New Year

I have so much to say but no desire to sit here and write so sometime within the next week I hope to get a few posts in.
For now I will just say I wish you a Happy New Year.

Christmas.

We wish you a very
Merry Christmas

Charity.

Just a very quick post tonight to say I think I am doing something right with my son.

Today Zack was in his room 'counting' out his pennies from his piggy bank. I was trying to get some stuff done when all of sudden he appeared with his fire hat in his hands. I asked what he had in his hat. He said "Mommy I want to give some money to the boys and girls that don't have enough."

Oh be still my heart. I love this child of mine!

He is always asking to put money in the red buckets when we are out and about. This morning when we were out he asked for some money to put in the red bucket but when we arrived at the store that usually has a red bucket outside there was no-one there. He was disappointed to say the least.

This year we donated a few toys to some families in need and he was happy to be helping Santa make some boys and girls have a better Christmas.

I can only hope he continues to find love in his heart throughout his lifetime and help other people whenever he can.

Breakfast with Santa Claus

The school Zack attends was hosting a breakfast with Santa Claus this morning. I had previously purchased our tickets so when we arrived all I had to do was tell them his name to get the tickets, I hate having to deal with hungry kids waiting for their food so pre-ordering is the way to go for me.

I was pleasantly surprised with the meal, it was pastries, bagels, fruits, yogurt and drinks. We gathered our meal and sat down to eat. One of Zacks classmates came running over to say hello. Once we finished our meals we waited in line to sit with and speak to the jolly old one.

When it was our turn, Zack went right up there and was just chatting away with. I took a few pictures which I will post later on. Once Zack was done, Indigo had her turn. She was obviously talking so low as if whispering because the jolly old one practically had to put his ear to her face just to hear her. I took a few pictures of her, then Zack jumped back over so I could get a picture of both kids with Santa Claus.

When we were leaving I asked Zack what he asked Santa for. He told me he asked for a Pillow Pet, a toy story movie thing (some view master/book thing he saw in the bookstore) and a Wii system. Lord knows I hate to disappoint the kiddo but a Wii is a bit out the question this year.

When I asked Indigo what she asked Santa for, she was a bit less specific. Her response "Toys." I started to laugh, she just wants it all! LOL.

When we left there Kris and Zack dropped me off at home while they went to their 'construction class' at Lowes Hardware. This is the second one they have attended and Zack loves building whatever they are building that day. He was so proud of his project today he couldn't wait to show me when he walked in the door. I was told to close my eyes because he had a surprise to show me. When I was allowed to open my eyes again I was greeted with such a huge smile. It was so sweet!

Stumping Dad.

I have been recording some of the Christmas shows and movies on the DVR for Zack to watch at a time that is more convenient for us. Well last night him and I sat down and watched one of the movies that he has never seen before. He was quiet through the whole movie which is a rare thing for this kid.

This morning he told Kris that we watched the cereal guys movie. Zack has never had the cereal but he has seen the commercial for it.

Of course Kris was stumped. He had a puzzled look on his face and questioned if it was 'The Krispie guys'? A minute or two later Zack gave it away by telling Kris that Fred and Barney was in it and they lived in a rock house.

Yes we watched the Flintstones Christmas. He enjoyed it so much.

I wonder why did they ever take that show off the air? It was one of my favorites as a child.

On the subject of old cartoons, Zack has now watched the Flintstones, the Jetsons, Tom and Jerry, and Daffy Duck. He likes them a lot. So it just tells me the older cartoons that I watched as a child are just as good now as they were then.

Two hours late.

Does it make me a bad mom that I let my four year old stay up last night two full hours after his bed time just so he could be awake when his father came home?

Does it make me a bad mom that I let my four year old stay up last night two full hours after his bed time just so he could bombard his father with pre-made snow balls when he got out of his car?

Does it make me a bad mom that I let my four year old stay up last night two full hours after his bed time just so he could have a good snow ball fight in the dark with his dad?

Does it make me a bad mom that I let my four year old stay up last night two full hours after his bed time just so I could hear him giggle with delight while many other kids in the neighborhood were sound asleep in their beds?

Does it make me a bad mom? According to my son, and I quote, "Mom you are the best Mom EVER."

So there you have it, my heart melted before the snow did.

*BTW I have learned here that the snow can be here on minute, once you turn around it has melted so I wanted to make sure he had his chance to get in a snowball fight with his daddy. You just never know if the snow will still be here in the morning.*Yes, he is in his pajamas and he does not have his boots on either. The original plan was to stay on the porch and throw the snowballs that we had already piled... it did not work out that way.

Mother Nature

Dear Mother Nature

Thank you on behalf of my four year old little man. The joy you brought to his face today when he saw those first snow flakes was absolutely wonderful. The smile you brought to his lips when he was trying to catch a snow flake on his tongue was beautiful. The laughter you brought out from his belly was hardy and infectious when he hit me in the head with a snow ball. Thank you Mother Nature for creating snow for my little man to enjoy to the fullest extent.

Sincerely,

Zack's Mom.

Headache central

The ride home from school more often than not brings on conversations like this one.

