Funny Guy

Some Jeremy-isms for your enjoyment:

The other night at dinner, Phil said something, and we asked Jeremy his opinion.

He replied: Word to your Mom.

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He's also been quoting the movie Up quite a bit, as it seems to be one of his favorites. The scene where Carl and Russel meet Dug for the first time is hilarious. So Jeremy recites the line Russel says (with arm movements, too): But he's a talking DOG!

And then Carl says (according to Jeremy): No, he's just a weird chicken or something.

(To interpret it, Carl actually says: No, it's just a weird trick or something. I kinda like J's translation better!)

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Riley had a soccer game on Saturday, and the weather was simply beautiful. It was also Columbus Day weekend, so a lot of families weren't around. The game was supposed to start at 2:30, but when that time arrived, we only had 3 kids there (you need at least 8 to play). The other team's coach waited a few minutes, and some more of our kids showed up. We only had 6, though, when it was officially time to start. So the other team was nice enough and pulled two of their kids off the field so it would be close to even.

Jeremy took one look at the other team's kids on the sidelines and asked me: Are those kids in the box? (meaning penalty box) How can you not laugh?


He's a funny guy, that 4-year-old son of mine. I think we'll keep him...for now.

Taking Time Out

I usually focus on the living-in-the-now, but that changed last night.

See, yesterday was Phil's birthday, and as a joke I bought him a cable to our camcorder. We had been missing the cable for awhile, so we weren't able to view videos on the television. Yes, we could've looked through the viewfinder on the camcorder, but we wanted to see the video much larger. (It was a joke gift because it only cost 26 cents. Seriously.)

Phil checked it out and played some video on the television. And yes, I lost it. I cried. We watched the videos of the kids' blowing out candles for their birthdays, there was another of Riley helping her younger cousin navigate the stairs (she was 3 and he was about 1.5), but the one that got me was with Jeremy (yeah, go figure!).

I was lying on his floor, next to his crib, and he was lying with me. I'm guessing he was about 18 months old. He was playing with my hair as I read him some stories. I had no idea Phil was there taping, and when I finished reading, J got up and walked over to Phil and said, "Dada!" He then walked back over to me and laid down on me, as if to give me a big hug. Yeah, it really got to me.

And then it made me miss how little the kids once were. How time goes by in such an instant. I try so hard to cherish the time I have with them, for I know it's fleeting. J starts kindy next year, and it's all-day kindy, so it makes me scared to think about that. Maybe scared isn't the right word.

My kids are my life. I NEVER thought I'd be one of these stay-at-home mom types. I thought I'd go off to college, get a job, have kids and work. And I did that with Riley. And then I was pregnant with #2 and thought there's so much more to life than just spending time with my kids on the weekends. I didn't want someone else raising them. And I'm so grateful that I'm able to do it. Some days are better than others, and other days I have to remind myself that I wanted to stay home. But overall, I wouldn't give up these years for anything.

Riley and J were both off of school today for teacher's institute, so I thought we do some fun stuff. The library had a firetruck and ambulance come by today, so we did that this morning and then headed over to a park. I was amazed at the number of moms who were either texting or chatting on their phone at the park. Do they not realize how precious the time is with their kids? Do they not know how quickly time flies by? Now, I'm guilty of chatting with other moms at the park, but I make a point to have my attention focused on the kids.

Time just flies by way too fast. Enjoy your kids every day. No matter what.

I Can See Clearly

So for those who don't know, I wear contacts. I woke up last week, went into the bathroom, and proceeded to put them in. Well, I must've blinked one of them out, and it landed somewhere in the bathroom. I didn't hear it hit the sink or floor, so I thought it must have fallen on my clothes or the bathroom rug. I scoured the floor, closing my non-contact eye (I'm pretty blind thanks to my dad's vision!), but I couldn't find it.

I pulled out my spare contact and popped it in, so I could go downstairs and get the kids breakfast. I went back upstairs after breakfast and looked again. I figured it couldn't have gone far, and I didn't hear a "crunch" if I stepped on it (I wear hard contacts). Low and behold, I found it on a towel near the bathtub. So I cleaned it up and popped it back in my eye.

All day I noticed that my eye was hurting a bit more than normal. I thought maybe the missing contact had some dirt on it from the towel or a scratch from flying out of my eye. I went upstairs and popped out the contact. And what did I find?

