A bike, a Mike and a bruised face

On Thursday, I walked into the school and immediately 2 teachers and the school director came walking right up to me, "We are so sorry about what happened to Michael."  I responded with, "Ah, what happened?"    "Oh we didn't get to call you but we posted a note in Michael's chart so you'd see when you clock him out."  "Ahh okay."  I immediately walked over to the chart and saw the following note...

"Michael fell today while riding his bicycle at recess.  We treated his facial injury with an ice pack."

The director then continued to say or maybe I should say "try to justify" what happened.  She said, "I guess Michael was riding the tricycle today and he was going really fast.  Then he turned and the bike tripped over.  I guess he fell face first and the handlebar was between his face and the ground.  He's going to have a really bad bruise."

I immediately went to find Michael and he was busy playing outside and his back was to me.  As soon as I walked outside to pick him up, two more teachers from the 3 and 4 year old classrooms came over and explained the situation to me again. "We are so sorry to see what happened to Michael.  He was going too fast and although we didn't see it happen, it looks really bad."  That's when I looked past them and called to Michael.   He turned around and immediately I saw the handlebar imprint across his left eyebrow, the bridge of his nose and his entire right cheek.  It was swollen and bright red as if it had just happened.  However, I didn't see the remnants of tears so I asked about how long ago it happened.  "Oh it happened this morning around 9:45. 

Really? But I didn't get a phone call I said.  "Oh yea that's because we didn't think it was that bad but now it is looking really painful."  Huh, as I grabbed him by the hand and walked with his brother out of the school.

Don't get me wrong, I do like our school, but if you could see the looks I'm getting now every time I take Michael out, I just feel like I have to justify to everyone exactly what happened and that I do not hurt my child. 

As of today, 3 days after the accident, his face is still swollen and the bruises are coming out.  Although the pictures do not do it justice, here are the pictures of our poor little guy on Thursday night...

Last night Michael wanted to help me clean.  Honestly he did.  So when he was done I asked hi about his bruise.  Here's Michael's explanation of what happened...

Until next time,
Angie

A football and a fence

Today Gabriel was out back playing football by himself.  He would throw the football and then he'd run to pick it up and then throw it again.  I watched him as I stacked the dishwasher.  He seemed to be having a great old time until he threw the football directly at the fence. 

Here's what happened...

Let me see, if I jump maybe I can reach it.

Reeeaaaacchhhhhh!

JUUUUUMMMPPP



Defeated

 Until nex time,
Angie

The things they say...

It seems I can't go through one day without laughing at once of the silly things they say.  For example tonight Michael was coloring his Abraham Lincoln picture green at the table and asked, "Mom, what is today?"  I replied that today is Monday and he responded, "Oh good because I only like green on Monday."  And I only like blue on Friday.  Good thing today isn't Friday huh mom?"

And example number 2:  It was obvious that on this President's Day (a non-holiday for mom and dad) at school the boys must have had a lot of one on one attention.  Michael came home with a color book of Abraham Lincoln and he told a story about Lincoln grew up in a small cabin, he became a lawyer and then the 15th President of the United States.  I was a little blown away as I honestly couldn't recite half of the history facts my 3 year old had just shared with me.  Then later at shower time tonight Michael said "Mom, I'm going to be the President of the United States when I grow up."  I said, "Wow, Michael, that would be great!  You can be anything you want to be."  He then followed up his profound statement with the following.  "Well first, I'm going to be a Pirate and then I'll be a President, okay mom?"

And it isn't just Michael with all the comedic remarks... tonight Gabriel accompanied Dad and Jack on their nightly walk.  Gabriel was insistent on stopping by our neighbors house.  Andy, Barb and their two girls are some of the boy's favorite people to visit.  We are lucky to have such great neighbors and they truly spoil the boys, bringing over gifts it seems once a week.  Gabriel decided he just HAD to stop at their house to tell them he is going to play baseball and that he is going to Kindergarten.  Dad decided it was okay, since we needed to thank them for the gifts they had just brought the boys last night, so they stopped and since Andy was still at work, Barb, the girls, Gabriel and Daddy had a nice a visit.  Upon leaving their house Gabriel turned to Jarrett and said, "Daddy I really like them.  Do you think sometime Kinsey (age 11), Kendall (age 13) and Barb (the mom) can come have a sleepover with Me?"