"Mommy, Miss P had to get some medicine from Miss C today."
"Really, sounds like you kids may have been giving her a headache."

"On no Mommy that is not true."

A few seconds later the real truth comes out.

"Well maybe we were."

Nineteen four year olds, one room, six hours would make me have a headache too.

Robot Zack reporting for class.

Zack has been bugging Kris lately about wanting to build a robot. Of course we have no idea where the idea came from or even what kind of robot he wants to build. All we can tell you is several times we have gotten a talking to about taking him to Lowes or Home Depot to buy the stuff to build a robot.

Today on the ride home from school he brought it up again. Only this time he let it be known that he wanted to build a robot so he didn't have to go to school. I asked him how building a robot was going to make it so he did not have to go to school. He said he wanted to build it and take it to school. Alright I will admit it, I just was not getting what he was trying to tell me.

I asked him again how was building a robot going to keep him from going to school. I asked if the robot was going to lock the doors to his school so no-one could get in. He rolled his eyes at me and said "No Mom a robot won't lock the doors to the school or anything like that, I could just build him and take him to school and I can leave him there when I stay home."

Seriously the kid is four! Where does a four year old get the idea to build a robot to replace him at school so he could stay home?

...And on that note, I will tell you that I am afraid already of his teenage years.

Kiki reappears

Our friend Kiki the Elf showed up yesterday. Zack wanted to know how Kiki knew we would be getting out the Christmas decorations yesterday because Kiki was hiding in the room where the decorations are kept.

When we went to get out the decorations from the closet, Zack ran into the room. At first he ran right passed Kiki, never even glanced in his direction. When I told him he needed to get out of the way so I could move something to get the closet door open, he stood next to the dresser. It took a second before he realized Kiki was there and boy did he start jumping around. He was all excited that his little elf came back again this year to see him.

This morning he woke up and he wanted to go check on Kiki. We looked in the spot he was yesterday but he wasn't there. There is nothing like two adults and one child walking around the house calling for a magical elf. It is certainly not like he will answer us but still we had to make it known we were looking for him. About 15 minutes later he was finally found sitting between some things that were on the mantle. That little elf is so magical that one four year old boy wants to know how he can get out of one room and into the living room. After all he does not have wings. The whole magical thing is throwing off my logical child. Hopefully within the next month that Kiki is here to visit us we can get Zack to understand that sometimes things can not be explained.

*Kiki is and Elf on the Shelf that was introduced to our household last year, you can read about it here.

Happy Thanksgiving.

On this fine Thanksgiving Day my dearest child and I had a serious conversation this morning.

"Mom why can't we have a drain for SNOT?"
"A what?"
"Why can't we have a drain for the snot to come right out of us."
"What kind of drain are you thinking about?"
"One like a rain gutter of course. It can make the snot come right out."
"Well were do you suppose the snot would come out from."
"I think maybe my hole (pointing to his belly button) or maybe down by my toes."
"Well maybe you could invent something"
"Hey Mom, Did you know snot melts in the sun?"

I gave up, I really don't want to know if he tried it out or if it was just a theory.

So on that note I have to say on this Thanksgiving day I am grateful for the conversations I have with my son, if it weren't for him I would have lost my imagination a long time ago.

What is real and what is not real?

Zack and I were watching television tonight. A commercial came on that had balloons and a waterfall and I think it may have been for perfume I am not really sure.

He looks at me and says "Mom that is not real."
I asked him how he knew it wasn't real and he replied "Mom things on television are not real."

Now this would have been a great revelation had a toy commercial not come on just as he was saying that. Just as the words came from his mouth I heard "I want that." Anyone who knows me knows I could not leave that one alone. I said "But you just told me that things on television are not real so that can not be real so you can not have something that is not real." At that I got 'the look' and he told me that all toys on television are real and he wants that.

With that I am to conclude that anything that is not sold to the under 10 years of age group can not be real.

Off Switch

When I picked Zack up from school today the sun was shining brightly in the sky. Apparently by the time we had walked to the truck, gotten in, buckled up, and drove across the parking lot Zack had enough of that big ol' ball of flames.
"Hey Mom."
"Yes Zack."
"Is there an off switch?"
"An off switch? An off switch for what Zack?"
"The Sun, it is just to bright and I can not see a thing!"

So if anyone knows where the off switch it, Zack would surely like to know.

Parent Teacher Conference

I had my first parent teacher conference with Zacks teachers a few weeks ago. I swear he was just born and here I was attending a meeting with a teacher. How quickly time has flown by.

He is doing great in school, both the teacher and the assistant let me know Zack is the third teacher in class. He helps anyone that needs help. He knows the schedule and the routine so he is always reminding the teachers that it is time for ... centers, recess or whatever. He gets along with everyone for the most part. There are a few boys who like to play rough and they are getting on his nerves with their rough play everyday. They tell me once he has had enough of them, he walks away and goes to play something else but if he needs to he defends himself.

Since school started they have tested each of the children to see what they know in the form of letters, numbers, colors, shapes, sight words and they touched on writing their names. He tested higher than anyone else. He is exceeding their expectations.

