An open letter

Aug 312010

Dear Steve,

I regret to inform you that I am taking tonight off.

Yes, off.

I am aware that this night out comes at the same time as your first final exam of grad school.

Oops.

I (enter sing-songy voice) was invited to my first ever VIBE (Very Important Blogger Event) in Phoenix.

Because, you know, I’m a Very Important Blogger. (hahahahaha!! Are you all rolling on the floor laughing?)

While you are giving baths and giving goodnight kisses, I will be having the time of my life (or of the week, at least) with my good friends @shuggilippo, @childhood, @supersavingsara, and @saving4someday.

Make sure you give those boys a big kiss from their Mama.

Love,

your VIB wife ;)

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My Blog Break {in pictures}

Aug 022010

I’m dying to share some pictures of what I have been doing for the last 2 weeks!

Most of these are cell phone pictures, so bare with me…

Steve is visibly absent in these pictures because he has been spending a lot of time behind the closed door on the right.

Not to be mistaken for the open one on the left. That’s the bathroom.

He has officially started his Master’s program and is there every night and weekend. It’s just like he’s traveling for work, but he’s not. I guess it’s better to be behind the door because I can still scream and ask him to come kill bugs for me :)

I have been watching Jack make new friends and spend time with “old” ones… (I love the thumbs in the pockets look).

I have been spending a lot of time in my new classroom planning for the amazing kids that I have this year…

Michael has been coming to have lunch and play games with me on the days that I work.

We spent last weekend watching a friend take the Lindy’s Challenge…

and drooling over the mac and cheese burger (though I didn’t try it):

We waited (very patiently) for the monsoons to roll in… and they finally did!

We have spent a lot of time talking about how to deal with Jack’s hoarding…

This picture was taken today while we were rearranging his room.

I went to move his dresser and he said, “Well, Mom… there is some stuff under there… “

I don’t think I shared it with you, but about a month ago, we found this stash under Jack’s train table:

The funny thing is, these are items I had asked Jack to throw away at one time or another.

Anyone have any ideas about how to nip this in the bud? Because apparently, whatever I’m doing is not working.

Anyway… where was I?

Michael fell off of his scooter and banged up his hip and arm pretty good…

We had a few chances to see real Arizona cowboys in action:

Oh, and we tried to rescue a lizard from our pool, though it didn’t work :(

Tell me… what have you been doing lately?

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1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10!

Jul 082010

Can you believe it?

Michael is 10 years old today.

It’s so hard for me to believe that we have been loving him, laughing with him, and learning from him for 10 years.

I thought it would be fun to share 10 facts about my big 10 year old:

1. Michael was born in Japan during a typhoon.

2. He had colic forever for the first 9 months of his life.

3. Michael’s nicknames are Michael-man and Michael McMichael.

4. He loves meat. Steak, chicken, pork… anything.

5. Michael is a straight A student.

6. He wants to be on the SWAT team when he gets older.

7. He loves chocolate.

8. He doesn’t eat at all anything much. (You know, since we won’t allow him to eat only meat and chocolate).

9. He hates his freckles.

10. Michael is kind. To the point that Steve and I can’t take credit for it because it’s something that can’t be learned. He just is.

And since I was the one in labor for 22 hours with him, I’m not stopping with my list of ten things…

Here are some of my favorite firsts:

We have experienced so many fun times that it would be impossible to list them all.

—

Dear Michael,

You probably don’t remember all of these moments, but Dad and I do.

I remember…

…the day that you refused to get off of the coffee table.

…when you used to wear your fireman boots every. single. day.

…not being able to pass by a fire station without stopping in to say hi to the firemen.

…you thinking that Aunt Katie was fibbing about Walter the Farting Dog, even as she was reading the book.

…the summer you learned to swim.

…lots of Mommy and Me days, like when we hung Ben’s Bells.

…hearing about all of your Daddy and Me days, like when you went to the 49ers game and met the team’s owner.

…how excited you were to have a little brother…

…and how excited he is to show you how much he loves you back.

Jack taking Michael’s temperature after he had his tonsils removed.


Happy, happy birthday Michael! We are so proud of everything you do, and we love you so much!



