Mickey, Michael and Mickey...

A couple of months ago when we were at the denstist office Michael went over in the kid's corner play area.  As I watched what the dentist was saying about Gabriel's diagnosis, Michael was calling for my attention. 
When I looked over he said, "Look Mommy, it is Mickey, Michael and Mickey!" 
I thought it was cute and I just had to share!

Until next time,

Angie

Camping…

Wow, it has been a while since I've had the chance to blog and so much has happened.  Here is my attempt to catch up...

Two weekends ago the boys, Jack, Jarrett and I embarked on our first camping experience as a family. Jarrett, Jack and I have gone in the past but the boys had never been. The boys had been excited about the idea of going camping since Daddy first told them about it. And after we let them pretend camp in a tent in our living room, we couldn’t hinder their excitement any longer. We had to take them to experience the real thing.

I on the other hand, was the resistant one, I just remember how much work it was to pack everything up, only to sleep or should I say, “try to sleep” outside on the ground with a thin sheet of fabric (aka a tent) above one’s head. I’ve never claimed to be a true outdoors woman and I’ll openly admit, I’ve been known to say that staying a hotel is camping in my mind, but after seeing how excited the boys were, and how gracious our friends Dan and Wig are, I pushed my camping reservations to the back of my mind.

So last Saturday we headed up North and joined our friends who had already staked out a great spot. They (THANKFULLY) are expert campers and they had brought all of the stuff we forget and never even thought to bring. Dan and Wig had the camp site set and when we arrived they graciously helped us set up our tent and get everything situated. From the moment we pulled into “Cocolot 3” (as Michael called it) or Elk 3 (as the Tonto National Forest calls it) or home for the night (as I called it), the boys were in their glory. Immediately they started digging in the dirt and searching for “treasures.” They immediately found little balls of fertilizer (aka poop), which Michael picked up and asked what it was. We replied that it was Deer poop, which the boys decided was Reindeer poop. After putting down that, they moved onto try to find bugs. They boys had been given a camping light that attracts bugs in the dark. Even though it was the middle of the day they did their best to round up every ant, spider and other insect in the woods to go into their insect light. When they didn’t get enough to fill it, Michael just decided to fill it with dirt, leaves and any other brush on the ground.

Later that afternoon Dan and Wig let us on a nature hike which the boys used a Camping book they had received from Aunt Megan and Uncle Adam and were determined to match up every footprint in the book with one in the forest. Thankfully we weren’t able to match up the Mountain Lion and Bear footprints. However we did see squirrels, birds, dog footprints and even some human tracks. 

That evening Dan and Wig made us a tasty supper of hot dogs, brats and macaroni and cheese! Who knew you can have Mac’ N Cheese while camping. I tell you that is my type of camping. Then as the sun went down we changed into our warm pj’s and prepared for our camp fire. Dan and Wig being the expert campers, brought a flashlight for each of the boys and if there was a toy to have while camping, the flashlight was it! Do you know how many flashlight batteries they could go through in one night of camping? Trust me, you’d be surprised.

As Dan prepared a perfect campfire, we sat around the fire and told stories. One of the stories led us to talking about Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs. We did our best to recall the names of all 7 dwarfs but continued to be one short. For several minutes we tried to recall them but continued to miss one. Try yourself to recount them all? I dare you to list them. Finally we were able to recall all of their names and moved onto making smores. Oh were they tasty.

After deciding to call it an early night we all retired to our tents (or trucks- Dan and Wig slept in the back of their truck). We curled up and fell asleep. Several times I woke up in the middle of the night, once as we heard the howling from some sort of animal, many many times because of Jack who was freaked out by every noise heard outside of our tent, and a few more times as I reached over to feel the kid’s cheeks as the temperature continued to drop. By 4:50 in the morning we were awake in our tent and cuddling close as it was a frigid 41 degrees. To us Phoenicians, that is COLD!!!!

Being the gracious, wonderful and generous friends that they are, Dan and Wig got right up and made us a tasty breakfast of scrambled eggs and sausage. Again, who knew you could have scrambled eggs and sausage while camping. I was expecting a granola bar. Maybe this camping thing is kind of fun.

As we packed up the tent and headed back to the valley, we were so thankful for the great experience Dan and Wig had given to us and to the boys on their first camping adventure. I don’t think they could have had any more fun and it is because of how great Dan and Wig made it.

I’m sure camping will become a regular adventure for our family as Dad, Gabriel and Michael are already talking about when they can go again.

Thanks Dan and Wig for making the camping adventure so much fun!

Until next time,

Angie

Camping Ball

Even though the weather hasn't been all that hot here, our swimming season is in full swing.