Through out the year they plan on giving him more advanced homework then the others are getting. They are going to be doing more with words and recognizing the spellings of words. They want to challenge him a little but not so much that he gets frustrated.

I have to say I am so proud of him because he is doing so well. He has come a long way from the first few weeks of crying, screaming and kicking when being dropped off.

Literacy Night

Last night Zack begged me to take him to school because they were having something going on. I checked with his teacher and they were having a Literacy night which is the parents learning from the teachers ways to help their kids with reading.

Since Zack is only in Pre-K, I know they are not reading yet so I had no idea what they would be doing but we went anyway. They had some alphabet cards for the kids to take home, some sight words (certain words on papers that the kids could memorize and know whenever they saw them) and a write on wipe off sheet for the kids to practice their writing. Since Zack knows his letters and the sounds they make they showed me a different way to use the alphabet cards with him. When he looked at the sheet of sight words, I pointed to 4 of those words and asked him if he knew them. He proceeded to tell his teacher those words. I think she was a bit shocked because so many in his class are still having a hard time picking out their own names and here he is knowing some words by looking at them. I let her know that each night when we read, I will stop at some easy words and we sound out the words so he is picking up on them.

I have to say I was very disappointed in the fact that no one else but Zack and I showed up from his class! Here these teachers are coming in on their own time to help our children get ahead and no one could take the time to come and see what it was about. As Zacks teacher said "the one child who doesn't really need this is the one to show up, the ones who could benefit the most never show up." It is sad that not enough parents could attend.

His own hun...

Zack: Mom I am going to marry my own hun someday.
Me: Your own hun?
Zack: Yeah my own hun when I am big.
Me: Oh really and what is your huns name going to be?
Zack: I don't know yet.

I guess Kris and I have shortened the word honey one to many times.

Brave boy.

The other day both Kris and I went to get our flu shots. Normally Kris does not get one but he was taking one for team Zack. We brought Zack with us so he could see the two of us getting shots and how it did not hurt and we were out of there in no time.

We had an appointment last week for Zack's flu shot but he was not feeling well so I postponed it until today. Last year he absolutely freaked out getting his shot and Kris had to carry him out of there kicking and screaming. I expected much of the same today so Kris took a little time off work to meet us there just in case.

I talked with Zack about it, reassured him that it didn't hurt and that it only felt like a pinch for just a second. I also reassured him that he would get a sticker and a lollipop at the doctors office and yes I sort of bribed him. I told him that if he could get his shot without crying and fussing he would get a special snack when we got home. I am not sure which of these things helped but he was the pillar or strength today. He sat on Kris's lap and watched the whole thing... all 2 seconds of it. He did flinch when the needle went in but he was brave. I was so proud of him.

When he got home his special treat was in ice cream sundae and believe me when I say after the past few episodes at the doctors office this kiddo of mine deserved every last drop of that ice cream! He was so brave and acted like such a big boy. (Lets hope this continues when he goes to the dentist in a few months).

Cowboys

"Mommy why are they called cowboys if they ride horses? Don't you think they should ride cows if they are called cowboys?"

Oh the mind of a curious four year old.

Happy
Birthday
Indigo!!

Sickies

When I picked Zack up from school today I noticed some stuff on his shirt. Of course I made the assumption that it was part of his lunch, after all he has never been known to be a neat eater. By the time we started to drive home I had finally been told what it was on his shirt. Apparently he had gotten sick after lunch when he was laying in his cot. He said he cleaned up the mess with his blanket that was now stuffed in his backpack. He also said he never told his teacher he was sick.

I called his teacher as soon as we got home and told her about it. As expected she knew nothing about it so I told her to check his cot and the area he was in at nap time. Although he wiped it up with his blanket I am sure there is probably still some evidence of what happened.

He has a cold but no signs of fever so I have no clue what made him sick. I questioned why he never told his teacher that he was sick and he responded with "I don't know." He also said "Mom if it happens again I will get up and run to the bathroom."

Work ethics

Kris was 'resting his eyes' on the couch one afternoon and Zack was not about to let that happen any longer than he thought necessary. He woke Kris up and kept telling him they needed to go outside and get some work done. I got a kick out of that. I really do not imagine something like that happening when Zack is a teenager but to hear a four year old telling this to a grown man gave me a chuckle.

Keeping secrets

While at my moms house the other day Zack had finished up a piece of cheese danish and asked for more. I told him no that he already had to much. While I was telling him no my mother 'secretly' slid him another small piece which made Zack giggle.
He ate it down real fast.
Later on that night after we arrived home, we ate dinner. As soon as he was done he asked if he could have the cookie Uncle Don 'secretly' handed him before we left my mothers house (which I intercepted as soon as I noticed it). I let Zack know that he already had to many snacks that day and he could have the cookie the next day.
Zack says to Kris "Daddy I had a cheese danish at Grandma's house and Mommy told me I couldn't have anymore but Grandma gave me a piece anyway and guess what Dad?... I didn't even tell anyone!"
At that point I broke into a hearty laughter.

