We are getting down to the wire. I’m starting to freak out. Too much to do and not enough time. Oh well, the packers can finish it now. But wait I still need to get through that and that and that over there. My Mom’s coming to help, yeah!
So with that, I’m taking a break from blogging until I’m in the South. See y’all when I get there.
A couple days ago Alex sat down at the computer and began to draw. He enjoys being creative. When he asked me how to spell smart, I came over to see what he was doing. I sat down and watched him do his thing. The picture is of us. He was careful to get every detail correct: the blue chair, my gray shirt, my blue shorts and the yellow pencil with the pink eraser.
I am super smart. Yes you are Alex. What more can I say?!
It’s that time of year when the Carter family lives at the pool.
When I was a kid, my Mom purchased a pool pass for me every year. I was at the pool in the morning for lessons. Then back in the afternoon once I had finished my chores. I would even go some evenings after dinner. Mom certainly got her money’s worth.
My kids certainly get their love of water from me. Generally the first thing they ask me in the mornings when they get up is: Are we going to the pool today?
I was blessed with the ability to tan easy. I rarely burn. And by the end of summer, I am so dark that you could question my nationality. I’ve been told that Great Grandma was a full blooded Native American. It certainly makes sense.
Last night Andy asks, “What’s that stain?”
Me: “What are you talking about?”
He points to my tan line.
Me: “Oh buddy that is called a tan. You are tanned, I mean stained too.”
Yes, this gift has been passed on to my children. Though I put SPF 55 sunscreen on them, they still get stained!
The excitement of Alyssa loosing her tooth (see previous post) continued much of the day yesterday.
Alex and Andy both have teeth that are just starting to wiggle. They kept coming up to me with Kleenex so I could get a better grip and get the tooth out. It didn’t matter how many times I tried, they still wanted me to try again.
The boys were not alone. Alyssa was just as eager to have me try to get another tooth out. After three or four attempts, I was able to retrieve another tooth. One would think losing two teeth in two days would be enough. Not for my girl…
Alyssa: “Mom, try this one.”
Me: “Alyssa, this one is in here really good.”
Alyssa: “That’s what you said last time.”
Me: “I know but I can’t get this one.”
Several attempts later, still no tooth.
Several hours later…
Alyssa: “Mom, will you try it again.”
Me: “OK.”
Nothing.
Alyssa: “Try it again.”
Me: “This is the last time.”
Still no tooth.
Alyssa: “I’ll have Daddy do it.”
Me: “Your Dad will not try to get your tooth out.”
Alyssa: “Why?”
Me: “Because he’s a big wuss-berry.” Tim was privy to the entire conversation.
Alyssa: “Daddy…”
Tim: “No.”
Alyssa: “Why?”
Tim: “Because I’m a big wuss-berry.”
I think the main reason she wanted to lose two teeth in one day was so she could get five dollars from the Tooth Fairy. The Tooth Fairy was full aware and did bring her an extra dollar. If it was always this easy…
“Mom, will you try your hardest?” those were the words uttered by Andy from the back seat yesterday.
Me: “What are you talking about?”
Andy: “I have a loose tooth. I want the Tooth Fairy to come. Will you try your hardest to pull it out?”
Me: “I will when we get home.”
I had a good hold on the tooth, ready for a big yank. Andy screamed like a school girl at the top of his lungs.
Me: “That’s enough of that. We are done. Your tooth isn’t loose enough yet.”
Last night Alyssa asked me to come into her room, “Mom, will you try getting this tooth out?”
Me: “Sure.” I try to grab it the best I can. “I don’t know, Sweetie. This is in here…” PLOP, out it comes with practically no effort at all. I finish my sentence “…pretty good.”
I have created a bunch of money hungry kids who believe they’ll receive vast riches by ripping out their teeth and have the Tooth Fairy dig deep in her pockets. Resourceful little monkeys!
This morning Alex is the first one of the kids up. He says: “Mom, Alyssa got a dollar from the Tooth Fairy.”
Me: “How do you know?”
Alex: “Because I pulled it out from under her pillow and seen it.”
Me: “Did you take it?”
Alex: “No, I put it back. I just wanted to see what she got.”
Last week Tim and I traveled to Greenville to find a home. Tim flew in before I did as he needed to be there for work. My parents came to take care of the kids. I spent a couple of days getting laundry done, making sure there was plenty to eat and anything else I could to help my parents.
At one point I asked Alex if he was going to miss me. I expected him to say yes. He tends to be a little clingy and wants to make sure every detail is covered before it happens. He is just like his Mom. However, this is what I heard, “Mom, it’s only four days. It’s no big deal.” OUCH!!!
Every night while we were gone, we would call the kids and talk to them about their day. One night while talking to Alex he says to me, “Mom, I miss you.”
Me: “Aww, I miss you too, buddy. We’ll be home soon.”
Tim: “What about me? Do you miss me?”
Alex: “Umm, not so much.” OUCH!!!
As Tim is absorbing the shock of his comment, I couldn’t help but laugh. I know, I wasn’t very sympathetic and if it was reversed, I would have been devastated.
Alex tried to redeem himself: “Mom, Dad isn’t here as much.”
Tim didn’t find much comfort in his redemption. However, he did understand. Poor Daddy. I had to remind Tim that as soon as he gets home from work, all the kids want him and I’m nothing more than chopped liver. It was nice that I was missed for a change.
Today is Best Friends Day. It’s true; I saw it on the Today show this morning. The segment focused on the bond between women. A BFF is there for you in good times and bad, to celebrate, to scheme and to accept you for whom you are. A BFF boosts your self esteem, supports your most personal thoughts, validates you, enriches your life and is essential to your mental well-being. In my opinion, they are your very own therapist without the huge outlay of cash.
