Copper...........the dog

For years Jay has begged us for a dog.  Jay is a dog/animal lover but we resisted getting a dog for several reasons.  Mike does have allergies and we knew if we ever got a dog we'd have to do some research and find a dog that didn't shed.....much.  Plus with our long commutes to work, we knew having a dog "kooked" up all day really wouldn't be fair to the dog.  That problem got solved when I started working from home so I carefully broached the subject with Mike again and he agreed.  I did not tell Jay his dad and I had been discussing this but right about the time we were he started in on his dog talk again.  You can imagine how over the moon Jay was when we finally told him we'd get a dog.  We researched and decided a Vizsla dog would be the right fit for our family.  The other night the boys and I and my mom went out to a breeders house and got to meet the dogs.  We all fell in love with them.  The momma dog is suppose to get pregnant in December which would mean her pups would be born in February and we would take our puppy home in late March or early April which is perfect for us because we wanted to train a puppy in the spring vs. the winter.  My mom had commented that the dogs are such a pretty color, kind of a red brickish color so I came up with the name Copper and the boys loved it so Copper it is.  I figure that name would fit a girl or boy puppy! 

Lunch privledges reinstated

Not long ago I blogged about getting my feelings hurt by my older son because apparenly I embarass him at school.  I'll admit my feelings were hurt and I spent a week or so licking my wounds and then I moved forward and gave him some space.  Since we've entered a new school year and Nick is in kindergarten I've had lunch with Nick and he actually enjoys my company and the fact that I conversate with his lunch buddies.  So I was half joking the other day when I asked Jay if he would consider reinstating my lunch privledges.......to have lunch with him and his friends again.  He hesitated but only for a second and said he would be happy to have me back but there was a condition, I could not embarass him.  I can tell you exactly what this translates to in Jay's mind..........Be quiet, don't talk to my friends and bring cookies.  I have this picture in my mind of me entering Jay's school with duct tape over my mouth and standing at the entry way of the lunch room throwing bakery cookies like a football to Jay and his friends....each one of his friends catching their delicious cookie and complimenting Jay on what a cool mom he has.....one that keeps her comments to herself and brings cookies.  I'll be the envy of all the 4th grade boys!!!!

Living in the past

As I've mentioned several times Nick is playing soccer this fall and it aint pretty.  Nick is such a glass is half full kind of kid.  He has such a sunny disposition and positive outlook but he truly just doesn't get the game of soccer.  You know it's bad when you hear a majority of parents during the game yelling......"Nick, wrong way."  Yes, my son continually makes goals for the other team!!  So this morning this is how my conversation went with Nick.

Me: "Nick, when we get to your soccer game this morning I'll be sure to tell you where your goalie is so you know exactly where to kick the ball."
Nick: "Oh mom, stop living in the past."

Nothing like family

My mom, sister, Luke and Lauren have been joining us at Nick's soccer games and Jay's home games.  I really enjoy having them come along!  The picture above is my mom and I with Jay before his game today.  Of course he can't smile.  That boy!  Doesn't my mom look great?  She has lost over 20 lbs.  I am so proud of her.  Not only does she look healthier but she's moving a lot better. Keep it up, mom, you're fabulous.

I took the above picture several weeks ago.  It's just another example of how my boys (my boys are on the 4 wheeler and the wagon, the 3rd boy in back is a neighbor) have good times together and it's tied into the kind of day Jay has had.  First off he lost his football game BAD!  They boys did not play well, including Jay.  It was a rough game for all of them.  Then Jay had a birthday party tonight for one of his best buddies but the party was cancelled because the boy is sick.  Needless to say it was kind of a bummer afternoon for Jay but there is nothing like a sibling.  Jay spent some time with his brother playing in the sandbox then he and Nick played out in the trails and they have their sleeping bags all set up to sleep in Nick's room.  Jay would never admit it but having his brother around this afternoon really helped soften his mood from his not so great football game and his disappointment in not being able to go to a much anticipated birthday party.  There is nothing like family.

On my mind

I so wanted a picture of Jay and his football buddies and this is what I got - notice my son right in the middle.  Really Jay?  Geez!