Boys will be boys

I picked up my darling little boy today from school. All the kids were outside playing, some kids were playing trucks, others were playing ball, some were sliding and climbing and then there was 'the preschool posse'. There is 5 or 6 of them that get rowdy when playing, yes they are all boys. At some point during the day at least one of them ends up sitting in time out because they got a bit too rough. Yes, my child is part of this group and from what I hear he has had his share of time outs.

Today I get up to the playground and his teacher calls him to come. He was covered head to toe in mulch. The typical crew were 'hiding' behind the playhouse throwing mulch at each other, they were caught. Four of them were put into time out for not listening the first time they were talked to.

It was at this point that his teacher says "He took down 3 of them today." I looked at her and not wanting to believe what I was hearing I asked her if she was kidding. The boys were rough housing as usual. I guess they decided it was go after Zack day and she said he took down 3 of them. She went on to say she does not promote fighting but she does not want these children to back down from someone who is bullying them either. I am torn. I don't want my child to fight but I don't want him to let someone bully him. I know my kid does not know how much he can hurt someone. I don't know at this age if he can really separate when he should and when he shouldn't fight. What is a parent to do?

Note: no children were hurt in this episode.

Sick day.

School started only a month ago, today my little man is missing his first day :(
He could barely wake up this morning he was so tired. He ate his breakfast, then promptly went into the bathroom and it came up. I was hoping for a year of no days missed.
With any luck he will sleep it off today and be back to his normal tomorrow.

The spelling bee...

The past few days Zack has been into figuring out what letter starts a word.

For example he came running down the stairs all excited telling me to listen. He proceeds to say the words bumble bee bully. Then he looked at me and said "Mommy, the word bumble starts with a b and so does the word bully."

When in the car, he wanted me to say words so he can figure out the letter. He did real well by sounding them out and telling me the letter.

Tonight while I was reading to him before bed, he pointed to a word in the book before I read it and he asked "Mommy does this word spell UP?" High five to my big boy. The next page he pointed to another word and asked if it was GO. High fives again!

I just can not believe how much he is growing and how fast he is learning things at his own pace.

The little know it all.

It is getting a little bit better and easier getting Zack to school in the morning. This morning was a rushed morning but when we got to the school, one of his friends was getting there at the same time. Both of them grabbed hands and walked into the school together. It was just so cute.

Picking up Zack from school today, I notice all the kiddos are outside in the fenced in play yard. I don't spot Zack so that tells me he already spotted me and is inside getting his backpack and ready to head home. The assistant teacher walks him out and we meet in the middle. She proceeds to tell me that the teacher woke him up at nap time (he was not sleeping but she let him get up). She took him into her office to play a game. She was testing him on what he already knew.

The assistant starts laughing and says "Gee could you work with him a little, he knew everything she asked." I giggled because really we don't sit and teach him things we just take the time while we are doing other things to point out stuff.

It did feel good getting a pat on the back though.

Logic

Four year old logic...

Zack has not played his Nintendo DS in several weeks, tonight he decides to sit down and play it. Out comes his Monster vs aliens game. For about 15 minutes I am hearing him say things like take that, and oh no they got me. All of a sudden he turns to me and says "Hey Mom, if I beat this level and make this guy dead, then he will be dead for life"!

The human cookbook.

Need a recipe for something? Just ask Zack.

Sunday morning I asked Zack if he wanted some pancakes for breakfast. Of course he was all for it. I couldn't find the recipe I had so I looked on line for one similar. Zack asked me what I was doing on the computer so I told him I was looking for a recipe. After rolling his eyes at me he responded with a "Mom the recipe is 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar and an extra teaspoon of baking powder".

I just had to laugh because yet again he proves to me that he may only be four but he is listening to me.

Just for clarification... I did not use his recipe because that would have been a bit too sweet for me. LOL.

Eggs

Zack: "Hey Mom, what are you doing?"

Me: "I am making some hard boiled eggs to make deviled eggs."

Several hours later...

Zack: "Hey Dad, Mommy made some HOT boiled eggs today. Do you want a Hot boiled egg?"

Letting it go

It was past Zacks bed time so I asked Kris which job he wanted to do. The choices were to give Zack a quick bath or to change the sheets on Zacks bed. Well Kris chose to do the bed. Mind you I had already taken the dirty sheets off the bed, the pillow cases off the pillows and gotten the cleans sheets out and they were sitting on the bed.

When I got Zack all cleaned, dried off, teeth brushed, ears cleaned, and hair blow dried we went into his room to get dressed. I asked Kris what the heck was up that he didn't finished the bed. Apparently putting the pillow cases on the pillows and the pillows back on the bed isn't part of making up the bed. While I was stating my case, my darling child looked at me put both of his hands up and said " Mom just let it go, just let it go. Mom it is just a matter of letting it go."

I couldn't help but chuckle.

The excuses

I fear the future with this child of mine...

Tonight while giving Zack a bath, he said "Mommy how many more days do I get to stay home before I have to go back to school?" I let him know that he is able to stay home for three days and two have already passed so he has one more day to stay home. I swear he looked me straight in the eye and said "Sorry mom. I won't be able to go to school because I have the allergies!"

I politely told him he could go to school with allergies. I reminded him that if he could go to the playground with allergies he surely could go to school. He wasn't very happy with my response.

