One of those not so proud moments

Mike had to work early, like 2am early, and Drew woke up to find no dad. He went on about how he wanted to give dad a kiss and hug and started to cry this morning. I told him daddy gave him lots of kisses and hugs before he left, but he couldn't feel them because he was sleeping. "But I wanted to...can I play Lego Star Wars, Mom?" I think hmmm, good night sleep, got up early. "Yes you can play for 20 minutes but only if you don't whine when it's time to turn it off". OK, no problem, he agrees. Well let's just say, I should have known better. He does make the effort to go back to the main page but then plays some more when he gets there. Then dad calls to say good morning. It's now about 7:15 and I still have to finish getting Drew dressed (yes, one of the bad parts about having a boy...he has no desire to get himself dressed unlike some cute little 3 yr old girls I know), brush his teeth and get out the door. Needless to say, and argument and frustration ensue and the great morning turns bad quickly, and yes, I start yelling which of course makes Drew cry and we are moving nowhere quickly. I stop, regroup, tell him we are going to start the morning over. We did and it all worked out, but not one of my brightest moments!

Can we buy a new toy tonight?

I made a deal with Drew last week. He was doing really well on keeping his only diaper, pull-up actually, dry at night. I think I blogged about this. Of course whenever I think I've blogged I don't bother to go check because I may not get back to the one I'm trying to write - I digress. Anyway, for a few weeks maybe one a week was wet and the rest were dry. I thought we were on to something. Then he got constipated, we went on vacation and voila, back to wet night time diapers. So, like I said, I made a deal with Drew that if we could keep his pull up dry for a whole week, we would go to the store and buy a new toy. I think that was last weekend. We still haven't had a dry pull up but at least I have him thinking about it again because the other morning he woke up and half asleep he says, mom, can we go buy a new toy tonight after school? I said, is you pull up dry? Yep! I check it, which it is not and say with a goofy voice, I don't think so!!!!! He gives me a smirk and says, I know, but can we get one anyway?! Ah, not so much, buddy! But we are still trying.

Dad, did you have growing pains when you were little?

Our poor little man has been struggling with growing pains the last few weeks. Last week he babied the right one quite a bit. At school the other boys were running around and he'd yell at them, "wait up guys, I can't run that fast". His teacher told him to give it a try since he had rested it at nap. The pains seemed to go away for awhile. At night, he'd want someone to rub his legs. Last night he came in our room in the middle of the night, kind of whimpering and complaining about his leg again - this time the left one. It was still bothering him this morning so I told him after breakfast dad would give him some medicine. Mike put him in the car and Drew said, "dad, did you have growing pains when you were little?" Mike said yep. Then Drew asked "did mom have growing pains when she was little?" Mike reassured him that he was pretty sure I did too. Actually, I still vividly remember how bad they were. Just about as bad as labor. Actually probably worse than that at the time. LOL. Off to search the web to see if there are any other remedies besides Motrin.

Next up - August!

Wow, where has the time gone? I know that seems to be a theme, at least in my head it is. We had another pretty quiet weekend and it felt pretty darn good. Drew learned how to snap his fingers and spent most of the weekend snapping at me saying, "mom, focus on what you are doing!". He's obviously quite proud of his latest accomplishment. We also played some "poker" while Mike was painting the bedroom. He decided he had his own version of the game and said, "lemme show you what I'm talkin' about mom. You have to twist the dice like this, then you make noises, then you put them down. If I get good numbers, I get to go again. That's what I'm talkin' 'bout." I bet you can't guess who won the game...twice! LOL. Drew had his buddy Miles come over on Saturday. The boys played ps3 and wii for about an hour until I got fed up listening to them whine about not listening to each other. So we turned off the tv and did some old fashioned playing with toys. But it did get me thinking about having another child. Not that I am, but both boys are "only children" (taking Ryan out of the mix since he doesn't live with us) and you could tell. I'd say Miles had more issue with it than Drew but I'd say some of that has to do with the fact that it wasn't his house too. Just not the same comfort level. We had planned on going to German Park but Miles didn't get picked up until after 8 so it too late to go. It was fine, since it was pretty hot and humid, I'm sure the mosquitoes would have been fierce. Drew also caught a couple fire flies and put them in his bug catcher to bring in the house. They weren't looking so good Sunday morning so he let them out and put one to rest in the grass.

A couple funnies from the weekend - Out of the blue a few times Drew would blurt out - "What in the heck in the world? What's that all about?" and "Wow, I didn't know it did that. Isn't that so cool mom?"

Did you set the timer, mom?

The timer idea is working quite well these days. When we start to play Wii, Drew asks if someone has set the timer. If we say you can watch tv for 5 more minutes, he asks if someone has set the timer. To the point where I'm wondering if all of life is revolving around a timer for Drew! :) I did order one from Pampered Chef, so it will be nice not to have to go to the kitchen everytime it goes off.

