Disney ... Day Two

Day two started out bright and early again because the only reservations we could get at Chef Mickey's were at 7:15 am. Jack handled the character breakfast a lot better this time than last time when he ignored or pretended they did not exist when they came around to our table. This time he literally ran up and gave each one a hug and posed for the pictures. We got to see Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Pluto, and Donald while we were there. But really the price of the breakfast was outrageous. It was $75 for the three of us and I think Jack ate half a Mickey waffle and 4 gummy bears, if that. He was way too excited to actually eat breakfast. But it was the experience that was worth it, I guess.

After Chef Mickey's, it was off to the Magic Kingdom by the monorail and for this first ride, we got to ride in the front car with the engineer and I have to say that was one of the best rides at Disney and we didn't even have to spend hundreds of dollars for it! We were having so much fun, we decided to do the whole loop around before we got off at the park. And at the end, Jack got a junior engineer's license, which he carried around in his hat of all places all day long.

We stopped by Mickey's house and got to have a family picture with the big mouse himself. We also thanked him for making our yummy breakfast for us earlier.

One of the best rides in the park was of course the train ride around the park.

Jack and Daddy riding the Dumbo ride. This was one of the longer waits, but it is a must ride when at Disney.

Jack all smiles on Cindarella's merry go round.

While we were in Frontierland, Woody from Toy Story was having a little hoe-down with all the kids. Jack got into the action by riding his horsie around with Woody. I have a small video of Jack and all the kids dancing the hokey pokey with Woody, but my computer is not cooperating right now, so you just have to trust me when I say it is really cute.

Jack and Daddy doing some shooting at the shooting arcade.

Panning for gold (actually gold Mickey ears, at $900 an ounce, I wish it were real gold).

Our last ride of the night before the big night time parade and fireworks was the Jungle Cruise. It was pretty funny, because right before that, we let Jack buy a play shot gun at the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. So when we got on the Jungle Cruise ride, he was pretending to shoot all the pretend animals. Then the pilot of the boat let Jack "steer" the boat for awhile, which Jack thought was way cool and he also got a junior co-pilots license to go with his junior engineers license from the monorail.

The castle lit up for the night. I have to admit that even as an adult, the sight of Cindarella's castle makes me a kid again.

We had a good first day at the Magic Kingdom. There were no huge crowds. The only ride that Jack absolutely hated and screamed all the way through was the Stitch ride in Tomorrowland. It was pretty scary and I felt so helpless sitting there with him screaming at the top of his lungs in the next seat. But he soon got over the fright by going on the Indy cars with me. I let him steer while I pushed the pedal. He was laughing and giggling so hard by the end of it and he proudly proclaimed to Daddy, who was waiting for us, that he was a "crazy driver".

The one ride that I wanted to scream and cry on was the teacup ride. I will never ever ride that with my crazy husband and son who like to spin the thing around at top speed. Oh my goodness, I was headed to the bathroom after that.

We rode pretty much every ride we wanted to ride, although there were a few that we would of wanted to ride again if there were time. Jack's favorite ride of all time was Big Thunder Mountain and he laughed and giggled the entire ride while sitting between Jim and I. It is official, the boy loves roller coasters. I can't wait until he is another two inches taller and he can go on Space Mountain.

He was scared on The Haunted Mansion, but didn't cry or anything. I just think he was very happy to be between Mom and Daddy. At the end of the ride, you look in the mirror to see a ghost riding with you in the car and Jack kept looking behind him to see if the ghost really was there. But Jack laughed when Daddy reached up to pick the ghost's nose, he thought that was just too funny.

Of course, we rode all the classics like Small World, Peter Pan's flight, Winnie the Pooh, and the Pirates of the Caribbean. After we got off the Pirates ride and they dump you into the gift shop, we spent some money there. I have been looking for a Captain Jack shirt for Jack and I found one, which is a football jersey type with the pirate skeleton on the front and the name Captain Jack on the back. I about died when I saw that it cost $43!!! Yeah that came out of our mad money. But seriously people, $43 for a kid's shirt?

We stayed for the fireworks and beat it to the monorail to get home. I have to admit that the walk to the monorail, then to the bus stop to catch the bus to our hotel, then up the stairs and down the hall to our room was excruciatingly painful. I was exhausted. But Jack was quite the trooper all day long and kept going with no tears or complaints nor any nap. But as soon as his head hit the pillow, he was out and me for that matter.

And that was our Day two or the first day in the parks. I hope I am not boring anybody with these trip reports. I am doing it more to save it for memory sakes than anything. So if my stupid computer and internet (both are plotting against me at the moment) will cooperate in the least, I hope to have the other two days reports posted soon with more pictures.

Disney ... Day One

We left our house before 5 am, bright and early. It took about 8 1/2 hours to get to the hotel. Jack was absolutely so excited that when we went under the big archway that said Disneyworld, I thought he would pop out of his skin.

We got checked into our room and below is the view from our balcony. Of course, Jack was quite thrilled to be staying on a golf course and yes, he did go golfing with Daddy a couple of times.

Jack feeding the fishies at the hotel. Man do they make the money there on fish food - 25 cents for about 10 pebbles of fish food and yes, they got a whole dollar from us just so I could get this picture.

They also had remote-controlled boats. There was the Air Force, Navy, Marines, and Army boats of course since it was the military hotel. And we dropped a couple of dollars there playing with the boats.

Jack in front of the waterfall at our hotel.

We Are Back!

We are back from Disney Fest 2008. It was all fun, but extremely exhausting on all of our parts. I have to say though that Jack was such a trooper. The first day we started off at 6 am by getting to Chef Mickeys at 7 and then closing the Magic Kingdom park by watching the fireworks that night without taking a break once. We were at it for 14 hours straight and Jack never once complained, nor took a nap in the stroller.

We timed our trip perfectly because there were no crowds at all. I think our longest wait was 20 minutes for the Jungle Cruise. I think going to the Magic Kingdom on a Wednesday at the end of January is a very good time to go. We went back to the MK on Friday night to catch the parade and there were three times as many people there than two days prior.

We stayed at The Shades of Green, which is the resort for military families and I have to say that the Iraq war touched home for us. We met a mother and her 3 year old son who lost his Daddy in the war about a year and a half ago. I really felt for her and that little boy. Of course, Jack struck up a friendship and before long, the two of them were playing with the remote-controlled boats like long-lost friends. But really the war was all over as you saw families sporting shirts about surviving deployments and getting together again at Disney.

We did a full three days in three parks. The first day we did Magic Kingdom, then Epcot, then Animal Kingdom. But I have to admit it is good to be home and not have to worry about catching monorails, buses, or fast passes!

I will post a more complete trip report and pictures later for ya'lls enjoyment. My lovely computer seems to not like me again.

And We Are Off

Well we are off to Disneyworld tomorrow morning. We are hoping to be out of here before 5 am. I doubt I will update at all while we are gone. So until probably Sunday.... See ya!

Oh and if anybody has any ideas, we have several cop friends who will be checking on the house and neighbors who watch the house like hawks. So don't even think about it.