The spare contact had also been in my eye the entire day. Yeah, so I had two contacts in the same eye. Needless to say my eye felt a whole lot better afterward. And no I can see things the way they were meant to--my way. :)

Bowling!

Thanks to Riley's perfect attendance in kindy, she was awarded a free 2-hour bowling session for up to 6 people. Well, our little family only has 4, so we surprised the kids and took them bowling before school started. (Yes, I realize school has been in session for a while now, but I just realized I never posted the pics or video.) We had originally planned to take the kids downtown to see Phil at work, but due to crazy schedules and meetings, it didn't pan out. Instead, we went bowling.

Preparing for battle.

Riley had been bowling before at a birthday party, but this was J's first time. And let me tell you, things have changed quite a bit since I went bowling! Now, they can automatically activate the bumpers for the kids, and that was wonderful (although J did cause the attendant to come out twice when he got his ball stuck on the actually bumper).

Riley in action.

Ready to bowl.

J's turn.

Dad and the kids.

Everyone had a really great time, although J spent most of the time having to use the bathroom since he thoroughly enjoyed the free lemonade we received as part of the deal. And Phil didn't appreciate how much I kicked his booty, since we both can be a tad competitive. But that's OK--I think I only won by 40 in the last game. But who's counting.... :)

Again, forgive the sideways video.

Skater Boy!

J successfully completed his first session of intro to skating, and he had an absolute blast! He improved so much over the eight-week session--so much so that on his last day he was able to complete an obstacle course without falling down. And he completed it three times in a row! Not too shabby.

Watching the other kids skate.

Uncle D and Nana surprised J with a trip out to watch him skate on his last day. He was beyond excited, and it was great that Uncle D was able to see J skate before he left for Lebanon.

With Uncle D after skating.

We can't forget Riley.

A week prior, J asked if I could pay for him to do more skating because he loved it so. Needless to say, he started his second session two weeks ago and is loving it again. We had to change days to skate since Riley now has soccer on Saturday mornings. We may need to invest in some hockey gear for Christmas.

Smiling for mom.

Sorry the videos are sideways. I tried to fix it,
but alas, I'm not technologically savvy.

First Day of Second Year of Preschool

The Big Man's first day of preschool was on the last day of August. He had been looking forward to it for the longest time, which is a far cry of how he acted last year! He was beyond excited to have one of the teachers, who was Riley's teacher when she was 4. And the reason behind it? The teacher is a HUGE hockey fan. So much so, that after Riley graduated the class, the teacher called during the summer to talk about hockey. So on J's first day of school, the teacher (Miss Betty) had a Blackhawks poster just for him to take home. She's pretty much 100% of the reason why I love the preschool so much.

And you know he picked out the shirt just for Miss Betty.

The kids.

I admit that it was very odd to have the house all to myself. I spent the morning canning green beans, making and canning relish and cleaning the house. But don't worry--the next day I rested while he was there. He goes three days a week, and of course it's sad to think that this time next year he'll be in all-day kindy. So I'm just going to focus on preschool for now.

Children's Museum

Phil and I had wanted to do so many fun things with the kids this summer. But what we found was that the summer was flying by without us even really paying attention! So he took a day off, and we planned to take the kids to a local Children's Museum. What was even better was that the library offered discounted vouchers. Perfect, right?

Not so much. The morning we were planning to go, Phil got sick. Drat. So I took the kids by myself, and we made the hour-plus drive. Now don't get me wrong--we had a great time, but it would've been nice if we were all in attendance.

Jeremy racing some cars.

And then shopping and scanning some food.
Checking out the deals.

Paging Dr. Riley.

She painted her face to read: I Love Dad.

Concentrating on the marble drop.

Riley wanted a turn, too.

The kids had fun, although it was frustrating when other parents weren't keeping an eye on their kids and letting them basically have full run of whatever they wanted. That left my children oftentimes flummoxed and irritated. All in all, we had a good time, and it was SO nice not to have a stroller to cart around like we did the last time we went (which was a good 4 years ago!). We capped off the day with a trip to one of the family's favorite eating establishments. And then a nice nap for the ride home.

Aw, doesn't it look like they really love each other?

Passed out!