It has been amazing for me to see how much their swimming skills have improved from last year

Them swimming last year

 and although we've been taking swimming lesson classes for 8 weeks, I still am amazed at how much more confident, skilled and comfortable they feel in the water.

So comfortable in fact, their dad has taught them a new swimming skill. I think it is a skill that all little boys learn and almost like a rite of passage, the boys are also now joining the club.

The skill you ask?  The skill of doing a canon ball or as the boys call it, "A Camping Ball"

Here's a short video to prove just how talented they are in performing the "camping ball".  Although Michael's is more of a face-plant canon ball, I think it still qualifies.

Lately, I've been noticing just how big they are.  This is just one more reminder that they are growing up right in front of my eyes.

Until next time,
Angie

A Family Anniversary and Mother's Day

On Sunday, we celebrated being a family for officially one year.  We also celebrated Mother's Day.

We met Jarrett's Mom, his Dad, and brother Jeremy for lunch at Postinos.  It was great as we were able to sit outside in the beautiful weather and listen to a band play while we enjoyed our relaxing lunch. 

That afternoon Jarrett had to work but he asked me not to plan anything that evening as he and the boys had planned something special.  When Jarrett got home from work around 5:30 he told me he was going to make me/us dinner and then he had a special place for us to go right around sunset.  When Dad announced he was going to make dinner, he caught the boy's attention.  I couldn't help but laugh when Gabriel questioned Dad, not once, or twice but three times about if he was really going to make dinner.  He said, "Dad, you mean mom is going to make dinner and you will help?"  "Dad, can you really make dinner?"  "Dad, can we eat it?"

Guess it is pretty obvious who does all the cooking in our house huh?  Anyway I have to give Jarrett a ton of credit.  He made a delicious meal of Spaghetti Bolognese with garlic bread and strawberries.  I have to say we all gobbled it up and there wasn't much for leftovers (a sign of a good meal at our house).

Following dinner Jarrett and Gabriel had to run a quick errand and told Michael and I they would be back quickly.  Less than 10 minutes later Dad came rushing back into the house laughing, at the same time saying how sad he was and then asking me to have a good sense of humor when he showed me the next surprise. 

I told him I'd be happy with anything and he said..  "Just remember it is the thought that counts."  That's when I followed him into the laundry room and there stood Gabriel holding the following.  He said, "Happy Mother's Day Mom!"

All the men in my life admiring the dead or semi-dead roses they had just presented to me.

A close up of the beautiful bouquet of flowers for Mother's Day

Dad laughing and trying to explain to me how the roses ended up looking like they did.

Michael concerned that something has gone terrible wrong with this gift.

Yes, that is right, they presented me with dead roses, but aren't they beautiful?  So the story goes, that my thoughtful husband knows I tell him not to spend money on flowers for me because in the end they die.  So in an effort to avoid the heightened prices of getting flowers at the last minute, he purchased the flowers, including special water, and the flower food from the florist on Thursday (3 days before Mother's Day).  Isn't that thoughtful?  I thought so.  But with purchasing them in advance, his next problem to solve was to figure out where to store them so I wouldn't see until Sunday.  So he took them to my parents home just a few miles away.  They were too big to fit in the fridge so he left them on the counter thinking they'd be fine and not accounting for the heat we had late last week (and since the air wasn't on at their house, the flowers were a victim of the heat).  Thus the wilted, brown and sad looking, beautiful red roses.  Now isn't that the most romantic thing you've heard of?  I think so!

As we laughed and laughed, Jarrett just kept repeating how sad he was that they looked so bad.  I thought it was really funny and thoughtful.  And then Jarrett told me about the conversation he and Gabriel had on their way home from picking up the flowers.  Dad said all he kept saying was that he was so sad.  That's when Gabriel interjected and said, "Dad, if your sad, think of how sad Mom is going to be?"  Then just a few minutes later Gabriel tried to make the situation better by saying, "Dad, if you just give me a few minutes, I think I can make a few of them stand up straight." Isn't that sweet?  As Dad told me and even as I type this now, I can't stop cracking up at how funny the whole situation is (and in the end the only reason why it happened is because I'm cheap).

So after laughing about the roses and deciding to just "dry" them instead of put them in a vase, Dad said it was time to move onto our next surprise.  So he told the boys to go and get their presents for me and to get into the car.  We loaded the entire family up and headed to Desert Breeze Park, a local train park we like to visit with the kids.

Now that I know the whole plan it turns out Jarrett had a very romantic trip planned.  The plan was to walk around the park for a while and reminisce about our last year as a family and then as the sun was setting, he planned to stop along the path and have each of the boys and then him present me with a gift.  His plan was very similar to the manner he proposed to me (again at sunset, in a park, where he presented me with several gifts and then asked me to marry him).  I tell you, I'm very lucky to have him! 

