A Star is born...

Jake had his very first "performance" for a school function. They sang about six songs (and if I wasn't so tired right now I would get up and go get the paper so I could tell you what each one was!). Anyway, he was such a ham and was livin it up on the stage with his dance moves. His smile lit up the whole stage. Grayson sat in my lap and clapped after every song and said "yah, Jake" and at the end shouted an "I wuv you my Jake". My friend Jen and her husband and kids picked us up at 4:00 today and we ate dinner at local pizza place before heading over to the school for the big performance. Gracie (Jen's daughter and Jake's "soulmate") looked so cute wearing her hula skirt. The picture attached is Jake and Gracie before the concert and during the concert! Great performance Jake and Gracie!

This is why I clean my bathrooms twice a week

So last night the boys are off to dreamland. We had a storm come through earlier but all looked well as the night progressed. I was ready to go to bed after talking to Jason when the phone rang again. Jason was calling to let me know that Chris (his employee) had phoned him and said their were funnel clouds in Festus (which is basically us). So I got the boys and headed downstairs and put them on our couch. Everything looked fine here but I called my friend Jen to let her know. She too thought it was odd because it was fine where we were. About five minutes later Jason calls again and this time he said the sirens were going off in Pevely (where he works about 6 minutes away). So I gather up our floor pillows and a few others and lots of blankets and head into the bathroom with the boys. His employee Chris calls, worried about me and the boys because things look bad out but still nothing here. He makes sure to tell me to call him if we need anything and he'll come right over (what a great guy). So I decide it's best just to sleep in the bathroom for the night. Of course it's not a huge bathroom and so we are all squished together my head practically on a toilet (thank god for my cleanliness because I had just cleaned the bathroom that day) and about 30 minutes later I had to go the bathroom. You would think out of convenience "well, I'm already there" but the thought of using that toilet that I am practically lying on was making me nauseaus so upstairs I went. I swear I hear a tornado (I tend to hear lots of things while Jason is gone including burglars, tornado's, bears etc.) We don't have to wonder where the boys get their imagination from. So, I check outside and all still looks fine. The bathroom was uncomfortable but I'll tell you the boys slept sound and did not stir once all night.

The funeral of a "Hero"

Grayson and I had some errands to run today. On our way to the bank I noticed that the whole downtown of Festus was blocked off. I asked at the bank if they knew what was going on. Through tearful eyes the woman told me it was a funeral procession honoring a soldier named Brandon Wallace who was killed two weeks ago in Iraq. This young man, who had dreams of becoming a police officer and was engaged to be married, was killed for what I beleive is fighting for all of us. Whether you agree or I agree on the war at hand, I do beleive that everything the men and women in the military are fighting for is for me, my kids, my grandkids etc. I will support them, pray for them and continue to honor them. I tried explaining to Grayson how we were going to go downtown so that we too could honor Brandon. I told him that this young man died fighting for our country, died to keep us safe. I explained this was somebody's son, brother, uncle and how his family would miss him terribly but that we should show them how much we appreciate what he has done. So we headed downtown and sat along the sidewalk that was filled with so many people with flags and signs. Normally my impatient two-year old who would be running all over and trying to go in the road stood very still as he watched the helicopter in the air until the procession began and as the hearse carrying the hero approached I placed Grayson's hand over his heart and told him this is what we can do for Brandon. He left his hand over his heart until the entire procession had ended. He didn't scream, yell or get all excited at the site of the motorcylist who were there to drown out the sounds of protesting. He stood still with his hand over his heart as the police cars and fire trucks rode by and we simply stood and paid our respects to Brandon, his family and friends and we too said goodbye to this "hometown hero".

Zoom....off to the moon

Here is a picture of Grayson and I inside our rocket ship.
Grayson and I took two trips today to the moon. The first trip we lifted off from The "Space Grayson Airport". Our trip to the moon was an eventful one...we actually left the shuttle did the moonwalk. Our second trip was at the Crystal City Pediatrics Airport were Grayson was being checked out for his rash to make sure we could complete the mission. Thankfully since it was just a viral infection causing the rash we had the o.k. from the Dr. to continue our mission. It was a bumpy ride and Grayson got stalled on Number 2 of the countdown but off we went. This was a quick trip as we were due back to earth to pick up Jake from tutoring. Not sure where tomorrow will take us!

