February 23, 2014

Last week, Rob and I took turns with the illness both boys had previously had.  Not fun.  I don't like having a fever and aching and just generally being miserable.  Not a whole lot happened that week.  The boys got extra wii and tv time and could do pretty much whatever they wanted when they were home from school.  Valentines Day was a non-event.  Justin and Ryan did get quite a haul from Grandma though. :)  The boys made us valentines, but I think Justin's was out of obligation since we gave him one.

I think Ryan put a bit more effort into his valentine than J did.

I guess if J had changed his mind he could just replace the sticky note
and give the heart to someone else.

This has been a pretty good week.  We are all pretty much over the crud and getting back to normal.  We still cough a lot, but we are able to sleep at night and have been fever free.  I think Monday was my last day with a fever.  We are also hopeful that spring is on the way.  On Friday it got up to 60 degrees.  It has been nice to be able to enjoy being outside again.  It's cool enough in the mornings that the boys need coats going to school, but they don't in the afternoons when they are running around.


Ryan soaking up a little sun

 Things even went well with grocery delivery this week.  They had everything that the website said they had and didn't have to call me to make adjustments to my delivery.  Bread, eggs, milk...  Of course they were out of chicken, but at least I knew that so I didn't try to order it.


Coke Zero from Poland.  Perhaps I can now choose between Coke Light and Coke Zero.

They had lettuce in the store!  Good thing it is for tacos and not
main course salad because you can see you don't get much in a bunch!

 One night (morning?) I woke up about 4:45 to go to the bathroom and Ryan was already up and playing in his room.  I have no idea how long he had been up.  He took a 20 minute nap later that day.  Miraculously, he still went to bed around the usual time.  I was afraid he would think that 20 minutes meant he should be up until midnight.


Someone had a rough night and an early morning.

Justin checked out one of the Captain Underpants books from the school library.  Both boys enjoy the flip-o-rama action on some of the pages.  I pulled out a book that Meredith had given us and they enjoyed that too.  Obviously not quite as much because it didn't involve lunch lady zombies or a guy in underwear and a cape.

Both boys enjoyed flipping through the book.

Meredith gave us this book a few years ago

 A quiet Saturday with sleeping in (for me) while the boys enjoyed some wii time.  Later we went outside to enjoy the nice weather and play with the stomp rocket Justin got for Christmas. 

December 8, 2013

This week was not as busy as I had anticipated.  Monday as I walked Justin to school, he pointed out the rare sunset.  I told him that it was actually a sunrise and asked him why he thought it was rare.  He said that we don't see one very often so it must be rare.  Yep, we are getting to that time of year when the sun doesn't rise quite as early.  I look forward to the days growing longer again so we don't see the sunrise.  Guess that will be some time away still. 

We decorated the Christmas tree.  The boys were very excited to see it up and to rediscover ornaments from past years.  We really don't have a lot of Christmas decorations other than the tree.  That is probably a good thing as the boys continuously play with the Little People nativity and the musical snow globe we do have out.  It is fun that they are so excited for Christmas.

 



Tuesday was Ryan's 5th birthday.  How did my baby get so big?  Well, I guess he has always been big, so how did he get so old?  Justin made many birthday decorations for Ryan and was excited for him.  We have had problems getting our mail, but fortunately Grandma mailed Ryan's presents very early.  He got presents from Grandma and Papa and a book from Justin.  We are crossing our fingers that his birthday presents, Justin's presents, and the Christmas presents arrive.  Many arrived in Dulles around Veteran's Day, just haven't gotten here yet. :(  Anyway, Ryan was VERY excited about getting his Skylanders, so once he opened that I think he would have been done with presents even if he had had more.

Ready to open his presents

 Do you think he is excited?

Getting in some Skylanders time before J has to go to school

Ryan wanted a butt cake, but I refused.  I made him a 5 cake instead

 On Wednesday we had some friends over for dinner.  They moved on Saturday so it was good to have a little bit of time with them.  Ryan will miss Cyrus at school and over at the house.   It was fun for him to have a friend right across the street.  Ryan is about 1 1/2 years older, but he enjoyed being the older kid for a change.

By Thursday my headache and just not feeling quite right turned to feverish.  Yuck.  Lucky for me, even though it wasn't a regular school day for Ryan, the teacher asked if he could be there so he could do a special activity.  I spent the morning in bed.

On Friday Ryan wasn't feeling well either.  I started to take him to school and then brought him back.  He was really whiny and it wasn't just the four hours of sleep he had for the night.  By the afternoon he also had a fever.  We had some good cuddle time at least.  Cyrus came over with his mom and brother to return a few things.  We took some pictures before saying goodbye.

Doesn't Justin look freakishly tall in this pic?

Saturday was the day of Justin's winter concert at school.  He had been talking and talking about it.  We were all well enough to go.  He was a cutie and did well in both of the things he was in.  Unfortunately it was hard to see him very well.  I will upload the two video clips to youtube for Grandma to watch.

