Nothing much

Wow, this week has flown by and I don't have much to report tonight. We moved this week at work. We have this new & supposedly "improved" lighting in our new area but let me tell you........under this new light I have decided I look like I could play a part in a horror movie. My eyes are especially bloodshot by the end of the day from staring at a computer all day, my complexion has been especially bad lately so all in all, let's just say I certainly won't be winning any beauty contests. I really need to get it together with my weight too. Once again I've gained and I'm so mad at myself. I just feel BLAH! With spring around the corner I really need to get going. I do have a plan - it's just whether that plan will work and whether or not I can stick with it. Ugh - it's a constant battle! I'll post some pictures this weekend. The weather looks good so I'm looking forward to that.

Mary's dinner

My college roommate and dear friend, Mary, got married in December. Mary has been a really good friend to me and she is so nice and genuine. I had fretted what to get her for her wedding. Mary is a successful, established woman - so I was really in a quandary as to what to get her but I knew I wanted to do something special for her. My mom came up with the idea of hosting a dinner for her so that's what we did. My mom was kind enough to open her home and her and I worked together to make the meal. It was so fun and intimate. My sister and Mary's mom and brother joined us. Congrats again, Mary and John!

The newlyweds!

My mom preparing her beautiful table.

The grill master, my husband! He prepared the meat, transported the grill and grilled the meat for us. Thanks Mike, you're the best husband!

Conversations with Jay

I had two very funny conversations with Jay recently. Jay is my child with more of a dry sense of humor - and he doesn't just blurt out whatever comes into his head like his brother. I was preparing for a dinner party for my dear friend, Mary (I'll include details on that in another blog) and I had to go to the liquor store to buy some wine. When I pulled into the parking lot my conversation with Jay went like this: Jay, "Mom, you know dad doesn't like it when you take me to a liquor store." Mom, "Well he just didn't like it when I took you to University Liquors (a totally trashy liquor store - not one of my better parenting moments) but this liquor store is a little more upscale." (Yes, I was really reaching at this point). As we were walking in I could hear Jay muttering something behind me. I turned around and asked him what he was mumbling about under his breath. His response, "I'm just talking to Jesus, telling him you're taking me into another liquor store." Let me finish this story by clearing something up. I rarely take my kids to a liquor store but there has been an occasion where I need to stop and get wine - usually for a party I'm having and never because I just "feel like it." But Jay has the memory of an elephant and I'm sure will remind me for years to come how I "dragged" him into liquor stores - Pleazeeee. Then just the other day we were driving to visit my dad in the nursing home. This is not one of Jay's most favorite things to do and he asked me why we had to visit Grandpa Brad. My response is always simple and it's always the same, "Because he's my dad." I then tried the whole put yourself in someone else's shoes and pointed out to him that one day - if he's ever in a home - wouldn't he want someone to come visit him? He didn't miss a beat and responded with (and Aunt Karen, this one is for you), "No, I just like to be left alone." Spoken like the true introvert that he is - god love him.

Look mom, I got braces

It's hard to believe I'm at the stage where I'm paying a monthly orthodontic bill but I am. Jay is a little young for braces but we we're told back in the fall that he has such a severe cross bite we needed to get started. He's has a metal retainer glued to the roof of his mouth and he we graduated to hooking in the dreaded "night gear." Now he's in braces and still wearing the night gear. What a process! But once it's all said and done it will only add to his beautiful smile he has already!

"Ugly" entertainment

As usual my boys provided me with some good entertainment this morning. I had asked Jay twice to stop doing something and he didn't. By the third time I was losing patience and told him that if he didn't stop I was really going to get "ugly." The rest of the conversation went like this:
Nick, "We don't want to have an ugly mommy."
Jay, "Yeah, because you know mom already has gray hairs!"

This is how I found Nick this afternoon. Jay looked just as muddy except he didn't have the spikey mud hair and face. Jay decided he would spike Nick's hair with mud and Nick - being the eager to please younger brother - agreed. Nick had mud EVERYWHERE - in his nose, ears, and not to mention all over his face. It took a lot of scrubbing which he did not like it. Geez, what a mess! The boys knows that when they choose to get this muddy then before they even enter the garage they have to get hosed down in our back yard. It's mid-March in central Illinois so it's only 50 some degrees. One can imagine how cold it is to have hose turned on you! But the boys always seem willing to "suffer the consequences" in order to get their mud fix.

Strong Willed - maybe?

