Writer's block

Darn writer's block. There's so many things I want to write about, but when I get to a keyboard or grab a pen, nothing comes out. It's frustrating. Gah!

Life in a nutshell has been busy.

R's surgery went well (surgery was to remove a cyst from her forearm). She's got another cyst on her thigh, and she's thinking about asking to have that one surgically removed next. She just started 3rd grade, and loves her teacher. She should be getting her junior green belt in karate later this month. Yay!

L is turning 4 this month, and already started in the Pre-K room at day care. She's starting tap and ballet soon, and should be getting her tiny tigers green belt in karate later this month. Her birthday party is coming up, and it should be fun!

Z's surgery got rescheduled to last week, and it went well (his surgery was to remove a cyst from his cheek). He handled the anesthesia like a champ, and other than a little grumpiness here and there he's barely seemed to notice the incision. He's picking up new words all the time, and I love seeing his developing personality. He's got quite the throwing arm, which is great when we're playing catch with a soft squishy ball, but not so great when you unexpectedly get pegged with a baseball, potato, jar of peanut butter, remote control, etc. Ouch.

Me...I've just been way too busy and need to get more "me" time in there somewhere. Once I get my head together and get rid of this darn writer's block, I should be good.

Oh, and shameless brag -- I (FINALLY) lost two more pounds. That gets me up to 15 pounds lost so far (one more pound, then I'll officially be back where I was before I got pregnant with Z). 10 pounds after that until I'm pre-L weight, then 10 more pounds after that until I'm pre-R weight. I'm getting there. Slowly (very, very slowly...lol), but surely.

Anyways...I WILL blog more often. I WILL blog more often. I WILL blog more often...  ;)

Upcoming Surgeries, and Reminiscing

Tomorrow morning, R is having a minor surgical procedure done -- she'll be getting a skin cyst removed from her forearm, and will have a local anesthetic. She's a bit nervous, and has tons of questions for the doctor when we get there (Will there be a lot of blood? Can you make it so I don't see anything? Can you use dissolving stitches instead of the non-dissolving ones? When can I play in the chlorine-ey pool water or salty beach water again? etc).

*Fingers crossed* everything goes smoothly tomorrow, and she heals up quickly.

R made a list of fun things we can do after her appointment. The first thing on her list? "Gladly get out of the place". Hehehe. Z and L will be in day care, so R and I are planning some quality together-time after her appointment, including back-to-school shopping, lunch, and definitely some ice cream. :)

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Z is also having surgery to get a cyst removed from his cheek. His was originally scheduled for next week, but the receptionist called me today to reschedule. So, he won't be having his surgery until the end of August. Since it's on his face, and he's young and not exactly"cooperative", he'll be going under general anesthesia. *Fingers crossed* he handles the surgery, the anesthesia, and the recovery like a champ.

On the bright side, at least I won't have to deal with two kids getting surgery days apart, like I thought was going to happen. That would have been rough(er)!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

I was walking past one of the newer photo collages in our living room this evening while holding Z. All of a sudden, he pointed to a picture of my grandmother and smiled, like he recognized her. He pointed right to my grandmother too, not any of the other people in the picture (me, my mom, and toddler-R...four generations).  :)

I tried teaching him how to say "Great-Gramma" and "Great-Grampa", and then all the kids joined in as we looked at a few more pictures of my grandparents.

I love reminiscing. And I love that my kids "know" my grandparents, without ever "really" knowing them in person (R was 4 months old when my grandfather passed away, and two years old when my grandmother passed away; L and Z never got to meet them).

I miss them.

Flashback to Father's Day

Here's a flashback to Father's Day! (Hopefully I'll be all caught up in the blogging world soon!)

Father's day this year was crammed full of fun. We started the day off with a cute gift for A (but more on that later). Followed by fun at the park, strawberry-picking, and a visit with Grampa (my dad). Here are a few pictures from the day --

At the park --

Strawberry picking --











Then visiting my dad and grandma --












Now, onto the gift! For a Father's Day gift, the kids and I made "All About Dad" and "All About Grampa" books. I asked the girls questions and typed up their answers, exactly as they said them. Z got to do handprints / footprints with paint since he doesn't really understand the questions. The kids all did Dad-and-me or Grampa-and-me artwork (Z's was just scribbles, but it was still cute!). I made a page of the books for each piece of artwork and a page for each question. For the question pages, I glued the kids answers, a few related clip-art images, and Z’s hand/foot prints onto construction paper. When all the pages were ready, I just stapled them together, and *poof* it was done.