I saw Justin and Ani's Mesopotamian city on display at the school.

Justin and Ani before the concert.

Justin and Ani waiting for the dance part to start

He is on the stage near the bottom middle

The hour at the school wore me out and made Ryan cranky. 

On Sunday we woke up to our first snow and Ryan was so excited.  I had to take a picture because it was funny how excited he was over nothing.  It did start to snow again later and we got a measureable amount.  Ryan and I stayed home from church and rested up.  We both no longer have fevers and seem to feel much better.  I hope we are ready for the last week of school before Christmas break.  I also hope we get mail!

November 17, 2013

This week I am once again playing catch up.  Last Sunday afternoon, Justin fell asleep during his quiet time.  Now quiet time is something that I need much more than the boys, so for one of them to fall asleep during quiet time is quite unusual.  I tried to wake him up and noticed that he was quite warm.  I took his temperature and it was almost 103.  I decided to let him sleep.  When he woke up, he wasn't feeling well, but that was easily resolved with some Tylenol.  Unfortunately, he was not at all tired, but plenty needy.  He also stayed up very late.  Being the good mother that I am, I went to bed and had him wake me up when he needed me to change the DVD he was watching.  I kept him home from school and it about killed me.  The time he rested gave him super energy.  Maybe I accidently gave him Tylenol with speed or something.  I could hardly wait for school the next day.

So, the past two weeks have been a blur.  It isn't because so much has been happening, but rather because what happens is often routine and doesn't seem much worth noting.

With the kids having their birthdays AND Christmas next month, they have been busy making lists.  I love the spellings they use. :)  The lists are prominently placed on the refrigerator and as they see each other's lists, they often add to their own.  Uh, yeah, like you are really going to EACH get a wii u.

Justin's list

Front side of Ryan's list

Justin's school finished the astroturf playground project.  Ryan enjoys playing on the playground while we wait for Justin to get out of school.  We have been enjoying the mild weather this year.  Mid November and no jacket!  Unfortunately, it looks like that is going to change this upcoming week. 

Justin was very excited that he got an award in school.  His school grades academic skills and what they call success orientations.  Personally, I think that it is a poor system.  It appears that it is easier to get good academic grades (every child can succeed at high levels, right?) than to get the top "grade" in success orientation behaviors.  It looks like grading and ensuring all students can achieve at high levels means we have to keep dropping standards.  Vanity sizing keeps telling me I am getting skinnier.  I guess US grading systems are going to make all of our kids brilliant.  In the meantime, at Justin's school, it is very difficult for students to be honest, work well in groups, show concern for others, etc.  Huh.  I would have thought these were things that we could expect of students regardless of academic abilities.  Shows what I know.  I am proud that Justin demonstrates concern for others, and I really think that he does.  I think he is a very honest child and a poor speller, but his report card, based upon the standards, shows the opposite. 
Note: I think that Justin has a wonderful teacher, I just think many schools are going overboard to make average students think they are geniuses.  What is wrong with being average academically?

 I finally got my driver's license on the 8th, but I haven't driven yet.  We have one car, I can't think of anywhere I really want to go, and I don't know that driving here is something I look forward to doing anyway.  The Embassy helps to make this an incredibly easy process.  It took longer to get to the police station than to get the license. 
I was amused by their driving course.  It was laid out very neatly in a grid-like manner with lines clearly marked on a smooth, even surface.  In reality, lines, if there are any, mean nothing.  Roads have potholes as big as my kids.  Mini bus and taxi drivers are even worse than the average drivers, stopping suddenly or quickly pulling in front of you even though they have the horsepower of a snail in molasses.  Cars break down frequently and become yet another obstacle in the roadway.  Unfortunately, roads are laid out in bizarre patterns and are street signs are rare.  I think anyone who can drive to the police station and get there in one piece should be granted a license.  Perhaps if you can drive on the "civilized" course you are denied your license because it bears no resemblance to reality.

Justin and Ryan are also busy planning every last detail of their birthdays.  Here is part of Ryan's schedule.  He has written things on individual pages so he can rearrange them as needed.

 

 

I really need to post some things to my other blog outlining some of the activities I do with the boys. I keep putting it off until I have time to catch up.  The longer I wait, the harder it is going to be.  I need to just sit down and do it soon without worrying about when I did what.  Here are a few things that the boys have been doing lately.

 Justin continues to invent complicated games that make no sense to anyone but himself.  He likes to get commitments that we will play.  Here is a sign up sheet he made for his Plants vs Zombies inspired game.

sinnitsher = signature

 Justin has been writing stories and of course Ryan has insisted in getting involved as well.  He tires of the actual writing part quickly and will often dictate to me.  As an almost 5 year old, he is not a particularly gifted artist.  I loved this picture though.