Given that we've learned life with children never goes exactly as one plans, we should have known we'd be in for some curve balls.  As we arrived at the park the boys became insistent that they go and play on the playground equipment.  After telling them several times we'd do that later, we convinced them to walk with us around the lake.  Just a few steps into the path, the train that everyone rides started coming around the corner on our path, and even though we told the boys to stay off of the tracks, Michael decided at the last minute to run over the tracks and of course he slipped.  After a mad dash, and acting a scene right out of an old western movie, Jarrett frantically handed me Jack, even though I was already carrying about 6 other things and he made a mad dash to rescue Michael from the tracks before the train approached any closer. 

And then, once the train passed, even though we told the boys to stay with us, the train was too much to resist so they started chasing after it to try and jump on the caboose. 

I'm sure all parents can picture the scene now, but it would be safe to say, our nice, quiet, romantic and reflective walk around the lake, was more of a scene of chaos, like in the movie Speed when Sandra Bullock runs out of freeway and can't stop the bus.  Okay maybe not that bad, but between rescuing Michael from the train tracks, Jack from the huge birds that try to swoop down and grab him and Gabriel from almost falling into the pond, I was ready to just go home and that's when we got to the spot where Jarrett decided it was time to present me with my mother's day gifts.

At the top of the bridge near the playground equipment, the boys each gave me a gift.  From Michael it was a flower print made of his hand prints.  He said, "Happy Mother's Day Mommy, I love you!"  and then Gabriel presented me with  a card he, Michael and Dad had spent a lot of time writing nice words in.  And he gave me two pictures he and Michael had made.  They are beautiful and I will cherish them forever.  Upon Gabriel giving me the card he said, "Mom, can we go play now?"  to which Dad said just a few minutes and then it was Dad's turn.

As Dad tried to video what was happening as well as try to get the gift he had for me, our attention was drawn to Michael, who had stepped just a few feet away and was yelling for our attention.  In the middle of the romantic scene Jarrett had set up for us, we looked over to see this...

Hey guys, look I found some body's sock!

To which we replied, "GROSS Michael put it down"

Again we couldn't help but laugh and as Jarrett gave me another special gift to celebrate our life together, we laughed at just how comical the whole situation was.  And then, less than 20 seconds after the sock incident, Gabriel asked again, "Now can we go play?" To which we replied, "Yes, just be careful."

And in the 30 seconds later, as the boys raced off, Jarrett and I looked at each other, laughed and said, "This is the life we asked for, isn't is wonderful?"  Although we were joking, in reality, we meant every word we said. We quickly gathered up our belongings and headed down toward the playground equipment to watch the boys, but before we could even get to the bottom of the bridge, we heard Gabriel and Michael racing back to us with Michael in tears.  Covered in wood chips and with tears streaming down his face, Gabriel announced that Michael had slipped and fell into the wood chips.

At that point we had had enough and walked straight to the car to head home. As we celebrated our family and mother's day, it reminded me of all that this past year has brought us. We welcome chaos and in those first days when Jarrett and I walked around in shock, we now celebrate the chaos and think of it as our new norm.

Michael showing us where he scrapped up his cheek.

And Gabriel happy as ever!

This past Sunday was a reminder of just how lucky I am.  And even though the day didn't go as romantically as Jarrett planned, it was perfect to me, dead roses and all. Thanks Daddy, Gabriel and Michael for making it so wonderful and a day I'll never forget.

Until next time,
Angie

PS:  And in case it doesn't seem like it, there are even some great pictures we were able to capture.  Here they are as evidence..

Our lazy little bubbler...

Last night Gabriel said he wanted to go outside before dinner to play with his bubbles.  I gave him his bottle and out he went.   Just a few minutes later I looked out the window and this is what I saw...

Could he be more relaxed?

Geeze, it must be tough and exhausting to be a 5 year-old. 

Until next time,
Angie

Our first photo...

I blogged a year ago tonight about us getting the chance to see a picture of our children for the very first time.

On that date, we weren't allowed to post their pictures online, in an effort to protect their privacy.  But now, I'm happy to share the first glimpses we had of our children with you.

From the moment I saw them, they melted my heart...

How could I ask for anything more.

Until next time,
angie

A letter and bad names...