The girls’ answers had me cracking up. They were a mix of adorable and hilarious. I’m sure bribing them with an M&M per answer probably helped a bit too (hey, a mom’s gotta do what a mom’s gotta do). Here are a few of my favorite answers…

 

 

What makes Dad happy?

Having the house nice and clean ~R

When we play Mario together ~R

When he spends time with me a lot ~L

Optimus Prime ~L

 

 

What makes Dad sad?

When there’s no more soda ~R

When the paint gets scratched on the walls ~R

When I’m being bad ~L

Doing dishes ~L

 

 

How does Dad make you laugh?

He runs around screaming like a monkey ~R

He gives us candy, then says “Don’t tell mama!” ~R

When he sings ~L

Tickles ~L

 

 

What is Dad’s favorite thing to do?

Playing with us and spending time with us and taking us places ~R

Play Warcraft ~R
Playing with the fishies, but he does NOT go in the water ~L

What does Dad do when you’re not around?

He watches TV ~R

He plays with the other two if they’re home ~R

I think he plays Warcraft sometimes ~L

I bet he likes to go to the zoo sometimes ~L

 

 

What’s your Dad really good at?

Karate ~R

Eating a lot ~R
Mario ~R

Doing projects with me ~L

Blowing bubbles ~L

What’s Dad not good at?

Using a quiet voice ~R

Getting off of Warcraft ~R
Staying in the bathroom for a little amount of time ~R

Sometimes Daddy loses at the ice game [Don’t Break the Ice], but he tries his best ~L

I think he’s not good at wiping his nose because of his mustache ~L
Coloring ~L

What do you and Dad do together?

Go to the zoo, the waterpark, and all that ~R

We feed the fish together ~R

He gives me chocolate ice cream sandwiches ~L

He turns the fan off and on ~L

What places does Dad like to go?

The pet store ~R

The carnival ~R

All the parks ~L

To McDonald’s sometimes ~L

What shows does Dad like to watch?

Goku! ~R

Voltron Force ~R

Power Rangers Super Samurai ~L

Sponge Bob ~L

What are Dad’s favorite foods?

Turkey with Cajun seasoning ~R

Watermelon and pineapple ~L

He has spicy chicken for breakfast ~L

Why do you love Dad?

Because it’s natural to love your parents ~R

Because he’s awesome ~R

He buys us candy ~R

‘Cause I care about him ~L

‘Cause I really love him so so much! I just do ~L

And here are some of the cute answers from the girls for my dad's “All About Grampa” book --


What makes Grampa happy?
When we come and visit him ~R
When we give him presents ~R
When he has some alone time with Gramma ~L
Candy ~L


What makes Grampa sad?
When he doesn't find snakes ~R
When we're not there ~L


How does Grampa make you laugh?
Talking about funny stuff ~R
When he has funny shows on TV ~L


What is Grampa's favorite thing to do?
He rides his bike around town ~R
He likes making things for us ~L


What does Grampa do when you're not around?
He looks for snakes ~R
He works on his little on-the-roof garden ~R
He might eat some fruit snacks ~L
I think he plays with his toys ~L


What is Grampa really good at?
Growing plants ~R
Making things out of wood ~R
Making projects ~L
Watching TV ~L


What is Grampa not good at?
Getting angry ~R
Buying cars ~R
He's not good at looking for coconuts ~L
Wearing dresses ~L


What do you and Grampa do together?
Looking for snakes ~R
He shows us flowers and plants and bunny rabbits ~L


What places does Grampa like to go?
Parties with the family ~R
Someday he'd like to take us out on his boat ~R
He might like to go to kids present stores ~L


Why do you love Grampa?
Because he's my Grampa, and it's usual to love people in your family ~R
He gives us things ~R
'Cause I care about him so much ~L
'Cause he made the see-saw for us ~L..  



