ameen hated this musical so much and that all these people were looking at him, that he stood still with one fist in one eye pretty much the entire time. At one point, Lucas imitated him, but just as I was about to get up and smack him for not doing what he was supposed to, mrs Gatins came and took care of it.

Lucas still, like the other kids, only half paid attention, was shy, and they all did everything they weren't supposed to, and acted like, well, 4 yr olds, which made it cute and hilarious. Enjoy the videos : )

I also met up with Andrew's mom yesterday, because we had to plan the kids Halloween Party for school. yes, plan it. I signed up for all kinds of stuff I had no idea I was getting into at orientation apparantly lol. I thought I would bring a snack and stand back and enjoy the kids party if i got picked to come. Oh nono, if you sign up, you PLAN it. So we planned it and it will be fun. camera will be with me that day as well. That will be next Wed the 28th.

Tomorrow we are going to the circus in the evening, then off to WV Fri to pick up the girls. I don't think the weather will be nice enough Sun to go to Red Wagon Farm, but we will get pumpkins form somewhere at some point. Stupid weather!

It will be very busy, so I have no idea when I can post next. but look for videos and pics, and enjoy!

Lucas and the 3 Little Pigs

Go to my photobucket, and click on the sub album titled 'new video' on the left hand side. There will be one new video of Lucas telling the story of the 3 Little Pigs they are learning for his performance at chool next week. Priceless and adorable is all I can say!

Christmas ideas for Lucas, cause its about that ime of year again

It is almost the middle of October, so I figured I would start giving some Lucas shopping ideas for Christmas, for those who like to get a head start, like me.

Lucas would like:

Rescue Pets Swim with me Dog (it really swims in the water)

The Doc Hudson Remote Control Geo trax car ( Geo trax has come out with a Disney Cars set, he already has or is getting most of the rest of the set, but he will NEED Doc, according to him)

The movies UP and Monsters VS Aliens ( We are getting him Hotel for Dogs)

There is a Toy Story Playset we have only seen commercials for so far on Nick, he wants it badly. it kind of folds up into a suitcase kind of playset, and I know they sell the figurine sets seperately for it. Maybe someone can find it.

I would love for him to get a set of books I saw recently called Llama Llama. I have seen three titles, all of which were adorable stories. One was Llama Llama Red Pajama, the second was Llama Llama 's Mad at Mama, and the third was Llama Llama loves his Mama. Those would be an awesome present.

And he would like the Star Wars galactic heroes Playset thats titled Jabba's Skiff. I have only seen it recently at Target stores.

He also wants the new Whacamole game we see advertised on TV as well

If buying clothes, he does not need a whole lot, but buy size 5 for sure, he is rapidly growing, like he does each fall. Taller and Taller.


He is getting tons of geo trax from us and/or santa, a Playdough table, more Lincoln Logs, some puzzles, and a couple other misc items, but he pretty much likes anything he sees of course.

One more week down

My EGD Tuesday went fine. They made sure I was all the way knocked out, per my request. I was sure out of it the rest of the day. Mild gastritis of the stomach lining, which explains all the burning and churning I am used to. Esophagus looks good, so does the rest of the stomach. They took a sample for biopsy, specifically to look for the bacteria H Pylori which causes gastritis and ulcers, if its positive, it will be treated with anitibiotics. i just really need to stop living on Motrin, cause that is not good either. that has been difficult, esp with a sinus headache all week. But I am still alive and the tummy feels better each day.

I was off for 3 days, which was nice. Got to take Lucas to school and pick him up yesterday and Wed. I so enjoy that. It is very cute that the last few days when you tell him its time for school or you pull into the school's driveway he says " Alright" like he is happy and excited to be there.

Next week, he has picture day on Wed. Cannot wait to get those proofs. Then next Sat is Boo at the Zoo. This Sunday we will be going to visit Judy up at the farm. Iget so excited to go and I wish we were actually going to spend the night at the place that was so magical to me as I was a child, and it seems to have rubbed off on Lucas as well, like it did with Ashley and Alyssa. We have not been there since May of LAST year, but Lucas remembers it, speaks of it often and is excited to go back. Such great memories I now get to share with my son. : )

Plans, Plans, Plans

I am a planner, so I like to have plans, all ready to go.

If you have read Faith's blog, you know all her moving plans. We decided on the date of Fri Oct 23 to get the girls. That's an exciting plan!

Tuesday I have an EGD planned at the Strongsville Surgery center Cleveland Clinic. No need for alarm, just a routine check of the good old esophagus and stomach since I have chronic reflux/heartburn issues. Its been awhile since I got one done, decided to do it again. Quick and easy, and I am sure it will be fine.

I now have the cold Lucas has been working on, that was NOT in the plans. I am just hoping its mild, I have too much stuff to do for it to turn into a full blown sinus infection, hoping the Claritin D works, its the only decongestant I seem to be able to handle.

Lucas's cold is not bad, just a little congested still, but he is known to do that, have it like hardly anything for a week, then go into something full blown. I worry, but hoping for the best.

Lucas is still loving school and I am a happy mommy about that. It makes me feel like a better mommy when I know my son is happy about something important like that, and I thank his wonderful grandmothers and Ms Heather for helping to make this possible for him (and me ) : )

Lucas loves Ms Heather's, he plays nice with Jeffrrey who is almost 2 and dotes on the baby who is 3 mos, always worrying if he is crying, covering up if the blanket falls etc, its so very cute and heartwarming : )

Good weekend

The last weekend in Sept was a pretty good one.

