National Turn it Off Week - Day 1

So this is National Turn it Off Week. At the beginning of the week I was, like any good diet, excited and filled with confidence in our ability to turn off the tv and the games and limit our computer use. Naturally as the week wore on, it became harder and harder to abide to my technology diet. And, it was definitely me, mostly me, that had the most difficult time quitting cold turkey. By Friday all bets were off. So, while we absolutely reduced our dependency on the digital mediums, we did end up giving in to the siren call of the boob tube.

Monday we did go to an event sponsored by our town. It was considered a tailgate party held at one of our local recreation centers and was sponsored by Buffalo Wild Wings. Sparky (ASU's mascot) was there and the kids had a great time playing with him.

Can you imagine someone drawing you a bath that looks like this?

Oh, how I wish I could climb right into this picture!

Random Thought of the Day

From Joe:

As I was sitting doing Joci’s hair this morning in the family room Joe gave me a big bear hug. That’s when he proceeds to tell me, “Mommy, we have to get you some sunscreen, you really need it.”

He was talking about my ‘red neck’ from this last weekend of football fun.

Too cute. He sounded like such a young man.

Double Header

We had a really busy day on Saturday.

It all started out with a bit of confusion. Some of us thought our flag football games started at 8am and others thought it was 9am. Some thought we were playing home, and others thought we were playing away. Come to find out, both were right. Apparently, we had been scheduled for a double header and hadn’t realized it. So, first we played the Dolphins, and lost. Then we played the Falcons, and barely lost. I think we would have won the second game, but the boys really started show a lot of fatigue during the second half.

Bye-bye Steelers, Hello Ravens! It’s still hard getting used to being the Ravens when we had been the Steelers for so long. Unfortunately, Arizona seems to be a Ravens hating sort of place. We have not been able to find any Ravens gear in stores except for a couple of hats. So, we are going to have to go online and buy some t shirts to show our support.

After the Raven’s two games, my parents took the kids for the weekend…so wonderful of them. Jon and I hung around the field for a few hours until it was time for the Bears to play. Jon is coaching a 7-8 team because none of the parents were able to do the coaching responsibilities. Although, you wouldn’t know it. There are so many armchair quarterback Dads on that team it makes me crazy having to listen to them on the sidelines. Jon and his assistant coaches all volunteered to coach a team in which none of their kids play because none of the parents on that team could or would step up and do it themselves. They have taken time away from their families and their own team to help out the kids on the Bears, but you wouldn’t believe the amount of criticism these Dads whine about on the sidelines during the game. There have been so many times when I just want to shout at them…”If you think you can do it better, than step up or shut up!”. It’s really frustrating for me. As many of you know, I can be a bit, ahem, outspoken, and so for me to not be able to say anything is almost like torture.

We were at the ball field from 7:30am, till almost 2 in the afternoon. Even with sitting in the shade, I was still sunburned. I took a huge amount of pictures that I hope to get posted on Jon’s blog very soon. We were so tired by the end of the day. It was a good thing my parents took the kids. Jon and I were able to relax and bit that evening.

Family Dinners

Let me tell you how important family dinners are…

The last couple of weeks we’ve had a lot of things going on:
*We’ve all had the cold from hell, especially the kids. They have had to endure multiple breathing treatments, antibiotics, and Mucinex, with trips to the doctor and days home with Mom and Dad from work.

*Football, practices, games, and the start of the NFL season…Go Bears!

*Major projects at work for me and lots of training at work for Jon.

*Planning for our BIG Halloween party coming up.

*There have been Birthday Parties, Scrapbook Clubs, and Pee Wee Play Classes.

*The kids, while home sick, have learned how to appreciate their DSI and PSPs so much more now and are getting good at playing some of the games.

*Homework, homework, homework.


We have been busy, and tired, and cranky, and not connected to each other, which has made us more tired and cranky.

Wednesday night I decided that we were going to eat dinner together and re-connect. We all got home after 6:30, so making a dinner was not going to happen. We decided to go to Applebee’s for a quick bite.

It worked. Jon and I were able to talk about our days and things going on at work. We were able to chat with the kids about school and daycare.

Joe had his favorite, mozzarella sticks and a corndog. Joci had her favorite, soup, although she didn’t eat much of it and hasn’t been eating great since feeling sick. Jon and I ordered the 2 for $20 meals and I even have a huge salad to eat for lunch yesterday. Then we shared a trio of desserts and decided that the strawberry cheesecake dessert was definitely the best.

We did this together while looking into each other’s eyes, not over the blackberry, or via email.

Bonus for me…when my 5 ½ year old son pulled out his sister’s chair for her and pushed it in, then did the same for me. I almost cried it was so sweet.

We needed this time together because it brought us back together to the center. We are four pieces of one puzzle. Without a piece or two you can still tell what the puzzle picture should be, but it’s never as complete and beautiful as when all the pieces come together.

