Conflicting emotions

My son Z. had this to say in the car this afternoon. It pretty much sums up my feelings as well as his.

Z- Hurry up school and begin. Slow down summer so I can still enjoy you.

When I asked him why he felt this way he just replied that he missed school and was ready to get back to it. Also, he was a bit bored and wanted to see his friends. But he isn't quite ready to give up all that summer means for him (i.e. swimming, hanging out with his neighborhood friends, staying up way to late, lots of extra video game time).

I am with him, I am ready for school to begin so I can get back into a routine of sorts but I'm really going to miss having him around all the time. He really is a neat kid and I have really enjoyed all the extra time I have with him during the summer. So it looks like we both have conflicting emotions, like so many other families this time of year.

I'm in love

I'm in love. (In a totally fictional sort of way) My husband is aware of this and is quite understanding about it. You see he can completely understand why. I totally love Jason Bourne. He rocks. (Jason that is, although my husband rocks to) If I had to be chased by super bad evil people who wouldn't hesitate to shoot me, then I want him to be my friend. He is after all the best at what he does and that's what I like. And contrary to what you may think, Matt Damon is just the pretty package that Jason comes in. Don't get me wrong, I love pretty packages and he is definitely one, but it is still Jason that I adore.

As you can tell, I'm still pretty excited days after seeing the new movie. If you get the chance to go see this movie in the theater then please do it. We went out for a night without kids and the place was packed. So packed that there were no seats left in the theater except for the very front row. And since we were out on a kid free date I celebrated by spilling my drink all over my husband. Apparently I can't handle a movie without at least one mess. But anyway the action was almost immediate and I loved the way they combined the info from the Bourne Supremacy to the new movie. And I really want Julia Stiles hair in this movie, I have completely given my self up to highlight envy. I wonder how much it would cost me to have hair like hers. But back to the movie, it was great and definitely left me wanting more. So unless your still confused, go see this movie as soon as you can. It is well worth the price of a ticket. Just don't get so excited about seeing Jason that you spill your drink on your partner. That may take away from the moment and then you will end up missing some of it.

Movies, Movies and more movies

As I mentioned the other day, I went crazy at the video store the other day. Both my husband and I love to watch movies. Since we still have young children we don't get to the movie theaters like we used to. Sadly we don't even get to the video rental store that often anymore. This is due to fact that the kids are up later than they used to be. We are at different activities in the evenings and by the time we get the kids to bed we are to tired to start a two hour movie. Our children are also not great at letting us watch a movie with them awake since they are entirely to noisy for us to hear anything else going on.

So back to the other day when I was at Blockbuster's, somehow I walked out of there with I think eight movies. At least half of them were for the kids so I don't count them. Even though I should since I watch them a million times it feels like. But that left four movies for us to watch after the kids went to bed. So here are my official movie reviews, for what they are worth. We both liked Music and Lyrics okay, it wasn't great and it was very predictable but just seeing Hugh Grant doing an eighties pop video and singing was riot. The Good Year with Russell Crowe was a sloooowwww movie. Again I thought it was okay and would probably watch it again if nothing else was on. My husband said he would watch it again without sticking a needle in his eye only if it was up against Under the Tuscan Sun (one of my favorites which he just doesn't understand). We both agreed that the best one so far was last's nights showing of The Devil Wears Prada. Glenn Close is great in this role and we both liked it alot. She is such a good "mean" character. Even though it dealt with fashion, and my husband is a fashionless kind of guy he still enjoyed it and would watch it again. That leaves us with one more movie Miss Congeniality 2, which is an old one but we still haven't seen it. I'll have to wait to watch this one this weekend so can't tell you what I think of it yet. But I have heard it's good so we will see.

But since we have been on a movie kick this week, we are going to top it off by going to see the new Bourne Ultimatum movie. We have the kids signed up for a Kids Fun night at a church. Then we will go see a current movie, in a real movie theater with stadium seating. We will have real movie popcorn with real greasy movie popcorn butter and drink lots of coke. I can hardly wait. I just love Matt Damon and his Jason Bourne character. And the fact that it's the second date in a week with just my husband and I is totally cool. Almost as cool as Matt Damon.

