The trouble with bad eyes

K had an eye dr appointment the other day. To say it was a sad day is an understatement. I don't know why K dislikes the eye dr so much. He's been going since he was 9 months old. So you would think that it is just a normal part of life for him and that he would be calm and collected through the whole thing. Not so. He FREAKED out. He screamed like he was being beaten. Not that he has ever been beaten so I know what that cry sounds like, I just imagine it to sound that awful. Anyway, when the dr walked in, K shut his eyes and refused to open them. His eyes were shut so tightly that he had wrinkles all over his face. He was also screaming so loud that he couldn't hear me talking to him and he was on my lap. The dr was really patient and he just sat and waited for him to calm down. Now when I say calm down I mean crying at a normal volume and his eyes were open. The Dr looked at his eyes and said that he has a lazy eye that isn't getting better with just glasses. So, he needs to wear a patch. As soon as he said the word patch a flood of emotion came over me. I wore a patch, I hated my patch. I remember the smell of a patch. I remember that it made my eye so hot and itchy. I remember that it gave me headache because I had to try and see out of my left eye, which was my lazy eye. I remember feeling like everyone was looking at me with my patch on. A patch is awful awful awful on a good day. As we drove home from the eye dr I cried and cried because I felt so bad that he has to wear a patch. I tried to collect myself so that he wouldn't see me crying and cry himself. As I bent down to put the patch on his eye, I couldn't keep the flood gates in place. I cried and cried. I for sure cried harder than he did.







Clearly he wasn't too upset about the whole thing. Having a green patch with cars on it helps too. This isn't the first day he wore it either. The first day he wore one, he sat on the couch. He said he couldn't eat, play or read books because,"I can't see." That broke my heart. Getting the cute patches cost 9 cents more per patch than the ugly band aid ones that I had to wear. But B said that we could spend the extra money to get cute ones. K doesn't care what they look like, but it makes me feel better. He only has to wear it for two hours a day so that isn't bad, but I still feel bad that he has to wear one at all. Hopefully the patch will make it so he doesn't have to have the surgery to fix the lazy eye.

What child labor laws?

I. Love. This. Picture! Sometimes the dollar store is the best store in the world. We found these little aprons at the dollar store a long time ago. M has had hers in her dress up box and when she pulled it out today, K really wanted one too. Thankfully we had one for him.

I was totally pampered at a high end restaurant today. There were the cutest chefs there that I had ever seen. I got to get what ever I wanted. There was also an unlimited amount that I could eat. I had a LOT of mac and cheese. Sometimes it came with hot dogs in it and sometimes it didn't. I got scones, rolls, doughnuts, chocolate, celery with peanut butter and chocolate chips, pasta, banana bread, cookies, chocolate milk, juice and water.

They stayed busy all afternoon. Can you blame them? With the amount of food that I was consuming, it's a wonder that they were able to stop at all!

Good morning!

Round these parts in order to go running without melting into a puddle, I go at 6:30-6:45 in the A.M. Isn't this such a pretty picture?! This is the sun just starting to wake up.

This doesn't do the sun justice. In real life the sun was red. It looked so cool! The first time I saw it I thought that there must be a fire somewhere and that's why the sun was so red. But it is red like that every morning.

This one shows the red in the sun a little bit better. I wish that I had a really fancy camera so that you could see what I see, but sunrise pictures are still pretty cool.

On Guard!

M and K went to a birthday party a few weeks ago. It was a Star Wars party. They got these light sabers. That's what they're called right? Anyway, they are the best party favors we've ever gotten! They have brought hours of entertainment! Clearly not just for the children! I asked B if he would duel with me. I was laughing so hard I didn't stand a chance!

This picture fills me with so much happiness! Thanks for playing with me babe. I love you!

The newest member of our family!

I know that some of you may have freaked out by the title thinking that we had maybe gotten a baby. Unfortunately, no such luck. But on a brighter note, we have a pet. This is Chloe. I'm not making this up. Our children have named her, they talk to her. They ask where she is when they wake up or we come home from somewhere. When they can't see her buzzing around they start calling out for her,"Chloe, where are you?" B and I have no clue where they got the idea that she would make a good pet. I do have some thoughts on the matter, me have something to say?! Shocking I know, but here it goes

First, I CANNOT believe that I refer to a fly as a she. With that being said, she is the best pet in the world! We don't have to feed her, we don't have to clean up her poop. We don't have to take her on walks. Although it has been suggested that we tie a small piece of string around her neck so that she has the option of being walked.

Second, Some pets seem to never die. Take for example my older sister's goldfish. That thing was invincible! We had a nephew who, on more than one occasion, put the poor fish in his pocket. My sister never cleaned the bowl. So the poor thing lived in pond scum, literally. To try and teach her a lesson, my other sister took the bowl, scum and fish and hid it for a few days without food and it lived! It was amazing. I think it may still be alive. Anyway, that is a good example of a never ending pet. Not so with our little Chloe. We already know that her life span is brief! It's wonderful.

