Date night

Tonight is family date night. Mason is going out for his very first time without us or my parents. He is going to the movies with my cousin, Cassandra, whom is 12 and her mom (my aunt) and my grandma. Okay, so it's really no big deal cause he is still going with family. But he is packed with money and jacket and he looks and feels like such a big boy on his first alone outing. Cassandra won tickets to see that weird looking movie, Beverly Hills Chihuahua. He is going to love it. He's been talking about it for weeks. I'm happy cause he gets to go for free and I don't have to watch it. Perfect!

Currently Daddy and Avery are on a father-daughter date. Avery has been very grumpy Allen lately. She is a moody girl to begin with, but she has been especially moody with her towards  dad. He decided to take her out to ice cream and spend some alone time with her. She was super excited to go - so I'm sure it will be time well spent with the two of them.

That leaves me alone with Jackson. He is cutting his two year molars, that seem to be never ending, and is a bit of a pain. I gave him some Tylenol when he woke up from his nap a bit ago and that has seemed to help. We have played a few games and now he is watching Dora, while I sneak away for some computer time.

A crazy few weeks.

I've been missing my blog land so much. Life has been very uneventful and every time I sit down to write a blog, something else seems more pressing.
The possessions in our life all seem to be breaking one by one. I have been wondering what God is trying to teach us. The door on the microwave has been falling off for the last several months. You have to pull it just right so that the whole door doesn't come off every time you open the door. Last week I stepped on the lever on the vacuum that makes the handle lay down and the whole lever broke and can't be put back together. Allen went to start the dishwasher on Sunday morning and it would not start. He took it all apart and attempted to fix it, but it just wouldn't start again. We have been washing all our dishes by hand and it is very much the pain. I realize now what a blessing a dishwasher is to have. Today I dropped Allen off at the DMV and then went to get us some Diet Coke refreshments. A sign caught my eye and I ran right in the back of a Honda Accord. Of course my American made car was fine - but the Honda's bumper was smashed to bits.
Seriously, God, what are you trying to teach me?

Allen getting his license back really made a great ending to this week! It is going to be so nice not driving him around and just to have someone else help with the extracurricular activities for the kids. All in all, this time has really taught me the importance of family. We lean on our family in hard times and this has been 7 months of hardship - for both Allen and myself. We had some great family memories in the car at 6:30 in the morning or packing up all the kids just to get on thing from the Lowe's down the street.

Allen's sister had a baby last week. She is our first niece. It is exciting to be so close to a situation and not be the one expierencing it. I have mixed emotions. Part of me is envious of her situation and remembers the eventful time with a newborn. And the other part of me is glad that stage of my life is over and I can sleep through the night and I have freedom to come and go as I please. I am excited to be an Auntie and spoil my niece (and any future siblings she may have) and then give her back to her parents!

Jackson has shown quite the imagination lately. Him and Avery were chasing lions down our hallway yesterday. He started to cry cause he was scared, so I gave him some lion dust that would make the lions disappear. It was so sweet to watch him run down the hall throwing his imaginary dust all over the place and telling the lions to go away.

Avery is becoming such the little lady. I looked at her tonight and saw no hint of baby left in her. Her little face and hands are all girl. Her body is stretching out and her baby pudge has disappeared. Her little attitude is becoming more and more apparent and I've had a glimpse of what it may be like when she is a teenager... scary thought!

As the possessions in my world are all breaking and causing me much grief - I need to remind myself what is really important. My family and the time that is slipping by each day. The kids are growing up. Who cares if the dishes never get done or the floors never get vacuumed, I'm going to watch my kids grow up! I'm blessed.

Another step into big kid land

The last picture of the full set of baby teeth!

I feel like I've been blogging alot about my big boy, Mason. So many changes have been happening in his life lately. Last week he lost his first tooth. He had been wiggling it for a few days and then it was just hanging there. He refused to let us pull it out, so for a few meals I had to cut up his food like he was an infant again. But then one morning, when he was up laying in his bed waiting for the sun to rise, he was playing with his tooth when it fell out. He said that he put it under his pillow, but the tooth fairy did not come. "Maybe she is on vacation." I told him that maybe if he put it under his pillow the next night and used the special tooth pillow that his Great Grandma LaVerne made for him, then she would probably come. Sure enough, the next night she came. She left Mason 5, $1 bills and a note. The note stated that the first tooth is always the best tooth and deserves more money then the rest. He should not count on that much money for each tooth.
Mason was so excited and was even more excited to find out that another tooth is loose!

Wiggling the loose tooth



It's finally OUT!!!!

Mason's performance

I have finally uploaded the video from Mason's performance on Friday night. The quality of the video on youtube really sucks.... Allen says its because our camera is 6 years old.

But you get the gist of the performance. He is the clueless one behind the leader in green. At times he is turning the wrong way and scratching his nose! He sees his teacher in the audience and that almost sends him for a loop. He tells me after, "I didn't know Ms. Muzquiz knew about my church."

Everyone told him and me how cute he was.... despite not knowing the whole routine! I'm proud of the hardwork that he has put into learning some of it and I know he will only get better cause he loves it!