Time Flying By

I am so not ready to leave in less than two days for Disney. Actually it is in 38 hours that we are hopefully packing the van and leaving and I have soooooooo many things to do, it is just sad. I really really need to clean my house because there is no way that I am letting my neighbors come in to take care of our animals the way it looks right now. I also need to do laundry and pack up Jack and I, or I should say repack Jack's suitcase after he made an attempt to pack it himself yesterday. He was so funny because he heard me talking about packing suitcases and he hurried to his closet to grab his suitcase and "packed" his stuff. I had to laugh when I saw what was packed. He got into the lower drawer of his dresser, which has all the old clothes that I have saved from the past four years. So among the things he "packed" was his pumpkin costume from his first Halloween, the pair of loafers that no longer fit him, a onesie from when he was a baby, and a stuffed animal. He came into my bedroom to proudly show me that he had packed for Disney and I just had to laugh at him. Yeah he's ready alright. But I am not.

However, I can't really do anything to help me get ready right now because my poor husband is sleeping from working an 18-hour shift last night because they were looking for escaped prisoners and the most sleep he will get before he has to go to work again tonight is about 4 hours. So I really don't want to do laundry or clean the house and I can't pack because it would disturb him. So Jack and I are "having quiet time" and watching Peter Pan and counting down the hours until we hit the road.

I am so stupid ... Or The Things We Do For Our Children

It is Mardi Gras season here in the south. Now when we lived in California, I had absolutely no idea what Mardi Gras really was. Ha! I was naive. It is a huge thing here. There are countless parades to see.

So there I was today. Jack and I were out in the cold today running errands and whatnot. I decided to slip into Cici's Pizza (totally ignoring the fact that I am trying to be "good" on my diet) for some lunch before going home. As I was sitting there, I noticed out the window that the cops were out there setting up for the parade today. I thought to myself, "why not" and decided to stay around for the parade. After all one of the main streets was already closed off. So the parade was supposed to start at 2 pm and Jack and I wandered outside about 5 minutes before that. It was 54 degrees and kind of spitting rain. I had no jacket (just a sweatshirt) and Jack had a little one on, nothing really warm. We stood there for 45 minutes waiting for that stupid parade to start, all the while the temp was dropping and the rain was turning more and more into sleet. I am thinking to myself that Iam absolutely stupid for doing this, but I wanted Jack to see the parade, and after all, I had all this time invested, I had to stick it out.

So finally the parade gets to us and we get more bead necklaces than we can hold or wear. We also get a sports cup, stuffed animal, candy, moon pies, and various other crap thrown at us. I admit it was fun. Jack was dancing to the music and entertaining everybody around us (all the other stupid fools standing out there). And the big highlight of the parade was the fire truck at the end, to which I cheered along with Jack not because it was a fire truck, but because the parade was over. By that time, our hands were so cold, we could not even move our fingers and it was definitely sleeting and we could see our breaths. I was never so glad to get in the nice warm car.

Oh and I had just been to Walmart and bought milk and the milk was still cold by the time we got home! We stood out there for a total of two hours and I learned one thing, the shoes I had on that I bought from a Christmas gift card were the perfect Disney shoes. My feet didn't hurt in the least.

Now just watch Jack and I will get sick from this, just in time for Disney.

Ugh

It is pouring down rain outside and it is COLD, like if it were just a few degrees colder, we would have an ice storm right now. And all I really want to do is stay home in my jammies and do nothing. However, that is just not possible. I have soooooo much to do to get ready for our trip next week. Seriously a trip to Walmart right now is making me quite ill.

Also, our church has a tradition that every other week the ladies meet at Cracker Barrel for breakfast. It is called The Girly Girls breakfast and it is fun. The Manly Men meet on the weeks that the Girly Girls don't. But ugh today I just want to be lazy. But sigh, I know I will have fun once I get there. I just need to get my lazy butt up and get ready. But ya'll Walmart on a Saturday? I just might cry.

Every Little Penny

For the past year and a half, we have been saving our spare change in a big jug for our next vacation. I should say that mostly Jim has been doing this as he is about the only one who carries any kind of cash and I mainly use the debit card for everything. He also would throw in dollar bills every now and then and even a $20 bill went in there.

Today was the day to cash it all into real money for our Disney trip. And the total that it came up to was over $275!!! That will be our mad money to be spent ... well madly. I even told Jack that he could have $5 each day we were in the parks to spend on whatever he wanted, which made him go get his little play wallet he has to put the money in. Of course I had to tell him he couldn't actually get the money until we got to Disney and of course, that prompted the "Buuuuttttt Mmmmmooooommmmm" complaint.

I also bought a book all about Disneyworld with all kinds of pictures. We have been studying this book like it is something sacred in this house. He will go and get the book and crawl up into my lap and we have to again go through the whole book talking about all the different rides, shows, and things to do. And I am just savoring every minute of this because I really believe that Disney at the age of four is just about the most magical thing in the world. I can not wait to see it all through his eyes.

Girls Night Out!

I got to go out last night with the girls from our church group to the movie 27 Dresses. It was cute, but unrealistic and predictable. But just the fact that the four of us got to get out and leave the husbands behind to watch all 6 kids was the best part.

Our small group from church has expanded into a not-so-small group and we have made life-long friends with these people. Within the small group, we all have a total of 13 kids and one on the way. But within the core of the group there are us four couples who are really bonded and I know I could count on them for anything. We are always passing the kid's clothes down to the youngers in the group. In fact, last night Jack got another bag of clothes from the 5-year-old twin boys. Of course, there literally is two of everything hehe.

But it is fun. And we are even selling our 2nd car to one of the couples. Jim's commuter car, the Chevy Cobalt, that he used in California to drive almost 1000 miles a week, is no longer being used here in Mississippi. He is able to drive his police car home and since we have lived here, we have put less than 5000 miles on the car in a year and a half. I figure there is no use in paying for tags and insurance on a car that just sits there. So our friends are buying it today. And technically we will be a one car family. Now just watch as soon as it is out of the driveway, we will totally need the thing.

A Future Tiger

This afternoon after Jim went to bed to get a nap before he has to go to work tonight, I decided to take Jack out for a little bit to run some errands and just waste some time while Daddy was sleeping. So after a stop to get gas, we went to Petsmart to pick up some doggie food and to go to the free petting zoo. (oh as a side note, can I just complain about how utterly fast $100 can disappear between filling the van up and buying a bag of dog food?!? absolutely ridiculous!) We of course were in there with every other parent in the area trying to entertain their kids on this school holiday day. But Jack had fun looking at the fishies and the hamsters.

So then we went next door to the sports store where I wanted to check out athletic capris which were 50% off to take with me to Disney. And while in the store, Jack just HAD to go play in the golfing section. They have a little putting green there and to say that the boy loves all things that is golf would be a huge huge underestimate. Seriously, he could look at golf clubs for 30 minutes with total concentration. So I let him pick up the little putter that was there just his size and I have to say the kid is a total natural in the game of golf. He holds the club like he is a pro and can putt like pro. This kid put all five balls into the hole, one right after another. And then he wanted me to try it, Ha! I picked up a putter and of course missed the hole. And what did my loving son say at the top of his voice for half the store to hear? "I am better than you Mama!" Yep Yep my almost-four-year-old son is better at golf than I could ever hope to be.