The giver

Both Zack and I woke up with signs of allergies. Poor kiddo asked for some medicine so I know it is bothering him.

He asked me what allergies are but I don't quite think he is getting the explanation because after I told him that I have allergies too he gave me quite the nasty look and said " Mom why did you give me the allergies?!"

I fear now that I will be blamed for every problem he ever has...

(sound familiar mom?)

Separation anxiety.

Today was a pretty long day.
When I finally left to go pick up Zack from his first day of pre-k, I wanted so much to hear him tell me how much he loved it. Did I get that?

Yes
&
No.

Once he realized I walked into the room the words out of his mouth was "Hi Mom, lets go." I let him know he needed to get his lunch box and his back pack. Once he grabbed them from his cubbie, he let me know he wanted to go home.

He waved goodbye to the teachers and to the classmates that were still waiting on their parents. I told him to tell them he would see them tomorrow. He did, although somewhat reluctantly.

It was like pulling teeth trying to get him to tell me some of the things he did today.

Once we finally walked to the car and got buckled in he said in a loud clear voice "Mom I had a great day but I DON'T want to go back tomorrow."

Trying to explain to a reluctant 4 year old that he doesn't really have a choice in the matter is a very hard thing to do. I think it is even harder since I still felt so terribly awful about abandoning him while he was begging me so hard to not leave him.

Tomorrow Kris takes him since I have to leave before he goes to school. I can only hope and pray that he has a better time handling the whole thing of being left there.

Worst Parent in the world!

And the Parent of the Year Award goes to...

someone other than me.

It is official!

I am the worst parent in the world.

At least that is how I feel right now. You see This morning was Zacks first day of Pre-K.
He woke up ready for the day to begin. He was happy and smiling and oh so cheery.
He was great getting ready for school. He was oh so happy and smiling taking pictures before we left the house. He was excited talking with a teacher we met out in the parking lot. He was excited walking into the classroom. He put his backpack and lunch box down and he went to some of the toys. Once he started seeing parents leave, his comfort zone was broken and he was getting ready to meltdown.

He clung to my leg like it was his last life line. He cried, he begged me not to leave him. He begged me to take him with me. He begged me to stay with him. Kris asked him for a kiss so he let go of me and clung to Kris. I had to walk out at that point or I would have lost right there.

It was about ten minutes before Kris came out. I swear I heard my kiddo scream when he opened that door. The drive home was deadly silent.

I have not received a phone call yet and it has been an hour since we left so I will go ahead and assume they were able to calm him down.

Oh why do I feel this is going to be the longest day of my life?

Anxiety in the making.

Little one starts pre-k tomorrow and I know it is a good thing BUT I want to know why I am already feeling nervous about sending him?

Can it be that he and I are rarely apart from each other? Can it be that he is getting a little bit anxious? Could it be because he keeps asking me if I will come to school with him? Could it be because no-one other than a family member has ever watched him when he is out of my sight?

Could it be all of the above?

Whatever the reason or reasons I know that as much as he can annoy the crud out of me on a daily basis, I will miss him terribly for 6 hours a day.

The Plans

Why my child thinks he has to take the pillow case off the pillow everyday is beyond me. It drives me nuts. Today I told him to put it back on, himself. He half tried. The groaning and moaning were there.
After a while he came to me and said "Mom I can not put the piwwow case on the piwwow, it just won't work". So when I told him to go try again because I don't think he tried hard enough he walked away groaning. He came back approximately 2.5 SECONDS later saying "Mom Plan A, B, and C didn't work so you are going to have to do it".
I wanted to laugh but knew I shouldn't.

Silly Songs

Little man has a new favorite song. I pulled up some stuff last night on you tube and he went nuts dancing to The chipmunks - purple people eater. He laughs hysterically and dances to the beat of his own drum. It is such a fun thing to watch especially since this kiddo has absolutely no sense of rhythm!

Time flies.

It has been such a long time since I last posted.
I posted a bit about my Mom being in the hospital, she was in for nearly a week. Turns out she had a stroke to her eye. What happened to cause that is a piece of plaque flaked off and instead of traveling to her brain, it went to her eye. She is blinded in one eye now and no-one knows if she will regain her sight in that eye or not. While in the hospital she had test after test and it was determined that both of her carotid arteries were 90% blocked. Surgery was done on one side and we should find out in 2 weeks when they will do the surgery on the other side.

After Mom was released from the hospital, I wasn't feeling well so I went to the doctor. Turns out I had strep throat. I still have no clue how I got strep but I had to stay home for days and not go anywhere near Mom for fear she would get it.

We went on our scheduled vacation to the mountains of Virginia for a week. It was such a beautiful place. I am sure I will post more about that later on in the week.

Once home from vacation I spent a few days getting some stuff done around the house then went out to my moms and spent the week there with her. I really did plan on posting about my vacation then but Moms computer would not let me log into my blog. That stupid computer was driving me insane, I tell you it really has a mind of it's own.