Sat we went for a bit out to Brunswick to the Cornhole for Cancer, sponsored by Jill's cousin Kati and her husband, who has cancer. We did not have 50.00 for Larry to play cornhole for the event, but we bought some raffle tickets and saw some friends, and Lucas got to play.

yesterday Lucas and I met with Melissa and Kyle and Carter at Chuck E Cheese to celebrate Carter's bday last week. For once both boys were very well behaved and without attiude. it was actaully pleasant. Ww went early since we went to the one at Parmatown, you know, before it got too ghetto.

Lucas did already in the morning yesterday start to get the sniffles, which of course upsets me, but what can you do? Weather is changing and its inevitable. I could tell as the day went on he was feeling not so great, but he wanted to sleep at grandma Jane's and is doing well, so we will just see how it goes, the tubes are out of his ears now, it could go either way.

Work is very busy for me right now, unlimited OT being offerred to me and the few people who have access to MASS registry system to get this report we have done. I hate having to put in my 40 hours, but have been doing what I can, cause money is sparse. Lets just pray Lucas stays only a little sick and clears up, or all the OT is all for naught.

Recent funnies:

Yesterday I told him he needed to blow his nose to get the junk out. He told me he cannot cause he is AFRAID of the tissues. NICE TRY KID : )

He called to say goodnight from grandma's house last night and told me when he was done talking " Ok, I have to get going now" My 4 yr old has to get going? hahaha I love that boy

Come on October

I feel ready for October now. Bring it on : )

We have a lot of school events this month in addition to the rest of the hoopala we are looking forward to. Lucas has picture day, his class's STOMP performance. yes, his little 7 person class will be putting on a STOMP performance this month, as part of the extracurriclar Intro to Music class that is integrated into his 4 day program. I can not wait!

Only 1 guest can come due to the size of the classroom, and of course, me being crazy camera mom, gets to be there, yay me. I graciously told Larry he could go to that one since I get to do more of that stuff with Lucas, but he said he knows how important this is to me, I am the one who gets to go. What a cool, and very smart, man I have.

Lucas's Open House is this month, as well as his Halloween party. I have already put together the treat bags for his party. I like being prepared, plus its just FUN to do.

We also have Boo at the Zoo on the 17th as well as the Circus on the 22nd. And we are going to try to hold off, and pray for good weather, the weekend we retrieve Michaela and Morgan, so they can go to Red Wagon Farm too for hayrides and pumpkin mazes, and all that good stuff. I even bought all the kids Halloween-ish shirts for the occasion.

Yay for OCT!

Pictures

I got the them sooner than I thought. They are in Photobucket, lots of them. So feel free to enjoy!

I know, I know, the pictures

I have still not even had a chance to get to the pics of the last month that need to be uploaded, I KNOW. Its driving me crazy too, seems I do not have enough hours in a day. maybe while Lucas is in school Thursday? I am going to shoot for that.

Mr Lucas is growing up and maturing so much these days (wait til you see some of the latest fishing pics) he looks SO grown up, like at least 6 yrs old, where did my baby go?

I have really noticed the last couple weeks that his empathy has gotten better and he is really working on self control (not over everything esp when he is tired) but still. he is working on not arguing so much and listening better and no resisting so much. he is doing well, I am proud of that.

he was really sweet last week at the eye dr appt. An older man had cut his leg on something, he was with his wife, and his knee was bleeding and he was holding a tissue on it. Gramma-gramma of course immediately dug into her purse and offerred him a band aid, Lucas watched the whole interaction intently, and when the elderly couple got called into the back, Lucas said to grandma, very sincerely. " Oh gramma gramma, good job, you helped him make his booboo better with a bandaid, very good"

Those kinds of things I am noticing with him. And he is on this 'big boy' kick. he goes to /big boy' school now, rides his 'big boy' bike really fast, does big boy things like eat all his food, cause thats what big boys do. And the other night we told him big boys sleep in their baseball rooms in their own beds, and he went in there and fell asleep with no resistance. We were very proud of him : ) he is not sleeping in it all night, but we are working towards it finally, cause going to bed with and waking up with Lucas day in and day out makes parents a little cranky lol.

And a cute one, around the block he always gets stuck on this one bump if he is not going fast enough, and as he was stuck on it the other day, we got up to him and he exclaimed " My bike ran out of GAS"

No news is good news

This past week or so has been very quiet, and thankfully so.

Lucas is enjoying his new school, we don't have too much going on in the way of plans, so its good.

We went to the Progressive Summer Event at Progressive Field on Sunday. With Melissa, Rob, Kyle and Carter, so Lucas had a blast doing the Kids Fun Day stuff with him, and running the bases afterwards. It was a warm, sunny day, and it was lovely.

Lucas has an eye appt coming up this TH, we will get to check on the progress of the lazy eye, hoping it keeps getting more and more aligned with the good eye, as it has been. Omar has a vet appt to get his annual shots next week.

Oct will be busier, there is Boo at the Zoo, the circus, and Faith and the girls are coming, so OCT will be full of fun. But for now, we are going to enjoy some nice early fall days in Sept, and just chill.

I have not gotten to the photos from the last few weeks yet, but soon, very soon

In with the NEW

Although it was a quick, last minute decision, it was an exciting and scary decision in some respects. But it is a decision I am determined to make work since it is what I always wanted for Lucas.

He is going to a new school. A REAL preschool. NOT daycare. No more daycare. A wonderful new school that comes so highly recommended by people I trust, and I am truly impressed with their curriculum, his new teacher and his reaction to it as well.

Lucas is a new student of the 4's at Wishing Well Preschool, and I could not be happier. He will go from 1-3:30pm Mon -Th. I like that it will provide him the consistency with that many days I feel he needs and provide an easy transition into all day 5 day a week kindergarten next year.