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Rotisserie Chicken Soup {a recipe}

Jun 272010

Steve came home from traveling to the UK on Friday. (Yay!)

But he came home sick. (Boo!)

Horrible sinusy, stuffy, yuck sick.

So I made him some homemade soup.

And yes, the high was 102 yesterday.

But when you’re sick, you’re sick.

It’s my favorite soup to make during the “winter” (in quotes because the winter season is debatable in Arizona) and it’s really easy to make.

Homemade Chicken Soup

You will need:

1 rotisserie chicken (make your own, or if you’re lazy like me, just buy one from the grocery store)

2 “boxes” of chicken stock (or if you’re fancy and you make your own, 64 oz.)

2 cups of water

1 tomato, diced without the seeds

2 zucchini, diced small (I used grey squash yesterday. Whatever you have in the fridge is fine.)

2 tsp kosher salt

1 tsp pepper

barley (I use about 1/4 cup, but you can definitely use more)

brown rice (again, I use 1/4 cup, but use more if you would like)

The barley and rice can be replaced with noodles, just remember that noodles expand a lot when you cook them :)

—-

Pour the chicken stock and water into a stock pot.

Pull the chicken off the the bone. I put it all on a cutting board and then cut it into smaller pieces before putting it into the pot. A huge step that I used to skip (because it’s icky) is putting the skin, drumsticks, and wings into the pot. Don’t skip that step. It adds a lot of moisture and taste, and you’re going to take out all the yucky stuff before you eat the soup. Trust me.

Go ahead. Close your eyes and put the drumsticks and wings in.

Throw the zucchini (cut very small, like pencil erasers) and tomato into the pot.

Add the salt and pepper.

Add the barley and rice.

Let it simmer (slow boil) on the stove for an hour. Or two. Or three.

Check to make sure the rice is soft before serving :)

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What I Learned This Week: Summer Break edition

Jun 212010

Now that we’re kind of settled in, I thought I would share some pictures from our trip.

And share everything that I have learned thus far about summer break.

1. Boys like to pick on each other.

Older boys like to make their younger brothers yell at them.

They think it’s funny.

2. Everything is better when Daddy is not out of town on business.

Daddy dragging Michael into the pool (Michael is laughing)

Daddy demonstrating his throwing skills

Daddy rolling the hula hoop so the boys could jump through it

And jumping through it himself :)

3. I learned that Jack has eagle eyes. He found Aunt Jen’s earring at the bottom of the pool.

4. I learned that rabbit mating season in Arizona is in June. They. are. everywhere.

5. You can’t hold a 5 year old tight enough at the Grand Canyon.

6. I learned that there is such a thing as too much Looney Tunes.

“Be vewy qwiet. I’m hunting wabbits.”

7. It’s not easy to explain to kids what Route 66 is and why it’s so cool. Maybe they’ll get it in a few years.

8. Ice cream for breakfast dessert makes a boy happy.

9. Freezing cold natural rock slides? I learned they’re fun :)

10. Grandpa Ralph is a sharp shooter with the rubber band gun.

11.I learned how to take pictures at night with my camera!

12. I learned that one can never get enough of seeing the family “look what I caught in the trap” trick. (Can you see the “animal” flying through the air?)

13. I learned that I’ll never get tired of seeing belly laughs shared between these two.

14. I learned that this sleeping arrangement works best when we stay in a hotel room. I tried to give each of the boys a bed and sleep with them, but that didn’t work for anyone involved. So, they got one, and Mom got the other.

15. And just because this is linked to Julie’s blog, I am stopping at a nice round number :)

I learned that eventually, even little guys get sick of having their picture taken.


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This guy.

Jun 192010

I’m thinking a lot about this guy lately.

I’m thinking about how lucky I am to share my life with him…

and how lucky the boys are to have him as a Dad.

I’m thinking about how much I appreciate all that he does for our family. (Which includes spending half of his life on an airplane)

And I’m thinking about how he is an amazing role model for our kids. And for me. And for anyone else who knows him.

He’s one of those guys who is genuinely a great person, inside and out. Just like all the other guys in his family.

And I’m not usually one to count blessings, but I definitely consider him to be one.

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Bodies Exhibition: A review

May 232010

I pride myself on being honest with my boys.