Until next time,
Angie

Sissors talk

The boys have been very interested in cutting. Usually once a day they ask me if they can cut some paper, cut ads out of the paper or cut "things" as Michael calls it.  Just to clarify, we only let them cut paper.

This afternoon while I was working in the kitchen the boys spent almost 2 hours cutting out the letters in their name, coloring the letters and taping the letters in order on a piece of paper.

While they were cutting, we had quite the conversation.  Here are a few of the highlights...

Gabriel:  Mom, what is God's favorite movie?
Mom:  I don't know Gabriel, what do you think God's favorite movie is?
Gabriel:  Mom, I know.  I like People.

As the movie Pirates of the Caribbean played in the background Michael asked, "Mom, is this Pirates of Beano?"

Gabriel: "Mom, did you know what dad and I did last week when we went hiking?
Mom:  "What did you do?"
Gabriel: "Mom, we talked and we walked"
Mom:  "Oh really?"
Gabriel: "Yea Mom, that's all we did.  We talked and walked... that's hiking.  Did you know?"

Michael:  "Mom, when I get big I want to have a purse like you."
Mom: "Really Michael?"
Michael:  "Yes Mom but I will have it full of toys"

Mom: "Boys do you know we are going to have you baptized this summer in Iowa?"
Gabriel: "Mom, what does it mean to be baptized?"
Mom:  "Remember Gabriel, we saw it at church a few weeks ago?"
Gabriel: "Mom, I know what baptized is.  Baptized is when it gets so hot here that you have to go on vacation to Iowa." 


And after all the fun conversations we had the boys actually made a nice picture...

Until next time,
Angie

Haircuts

The boys have needed a haircut for the last few weeks but it just seemed like I didn't get around to getting it done.  The last time I cut their hair it turned out okay but Michael's was a little short in front, he just wouldn't stop turning! 

I debated about taking them to get their haircut by a professional but being that my mom is a hairdresser, I am cheap and refuse to pay every few weeks to get the boy's hair trimmed.  I guess what I've been doing lately is determining if we have something special coming up and if so, I decide to not risk the chance that I could make a huge mistake, and I take them to a salon.

Today I decided, the risk wasn't that big, so I did my best to trim up their hair.  Here are a few shots of the boys before and after their haircut by mom...

Before

After

Before... This is Michael's zoned out look, he was watching Scobby Doo!

After

Until next time,
angie

Bob and Barb!

My aunt and uncle from Iowa, Bob and Barb have been here for the past few weeks and we've really enjoyed having them in town.  They are staying at my parents vacation home which is only a few minutes away from our house.  We get to see them a couple times a week and the boys have really enjoyed getting to know them as well.  In fact just the other night, Gabriel asked me if Bob and Barb could just stay at Grandpa and Grandma's house all year. 

Here are some photos of their visit...

Here's Gabriel giving Barb their Valentines Day card!

Bob and Michael

Grandma Barb and Gabriel!



The boys and Barb or Barbie as they like to say

 Bob and Barb haven't been able to come out to Phoenix the last couple of winters, so it has sure been nice to have them here this year.  We hope they can come again next year too, but were not letting them leave just yet, we'll cherish the times we can get together again this trip before they have to return to snowy Iowa.

Until next time,
Angie

The Valentine Holiday...

The boys and I got up early last Saturday and tried to let Daddy sleep in.  He's been so busy working a lot that he was really tired and so it was his turn to sleep in.  I did my best to try and find a quiet activity so we decided to make some homemade Valentine Cards...

Here's Gabriel's finished product

We made a mess but had fun!