Here are the boys before school this week.  I absolutely love our slower mornings and taking the boys to school.  If I haven't mentioned it before I love working from home and I love my new job.  I can now officially say that since I'm several months into it.  I have to say I thought there were would things I would miss about working in an office but Yeah, I don't.  I miss some of my closest friends but I still stay in regular contact with them.  Overall it was one of the best decisions I ever made - next to going to Parkland College, marrying Mike, moving to Spin Lake, having the boys and accepting this job, all in that order - ha! 
I did have something I wanted to write about tonight but it doesn't really go along with anything I wrote above or the pictures but who cares, right?  I am always trying to learn from other people and last weekend I was impressed with one of the parents of a kid on Jay's football team.  First let me say this particular boy is an awesome football player.  I'm not kididng, this kid is incredible.  He makes touch down after touch down.  Mike affectionately calls him "the go cart" because he's so little and fast and can find the "hole" and race through it.  Last Saturday this boy made several touch downs everytime he scored all of us parents would go on and on about how good this kid was.  Our friend, Ryan, finally said Yeah, well his dad is sitting right in front of you guys.  Mike and I introduced ourselves to the dad and again complimented his son on his amazing abiities to run the ball.  This father was so humble.  He never went on and on but accepted our compliment and simply said he didn't know where his son got his abilities or his love of football because he hadn't gotten it from him.  But never once did you hear this dad scream or act obnxious.  I must admit when Jay gets the ball you can hear me yelling from the stands.........."Run Jay, Run!!!"  I'm not screaming "That's my boy" or anything but you can hear me.  I just thought this dad was really cool.  He was simply at that football game to enjoy watching his son play a game he clearly loves.

Thoughts.......according to Nick

The other day Nick and I were in the car when he asked me if I knew how to say Hello in Chinese.  My first thought was Wow, what are they teaching kids in Kindergarten these days.  I told Nick that I didn't know what the Hello greeting was in China.  A big smile broke across his face as he confidently said.........."Buenos Dias."  I laughed out loud.  I told him that was the Hello greeting in Spanish!  Ha.  The funny thing was we were driving to Jay's football game and when we arrived I shared the funny story with Mike and our friend, Ryan Neal.  Ryan travels to China and knew what the Hello greeting was so Nick learned the proper way to say Hello in China. 
During the rest of our trip (Yes, it was a long drive to this particular football game) Nick asked me if I thought there were stuffed animals in heaven.  I told him that I thought there were.  I started telling Nick about the story I just read Jay, "Heaven is for Real."  It's about a 4 year old boy who goes to heaven for a brief time and then months later shares little snipets of his experience with his parents.  If you haven't read it, I highly recommend it.  Nick pondered what I was telling him and after a minute or so he asked me, "Mom, how did that boy get home from heaven?"  I was honest and told Nick I didn't know the answer to that so Nick and his imagination said, "I know,  I bet Jesus sent him back with a parachute!"  I love Nick and his 5 year innocence. 

The Mountain Dew incident

Jay had a sleep over last night.  When I picked him up this morning the mother apologized profusely because Jay got very little sleep.  She said all the other boys had gotten a decent nights sleep but finally at 2a.m. this mother had to lay down the law when she discovered Jay literally doing sommer saults in her living room, while all the other boys were sound asleep!  Apparently Jay had Mountain Dew for dinner and that was all it took.  This was Jay's first taste of The Dew.  There is a reason we don't let him caffeine and this mother found that out last night.  Ha.  She said she made a mental note to herself to make sure Jay gets Sprite the next time he spends the night.  The good news is even though Jay is running on 4 hours of sleep it hasn't shown in his attitude.  He's a lot like Mike.  He can run on very little sleep and be perfectly fine.  Me, not so much.  I'm sure he'll crash and burn tonight once his head hits the pillow but until then let's just say he won't be drinking anything with caffeine in it especially Mountain Dew!

