A terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day...

We've all had them. And today was one of them. 

You know how it starts. You get out of the shower to see that your brother is wearing your FAVORITE pair of jeans.  It continues when your begging to mom, to wear shorts, in 38 degree weather is immediately denied.  And then, after succumbing to the old worn out jeans with the holes in the knees, and the button that is harder than anything to fasten, you walk to the kitchen to see that your lovely brother is munching down on the last of your favorite cereal, leaving you with the least-favorite, non-sugar cereal in the cupboard.

And that was just the start of Michael's day.

From what I have gathered, his terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day continued at school.   While I know little of the specifics, the moment he got off the bus; his head was down and all he said was, "today has been a bad day."

We walked home and as usual, he got started right away on homework.  An hour into his homework adventure, he came to me to show his progress and that's when the bad day continued. After scanning the worksheet he completed on front and back, I had to share with him that he had completed it all incorrectly.  

Upon hearing the disappointing news, he tilted his head back, sighed a huge frustrating sigh and turned back with his worksheet in hand back to his work space in his room.  Minutes later a huge crash came from his room, and after opening his door, I saw he had dropped the pencils and colors containers spilling them all over the floor.  Insert another huge sigh followed by his eyes welling up.

I asked what happened and at this point Michael just looked at me and started crying.  With tears of pure frustration flowing down his cheeks, I told him I was sorry.  He responded with, "Can I just be alone for a while?" 

His reaction caught me off guard.  Since when did my 6 year old ask for alone time?  And when I really just wanted to reach down, grab him in my arms, hold him tight and tell him it would all be okay; I instead just listened to his request and quietly closed the door behind me as I walked out of his room.

While it wasn't fun to see him so sad and to see him struggle with all the things he thought had gone wrong today, as I thought about it I realized, today was probably a real growing day for him.  Although I'd love to be there to help him solve all his problems and overcome all the obstacles he will face in life, that isn't the way life works.  In a way, isn't it my job (our job) to help him develop the skills and abilities to work through them on his own?  While we will always be there to support him and cheer him on, developing those skills now will hopefully only help him.

While today started out as a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day, I'm happy to say that Michael was able to turn things around and the night ended very peacefully and with him being in a much better place.  As I kissed him and told him goodnight, he hugged me and said, "Mom, I think tomorrow is going to be a better day."  

I simply said, "Yes, I think it is."  

Until next time,

Angie

Super Bowl with a side of sickness...

Just like the millions (maybe it is billions) of people across the world, last night we joined in the festivities and celebrated the Super Bowl.

Honestly speaking, I think this was one of the years I looked forward to the game more than usual.  It wasn't because of the teams (our favorite family member teams wouldn't be on the field), or for the commercials (although I loved the Budweiser Best Friends ad).  The reason why I looked so forward to yesterday was because Dad took the whole day off and we had a family day.  It. Was. Fantastic.

Earlier in the week, when I asked Dad if he was going to have to work all weekend, he announced the thought he'd be able to take one day off.  I was so thrilled, I asked if him if he could please take off Sunday so we could have a Family of 5 Super Bowl Party?  Although he looked at me like I was a bit crazy, he said, sure.  Don't you just mean we'll stay home and watch the game?  Still in my desire to have all the fun and hype of everyone else going to a Super Bowl Party, I said, "No, we are going to have our own Super Bowl party.  Just us 5.  It will be fun.  I'll make all the traditional Super Bowl unhealthy snacks and then we can lay around on the couches enjoying them and I won't even have to worry about cleaning the house from top to bottom because it will be just us, in our own mess. Seeing where I was going with this, Jarrett played along and said, "Sure, I'll be here for the Party of 5 Super Bowl party."  (wink wink).