Why? How? You ask? My wonderful, loving sister has given us this opportunity. Fate is bringing her home for a year ( thankfully) and she has offerred (even said she wanted to ) help with her nephew, who adores her. How awesome is that? Its my one and only chance to get him out of the daycare he has never liked, only tolerated. That is a long story in itself, but I am not going to go badmouthing Goddard School, but I have many reasons for wanting him out of there.

The decision to take him out now, as opposed to when Faith gets here was a tough one. it takes some help from other family and friends and a lot of rearranging of mine and Larry's schdules to do so for the 2 mos. But its already worth it in my opinion. I wanted him to start at the beginning with the kids he would graduate preschool with in May. I thought that was an advantage along with the rest of it. And we were willing to do what it takes to make it so.

The biggest reward so far? Lucas says he LOVES it. He would not ever say he even LIKED Goddard in almost 2 yrs there. He only has 7 kids in his class and already has befriended Joseph, one of the boys in his class. He is already enjoying it, I am so happy I could cry. I want Lucas to have a positive school experience before he goes for the rest of his life ( or what will seem like it to him) and I want him to be HAPPY, first and foremost. I know it will take him a couple weeks to realize what its all about and be really into the swing of things. But he is already doing great. he has a fabulous teacher as well.

And as the crazy PTA mom I want to be, preschool also offers the reward of much more parental involvement in his school. I love that. I am a happy mama this week : )

This is what cute looks like

Esp with the cutest being miss " I am a Princess" during her time out ,she will love her auntie for this picture when she has her 1st boyfriend over for dinner. Priceless : )

HOT but successful

Lucas's party was fun had by alll, even in the million degree weather. Wow, it was hot, esp after being out in it form 7am to set up til about 7pm taking it down.

the kids certainly don't ever seem to notice and once again the pool was a winner, and so was Lucas with all his cool new toys, and awesome Star Wars theme : )

We also had a wonderful time with our princesses this past two weeks too : )

Recent Lucas-isms

First let me say, Lucas has a very firm grasp of what are bad words and what he can say, and what are grown up words only, don't let him fool you, but he loves to come up with any excuse to say the bad words without getting into too much trouble.

Pappy made him a cd of his favorite Lucas songs (thanks Pappy) and it includes his most favorite Boom Boom Pow. Now, these are all uncut versions, form the computer and 'shit' gets said a lot in a lot more songs than I realized. Seem sot be the word of the moment, could be worse. A lot of times Lucas does not even pick up on most of the words, but he seems to be lately.

The first time we listened to the CD, he says " mom, he just said 'shit'" I say " I know Lucas, but you know thats a grown up word, and he is a grown up and can say it, you cannot." 2 min later' Mom, he said shit again, but its ok he is a grown up and can say that word" Nice.

The other day we were playing something in his room and he said " I am going to get that guy and bust his ass" Me " Lucas, come on, you know what you are not supposed to say, what do we say instead" he says " i am supposed to say butt, but I really just want to say ASS" Sigh, I give up.

I have told him if he keeps saying 'shit' we cannot listen to Boom Boom Pow anymore and he has been good about it since -HA.

And in other random Lucas news, a few weeks ago I was vaccuuming, in a completely different room than Lucas was even in, and he comes running in the room, screaming over the vaccuum , with an accusing look on his face " MOM< MOM" I yell over the vaccuum, "WHAT LUCAS? YOU CAN SEE I AM VACCUMING!" he says " I SNEEZED< SAY BLESS YOU!" Oh brother " BLESS YOU"

but my new favorite, is Lucas running into the kichen at random times, peeling his shirt off and telling me to ' Hit It" (turn on the music), so he can 'dance with his shirt off' Its hilarious, and apparantly you are only allowed to dance with your shirt off, not sure why or where he gets it form, but too funny and cute : )

Chaos-good and bad

Chaos. Does not matter what kind, it always seems to be the word that best describes my life at any given moment. My mom recently said that since I pray for patience so often, God keeps giving me tests. Okay, so what the heck do I pray for to have both patience and no more of those tests for a little while? That is the million dollar question.



Lucas's behavior is in a downturn. Not sure why right now, but this 'phase' can pass at any moment. He is testing more every day, his attiude and mouth are just plain ugly more often than not. I feel like my son is miserable all the time and he has NO reason to be. He has parents and family who adore him, a house, dogs, a yard, and more toys than 6 kids could ever play with. Its hard, and frustrating to say the least.



I am looking very forward to the fun chaos coming up, don't get me wrong. Seeing Faith, Joe and the babies always makes me happy. Lucas's annual bday bashes make me happy, despite all the work. Celebrating grandma's birthday and Morgan's baptism make me happy. Its just a little overwhelming at the same time when its all packed inside of two weeks : )



Alyssa will also be staying with us that week, and we have a baseball game that week as well. Just a lot going on. But that's all good, I can handle that.



The bad chaos. I am having a really hard time right now. I got the letter I have been dreading for 4 yrs from my friend Janice in NY. The end of her fight with cancer is very near. She is so sick they cannot do anymore chemo or that will kill her faster than the cancer ravaging her body. She is down to 87 lbs and any illness she gets, puts her in the hospital for weeks or mos at a time. The dr's say she has til maybe Christmas to live, but she does not think so. She may even hope not right about now.



However, she wants me to come see her sooner rather than later. Even wants to send me money to come. I will never take her money, she really has none. I will get there. But I cannot possibly get there til Aug 28th. I just have to hope and pray nothing happens before then.



So, while I am having fun with the good chaos, this will be in the back of my mind the whole time. It's stressful, and sad. Not to mention this will be the hardest trip I will ever have to make. I cannot handle death, saying goodbye. I dread it, I avoid it, and I just don't deal with it well. It is not something I accept readily.