The weekend

We had a nice relaxing weekend, finally. Friday night Mike & I went out. Saturday, I played with Drew and Mike fixed the dishwasher. Luckily it was more time consuming than cash consuming. We took a nice nap and got up to go to a friend's Pampered Chef party. Oh, and on the way out there we realized the hoods that stole Mike's cell phone also stole the two headsets for the van's dvd player...bummer since we just started using them over July 4th. Drew was really upset that the bad guys who broke the window took his stuff. Anyway, the party was pretty funny. It started with all the ladies in the house at the cooking show with all the dads outside with the kids. I said, this is the best party ever! Then someone said something about one of the kids coming in. I said, don't do it, it will lead to all the kids coming in, and it did. It was still great. Drew would play in the back and occasionally come up and sit on my lap for the cooking demo. I was the DD so after the show everyone headed out to the garage to play poker and some of the moms stayed inside with the kids. And actually, I think I had the better end of that stick. There were 10 people surrounding a poker table meant for 5 or 6, with some people not knowing the games, so they took a while. I, on the other hand, sat in the a/c with the girls while the kids watched a movie. Yep, I won!
On Sunday, we got up and went to IHOP, per Drew's request. Then went to Lowe's and found a new border and paint colors for Drew's new room. Did it in less than an hour. Mike and I were both proud we were so quick. Ran to the grocery store and didn't pile the cart with a bunch of junk, came home and put it all away. I played Lego Indiana Jones with Drew while Mike started our crock pot chicken and cleaned up the mess from fixing the dishwasher. Then emptied it and re-loaded. WOW, life is good! We all laid down for a nap. I waited for Drew to fall asleep then got up. Didn't really do too much. After Drew woke up we decided to start painting the bedroom. He really wanted to help so we thought we'd wait. He did a great job helping. Lots of paint on the walls, some on the tarp, some on the trim and hardwoods. Not enough to do any damage. He had his own special roller, but then chose mine, then dad's. He got bored after he did a great job and decided to do something else. After washing his hands and playing for 10 minutes, he was back to "get painty again". Mike finished dinner, we ate, then he cleaned up too! Seriously!! We played some Hi Ho Cherrio, watched some tv and went to bed.
Other funnies from the weekend: Drew played with some Moon Sand in the living room and we left it there. He says, mom, we gotta clean up this mess, and I will even help you.
Before dinner: Drew come help me set the table. No, I don't want to. Ok, do you want to vacuum then? YAY, yeah mom, I want to vacuum!!!!
Before nap: Mom, can I poke you're eye with this? No, we don't poke eyes silly! But Haley did that to me before...when we were camping!
At the grocery store: Mom, I can carry this juice. Are you sure? Yep, cuz I have strong muscles cuz I ate all my breakfast at IHOP. This even made a woman in the isle chuckle.

Uncle Scott, I never want to see you again, poopy!

Uncle Scott showed up for a surpise visit yesterday. It was quite funny. He was waiting at the house for Drew to get home from school. So I head to school where Drew does his norm - hide from mom until I find him then dilly dally around until he decides it's time to leave. As soon as I mention Scott is at the house waiting, he screams, grabs his lunch box and yells GOODBYE FRIENDS! and runs to the door. As soon as we get to the car he decides he has to pee, so back in to school we go. Then run back to the car to get home. We pull up and Drew says he's gonna sneak and scare Uncle Scott. So he jumps behind the tree then pops out...BOO!!! They played around outside for a few minutes then inside to play Lego Indiana Jones (or as Drew says it, Lego Jones or Lego Indie Jones). It was a riot. Scott doesn't really know how to play and Drew's too busy playing to help him. Finally, Scott's stuck on something and Drew blurts out, Let me help you. I'll show you how to do it! When something would come out to attack them, Drew would say, See, I told you that would happen (even tho he didn't). By the end of the night they were doing their best Zoolander impressions - yes, take a minute to imagine Drew's moves, Ben Stiller in the making. Around 8pm Scott decided to head home. Drew had to play in the (con)vertible for a few minutes which led Scott to say he was taking him home forever and they'd come back sometimes to visit. Drew, of course, came running back to me. As Scott's pulling out of the driveway Drew runs toward his car and with a shit eaten grin says, Uncle Scottttttttt, I never want to see you again, Poopy!!!!!! Boy does he love Uncle Scott!

Pain in the ...

Now I know why I've had my email address for 8 years - changing it is a pain in the butt. You think, ah, most email software has a notify section where you can send everyone your new address...yes this is true. What you don't think about is that every company, service provider, interest etc all has some kind of login requiring your email. That's the pain. I think I must have updated 30 websites today and I'm sure there are many more at home that I haven't thought of.