And so yesterday came.  It was a glorious day.  We woke up to a cool morning (got to love those here in the hot desert), we went to church.  Michael and I went on a bike ride/run where he collect shells along the canal on our way back.  Then we had breakfast, followed by a family movie of Mr. Poppers Penguin's where Isabelle even watched.  I then got to run out to Michael's by MYSELF and enjoy an hour of browse shopping while brainstorming all about decorations, invitations and the like for my sister's wedding. After returning home we had "cooks choice" aka left overs for lunch and then retired back to the couch for more football pregame.  While Isabelle napped, Dad and Mom may or may not have also napped on opposite couches, while the boys zoned into the TV.  Talk about the perfect lazy day.  And even the boys, who are constantly full of energy declined to go outside and play with the neighbor kids, I knew either they were enjoying the lazy day or the fact that all 5 of us were all together and just enjoying the time.  

As the game time approached I prepared the chips, the dip, the BBQ wings, the fruit salad and veggie tray (I couldn't feel right serving only unhealthy foods) and the pita bread and humus.  I set everything out on the table and said help yourself.  Our family super bowl party is about to start.

She was very busy stuffing her face full of food!

Dad, Isabelle and I dug in while Michael was too busy playing his video games (a special treat he doesn't regularly get to do).  Meanwhile, Gabriel laid on the couch with his hood up over his head, covered in his bed comforter and tried to push out the rest of the world.

Poor Gabriel has been sick now for over a week.  He's complained about his head hurting and he's had a fever for the last 6 days.  Finally on Thursday when Gabriel came home in tears after school, saying his head hurt really bad, I went to take his temperature by putting the thermometer in his ear to get a reading, he pulled back.  "Mom- my ear hurts really bad"  Fifteen minutes later we were sitting in the doctors office waiting for the diagnosed I had already confirmed as "ear infection."  An hour and a half later we walked out with a confirmed message that Dr. Mom's diagnosis was right again.

While he's been on antibiotics for the past 3 days, sadly he doesn't seem to be getting better.  In fact, he says his head hurts worse and his fevers are continuing.  While the doctor did say his ear infection was really bad, I am not sure if that's why his head continues to hurt.  As of yesterday we were on day 7 of feeling bad, day 3 of not wanting to eat and day 2 of forcing him to drink liquids.  He's home from school today and he's been sleeping for the past 3.5 hours after sleeping most of the day yesterday and most of the night.  I hope he wakes up feeling better.

While millions celebrated the Super Bowl yesterday and enjoyed the football, the fan-fare and the food, we enjoyed it too.  Only for us, the favorite part was just spending time together even if one member of our party was under the whether.

Until next time,

Angie

A good attempt and the Wiggles.

In the last three years that I've been sharing our family stories on this blog, it has been my goal to share updates on a regular basis.  Sadly my efforts starting in 2014, were miserable at best.  But now that it is February 1, and a new month, I'm determined to do better. While I have a lofty goal to write a little something each day, I'm going to be realistic and shoot for two updates a week.  Hey, that's a big improvement from a total of 4 updates total in January.  

Most nights after the homework battle, the race of dinner and the whirlwind of trying to get three people into bed at a decent time, I'm too tired to think about a fun story to share.  I guess the calling of Chicago Fire, Chicago PD, or Law and Order is too strong.   The truth is there have been things that have been happening that I've wanted to share.  I'm determined to do better.

I guess I'll start with this update.  Our daughter LOVES The Wiggles.  And by LOVE I mean she is absolutely, insanely, obsessively loves The Wiggles.  It is the first thing she now says in the morning when she wakes up, "MOMMY!!!  WIGGLES?"  And it is the last thing she thinks about at night.  Just last night as I was rocking her before going down for the night, she was giving me a rundown of all the songs on her favorite Wiggles DVD.  She started singing, "Hot Potato" and then moved onto "Fruit Salad Yummy Yummy" and before drifting off to sleep she was singing, "Toot Toot Chugga Chugga Big Red Car."  Sadly all of us in our family know the Wiggles too well.  We've checked out the same DVD from the library for 8 weeks straight now.  We can all recite every single word to the Wiggles DVD song track and it isn't uncommon for us to watch the entire DVD twice a day.  Just this morning at 6:20 a.m. all five of us sat on the couches staring at the TV and watched the Wiggles for the 1000th time.  I had to laugh, while they sang about monkeys dancing all of us watched intently all zoned in and completely consumed by the movie.  Realizing just how silly the act all of us were partaking in, I made a comment to Jarrett about how sad it was that we were all so entertained.  Jarrett responded saying, "You know what is really sad?"  "What?" I said and he replied, "When all day at work, everyday, all I can hear in my head is the last Wiggles song and then before I know it, I'm singing along to some silly song about monkeys, tooting cars, or fruit salad. That's silly."  I guess he does have a good point. 