If I talk to her daughter and she tells me 3 weeks is too long, I will go ASAP. Because if I make it too late, I will never forgive myself, that is just the way I am. Even though I have so much on my plate, it is nothing compared to what she and her family are going thru right now. On the same note, I am dreading it as much as I want to rush there. I don't like sad chaos : (

Birthday ideas

I know a lot of people were asking me what Lucas wants for his birthday.

he wants absolutely everything he sees, but he is into anything Bass Pro, they have the toys in Walmart sometimes, by the cars/trucks. he already has the bass boat, Hummer with canoe and camping set, but would welcome anything else to go with it.

he does not have the Scooby Doo game for his Smartcycle. make sure its not the new 'Rumble" one they just put out that vibrates, he has the 'old' one, you know, from last year haha

He has most, if not all of the Galactic Heroes for Star Wars, but, any of the Galactic Heroes playsets, grandma got him one, but he would love the Battle of Geonosis one (maybe at Target). or the one on the Skiff from Return of the Jedi. Galactic Heroes are the smaller 'chunky' younger looking figures, but he is not picky, he recently broke one of his light sabers, and although he has two more, he would not mind another one.

He would like some kids safety scissors, and maybe some crafty type stuff to go along with it.

His favorite characters right now are Spongebob, Diego, he is starting to like Power Rangers and GI Joe. He also likes any Superhero, like Spiderman, Batman etc, he could use the helicopter or batmobil for his Imaginext batcave

Clothes wise, I would go with a definite 5 on shirts, he is still too small for 5 pants, but I expect that to change mid winter, if he grows like he did last year, all of a sudden he sprouted another pant size overnight.

He could really use winter jammies. For sleepers, if they are form Walmart, like the Gerber ones, 5t, but most other brands can still be 4t, for the seperate ones go 5 as well, we have some 4's to get us thru the fall

he also loves skateboards and motorcycles
(He is getting a skateboard from Carter)

hope that helps : )

Same old, same old

Of course, Lucas has another sinus infection, it had been a month since his last one, apparantly he was due.

I am just so sick of my baby being sick all the time. I really hope he outgrows this and SOON : (

But at least I decided on a new dr for him when we went yesterday. His current pediatrician is moving to AZ, I got that letter two weeks ago and I nearly cried. Not only has she been Lucas's dr since he was born, it seemed I only got results that made my son feel better when we went and saw her. But, Dr Wausserman was going to be my second choice and after talking with her yesterday and her agreeing that I know my son better than anyone and I will be listened to her about his chronic issues, we established that she would pretty much do whatever I want LOL and we will be ok, so I told her I would like her to be Lucas's new dr.

We do have his 4 yr appt with Dr Wilson, so we can at least say goodbye to her. I am still really sad about it and did not expect to have those kinds of feelings about a dr, but, its about Lucas, so I guess it makes sense.

Bowling league still has a few more weeks, Lucas is still enjoying it. We are also gearing up for the 4th bday bash. Lucas is super excited! So far we are expecting a large turnout, with the possibility of up to 20-25 kids under 10. Good times!!! I am looking forward to it anyways, and busily doing all my planning, cleaning, preparing and food ordering for it as well. Lucas is just looking forward to presents, and the fact that Carter will be there of course.

Looking forward to seeing and spending time with Faith and the kids as well. That will be an Aug highlight. I signed Lucas up for 3 zoo classes in Sept on TH mornings, I get to go as well, I think that will be a fun thing for him and I to do together.

Thats about all the news we have right now, stay tuned, Aug is about to be here and is looking very busy : )

Another first

This weekend Lucas had his 1st motorcycle ride with his grandpa Homer. Lucas loved it and wanted to go again and again. I guess when he is a little bit bigger we need to get him a kids helmet like Faith and I had when we were little. He was quite pleased with himself.

Sat we spent the better part of the afternoon with our friends at Jellystone. Weather was a bit crappy, but it was still nice and Lucas had a ball with Owen, Emma, Lauryn, Brayden, Nicole, Danielle, Carly, Christopher, and even baby Nathan : )

Just a reminder

That ALL the good pictures I ever take are in Photobucket, noone who wants to see my pics or faith's actually has to have their own photobucket, just the link to our site's

It was just brought to my attention some family members are depriving themselves of this pleasure due to thinking you need your own photobucket account, simply not true!

So if you are not visiting Photobucket, you are missing out big time, so here is the info

Rachael's photobucket account

www.photobucket.com login: rbalaga password: lucasjohn

Faith's is easier, they did not have this option when I originally made my acct almost 4 yrs ago

www.photobucket.com/fischer

and voila, all the good shots of our kids are there : )

enjoy!

Doing so well

I was worried Lucas's move to the 'big boy" Pre-K room would be traumatic-for all of us. Him moving classrooms in the past has been a little bit of an issue, as it really shakes him up. The week before he began transitioning, Lucas was so nervous and did not want to do it, poor kid hates change, like his mom. However, he is obviously maturing and growing up.

Last week and this week, the teachers tell me he is doing great and he comes home all proud of himself and excited about his new big boy room : ) This morning he took me on a tour in his new room, since his teacher does not start that early.

And I was doubly worried because Carter will not join him in that new room for maybe a month or so, and I hope that does not create too many problems, the teachers are aware, and Lucas has said nothing about it yet, so we will see, but soon Carter will be in there anyways, and it will be all good.

I hope he does this well when he goes to Kindergarten next year!!

The Bass Pro

Thats what Lucas is according to his daddy and grandpa. They are SO proud of him( I am too : )) that not only did he catch 7-8 fish on fri but he got his first BASS, a good 10-12 inch one too, not no sissy fish haha.

