Sunday, April 29, 2018

Parks & Rec


J: This red Popsicle is turning into my blood!

J: I knowed why you picked me as a baby, it's so when I grew up, I love you! Mom, you shouldn't not have picked D.
C: Mom didn't exactly get to pick you, J.
Me: Nope, I didn't get to pick, but I got some good boys.

C asked me to teach him how to make coffee. I turned it on, and he walked away saying "And now, we wait."


(4/10) Work day for Dad & me today.  Tuesdays are my busy days, and are always kind of a whirlwind.


(4/11) Yay, Weds! The boys and I wandered down to the park after dinner, where D found an old funnel and made a bouquet out of cherry blossoms and grass clippings.  So cute!  A while ago, I did one of those DNA kits. I was adopted, and thought I had found most of my bio relations. Turns out I had another sister out there.  Tonight was mind-blowing for us all.  Can't wait to meet in person!


(4/12) Work day for me, and Dad had the kiddos.  Dad made us beer cheese mac and it was sooo good.  Insert Homer drool face here. 


(4/13) Work day for me, and Dad had the boys.  We tried out a new-to-us buffet tonight. D asked if I'd put together his new bike afterward.  I did, but got the training wheels on so low, that his rear tire was off the ground. I finished right before bed, so he was able to "ride" in the hallway, in his jammies.


(4/14) The twins, Nanan, and I went to see The Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed at the Seattle Children's Theatre.  It was a short play, so we decided to take the boys to the children's museum for some play time.  I haven't been there in years, so that was fun for me too! C, meanwhile, got to have a friend over for the night.  They played a ton of video games, and seemed to have a good time.


(4/15) Lazy Sunday.  The boys decided on the little park for today's destination.  I found an extra bolt for C's skateboard, so he headed down to ride that.  He has mismatched wheels on, so it tends to list to the left, but he worked on standing on it.  Noodle kept barking at C because he didn't know him with a helmet on.  D is really cruising on his new bike!  I'm so glad he likes it.  I thought we'd never get him off that tricycle. I connected with another half-sister this evening. Family is sure pouring out of the woodwork!


(4/16) So C decided to start drinking coffee this morning.  He had me show him how to brew coffee, and then had a cup.  Then poured the rest of the pot in his thermos.  His poor teacher!  He said his plan to get used to coffee was to drink it every day, and then add less and less creamer.  He said he was very bouncy today at school, but his stomach didn't care for it, so he was only going to have a little in the mornings from then on.  (Go figure!)   Funny kid. The twins set up "shop" down at the park this afternoon. They sold cherry blossoms, pine cones, and moss, which I purchased using my leaf credit card.  J has been super envious of D's bike's front reflector, so I rigged up a spare one using a pink hair tie.


(4/17) Work day for Dad & me, and Nanan was here with the boys after school.  She took them all to the dealership with her to get her new plates.  Fun times!  My day was meeting-filled and busy. It was good to get on home.


(4/18) Love my Wednesdays!  We walked the dogs to school, but Cass somehow managed to clothesline D on the way, and he got the tiniest owie on his hand.  You would have thought he broke something with all the drama that it caused. Oh.my.goodness.  I came in to work in D's classroom a few hours later, and he finally remembered to ask his teacher for a band-aid.  D was a pistol all day today, and it continued right into this evening.  I like to take the boys down to the park in the afternoons - they ride bikes, and I walk.  C decided to take the training wheels off D's new bike, so there was lots of pushing him around, him falling, not to mention the drama coming home when my wise guys decided to get drenched in the creek, and then walk home barefoot.  Mean ol' Mom wouldn't help them carry anything either.


(4/19) Work day for me, and Dad had the boys.  He put together what he calls "adult Legos," and we now have a raised garden bed in our back yard.  At today's school assembly, J was recognized as a Life Long Learner.  He was literally jumping up and down, he was so excited.  He has been working so hard for that award and we're so proud of him!  Dad took all the boys for the first Slurpees of the season to celebrate J & it finally warming up.


(4/20) Work day for me, and Dad had the boys.  Dad did more garden work and went out and bought 28 cubic feet of dirt, which is only half of what we need.  Gonna be a project!


(4/21) I headed up to work at Nanan's today, and was there most of the day.  Dad took the boys to Arena Sports, and turned them loose.  J cleaned up in laser tag, and it sounds like they had a sweaty good time!  We all went to the Silvertips playoff game this evening.  We lost game #2 tonight.  Hopefully they can pull out a win for the series!