Team Mom

In trying to reignite Joe’s passion for football, Jon thought it would be a good idea for them to collect some football cards with each other. They bought a few sets at the store the other day. As they were going through them and Joci was watching a Barbie movie I played around on the computer, updating my Facebook. That’s when I heard Joe say, “I didn’t know they had cards for team Moms, too! That’s weird!”. Apparently, they have some cards of cheerleaders in there now, too. Jon and I shared a good laugh over that one. Out of the mouths of babes.

Joci's PeeWee Play Class

Jocelyn has started a new class as well. We couldn't find any dance classes that were available at a good time, so this session we decided to do a play class.

She gets to do all the fun things that I loved to do in PE when I was a kid. They get to play with a parachute, and do hurdles over little poles. They get to go through tunnels, play soccer, and run after a huge bouncy ball.

She just loves her class, and we love that she gets a time to herself where the focus is just on her.

Here's some pictures of her before her first class.

Doing a few dance moves...

Silly Mommy...
Are we done with the photos yet?
Jump!
Who is THAT?
I'll show you where my class is...

Top Cat

We are all so proud of Joe.
This last week he was made 'Top Cat' of his class in school, it's sort of like Student of the Week. His teacher told us that she typically awards her Kindergarten Top Cats alphabetically, but since there had been a few kids with excellent behavior, she just had to award it that way. Thus, Joe was the first Top Cat in his class.

They do a warning system in his class. There are three different colors, if you stay on Green then you've had no warnings, yellow is one, and then if you're on red you get a note sent home. Most everyone in Joe's class has been on at least a yellow, except him. Everyday he brings home a behavior card for us to sign, and each and every day it has a smiley face on it. He is really proud of himself for being so well behaved.

For those of you that know Jon and I are probably wondering where in the world he gets his amazing behavior from, as it's obviously not from us and how we were in school. Well, I have to say it's due, at least a little bit, to our parenting and how much we have stressed how important school is. That's what I tell myself anyway.

The school announced his name on the morning announcements, he got to put a top cat with his name up in the principal's office, and he got a neat little plastic cup with Top Cat on it. That night we took Joe out to dinner to celebrate being Top Cat. He told the waitress all about his award and she brought him a complementary canolli. Then this whole week he brought fun stuff home for being Top Cat. the coolest of them being a book that made him the VIP. It had lots of stuff in it about him and then each kid in the class and his teacher colored a page for him to put in his book.

It was so awesome to see him feel so appreciated and honored. Even better was when his friend, Justin, was chosen as the new Top Cat. He was genuinely excited for his friend. I love that he has such a generous heart. He is such a sweet and giving boy.

Great Quote

My boss sent this one out this week and I really liked it:

"A clever person turns great problems into little ones and little ones into none at all."

-Chinese Proverb

Lemon Creme Sandwich Cookies

Just a quick post before bed.

My son is just the sweetest most generous person that I know.

Today while we were talking about what he chose for lunch (more on that later) we talked about the two lemon creme sandwich cookies that I put in his lunch the day before as a little surprise. That's when he told me that he gave his second cookie to his new friend Justin, because Justin's Mommy hadn't given him a dessert. I just love that he is so caring of others and his faith in fairness not only governs others, but himself.

I love this kid!

President Obama and My Issues with the Grand Canyon

President Obama visited Arizona this last weekend. Not only did he stop by, but he took the family up to the Grand Canyon for a little trailblazing.

I've been to the Grand Canyon...A LOT!

You see when we moved to Arizona in 1979 all the visits from friends and family since then centered on seeing three tourist locations.

The first is Mexico, and I’m sorry, I’ve never been impressed there. I know we have only visited border towns and that makes a HUGE difference, but I hate it there. It probably started the first time we went to Mexico when I was a little girl and a strange Mexican man grabbed my wrist and put a bracelet on me as we were walking. I’m surprised I didn’t pee my pants as much as I freaked out. And, let’s face it; it’s certainly not the most sanitary environment to sight-see in.

The second place to visit was South Mountain. My parents liked to scare the crap out of people traveling up the side of that mountain in our huge van to watch the lights come on throughout the valley of the sun. Now, well, you don’t go there unless you’re packing and you have your gang with you. That’s too bad; too, because that is the one place I did like to go. Probably because it wasn’t a 4-5 hour drive there.

Last, and certainly not least, is the Grand Canyon. Yes, it is beautiful, yes it is majestic, and yes it is a HUGE HOLE IN THE GROUND. We have taken picture after picture of this magnificent wonder, so much so that a few years ago when I went through photos with Mom, we probably threw away a hundred pictures of the Grand Canyon, the ones that were taken with no people in them. I hate the drive there, I hate the walk around, and I hate that about 10 minutes after you’ve been there you turn around and leave. It’s so boring and I must say it hasn’t really changed much in the 30 years we’ve lived here.

The following will come as a surprise to my family, as I have made it clear on many occasions that I would die happy never seeing the Grand Canyon again.

I’m very proud that our President decided to take a little family trip to the Grand Canyon. Although, even he said it hadn’t changed much since he was there at age 11, hmm, maybe we think alike.