Kids sure do say the cutest things...lol.


I love gifts that are cheap, cute, and easy, but still show the personality of the kids. Here are some ideas I’ve used in the past (feel free to use them!) --

Some of my friends-in-a-box do D-A-D pictures every year, where they take pictures of their kids holding the letters D, A, and D, then put them in a three-slot picture frame or a 3x3 photo grid of some kind. I liked the idea, but didn’t have a chance to buy frames or letters that year, and I wanted an idea that I could use for my dad too. I used this idea before Zach was born, so it was just the girls. So instead, I helped the girls make three signs (I used a big font in Microsoft Word, formatted them to print as an outline, and had the girls decorate all the letters. Then I cut them out and glued them to construction paper “signs”). I did one sign for each word in “Happy Father’s Day”. I took pictures of the girls holding the signs, and used the Happy Father’s Day pictures as the cover to some cute home-made cards (the girls decorated the insides however they wanted). Any words / letters / signs would work (maybe F-A-T-H-E-R, or D-A-D-D-Y, or F-A-M-I-L-Y), and any presentation (picture frame, photo card, or the pictures magnetted to the fridge or mirror). Is magnetted a word? If not, then oh well, I'm using it anyways.  ;) 

Another thing I did a couple years ago was “Just like Dad” and “Just like Grampa” photo albums (again, before Z was born). It's kind of self-explanatory -- I just took pictures of the girls being just like Dad / Grampa...lol. Since A teaches karate, I took pictures of the girls with a bunch of karate things – wearing the huge uniform, wearing sparring gear that was ten-sizes-too-big, holding (non-sharp) weapons, etc. And since my dad is really good at woodworking, I took pictures of the girls with a bunch of tools – tape measurers, tool boxes, goggles, hammers, wooden boards, etc. Then I let the kids use finger paints for a while and got a few paint handprints, and took pictures of the messy paint fun. I stuck all the just-like-Dad / Grampa pictures, along with the messy-paint pictures in one of those little 4x6 photo albums, and I used the girls' handprints as the front and back covers. The girls had a great time being just like Dad and Grampa, and the photo albums came out cute.

Wow, that was a REALLY long Father's Day post! I hope my ideas were able to help someone out, and I hope all the fathers out there (and step-fathers, adopted fathers, foster fathers, like-a-fathers, grandfathers, role models, mentors, uncles, cousins, etc) had an amazing Father's Day!

June = Craziness!

June is always a busy month, and I've gotten a bit behind on the blogging (again). Story of my life right there. Anyways, here's a little view into the June craziness.

There are a bunch of June birthdays -- my friend's birthday, my birthday, my friend's mom's birthday, R's birthday.

R's birthday party went well. The cake turned out AWESOME. Yay for Pinterest! Doesn't it look so candy-licious and yummy and just-like-the-original?



R and I (with a little "help" from L) made some party decorations, after stealing some more ideas from Pinterest. We made pennant garland type decorations and dangley-shape-stringy-things (yes, that's a technical term) with scrapbook paper, string, and hot clue. I didn't get any good pictures of the decorations, but they came out cute.

At the party, the kids loved making their own ice cream sundaes (they went very much overboard with the toppings, but...they definitely had fun), and we played a few games. R is super excited about her present from us -- tickets to see Big Time Rush in concert in August! Best. Present. Ever. 

And...oh my gosh. I forgot how loud / energetic / crazy / draining a party with a bunch of sugared-up 8 year olds could be. I think next time, I'll be sure to have an extra cup (or ten) of coffee before the guests start to arrive. Or I"ll serve a lot less sugar...lol.

But...AHHHHHHHHH!!! I HAVE AN EIGHT YEAR DAUGHTER!!!! She's (ALREADY!) talking about boys. She doesn't like princesses anymore. She had her first sleepover. She already asked me the dreaded "What is sex" question (now, that was fun). She's getting so big. And I feel old.