As the days go by...

Well, Jason has left for Texas (again) and so my week of lonliness begins. I have the Southwest Airlines screen pulled up on the computer and just refreshed it and his flight is boarding. He should arrive in Houston around 6:40 p.m. I'll refresh the page every 30 minutes until he arrives and I see the words "arrived" on the screen. We'll have our usual routine here at the house...the boys sleeping in bed with me, room barricaded. One night they pick a place to go eat out. Sadly, Jake has his first "performance" at school and Jason will be missing it. I really did not want him to leave today...sometimes the loneliness gets to be too much. It's hard during the week because everyone is having dinner with their families...taking walks, playing games and while I am still here to do that with the boys but I have no adult interaction whatsoever come 3:00 p.m. when everyone's spouses are arriving home. My dinner conversation normally consists of the following topics:

Dinner is yucky (Jake)
I pooped (Grayson)
What's for a snack tonite (Jake and Grayson)
So and so farted or got in trouble at school today (Jake)
Grayson --just giggling for no reason

It's nice to have some time alone with the boys and they tend to be more cuddly while Jason is gone, but still, I'm lonely without him here.

Woo Hoo for Jake...Straight A's!

Jake received his report card and I am SOOOOOO proud of him. He received straight A's. He has pulled his reading grade up since the beginning of the year which was a C all the way to an A-! His report card is as follows:

Reading A-
Math A
Spelling A
Written A
Social Studies A
Science A-
Art S (for satisfactory)
Music S
Physical Ed S
Computers P (for pass)

For his work and social habits he go E for Excellent except for one satisfactory which was in handwriting. Way to go Jake!

How to stop a tantrum

Grayson just threw one of his tantrums. This time it was because I opened up his cheese instead of letting him do it. I put him in his room. He came out screaming and called me a "big mean mommy" and then threw a toy at me. I once again put him in his room and he screamed, yelled and threw things. I decided to grab the camera and so I went in there and started snapping pictures of his tantrum. He stopped screaming after a couple of pictures and asked to see the pictures. We pulled them up on the computer so he could see the "larger" picture of how he looked. He put his head down and said "sorry mommy" and went in the kitchen sat in his chair and ate his string cheese and drank his apple juice. I guess I need to just keep my camera with me at all times!

A picture says a thousand words...WARNING the pictures may be to graphic for those with weak tummies!

This week I (and Grayson) are focusing on potty training. The next "kids night out" at the Y is in May and so he can attend he has to be completly out of diapers. He doesn't like this but we are trying. This morning I caught him getting ready to go in his pull-up and I said no go to the bathroom and so he did. I luckily had my camera charged to catch the expressions on his face as he is "trying" to go potty. He was successful but we will let the pictures tell the story:)

Yummy Chicken Wings!

We had take-out from Chicken Charlies (which btw...is one of the greatest eateries here in Crystal City). Grayson decided he wanted a HOT chicken wing and he tore it up! He ate every little bite of it. It was funny the first few times he put the chicken wings in his mouth only to pull it out exclaiming "hot, hot, hot" and grab his water bottle and take a big swig, let out a sigh and do it all over again. Needless to say, he loved the chicken wings!

Our First "Real" Family Vacation...destination???

Arkansas! Jason wanted to go to Hot Springs. So we thought how great it would be to take the boys. I always thought it would be so beautiful...it wasn't terribly far (about 7 hours) of course if you read my previous blog about our 4 hour drive to/from Indiana you might wonder why we were doing this.