Random Things

It's been a crazy week so far, full of out of the ordinary things. We have had the pleasure of watching my neighbors two boys for a few days the last week or so. The oldest is my son Z.'s BFF (if boys at least admit to having a best friend forever). The younger son is closer to Hoss's age so they usually have a good time. Now this younger son was affectionately called BAM BAM as a baby and toddler. And although he is now six I think it is still provokes the appropriate reaction in regards to his behaviour. I'm surprised that my four children have not done or thought up what BAM BAM has been able to come up with in five short hours. But thankfully everything has been restored to order until his next visit, I can only hope that my supply of patience is restored as well. And my poor dog (never thought I'd ever actually utter that phrase) can go back to being a dog instead of being treated as a means of transportation. Granted she is as big as a horse but I don't think she likes being ridden like one.

We have also had two of our close neighbors move out of their houses. One I am sorry to see go but really didn't get a chance to say bye to properly. The other is more of my husband's buddy but is great friend to me and the kids as well. I know we will still be hearing from him and seeing him on a regular basis despite his moving out of state. He is actually renting his house to my neighbor's mom for a while so we at least already know one of the new neighbors.

Z. is in full football mode. He received his jersey yesterday and I must admit that seeing his name on the back of it is way cool. Must still be some of that old high school girl in me yet. I had a lot of friends and boy friends that were football players in my youth so it brought back lots of fun memories for me. When I asked my husband his thoughts on it, his response was "Never thought I would see my last name on a football jersey in a million years." Spoken like the true band geek that he was. How the two of us ever ended up together, I still wonder. I have repeatedly told him it was a good thing we never met in high school or I would never had dated you. He takes it good naturedly and just says he would never had dated me either. Anyways, Z. is loving it and that is all that matters. That and I get to go to football games again.

And to top of our out of the ordinary week, we have rented a lot of videos to watch. Which we never do since we never get to watch TV that much, and have been staying up way to late watching them. So that being said I am off to watch a new one.

Defending the Caveman

Have any of you seen this one man show called Defending the Caveman? It's been a hit running on Broadway for years. Anyway, my husband surprised me by getting tickets and arranging to go out with some friends. Totally surprised me. Normally I have to talk him into to doing these things so I was completely physched. As for the show itself, it goes into details about the difference between men and woman and how we communicate. It was amazing how accurate it was on so many different levels. But for us it was nothing but hysterical, we laughed for almost the entire two hours. I had heard of this show before but didn't really think much of it but if you ever get the chance to see it, then jump on it. Afterwards we went out to eat at a restaurant without any kids menu and ate our food while it was still hot. So for us it was a great afternoon of fun with friends and laughter. I just love it when we get grown up time alone or with our friends.

Look at me!

Hey mom...look at me! This is a phrase that I hear hundreds of times during the day. It may come in different variations of hey look what I did, look what I can do or just a simple hey check this out. But for all four of my kids it's a cry for some of my attention and validation for whatever new achievement they have accomplished. I hear this so many times in a day that some days I just really want to tell them that I am just to tired of looking at every little thing.

When we went to Six Flags last week I heard this exclaimed over and over again. But along with the normal cry for attention they were also begging me to "Take a picture". Something that I readily did as long as it didn't involve me actually being on a roller coaster ride with them.

Anyways here are a few of my favorite "Look at me moments".

Here is Hoss driving the bumper cars and feeling quite proud to have just knocked into somebody only to have the favor returned.


Not to be outdone, A. really enjoyed the carousal ride where she held on all by herself and laughed anytime she went up. All the kids enjoyed it since it was one of the few rides running during the rain storm at the time but A. really liked it the most.

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In between all the roller coasters he kept going on, Z. would humor the younger ones by going on some of the "easy" rides. He really is such a camera ham.


This one was a favorite of both K. and Hoss. I guess it takes a child to find the fun and enjoyment in being bounced around by a giant cowboy boot in a circle. But since it was close to a big roller coaster, they got to ride this a few times while Z. went on whatever scary ride he talked his dad into that day.


