movies!

i'm fairly sure i failed to document this anywhere. in december, jameson, natalia and i saw our first movies (in the theater) together.

the first one we saw was "the chipmunks" on the day before christmas eve 2009 (i guess that would be december 23rd!). the kids liked it, for the most part. jameson thought it was cool til he realized about 3/4 of the way through that there were no trucks, cranes, or planes and got a bit antsy. natalia was completely engrossed because she had a tub of popcorn in front of her that she shoveled into her mouth the entire time. i'm not sure i'd have had any luck with her without that popcorn!

the second movie was "the princess and the frog" on new year's eve 2009 (yes, only a week later).

natalia loved it. papa, auntie amanda and uncle aaron were there to share it with her, so she thought that was pretty darned cool. jameson was less than impressed with a "princess" movie - again with no moving vehicles of any kind. he was ok with the crocodiles, so he sat "ok" through the show. i thought this one was a darned good movie! ;)

we saw our 3rd movie on saturday. i thought it was supposed to be unseasonably hot here and i don't do well with hot. neither does jameson. turns out it was only 80-ish, but the kids were nearly killing each other in the house while jim was cutting the lawn that i needed to find a good distraction. so, on may 22nd, i took them to see "how to train your dragon". it was SUCH a cute movie! grandma sherry joined us and natalia appreciated that as she got a little wiggly toward the last 1/3. despite the non existence of cars/trucks/construction vehicles, jameson was impressed. probably the boats helped. it was way cute. the kids tried to explain all the details to jim when we got home.

course, nothing topped the fender-bender that occurred today where they got to see fire trucks, ambulances, and police cars.

who needs to pay money for entertainment?! silly mommy!

foul language

jameson and natalia are still at each other's throats for all waking hours. yesterday, they were griping at each other about who-knows-what when natalia had apparently had enough. she screamed at the top of her lungs, "jameson, suck my a$$!"

holy language-not-appropriate-for-a-three-year-old, BATMAN!! and, really, i have NO idea where she learned that one from. i mean, yes, we use curse words occasionally, but we really try not to around the kids..but i have NEVER, EVER heard or uttered that phrase until yesterday.

good grief, WHAT am i in for in 12 years? commit me now.

people in the city?

today's been a particularly taxing day. jameson and natalia have both been in quite the "funk" lately. naughty. sassy. whiney. fighting. yuck.

so, this evening i'd had enough. i warned them 2-3-4 times while trying to get them in the bath that if they didn't stop fighting/whining/yelling/sassy talking that they were going to go straight to bed after the bath (at 6:30pm)...without dinner! *gasp!*

well, they kept right at it.

so, i washed, rinsed, dried, clothed and put them to bed. i'm pretty sure they didn't believe i meant it.

all the while i'm putting each of them in their beds, i'm telling them that "tomorrow is a new day. tomorrow, we're going to all be happy. mommy and daddy will be happy because jameson and natalia are playing nicely, talking nicely, and not fighting. jameson and natalia will be happy because when mommy and daddy are happy, we ALL get to do fun things!"

to which, natalia replies, "just like the people in the city?!"

::crickets chirp::

"right, like people in the city."

i have no idea where that came from, but it gave me a chuckle amongst all the chaos.

wednesday...

not much happening...just wednesday. :)

tomorrow, i get to go with jameson on his preschool field trip to the fire station...he's stoked! i kind am too!

ok, so, i'm bored. anyone have any ideas for a creative outlet/challenge for me? sewing project/pattern i could try? crochet pattern? help!?

been awhile

things are pretty boring and normal around here. which, is good! :)

jameson is wrapping up his last year at tot time, the preschool program through the Y that he's been attending for two years. his teacher, mrs block, is retiring after this school year. it's a major bummer because that means natalia can't have her. and, she is wonderful. that's no exaggeration. she's amazingly kind and warm, yet firm and demanding of respect...a perfect combo for a preschool teacher. i'm tempted to try to bribe her to come to our house and homeschool both jameson and natalia from now til they're 18. she's been teaching for 22 years, though. she deserves a break...and deserves to retire young. congrats and kudos to her!

jameson's all registered for the big K next year. wah...i don't want to think about it. its all day, five days a week. the poor boy will be exhausted! we will attend an open house type thing in may for him to get a feel for the school and for the teachers to get a feel for him (and the other kids). then, they'll assign teachers/classrooms.

natalia was selected as a peer mentor for a preschool offered at the same elementary school that jameson will be at. my understanding of it is that the kids who are referred to the head start program for developmental delays (speech, etc) are paired in a classroom with kids of "normal" development for that age group. apparently, natalia is normal. who knew? ;)

i'm glad she'll be at the same building as jameson...for many reasons. she'll go two days per week..and will start at the same time as jameson does. that'll be convenient for drop offs!

i had their photos taken professionally recently - karmen lindner did a phenomenal job as usual. it was our first time with her, but i hope she'll have us back!:

nominations

i belong to a word of mouth marketing company called bzzagent (see right). they have a new campaign called "america deserves a raise". in this campaign, i get to nominate someone who deserves a "raise". :) how fun! now, i know we all deserve a raise...no doubt. but, there's one special person who i'm thinking is particularly worthy...

i'm nominating gina!

• first she's an amazing mother - and, mothers will NEVER get paid what their worth...so, right there she's got a leg up.


• second, she's a mother to a cancer survivor. a beautiful FIVE year old cancer survivor. gina's daughter, taylor, is so brave, strong, beautiful and inspiring. i believe taylor is all of these things because of her mother - who has all of those same qualities and many more. taylor was diagnosed with leukemia at age 3. NO child should have this kind of illness, none. taylor, and her parents, endured things during her treatments and bone marrow transplants that NO ONE should have to endure.


• third - gina IS working too. she works at home doing billing. she does this to provide for her family - income AND health insurance. (which, if you read the bullet above, you understand is VERY important.)

gina deserves so much more than her job pays her. so much more than that to get through each day showing the strength and resolve that she does.

she cares tirelessly for her children (taylor and her brothers, austin and tegan), but is also working to bring much needed awareness to childhood cancer. gina has started a facebook page. she has done such a marvelous job keeping up with taylor's blog journal...this is especially important because gina is providing so much information to other families of childhood cancer. she's sharing drug information, prayer requests, treatment options, LOVE, and support! taylor is this year's covergirl for a popular organization that provides a website forum for families to keep up on their ill loved ones. she's done so much more that i'm forgetting to give her credit for.

gina deserves this "raise" more than anyone i know. please help me by voting for her here. once you get to that page, search for gina. voting for her would not only reward an amazing woman for her daily strife, but would also bring so much needed awareness to childhood cancer.

thank you!

birthday

so. my 37th birthday was on march 10th. it was a wednesday, so as like any other wednesday i was off to work in the AM. as i was leaving, jameson said:

j: "mommy, are you going to work?"

me: "yes"

j: "but. it's not your birthday if you go to work."

yeah. the brilliance of child logic. i did go to to work. but, i had coffee and chocolate cake for breakfast, so it wasn't all bad! :)