Now we are home again and we went to the open house for pre-k. Zack has been telling me all summer long that no way is he going to school, that he refuses to go to school and that I will not make him go to school. I bought a Leap Frog dvd about going to preschool, he watched it several times a day and finally declared that he wants to go to school because his favorite time of the day is going to be recess!!! That's my boy! We went to the open house and saw the classroom and met the teachers. I think he touched everything in that room familiarizing himself with this new world. When we walked out he stated " I didn't know why I was so nervous, I am going to love this place." LOL I love this kid.

Growing up electronic

It is official my child is much to interested in anything electronic lately.
He spent the weekend playing Nintendo DS with his cousins. He was in a joyous state with all the different games my nephew had for his DS.

He is using my cell phone to makes calls now... The past few days he has been on a kick to call my mom, after he talks with her he feels the need to talk with everyone that is in her house. The other night he was sitting at the dining room table talking with my mom and I walked in to find him leaning back in the chair with his feet propped up on the table! I wasn't thinking or I would have taken a picture.

He spent the last two weeks learning how to use the portable DVD player. He has watched every movie he owns several times. I am pretty sure at this point he can tell me how to use it and what I may be doing wrong with it.

He has watched a lot of television the past few days since I have been sick and he has messed with the remote several times and quite frankly I am tired of trying to figure out what buttons he has pressed to mess it up the way he has. Oh and it is not helping that he knows every darn commercial on television. It can be funny but it can also be annoying when you have no idea what the heck he is talking about!

I fear he will be taking over the computer next. Last night while I was on the computer he came up and asked me to go to www dot Disney dot com slash Phineas and Ferb. I will admit to being a little stunned that not only did he get the www dot but he also included the slash part!

He is just getting to smart for me.
What I want to know is where is my baby and who is the boy that seems to be hanging out around here?

A childs plea

The other day Zack was eating an egg sandwich at my moms table. She and I were sitting there talking about foods she should be eating. Out of no where Zack looks at my mom and says "Gwandma, please stop smoking." She told him that she did. He looked at her and said "Gwandma you have to pwomise me. "
...And she did.

It just goes to show we may not think he is listening but he is and somewhere down the line he is going to be bringing that subject up when you least expect it.

Feel better flowers

My brothers and sister in law picked mom up from the hospital when she was being released. So Zack and I headed down to her house a little later in the day. We were near her house and from the back seat I hear... "Hey Mom, you are going to stop at the store right?" I never mentioned going to the store so I had no clue what was coming next. I told him I had no plans to stop there and asked him what he needed me to stop there for. His reply " Mom, we need to stop at the store so I can get Grandma some feel good flowers."

Sigh!

Now on one hand I thought it was the sweetest thing he has ever said... but on the other hand I was thinking 'hey, he never buys me any flowers, what am I chopped liver?'

Yes he did buy Grandma flowers to make her feel better.

Under Attack

*image found here

While my mother was in the hospital my ever so innocent child walked into her room and was familiarizing himself with her room and everything in it. He walked up to her I.V. pump and was looking at it so intently, then he turned and asked "Where is the attack button on this thing?"

Not really the words a patient wants to hear.

It has arrived!

You know the car seat purchase I just complained about on Monday? The one that was was on back order for 2-3 weeks? Guess what showed up at my house yesterday afternoon!
Yup, that same car seat that they emailed me and apologized for not being able to ship out that day was indeed shipped out that day!

So far the seat is great! It took a bit getting it to the right height and installed properly but Zack appears to be perfectly happy with his new seat. After all he did pick out the color of the new seat (not one I would have chosen but he has to sit in it not me). Now the only problem is figuring out how to shrink this kid so he can stay in it for a longer period of time.

Now to figure out what to do with his old seat which still has a few years left on it.

Purchasing a new car seat.

I am sitting here quite irritated.

I did a lot of research and spent days on the computer reading reviews and looking at the statistics of car seats and which one would be best for my child. No easy task when you have a larger child.

I narrowed it down to six. Did even more research on those six, then narrowed it down to four. More searching, more mind numbing numbers and reviews, I narrowed it down to three, then two and finally chose one that I felt confident would be the best choice for him and me. As you can tell I don't take car seats to lightly, children are not built like adults are and therefore need more protection.

For all you 'older' folks shaking your head and saying well my kids were never in car seats... I say stop and think about it for a moment. There are many more cars on the road nowadays a lot of which are being driven by someone who just needs to get where they are going without caring about anything else. These cars are certainly not built they way they used to be. Most people did not speed like a lot of people do today. There weren't any cell phones back then to distract people, Even though a law was passed saying it is illegal to text while driving I still see people do it. Why should I as a parent not want to make sure my child is as protected as can be each and every time he gets in the car.

Now I sit and check on line for the best price I can find. I find several places offering it at a decent price which is a big savings over that big box store that I would have to waste tons of gas to get to. So I order it from a reputable company. I get the confirmation email that says they received my order and will process the order and it should ship out today and I should receive it in about 3 business days. Great, I really need this seat so I am excited they are so quick about it.

Two hours later I receive an email stating the stock of the item I ordered has been depleted and is on back order! They expect a shipment from the manufacture in 2-3 weeks then it will ship out to me! Oh but in the mean time they have already charged me for it.