And yes, you better believe I was looking at the kids golf clubs. I tell ya'll, I need to get in touch with Tiger.

Snow Ya'll Snow!

It snowed today in Mississippi!!! Not where we are, but I wouldn't be surprised if it did because it is sooo cold. It has been in the 30's all day today. But it snowed less than an hour north of us! And not just a trace, but like three inches!! In Mississippi!! Grammy C. had two inches at her house today. I would say that the Siberian Express has reached all the way south to here.

It is kind of funny also because the Mardi Gras parades were beginning today. There were actually two scheduled today in Gulfport that we were kinda thinking about going to, but um yeah no don't think so now. I am not going to stand out in 30 degree weather just to get some stupid purple beads. Nope.

I know that it is colder in other places in the country, but snow? in Mississippi? That is just cool.

Disney Planning

So I woke up this morning feeling better than yesterday's coma that I was in, which is a good thing because of all that I have to do. Since today is payday, I get to go get groceries to last us the 12 days until we go to Disney. The trip will probably take almost the entire time Jack is at school between the shopping, filling the van, driving home, and the putting away of said food to sustain us 12 days. I hate grocery shopping! Ugh.

I have been researching our trip to Disneyworld. Seriously ya'll, I had no idea there were so many sites dedicated to people talking about their Disney trips. Geesh. All the advice out there is overwhelming. And even though we went to Disneyland lots and lots of times when we were in California, Disneyworld is a whole nother animal in itself. We got reservations at Chef Mickeys. Hopefully Jack will be more accepting of the characters and NOT try to ignore them and pretend they don't exist when they come by like he did last time. I really think he is going to get the whole magical experience that is Disney this time. When we were there before, he was 2 1/2 and he was just a bit young to soak it all up. He also is 40" tall, which means he can ride a lot of the bigger type rides. Of course, we will have to start out small and work our way up. But I think he will do fine on the Big Thunder ride because it is a choo choo.

All the planning that is involved, even for a short 3-day visit, is mounumental. We are staying in the Shades of Green resort, which is the resort on-site for military families. It is about 1/3 the price of the regular resort prices and no taxes. No way we could afford the other on-site resorts. We are not taking the famous Disney stroller that we bought just for Disneyland in California, but renting the strollers there. The main reason is that Jack has totally outgrown that stroller and barely can fit his behind in it. So because we won't have the luxurious huge basket of storage, I am now trying to figure out what people take to the park without all the storage. Even though I hate the look of them, I did end up ordering a fanny pack for myself and I may just order one for Jack if I knew he would wear one. Yeah right. At least mine is in a cute pink.

Jack is getting so incredibly excited about Disneyworld. We have begun the countdown of days until we leave. Of course, I really don't think he has a clue that it involves a 10-hour drive to get there. We have been online looking at all the rides in the different parks and he sits on my lap telling me that he wants to see this one and that again. It is so much fun to experience these things through their eyes. Of course, I am hoping that we are picked for their year of million dreams. I was looking at their giveaways and it all looks good. Shoot, I would be happy for a free pair of ears.

Anyway, that's what happening in the Jackaroo World. Now I am off to grocery shop. Ugh.

Not Fair

I swear that this happens every time I start a health kick. I was doing so good. I was walking 10 miles a week and eating all the right stuff that you are supposed to eat, taking my vitamins. Pretty much everything that Dr. Oz tells me to do in this book to stay young, which is something you think about once you hit the big 4 oh. But then some bug found its way to me and wham knocked me out flat. I woke up on Saturday with a scratchy throat and started to take dozens of Vitamin C pills and eating oranges and taking Zicam. Basically trying everything to not get sick. Yeah right. I've been laid out for the last two days with this horrendous cough that everybody who hears it makes the comment "that sounds like that hurts." Gee really? Yeah its only my lungs coming up, no biggie.

But I am feeling better and hopefully tomorrow I can continue with my regularly scheduled program of getting younger. Well that is after a massive grocery shopping trip in the morning. You know that you need to go shopping when two of the three bathrooms in the house have no toilet paper. Just saying.

Bye Bye Sissy

Well we had to say goodbye to Laura again yesterday as she went back to California. It was really sad and Jack did not take it too well. He loves her soooo much, he practically worships the ground she walks on. It is really neat that they are so close and she is really good with him. They will play together for hours building forts and pretend play. I think it is really great that she, as a 12-year-old girl, will sit and play with her little 3-year-old brother.

I can't say that everything between her and I was perfect. That step-mother/step-daughter relationship is very hard at times. I admit when I see her acting like her mother, I do get angry. Or the things she says that her mother says, angers me to no end. And I do show it. But by the end of her stay, I feel we were back on track. I really do want us to be close friends and I just have to remember what it is like to be 12 again. Yuck. It is such a hard age, especially for a girl, and especially for a girl whose life is split between two completely different households.

I am very grateful that Jack is a boy and I really don't have to worry about (hopefully) all the things that you have to worry about with a girl. She is at that age where she wants to wear the sexy clothes and her father and I are constantly telling her to change her clothes. I don't understand how her mother can let her wear these clothes. Literally there was one day when she was wearing such a low cut top that half her bra was showing. Literally half the bra cup was exposed and she didn't think anything of it!

So hopefully she will be back out in a couple months for her spring break and just mentioning that fact to Jack seemed to perk him up a little bit. I told him that we would color Easter eggs with Sissy and now he is all excited about that.

In other news, Jack's school is having their Spirit Week this week where they get to wear crazy things all week long, instead of their usual uniforms. Of course, this effects the high school grades more than the K3 classes. I completely forgot that today was Crazy Hair Day until I got there and saw all the blue hair everywhere. But not to be left out, Jack did have crazy hair today because I was too lazy to try to get his stubborn thick hair to lay flat. So he went to school with his hair sticking straight up and hey it's all good!!!

Not Feeling It

This is for Amy, who emailed me asking if I ever just did not feel like blogging and my big answer to her is a big yes. (By the way, you will be getting a reply email from me hehe).

There are a bunch of reasons for it. One big reason is computer issues. Our computer is currently having some major issues and I am on the old old computer that is 8 years old right now. I have been looking at those nice new snazzy looking laptops, however money right now is just not there to get it so here I am on my old machine.

I have also had my carpal tunnel come back pretty good in my left hand. Every now and then it will flare up and right now it is flaring pretty good making typing not feel so good.

Then I feel like I am in a state of flux. I have been saying goodbye to Jack's baby years and knowing that I am never going to have another baby, which is fine with me, but just saying good bye to my baby and seeing him grow into a big kid has been kind of hard for me. I love the big kid that he has grown into and he is so much fun at this age, but a small part of me has been mourning his baby stage. I guess I have been melancholy about that and knowing that I have to move on to the next stage in his life. I can already see how much school influences him just by his vocabulary (both good and bad). He is learning so much there and I am so proud of him. He is a very sweet child and I hope to keep him that way.