"I care for the Earth by not smoking."
"I care for Earth by picking up litter."
(4/22) After I got back from the gym, the boys and I decided to go to Howarth Park Dog Beach.  It was a beautiful day, and though it still wasn't warm at all, the boys again went swimming.  We took all the dogs this time, and Moose predictably tried to go home after about ten minutes.  He's such a homebody.


(4/23) C started the morning off puking, so I let him stay home today.  I worked from home, and was the mean mom that made him take a nap to hopefully aid in him getting better.  Poor bubs.


(4/24) Work day for Dad and me, and school for the kiddos. C very grudgingly went to school today. He's not back to 100% yet - I think allergies are just killer for him, and with the temperature swing, and everything in bloom, it just nailed him.  He made it through the day...so yay?


(4/25) Whirlwind day for me.  I worked in D's classroom this morning, and got sent to the principal's office.  Not really, but I was there for a meeting with her and D to go over Monday's behavior.  D thought her office was pretty spiffy, and scored computer time at the end of the day in her office with a friend after an awesome day.  I ran Nanan to the doctor this afternoon, and then came home so I could run Cass in to the vet.  He has a small bump on his nose that just won't go away. Cytology says staph infection, so hopefully it'll be cleared up in a few weeks with some meds.  Nanan spent the night with us and expects to head home tomorrow.


(4/26) Work day for me, and Dad had the kiddos today.  Today was the hottest day all year, and I loved it. 'Course we have a/c in our building... The boys launched rockets tonight at the little park.  And, of course, launched one right into the sticker bushes. Then they wanted me to go it.  Fun!  I came out looking like I had gone to battle, but was successful in retrieving the errant rocket.  While eating a Popsicle tonight, J lost another tooth. He looks like a vampire now.


(4/27) Work day for me, and Dad had the day off. D's was the "star student" this week, he brought home a book filled with what his classmates think of him. It was adorable.  He had a rough day at school today, so it was a nice thing to read while taking some time to calm down.


(4/28) Happy weekend!  Dad & I got to go for a date day today.  C watched the twins while we went to lunch & then to Snohomish on the Rocks (a local distillery festival).  The boys video-gamed the afternoon away--it was gross outside, so they were quite content to hang at home indoors. C got to go over to a friend's house this afternoon when we returned.  We had movie night with the little boys (Coco--so cute!), and had a nice evening together.


(4/29) The twins were up super early, and were so very loud this morning.  Makes for a cranky mama.  But we mostly salvaged the day, and made monkey bread for breakfast.  We then went up to get the C-monster, and I worked out in the yard until it started to rain.

Monday, April 9, 2018

Spring Breakin'


D: That smells so good! I can even smell the Jersey Mike lettuce!

C: Ahhh... Covfefe.
C: (taking a sip) To the toilet!


D: I posted a check list for myself with five checks and zero Xes today!

C: Vacations are hard.
Clearly.


(3/24) I attended the March for Our Lives down in Seattle today with Sarah, her parents, Laura, and Loretta.  Such an emotional walk. I'm so proud of the kids that are behind this movement. I hope it brings about change.  C's former student teacher flagged me down, and told me to tell him hello.  C was very confused about how that had happened.  Did I email her? LOL, no, I saw her in real life, C.

(3/25) Sarah's youngest's party was held today at Chuck E Cheese. Oh boy, oh boy!  After the party we headed out to catch a boat to Grandma's & Granddad's house.  We had dinner with Shannon, Mike, & their new little one, plus Jake, Amber & their kiddos.  So fun to get us all together!  My boys found a gazillion eggs, and J unstuffed them all right into his stomach.  Grandma called it, and he had a stomach ache by dinner time.  It was great to be with the fam!


(3/26) Work & school for us all today.  It's conference week, so the boys are home early all week.  After I picked up the boys, I had to go up and hide in my room to work so I could hear myself think over all the video-game happening downstairs.


(3/27) Work day for Dad & me today. D woke up with a stomach ache. I was on the verge of calling him out, when he picked out a fruit cup, and then later some oatmeal, and was magically all better. Okie dokie!  Nanan picked the boys up from school and they dyed eggs, which turned out great.


(3/28) The boys and I walked the doggos to school today, and then I got to catch a gym class since I wasn't working in anyone's class today. The boys' conferences were today.  They're all doing just fine academically.  I'm so glad they were placed with the teachers they were, because they really have worked to help each boy succeed.