Ah yes, to say our house has been affected by The Wiggles would be an understatement.  In fact as I type this, The Wiggles is playing on the TV.  For those who aren't familiar, I happily share with you what we've been living with for the last two plus months.  

http://www.thewiggles.com/ 

Pretty exciting huh?  

Until next time,

Angie

Ye of little sleep....

While most nights we have interrupted sleep, some nights the interruptions are so frequent it goes past exhausting to humorous.  Humorous you ask?  Well, complaining about it doesn't help, so one might as well laugh about it. 

Last night was one of those "humorous nights."  

After learning earlier in the evening my parents, back in Iowa were traveling in bad weather to their annual tradition of the Buddy Holly Commemorative Celebration in Clear Lake (the place where Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper, and Richie Vallens lost their life in a plane crash back in 1959), my worry gene kicked in.  Like a parent of a teenage child, I texted my parents and told them not to drive back home if the weather was bad and to just stay the night in a hotel.  My Dad texted me back and said they'd drive carefully and they'd be fine.  I responded, please call or text me when you get home, even if it is really late.  Dad said okay and on with the night we went.

At our normal time we went to sleep only to have my internal alarm wake me up at 11:35 p.m.  Immediately I reached for my phone.  I looked and I didn't see a missed call or a text message so up out of bed I jumped, headed to the kitchen to call.  I dialed and two rings in, Dad answered.  After midnight their time he said, "Ang, we just got home.  We are safe. I was just about to call." Typical teenage response I thought.  "Glad to hear you made it carefully", I responded.  We said goodnight and back to bed I went.  Because for some strange reason I can't turn my mind off at night, I laid awake for at least 30 minutes before finally drifting back to sleep.  Less than 20 minutes later, Gabriel was tapping my shoulder and with tears streaming down his face he said, "Mom- I don't feel good."  Up I got, again and back to the kitchen we went.  I've become an expert at dispensing medicine, the exact amount, 2 tsp in the dark.  Giving Gabriel his medicine, I told him to lay on the couch as to not wake his brother and I went to grab his blanket and pillow.  After getting him comfortable, I told him goodnight and went back to Dad and my bedroom.  On the way, Gabriel asked if he could come get me if he needed anything else. Of course I said, knowing it wouldn't be too long before he called again.

I was right, a few minutes later Gabriel called for a cool wash cloth to put on his head.  I got up again, only to hear Dad, still in a deep sleep, mumble something to me to stop moving and taking the covers.  I got Gabriel his washcloth and a drink of water (as I knew that'd be the next request) and back to bed I went, again. After another 30 minutes of staring at the ceiling, thinking about the to do list of chores for me the following day, I fell asleep.  

In what seemed like just a moment later, Jack was at my head nudging me to go out.   Dad tried to tell him to go back to sleep, but like every other night, that doesn't work.  So up again, this time outside into the fresh brisk air Jack and I went.  Normally we just let him out as we stand insight in a daze, still half asleep.  However, we now have to actually go outside with him because an owl has moved into the neighborhood.  And in choosing to have a dog that is less than 5 pounds and as fierce as a cotton ball, we can't risk an owl thinking he is a rabbit and deciding to take Jack for a midnight treat.  So WE follow him around like a dog protecting him from any flying animals.  