Working very hard on a Valentine!

Michael's finished product!

When Dad got up, the boys were VERY excited to give dad the special Valentine they had made him.

Daddy and Michael sharing a Valentine hug!

The Valentines Celebration was also in full swing at the boy's school.  Each of them were able to bring Valentines for all the friends in their class.  Gabriel was very excited about it and sat down the first day I bought them. He wrote out each card and was finished right away.  For Michael we ended up doing his valentines the night before.  For some reason Michael decided this project required his bike helmet. 

Michael worked very hard on his Valentines.  He is working on learning how to write his name and has some of the letters down.  Here he is showing off his effort. 

Michael decided 22 cards was too many so Gabriel decided to help him.  Michael wrote the M and H and Gabriel filled in the rest.

Michael's finished product!

He was so proud of himself and worked very hard in writing his letters.

Gabriel being a great helper big-brother.

Here's Gabriel telling Michael he didn't do one of his M's nice enough.  He insisted Michael write them neatly.

Bieber Fever...

First off, I must start off this post with a disclaimer.  I can't believe I'm actually going to admit this but here it goes... I like Justin Bieber.  I don't like him in the way 13-year-old girls from across this world do, I like a couple of his songs and I think he's talented.  For that reason, I'll admit it, I like him. There, I said it.  Let the shame come down on me.

Even more embarrassing is that a few weeks ago I added to his popularity, fame and bank load of money by purchasing his CD.  I had to, I tried to just download the one song I like, but later found out it is only exclusively sold at Wal-Mart.  Given that my husband has forbid me from purchasing anything at that store, you can understand how big of a deal it was for me to actually get the entire CD.  I guess I really wanted it and Jarrett made me promise that this would be my Valentines Day present.  I agreed and now everyday I listen to it on my way to and home from work. 

Although most of the time when the boys are in the car, we don't have the radio or any music on because they are too busy asking me questions or talking that I can't hear it anyway.  However, there have been a few occasions where the music was on in the background and although I didn't realize it, the boys were actually listening.

A few weeks ago Michael asked me to turn the volume up when Justin's Baby song came on.  I'm sure most Americans have heard the song at some point.   In case you haven't here's a link to it... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yee0BYexqrEIt is almost one of those songs similar to the "It's a Small World" song at Disneyland.  Once you hear it, it is stuck in your head and you can't get it out.  For this exact reason Jarrett despises the song and refuses to let me sing it or turn it on when he's in the car.  It's a request I've learned not to ask him twice about considering.

So when Michael asked me to turn up the volume we listened to "Baby, Baby, Baby!" all the way home.  Then one day last week, I picked Michael up from school and one of the first things he told me was, "Guess what Mom?... Raven (his best buddy and girlfriend at school) and me, we like Bieber and we sing together."  I responded, "Really Michael, what do you sing?"  And he instantly busted into the "Baby" song. 

Now it seems it isn't just Mom that has the Bieber fever, Michael does too.  He'll be walking around the house singing "Baby" and every morning he does his best to slick his hair over to the forward side of his face, just as Justin does.  I made the mistake originally by calling it the Bieber, the first day he tried combing his own hair because I knew it would catch Jarrett's attention.  It worked.  He now insists on having his hair look like that each day before school, meanwhile Jarrett gives me the look of "seriously, look what you did" as we race off to school each day.

I have to admit, I think Michael's version is really unique but pretty darn cute.  I cornered him last night and asked him to sing a little bit of it for us.  Here's Michael's version of the ever so popular Baby song... (sorry for the angle of the camera, I couldn't figure out how to turn it once I downloaded it).  Oh and it ends with an extra performance by his brother, Kung Fu Gabriel.

Until next time,... baby, baby, baby!
Angie

HOME RUN!

I picked Gabriel and Michael up on Friday to find that Gabriel was enjoying a sucker provided to him by his teacher Ms. Stacey.  I knew from the moment I saw him, especially with a sucker in his mouth, that it had been a good day.