Come on, how can they not know or state on their website that the items are not currently in stock. Is it really that difficult to have the quantity in stock listed in their system so people who order something are not having to wait 2-3 weeks before it is even shipped? This is the age of technology for crying out loud, things should be updated immediately.

I have since checked with another website and they do not have the one in stock that I want so now I ponder. Should I cancel my order and go to the not so local box store and spend an extra $75 plus gas or do I wait it out and put my son in a lovely pink high back booster that I have access to until this one comes in?

Why can't things go smoothly when I need them too?

Happy Birthday!

Today is Kris' birthday. We had some cake and ice cream for him on Sunday when we had some family here. My mom made his day, and probably his week too because she thought his was several years younger than he really is. Either she is loosing it or she was just trying to butter him up for something. (I think it is the later of the two).

Zack and I picked him up for lunch today to get him out of the office on his special day. Then when he gets home tonight the plan is to grill up a couple steaks. Even though you have to work all day Kris, I hope your day is a special one. We love you!

Dill Weed

Kris and Zack are upstairs, I am sitting at the dining room table downstairs. All of a sudden I hear
"Hey Dad, what is a dill weed?" No he is not talking about something you cook with.
Kris told him it was a bad word. Zack responds with "Well on Kick Buttowski Brad calls Kick that."
So Kris tried to explain that Brad got mad at his brother Kick and called him a bad name.

Why do I have a feeling these types of questions are going to come up more and more?

A big step.

Well it is official, Zack will be taking the next big step of his life in just a few short months. We received the letter saying Zack was accepted into a pre-k program. When I opened the letter I immediately told Zack that he is now a big boy and will be going to school in a few months. He responded with great excitement which quickly turned to concern. "Woo-Hoo... Mommy will you come to school with me?"

I am not sure how he is going to deal with it the first few days but I do hope he is going to love it and not be too concerned when I leave him with his new teachers. Thankfully with this program the teachers will come to the house before school starts and he will have a chance to get to know them. We will also attend the open house so he can see the inside of the school, the classroom, the bathrooms, and the other children.

I think over the next few months I will take him to the school a few times so he can at least see the outside of the school, play on the playground and just get used to the whole idea in general. Anything I can to help transition him I hope will ease some of his anxiety.

I am so glad he will be starting this new journey and I want to make it as easy as possible on him since he is a child who gets very anxious over certain situations.

Name Changes

Yesterday I told Zack we were going to to look at and try out some big boy car seats (booster seats). He gave me a weird look and said "Um Mom don't you mean Big Boys R Us?"

My guess is a four year old thinks you should not buy a big boy seat at a baby store.

Sigh!

----------------------------------------------------------------

My child is trying his hardest to change the name of an item that has been around for hundreds of years.
An item currently known the world over as the Hula Hoop.

Every time Zack sees one he calls it a "Hoop A Loop". I correct him and he does it again and again. So for now on just refer to that popular kids toy as a Hoop A Loop.

Is it just my child who likes to change the names of things?

Wedding

On Friday June 25, 2010 my son David walked down the aisle of his church and married his best friend Ronnisha (aka. Lilly). Not only did he become a husband he also became a step dad to a cutie pie two year old little girl, Indigo.

The ceremony was a small intimate ceremony with just the bride and groom, the parents, the couple who witnessed the event for them and the kids. It was a short sweet ceremony. During the ceremony I was doing anything I could to keep Zack quiet and yes I even resorted to popping a gold fish or two in his mouth.

They are planning on having a big celebration on their first anniversary for friends and family to join them in celebrating their union.After the wedding had taken place I was joking with David that he should have taken her last name instead of the other way around. David has his fathers last name but Lilly had the same last name as Kris and I. Weird I know.

The ceremony.

The new family (Indigo was not so happy that she had to stop playing for a moment).

The committed.

The family.

Miss Indigo

Brothers

BTW I still want to know when did I get old enough to have a child get married? I swear I am too young for this. LOL

Shirts galore

"Zack go get your shorts and a shirt."
"Why?"
"So we can get ready to go to grandmas house."
"Oh okay."

He gets a pair of shorts, lays them on the floor.

"Zack where is your shirt?"
"I just want to wear my pajama shirt."
"No sir, go get a shirt from your dresser."
"Fine."

He comes back with not one shirt, not two shirts, but every shirt in the drawer!

"Zack you only have one body you do not need that many shirts."
"But Mom I need them all because I might make a mess."

Now I can not argue that fact with him because he is the messiest eater ever but I certainly do not want to carry the many shirts with us. He reluctantly agrees to bring all but one of them all back to his dresser. Now I have to refold every shirt that he has stuffed into that drawer.

I think I will wait until later to do that.

Silly me.

You know you are having a bad day when your husband comes home from work and looks at you kind of weird and says "So has the day really been that bad?" You roll your eyes at him with a leave me alone look and then he springs into laughter telling you your shirt is not only backward but it is inside out too! DOH!

Thank you mother nature for making it so hot out that I never bothered to go outside!