Third, More good news. We found out yesterday( Thanks to M)that Chloe's sister, Audrey has come to live with us. So when Chloe goes, Audrey will still be around to help us heal the loss. Yipee for pet flies!

You may be thinking that the heat is really getting to us and making us odd. That might be a little bit true, but if you're children are going to insist on getting a pet, a fly is the way to go!

*Chloe has passed since the original posting. May she rest in peace.

Here are some random ideas

The question that I am posing is this. What do you do with an hour and a half inside a state park with nothing to do and your keys locked inside your car courtesy of your three year old? Well, here are some ideas. I'm not saying that I'm speaking out of experience, these are just some random ideas. However, if that were ever really to happen to us, I think I would take these ideas to heart!

I think pulling out the camera and trying to make the best of the situation would be a great idea! I bet it would help if there was a wedding on the beach that day, so that you would be able to see the "Marry"(bride) as k puts it, or would, if he were in this scenario, as she walked down to the beach in her lovely gown beside her oh so happy dad and all her little bridesmaids following behind her.

Once you couldn't see the "Marry" anymore I think it would be a really great idea to go stand next to your car and take pictures of you doing pretend frowny faces. I love that K doesn't know how to do it and so he just filled his cheeks with air. I love that M looks really upset. We had to take quite a few of these pictures because we were laughing pretty hard at each other. In a good way of course!

When the fun of taking frowny face pictures wore off, you could just let your children climb on the trunk and lay on the window so they could see their own reflections.

Then just when you think you are going to be stuck in a state park all night because your keys are on the floor by the front seat, the park rangers,"are no longer allowed to provide that service. We used to be able to, but not any more, sorry." The police department has told you,"A state park isn't our jurisdiction, call the sheriff's department." The Sheriff's department said,"No, you can get a hold of a locksmith(even though you have already tried without success) here is his phone number." And that locksmith has told you,"To go that far, your lookin' at about $95, but I can if you want. You can call someone else(aka-it's Saturday and I don't want to. Who turns down making $95 for a three minute job?) You have finally gotten a hold of someone that has said,"I'll be there in 10 minutes" and that was 20 minutes ago. So you really think your going to have to brave sleeping in the wild, walking to church and showing up in your swimsuits. You see this white suv pull into the parking lot with bold lettering on the side telling you he is here to rescue you in your time of need. He floats angelically out of his vehicle, puts an airbag in your door frame, pumps in up, uses a device called a... wire coat hanger(if you say it with a french accent it definitely sounds like an important piece of equipment) and unlocks your door. Keep in mind that these are all ideas, just in case something like this were to ever really happen.

Could you do this when you were 5?

We went to the pool a couple weeks ago. There was a girl there doing handstands. M watched her for a little while and then she tried it. She figured it out pretty quick. The only thing I told her was to not kick her feet up so fast so that she wouldn't just flip over. I'm impressed. I don't think I could do this until I was like 17. Ok maybe not that old, but definitely not when I was 5! I'm so proud of you M!

"Let's jump!"

This afternoon as I was changing the washer and dryer, I heard M say to K,"Let's jump." As I walked through the livingroom to fold the clothes I saw them stacking the pillows. I told them that I didn't think it was a great idea because they could get hurt. Needless to say, they chose not to listen. I don't blame them, I remember standing on opposite ends of our livingroom, a kid on each end, with couch cushions in front of us and running full speed towards each other. This picture is so sweet! I love that we caught it on camera! I was trying to sneak taking pictures so they didn't think I was encouraging this kind of behavior! It was so awesome to watch! On the inside I was cheering and saying, "Yeah! That was awesome!"

Getting the pillows ready for another round.

K was either way short of the pillows or he would over shoot them. I was worried that he was going to smack on the tile that sits right underneath our rug. As plush as the rug looks, the tile is still really hard and really close to the surface. He didn't get hurt, at least not that he let on to. He was laughing almost the entire time. They had a lot of fun. Since I loved slamming into my siblings when I was little, I just let them play. By the end I couldn't help it, I was laughing too. It was so cool!

I kind of like him.

The other day while I was trying to send pictures to Costco, K climbed behind me so that he could look at the pictures too. As soon as he climbed behind me he said,"I will hold on to you so that I don't fall off." I love him!

I got dressed first. I promise I'm not the type that wants to match with my children. I do love these pictures. I love being a mom!

12 Years and counting!

It was 12 years ago today that B and I started going out, or dating, or became boyfriend/girlfriend. Whatever you want to call it. Some people in high school break up and then get back together. There was none of that. I have been lucky enough to be his only girlfriend. I love love love that B is the only boy that I have ever held hands with (too bad he can't say the same!) and ever kissed. I love that he is the only boyfriend that I've ever had. I am so blessed to have him in my life. He is my better half. I can't imagine life without him. I am so thankful that I got to marry my best friend. Sometimes I poke him just to make sure that he's real. I know that no one has a perfect relationship, but I truly believe that ours is pretty darn close. I love him more than he will ever know. B, I love you! I'll love you for ever, for always and no matter what!

Then-May 1999

Now. I love you baby!