We set out last Friday (the 6th) at about 7:30 a.m. The first 30 mintues were so nice and peaceful we thought "this is nice" and then it started (but we were smart enough this time to place each little one in seperate seats. I honestly didn't think their hands could still reach one another but it's amazing what they can accomplish when they are driven to harm one another! The trip wasn't so bad...except to say I will NEVER go back to Arkansas again and so I don't offend anyone from Arkansas I won't list my reason's why.
We arrived in Hot Springs around 3:00 p.m. and drove up to the park for some great views. It was really beautiful. Back down the mountain and we all got to put our hand in the hot spring which really made you want to jump in and soak it was soooo warm! Then it was off to the Alligator farm. I have no words to explain this place...other than to say um, is there inbreeding in Arkansas? The kids absoultly loved it, which was most important, and the alligators scared the poop out of me! So I guess the 20 minute tour that cost $27 was well worth it.
We drove around a bit and decided to head to Little Rock since we were meeting friends there on Saturday anyway. We got our room at the Embassy (we would be staying there on saturday as well) and then the fun begin.
We promised the boys a dip in the pool. There were about 20 kids all unsupervised and let's just say after two "talks" with them, security coming for which I actually feared for my life when 5 little girls swarmed me and asked if I called security on them, we decided we had enough swimming. We headed to our room, after complaining to the manager who was currently trying to locate all the parents who thought it was appropriate to let kids ages 5-10 swim alone. We listened to the kids run past our room until well after midnight. I complained the next morning and the hotel did feel really bad so we ended up with one night free and we were assured that the same people causing the "ruckus" were checking out that day.
The rest of the vacation went well. Our friend's arrived that afternoon and we all had a great time catching up and letting the kids play together. We shopped at a mall (I think that's what it was...), ate, went swimming and ordered a late night pizza. All in all if I had to rate this vacation on a scale of 1-10 I would give it an 8. We were together as a family, we had a nice hotel room, ate great food, got to see friends and the kids had a blast. They came home with souveniers from Build-A-Bear (Jake has "Kool" the Koala bear and Grayson has "doggie" the dog). Next vacation? We know it's not Arkansas!

Potty training...or not!

Last night at Walmart I bought a new brand of pull-ups. The kind that makes them feel cold when they start to pee! I explained it to Grayson and said are you ready to wear pull-ups and use the potty all day long (we've been using the potty on and off for a few months but he tends to not like it) so last night he said "yah". I explained how the pull-ups work and how when he feels wet he needs to come up and he can just pull the potty pants down. He was all excited. Of course by the time we got home and got baths last night it was bedtime so I put his regular diaper on him (pull-ups are expensive and I KNOW he won't do it at night so why waste that money).
First thing this morning I said are you ready to be a big boy and put your pull-up on? His reply? "No, no big boy for me". I asked again and again "nope". I said aren't you even a little interested in being like Jake and using the potty? Again, big fat no. Then I tried to fib and reminded him of Gracie's party on Sunday and how only little boys who wore pull-ups could attend. He looked at me and said "oh" and thought about it for a minute and he put the pull-up on. I've asked him repeatedly do you need to potty and I get a "no". I reminded him again of the party...his reply? "I wear pull-up, just no potty". My mistake...I should have stressed from the beginning you had to actually potty and not just wear the pull-up!!!

Fried Whity's

Okay, your probably thinking what are "fried whity's".
This past weekend we went to Arkansas (I won't even blog about that part...other than to say why does anyone go to Arkansas???)
So anyway we met a friend of mine there that I hadn't seen, well at least spoken to in about 8 years. We met her and her husband and their kids whom my kids completly adored. They have a son Derek who is 12 and their daughter Whitney who is 9. Earlier this week as Grayson and I were reading and playing I asked him the normal questions, how old are you, who are your friends blah blah. So he went through his normal list, of mommy, daddy, Jake, Jacob, Katy, mamaw and papaw and then he goes "whity". I go who is Whity? He said "my fried Whity". I said you mean Whitney from this weekend? He goes "yah, I wuv her". I thought it was soooo cute! So now whenever I think of Whitney, I think of "fried Whity".

Family Meeting/Score 1 for Mommy

So after cleaing up a billion messes yesterday and the boys not listening to me I decided to have a "family meeting" last night when Jason got home.
Behavior has been out of control at our house. Taking food wherever they want, sneaking it downstairs, leaving their clothes lying wherever they choose, socks all over, dishes on the table, food all over the table and the floor.