The Grand Canyon, along with the Saguaro cactus and scorching heat are what make Arizona, Arizona. It seems like all too often Arizona is in the news for so many negative things, that I found the President’s visit refreshing and wholesome. It wasn’t a golf trip, even though I heard he’s played a round or two, it was a family outing. And, not only that, but his wife and daughters dressed appropriately in tank tops, shorts, and sandals! President Obama even wore a white polo (gulp) and what looked like Dockers, poor guy probably isn't allowed to wear shorts. They looked like a family, enjoying their time together as a family. I love that. It didn’t look like a publicity stunt, as the cameras were far away from them; it looked like they had a good time.
I know someday it will be my turn, yet again, to go to the Grand Canyon to show my children the big hole in the ground. Yes, I will fake awe and wonder, and have lots of facts about it all. Yes, I will encourage them to learn as much as they can about our time there. And, yes, I will enjoy it, because if I get lucky, it may be the last time I will have to go. Oh, and NO, I will NOT be riding the donkey down to the bottom or walking out on that new glass bridge. I don't like to tempt fate.

One Week Down and Still Organized

Last week was a blur. By the end of the week I felt like I had run a marathon. Starting school and flag football practice all in one week was a little overwhelming for me. But with our new message/calendar center and our paperwork binders everything, so far, has stayed organized.

I stole Sandy’s idea for a paperwork book for the kids. You can see her post here. The funny thing is that I had put it off for so long, trying to come up with the perfect thing to put on the front and side of the book, that I did it last minute last week. All I did was grab some scrapbook paper that coordinated with the pink and blue (these will either be black or white in the future – what was I thinking) binders. Printed the kid’s names on the paper and put some clear window pages inside it and stuck the books up on our entertainment shelves. I’m so happy I didn’t over-complicate them. They turned out fine and now they’re done and ready to hold so many memories. On Sunday we filed all the art and paperwork from the week before, and now we’re ready for a new week.

I also updated our calendar through the school year, so I have all those important dates already ready to go.

Joe's First Day of Kindergarten

I'm sure there are about 5 billion posts today about the first day of school out there in the blogesphere. But, I don't care, here's one more...

My handsome son started his first day of school in Kindergarten today. We were all really excited, except for Joci. She had a really rough time with Joe starting school. She threw a couple of fits, had to pack her own backpack, wanted to got to her dance class, and was generally mopey the entire day. Even tonight before bed all she wanted was to be held and cuddled. I think they both missed each other terribly.

Apparently Joe did an amazing job today. He made one friend so far, but forgot what her name was. He had five (?) recesses, and got to read a book about a racoon's first day of school and made a cute racoon and handprint page to go with it. You know how much he loves crafts, so I think that was right up his alley. He even got a little favor pack with his favorite treat in it...a tootsie roll pop.
Many people asked me today how I was doing. I surprised myself, yet again, for being stronger than I thought I would be. I didn't cry, in fact, I wasn't sad at all. I was so excited that Joe was starting this big new step for himself and that he was excited to try something new. I was excited to hear all about his day. I pretty much sped through my day, constantly wondering what he was doing at that time and if he liked the lunch that he made himself. I couldn't wait to pick him up so we could talk about his day.
What a fun time in our lives this is. I'm so proud of my sweet son, and so proud of myself for handling a huge change so well.

Headboard Dream!

Love, love, love this idea that 'Be Different, Act Normal' found.

I have been looking for some headboard ideas for quite a while and just love this idea! Man I wish I had an old sign just laying around.

Spontaneous Family Fun

Even though we were all exhausted yesterday our little family had such a fun night.

Jon made dinner, which both of the kids really liked. He ran into a little prep emergency and actually asked my opinion about what he should do. We came up with the solution together…aw teamwork! He made chicken alfredo with lots of cheese. It was very yummy and filling.

Next we all relaxed in the Living Room. Jon and I catching up on our day’s events and the kids started playing hide and seek. Joe is the fastest counter in the country; we had to slow him down a little so Joci would have enough time to hide. We started to help both kids hide because, I’ll be honest here, they are certainly not the best at this.

After awhile we ran out of hiding spaces and switched to Eye Spy (with my little eye)… Joci wasn’t really interested in this one, but Joe started to understand the concept quickly. Of course, when you started getting close to answering his riddle, he would switch them around. Either that or he would look right at the object before declaring the color. He got better, though, as we went.

When we were gamed out we relaxed for a bit watching a magic program on TV. I loved listening to Joe wonder out loud “How’d they do that?”, and Joci sat in her favorite place, right in front of me so we can snuggle. We let them stay up for a little while to finish the magic show. Jocelyn had a hard time wanting to head up to bed, but once up there she was out cold.

I love these moments. Those unscripted, times as a family where we all connect and laugh and snuggle and love on each other, without it being a huge effort or a big event. Those are the times that I cherish and hold in my heart, hoping that I will remember them forever.