But at the same time, I am also celebrating the fact that I no longer have to deal with formula, spit ups, diapers, 3 am feedings, no sleep, and all that other stuff that comes with babies. I don't know what it was, but turning 40 pretty much cured me of the want for any more babies. For the first time in over 10 years, I am not yearning to become pregnant. Also, the show Jon and Kate plus 8 has cured me of ever having sex again. How do they do it? All that whining and screaming - geesh. I know I maybe cursing myself here for saying this, but Jack has truly moved on from the whining stage for the most part, unless he is just too tired. I remember when he turned three and it seemed like for 6 months there, the whining did not stop ever, and I wanted to tear my hair out, or his. But he is just a happy little boy who does what I ask him to do (for the most part) and I don't think I could ask for a better little boy. Thank God I don't have 8 of them!

So that pretty much sums up what has been going on. I have also been contemplating going back to work part-time to help with the non-existant money situation, which is another whole post altogether. Until then, hope ya'll have a great day. Now I have to go walk my butt off, literally.

Back to Normal

I call today the "Back to Normal" day every year. The first Monday after the New Year. All the Christmas stuff is torn down and packed up. I don't know about ya'll but Christmas and New Years is very exhausting, even if it is a great time spent with family.

So today was the first day back to school for Jack. I thought it was quite amusing that about half of his class were outside in the hall crying because they did not want to go back to school. Yeah that was so not Jack. He walked in as usual, gave Mrs. Nix a huge hug and promptly forgot that I was there. The usual routine. I know there are kids out there who are not ready for school everyday, but I think Jack was born ready to go to school. He absolutely loves it. And the amount that he is learning flabbergasts me everyday. He now knows all his letters, numbers, colors and he can sound out some words. I think he will be reading by this time next year. Truly amazing how much they can learn in three or four short years.

Anyway, it is great to be back to normal. Laura is with us for one more week as she has a modified year-round school in California. She gets four weeks off at Christmas time. She will be back in March for spring break and then will be back in July for about a month. She is one lucky little girl because her grandmother and step grandfather are taking her to Israel for two weeks when she gets out of school. I am sure that is a place I will never be able to go to, so it is a pretty special opportunity for her.

And as I always do in January, I am back on the health kick again. I went and walked two miles this morning and will be up to three to four miles very soon. I am also trying to get in shape for those long walking days at Disney. Yay! We leave in 22 days! Can't wait.

Did somebody get the name of that Party that Hit Me?

Oh my did we ring in the new year last night. Wow. At one point we had a total of 14 adults at our house and what seemed like about 220 kids at the other house, even though I think it was only 6 kids with 2 pre-teen girls and one teenager girl as babysitters. And the party lasted until about 2:30!!! Yeah we have not rung in the new year like that ever. It was fun, but we did have one friend that we had to take the keys away and he slept here for the night. We also did in 6 bottle of champagne, untold amounts of beer, cosmos (very yummy), margaritas and cranberry/vodka combinations were going on. After midnight, somebody thought it would be fun to play group Taboo, which turned hilarious. Seriously, if we had been taping the goings on last night, it would have won the funny videos.

Anyway, we are moving very slowly this morning, err afternoon. I think the taking down of the Christmas stuff will commence tomorrow.

Happy New Year! Yay first post of the year! Now excuse me, while I go lay down.

And One More Party

I am going to say it. I am very happy that the holiday season is almost over. Don't get me wrong, I love Christmas and being with family and seeing Jack's face on Christmas morning, the making of cookies, and even all the cooking involved with all the parties. However, I am officially partied out ya'll. And I say this with one more to go tomorrow night. We are having a New Years bash at our house, or I should say it is being split with our neighbors. The adults are going to be at our house and the kids are going to be at their house, with babysitters of course. Laura and a couple of friends are going to be making some cash.

But I am just not that into it. Maybe it is because I have hosted one too many parties in the past month(s)? I was just talking to our neighbors and trying to plan it out and right now I am ho hum at best about the whole thing. Seriously, the best New Years gift right now would be a nice quiet night at home in my sweat pants with a good movie and a book. A night I didn't have to get up every five seconds to attend to a child or an animal. Speaking of animals, one of our cats decided that throwing up all over (and I mean all over) my kitchen this morning, minutes before we left for church, would be a good thing to do. I was seriously holding back the gag reflex ya'll.

So if I don't post before the New Years because of yet another party, I hope ya'll have a really good New Years and be safe!

Ponderings

Why are Christmas decorations on Christmas Eve "beautiful" but three days later, all you can see is work? Just wondering.

Not that I am complaining or anything, but it seems a bit abnormal to this former Michigan girl (even though it has been 20 years) to be walking outside on December 28th in shorts and actually sweating. Just saying.

"He Really Came"!

So I need to update on the last few days in the Jackaroo house. We had a very Merry Christmas. On Christmas Eve, we went to the candlelight service at church which was beyond beautiful. It made us think of the real reason that is behind all the craziness at this time of year.

All day on Christmas Eve, we were keeping up with Santa's progress on Norad.org, which I have to say was really cool and wow what a great geography lesson for this geography-challenged person. I really thought that I was going to have a hard time getting the boy to sleep on Christmas Eve, but alas right after church, he went to bed excited, but less than 10 minutes later he was out cold.

Santa was very good to both Jack and Laura. Jack received a silver bell just like the one from his favorite movie of all time - The Polar Express. Everytime anybody would ask him what he wanted Santa to bring him, he would say "a silver bell" and so I guess Santa found one on ebay that came in the same box as the one in the movie. And there even was a note inside that said "I heard you wanted a silver bell. This is for all who truly believe. Signed Mr. C." Oh and Santa also got him some "tools" and Laura got a purse with some cash inside.

They also made out from Mom and Dad and Grammy and Papa also. Laura got some clothes, some more cash, a Hannah Montana game, and some other crafty things. For the boy, he got a Hot Wheels race track, some radio-control cars, batman helicopter, puzzles, etc. etc. etc.

Here is a 3-minute video of Christmas morning. Sorry it is so dark and the camera kept losing focus, no idea why. But you get the idea. It is really cute when the boy exclaims "He really came!". So much fun.

Grammy and Papa left yesterday morning to head back to Michigan. We hope they arrive home safe and sound.

We went to see the movie Alvin and Chipmunks and both kids were totally engrossed in the movie. And I have to say that it was really cute. However, I was a bit nostalgic about it because I remember playing the Chipmunks record over and over again when I was a kid (yes I know I am dating myself just by saying the word "record").

On other news, I am thiiiiiisssss close to buying a new laptop. My computer is having issues and when I fix one issue, others pop up. For two hours, I was trying to download songs onto my new mp3 player (yes I joined the new century by owning a mp3 player) and for some reason my stupid computer just went nuts. I tried to download the media player again because it would not play nor recognize any songs and then it told me that my copy of windows was not a valid copy. Excuse me? But unfortunately the new laptop purchase is going to be put on hold for now because well there are bills to be paid like our property taxes (yikes)!

And we just made up our mind today to go to Disneyworld at the end of January. We were going to wait until summer so Laura could go with us, but it turns out, she isn't going to be able to be with us for the whole summer and we decided we would go in January when the crowds were not as bad and the weather was not excruciating. And boy oh boy is the boy excited. In fact, he started to cry when he found out we were not going Today!

So I think that is about it for the updates. Hopefully with the state of my computer, I can update again soon. I hate when computers don't work like they should!

