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Boys Night In

Yesterday
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Yesterday we invited 2 of Jake's friends from school over tot he house for a swim party. Emmett and Laing- and the kids had a BLAST! When I picked Jake up from school last night, I got swarmed by both Emmett and Laing telling me that they were coming to my house tonight. Laing even said "Can you wait here until my Mom comes to get me?". The kids did so great- they needed no interaction from the moms and they all played so well together for 3 hours without a fight. It was nice for me too- because even though it was Boys night In, it was also a girls night out- because I got to visit with their moms and I had a great time. So Im guessing that this is going to be something we absolutely do again. Im so happy that we have a pool in the back yard.

The Library

2 days ago
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How much do I love the library? I cannot thank the city of Frisco enough for providing such a phenomenal resource to me. That place is a gold mine. Not only can I get brand new material for me to read (ok- so sometimes I have to be on a wait list) but I can pick up 8-10 new books for the kids every week (there is no limit to the number of books you can check out), so that I don't have to read the same story over and over and over again. I can get kids videos like the mutant ninja turtles or the polar express...I can get new music for me to listen too- or really old music like Fleetwood Mac's Rumors album....Johnny can get 8 books on how to flip houses and if he doesn't read them, its not wasted money and they aren't taking up shelf space at my house....I can get Jake some early readers, even though its still too early for that.....I can get some cook books- and figure out if they are worth buying or not....Its so great. I love the library!

The only thing I DONT like is that they only let you take books out for 2 weeks at a time- which isn't enough time for me to read a book in general. Its not a big deal when the book isn't new, because if no one has a hold on it, you can renew on line. But when you have a new book, you cant renew- someone else is waiting for it. I just finished reading a new Jodi Picoult book called Change of Heart- and it was a great read and I nearly finished in 2 weeks- I was 2 days late.....but that was good for me.....The BEST part though is that the library doesn't charge late fees- so the only penalty is you cant check out new books if you have overdue books.....

So if anyone has any suggestions on books that they recommend, Im all ears- Ill add it to my holds list at the library!

Happy Halloween???

3 days ago
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Michael, Marlee, Jake & Josh

So it may be the end of June...It may be 100 degrees outside...we may be swimming every day....but you cannot resist the chance to play dress-up with good friends on a hot afternoon in June. I love this picture because I think its to only picture I have of these 4 kids looking at me and smiling......so what if one is pirate, one is wolverine and 2 are the black spider-man....Im just glad they took their masks off!

We have great friends don't we guys.

Jake's teacher passed away

7 days ago
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We heard yesterday that Ms. Plummer, who is one of Jake's teachers, died. We have no idea how it happened. Its just so wierd that I was talking to her on Tuesday when I picked Jake up, and now she is gone. Its just a lesson in life- Dont take it for granted that you will see someone tomorrow. I know this is a morbid topic for the morning, just got me thinking about things. So tell those that you love every day that you love them. Today when I dropped the boys off I gave them a big extra squeeze and a great big I LOVE YOU.

No Galveston for us this weekend

Jun 24, 2008
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I won. I convinced Johnny that it wasn't going to be a good trip and we cancelled our plans. We didn't really do too much in its place, but it seemed to be busy enough. We went to concert in the park on Friday night- Kids stayed up until 10pm for that- but got up at 6:30am....so cranky boys on Saturday. We went to a B-Day party on Saturday morning. We swam, we played tennis, we fished, we played soccer, we rode our bikes, we laughed, we cried (boy did we cry), we threw temper tantrums, we danced but best of all, we went to school on Monday- and I took a vacation day. AHHHHH- BLISS! Here are some pictures of the weekend:

Can you hear that?

Jun 18, 2008
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Its quiet in my house....the boys are both at school and its dead quiet. I love my boys, but Im such a creature of my schedule- Im glad to be getting back to it. Not to mention, my boss is probably happy that Im getting back to work! But Im looking forward to seeing them tonight when they come home.....until then, Im enjoying my coffee in peace and quiet.

It's viral....