I'm a blogging fool this week. The reality is that from 8:30 until 9:00 there isn't a lot to do - did I just write that? I'm not quite ready for bed yet and my husband is a T.V. hog. We have one T.V. in the entire house - Yes, another shocking statement and the way I see it is Mike works so hard everyday. His only down time is from about 8:00 - 9:30 every night. Besides these days I only watch Army Wives and The Good Wife so I'm really not into T.V. too much. So, during those 30 minutes I tend to crawl under my electric blanket and blog. Over the weekend I went to the Hearts At Home conference - loved it. It was money and time well spent. I went with my good friends, Jen and Kristi. Each of us have two kids and we each have one strong willed child. Can you guess which one mine is? JAY - god love him! But here's the thing - as Jay has gotten older I'm not convinced he's as strong willed as I once thought he was. He comes from a mother who was over the top strong willed and I'm so not a strong willed adult but let me tell you, I was as a kid - all the way through high school until about the time my parent's got a divorce and I was smart enough to realize my mom couldn't deal with divorcing my dad and dealing with me - it had to be one or the other so I straightened myself out rather quickly. Ha. When Jay was smaller I would draw a line and he'd cross it every time. He would also argue with me over everything. The sky could be totally blue, without a cloud in it and I'd comment what a beautiful blue sky there was and he'd say, "No, it's not, I don't see a blue sky." Often times I think I misconstrue Jay's impulsivity with him being strong willed. He's got some of the great qualities of a strong willed child. He's tender hearted and he is extremely determined. My friend, Kristi, made a great analogy. She said if you have a straight line and at one end is a complaint child and the other end is a strong willed child and then you draw a line in the middle - Nick would fall a little more on the side of a complaint child but not to the extreme complaince side and Jay would fall a little more on the side of a strong willed child but again, not to the extreme. In any case I so enjoy the differences between my children and I can only hope I can figure their song and help them sing it.
Did you like that little.......find their song and help them sing it? I learned that from my conference this week. Check out www.kendrasmiley.com. She and her husband wrote "Parenting Like A Pro," and "Journey of a Strong Willed Child." I loved their presentation and I am loving their "Journey of a Strong Willed Child" book.

Conferences

Every spring Mike and I have a conference with Jay and Nick's teachers. In our school district you only have a spring conference if the teacher feels the student needs it - We conference for both boys every spring! Anyway, tonight my heart is full of joy. We've had good conferences before and others that weren't so good. The conference today was different. Jay's teacher told me that Jay volunteers in class, he raises his hand and participates in class discussions. She commented this was something she's just recently noticed about Jay - in other words - in my mother's heart - it took him until the 3rd grade to finally feel confident enough to participate in class discussions. Jay is my quiet, introverted child and he's lacked confidence (as far as school is concerned) for several years so to hear he's actively participating in class discussions I was literally bursting with joy. All those times I saw Jay bent over the breakfast bar in tears because he couldn't figure out his homework and all those times he would say he felt dumb was all a distant memory today. Jay sat in the conference with us and he never said a word (big surprise, ha) but I consistently saw him grinning. I was so proud of him. His reading scores improved and he tested out in fourth grade math, Yes, that's right fourth grade math!!!!! Trust me people, this is a really big deal! His teacher also made it a point to tell us how hard Jay works. This is a compliment I have heard before about Jay and one I never get tired of hearing, it's one of his greatest attributes.
Nick's teacher also had glowing things to say about him. She said he's ready for Kindergarten and he's gotten leaps and bounds better at writing his name. She said academically she thinks he'll do fine but may struggle with some behavior issues, initially - just the basics, listening, focusing, etc..... I love Nick's PreK teacher and she didn't mean that negatively. In fact, this was nothing I didn't hear with Jay when he was in Prek. Nick's teacher will be teaching first grade next year and we joked with her that perhaps since she's had her fill of Nick since he's been with her for two years. But she laughed and said Nick is one of the students she would enjoy having again, that she loves his daily stories. We were all thankful that Nick no longer thinks his address is the pool where we swim at every summer!!! Ready or not, Kindergarten here we come.

Brotherly Joy

All my blogs lately have reflected on the terror Jay often inflicts on his brother but this week is an entirely different story. I asked Jay this morning if he took his "be nice to Nick pill" this week! Ha. I'm happy to report the boys have gotten along beautifully this week. Mike being the only child that he is actually thinks this is a permanent thing - like Jay has figured out his life is just easier when he's nice to his brother. I say bless my husband for thinking that but I know the tide will turn, it's just a matter of when but until it does I'm enjoying the harmony in my house.

Both boys stuffed all of Nick's animals in the laundry tub. Normally Jay has no tolerance for Nick's animals but notice how he has his arm around Giant Penguin.

This picture has nothing to do with anything but doesn't it look familiar? I have posted many pictures of Mike and Jay on my blog in this place (the breakfast bar) working on homework. Nick has been having trouble writing his name so Mike has really been working with him. I'm happy to report that Nick is writing his name really well. He still has trouble with the K but he's getting it.

Whales vs. Squids

I just never know what Nick is going to say next. Just the other morning I had gotten Nick up. He was in the bathroom, standing over the toliet doing his business when he boomed, "Mom, did you know that whales are tougher than squids?" Well No, Nick, I didn't know that but I appreciate the science lesson first thing in the morning.
The other day my mom was in the car with Nick. Before I go into this story I have to tell you that Nick isn't crazy about school and Yes, he isn't even in Kindergarten yet. He complains about school and complains even more when he has to write his name.
Nick, "Nana, I want to be a police officer when I grow up."
Nana, "That's great, Nick, but in order to be a police officer you have to go to school."
There is a long pause from Nick and then, "Do you have to go to school to be a fireman?"
Nana, "Yes, Nick,"
Nick, "OH COME ON!!!"
Nick finally told my mom he would be a semi truck driver. That seemed to make him happy because my mom told him that semi truck drivers needed to know how to read and he seemed to think he could conquer that school task. Let the "fun" elementary school years begin!