Ms. Stacey was still at the school and said, He did it!  He was wonderful again today.  Good Job Gabriel I'm proud of you, you hit a home run!"  I joined in the celebration and told them (as Michael had been good too) that we'd get something special for them and do something fun to reward them making good choices.

So we treated them by getting them one of their favorite snacks... Fruit by the Foot!  And on top of that Gabriel got to go today to have a special bonding adventure with dad.  They went hiking for the first time together.  With such a beautiful day here in the desert it was a perfect day to take advantage and do something extra special for Gabriel.  Here's the photo of them before they left.  He was so excited to get to spend time together just him and his dad, I went to take a picture just of him before they were leaving to go hiking and he said, "No mom, I want Dad to be in it too."

Here they are...

We are proud of you Gabriel! 
Until next time,
Angie

PS: Never mind the tiny rat-like dog in the background.  That's our Jack.  Dad took him in to get groomed today and Jarrett decided to have them shave him.  He figured then we wouldn't have to take him in as often and it would save us money.  Poor Jack, he's freezing now, even though it is 75 outside.

Were going for a home run!

Gabriel’s on his way to making a home run…Gabriel will start playing baseball in a few short weeks. He’s been talking about it and although he’d much rather play tackle football like one of his other 5-year old friends, I personally think we can wait a little bit longer before we start playing true out tackle football. Thankfully, he’s also been interested in baseball and basketball so we’ve convinced him it is okay to wait and thus he’ll be starting spring baseball soon.
I said he is on his way to making a home run but in reality the home run he is working on has nothing to do with baseball. When I took Gabriel to school on Tuesday his teacher greeted me and asked if Gabriel has stopped taking naps at home. The truth is that we are trying to wean him off of his daily naps as he will be starting full-day kindergarten in the fall and there are no naps at his school. So on the weekends, we have been testing it out to see how Gabriel’s acting or feeling, and from there, we determine if he needs to take a nap or not. I’m finding that although he can go one day without a nap, it seems the next day he is really tired.

On a quick side note, our boys have been good sleepers since the day they came to be with us. I can’t complain, actually I’m very thankful. They each go to sleep around 7:30 each night and sleep until around 6:00 or 6:30 every morning. Then, they take a full 2 hour plus nap each day. Talking with our friends, we understand that this is really good, and I’ll say it again, I am thankful! Jarrett and I both really like our sleep.


Now getting back to school and Gabriel's teacher's question...Without going into all of the details for Ms. Stacey I said, he still takes a nap most of the time. She said "Oh, well yesterday Gabriel decided he wasn’t going to take a nap, which is fine, but during nap time he was making a lot of noise and not being courteous of others in our class who were taking a nap. So I need his help in making good choices about how we behave during nap time." Being that he was just as involved in the conversation as I was, he looked up at me and was embarrassed he had been caught.  He said, I’ll make good choices during nap time today. And the conversation ended as I raced out the door.

When I picked him up on Tuesday afternoon the first thing he said was Mom, I made good choices and I even took a nap.” He said, “Mom will you tell Ms. Stacey that I was good?” I replied, “Do you mean you want me to ask Ms. Stacey if you were good?” “Yea Mom, can you tell her?” He likes to use the word tell instead of ask for some reason. I told him I would and so on Wednesday morning when I took him to school, I planned to ask his teacher how things were the previous day. Before I could even get to his door, Ms. Stacey came out of the classroom and made a beeline straight for Gabriel and me. Expecting another lesson about making good choices, she said, “I just have to tell you how great Gabriel was yesterday. He was wonderful at nap time, he listened and he made good choices all day.” We celebrated!

On Wednesday afternoon when I picked Gabriel up, again, the first thing he said was, “Mom, I was good today again. Will you tell Ms. Stacey?” We went through the same conversation and I told him I’d talk to her again on Thursday morning.

