What A GREAT Day!

Days like today are what my kids will look back on and remember when they grow up. We had so much fun ALL day today. I'm just bummed I left my camera at home.
To start off, Jay had a baseball game and the kids played the best they have ever played before. At the beginning of the season they were have a hard time hustling when they ran the bases. The coaches told the boys that if they didn't pay attention and RUN then they would make them wear a pink dress up to bat. Coach Brian actually went out and bought a dress and would hang it out in the dug out to entice the kids to play better. After they were consistent with their running, Brian promised the boys that if they ever scored 5 runs in an inning then HE would wear the dress. This morning Brian proved he's a man of his word. The first inning the kids scored 5 runs (Jay getting the last run in) and Brian put it on. There were a couple of wolf-whistles and the other team had no idea what he was doing. I am so glad that Jay is on a team where the adults enjoy being there with the kids as much as the kids enjoy playing. Being on a team like this is what childhood is all about. Not that it matters, but Jay's team ended up winning 13-2.
After the game, we went home and put Alyssa down for a nap. Jeremy was playing video games and Jay wanted to play on my computer. It was WAY to nice outside to play video games. I told Jay to get his swimming trunks on and we'd have some mommy/boy time in the pool. I had so much fun with him. We played sharks and rocket launcher (where I swim under him and then launch him into the air). Jay is getting to be a pretty strong swimmer. Today he dived to the bottom of the pool for the first time. We where throwing the keys in the water and he had to get them off the bottom...no feet allowed, only hands. After starting in the shallow end, he gradually went further and further to the other side of the pool until he was reaching the keys off of the bottom at the deep end. (It's only 5 1/2 feet, but that is still pretty good for him) I then taught him how to dive off the side of the pool and do under-water hand stands.
We got done swimming around 2:30, came inside and had a 2 hr nap. When we got up, we showered and changed then left for a birthday party at Peter Piper Pizza. They have a little indoor roller coaster and all the kids got unlimited rides. Jay would get off then run right back to the end of the line. Alyssa had fun on the carousel and the slides. Filled them up with pizza, cake, icecream and lots of candy.
On the way home, Jeremy said that he wanted to go see the new Pixar movie "Up". It was 9:00PM but we said lets get the kids in their pj's and go. I'm so glad we did. It was such a darling movie. The show at 9:25 was in 3D so it was an extra $3/ticket. I was not going to wait until the next regular showing at 10:20. Do for 2 adults and 2 childrens movie tickets for a 3D movie on a Saturday night after 6PM, it cost us $46. HOLY CRAP! That was expensive. Still, I'm glad we went. The kids were (mostly) good and it was such a good movie. We will definitely add this one to our collection when the DVD is released.
We are now home and the kids are passed-out! I am so glad we don't have 9AM church tomorrow. Not that we will actually be on time at the 11AM session anyway, but at least we'll make it! :)
And a little more good news (ok, FANTASTIC news) for those who haven't heard, Jeremy got a call from a recruiter for a job in Orem. He liked his resume and had Jeremy take some assessment tests on-line. Jeremy did pretty good on them I guess because the recruiter called back and said he wanted to talk to Jeremy next week about setting up a time for an interview!!!

Kissin' Cousins

Jeremy's sister and her husband came to Las Vegas for their anniversary this week. They also happened to bring along their 18 month old little girl. After Jay's baseball game last night, we went to their timeshare to hang out together in the pool. It was nice to just sit and visit while we soaked in the kiddie pool then floated around the lazy river. Jay had a ball and once Alyssa stopped clinging to us for dear life in the water, she had a good time too.
(Sophie, Edie, Alyssa and Jeremy by the lazy river)
(All done swimming)
After we dried off and changed clothes, Edie and Curtis played foosball against Jeremy and Jay while Alyssa was giving Sophie lessons in air hockey.
(Jay scored the winning shot. Is it sad that a 6 year old shows up the adults?)
(This gets easier once you can see over the table)

We all went back up to their room to visit a little more. The kids were climbing all over the bed that folds down from the wall, cuddling and "loving" eachother. We got a pretty good blackmail picture of Jay and Sophie about to kiss and Jay's mouth isn't closed yet so it'll be a pretty disturbing picture for them when they are older. We shared Edie & Curtis' anniversary cake then came home. It was a long night and I am SO glad Jay has a ride to and from school today so I can go back to bed after posting this message!
(If you keep them up long enough, they will put themselves to bed. Jay was sad that he didn't get to spend the night)
(Give us about 15 years and this picture will be the cause of many torturous moments for these two)
(Happy 4th Anniversary Edie & Curtis!)