Christmas Pictures

The Making of Christmas Eve Cookies

The cookies. Yes, we did make train cookies for the train-obsessed boy.

The Santa Only Cookies.

The boy and The girl checking out their Santa loot.

Tool-Man Jack with Daddy

Jack with his new vacuum cleaner. Sorry this is sideways. I thought I flipped the pic.

Laura getting into the spirit.

The Aftermath

Christmas Before Christmas

Daddy and Jack making breakfast together.

On Saturday, we hosted the big C clan at our house, where we had 18 people for dinner. It was the Christmas before Christmas party because of Jim's work schedule, it was the only time we could get together. So of course, the boy was spoiled and here is just a little smattering of the festivities that day.

Oh Boy, more big vehicles that make noise!

The Christmas Program

Christmas, Christmas, Christmas

So Yay, I finally fixed my computer. Don't ask me how I did it. I had to extract something into something and download something for something else. But anyway, it is now fixed and I now can see pictures and videos. Yay!

So to catch ya'll up on whats been happening here, I have a little snapshot of pictures. There will be more pictures coming tomorrow and I am sure the next day of all the happenings when I have more time. I may just throw in a video or two of the boy performing, if you are lucky.


Jack helping to decorate the tree. He actually was sick that day and hence the very casual style of the boy.

Jack and all his grandparents. They were all here to go to his school Christmas play.

The handsome boy all dressed up for the school Christmas play. Yes, I know he's good-looking. :)

Jack on stage as a sheep. It was quite a cute program, but for the K3 and K4 classes, it was a bit hard to just sit through. The K3 through 5th grade classes put it on and I have to say that they did a great job and you could tell they worked really hard at it.

At this point, all the parents were about to nominate the two K3 teachers for sainthood. The sheeps hats soon became weapons with which to hit each other. Fun times. Video will be forthcoming.

A funny picture of the boy on his fire truck with the full fireman getup AND carrying a flag. Can't get more American than that.

Tis the Season

Well we at the Jackaroo house are in full swing of holidayness. Grammy and Papa arrived last week from Michigan. It looks like they outran the ice and major snowstorm as they headed south. I don't think they miss the white stuff.

After all the warm warm days, we finally got a bit chilly here with it dipping below freezing two nights ago. I have to admit, Christmas just isn't the same being 80 degrees.

Jack has been a little star these past few days. Last Thursday was the big play/production at his school. It was put on by the K3 - 5th grade and it was cute. Jack was in front singing and did pretty good for the first half. The K3 stepped off stage for a bit and came back in as sheep singing Deck the Halls but instead of singing Falalala, they were singing "baa baa baa". Yes the cuteness factor was on overload. They even had little sheep hats on that they made with cotton balls. And this is where it went downhill very fast for the K3 class. You see, they now had weapons with which to hit each other (sheep hats) and I am afraid that all kinds of chaos broke out. Every single person in that church gave the two K3 teachers silent prayers for what they have to put up with on a daily basis.

I did get good pictures and video of the whole thing, however, my computer is acting up and I can't post any pics or videos. And I just haven't had the time to care to fix it right now with everything going on. So hopefully soon, I can post and ya'll can see the chaos for yourselves.

Also on Sunday, the children sang their little songs up front and Jack again entertained the masses. Like I said, he has been quite the star lately.

We have been kept busy doing stuff with Grammy and Papa. And Laura comes in on Thursday, then on Saturday, we are hosting the Christmas dinner/party for Jim's family since he has to work both Christmas Eve night and Christmas night. So we are doing it on Saturday. I think the final head count of all who is going to be here is 20. Should be fun.

I hope everybody who is still reading my little blog (yes I know it has been awhile and few and far between posts) are having a wonderful Christmas holiday.

Are You Sure It Is Christimas Time?

It is in the mid 80's and very humid! This just is not right!

Nothing Like It

Nothing like a good color and cut to make you feel better about the world and yourself. Oh and my new Arbonne skin care. Talk about life changing! My skin has never ever felt so good as it does with Arbonne. Wish I could afford the whole system, but maybe later. Love It!

Trip to Michaels

Because I wanted to waste a bit of time before going home and possibly waking Daddy up before he should get up, I decided to do a little detour to Michaels craft store after picking Jack up from school. Yeah um not the place to take a toddler who wants every single thing in the store. He wanted the Thomas stickers, every color of paint they had, the train puzzle, the candy, the ginger bread house (yeah tried that three years ago, never again), and a multi-colored slinky. I let him have the $1.00 slinky and thats it. But if anybody out there is looking for cheap stocking stuffers, Michaels is the place for them. I seriously am going back there tomorrow without the boy in tow to pick some up for both him and Laura.

So I am now completely and utterly done with the shopping, except for the boy. We are planning a trip (it is sad that we have to travel an hour either north, east, or west) to Target and Toys R Us with Grammy and Papa, who will be here next week just for the boy. I did order him a silver bell from ebay that looks just like the one on The Polar Express (the movie that we have seen 587 times). It even came in a red and white striped box and has a card in it that says "Believe". I plan on writing a card from Santa just like the movie. Ahhh love this age.

Jack's Christmas program at school is next week. They have been practicing it three times a week for the last two weeks and it should be pretty cute. Jack is in the choir and try as I might, the boy will not divulge any songs that they are singing. Of course, the video camera will be in use and will be posting the sappy video soon afterward. And of course, I will be crying my eyeballs out, so ya know.

Happy Birthday Laura!

Today is Laura's 12th Birthday!!!! She is no longer a little girl, but on the brink of teenagedom! Oh my! We are looking forward to having her come here in 15 days and yes we are counting the days. We miss her very much.

The Weekend, The Big Rat, and Sugar Overload

Seems like we have busy weekend after busy weekend around here. It is getting so that I am never getting anything done around the house like I should. Don't get me started about how much laundry I have to do at this moment. Ugh!

Anyway, we were on the go all weekend long. It started off Friday night with our small group at church which is always fun. I love our small group and getting together every week really does ground me. It is fun to connect with people like we do and for the most part, everybody in our group are really good friends.

On Saturday, Jack and I went to the church to help decorate it for Christmas. They had ordered over 200 poinsettias and wow when they are all lined up, that is a lot of red flowers! The church ended up looking absolutely gorgeous and I have to say we did a really good job. It was really fun and got us all in the Christmasy spirit. However, that feeling soon ended when I had to go to Walmart with 50,000 other people. Ugh. But I had to because I had to buy a birthday present for Jack's friend at school, whose birthday party we went to last night.

Yesterday, we left the house at 10:00 in the morning to go to church and did not get home until after 7:00. It was one long day going from church to friends house for lunch to the birthday party at the big Rat's house. And I hate Chuck E Cheese, but I took Jack there anyway. Mother of the Year award brownie points I think. I felt kind of bad for the little boy's mother who planned the party because Jack was the only one who showed up from school. She had this elaborate Transformers themed party with a huge cake and there were only 3 kids total, including the birthday boy. I could tell she was upset and quite frankly I think I would have been upset also. But Jack had a blast and he had so many tokens to play the games with because of only three kids. He was on game overload I think.