So today when I picked him up, she smiled as she greeted us and said, “Yes,Gabriel was wonderful again yesterday!"  Then she looked down at Gabriel who was between us and said "You know what Gabriel, you are on your way to a Home Run!"  She then explained to him exactly what a home run meant and that he had two more days of making good choices and he would have it."  She said do you think you can do it?"  Gabriel just smiled and bashfully grabbed her leg, he then looked up and said, "I'll try Ms. Stacey." 

I smiled and left again for my day at work.  Tonight, when I picked them up, I was curious to know how the day went and to my surprise Ms. Stacey, who is usually always gone home by the time I pick the boys up, was still at the school.  I just happened to see her in another classroom talking with some parents when all of a sudden she started waving her hands for me to come in to talk with her.  I promise I'm not always a negative thinker but honestly, usually when a teacher asks to talk to me, it is usually for something I need to address and usually not good news.  I opened the door to oblige Ms. Stacey when she beamingly said, "Gabriel's on his way to a HOME RUN!!!! He was excellent today too!"

I picked Gabriel up and congratulated him again.  I told him if he has 4 days of good behavior (which means being quiet at nap time, listening to his teachers and making good choices) we would celebrate with him.  I'm very proud of him and I'm hoping tomorrow we will get to celebrate. 

I'm not going to get the cart in front of the horse, but I am going to cross my fingers and pray that his first HOME RUN will come even before his first day in baseball.

Until next time,
Angie

Hugs and Toots…

This morning when I woke Michael up, he stood up and bed and reached for a hug. I grabbed him around the waist and gave him a big tight squeeze! Just as I embraced him and told him I loved him, he tooted. We both started to giggle and then he said, “Mommy , you hugged the toots right out of me.”

Until next time,

Angie

No Training Wheels Needed…

This year for Christmas Santa brought Michael his first and very own bicycle. Although his brother has been very good about sharing his bicycle before Michael got his, it is amazing how much more they both like to bike now that they can each have their own.

One of the neighbor boys who lives across the street and who is probably 7 is always riding his bike and lately Gabriel has been asking when he will get to have the training wheels off of his bike, like the neighbor boy. Jarrett and I being the cautious, actually clueless (would be the more accurate term) parents we are, weren’t quite sure when or how old a child had to be training wheel-less. So, when Gabriel would ask we’d just delay the inevitable and say, maybe when you are six or maybe in a few months. We knew the time was coming and this weekend Jarrett realized Gabriel was ready.

Dad was outside with the boys on Saturday watching them while they were riding bike, when all a sudden the back door came flying open and Gabriel bolted into the house shouting MOM!!!!! I’ve gotten to the point where I’ve become numb to the seemingly urgency of the situation, usually they just want a drink of water, have to go potty or want me to get them something. So when Gabriel came running in shouting, I decided to wait until he came to me. As he wandered through the house, he found me working on the laundry and shouted, “MOM, GUESS WHAT?????…. DAD is taking OFF MY TRAINING WHEELS!!!”

“Really?”, I responded with a similar level of excitement not only because I wanted him to remain as excited as he was, but also because in my mind, it really is a big milestone for him.

I proceeded to follow him to the backyard where Jarrett and I looked at each other and knew we were going to have to relocate to the front driveway and street. Gabriel was so excited as Dad unscrewed the bolt from the training wheel and watched with every step as his growing level of independence increased. As Dad removed the second training wheel from the back of his bike, Gabriel was jumping up and down, saying “I’m so excited!” over and over. I then realized that this was definitely a video camera moment so I told everyone to wait until I ran into the house and grabbed the video camera.