Lucas was very proud too and yesterday we drove up to the closest Bass Pro Shop to us, in Toledo, so daddy could get Lucas a Bass Pro shirt, and of course Larry wanted to go there for ages, so it was the perfect excuse for him to go, we had a good time, Lucas also has a toy bass boat, complete with 2 bass to catch, a guy, fishing pole that reels, and a net, oh the boat has a trailer too. Lucas is in love.

More summer fun

Last weekend was our yard sale, it went well, no major glitches, it was a lot of work, but worth it in the long run. Thank goodness its over, it will be at least another 6 yrs beofre I do that again. But its all cleaned up and lots out of the house.

Last night my forum friends came over, and we got to meet one more member we have been talking to for over 3 years, since before her oldest son was even born! How cool is that? Tiffany and her family are passing thru on their way back to their AF base in ND form visiting family in NC. I finally got to squish chubby sweet little Blake, who will be 2 next month and Lucas and Logan were two peas in a pod, Logan was 3 in May. Plus Christy and Barb came with their broods, Ben is almost 4 and Spencer is 4 mos, they belong to Christy, who I see form time to time who loves in Hudson, and Barb with her 4, Britney, 16, Matthew, 14, and Trinity,almost 4 and Nika, 2. The kids had a blast, and so did we.

It is just so neat that I can meet in person these women who I have shared more than 3 yrs of my life with online. They 'talk' to me more than anyone sometimes, know all what is going on, see pictures all the time, laugh at Lucas's antics with me, have seen him grow form the chunkeroo to the big boy with cute glasses, they have lifted my spirits when I was down, listened to me vent, gave me advice when I needed it and it feels like we are all one family, so when we meet in person, its comfortable and easy, just like we have known each other all our lives, it just flows into conversation, not much catching up, since we do that every day.

I never would have thought all those years ago, that I would find that kind of thing on the internet, it started when Lucas was about 6 weeks old and I came back form my mat leave, with all sorts of questions and feelings, and I tumbled upon this great group of people who were having all the same experiences, same aged kids for the most part and all walks of life and experiences.

I am honestly not sure what I would have done without them many times in my life since Lucas was born. Just to know your kid is not the only one doing something horrible, or funny, or disturbing, makes parenting so much easier. All the advice, and fellow womanly support, its awesome.

Good times

Being with the babies (since anyone youn ger than Lucas is a baby ) has been awesome. I can tell Morgan recognizes me now when she looks at me and smiles. Baby smiles are the best, what a beautiful little angel princess. Miss Michaela knows she is Auntie's princess still as well, these little girls are so sweet and the thought of not seeing them for a week let alone a month is hard

But we had so much fun the past week, shopping, playing, kiddie park, etc. Morgan even came to Lucas's bowling with us last week : ) She loved it there actually, she will be a busy girl when she gets older, I can tell, she likes to be where the action is.

Lucas loved his first real fireworks display. he exclaimed 'O My GOD" a lot at the booms, it was adorable. Pics to come, it took me forever to upload the ones I put up this week form the last few weeks,

yard sale this week, and I cannot wait for that to be over, we have way too much CRAP : ) If I were to EVER have another child, someone strap me down rather than let me buy so many clothes for one kid, you would think I have had 6 based on all the clothes Lucas has owned.

All better just in time

Lucas is now feeling just about all the way well, thank goodness. Just in time for a busy weekend!

Faith and the girls hopefully touched down without incident this morning and we will be on our way to gramma-gramma's as soon as we can to see them and squish baby fat, can hardly wait! : )

Tomorrow we have a bday party for my friend Linda's oldest daughter Nicole and Sunday my dad will be coming out to see the grandbabies in the morning followed by the get together at my mom's to visit with Noah and Livi, and Bridget. Lots of fun people to visit this weekend.

Not to mention Alyssa will be spending the weekend with us, so Lucas is thrilled times 3, he loves all his fans and esp having Alyssa and Olivia together, and I will get some peace becasue he will leave me alone in favor of them! Bonus!

Bowling league week 2 was awesome. Lucas got a strike and a spare, there was no hyping the kids up this week, no meltdowns, and no confusion over switching lanes, the boys acted like they had been doing this forever. They were just so excited to see each other, since Lucas missed school last week. he told me "Carter is my best friend and I can't wait to see him at the bowling alley". So cute!

Getting better

Lucas is very slowly improving. I wish it were faster. He missed 'water day' at school today and I hope he is well enough for bowling tomorrow evening.
He has been taking 3 hour naps and being exceptionally sweet and docile, thats how you know my baby angel is sick.
I am actually hoping (be careful what you wish for) that tomorrow he will be ornery and evil, then I will know he is close to all the way well again.
His coughing has slowed down a LOT. It still sounds rough when he does cough, but the frequency is much less severe. His droopy red drippy eyes looked better this morning, and although he is still running a low grade fever off and on, it gets lower each time he gets it.
his biggest complaint is his stuffy icky nose, but since he refuses to blow it anywhere near as often as he should, its gonna take a few days to see an improvement there.

Poor kid, this one got him good, and its not welcome here anymore : (

Its supposed to be summer

Well, the weather is acting like it, the germs are not dying as quickly as they should.

My poor baby who started coughing again out of the blue 2 weeks ago got progressively worse over the weekend. To the point where its was all he could do was cough, and he started getting stuffy.

Went to the dr yesterday since its out of hand. She says sinus infection and gave him some Augmentin. After okaying some cough syrup that costs 10.00 a bottle, Delsym, and me spending 45 min in the pharmacy to get it all filled and bought, Lucas wanted Old Mcdonalds, and of course I was not going to tell my sweet sick baby no after he was so good at the dr's and the pharmacy

of course 2 hours later, long after taking cough medicine that obviously did NOT work and his 1st antibiotic round, the poor kid coughed so hard he puked up his whole dinner, whcih was the most food he had eaten in days. he cannot win for losing. Shortly after the fever came.