Also, a little note about software. When I purchased my laptop they asked me if I wanted antivirus software, I said no. I knew on Comcast they gave you free McAfee. And when we started talking about switching services, I thought I'd just wait. Anyway, as I'm sure you all know, but worth mentioning, AT&T also gives you free software. So before you go buy something, check with your provider.

What a weekend!

We had a great time camping. Really nice weather with the exception of a monsoon Saturday morning. The sky was looking pretty dark and we decided to put up the gazebo/tent, whatever it is that goes over the picnic table. Anyway, we are just about done and BAM downpour. Luckily, the kids were inside the camper with Mindy cuz out of nowhere this HUGE wind came up and took their awning (of a 30+ foot hard sided camper) over and twisted the metal arms holding it in place. It was crazy and a total loss for them. Cross your fingers on insurance! I didn't get any pictures since the weather would have destroyed the camera, but Mindy got some great shots of the kids playing in what looked like a huge pond through the middle of the camp sites. So much so that we could fill up large water guns by dipping them in the "pond". Then the rain turned into a drizzle and the kids came out to use the "pond" as a slip 'n slide. I was thrilled they were taking it so well.
Later that day (actually twice) we headed down to the lake to cool off. Drew was showing me his new "let's see how deep I can go" skills and had no fear to head out into the "deep part" up to his shoulders. He also dunked himself under several times and "swam" around with me from shallow to deep more times than I can count.
We also took Drew's Jeep with us on this trip. We had really big sites so we figured it would be a good time for him to use it. He and Haley had a blast driving around the sites. She sat in the passenger seat softly screaming woo hoo, woo hoo. You could tell they thought they were IT!
I also noticed a change with Drew. I'm not sure if he was just exhausted, but both for nap and bed, he really didn't make a stink and fell asleep within 15 minutes of laying down. I was pleasantly surprised.
On Sunday we got packed up and headed back home. Mike's boss and director came in to town and wanted to go to a Tiger's game. So he went to Detroit. They had perfect weather - sun, nice wind and not humid. Unfortunately, Mike got back to the van to find someone threw a rock through the passenger window and stole his cell phone. Note to all who venture down to Detroit - PARK IN A LOT WITH SURVEILLANCE. If you would have looked in the windows of the van, you literally would have seen a car seat and 12 pack of Diet Coke...that's it! (Which is really quite odd for my car) I guess they took a chance on something being in the console...like a cell phone. He called me to ask what he should do. I said, really, you should call the police but who knows how long that will take. I don't think their priorities include smashed windows. So he decided just to come home. The up news...He cancelled his phone which can no longer be used by anyone, ever. Ha! What the heck is the point in stealing a cell phone anyway? I guess they could have called India or something, but I just can see some hoods in Detroit knowing many people outside the city. And any other calls were free since it was Sunday. I'm crossing my fingers on the bill, but I guess we'll see it soon enough. On Monday, I called insurance and got the window fixed for $100 and didn't need a police report. YAY!! The thought of wasting a day going back to Detroit to get something in writing really had me down before I made the call, so it ended up being a pretty good Monday. And luckily we emptied everything we had in there from camping, cuz man, it really could have been bad.

Super Anything

Drew's been using "super" a lot these days. Mom, I'm super thirsty. I'm super hungry. I'm super cold etc. On the drive back from Northern Michigan he'd periodically let us know he was super tired. Then, with about an hour left in the trip he says, Mom, I'm super, super, super, super, super, duper, duper, duper tired! I say - go to sleep. He says, no, I'm going to wait to get home to your bed. oye vey!

Finally getting up to date

While I'm stuck at work, Drew & Mike are off camping at Sugarloaf Lake. I'll be heading out at 5, after work which seems like it will never come. I did think ahead though - decided to bring in my laptop so I could clear out some of the 2000 pictures I've taken in the last month. Whew! I've decided it may be good to be more selective in what I shoot, or I'll spend the rest of my life getting rid of pictures that didn't need to be taken. My cousin Kyle prompted me to do it, although I'm sure he doesn't know it. When we were Up North I asked him if he wanted my memory card before I deleted it. He said, no, I'll wait until you clean them up some. (at that point I had taken 800 pics and I think we were on day 4). It made me think that if I stay on top of them, it may not feel quite so daunting when I do decide to do something with the pics. So today was the perfect day to do it. I've taken the first swipe at it anyway. I'm sure there will be plenty more to get rid of, but enough is enough for one day! With that said, I've added most of the pics to the Picasa Web Albums and linked it to the blog. I'm not sure how long I'll keep them up...probably until I max out the free space and have to purge the oldest. I figure that gives anyone ample time to pilfer any photos they may want. If you don't want to save them to your hard drive, they can be ordered directly from the site by three different print providers.