Now at this point I'm full awake, nothing like 40 degree breeze in your face to wake one up. Determined to get some rest, I retired back to bed hoping that would be the end of the interruptions.  I...of course...was... wrong.  In the same pattern, 30 minutes of thinking followed by a brief snooze, the next interruption was Isabelle.  She must have lost her covers because at 3:42 a.m. I heard her yelling "Momma!" over and over.   After helping her get a drink, a repositioning of the covers and some prayers, she went back to sleep.  Walking back to my room, Gabriel said, "Mom- my head still hurts"  and in that moment I gave up.  I continued to my bedroom, grabbed two pillows and went to the recliner chair, just 5 feet from Gabriel's head.  I got him every last request he could think of (short of a bowl of cereal, guess he thought he might as well have breakfast since he was awake) and I attempted to get comfy in the chair. 

I tried to remain quiet, not moving a single body part, until I knew Gabriel had fallen back asleep. The last time I looked at the clock on the wall, it read 4:17 a.m. which leads me to believe that I must have fallen asleep too.  And I'm sure hoping it was restful because the next thing I remember was Michael standing right over my head in the reclined chair at 5:44 a.m. "Mom- can you help me?  My sock has a string."

Until next time,

Angie

Baseball

This past fall Gabriel once again played baseball.  While I was at almost all of his games, I sadly can't tell you how the season went.  I refrain from naming names, but as I looked back on the pictures from the baseball season, I noticed the following two faces showed up more than Gabriel and his team.  :-)

I wonder what mom was doing most of the time?  Perhaps chasing two other little kids around? Perhaps.  

Here is one of the only pictures I took of Gabriel.  He's number 9 in the middle of the field.

Until next time,

Angie

We be looming....

The boys continue to love those tiny little rubber bands that can be magically transformed into a creative and stylin bracelet.  While the boys see the wonder in what they can be, I see that they cover our floor, are strewn about our counters and are hiding in every corner and crack in our home.  In fact, I've even found them on the floor in my office at work.  How in the world it got there, I have no idea.  I guess I'll file that away in the same folder as "How did my kitchen broom end up on the roof?"

And while I've picked up more rubber bands in the last few weeks than I ever imaged I'd do in an entire lifetime, I've come to view those tiny little things with a bit more appreciation and a lot more enjoyment.   My boys have come to love learning how to create new styles of bracelets and it has been fun watching them listen attentively to instruction and think critically in how to "fix" a mistake they just made.  And that doesn't even include the joy in seeing them peel off the bands to admire their beautifully, hand-made, finished product.  I can't help but see the true life lessons they are learning.  Try, fail, try again, succeed, be proud and try again on something new.

In a world filled with way too much technology, a game at every finger-tip, I'm excited to see them spend time using their hands to create, to build and to be proud of what tangible product they have as a result. If you ask me, I think we could use more of this today.

Until next time,
Angie

Christmas Memories...

It seems in the blink of an eye Christmas comes and goes.  This year was no different but while the time went quickly, there were no shortage of memories created.

Below are some of my favorite memories from Christmas 2013....

Isabelle "helping" mommy make sugar cookies (don't worry no cookies were contaminated in the making process)

There finger looking good Mommy!

The boy's annual ornament making.... Gabriel made Raven's ornaments while Michael perfected his Cowboy ones!

Michael enjoys making Christmas decorations.  Here he is at another holiday party creating a masterpiece!

The annual  Santa photo...

At first Belle wasn't sure about Jolly Old Saint Nick, but when we brought out the candy...

She was sold!

Fun times with the cousins!!!!  

Isabelle's fascination with our Christmas trees...

Getting to spend the holidays with Great Grandpa Ray...

Christmas eve notes to Santa begging him to leave gifts and promising to be better next year...

 And funny Christmas requests for Santa....

I'm hoping that Diamond Ring Michael wanted was for mom. :-)

Christmas morning magic...

The kids were ecstatic to receive a Rainbow loom. There was some serious looming going on, from all three kids!  While I now despise all those tiny rubber bands that end up all over our floor, all three kids love the gift.  And I guess its worth having rubber bands all over.  

And finally, some of the best Christmas memories, were not captured in photos, but molded into our hearts to last forever.

Merry Christmas to all...

Until next time,

Angie