Everyone now has their own chores. Besides the fact that once you get up from the table, you are done (which means, I throw your plate of food away even if your not done eating), they must clear their plates, pick up their clothes and their rooms. Jake is responsible for bringing folded towels upstairs to put away while Grayson is responsible for gathering the shoes to put away (not too hard because we have a shoe bin they get thrown into). Jason is resonsible for dishes and vacuuming and I do the dusting and scouring. Last night everyone did as asked. We even changed bedtimes from 7:30 to 7:45 because the boys were giving us a hard time and up/down every few mintues and just changing the bedtime 15 minutes we never heard a peep. Score 1 for mommy. If I have to have a ten minute family meeting each night...I'd say it's well worth it!

Now I know why my parents hated vacations

It's not so much the vacation part as the driving part. We used to go 16 hours back to NY. All we had is 4 1/2 hours back to MO. The ENTIRE trip went something like this:

Jake: Are we there yet (and this was repeated every 5 minutes)

Grayson: I want Papaw (repeated about every 10 minutes)

Jake: I'm hungry (repeated every five minutes)

Grayson: Jake hit me...Jake has my color (repeated every 5 minutes)

Jake: You wanna see Papaw Grayson...to bad (repeated each time Grayson said I want Papaw).

Laura: I can't take it anymore.

Jason: We are NEVER going on a trip again.

Arrive home after 5 1/2 hours and unpack. Getting ready to do laundry and repack to go to Arkansas which is further away. I know, I'm asking for it. I can't complain.

Now I know why my parents hated vacations

It's not so much the vacation part as the driving part. We used to go 16 hours back to NY. All we had is 4 1/2 hours back to MO. The ENTIRE trip went something like this:

Jake: Are we there yet (and this was repeated every 5 minutes)

Grayson: I want Papaw (repeated about every 10 minutes)

Jake: I'm hungry (repeated every five minutes)

Grayson: Jake hit me...Jake has my color (repeated every 5 minutes)

Jake: You wanna see Papaw Grayson...to bad (repeated each time Grayson said I want Papaw).

Laura: I can't take it anymore.

Jason: We are NEVER going on a trip again.

Arrive home after 5 1/2 hours and unpack. Getting ready to do laundry and repack to go to Arkansas which is further away. I know, I'm asking for it. I can't complain.

Traumatization

Jason's parents (also known as Yay-Yay and Papaw) decided to keep the boys overnight on saturday while we are home visiting. Jason and I had a great dinner and did some shopping and spent some quality time with eachother (and my mom and dad)!!! We met his parents at church Sunday and Grayson's reaction was as if I had been away for a month. His eyes welled up, tears came down and he clung to me. He was giving Yay-Yay and Papaw dirty looks during church. He finally softened up halfway through church (I think when Yay-Yay went and got him some snacks). Now, there was no reason for him to be upset other than he is not used to being away from me. He has fun over there and he was fine until he realized at bedtime...mommy was not there. Well, yesterday Jason took the boys for the day so my mom and I could go shop in Brown County. He went to go visit his dad and when they pulled in the driveway Grayson started screaming. He clung to his seatbelt and REFUSED to get out of the van. They tried to coax him out offering him the keys, wallets to ensure that Jason was not leaving him there. They called me and he kept crying and screaming for me. I promised him he was coming back to me to stay with and not staying overnight. After about 30 minutes Jason said he was finally able to coax him out. I think he might have to go to a therapist after this.

Chocolate ice cream--YUM

Last night we took the boys and Katy to the park and for icecream. They had loads of fun playing in the sandbox. We stopped for icecream and of course Grayson got a chocolate cone. He was a mess! It was fun watching him as he was trying to lick the cone as he was dripping. He was running around my mom's front yard and he came over to us and said "I pooped" with a grin on his face. Well, I thought he was teasing me because he had chocolate all over his face, shirt, arms, hands and dripping down his legs onto his old shoes. I got out wipes to clean him up and my mom said "I think it is poop". I told her no, it's icecream and smelled the wipe. IT WAS NOT ICECREAM!!!!!! He had pooped and it was running all down his legs. It took 15 minutes to get him cleaned up and Jason had to hose off the shoes. I'm not sure I'll be able to eat chocolate icecream ever again!!