TGIF

But..that takes a long time

Oh to be 3 again. You've got more energy than you know what to do with. You've got someone scheduling your life. You just tag along to the next great adventure and you think 5 minutes is a long time! Lately we've been hearing lots of...but that takes a long time! Or afterschool is a long time. Tomorrow is a long time. And the word time sounds really good when you whine it too...bet ya didn't know that. If I had a dime everytime I heard it, Drew would have at least enough money for all his college texts!

I think we may be pushing him right over the edge

I'm exhausted from all the fun and excitement we've been having for the last few months so I know Drew is too, but do we stop? Nope! And it's starting to show this week. First, Monday going to school was a big production. Drew did not want to go to school, cried about it at home and clung to me when we got there. Tuesday was better,I had to wake him up and he was still clingy but not as bad. Same for Wednesday. This morning Mike woke him up and he was really showing signs of wear. He wanted someone to come sit with him on the couch. Nothing more, just sit with him. I told him dad was taking him to school which caused some problems too. Rubbing his eyes, laying on the couch, I could tell he could have used about 3 more hours of sleep. We tried to get him excited about going camping tonight with dad, but that just made him more sad that mom isn't coming until Friday night. Ahh, what to do? Just keep swimming, just keep swimming, swimming, swimming...gee, we haven't watched Nemo in a long time!

We're back...

I've started this post about 10 times and got distracted with work of all things! I (like a few other mom's I know) feel like we've overbooked ourselves like crazy this summer. I really don't know where the time has gone. Well I guess I do but I don't want to think about it because then I realize it's already mid July!
We had a great time in Indian River last week. So much so we stayed an extra couple days. We had planned to come back on Friday, then changed it to Saturday and finally left Sunday evening around 7pm. And wouldn't you know Drew fell asleep 10 minutes from home at 11:30pm!
There are so many highlights I'm not sure where to begin. We brought up Drew's Jeep so he and cousin Henry could ride around and pick up chics. They had a blast driving down the road, trying to make it through dirt, hills and lawns. Drew also found a new love...Aubree. She's the 12 yr old granddaughter of Dan & Suzy. She's really cute and Drew had a great time flirting with her. He'd drive by in his Jeep, and glance out of the corner of his eye to see if she was looking. At one point he was passing her and stood up while driving by...big time crush at 3 yrs old!
Henry and Drew had a great time playing with water guns. Danny took them down to another neighbors house, who happen to be taxidermists, so they could look at all the animals on the walls. So off they went, the boys in the Jeep and Dan following behind. They were gone quite a while and came back with handfuls of peanuts. Apparently, they got to feed a baby squirrel being nursed back to health. Drew was very excited about it and also realized a love for peanuts in the shell. His Jeep, including the glove box, were full of shells. I think he may have eaten more than the squirrel.
The boys had something else in common...Wii. Henry also has a Wii and had the Lego Star Wars game (we have it for PS3). The controllers are quite a bit different, so Drew didn't get in to it as much as he could have - a small blessing as he could have probably stayed in front of the TV much more than he did. Oh, side note - Kyle and Amy (Henry's parents/my cousins) recently instituted a timer rule. When the timer goes off, so does the Wii. It worked like a charm. I've had other friends tell me about it too, but never saw it in action. Now here's the funny part - Mike was so impressed he said we should do it at home too. I'm totally game so Tuesday night we tell Drew about the timer. He's fine with it. Let me just say it was the fastest 25 minutes of my life. All of the sudden, the timer went off and what do you think happened? Mike said, we're almost done with this level lets just play for a few more minutes. Yep, that's right, sabotage you're own rule! LOL. They play for a few more minutes and finally decide it's time to shut 'er down. Last night we changed it up a bit. If we are playing with him, we won't use the timer, we'll just let him know. So we're playing and get to a tricky part and Drew says, oh, let's just shut this off, ok?! Craziness!
I could go on and on but I'll end on another high point of the week...fireworks! It started with a few Mike picked up at a fireworks tent. The kids (and adults) loved them so much, he went back and bought more. We had SEVERAL fireworks shows that week and by the end, I think we were all a bit fireworksed out, at least our version of fireworks. On the 4th, there must have been at least 8 houses we could see around the lake putting on magnificent shows. It was great. Didn't have to go anywhere but down to the deck to see a great show. The boys loved it and got to stay up extra late to watch. It didn't get dark until after 10 so it was really hard getting them to bed any night so we didn't even really try on the 4th. I've got tons of pictures but haven't gotten them past my laptops hard drive. I'll try to work on that sometime soon.
This weekend we are back to Sugarloaf for another fun filled weekend of camping. And yes, I am tired.