And because there were only three kids, the mother cut these absolutely huge pieces of cake to serve to the kids and Jack ate the whole thing. Which, I am sure you can guess the result of so much sugar intake into the boy's system? Yeah he was wired and bouncing off the walls until after 10 last night. I kept trying to get him to go to sleep, but he was jumping all over the bed and at some point, he thought throwing pillows all over my room would be a big hoot. I was practically begging him to go to sleep because I was the complete opposite of being wired. I am glad it is Monday and I can now recover from the weekend. Oh and yeah do my laundry.

Just Like Christmas

Today I really do think the UPS man was cussing out my name and address. I had a total of NINE big packages arrive at my door. Just today. And yes, it was just like Christmas morning. Mostly. You see, I had a Pampered Chef party a couple of weeks ago and all the orders from that party came today in four BIG boxes. I treated myself to an early Christmas by purchasing their wonderful cookware at a still-ridiculously-high-yet-it-was-half-off-because-I-hosted-a-show price. I am sooo excited about this cookware ya'll. It is like I am finally a grown up with real grown up pots and pans. These are real. So exciting.

The other boxes were a bunch of stuff for the family and such. Not quite as exciting as grown-up cookware. It just means that I now need to wrap all those other things.

I also know that I have been lax in the posting department and I apologize to those who have complained. Sorry. To be honest, it just seems like there isn't much to post other than our daily boring lives. I mean do ya'll want to hear about how we went up to Jim's mother's last weekend so Jim could go deer hunting and I was praying that he wouldn't get a deer so that I would not have to explain why Daddy killed Prancer (the boy loves that movie) and have the boy freak out over that. I know I know it is silly, but I still remember when I was little and seeing the neighbor's dead deer hanging in their yard and seriously people, I think I need therapy over that sight to this day!

Anyway, Jim did not get a deer and we sidestepped that whole issue. Other than that, there really hasn't been much going on. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that because of the kindness of somebody Jim works with, Jack will not need clothes for the next year or so. They gave us a huge amount of size 4,5, and 6 clothes and people, we are talking NICE clothes, not the Walmart special that he has been used to wearing. So to all those in the family reading this, the boy does not need clothes. Nor shoes because we got two pairs of shoes.

So that is it. We got our Christmas tree up and the outside lights up and things are looking a lot like Christmas, except for that cold white stuff ya'll got up there in Michigan and yonder. I also spent yesterday painting our guest bedroom so that my parents will have a pretty room to sleep in when they get here in like 11 days! Yikes! I have a lot to do!

Feeling Stuffed? Shopping?

Ahhh the good old Day After Thanksgiving. Did everybody have a good turkey day? We did here at the Jackaroo house. We went to the Uncles house for dinner where we saw the whole crew from Jim's side of the family. We had to cut it a bit short because Jim had to get back home to get to work last night. I guess it was pretty crazy traffic out there in the middle of the night because of the crazy stores opening at god-awful hours. The outlet mall down the road opened at midnight last night and caused a huge traffic jam on the highway. Crazy people.

I am one of those few people who are not shopping today. I am almost done and should be done by next week with everybody. Nice feeling. Instead I am rushing around trying to pack up and get the house in order for us to leave to go north to family compound to see Grammy C. Aunt Ann and Aunt Carla for the weekend. There are always a million things to do before we go up there including of course at least three loads of laundry. And I hate hate hate to come home to a house that is not in order and clean. So cleaning is also in order for today.

So for those out there shopping with the other crazies, just want to say Happy Shopping!

Happy Thanksgiving

We are here baking, watching the parade, and of course licking spoons and bowls.

I Broke Down

and took the boy to the doctor today. I figured with the holiday long weekend that I should considering he still has the awful cough going on. I could tell that he was getting better because he has spurts of energy where he would run around like his usual self, but then a few minutes later, he would be coughing and whining.

The doctor did say that he could hear some rattling in the chest, but no pneumonia right now and the ear infection from the pink eye incident a few weeks ago is clearing up. He gave us some prescription cough medicine that hopefully will let him get some sleep that he hasn't had lately. Oh and he also has lost about 3 pounds from this sickness. He was under 40 lbs today, something that he hasn't been in months. So he has definitely been a sick little boy.

And wow tomorrow is Thanksgiving? How in the world did it come up so fast? I hope everybody out there reading has a really good day tomorrow with lots to eat. We plan on going over to Jim's brother's for the big meal and see the whole family there. Jim has to work tomorrow night (nope cop's don't get the day off) after the dinner.

I thankfully did a lot of shopping today online and think I am pretty much done except for Jack and he is the easiest to buy for. I am hoping within a week I will be absolutely done with the shopping and can sit back and relax for the rest of the season.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Time where does it go?

Wow it has been over a week since I posted on here. And how is it that Thanksgiving is this week?

It has been pretty busy around here. Jack had his Thanksgiving party on Friday at school. It was the cutest and of course, I forgot my camera. They had made Indian hats and vests (made from brown paper sack - too cute) and wore them into the cafeteria where the party was held. All of the K3 classes were together and it is simply amazing to me to see almost 30 three-year-olds sitting down eating and behaving. These teachers are amazing.

And Jack has had some crud for the past three days, that on a couple of occasions, I almost drove him to the ER. He has had a persistent cough for a couple of weeks now, as almost every kid in his class (love the preschool bugs). But on Friday night, that cough became much worse and with it came the fever and then the vomitting happened last night. It is so pitiful to see him standing at the toilet throwing up, or as he calls it "spitting in the toilet". I know that he needs to throw up when he tells me "I need to spit in the toilet". Oh and thank goodness for the wood floors cause the first time, it went all over the hallway floor outside the bathroom. Poor kid. And I don't think I have had eight full hours of sleep combined in the last three nights. Ugh.

However, he is now better this morning or at least his fever has been down since about 3 in the morning and hasn't thrown up the 3 crackers I gave him this morning. So that is a good thing. I am really not good with being nurse Mommy.

Conversation with a three-year-old

I was just putting Jack to bed and we were talking about stuff when this little conversation came about. It is too funny.

Jack: (pulling on his teeth) We can't take out teeth out.

Me: nope we don't take our teeth out

Jack: Grammy and Papa do (showing with hand motion how they come out)

Me: (trying not to laugh too hard) Did you see Grammy and Papa take their teeth out?

Jack: yeah, they don't have glue on their teeth like we do

Scissor Fun

I went to pickup Jack from school today and was met with a worried looking Mrs. Nix, his teacher. She told me that they were cutting with the scissors today and Jack, who loves to cut anything and everything with scissors, proceeded to cut a big hole in his nice white polo shirt. I probably wouldn't have been so upset with the whole thing, but that one was the only long sleeve polo shirt that actually fit him pretty well. There's something with uniforms and they make them very big, even for Jack's bigger than average size. I did check out Old Navy online and saw they had them in the requisite school colors and may end up buying a couple from there. Sigh. Always something.

Anyway, the reason that I really couldn't be so upset with him was because I remember having a fascination with scissor cutting myself. I distinctly remember cutting my Barbie's hair, thinking of course that it would grow back. And I also remember cutting the shag carpeting (pink at that and yes I know I am totally aging myself here) in my bedroom. However, I did have a talk with the boy and told him that he could not do it again and if he did, his toys would be taken away. Because seriously, I can't afford it!