Mommy's Little Helper

I must say Alyssa is quite a precocious little girl when it comes to helping around the house. I swear she could do the laundry by herself if she had a step stool to reach the knobs. This is a good thing since she isn't wanting anything to do with potty training except for wearing undies.
Yesterday she was begging to wear her big-girl panties. The particular pair she was holding happened to be the pair sitting on the top of the dirty laundry basket in the hallway that she had peed in earlier that day. I told her that she couldn't wear them because she peed in them and anything that has potty on it needs to be put in the laundry. I now know that I need to choose my words better when giving her directions.
This morning I went to wash Jay's baseball uniform. I usually start the water in the machine first then add the detergent and clothes. I am SO glad I opened the washing machine BEFORE I started the water today.
When telling Alyssa to put things in the laundry, I need to specify laundry BASKET or she will put it in the washing machine. When I say anything that has potty on it needs to be washed, I need to specify that any CLOTHES that are pottied on need to be washed. Not only did she put her dirty panties in the washer, but about 4 peed-in diapers she dug out of the bathroom trash can. Nasty disaster barely avoided today.

Christmas Carols in May

All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth....

He loves his new straw hole. Tooth #2 took a bit longer to fall out than #1. It was loose for about a week, barely hanging on for dear life. Jay's teacher absolutely forbids kids to wiggle loose teeth at school. She says it is a distraction from learning, but honestly I think the idea of a bleeding mouth grosses her out. Much to her delight, it was still hanging in there when I picked him up from school on Friday. Sunday night, Jeremy was going to do the whole "tie a string around it and slam the door" bit but Jay was having NONE of that. Big time drama after that! The next morning I told Jay that I just wanted to hold it between my fingers to make sure is other tooth wasn't coming in crooked. (I thought this because the back of the tooth was completely out, but the front roots were still hanging on) Once he let me grab a hold of it, all it took was a light tug and it was out.

The Big Hair Cut=The Big Disappointment

I WANT A REFUND! Actually, I can't blame Tana, she did exactly what Jeremy wanted. I just feel gypped that after nearly 2 years of begging Jeremy to cut his hair, this is what we end up with. Yes, I know that I can't tell a grown man how he needs to cut his hair and if he wants it long, hey that's his prerogative. Jeremy's hair actually does look better cut in a longer style, but this isn't exactly (ok, not really even close) to what he usually does. Oh well, I guess we'll just go back to they stylist ever 8 weeks on a regular basis rather than 2 years! Here are the before and after shots. Really, it isn't a bad hair cut at all, he does look good. I just need to make him realize he can't go that long between hair cuts again.

Big Day for the Green Men

First and foremost, today was Jeremy's LAST day of finals. Whew! I am SO very glad that those are over and done with. Just one more 4 week English class in June and he will have his AAS. He'll be taking a year off when we move to Utah so he can qualify for instate tuition but then will be going back for his Bachelors in the fall of 2010. Maybe by the time Alyssa is in kindergarten he will be finished with school! Wow, that seems so far away. But so did Summer 2009 when he started in 2006. For now I am going to enjoy NOT being a single mom for the next few weeks.
As for the other man of the house, Jay got to eat lunch at school today just like the big kids. They had the kindergarten classes go to the cafeteria today and eat lunch so they would know how to line up, pick out their food and pay for it so they will be ready for first grade. This was quite an exciting day for them.
When we got home from picking Jay up from school, I noticed that he was messing with his lip. He said something was poking it. I looked in his mouth to see if I could see anything. That's when I noticed my baby boy had his first loose tooth! He was playing with it ALL day. I swore I made him wash his hands about a dozen times today. Right at bedtime he ran out of his room to show me that he got it out. Here is my little guy's new smile.
GOTTA love those cheeks!

Saying goodbye to the old tooth and already planning on what to do with the money the tooth fairy brings tonight. To bad we got stuck with the cheapskate tooth fairy. He's only getting $1.