So when I first heard that today was Best Friends Day, I thought, how silly! After I listened to the segment and thought about it, having a day to celebrate you BFF is a wonderful idea. So to all you BFFs out there, Happy Best Friends Day. You deserve it!!
Things are starting to move forward with the move. Later this week Tim and I will be looking for our new home. Well, we hope to be anyway. The realtor won’t return my call. Yes, I’m frustrated about that. We have three days to find our home and the woman can’t even call me. I’m ready to move on. I’m waiting to hear from the relocation counselor on how to proceed.
Grandma and Grandpa will be taking care of the wee ones for us. Hopefully they’ll be on their best behavior… the kids too. I’ve been busy making sure the laundry is done, refrigerator is stocked and there are plenty of things lined up for them to do.
I’m finally getting a little allergy relief only to be hit hard, really hard, with a cold. Yesterday was the worst. I feel a little better today and hope that tomorrow will be better yet.
The house hunting, the cold, the kids are consuming me. Therefore, this is my only post this week.
All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth, my two front teeth. This is Alex’s new song he’s singing. Although, I’m quite certain he’ll have them by then.
Both of his front teeth have been loose for awhile. Unlike his sister, he doesn’t mind me yanking on them to get them out. I think he prefers it. He is all about getting the money from the Tooth Fairy. I had been trying to get them out but wasn’t successful.
Last night we were at a party that had rented one of those inflatable jumping moonwalks. The kids loved it! They were so happy. The only time they came out of it was to go to the basement where they had so many cool things for the kids to do that I wanted to stay and play.
As I was standing in the kitchen, I could look out the window and see that Alex was trying to climb up inside the walls of the moonwalk. I really need to go tell that kid to get down before he hurts himself or someone else. Nah, they’ll be fine. Moments later, Alex is running up to me crying with a mouth full of blood. I grab a napkin and realize that one of his front teeth is missing. Apparently during the descent, his tooth got caught and went flying.
Me: “Alex, you lost a tooth. The Tooth Fairy is coming tonight. Do you have your tooth?”
Alex, who immediately stopped crying: “No.”
Me: “Well, we better go find it.”
A few other people helped us look. Alas, there it is. Yeah!!
After returning home, I asked Alex the all important question: “Do you want me to see if I can get the other one out now?”
I could see the dollar signs in his eyes, “Yes!”
First attempt: OWW!! A good amount of movement.
Second attempt: OWW OWWW!! Significant movement. I thought for sure I had it, but no luck. Alex runs into the bathroom. I follow.
Tim: “That’s enough.”
Me: “Alex, do you want me to try one more time? I can just leave it if you want. It’s up to you.”
Alex: “Yeah.”
Third attempt: OWW! SUCCESS!!
Tim: “I said that was enough.”
Me: “I asked Alex. He said yes.”
Tim: “I don’t care. I said that was enough.”
Me: “Alex, go show your Dad.”
My boy was happy and proud. The good ole Tooth Fairy dug deep and gave him an extra dollar for losing two teeth on the same day. Extra money equals happy boy. I love that kid!
The boys were going to have some friends spend the night Saturday night. Saturday was also the day our neighborhood pool opened. If they weren’t asking me ‘what time are Ben and Will coming,’ it was ‘is the pool open, can we go?’
I told them that I would take them to the pool after we had lunch. We were only going to go for a little while because the weather hasn’t been all that warm and I’m sure the water would be cold. It was, but it didn’t seem to faze them. I got in up to my knees and that was enough for me.
After we returned home, we all took showers to get ready for the evening. Ben and Will were coming over with their parents. We grilled out and enjoyed spending time with Laura and Todd while the kids entertained themselves. The boys had fun and did really well with the sleep-over.
Ben and Will are twin boys and are in the same class as the boys. Ben and Andy are in Mrs. Mautino’s class; while Will and Alex are in Mrs. Todd’s. That is how they paired off for the night as well. We thought it was because they were in the same class. However, after spending more time with them, it was amazing just how similar they were to each other. We noticed that Ben had a bruised finger nail. That’s Andy. If someone is going to get hurt, it will be Andy. Both Ben and Andy were wearing tie shoes. Alex and Will wore Velcro. In the morning, both Alex and Will got up and got dressed right away. Andy and Ben remained in their pjs until we told them to get dressed. Alex and Will are the first born, Andy and Ben, the second. I truly enjoyed watching them. It was obvious they were best buds. I was OK with moving until now. I don’t want the boys to lose this connection. Tim and I also really like Todd and Laura. Luckily, they have relatives that will be fairly close to us after we move. We plan to keep in touch and try to get together at least once a year.
Sunday was spent at the pool as well. I left a little early and went out with Laura. Tim brought the kids home and had them jump in the shower. Andy had the towel wrapped around him laid on the floor to watch a little TV. Tim was just getting ready to tell him it was time to get dressed when he looked over and found his little naked body fast asleep. The playing hard, little sleep and the pool had finally caught up with him. Rather than wake him and have him be crabby, Tim let him sleep. Soon, Alex was out too.
Andy woke after Tim had already warmed up some left-over pizza. Andy was not happy!
Andy: “Why didn’t you wake me up?”
Tim: “It’s OK; I’ll warm it up for you.”
Andy: “You should have woke me up. And why did you take off my pajamas?” Clearly, he was oblivious to the earlier events. Gotta admit, that is cute!!
Monday was a little cold and rainy. It was nice to have a break and no expectations. It was a great day to relax, which is exactly what I did! It was a great weekend!!