Timeliness

This new time change is frustrating, although not as bad as the other one in the spring, but it has its moments. Last night, it was 8:30 and I was literally falling asleep in the chair, so off to bed I went at the early hour. 4:30 this morning, I am up and wide awake. Oh yay, a few hours to myself before the rest of the house gets up. Nope. Jack wakes up 30 minutes after me wide awake wanting to dance in the family room. There is just no justice.

A little snippet into Jack's school day

When Jim and I were chaperones for Jack's field trip on Friday, we were priviledged to see a little snippet of what goes on during the four hours that he is there each day and let me tell you, it almost made me start to tear up watching it.

Every morning at 8:00 am, the principal comes over the loud speaker and recites the Pledge of Allegiance, then he recites the Pledge to the Bible, which is followed by a morning prayer and then the day's announcements. Well during all this, I watched Jack's class and boy was it heart warming. Mrs. Nix had one little boy hold the flag while the rest of the class held their hands over their hearts during the pledge of allegiance. Then during the pledge to the bible, a little girl held the bible while the class had their heads bowed and continued through the morning prayer. I had no idea that they did that every morning because I am out the door by the time this all happens and Jack tells me absolutely nothing about what he does all day. But I do have to say that I loved seeing the respect being taught for both the flag and the bible.

We also had the priviledge of having Mrs. Nix riding in our car to the field trip. It was really nice getting to know her on a one-on-one basis. She is a very nice woman who is a saint in my opinion for dealing with ten three-year-olds every day. She also told us that Jack was not one of her "challenging" children. She said that there are four in her class that are very aggressive and can be trouble makers, but Jack is the opposite. In fact, she said that she is proud that Jack is starting to stick up for himself a bit and won't let the aggressive kids run all over him. Of course that made me feel very proud in the least. It is good to know that my child is not one of the "challenging" kids.

Big Days

We have had a couple of big days around here. Yesterday was Jack's very first field trip of his young school career and of course both Jim and I had to chaperone. It was to a corn maze and they had a really fun time I think. We only walked a small portion of the corn maze because seriously the kids just wanted to play on the cool playground they had there. But Jack had a good time and was happy that we were there with him, which I know in a few years the boy will absolutely hate me being the room mother/chaperone to all the things, so I am enjoying it while I can.

He was so tired yesterday that for the first time in 3 1/2 years, he actually went to his own bed and laid down for a nap without telling anybody nor me telling him to do it. I was in the kitchen washing dishes and all of a sudden it seemed really quiet and sure enough he was on his bed snoring. THAT is tired. The boy doesn't do naps and especially on a volunteer basis as that.

Grammy C. came down last night to spend the night with us and to go with us to the big art festival in town. This thing is huge and they expected to have over 100,000 people there. And I am beginning to feel like a local around here because I saw a ton of people that I knew. But we had a really great time and I tell you, Grammy C is in such great shape for all that walking and shopping at the age of 85. She is my inspiration! And after about 6 hours of walking around that art festival, she is now driving 2 hours to go home. She is amazing and I hope to be like her when I am 65, let alone 85. It was also good to spend some time with just her, since Jim was back home sleeping.

Speaking of Jim, poor guy has to work an extra hour tonight because of the stupid time change. It will probably be a long 13 hours tonight.

Too Close To Home

So just to update ya'll on the arrest made the other day at Jack's school. The story goes like so:

It seems that this kid was supposed to be taking an exam and he was goofing off and was disrespectful. He was sent to the principal's office (the same one that Jack went to a few weeks ago, the place sees a lot of action) and was informed that he was suspened for a day and his grade for that exam is a zero. Well he didn't like hearing he was suspended and proceeded to tell the principal that he was going to come back to the school with guns and "shoot the place up"!!!!! Jack's class is right next door to the principal's office!

So needless to say, they did not take that lightly and the cops were called and hauled away to juvenile detention center. I also understand that his parents did not bail him out that night and he stayed in the Juvie for a night. Now I guess the school is not sure whether to let the kid back in school. From what Jim said, there isn't any public school who will touch him and he will end up going to the "alternative" school where the really bad kids are. But in my opinion, that is where he belongs and I do not want that kid anywhere near the school that my child is in.

It just goes to show you, that nobody is sheltered from that type of behavior. Even the small Christian Academy. A bit too close to home.

Trick or Treat !

Daddy helping Batman get ready for the big night.

Batman Himself

Showing off the amazing muscles (yes I had to get the muscle chest costume)

Batman (Jack) and Batgirl (Allison)

The Caped Crusaders.

Little Mary Grace who scared her parents so badly a few weeks ago when she was born. Here she is as a pea pod. I swear Jack was NEVER this tiny. She just seems so dainty and Jack was never ever dainty.

This little monkey (baby Alison) was so cute with her baby monkey

The Neighborhood Moms with our kiddos

Happy Halloween!

I am sure all those with the little ones are going to be out trick or treating tonight. Jack is soooo excited. It is fun to watch because he totally gets it this year. He is even practicing his "Trick or Treat" speech he is going to make at every door tonight. And he is absolutely pumped to be batman and keeps singing the batman song and yelling "Batman" through the house. Ahhh this is such a fun age.

When I picked him up from school today, the boy was absolutely crazy with a sugar high from all the snacks at the halloween party at his school. Although they are not allowed to wear costumes, they did have a party and from the look on his face, it was pretty fun. He also got to bring home the pumpkin that he painted all green.

While I was at the school there was a bit of excitement from having four police officers in the office. After a few minutes, one of them walked out a teenage boy in handcuffs. I guess he did something that he shouldn't have done. Now mind you, this is a small christian private school and this kind of thing doesn't happen that often, not like the big public high schools anyway. So now I am waiting for Jim to get up and find out what that kid did. Inquiring minds want to know ya'll!

After school, I took Jack to chick-fil-a to burn off some of that sugar high. It has the best playland and is nice for the parents to just sit back and watch their child in the enclosed area run around like crazy people. As for those other parents, I am just shocked that some of them even have kids. I feel sorry for their kids. I overheard one mother talking to another mother while I was pretending to read the newspaper. Mother A was talking about Halloween and how she hated the holiday and she saw no reason for it and she was not going to let her precious child out tonight to go "beg for candy"! At this point I snuck a glance at Mother B who was trying very hard to NOT tell this woman off. She actually handled it very well and tactful by saying "well MY child is going to grow up normal with all the tradition of begging for candy" and let it be at that. Phew glad that I didn't have to deal with THAT mother from hell.

But I do have to admit that I am another kind of mother that I did not think I was going to be. When we got home, I was going through the mail and was reading the November newsletter from Jack's school. It listed the "students of the month". They give out three every month. One for the preschool (K3 - K5), one for 1st - 5th grade, and one for the middle and high school students through 12th grade. Well the one for the preschool was a little girl in Jack's class and for a split second (alright for about 10 seconds), I felt jealousy because I wanna see my baby's name as student of the month! Waaahhhh. I also want the cool bumper sticker that says "My child is a student of the month at X school." Yeah I am so that mother.