If I had to pick a favorite it would definitely be the old fashioned car drive. I really like being driven around by the kids for a change. But on this day I missed out on my ride and dad took it instead. He seemed to enjoy it just as much as I normally do and Hoss was nothing but sheer concentration when it came to him being a chauffeur.


It was just a fun day for everyone involved and we are already looking forward to the next time we go back.

Hot Summer Days

We have officially entered into what I truly consider the dog days of summer. The only time we really get outside to play is in the morning or late afternoon when it starts to cool down. Unless we are sitting by a pool we tend to be indoor during the heat of the day. But even though we are not out in the worst of it, the heat still slows down the kids a bit. At which point they beg me for their favorite cool down treat. Popsicles.

Depending on what kind of Popsicle they are having they can end up with any where from one big Popsicle or even three or four small ones just for the sake of keeping cool. It's really funny how they can all enter their own special zone while enjoying their Popsicle. And you better not talk to them or get them to participate in anything major during the consumption of said Popsicle because your just wasting your time.

Z. had a certain focus while enjoying his Popsicle. His main objective is to try and get it as pointy as possible without it breaking off. He is quite adept at making a shank out of a Popsicle that any inmate in any prison would be proud of.





Hoss is my true popsicle connoisseur. He will gladly turn down ice cream in favor of these any day. Times like this I really wonder if he is of my own flesh and blood since I adore ice cream. For him it's all about Popsicle's and the quiet serentity that they bring to him.



A. loves hers as well but I think it's because she is finally big girl enough to eat it on her own without mom having to help.




Which now leaves me to examine how K. slurps her Popsicle. I really don't know how much she enjoys it since she always seems to be in a catatonic state while she is eating them, but I have never known her to refuse one yet. So I guess she likes them, since they help her get to her happy place.



Now how do I enjoy my Popsicle your wondering. I like to do a little of all of the above depending on my mood. But whichever way I choose I am always the first one done so obviously I don't savor my Popsicle in the same manner as my children. Something I guess I should work on.

The Jesus One

Nicole at 4andcounting tagged me for the Jesus meme. I'm supposed to list 5 things I love about Jesus and then tag 5 people.

1. Jesus is loving. Regardless of all the bad or negative things we have done, He still loves us.

2. Jesus is compassionate. He never runs out of compassion and love for his children. Even towards the weakest and those considered unworthy by others, He always showed compassion to his children.

3. Jesus knows your heart. He knows what we are feeling in our most innermost thoughts. And He accepts us and loves us regardless.

4. Jesus was a teacher and example. He showed us how to live our daily lives in a way that would guarantee our entrance into His Kingdom. He did this by the way He lived his life and the words He left for us in scripture.

5. Jesus died for me (and you and you and you and so on). Seems obvious, but I know I don't think about it often enough. He died just for me. He died for each individual. 4andcounting actually came up with this answer, but I think it's definitely worth repeating.

Okay, I tag anyone who feels like doing this meme. Just play along and let me know so I can go read your comments.

42 inches

Did you know that 42 inches is the most important measurement that can be found for my children today. This is because yesterday we took our four children to Six Flags with some friends. And the height requirement for a lot of the scary roller coasters that I refuse to get on, is 42 inches. Now just because Hoss and K. were tall enough to go on the loop de loop Shockwave didn't mean that I wanted them to. But they soon realized that dad was the complete opposite and would let them go on any scary ride with him (and our friends). So for them it was run as fast as you can to the measuring sign, line up and then whoop for joy when they passed the height requirement. K. wasn't always tall enough to get onto all the rides but she was a good sport and stayed with me and Baby A. until everyone else was done.

The lines weren't even that bad but after we had a small thunderstorm move through it improved even more. By the time the park was back at full operation there weren't any people left. You could get on a ride and not even exit it to go again, you just sat there and waited to see if anyone else would come and if not away you went again. So by the end of our very long day I think there were only two big rides which my oldest son Z. wasn't able to ride. Which in a park that big is pretty cool. As for me, the sole person of the day who truly doesn't like roller coaster rides, I had a blast as well. I was able take the kids on some of the smaller rides and even Baby A. got to get on a few rides.