Motrin broke the 100.4 fever and a nice vapor bath helped, we still slept too restlessly last night, and are very tired.

Today gramma-gramma said she wanted to keep him so I could go to work. If I had stayed home I would not have gotten paid. Larry is leaving work early to get him and will stay home with him tomorrow if he is not well enough to go to school.

I personally do not think he will be quite up for school tomorrow, and I want him to just keep getting better so we can enjoy our time with Faith, Michaela and Morgan this weekend and next week

Bumper bowling league now, pro bowling leagues in their future

The boys had an absolute blast with each other at their first bumper bowling day. In their matching shirts and Spider Man and Star Wars balls, they bowled well. Carter has fantastic form, Lucas drops that ball on the lane like nobody's business. he got a 64 the first game and a 59 the 2nd game, it will be a fun 10 weeks if we can keep them motivated. At times they were more interested in the popcorn, but they made it thru

Summer finally arrived

In Cleveland you never quite know when summer will begin, sometimes in April, sometimes not til July, but weather has been nice the past week, so its a good sign.

Tomorrow Lucas is set to start in his bumper bowling league with Carter. Melissa got them matching embroidered bowling shirts and OMG, way too cute, pics will come of course. Lucas is very excited!!

Last week we went to our first Indians game of the season ans a family, where Lucas got to eat cotton candy for dinner, and sty up til almost midnight, we had fun, but the next day was rough : )

And Lucas got some roller skates, that he loves, already trying to do stunts on them and he can barely even balance himself, he is such a BOY!

here's to the beginning of summer fun!

My sweet, sweet boy

My boy LOVES his mommy.

Last night I had THE worst migraine I ever had in my life, never had I remembered being in so much pain, the kind of pain where I thought I must be dying and wished it would happen quick and put me out of my misery.

But as soon as I got home and went for some ice, Lucas took the washcloth with ice and said " Come here mommy, it will be okay, let me put the ice on your head, you will feel better"

And as we layed down together in bed, he told me " its okay mommy, Lucas is here, its going to be alright" as he kissed my cheek and forehead. Then he said " I am so sorry you have a headache"

He can be the sweetest boy in the world, I love that kid more than anything in the whole world. I am a lucky mommy.

Waiting for summer

Since it is the middle of JUNE. the weather this week has been pretty crappy, and Lucas now has his cough back. I had not given him a breathing treatment in almost 3 mos. Tues morning he woke up hacking, and has been ever since, but thankfully not showing any other signs of being actually ill, so thats good I suppose.

Last Sat evening, Lucas got the tiny holes drilled into his bowling ball and his name put on it. he is in love with it, so proud. Bumper bowling starts next thursday, June 18th, cannot wait!

Now maybe the weather will be consistently nicer and the allergy/cold stuff will go away at least til fall, and we can settle into our busy summer, getting in as much fun as we can.

Lots of stuff planned, trips to Kiddie Park, Faith and the girls are coming, swimming, bowling, camping and a yeard sale, we are having a yard sale in july, gotta get rid of all that stuff we don't need : )

Rock n Roll

That is Lucas's newest fave phrase. "Lets rock n roll"!

He also likes his dad's rock n roll, which consists mainly of 80's big hair bands. I can only tolerate it so much, but Lucas thinks its great.

Of course we all know he is a Pink fan, and he has also recently beocme a huge old school 90's fan with Roxette's "She's got the Look"

Any song that is Justin Timberlake or Lady Gaga on the radio is now 'his song' and anything slow tempo is 'my song'

Is he trying to tell me he alreadyt hinks I am too old for fast paced dance music?? Hmmmm

Bad mommy

I had a really bad mommy moment yesterday.

Lucas and I had just gotten back from the library, and I was helping him out of his carseat, when, all at the same time, I locked the doors, and went to slam shut the front passenger door that had been open to get Lucas's borrowed Dora and Diego dvd's out (Dora and Diego are my new best friends cause he is so enthralled by them all of a sudden)At the same time, he spotted the pop in my front cup holder form earlier he wanted, and as I flung the door shut, he put his hand in front of it to stop it, I saw what was happeneing, but it was so fast that as I grabbed the door handle, it was already shut and locked, on his hand.

He starts screaming, I start screaming, as I toss all I was holding to the ground and hurry to get the keys back out of my purse, to unlock the doors. it all took seconds, but felt like an eternity. he was crying, I was shaking, imagining all kinds of blood, broken bones, going to the ER. Luckily the hand was FINE, not a blemish on it. I am shocked and amazed and in between telling Lucas how sorry I was for getting his hand caught and telling him to move his fingers for me , I was yelling, "what the heck did you put your hand there for!!!!!!"

When he calmed down, he told me he wanted to get the pop and that was why he tried to stop the door, I told him all he had to do was ask.

Larry was in the house, never heard a thing that was going on outside, and when we walked inside, me still shaking, him drinking the pop he said " Now tell daddy what you did"

Nice

He must have been Asian in a former life

Most kids would name their characters/animals/dinosaurs somehting semi-normal. Like Bob, Joe, Ted, or a family or friend's name from school, Luke, Carter, Anthony, Liam, or even someone from a favorite movie or tv show, Spongebob, Diego, Lightning Mcqueen, well, you get the point.

Not Lucas, they all have Chinese/Japanese names, such as Jing-Jing, Hini-honee, or Shin-Han

He has not been, to my knowledge, watching any kung fu movies, but this is what he names his animals when asked what he calls them.