I'm not sure how to upload it here.. I actually tried and it took all day and nothing happened. So here is the youtube link.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlSu1fGjrfk

A spy in volunteer's clothes

Today was the first day of my volunteering career in the classroom. I plan on working at least 3 days a month in Mason's class. I want to make my face known amongst my kid's teachers so I can stay informed of what is happening. I'm also doing it to spy on Mason. Boys tend to not tell you everything that happens during their day. One word answers is usually how he tells me how his day goes. I'm very curious to know who he chooses for friends, how he acts in class and how the teacher handles her students.
The first thing I noticed was that Mason was super excited to see me in his classroom. He was all smiles the whole time I was there. Of course, I soaked all this attention up since I know that this may only last for a few more years.
I'm also quite sure that I'm not designed to be a kindergarten teacher. They are very needy and require a lot of attention. I was in charge of helping a center group make a leaf man. They are working on the letter L this week. I had to help a few kids hold a scissors and show them numerous times that the leaves were legs not arms. I can't imagine having to deal with all those students on a daily basis. His teacher must always be tired!
I also realized today how much Mason really does know compared to other kids his age. I'm proud to say that he is one of the few kids that can read. Again, the thought of homeschool crossed my mind. He is not challenged or learning anything new in his current school situation. I know that if I homeschooled him he would be learning new concepts daily. He loves to learn. I also know that he struggles in a few areas that I would be able to focus more time on then he coudl get with a classroom of other students.
One thing I realized as I was contemplating pulling him out of school was that he is in need of socialization. He is sort of the loner kid during recess. He sat with a few girls on the floor to eat his snack and then proceeded to ride the tricycle while talking to only a few people. When I asked him if he had any friends he said that he had lots of friends and that all the kids in his class where his friends. I felt responsible as tears came to my eyes watching my child play by himself. Did I not expose him to enough playdates? I'm fairly certain that since birth I have very successfully introduced him to many friends that he has enjoyed. I think that is the difference between toddler-hood friends and school-age friends. One is mom introduced and the other they pick themselves.
I realized once again that my first born has a very different personality then his mom. He is happy to play by himself and is not affected at the least that he has no "close" friends to share his secrets with. In his five year old mind anyone he meets is his friend and in reality that is how it should be. I know that at least for today our decision to keep him in public school will help him make friends..... a priceless resource.

Mason... a celebrity?

Mason made the paper! Yep that is right... right there on the front page was his little face.

Monday night was the Hesperia District Board Meeting, where they honored Ms. Sherri for giving Mason the Heimlich while choking on a fruit snack a few weeks back. We attended to honor Sherri and to give the board a face to the little boy that Sherri saved. The local paper got wind of the whole process and showed up to school on Tuesday morning. They received permission from Allen to interview Mason and take some pictures.

Wednesday morning, the picture and story is on the front page. Mason was more then thrilled. I received 4 phone calls and 3 emails from people in the High Desert that wanted to make sure we knew about the article. One of your dear friends was over tonight and asked Mason for his autograph. Mason is happy and giggly about his new found celebrity-hood!

It is sad that in this fallen world, a sad thought crosses my mind. The newspaper article which is viewed by all the cities in the High Desert contains Mason's full name, school name and picture. It is scary to think of what could happen if this information falls into the hands of an evil-doer. I am sure this thought did not even cross Allen's mind as he gave permission for them to interview Mason as it probably would not have mine. This just reminds me to have one more talk with my kids about strangers and safety in public. How sad that we have to even think about things like this.

Camping

We decided to brave camping again. I felt that it was necessary for our kids to be campers. Isn't that what kids do. My last post about the animals and our lack of exposure to them is very scary to me. I don't want my kid's friends to mention camping and them have fear of it cause it is unknown. So we ventured out.

We went to Vail Lake. It is close to home and some dear family friends were also going and said that they would provide all the food - so just pack what we needed for a night. HA! We took out one seat in our van and still had to unpack some stuff cause the kids would not fit. After the 2-3 hours it took Allen and I to pack us for one night.. we were off!

We arrived at the camp site at about 2:30 pm and started the unloading and setting up. Setting up the tent in the heat with three children who just want to run and play and can't cause they are too young to be off by themselves, was not pleasant. The kids rode bikes and we took walks. The two hours between set up and dinner time was the best! Then dinner time hit. We had to eat on dirt. The floor was dirt. Everywhere was dirt.

Sleeping was awful. 5 people in a tent. Our tent says its a 10 man tent.... really? How small are these men that are fitting into this ten and I'm sure they were not sleeping on an Aero bed! IT was freezing the whole night and I spent much of it comforting a whimpering baby or sleeping in the bathroom. Of course as luck would have it something did not agree with my tummy and I feared of getting sick in a small-very thin walled tent. I spent alot of the night in the public restroom sitting in a chair trying to sleep, so that I would be near the toilet if it called for me.

The next day Avery was stung by a bee. Bees where everywhere and lo-and-beyond - the minor tempered kid who did not swat at the bees was stung. Poor girl was a wreck. She cried for about 3 hours (no exaggeration). It was cute to see her Daddy and big brother in action. Both were ready to take that bee and any bee that crossed our path and squash it with their bare hands! We ended up leaving the camp site earlier then planned to tend to our tired bodies and Avery's swollen hand.

I made a mental checklist on the way home about the pros and cons of camping. We own a timeshare and I think that we are perfectly fine doing timeshare vacations from here on out.

Timeshares have tables and chairs and carpets under our feet - where as camping has dirt!
Timeshares have bathrooms within the same walls as your bedroom - where as camping requires you to walk 1/2 block to the nearest bathroom.
Timeshares have heating and air conditioning for the inclement weather - where as camping you have to layer your clothes or sweat.
Timeshares don't require you to build your bedroom upon arrival.
Timeshares have kitchens to prepare your food and do your dishes - where as camping you do it on grill in the dirt.
Timeshares allow you to sleep alone in your big bed and your kids are in the next bedroom - where as camping, everyone is right next to each other.
Timeshares have TVs for those moments that you just don't have the patience to keep the little ones entertained.
Timeshares have locks on the doors so that you can prevent a 2 year old from escaping down the road.

My mental list goes on and on. I have convinced myself and Allen (who didn't need much convincing) that we will only vacation in a hotel or timeshare from here on out. We see nothing wrong with raising our kids this way and when they become boy scouts and are old enough to not be stolen by strangers we will try again.