Father's Day was great. I'm going to do a whole separate post on that sometime soon. Bike-riding, soccer-ball-kicking, strawberry-picking, roof-climbing, adorable-project-making fun.  :)

And there were end-of-the-school year events and summer schedule changes. And there was typical summer fun, like slip-and-sliding, sprinkler-playing, trips to the pool, and playing at parks. Here's Z walking down the slip and slide with one of his many cute expressions --



Then there was dance - end of year awards, dress rehearsal, and the dance recital. It was Lauren's first time in the recital this year, and she did a ballet routine. She was such a ham, shaking her booty to the beat, singing along with the song louder than the other girls, and speed-spinning like an airplane instead of slow-graceful pirouettes. Rebecca had a ballet routine, and a tap routine this year, and she did great too! I was a backstage mom again this year - here are the girls backstage --

And so far, July seems like it will be just as crazy as June this year!

And a special thanks to caffeine. Caffeine makes all things possible.  ;)

Randomness

I need to find a way to fit blogging into my schedule a little bit more often...I'm a super-slacker when it comes to posting lately. Oops!

Anyways, I don't have a nice, organized, thoughtful post planned out, but here's a whole lot of randomness instead.

As I suspected, Z's mischief has gotten messier. He's learned to take his diaper off (and has peed / pooped on the floor, on several occasions). He's gotten really good at opening things with covers of any kind -- he's opened his own yogurt (then stuck his hand in it, and "decorated"); and the desitin (and smeared it on his face / neck / shirt); and a container of garlic powder (so he could stick his hand in and play around), to name a few. He loves pulling fuzz out of the rocking horse or any stuffed animal. And today, splashing in puddles wasn't good enough for him...he decided to lie down in the puddle, and drink from it like a dog. *sigh*

L has started proudly announcing "Ready, Aim, FIRE!" every time she needs to fart. I think it's hilarious, but we're trying to teach her that "Excuse me" is a bit more appropriate when we're in public.

R's birthday is coming up, and she's excited. This year we're having a smaller party at our house for her friends (and doubling the 4th of July cookout as her family party). We've got a lot of household projects that are in process, so we're scrambling to make the house / yard a bit more presentable by then. R's going to LOVE her birthday present from us (8-year old me would have been super-jealous!) - I can't wait for her to open it.

And the party...I'm trying to be cheap, but cute. And I've been on a do-it-yourself kick lately, so...*fingers crossed* I can make it awesome. I was looking on Pinterest for ideas, and R was looking over my shoulder. She got really excited about this cake, and it seems easy enough (even for me!), so I'm going to attempt it. Hopefully mine will turn out as cute as the picture!


(http://pinterest.com/pin/220465344229052791/)
I need ideas for party games / activities though. I'm thinking make-your-own ice-cream-sundaes will be a good one. Then music for dancing / goofing off. But other than that, I'm stuck. Does anyone have any (cheap, fun) ideas? he party will be smaller with mostly 8-ish year old girls (with Z and L, and maybe a few cousins thrown into the mix); our house is smaller but if the weather's nice we could do something outside. Maybe a silly string battle outside! (Seriously, what kid doesn't love silly string?) But...I don't want to think about the mess we'd have to clean up afterwards. Okay, maybe that's a bad idea. Musical chairs, pin the tail on the donkey, nail-painting, some cutesy craft? I don't know. Help!

Z has an appointment with a plastic surgeon coming up to check out the cyst-like thingy on his cheek.

R's got an appointment in July for minor surgery to have the cyst on her forearm removed.

My wrist has been funky since December, and an MRI showed that I've got a cyst hiding out deep in there that's been pressing on things. So, I've got an appointment with an orthopedic doctor to get that looked into. The thought of them sticking a needle halfway through my wrist to drain it just seems...OUCH!

What is it with our family and cysts?

R's been seeing a therapist since January for some emotional issues, and I think she's been making progress.

Post-partum depression -- I'm feeling a bit better. Still slightly funky and "off", but definitely better.