As I came running back out of the house and into the driveway, Michael was already situated on his bike and getting ready to watch Gabriel get on his bike and begin to pedal for the first time as a “big kid” Dad got Gabriel situated in the flat and smooth part of the street, held the back of Gabriel’s seat while he climbed on and proceeded to tell Gabriel to go ahead and try pedaling. With his first push down on the pedal he took off with Dad racing behind trying to keep him balanced and keep up. With the bike height only reaching the top of Jarrett’s knee, I have to say it was a pretty funny scene watching Dad all discombobulated in different directions, trying to hold the bike, give instructions, watch for traffic and keep up as Gabriel continued to pedal down the street. After going about 50 feet Gabriel stopped, realized what he had just done and celebrated with high fives and hugs. I was thankful I was holding the camera as I have to admit, I was even a little teary-eyed.  He's growing up so quickly, it is wonderful but sometimes I want to slow time down so I can savor and take in every moment for a few days. 

As we continued to celebrate, all of a sudden we realized that Michael had been biking down the sidewalk and wasn't stopping.  Within a matter of feet he'd be turning the corner of the sidewalk and would be out of our sight.  I yelled for Michael but being that he was all the way down the street he couldn't hear us and continued going as fast as he could.  I turned to Jarrett, yelled for him to go get Michael.  Jarrett told Gabriel to wait and took off running down the street yelling for Michael. I thought the situation was a tad funny so I continued recording the entire scene.

Just as I was zooming in on Jarrett running down the street something in the corner of my eye caught my attention and I looked to see that Gabriel had become impatient in waiting for dad to return and decided he wanted to try his 2-wheel bike all by himself.  I instantly turned the camera and there Gabriel was pedaling all by himself without any help, looking like he had been doing it for the last 2 years.  I started cheering and screaming for Jarrett to turn around.  Gabriel continued to pedal and before I could fully understand just how far he was going by himself, he was all the way down the street catching up with Jarrett who had finally caught Michael.

I can't decide if Gabriel is just a natural at riding bike or was probably ready to have his training wheels removed several months ago.  Nonetheless we are extremely proud of him and so happy to have shared yet another first with him.

Until next time,
Angie

PS: Unfortunately because I was taking a video I don't have any pictures yet.  I can't figure out the video thing yet but once I do, I'll be happy to share.

Let us... PRAY!

The boys are pretty use to going to church.  In fact, if there is any day that they can keep straight about what we do on each day, it is Sunday.  If you ask the boys what we do on Sunday, they answer "go to church"  Although they are not always that excited about it and would much rather stay home and play, they go and try to sit quietly for an hour.  For the most part they do a very good job.

Their favorite parts of the service are when we get to greet everyone at the beginning, the part where we hold hands and pray the lords prayer, the "peace be with you" part and the time when we leave.  Michael seems to be pretty into the service, he often times tries to sing the songs, usually only getting the "alleluias", he is very good about shaking every one's hand he can, even if it means he has to go up and down the entire pew to greet everyone in the row we are in as well as in front and behind us.  Oh and sometimes he's so into showing kindness and love to others that he randomly hugs every person in our row as he says, "Peace be with you." 
Just last week there was another dad sitting next to us and when it came time to say "peace" Michael did one of his "fully steam ahead" hugs right into the dad's center.  It just so happens Michael's head hit at just the right height to greet the dad in one of those "sensitive areas".  He was very kind though and just said, "What a friendly little boy".  I think Jarrett apologized for the unexpected hit.
I think I've mentioned before that sometimes I'm surprised that they actually listen to most things going on around them. I'm learning about this new philosophy called, "Selective Hearing"  but I'll share more about that on another day. Anyway, today was no exception, we went to church.  The service had just started and we were all standing, and quietly bowing our heads getting ready to pray.  Just as he does every Sunday Father Gary began by saying, "Let Us"...(pause) and before he could begin his final word, Michael shouted PRAY!

It all happened so fast, before I fully realized that it was indeed my son that had just interjected his comment into the mass, I looked down, then up immediately to see everyone, and I mean everyone around us, looking directly at Michael and start laughing.  I looked back down to make sure another outburst was not about to come out when I realized Michael didn't even do it for laughs.  He was just trying to actively participate in the service and he was perplexed why everyone was looking at him.  Thankfully Father Gary continued on with only a slight smirk on his face and I tried to mask the light shade of pink that had come over my face.

Until next time,
Angie