Fears

My mother in law gave me the idea for this blog so I really hope she does not care that I'm writing about her.  One of the best things about my mother in law is she makes me laugh so by writing this it's meant all in good fun.  Before I start sharing about my mother in law's biggest fears, first let me share mine.  I am PETRIFIED of elevators!!!  I avoid them at all costs.  There are times when I simply can't avoid them - like when I go to a big hotel in a big city and I'm on the 15th floor.  But let me just say, if I can avoid elevators, I do.  When my sister had Lauren at 28 weeks my mom and I frantically drove to the hospital and as my mom started to walk into the dark, smelly and creepy parking garage elevator I refused to get on it.  Instead I made my 57 year old mother with bad knees who was desperate to see her daughter walk the stairs.  Okay, so that's my fear.  My mother in law is scared to death of taking a trip with my father in law and having him die on her during the trip and her having to find her way back home.  I need to add that my father in law is perfectly healthy.  Anyway, my in laws are retired and have an R.V. they take trips so this can really cause my mother in law a lot of anxiety.  Several weeks ago she called me, a little frantic, I might add.  She reported that they were getting ready to take a trip to Mouth Rushmore.  I told her that was great and wished them a safe trip.  There was one problem (the usual one), Linda made me promise that if John died during the trip Mike and I would come get her.  She even said she would pay for our airfare and even contribute $1000 for our time.  Mike' response......$1000 can't buy anything and she has a G.P.S, she can get home with that just fine.  Mike only says that to get his mother more hysterical.  I assured her that if John died mid-trip Mike or I would come find her and safely bring her home, no worries. Thankfully my in laws are back - Alive - from their trip.  I guess all of us have some crazy fears but thankfully we all have family who show us they love us despite them.

Soccer, football, fat lips and scratched faces.......oh my!

Here is Jay on Friday.  The boys wear their jerseys the Friday before a game.  Jay played a great game on Saturday but the boys lost by 1 point.  It was a heartbreaker. 

And here is Nick before his soccer game on Saturday. 

Nick's team with his coach ready to hand shake the other team after the game.  Nick is the fourth child from the coach in line.

And here's Jay, #84, playing another good game of football.  What I don't have pictures of is the fat lip Nick got and the scratched up face Jay got on Saturday after the games.  Jay was driving the riding mower around the yard with the trailer hooked up the mower.  Nick was in the trailer getting a ride - which is typical I might add but what is not typical is he stood up.  Nick knows the rules and knows that standing in a trailer while it's moving is not safe.  Jay stopped the mower and out of the trailer Nick went, whacking his mouth on the way out.  Remember Bubba from Forrest Gump - Well that's how swelled up Nick's lip got.  I am happy to report that it's much better now but as of today the poor kid has the flu.  Now on to Jay and his injuries.  He was at a friends birthday party on Saturday night, running through a corn field and scratched up his entire cheek.  Talk about children of the corn!  My boys are always up to something.  Its never boring around my house!

9/11.....10 years later

I have a lot of pictures to post from our weekend but I didn't want to post them today since it's the 10 year anniversary of 9/11.  Ask anyone and they knew exactly where they were on 9/11/2001 when the first plane hit the World Trade Center.  I happened to be at work.  My boss came in late that morning and I remember I was talking to my co-workers - without a care in the world - when my boss turned the corner and reported she had just heard on the radio that a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center.  My first thought was what kind of pilot makes a mistake like that?   As the day went on I watched CNN from my computer in complete shock.  I was also pregnant with Jay and as the weeks went on I was well aware of all the mom's who were also pregnant but lost their husbands in the attacks.  People sacrificed so much that day and in the days after I was never so proud to be an American.  I went to church today and our minister said when you are knocked to your knees......pray.  It's so simple but true.  Today I pray that we as Americans never forget what happened that horrific day.  I also pray for all the people who lost loved ones that day.  I pray for all the children who never got to know one of their parents.  I pray for our military, our fire and police force who all work everyday to keep us safe.  And what I think has been forgotten and is an appropriate prayer for an upcoming election, I pray this country can come together again like it did on September 12, 2001. 

Brothers

It seems like not a day goes by wherein I remind the boys they are brothers and really what would they do without each other anyway?  I have to say that ages 5 & 9 seem to agree with the boys.  I have noticed in the past 6 months they seem to have really turned a corner in terms of how they interact with each other and get along.  Don't get me wrong.......Jay can still make Nick madder than a hornet and Jay can play I'm the cooler older brother syndrome like no other.  The boys have very different personalities but they have very similiar interests and that's what I try to hone in on.  For example, when they got home from school tonight they took their toy guns out to the woods.  It was such a beautiful day and my windows were open.  I could hear them out in the woods playing cheerfully and making each other laugh which was music to my ears.  After they were done playing "cowboys and indians" they decided to put their swim trunks on and fill the sandbox with water (picture above).  It's chilly in central Illinois right now but the boys didn't seem to care - although I think the look on Nick's face looks like he's cold but he'd never admit it.  The boys were so filthy I put their dinner on paper plates and they ate outside.  They loved it.  It was really a nice evening.  We had no soccer or football practice and the boys were outside, playing together for 4 1/2 hours.  This is the kind of night I try to fresh in my mind so the next time the boys fight I can remind them how much fun they really have together. 