Bleh

I have not been feeling myself the last few days. Feeling bleh is a good description. I think Jack's week of sick threw me off kilter and I still have not climbed back to being on kilter. Being financially strapped right now does not help one bit, although we did get some news today that should help in that matter. I am hoping to be back on track by the end of the year - hopefully.

I have been walking at our local school track. I was doing it really faithfully before Jack got sick, but yesterday was the first day back to walking in two weeks. Jim and I did two miles together and then this morning I did another 3.5 miles. I do feel better with that.

I am also down to one day a week taking care of Baby Andrew. I told his parents that I just couldn't do the three days a week they were doing earlier. It was killing me. So now the one day a week is much more doable. In fact, he is here today and is napping very nicely.

We had a big and busy weekend. We went to the Spookfest that was held on the Navy base. Our neighbor told us about it and we decided to go. Jack was dressed in his batman costume and it was pretty fun. They had a haunted trail, but the first part was not really that scary (but freaked Jack out enough) and had the option to not do the second really scary part. We opted out of the really scary part. There were about a million kids there running around everywhere.

Another big highlight for me is Jack's first field trip ever! His class is going to the pumpkin patch/corn maze and I am chaperoning! It should be fun and how is it my baby is big enough to be going on field trips? Sigh.

The Tradition Continues

I remember watching The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown and just knowing that the best part of the year was coming: Halloween, Thanksgiving, and especially Christmas. The show was like the start of the great season for me and I am sure for a lot in my generation. So it is with great joy to know that at this very moment, Jack is watching The Great Pumpkin absolutely mesmerized. In fact, when Jim went to leave for work tonight, Jack was so engrossed in the show that he didn't even acknowledge Jim yelling at him "goodbye!". Yep, the Charlie Brown torch has been passed. Of course, we are going to have dig out the Thanksgiving and Christmas Charlie Brown dvds also.

Back to School!

Yay! It was back to school today for the boy. I can tell you this has been one long week. I know he has felt really bad, and to be honest, he still isn't 100% today, but I pretty much forced him out the door because today was picture day at school. I know that was pretty selfish on my part, but I wanted those pictures! The pink eye is pretty much gone thanks to the second round of eye drops and he hasn't been complaining about his ear hurting, so the antibiotics must be helping the ear infection. However, he still has a pretty nasty cough that kept both him and I up last night. I got up three times last night to get him something for the cough. Poor thing.

The weather may just have something to do with the sickies also. It is hard to believe that just on Saturday it was warm enough to go swimming. In fact, I got a little sunburn on my face when we were at our neighborhood block party. And yesterday and today it has only been in the mid 50's. I guess summer is really officially over. And wow is Halloween really only a week away? Geesh. I hope that it isn't so cold that night because Jack's batman costume is kinda tight (even though I got the one size up). He is going as batman and Alison, the little neighbor girl is going as batgirl. Should be over-the-top in the cuteness factor.

Updates and Prayers

I am glad that we took Jack to the doctor today. I really had some misgivings as to whether he really needed to go about two hours before we went. He was looking like he felt fine and was sitting on the floor playing with his cars. But he started to go downhill shortly after that and after hearing what the doctor said, I was glad that I didn't listen to myself on this one.

Turns out that his pink eye is not getting any better with the current eye drops. In fact he has some long name that I don't even remember nor would know how to spell to google such a thing. But it is in his left eye, which was very pink, red, and puffy with goop oozing from it when we were there. And the pink eye has caused an ear infection in his left ear also. So if you combine the pink eye, ear infection, cough, and icky cold, the kid is just basically miserable. He came home and laid on the couch sleeping and whimpering for about two hours after I gave him the newly prescribed eye drops and the bubble gum flavored antibiotics. I love the smell of the antibiotics, by the way, it so takes me back to fourth grade when I had pneumonia and was on the very same stuff. Ahhh Memories.

I have also been glued to the tv for the past two days watching the fires in California. I keep thinking about our friends back there and hope and pray that they are alright. The fires haven't hit where we used to live yet (knocking on wood and praying) so most of our friends are safe. However, they are close. In fact, they have evacuated the entire town about 20 miles south of where we were and from what I hear hundreds of homes in that town were burnt down. I had friends in my old playgroup who live in that town and it hits kind of close. The town that my old boss lives in also was hard hit and again I hope he and his family are alright. It really is quite tragic. I remember four years ago this month, there were a lot of fires around us and just seeing that orange sky and all the smoke sure was not a good feeling. I was pregnant at the time and the thought of having to run for your life was so scary and what exactly would I put in the car to leave. Very scary. My thoughts and prayers are with all my old friends and everybody else in California tonight.

Biblical Proportions

It was quite a day here yesterday. I am surprised that we are not floating down the street by now. It rained hard all day long and then last night, it even rained harder. We lost power a few times last night and had the candles out burning just in case. According to the news New Orleans got 8 inches, but of course I can't find anything about how much we got. It figures since New Orleans is so much more important than the MS Gulf Coast (whatever). But anyway, I wouldn't be surprised if we got somewhere near that figure. It was quite impressive and another day of that and I would have been making plans to build an ark!

In the Jackaroo news, yes he is still sick. He did not go to school again today. The pink eye seems to be resisting the eye drops because it keeps clearing up, only to come back a few hours later. The cold has turned into an ugly thing with an ugly cough and now he is complaining about his ears hurting. Oh joy. So we are off to go to the doctor this afternoon to see whats up. This doctor is very anti-antibiotics, which is a good thing in my opinion, but that means these doctor visits usually end up with him just looking at him and sending us home saying "yep he's sick just wait it out". But with the ear thing going on, I figure I should take him in. Ya never know.

And all this Jackaroo sickness has made me stir crazy and feeling blah. I haven't been outside of this house since Saturday and it is driving me crazy. Jim is home today and I am thinking that I need to just get out to go and get some milk at the very least. It is the simple things in life that make ya happy - milk shopping. :)

Rainy Sick Day

It is a very rainy day here. The forecast calls for 2-6 inches of rain today and it is doing its job getting that done right now. Also Jack is home sick today. His first sick day this year. I think we have the pink eye under control at the moment. But let me tell you, giving eye drops to a squirming three-year-old is not fun nor easy. But the eyes look much much better. Now he is fighting some kind crud and has been up two nights in a row now coughing. It is a very deep kind of cough where he just about gags when he is having the fits. He isn't feverish, but I can tell he's pretty much miserable at the moment. So it is just us staying inside armed with the Disney channel and lots of movies today.

I am kind of bummed about the rain. I have been trying to walk between 10-12 miles a week at the local school track and have not been able to get out walking since last Tuesday. I was all set to go this morning, but alas I am not that dedicated to walk in hot humid rain downpour. Yuck. I guess there is always tomorrow.

If this isn't proof...

Whoever said that cold and cough medicine doesn't work in children under 6, should come to my house to witness the miraculous transformation in my child. This morning at 4 am, he was coughing and pretty much miserable. However, after giving him children's Vicks (and a dosage of eye drops for the pink eye), he is now running back and forth in my house like a caged animal, proclaiming that he is "not sick anymore Mom"! All this energy and I can't take him anywhere because he is contagious and since I think I got about 3 hours of sleep, I now feel like crud. Not fair!

I think we just maybe going to that soccer game this afternoon after all to get rid of this energy!