Yesterday when I arrived at the school to pick up the boys, I walked by Gabriel’s classroom and noticed they had a new bulletin board. The title of the bulletin board was, “In the future…” and it featured letters the kids had written. I quickly scanned over their writings searching for our Gabriel’s letter and found it in the middle. It was obvious the children had written the letters themselves and I was pretty confident Ms. Stacey had helped them with the spelling of the words, but I was truly impressed with what they had written. Gabriel’s letter with pictures of an airplane, a policeman and a fireman at the bottom.
reads,

“When I grow up I want to be a firefighter,

a policeman and a pilot. Gabriel Haskovec”

I admit, I stood in awe of his letter (actually all the kid’s letters) and couldn’t believe I was looking at the work of 5-year-olds. I may have been behind as a child, okay, I probably was, but I don’t remember being able to write like that until I was in 1st grade (or maybe even second grade). I stood at the board for a few minutes just soaking in how proud I was/am of him. It has been amazing to see him grow and learn so much in the last 9 months. I know I’ve commented on it before, but I can’t believe he can be reading and writing words, tying his shoes and doing simple math. How can it be? I have to give credit to this teacher, she truly is remarkable. I went and picked him up, as he was outside in the play ground and then walked back with him to the board. I asked him what his letter said and he read it to me word for word. I then told him how proud I am of him and he just looked up, smiled and then started to hug me. I could tell it meant a lot to him that I recognized his accomplishment.

After picking up Michael, and loading them into the car, the boys, as usual, started talking non-stop as we drove to swimming lessons. Gabriel started telling me about Kylie and Lucas and how they had some sort of jumping competition and of course, Lucas (he’s the biggest, strongest, smartest… kid in the class) won. Next it was Michael’s turn to tell a story and he started off by saying, “Mom, the boys in my class are mean to me.” Being a little surprised I said, “Why honey, how were they mean?”

He went onto say, “Mom, the boys keep calling me names.” In a very serious voice, (one that happy-go-lucky and silly Michael rarely uses), he said, “Mommy, they keep calling me naughty names, like poopoo head and messy head”

At first I didn’t know how to respond so I said, “Michael, honey that isn’t very nice. How does that make you feel?”

He said, “Sad” and then Gabriel asked, “Michael, why are they calling you names?”

Michael responded, “I don’t know Gabriel; they are mean to me.”

As he went on to explain the situation, I felt my heart aching. Michael is usually the silly one who is always doing something funny to get everyone to laugh, but I could tell he was openly sharing his raw emotions and that he was hurt by the other boy’s behaviors and that he was being called names.

I said, “Michael what did you do after they said that?”

“Mom, I told Ms. Luli” (his teacher)

And what did she say, “She said to go play with someone else and that I’m handsome.”

“Oh that’s good. You are handsome honey”

“Mom, but they keep calling me names and won’t let me play with them. Should I call them bad names back?”

I said, “No honey, it wouldn’t be nice to call the boys names, just walk away if they are not being nice and go play with someone else. That is what I do Michael if someone calls me a bad name.”

“Okay Mommy, I will play with Raven and the other girls, they are nice to me and they let me play babies with them.”

With tears coming to my eyes, I realized one of the reasons why he has been playing with the girls lately. Jarrett and I had noticed this lately, when we go to pick him up and have commented on it but we just thought that maybe he liked to play with babies. I guess it may be because he likes to play with baby dolls and be the “daddy” when they are playing house, but I guess it is also because he is being called names by some of the other boys. It makes me so sad, that kids can be so mean, even at such a young age. But just as I started to dwell on it and think like an adult, Michael interrupted the thoughts racing through my head…

“Mommy?”

“Yes Michael”

“Mommy, is it your friends at work that call you bad names?

Not realizing he had been thinking about the comment I had just made, I had to quickly switch gears and get on his page, “oh, ah, no honey, well, no one at my work calls me bad names but if they did I would walk away from them.”

“Oh, Mommy?”

“Yes, honey?”

“Mommy, are your workers (meaning coworkers) going to go to Kindergarten next year?

Now having no idea where he was coming from I replied, “No honey they are all too old for Kindergarten.”

With Gabriel laughing from the other side of the back seat, Michael asked, “Mommy, are they going to go to Heaven soon then?”

Realizing that we’ve had the “when do you go to Heaven?” conversation several times, in which we reply you don’t go to heaven until you are really old; I had followed the connection Michael made.

I started laughing, which caused Gabriel to laugh louder and then Michael realizing he had just been funny, started to crack up too.