Information overload - I think not!

I've joked several times in my blog that giving birth to Jay was easier than getting information out of him.  I picked Jay and Nick up from school tonight and I was waiting outside with several other moms when Jay appeared.  My first instinct - no matter how annoying it may be to my sons - is to ask how their day is.  I get the same response everyday from Jay, "Good."  Nothing more, nothing less just good.  I mean really how can his day just be good everyday?  Some days and I'll get a lift in his voice and I'll know his day was better than good but he'll still just give me the typical good.  When I asked Nick how his day at Kindergarten was I'm getting almost the same response but he's tweeked it just a bit.  When I asked him what he did at school today he replied, "nothing."  When I asked him what he learned at school he replied, "nothing."  So I said......."If I call Mrs. B. she is going to tell me she did nothing with her Kindergarteners today?"  Nick's face broke into a smile and he said, "Well we did something."  And that's about all I got from him.  Oh boys!!!

Our Labor Day weekend

Once school was out on Friday it was all smiles for our Labor Day weekend.  We didn't have any big plans but we were all happy to have an extra day off from work and school and also not have any football or soccer practice on Monday night.

Last weekend our washer died and we had to purchase a new one.  Mike brought it home on Thursday night and I'm always amazed at the entertainment it provides.  My boys made a bed/fort out of it and when they weren't outside playing they were in that box.  It just never gets old for them.

On Saturday Jay had a football scrimmage.  I took this picture because Mike is the guy in yellow holding the big orange thing (see how much I know about football?).  It made me laugh b/c Mike really doesn't know that much about football.  He knows enough to watch his son play football but seeing him on the field just made me laugh.

On Monday we all gathered at my mom's for the Labor Day Parade and then we had lunch - all provided by mom!  It was nice to spend time with my family and nice that mom made lunch for us - yummy!

Here is all four of the kiddos! 

                                                                                      Nick and Lukie!

What I didn't have a picture of - which I should have as proof that I did it - was we all (all 4 of us) worked 4 1/2 hours on Sunday splitting wood for the winter.  It was a JOB!  I used muscles I haven't used in years and let me tell you, I can feel it today but it was a good sense of accomplishment and now we have plenty of wood for fires in our fireplace this winter.

Four wheeling obsessed

Jay has an obsession and as a girl......I find it so BORING!  He's over the top obsessed with four wheelers.  This obsession started at the very end of second grade but it's reached a whole new level this year.  You know how everyone jokes that hormonal boys dream about girls (sex) all day long when they reach their teenage years, Yeah, well my son isn't hormonal in that sense yet but trust me he's hormonal about four wheelers.  I honestly think he thinks about them constantly and thankfully so far it hasn't interfered with his school work........yet.  The first conversation he has with me in the morning is about...yup, you guessed it, four wheelers.  Then everyday he puts four wheeling magazines into his backpack to take to school so him and his friends can drool over the four wheelers and talk about how many c.c's they have.  I have no idea what c.c's mean but Jay talks about it all the time.  I guess it means how fast a four wheeler can go based on how many c.c's it has.  I don't really know nor do I care.  I've been lucky enough to pick up the boys from school a few days a week (now that I'm working from home) and the first thing Jay talks to me about when he gets in the car is.....Yes, right again, four wheelers.  He seems to talk about them the most when were in the car.........hence I'm trapped with no where to go.  Needless to say there is a lot of me shaking my head and saying, "huh, huh," when Jay talks about the four wheelers.  I'm happy he's got a hobby he loves.........but seriously is four wheeling really a hobby?  I think that's debateable.  But being a girl  who likes to view the glass as half full I am glad he enjoys it so much because it translates to him spending a lot of time outdoors and reading.......Yes, he will read the four wheeling magazines and it's always good for a kid to spend a lot of time outside but Yikes, I don't know how much more four wheeling talk I can take.