**I know that a few weeks ago all of my posts were about Alyssa, but now they all seem to be about Jay. I'll give you an Alyssa update soon!**

Dating A Younger Man

Jeremy has taken a few days off this week to study for finals. So on Monday, I put Alyssa down for the afternoon and took Jay out for some mommy-son time. We first went to Barns & Noble and read about a dozen books. We learned about Freight Trains and Farting Dogs and everything in between. Then I let him choose where we went to lunch. We ended up at Pick-Up Stix since Jay wanted noodles. Then off to the movie theater. There really wasn't anything out that was kid-appropriate that either of us wanted to see. We wound up seeing Earth. It was ok, but pretty much like paying to watch the discovery channel. After that I decided to take Jay to the batting cages since they cancelled baseball practice this week. It took him a while to get focused but after about 15 minutes, he was hitting the ball like crazy. We've been trying to get him to remember to take a step when he swings to put more power behind the ball. The batting practice helped with that a lot. On our way home we stopped at DI to drop off a bunch of old toys that were stored in the garage but didn't sell at the garage sale.
All in all, it was a pretty fun day. Jay had a blast and to thank me, he gave me the stomach virus I thought he had gotten over on Sunday. So Monday night, I was getting another taste of my beef yakisoba. I must say it was better going down than coming up. Gee thanks buddy. Next time I'll settle for a hug and a "thanks mommy".

Amputation Hesitancy

Jay is lucky to have all 10 fingers this evening. While he was taking his bath tonight, I heard him start to cry. I went to check on him and he had his pointer finger on his right hand stuck in the opening of a toy watering can. Being the mean mom that I am, I had to laugh at the predicament. I told him that it was gonna be awfully hard to get his baseball glove on tomorrow with that on his finger. He didn't appreciate my humor. When he started full-on wailing, I went to take it off for him.
***Wow, that thing REALLY is stuck. Here Jay, let's put some shampoo on it to make it slide off. Huh, I thought that would work. Stop squirming, I can't get a good hold on it. Lets twist it around a bit to work the soap in. HEY STOP SCREAMING IN MY FACE! Yeah, I know it hurts, I'm trying to HELP. Buddy, this really is stuck. I think we need to cut it off. (Leave to the kitchen and come back with a knife) I am NOT cutting your finger off, CALM DOWN. Now hold still while I cut the watering can. No, I am not going to cut your finger. Hey, stop squirming or I AM going to cut your finger. There, it's coming off now. No, I will not find you a band-aid, it's just dead skin, there isn't any blood. Fine, go ahead and tell daddy that I cut your skin off, you don't need a band-aid. Now finish your bath and get to bed. ***
The funniest part about the whole saga was when I was cutting the watering can Jay was sobbing and sobbing while saying "Goodbye finger" Of course that was AFTER the blood curdling screams that probably had my neighbors close to calling to cops on the abusive mother next door.

Tantrums Do NOT Work In This House!

I guess this all started with us getting home very late from a bar-b-que last night. Both kids were up way past their bed times. Jay went into his room and fell asleep in his clothes.
This morning I was trying to get everyone ready for church. Jay was still in his dirty jeans from last night. I got him to put his church shirt on but he was having a tantrum about finishing getting dressed because he wanted to play video games. I made him go sit in the corner until he could calm down, treat me with respect and act appropriately. Every time he asked to get out of the corner he was whining so I said no. Every time I said no, he would go into melt-down phase again and the tantrum would start over. He sat in that corner until we were ready to walk out the door. What is a mom to do? We were already running late, Jay is in filthy pants, no shoes and a church shirt. He still has a bad attitude going too.
Do I just stay home and make him sit in time out the rest of the day? No, my Nursery assistant is not going to be at church today and since church has already started, I can't call a sub. So I tell Jay to go get in the car, it's time for church. He said he needed to get dressed. I told him sorry, you used your getting dressed time up by having your tantrum, now it is time to go. He thought I was bluffing and tried to call me on it by walking out the door. When he realized I was seriously going to make him go to church bare foot and with dirty clothes, he was terrified. He is so sensitive to people laughing at him and this would DEFINITELY be something he would think they would laugh at. He cried the whole way there and was begging us to let him sit in the car until church was over.
Nope, sorry buddy, you make bad choices, you live with the consequences. I made him walk into the foyer and sit down on the couch and listen to testimony meeting. He was pretty unhappy about the idea of going to Primary dressed as he was. I then showed him that his church pants and shoes were in my bag and that he could EARN them back by having a good attitude, being reverent and being an example to his sister. THAT worked! By the time they were singing the closing song in sacrament, Jay was dressed appropriately for church.
For some reason I am thinking it won't be so hard getting him ready for church next week.