Only Lucas : )

Tattoos and Progress Reports

Yep, that's all that is new this week. After Lucas had his Thomas tattoos on last weekend, and did not want me to wash them, ever, he finally for the first time noticed my tattoos. Now he wants to know when he can get him some of those ones that 'stay on".

I told him when he was 18 and a grown up he could have as many tattoos as he wanted. Oh and a motorcycle, cause he wants to know when he can get one of those as well : ) he is such a BOY.

I got Lucas's Progress Report this morning from school and it was excellent, glowing, actually : ) I am a proud mommy today. They said he is a joy to have in class and he is always enthusiastic and smiling and ready for any activity they have planned, and its contagious, he gets his friends excited as well, and he loves playing with his friends. Such a far cry form the sullen, almost in tears boy that strangles me as I try to leave each morning, like I have just sent him to the orphanage. They all tell me he instantly changes the second I walk out the door, and I know he does, he is an actor. I have his number.

But he is cute, so I will keep him.

I love my son, I really do

For all the obvious reasons of course, the sweet he can be, beautiful, etc, but a lot cause he is smarter than the average bear, and funny too. : )

Story one

On Sunday, he and I made a jaunt to BJ's Wholesale, to pick up a few items. When we were done, he and I got a pretzel and some pop for a snack and sat down at the tables before leaving. We were contentedly people watching.
I was watching this one family, who had stopped for like 10 years in front of the bin of free boxes to take (they do not use bags there), dad was picking thru them, not sure what the big deal was, but mom looked like she was due any day, and there was a boy no less than 3 in their cart. He was carrying on endlessly, whining, crying, scremaing, I am sure he was just done shopping, but he was driving me nuts, and mom was getting mad too, but every time she talked to the boy, he carried on more. Lucas was not paying attention to them.

So I said "Hey Lucas, look at that boy over there, throwing a temper tantrum like that in the cart, crazy, huh? What do you think of that?"

He said " I think his mommy should bust his ASS"

I nearly rolled off my chair laughing and agreed with him as I reminded him he could only use the word BUTT

I asked him if he would ever act like that in a store, and he said " No way, cause you are my mom and you would bust my butt"

And as the family moved towards the door to leave, Lucas said " Listen to that, he is still acting like that, geez"

he was also very proud of himself and pointed out how good he was being, and he was being an angel. SO SMART : )

Story Two

Monday, we were out in the front yard while I trimmed the front bushes, and we let the dogs come out too, and gave them some freedom, they don't generally wander far, but we keep an eye on them in case a squirrel should catch their eyes.
At one point Omar was creeping slowly towards the edge of the lawn, and Larry said " OMAR, get back here before I bust your butt"

My child chimes in quickly with "Yeah, so hard you won't sit for a week"

Think he has heard that one a time or two??

I love him, he rocks

What a nice weekend

Cleveland is finally getting some nice weather, and we have been out enjoying it : )

Thursday was Kiddie Park, Joan and Kelsey joined grandma, Lucas and I. it was a lovely day, and after forcing my son onto rides, making him have some fun, he decided the roller coaster was the best ride ever. I have bruises on my knees and back form it, luckily, Kelsey was more than happy to ride the most times with him, I have to say 10-12 times, at least it felt that way. But he was happy.

Friday, his day with daddy, they went to the Zoo. They recently opened the new Dinosaurs exhibit, Lucas loved it. He absolutely loves the zoo AND dinosaurs, so he thought it was wonderful.

Saturday was his 'surprise'. All I told him before I left for work Sat was that Carter and his mommy would be at our house when I came home form work and we were going to a surprise. Once we got to the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad and they saw Thomas the Tank coming down the rails, they realized where we were. it was so hot that day, and we were dressed too warm, that made it a bit unbearable, but lots of kids activities, and many port a potty trips (eww,eww) and finally we got to ride the train. it was just a regular train behind a Thomas, but that thrilled the kids to no end, they rode Thomas, got tattoos with their favorite characters, balloons and Lucas even got a watch, he is still talking about it days later.

Sunday afternoon was a birthday party for my friend Meredith's son Brandon. He turned 3, just like me, Lucas pointed out often. The boys hit it off and were playing and by the time we left Lucas was half soaked form a water gun fight the kids had, another success. Meredith is due with her 3rd child, another boy, in early July, best of luck to her, crazy lady : ) But I cannot wait to meet Tyler James.

After the bday party we stopped at aunt Lisa's, she was having a small cookout, and we ended the day with Lucas being dunked in the baby pool for splashing Lisa and Lucas went home wet and naked, and we had to pry him out of the pool that smelled like dog, since it was the dog's pool after all. He went straight into the tub.

Monday was up and at 'em early. Lucas and I scrubbed all his outside otys, including every single sandbox toy, the sandbox got all new sand, and I did my one thing a year of yard work by trimming the front bushes. I am getting old, my hands and arms and chest are so sore today I can barely move. Then we had a small cookout, by then I was exhausted. Ate too much good food and could not wait for bedtime to come.

We also got our webcam hooked up yesterday courtesy of Pappy : ) Got to have a nice video chat with Faith and Joe and Princesses one and two. They all looked wonderful, Morgan is plumping up nicely and Michaela did some fancy camera work for us. It was next to best to seeing them in person : )

yay! I hurt everywhere, esp since Lucas also decided I needed to take him on a bike ride yesterday, ow ow I am getting old, but it was worth it

Good Ear News

I took Lucas to his pediatrician Monday for his follow up on the ear infection. She said it looked better, but was still a bit infected, which upset me greatly. The tube in the infected ear was out, but sitting in a bunch of puss and wax, and she could not get a clear shot of the eardrum to make sure the hole had healed, and she did not feel qualified enough to dig thru it to look, so she suggested he see his ENT, Dr Fine. And she put him on eardrops and another round of Augmentin.