As we arrived at swimming lessons, laughs could be heard throughout the car and our silly Michael was still there. He was back into his bubbly self, being comfortable, accepted and in an environment where he felt safe and loved.
It not only hurt Michael’s feelings that he was being called names, but I think it hurt Gabriel’s, Daddy’s and I know my own. I try to remind the boys to use careful words that don’t hurt people’s feelings because although the saying is, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me”, in reality, sometimes words can hurt just as bad.
Until next time,

Angie

Michael Injury report # 432

Look what happens when you climb up on the roof of your pre-school jungle gym (see the yellow roof below)

Then hang by the tip of your fingernails only to fall 9 feet to the ground below…

Sorry the picture is blurry, it is from my phone... he bit through his lip, cut his gum above his top right tooth and knocked his face so hard, his top right tooth is now loose.

Don’t even ask me what the teachers were doing. The accident report I received today said "Gabriel" was running on the blacktop,tripped and fell. (Yes, it really did say Gabriel, three times to be exact, and there was no mention of Michael).  And the only reason why I know what really happened was that I witnessed it while driving into the school parking lot to pick the boys up.

Needless to say, Mom and Dad are planning to have a conference with the teachers to clarify we do not approve of the boys climbing on things while at school. :-)
Until next time,
angie

San Diego!

Last weekend for Easter, we surprised the boys and took them on vacation to San Diego.  My aunt Anita and her family had asked us if we wanted to go with them.  We excitedly accepted!

Although I had been packing suitcases and preparing to go on vacation all last week, the boys didn't seem to notice anything out of the ordinary, so I guess we just waited to tell them.  Even on Wednesday night when Michael was crawling into his bed which was covered with our large suitcase, he looked at it, looked at me putting his clothes in it, asked me if we were going on vacation to Iowa, which I replied no, and then just brushed it off and never asked about it again.

We left on Friday afternoon and even after having the boys go to the bathroom twice before leaving the house, we had to stop less than a mile from our own driveway, because Gabriel had to go to the bathroom again!  I thought to myself, oh my, what did we get ourselves into.  And then before we were even out of the city, less than 10 miles from our house, Michael started the barrage of questions, "Mom, are we there yet?  Mommy, are we in California now?"  "Mom, I see the lights of San Diego, we are there!"  Jarrett and I looked at each other, smiled and took turns answering "No" to Michael's constant questions.

We had a wonderful weekend in San Diego with the Petersen family.  On Saturday we went to Sea World and spent the entire day walking around the park.  The highlights were touching the dolphins, watching Shamu and his friends, feeding the Sea Lions, well, I guess everything was great!

What a fun day it was!
On Sunday morning, Easter morning we woke up early and the boys were thrilled the Easter Bunny had found them in San Diego, even though they forgot to leave him a note at home telling him we went on vacation.  At first when they woke up they each saw just one plastic egg and were thrilled!  I guess the Easter Bunny didn't have to have bring so much.  We'll have to get him that message next year.

Also, the great hotel where we stayed had an Easter egg hunt with 6,000 eggs.  There were so many eggs it was crazy.  The boys got to meet the Easter Bunny....

 and we got a family picture with him...

 So did the Petersens...

 and then we found our perfect positions to begin the hunt...

 and with a count down the egg hunting was on.  The boys went crazy!!!!

 racing around as fast as they could from one egg to another.  Thankfully Alicia and Andrea helped them.

 after two egg hunts (one from the hotel and a special one just for them from the Petersen's), the boys had 133 eggs.  I counted them each, because I couldn't believe they got so many. 

And then after the egg hunting was done, and the boys were all "jacked up on candy" we headed off to the beach.  Which the boys loved.  Although the water was a refreshing freezing 60 degrees, Daddy, and the boys wasted no time getting wet.

 At first Michael was not sure about letting the cold water touch him.  He screamed like a little girl and would run away from the water as it rushed to shore, and then he'd run back at the water as it retreated.  It was really funny

 And soon enough they were in.

 After getting wet, they played and played and played in the sand.  They built a sand wall, well, Andy built a sand wall, which Michael stumbled over and fell on it.

 And then they buried the boys... which they thought was really funny.

 And then we started to build the biggest sandcastle Mission beach had ever seen.  Daddy started directing orders and before we knew it, Anita was sent on a mission to go get more sand toys, and we were building a castle that was 6 feet by 6 feet.  The boy's job was to race to the ocean, fill their bucket with water and race back.  We spent more than  an hour and a half building our masterpiece, and when we knew it was looking good (because people were coming by to take pictures of it), we stopped and admired it.  It turned out to be just the perfect time because a storm came in and it started raining.

 Our afternoon at the beach had ended.


Late that afternoon we headed down to the pier to look at the big ships. We found a pirate ship, a cruise ship and an Navy ship. It was cool to see!

Our trip to San Diego was a blast and we can't wait to go back again some day.  Thanks for asking us to go along Petersens!  It was a great way to spend our first Easter together.

Until next time,
angie