The extra bonus of this very long day, all my children were so worn out they slept past 9am. Something completely unheard of in our house.

Grandma town

We have obviously been out of town a lot lately. And this is just one of the funny things Hoss asked me about while we were at my parents driving in the car.

Hoss: Mom are we in grandma town?

Me: What are you talking about?

Hoss: Well mom look in all the cars the only people driving are grandma's.

Me: Looking all around at all the cars around us at the light and laughing since every car is being driven by a senior citizen. No Hoss, they have kids in Lubbock to we just can't see them driving.

Home Again..Hooray

I am home again. And to make it even better dad is home again also. The doctors still haven't fixed his heart yet but they wanted him to regain his strength first before they go any further. So my dad is now twenty pounds lighter after a twelve day stay at the hospital and much weaker. They have given him a walker and oxygen along with a lot of home health care. It really stinks to see how frail he looks but the simple fact is that many people don't make it back from the point where he was. Something the nurses and doctors kept reminding us about. So thank you for all the continued prayers they have worked miracles, and I am so thankful for all of them.

Progress

We are moving in the right direction. Dad is hopefully going to be weaned from the ventilator today. His pneumonia seems to be getting better as well. Once he is stable they can then go on to work on correcting the blockage in his heart. Thanks for your prayers. I will go back to my parents in a few days but would still appreciate any prayers you can give us for my family and the doctors that are treating him. I am just so thankful he is heading in the right direction now. God is truly with us at this time and is showing his love for us in so many ways.

Long week for the family

I've had a very long week. I won't go into alot of details but my dad was put into the hospital on Monday. Originally we thought he would be there about a week and a half while they stabilized his heart rate and then would probably be putting in stints. It hasn't been that easy though. He is still unstable and now on a breathing tube. I will be gone alot the next few weeks since we have now been told that he won't be leaving the hospital for at least three to four weeks. So if you will just keep my dad in your prayers and the rest of family I would really appreciate it.

Missing Socks

Why is it that I know I put two socks that match into the dryer but never have pair when it comes time to fold. It's a problem that is shared by millions of people worldwide. So why do I continue to hang onto these mateless socks for eternity in hopes that one day they will be reunited. All I end up with is one more pile of things that I eventually have to sort through and then toss.

It's not only socks that I am expected to find. For whatever reason my family thinks that I am the only person in the house that can find things. Granted this is due to the fact that I am anal and usually can find the missing item as long as I have seen it. I have my own little mental imaging game I do in my head until I can picture where I have seen the lost item.

But this weekend really was to much for me. I was expected to know what happened to two of my sons best Pokemon cards. Not only was I expected to know what happened to them but I had to know after he had a sleepover during which they had taken out the missing cards to play with. This really was to much for me and I really should have had more patience with my son since they are important to him. Add this to the fact that the same son had already gotten mad that I forget his goggles at his friends house where he was swimming and I didn't know where he had left his flip flops (over at another friends house). I decided that from now on he just has to learn how to keep up with his own things.

Will this keep the rest of the family coming to me to find their missing items. I sincerely doubt it. But I truly feel that he is old enough to keep up with his own things without blaming me if he can't find them. And who knows maybe it will give me just a few more minutes to search for those missing socks.

My John Deere Boy

Hoss loves him a tractor. (There did I say that country enough) What I mean is that Hoss really loves tractors. Of any kind, but he really loves the green John Deere ones the best. He will spend hours playing with cars and tractors.

Well when we went to Missouri we reminded him that his Uncle Bill had a tractor. Imagine his joy when he realized that he would get to ride on the tractor again. That was all he could talk about. And naturally the first morning we were there he was up with the cows. (Yes they do own cows as well) He then went off in search of Uncle Bill to "help" him. This was after he put on his green tractor shirt. He wanted to be sure and be dressed for the part. Now since I am a good mom, I stayed inside with all the rest of the sleeping children to keep an eye on them (at least that's the story I'm sticking with). But my husband went out to watch Hoss with his uncle. It was then that I heard the tractor start up. So off I ran to get the camera and get it to my husband so he could grab some pictures of Hoss in his blissful state. Hoss was driving the tractor around, with his Uncle only there in case he needed help.