After harassing some people at both the ped's office and the ENT office, I got him in this week, as opposed to the one more week they wanted me to wait, I took him in this morning.

His ear is FINE. I guess the junk and the tube had been loosened up by the ear drop and since left the ear, and it is NOT infected behind there after all. So, we are going to see how it goes by itself, if he gets another infection, we are to go directly to the ENT, and a tube can be put back in, but since its summe,we will give it a chance on its own.

I am so relieved : ) Yay for good news finally!

Okay seriously?

Can my nieces get any cuter??????

I think not

I love every one of Morgan's chins, and that Princess Michaela, love that little diva : )

I had to post these Faith, they are too delicious. I just wish I could eat those little cheeks, all 4 of them!!and the several chins as well ; )

And can anyone hear Morgan saying she wants her auntie Rachael? I hear it, she wishes I could squeeze her too.

This cannot just be my OCD

I know I am anal, especially when it comes to my house being clean. Clutter, papers, toys etc I can handle being left willy nilly, but I 409 my kitchen at least once a day, specifically the sink area, clean my bathroom twice a week, seems reasonable to me, I have a husband and a just pottytrained preschooler. I only dust once a week and I vaccuum twice a week. I only clean the kitchen floor once a week cause its such a pain, and I complain the rest of the week how between Lucas, Larry and the dogs, my floor is never clean for more than 5 minutes so I am never cleaning it again, but I do, casue one week later its NASTY. Sigh.

I do not expect everyone else to be as goofy with cleaning as me, but I have a pet peeve, a really big one.

I am finding this more and more often too. Now, if I invite someone over, I 'special' clean, I cannot have people over and not have a sparkling toilet for example, gross, I am no pig, and even someone who drops by on its worst day could never be grossed out with my bathroom, becasue if it warrants it, I wipe stuff down in between cleanings. I mean, those are nasty germs, come on, common sense.

But when I am at someone else's house and feel like I am in a public restroom, I have serious issues with that, people LIVE like that? AND think its acceptable to let people think they live that way??????? And I did not drop in unexpectedly, I was invited, seems absolutely nuts to me.

its happening more and more often, maybe I just hold cleaning to a higher standard? Perhaps, but really? A public restroom? UGH, and ICK

My second biggest pet peeve is refrigerator door handles, esp if you have a light colored one, like I do, white. if it is grimy, and stained black, I do not even want to touch it. I will take bleach to mine the second I see a smudge on it. Everyone touches a door handle, and dirt means germs, eww, yuck.

Third one is garbage cans. If you have one that has a lid in the kitchen, CLEAN it once in awhile, if the lid is grimy and gross and never been cleaned, I would not want to touch that sucker. I have a fairly dark blue garbage can w/lid and I clean out the actual whole trash can at least once every couple weeks, and the lid several times a week, again, eww, germs.

it is the sanitary stuff that really drives me crazy. I feel better now : )

I guess this is FYI for what I will notice next time I am at anyone else's house, but I had to get it off my chest

The usual

Most weeks do not go by without there being something extra to deal with, like Lucas's lates ear infection, the hot water tank taking a crap unexpectedly one morning. I would expect nothing less.

Lucas's ear stopped draining, and he has not complained in a few days. He will be done with the antibiotic on Monday, and we will see his dr that day too, just to make sure all has healed according to plan. I think it has, but would like to make sure, cannot be too careful when it comes to my baby's ears.

Thursday morning I started my usual day off doing some laundry. When I looked at the floor in the basement I realized there was water all over. The hot water tank was leaking something awful. Great. I called Larry and I was not able to get the thing turned off. He had to come home from work. So I did get to see Bridget and have lunch with her, but had to go water heater shopping as well. it was a long day but in the end we got a good deal on a new Rheem water tank. Larry's uncle came and helped him put it in last night.

Then,. as soon as they had it on 15 min or so, it started leaking form the pipes at the top. That meant shutting it down, and Randy came back out this morning, I think they had it under control when I left for work. I have not heard differently, so no news is good news.

This evening we are off to have dinner with Norb and Barb, and hopefully tomorrow will be a bit quieter, and I can somewhat get my mess of a house back under control, I cannot function like that. My OCD makes it impossible.

Getting there

Lucas's ear had been draining for days, but seems to be doing better since last night. His dr wants to see him on Monday to make sure the whole in the eardrum cleared up and all is well. Lucas did complain the other day that his left ear hurt as well, but we need to finish the antibiotics first no matter what. it is not affecting his sleeping or eating, nor is he running a fever, so I have to assume something is getting better.
he complains a lot that there is a noise in his ear. I understand that feeling, either ringing or just the whoosh of the fluid. I am used to it, he is not, I just keep assuring him it will stop when his ear gets all better.

This morning he announced to me before he said anything else when he woke up. he was NOT going to school today. I really wish he would tell me WHY, but he either will not, or there is no good reason aside from the fact that sometimes he loses a game they play and he hates that, and he does not get to do exactly what he wants to do the whole day when he is there, like every other day of his life. Lucas's world, and I suspect the latter, since in the evenings he will say how much fun he had, who he played with and always tells me if he cried for whatever reason.

DRAMATIC, is all I have to say, moodier than a teenage girl and a perfect actor too, with that sour puss face.

Oh well, he will be in for it when kindergarten starts in just over a year, school every day. He might as well enjoy the only two days he has to go to now.
Its going to be a long school career for him-and me, if this attitude keeps up. I am tired thinking about it