(3/29) Work day for me, and Dad had the boys.


(3/30) Work day for me, and Dad had the boys. He made them a "feast of the freezer section" today ~ boneless wings, fries, mac and cheese, and cheese sticks. Yum! Great way to cap off the last day of school before break!


(3/31) Sarah and I took a nice, long walk this morning around the lake.  Once we were back, the whole family & I jumped on a ferry to go visit Grandma & Granddad.  Dad hasn't had a chance to see their new place yet, and it was a treat to have him come out. We dyed some eggs; played games on the back porch, and took a walk out to the beach.  It was a beautiful day!  Dad has to work tomorrow, so he caught an evening boat back, while the boys and I stayed another night.


(4/1) Hoppy Easter! The kiddos were up early-squirrelly to find eggs.  We had a delicious breakfast of spicy eggs (deviled), bacon, and copious amounts of candy.  I derped and didn't bring extra shirts for the twins, so D wore J's from yesterday, and J wore a swim shirt and the highest of high waters.  Gotta buy that boy some new pants.  He's getting huge!  We got to hang out through lunch, and after eating from a full taco bar, the boys begged for chowder on the ferry home.  It was a stormy, gross afternoon, so we hunkered down inside instead of running all over the ferry.


(4/2) The twins and I went to Zumba this morning.  C was invited to a friend's house for the day.  The twins decided on both Silver Lake and Narbeck as destinations today, after Starbucks, of course.  These are my children, after all.  We inadvertently got a bad address from whence to pick up C, and Dad drove around for an hour or so trying to locate our wayward "ten-ager." He ended up complimenting a cute doggo, which happened to belong to the friend's neighbor, thus aiding in finding C.  Woot! The Aussie saves the day!


(4/3)  3am ~ *chirp* *chirp* *chirp*
Me: *cursing about batteries only going off in the middle of the friggin' night, standing between 3 different monitors to determine the offender, then not being able to return to sleep*

6:30am ~
Me: D, go back to bed.
J: Mom, I love you.
Me: I love you too, but don't bother me until 8.

7am ~
Text from C: J woke up around 6:30 and was playing video games when I came downstairs.

7:15am ~
D: Mom! I'm so sad about the poinsettia.
Me: *OMG, leave me alone!*

7:30am ~
J: Mom? Passkey?
Me: Don't bother me til 8!

7:58am ~
D: Mom? C needs the passkey to download a new game that's only free today!

8:30am ~
D: Mom? Will you come down?
Me: Why?
D: Because I'm hungry.

9am ~
Just made coffee without putting water in.


The rest of our day was fun. We took the puppies to the beach, and JJ lost a top toofer this evening! 


(4/4) I took the boys to Zumba this morning, and D was great up until the last little bit. I figured for everyone's sanity, that I'd take just him up to grab the teenager.  He was SO excited for her to do his make-up and play Legos with him.  I love how he adores her.


(4/5) We're headed for the beach!  We all piled in the car and made the long drive down to Grayland.  It rained, and rained, and rained.  D & I walked to the beach anyway and returned absolutely soaked. But we were on the beach, so we had to go. 


(4/6) I took D out to the beach during a lull in the rain this morning.  It was eerily foggy.  Once we got back and changed, it was time for EXTREME fun at the Extreme Fun Center.  We lunched the kids at the cafe, and then turned them loose.  They played laser tag, did the bumper cars, and played in the arcade.  We emerged into sunshine, so hit the beach once we got back.  It was 60°; perfect(?!) swimming weather. Dad stayed back at the house and prepared a feast of scallops, fried cod, oysters, and even did up calamari.  Yum!


(4/7) We said goodbye to the beach today.  Sniff, sniff.  It was a looooong drive back, through the rainy yuck.  C was invited to a friend's house tonight. D helped Dad make a side dish for this evening's dinner.  It was tasty!


(4/8) Back to work for Dad today.  I went for a coffee walk with Sarah this morning, and we managed to go during the only dry part of the day.  The twins and I ran the teenager home this afternoon and stopped for lunch at Jersey Mike's on the way home.  D really wanted a beef sandwich, but not a roast beef one, and a quick text to Dad revealed that he actually wanted salami.  D proclaimed today as the "best day ever!"  The bar is low. 


(4/9) Work day for Dad & me.  Spring break is over, and the kids are back in school.  Hope their teachers survive!