Leaves are falling off of the trees.  Ryan and I looked for leaves both big and small.  These were big enough for me to wear on my head.

 I needed to find some buttons to sew on a shirt.  Ryan and I ended up playing with buttons for almost an hour.  This is the kind of thing I love doing with him.

 Ryan and I also worked a bit on telling him. He was excited for a play date and wanted to quickly get through things like lunch, quiet time, and picking up his brother so it would be time sooner.

 Ryan and I read a book about shadows and then tried out some things in the dark bathroom.

 

 Saturday was a surprise baby shower for some of our friends.  The baby isn't due until January, but they are moving early next month.  Justin and Ryan enjoyed the fact that the baby shower was a family affair.

Guess what Tiny has been enjoying lately? That's right, he loves the swing. Justin likes to make sure I know that Tiny is just a baby and can't go fast like he can. Justin constantly reminds me that even though Ryan is getting bigger, he is still just a tiny baby. Justin, on the other hand, is medium. When he can't do something by himself, he is "too medium" and not too small or too little or any of the more common things children tend to say. Luckily, Justin agrees that Ryan is big enough to swing so everyone is happy.

Justin and Ryan seem to like each other. They can already crack each other up and seem to like to be on top of each other, hitting at each other, squealing at each other... Justin gets so mad when Tiny kicks him or pulls his hair. He doesn't seem to find it fair that Ryan doesn't get punished for actions that are off limits to Justin. To protest, he will often go into baby mode. He will lie on his back and say, "Goo Goo! Ga Ga! I'm a baby!" That lasts until it is no longer convenient to be a baby. Lucky me.

Since we are moving early in September, we are not bothering to work on the whole toilet training thing with Justin yet. What's the point? Leaving here and then traveling to various homes and hotels across the US before a hellish day (as in about 24 hours) of flying to our new home in Namibia. We will worry about it there. Well, Justin has started showing interest in poopies. He wants to see his, the baby's, anyone's. He will rate them in terms of color and size. He will tell me he is having one and that he doesn't want to sit on the toilet. Once he is finished he does want to sit on the toilet so I don't have to put on a clean diaper. Doesn't work that way though. Sometimes he requests to sit on the toilet. Yesterday he said he needed to sit on the toilet and he actually had to pee. He was so excited. Great. We will probably be missing our toilet training window of opportunity and our child will be a freak and need therapy. Just one of many ways I will screw him up for life. Good thing I have a second child to try to get it right--or at least better. :)

Justin came home from school on Friday looking just exhausted. He fell asleep almost immediately, and when he woke up he asked for water. He had a temp of just over 103. He drank and drank and continued to run a fever unless he was on motrin. He didn't have much of an appetite and was extremely needy, but nothing else seemed to be wrong. It just made for a long weekend. Sunday afternoon he seemed better, but since he didn't sleep well, I am keeping him home from school today. I am very disappointed. He had a slight fever again this morning, but is acting pretty normal. He is tired of being cooped up and is quite obnoxious.

Meanwhile, Tiny's two top teeth finally broke through last week. I swear they were the slowest teeth in the history of baby teeth. He had a HORRIBLE night last night and I had no idea why. Surprise! This morning I looked in his mouth and it looks like he is getting FOUR more. Two more on top and two more on bottom. It is going to be a very, very long week I fear. He hasn't been nursing well and I end up smelling like sour milk as my clothes get soaked with milk he is crying for and then rejecting. Ah, motherhood.

Guess I better tend to the whiners. Not that I can do anything to soothe them right now, but at least I won't feel as guilty if I am trying.

Highlights of a Mom's Week

(in no particular order)

--Justin dumped a bunch of water out of the bathtub. That meant his bath was OVER! As I was dressing him, I asked him how the floor got wet. He said, "I have an idea--water!" Duh. I should have known that. I was right there. :)

--"I want to hold it!" said Justin, when he wanted to hold Ryan.

--"Tiny Baby too loud!" screamed Justin, after he smacked his brother with a toy and woke him up.

--"I love you, Mommy," says Justin with a big hug. That pretty much says it all.

--Smiles and coos from Ryan. He melts my heart when he watches me so intently. He likes me best of all. Of course he is used to me from hearing my vomiting for nine months AND I am his food supply so I don't know that it is such an accomplishment to be his favorite. Everyday he grows and it amazes me to watch him change.

--Justin's fever breaking after a sick cranky morning that meant I was not going to have a happy birthday. It's terrible to admit, but if he is sick but not too miserable (thank you motrin!) he lies around and is easier than he usually is.

--"Oh no, two missing!" Justin's response after learning to count to 3 with Kai-Lan on the Nick show Ni hao Kai-Lan. He decided to count his fingers in Chinese, but ran out of knowledge before he ran out of fingers.

--And a thought that has been running through my mind: Dora the Explorer's parents really need to supervise her more closely.