Allergies -- I had allergy testing done, and turns out I'm allergic to a bunch of stuff. For foods, I'm allergic to rye, and I've got possible intolerances / sensitivities to egg, white potatoes, and nutmeg. So, I've been cutting rye out of my diet, and I've been watching how I react to the others and adjusting accordingly (for the intolerances / sensitivities, the doctor said if I notice they bother me, I should probably avoid them so I feel better, but it's not a big deal if I have them occasionally -- I know eggs bother me, so I've been cutting that out of my diet for the most part). For environmental allergies, I'm allergic to maple and oak trees, grass, weeds, dogs, and most of the molds they tested for. Good times.

Weight loss -- I'm stuck. I haven't gained any weight back, but I haven't lost any more since my last blog post. I'm down 13 pounds, and I've got 20+ to go...I need to get re-focused.

And...that's all the randomness I can think of for now. Hi and bye!

Boys Will Be Boys, Part 2

I thought it would be fun to do another post about Z's latest adventures, since, well...as he's gotten bigger, so have his adventures! Here goes...

Nun-chucks!


Tasting rocks (because...well...what else is there to do with a giant rock?)


Helping himself to a snack (because one handful just isn't enough...)


Digging for gold... (he doesn't pick for the sake of picking, he just thinks his finger belongs up his nose when he says "ssshhhhh", instead of in front of his mouth...)


Climbing to new heights...like the changing table (and yes, that's one of the dining room chairs in the background. We keep them in his room, so he can't get on the table as easily. Yes, "as easily", because he still gets up there, no matter what we do. *sigh*.)


...and the bathroom sink...


Nom-nom-nom!


Finding new hiding places...


Look Mom, no hands! (on top of the toy box)


From the toy box to the top shelf of the computer desk...


Discovering new ways to climb on the easel...


On the changing table (again). Doesn't he have such a "neener neener neener" face? LoL.


Even with all the trouble, he is pretty darn cute though, if I do say so myself.  ;)


OH THE TORTURE! (Getting his first hair cut)


Tasting play-doh...



He uses anything he can as a stool (boxes / cans of food, water bottles, toys, sneakers, shelves, drawers, and even balls) to get to new heights. He's even climbed on top of something that was on the kitchen table, trying to reach the ceiling fan. He can open, close, and even lock the front door. He's locked me out of the house (thankfully I had my key with me that time though!).

I've caught him trying to take his diaper off (but he hasn't succeeded...yet), and he can take the caps off of markers. I have a feeling his next adventures will be a bit...messier.

This kid. Never a dull moment.

Perspective

Z had an appointment with a pediatric hematologist earlier this week (he inherited my funky anemia gene, nothing major). I didn't realize until I got to his appointment that the pediatric hematology area was actually the pediatric hematology and oncology area. The waiting room was humbling, to say the least.

Appointments were running really behind (a few kids had to be rushed to the ER with complications), so we ended up spending two hours in the waiting room with cancer kids. Most of the kids in the waiting area were hooked up to IV's. One young girl was in a wheelchair. Another patient was an infant, I'm guessing maybe three months old, hooked up to an IV while her mother discussed the logistics of her upcoming transplant. I saw a father cry, in an area out of his teenage daughter's sight. Seeing the realities for these kids and their parents...definitely puts things in perspective.

I didn't know how to act in that waiting room; the only mom of a healthy kid, the only parent there who's life wasn't turned upside down. It's next to impossible for me to imagine what they are going through. But I admired those parents, and those kids, for their strength and bravery in dealing with everything life has sent their way. I felt weird asking / commenting about the children's various conditions, so I didn't. I didn't know what else to do, but I made it a point to look the kids / parents in the eyes, comment on how cute the kids were, share some smiles, interact with the kids a bit. Plus, Z was such a ham, and made it hard NOT to interact with everyone...he was climbing up into the chairs and smiling at whoever was next to him, playing cars with a little girl, investigating the wheels on the wheelchair, trying to steal snacks from other parents' bags, and making me save IV holders and supplies from the craft table before he caused a disaster. His antics brought a smile to many faces in that waiting room. I hope that we were able to brighten their day, even just a little bit. 

Health-wise, we tend to have a lot going on as a family. But, it's all little stuff. All stuff that can be fixed or monitored; nothing major or life-threatening. And for that, I'm extremely thankful.

A little perspective goes a long way.