Jun 17, 2008
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I took Jake to the Dr this morning, as he was still running a fever and I wanted to make sure I wasn't overlooking something, but after a throat culture, and a check over, it was deemed viral- which is latin for "Have a little patience Mum- THere is absolutely nothing that you can do to make your child feel better". Im happy he doesn't have strep, or pneumonia, or ear infections, but still- I hate the viral diagnosis, because at least with ear infections, I can give him antibiotics and I know that in 2 days, this will be well on the way to taking care of itself. But now, this could last another 5 or 6 days- no one knows. I guess them are the breaks right?

Last night at about 3:45 Jake ran into our room and promptly threw up all over Johnny- nice wake up call! He was running a good fever then and was quite upset. I hope this is over soon.

A full weekend and I didn't take a single picture

Jun 16, 2008
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Boy...this was a busy weekend. On Friday night we came home from school, swam, at and went to the concert in the park just down the street. Its a free concert- just bring your lawn-chair and the kids had a great time running, dancing and playing. The band was the south austin jug band and they were really entertaining. We stayed there until after 9pm- so it was dark and we were all getting tired.

Saturday Jake woke up with a fever. We still went to the gym though for yoga, then drove to Fort Worth to the zoo- but by the time we got there, Jake's fever was in full bloom- so Johnny and Josh went into the zoo and Jake and I sat in the van until he finally agreed to take the tylenol Id been pushing for an hour. After that he felt fine and we went in the zoo- looking for Dad. Now, that was an adventure. Dad didn't have his cell and there were probably 25,000 people at the zoo- so we spent an hour looking for him, then we started heading for the car because I gave up, and I heard Jake say "I SEE MY DADDY!" and sure enough- there he was. So we stayed, rode the train 4 times and then left. No naps on Saturday-even though we were in the car 1 hour both directions to and from the zoo. Saturday night Jake's fever spiked again and he was in bed by 7:30pm- then up at 4am! Happy Father's Day!

So Father's day was good too- we swam, visited with Grandma, attempted quiet time- but crashed and burned- then at 5pm we headed to the baseball game with some friends. That was alot of fun, although another late night for the kids- after 9pm last night.

Jake is home today, still running his fever and Johnny took Josh to school, but called me after the drop off saying he thought Josh was warm- so Im fully expecting him to be coming home later in the day. This is gonna be a tough week!

These temper tantrums.....ARGH!

Jun 13, 2008
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Im having a hard time with these temper tantrums still. Jake is now over 4 years old and whenever he doesn't get his way, he gets mad and he throws a temper tantrum- usually resulting in him throwing a toy across the room and that results in a time out.

Last night, when we were reading our last story of the night, he told me he didn't want to go to school tomorrow. To which I told him that I had to work and that school wasn't an option. So he threw a temper tantrum- crying and whining- so I told him good night and left. He eventually came out and asked to read some more- so I did. I tried to pick up in the story where I left off- which was about 8 pages into a 15 page book. he says "I don't want to read this book- I want another" "No Jake- this is the one you picked out so this is the one we read". He whines and cries all the way through the book- then I say goodnight and he is all huffy...almost spitting out "GOOD NIGHT!" to me.....

I think the hardest part of all this is the thought that they don't understand how much you love them and that you are really only trying to teach them the right way to treat people and behave. I just hurts when you send your oldest to sleep and you don't get that big 'ole hug and kiss and a true "I love you". When you know they are angry when they go to bed- it just broke my heart.

Luckily, this morning I got a very happy 4 year old who gave me big hugs and kisses and I love yous before he headed out to school.

Whoever said parenting was the hardest job even sure nailed it on the head! Sorry Mum for all the times I went to bed without a big old sloppy kiss, hug and I love you......

Do we have enough stuffed animals?

Jun 11, 2008
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The mound of toys

Jake and Josh took every stuffed animal they owned and piled them up onto the couch. For what reason? Your guess is as good as mine. All I know is that it wasn't as fun for them to move them all back to their bedrooms. But for a picture like this, it was well worth it.