Well, except for that one time I skirted that whole baby thing…

Anyway.

There was a small “issue” at school this past week with an HIV/AIDS lesson turned s_x-ed.

And the “issue” ended with Michael learning about…

you know…

“it.”

I don’t dare type the word here because people already find my blog by googling Mom + the name of my youngest + the last word in my blog title. We don’t need to add the “S” word into the mix.

Movingalong.

We had planned a few weeks ago to take Michael to the Bodies Exhibition in Tucson.

We had no idea how relevant it would be after this week.

I have chosen to only post this picture of the exhibition, due to some of you maybe not wanting to see the whole shebang. If you would like to see more pictures, click here.

Have you heard of Bodies? It’s very similar to BodyWorlds, just on a smaller scale.

It’s an exhibit of human bodies that have been carefully preserved and are on display for educational purposes.

Michael is 9. Steve and I decided that he was old enough to view the exhibit if he wanted to go.

Jack, who is 5, wanted to go, but we decided that he should wait just a little longer (due to lack of an attention span, not content of the exhibit).

We talked it over with Michael, showed him some pictures online, and asked if he wanted to go.

He did. And he loved it.

We saw several younger children there, starting at 4 or 5 years of age. If you want to bring your kids, don’t worry that they will be the only ones there.

Steve and I walked through the exhibit with him, allowing him to choose what he wanted to spend time looking at.

We paid the extra $5 for the audio tour, and listened to the verbal descriptions of several exhibits.

When we first walked into the building, we saw a skeleton and listened to a description of bones.

Michael turned to me and said, “Is that a kid?”

And though the skeleton was raised above the ground, it looked to be just a hair taller than Michael is.

Perceptive little boy.

We saw bones, muscles, organs, and whole skeletons.

Diseased parts and healthy parts.

I asked Michael what his favorite part was, and he said he liked all of it, but especially the roundworm in someone’s intestine and the cancerous organs. He’s such a boy.

While he was walking around, he seemed particularly interested in the heart and brain, and told us that he was a little creeped out by the embryo exhibit.

Mom’s honest opinion?

I’m glad that we took Michael. He was very interested in it, and I feel that he is at an age where he can appreciate the exhibit.

There’s nudity, but in different forms. It wasn’t an issue for us, and Michael said that it didn’t make him uncomfortable.

Take your kids if they show interest. You’ll be glad you did.

Tucson Bodies Exhibition Information

The exhibit will be in Tucson until August 31.

It took us about 1 hour to walk through the exhibit.

Ticket prices range between $14-22, with military, senior, and student discounts available.

The Bodies Exhibition is in several cities this summer… click here to see if it’s coming to you.

If you decide to go, please leave me a comment and let me know what you think!

My family was generously provided with tickets to view the Bodies Exhibition, but I was not paid for this review.

The opinions expressed are my own.

Have you voted yet?

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Where's Mom? (31 of 52)

Apr 232010

Mom is late to the party this week…  But I have 4 cute pictures to make up for it!

We went to the county fair. And outside of the “ick factor” of it, we had a blast!

I hate passing by those cute old-fashioned photo booths without going in, so this time I didn’t:

Grainy pictures? Check.

Under and overexposed pictures? Check.

Cheesy smiles? Check.

Silly faces? Check.

Pictures with the love of my life? Check.

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Look Ma! No {training} wheels!

Apr 132010

This post is linked to Wordless Wednesday with 5 Minutes For Mom.

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Where's Mom? (29 of 52)

Apr 082010

Last night, we found out that Michael lost his retainer.

Well, not his retainer, but his NTI appliance. It’s just easier to say retainer.

Jack knocked Michael’s retainer case off of the counter while he was washing his hands.

Jack saw the retainer fall out of the case.

Jack said he heard a “scratching noise” when he closed the bathroom door

(caused by “Michael’s retainer scratching on the door when I closed it”).

Ahem.

Did I mention that at the time, Michael and Jack were playing with these:

and that an NTI appliance looks like this:

Yes, ladies and gentlemen… It’s clear.

And approximately the size of a Lego.

Michael “looked” for it.

Jack “looked” for it.

Dad even “looked” for it with a flashlight.

Then Mom looked for it.

Because Moms rock like that.

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