Then they decided that some hay that was waiting to be moved needed to be moved just at that moment. So Hoss moved the hay into the barn. After all the hard work they decided to just drive around a bit and check things out.




I can honestly say that this was probably the best part of the entire trip for Hoss. Who cares about playing with cousins, visiting with grandma or going to a dumb ol' wedding. It's all about tractors for Hoss.

Swimmers Ear

My son Z. has swimmers ear. He is so heartbroken and embarrassingly enough so a I. He can't swim with his head underwater for at least a week. This means that we can't go hang out at the pool every afternoon like we have been doing. I really counted on this two hour excursion every day. It kept all the kids happy and content. It also had the extra benefit of wearing them out so that they would all go to bed just a bit easier. I love being at the pool so it's relaxing for me to. There always seems to be someone there to visit with. So now we are on a pool hiatus and everyone is stir crazy. I'm doing different indoor activities that we would normally do during swim time but it's alot harder on me and doesn't wear them out like swimming does. Guess it will just be a long week for all of us without swimming.

But onto good news, blogger is finally letting me post titles, comments and posts again. Yay for small things.

How I know my children aren't from the country.

A conversation as we were driving from Texas to Missouri.

Z. - Hey Mom, look at the really tall grass.
Me- No Z., that's not grass, it's corn.

A Few Observations from this morning:

1. The kids all woke up early and are happily and QUIETLY getting along.

2. Baby A. can find any nightlight in the house and bring them all to me in a matter of seconds.

3. It seems like the only time my children have to go to the bathroom is if I am eating, or if they can synchronize their systems to all go at the same time.

4. I am enjoying my second cup of hot (not lukewarm) coffee. A small pleasure in itself.

5. My kids are already asking if it's time to go swimming since we have gone everyday for the last week. Unfortunately they don't realize how much laundry there is.

6. My title bar in my posts is not working again for the third day in a row. Sigh!

7. I am spending way to much time surfing around blogland this morning and need to get busy with real life.

Titles

For some frustrating reason I am unable to get my title to appear on my posts lately. The cursor just won't go up to it. So now my posts look pretty cheesy until I can figure out what is going on. Any suggestions on how to fix it?

The Wedding Cake

As you know we just came back from my niece's wedding. It was a small wedding from the start but the bad weather made it even more so. Which we tried to make into a good thing by saying there was more wedding cake for us to eat.

As you can see it was a pretty cake. Nothing huge or extravagant but pretty.



And my children were itching to get a piece (or two) of the wedding cake. So once the cake was finally cut they were excited.

I have to admit that I love wedding cakes because they are so much heavier than a normal cake. The filling and frosting is always different to and to me that just makes it all the better. There is one place here locally that I can order a cake that is just like a wedding cake but since they aren't cheap I don't do it that often. But anyways back to the wedding cake.

My son Z. was one of the first to get a piece of cake and I noticed he wasn't really eating it. So I asked him how it was, my nine year old boy who loves cake said "it's okay". So I decided to try a bite of his and I have to agree. It was okay. Nothing like what I was expecting. But we didn't say anything to anyone and just continued on visiting. I later found out that the lady who owned the reception hall included the cake in the package and that she makes them. So now I understood why it didn't taste like a wedding cake. But then she approached my son Z. and asked if he was enjoying the cake. Z. being nine (and not knowing she made it) said he didn't like it that much. She looked shocked. So I quickly tried to cover for him and said it was because the frosting was to rich for us. Z. agreed since he really didn't know why he didn't like it but was going to go along with anything I said. So the lady looked quite happy after that and continued on.

So crisis averted. At least the cake still looked pretty in the pictures and unless you know different (which you now do) you would think it would be delicious also. So moral of the story...never ask a child what he thinks of the cake because they will always tell the truth. Even if it's just okay.