And the alligator goes SNAP

My boys have a typical older brother/younger brother relationship. Nick thinks his older brother is the be all and end all and Jay quite frankly loves to terroize Nick. I'm always bracing myself for what Jay will do next. Jay's impulsivity, his physicalness and love of sending his brother over the edge is often times just a bad combination. No one can make Nick angrier than Jay and Nick is my happy go lucky child but he can turn as red as a lobster with steam coming out of his ears within 10 seconds of Jay threatening his penguins or giraffes! But as is typical with a younger sibling........Nick takes his lead from Jay. No matter how much Jay has terrorized Nick during the day, Nick forgets every "bad deed" his brother has done to him if Jay asks him to do something with him. And sometimes Nick walks right into Jay's trap. It's like watching an alligator come up every so slowly to his prey and when they aren't suspecting a thing their big jaws come out and go SNAP!!! There are some days - this being one of them - that I see Jay demonstrate the wonderful qualities of what a great big brother he is. They have enjoyed playing "Monster Jam" on the living room floor together and Jay taught Nick how to play the game, "Sorry." And as I've blogged before there is no one who has Nick's back more than Jay..........Jay can terrorize Nick all he wants but by-golly nobody else better.

Happy Birthday Nana x 4

What a special birthday for my mom - not only is she a fabulous 60 year old but she has four grandchildren and she retires in May!! We really didn't need an excuse to celebrate but we did!

Nana with Nick and his new penguin from Aunt Faith. Nick named this penguin Star Rose??? Everytime he gets a new penguin or giraffe he names them and I often wonder how he comes up with the names.

Nana and her only grandaughter, Lauren! I just love this picture. It is hard to get Lauren to take a good picture - She's 3 after all. But she wanted to help my mom open her presents so I told her in order to do that she had to smile for a picture first. I'd say my "bribery" worked perfectly!

Nana and her youngest, Luke! He is 6 lbs now and so cute! We are all enjoying having a baby in the family again - especially me since I don't have to get up at night and feed it. Hee, Hee!

Nick's secret

Nick wasn't quite feeling like himself so I kept him home from school today and he spent the morning with his grandparents. I called my mother in law mid morning to check on him and she quitely told me they were working on art-work for me for my birthday. I heard Nick chirp in the background that he wanted to talk to me. As Linda handed the phone to him I heard him whisper to her, "Grandma, don't tell mom we're making her something for her birthday." He then got on the phone and I asked him what he was doing. His response, "I'm working on art work with Grandma but it's not for your birthday!" And that is how "good" Nick is at keeping a secret.

Happy Birthday, Mom!

My mom will be turning 60 on March 2. Not only are we excited about the big 6-0 but she retires in May. Her family is officially complete with two daughters and four grandchildren - all of whom live with 30 miles of her - if that is what 60 looks like then I'm all over it. I wanted to write a little "Ode to mom" on her 60th. I tried to incorporate a little humor in it but I also tried to really think back on some of the things my mom has said or done for me that I really remember and trust me, that is really a stretch for me b/c my long term memory kind of stinks - hence why I blog.
*First off, she puts up with me calling her at least twice a day. When she's on vacation or not working I tune it up a knotch and will talk to her usually three times a day!
*Nothing and I mean nothing my children do surprises her. I LOVE that about my mom. I can truly be horrified by something the boys have done and my mom has never gasped in horror. Often times she reminds me that she mothered me. She jokes that when she was pregnant with me she prayed for a challenging child and clearly the Lord delivered.
*I can always count on my mom to tell me the truth about my hair! Right now I'm getting the stamp of approval!
*I remember the night I met Mike. It was a cold and rainy April night. I was home from college and depressed and it was late (Mike didn't pick me up until 9:00). One thing my mom and I have in common is we are not night owls. In fact we really shut down after 8:00 - it's actually quite pathetic. Anyway, I didn't feel like going on a blind date that night and I went to ask my mom if I should even go - hoping she would discourage me from going and tell me to reschedule the date - but she didn't, she told me to do something with my hair (big surprise), get dressed and have a good time. And the rest of that story is history.
*I also vividly remember the three weeks that Jay and I lived with her in the fall of 2004. We had just closed on our house Mike had built but it was inhabitable for two year old. While Mike finished the house, Jay and I "lived" with mom. We would talk every night, cut up apples for Jay and he'd eat out of his monster bowl. Somewhere during that time frame she stopped me one day, looked me in the eye and told me I was a good mother and I was really good with Jay! Those are words that any daughter craves to hear - especially from a mother as fine as mine! And as any parent knows and feels, half the time I'm counting up all the mistakes I'm making and not counting the good things I do. A reminder from a respected and loved family member that I'm a good mother is always a good thing. Thanks Mom!
I could go on and on but I'll wrap it up. Mom, you are a wonderful mother (back at ya) and a loving Nana! May age 60 and beyond be some of the most fulfilling years of your life.