Purple Fly Poop

Zack comes running in the kitchen this morning yelling "Mommy come quick." I really do not like it when he does this because 9 times out of 10 it is nothing serious.
When I asked him what was wrong he told me there was a problem in the bathroom. Hoping there wasn't tons of water all over the floor I went in to see what the problem could be.
"Look mom there is some kind of sticky stuff over here." While shaking my head in disbelief I let him know it was food from his hands. Now he tells me not so politely I might add that I am just wrong because he didn't get any food on the walls. I try to get him to understand that it really is food that came from his hands when he touched the wall while turning on the light switch.
Only my kid would respond back to that with "But Mom it wasn't me, it's not food, it is purple poop from a fly!" "Zack it is not purple fly poop." "Oh yes it is Mommy."

Later on I am telling Kris about this and Zack lets out a laugh and says "Oh I know what it could be, I bet it was jelly from the peanut butter and jelly sandwich."

And this is what I live with.

The Princess and the Frog

I am known to some as Princess. I do not necessarily act or look the part but when it comes to creepy crawly things I am definitely a Princess. I do not like critters, I will not come close enough to one to ever touch one nor would I come close enough to look one in the eye.

There is a frog living on the grounds of my castle. How dare he decide to take up residence without signing a contract stating he will stay far far away from this princess.

You see he made himself known the day I, the princess and her henchmen were beautifying the grounds. This creature had the nerve to jump out in the direction of your Royal Highness scaring the bleep out of me! Both my henchmen laughed, thinking it was funny that their leader was about to have a heart attack over a frog. Being the wonderful person I am, I allowed this creature to live in the royal flower gardens. He must not have liked this location because several days later he scared the bleep out of the princess a second time.

He had decided to take up residence in another area of the grounds without first gaining approval from the princess. The little henchman that was tending the grounds with the princess thought it very funny when the little slime ball jumped out at her again. Now this little slime ball had taken up residence in the hose reel hideaway box. "OK OK Frog, I will allow you to live there, someone else will have to water the gardens each day."

Now apparently the hose reel box was not roomy enough when the hose was actually rolled up so he moved out. He took up residence under the grill jumping out at the little henchman who was all to excited to see this slimy little creature. "Listen up Slimy you can live under the grill all you want, I will no longer cook outdoors for my loyal servants."

Tonight the large servant and I were taking care of the grounds once again when I the princess bent down to smell the roses only to have that darn little slimy creature hop out of the rose bush. While I was trying to water the rose bush and watch that flippin slime bucket so he did not hop in my direction I leaned into a spider web that I did not see. There was still a spider in the web! I screamed for the large servant to help get the web and the spider from my hair. "Listen up slime bucket, you win! I will no longer be exiting the royal palace. You may have the grounds I am through with your games. From here on out my loyal henchmen will have to take care of the royal grounds while I bellow orders from inside the palace."

The war of the rose bushes.

On Mothers day I received two yellow rose bushes. Very pretty. They had been sitting in the pots since then in the flower bed just waiting for decisions to be made on where to plant them. Finally decided Sunday to get them in the ground before the poor things die. Kris and Zack did the holes, we get the bushes in the ground and give a certain little man warnings that he is to stay away from them.

Then Monday we are outside watering some plants and the neighbors from next door come over. Zack walks his friend over to the rose bushes and gives very specific instructions to stay away from mommies roses or she will spank. My neighbor laughs and tells Zack that she has the same rules about her rose bush.

The kids are playing, I warned twice to stay away from the roses when they were getting to close. Sure enough before I could get the final warning out the neighbor throws the ball dodge ball style at Zack and he runs and tries to duck down landing right smack in the middle of one bush! After getting him up and out then making sure he wasn't seriously hurt I check on the bush.
I am sad to say half of it did not make it, he broke off a good portion of it. I am hoping it does not kill the whole thing.

It is becoming more obvious by the day that I can not have anything nice until Zack is married and buys his own home!

By the way, he did not get spanked although I thought about it and also he is fine, some scratches on his face and leg but nothing major.

Father and Son bonding.

Kris had promised Zack for over a week that he would take him to shoot paintballs. That is all Zack talked about all week. Everyday he would get up and within the first hour he would ask if it was the day daddy was taking him to play paintball at the paintball field. Yesterday was the day.
Now I was not so thrilled with the idea of having my four year old at the paintball field possibly getting hit with a ball. I was told they would only be in the area where you take your gun to test shoot it.

Paintball Guns... check
Goggles... check
Paintballs... check
A snack for a very hungry little man... check
A drink for a very thirsty little man... check
And finally sunscreen applied... check.

Off they go.

When they arrived home, I find out they weren't in the area where you test the gun. No, my four year old was playing paintball on a field all set up with bunkers. Thankfully he was the only one on that field shooting. He loved it. Kris told me he set him up to shoot at the largest bunker, turned around for a second and the little paintball pro was going around shooting at everything.

I think the mask is a bit big for him but apparently that didn't stop him.
Here he is loading the hopper with all the paintballs. (Zack be grateful dad didn't make you clean your own gun like he did me the first time I went to play).
Partners in crime

Here he is on the field.

He needs to learn how to hold the gun a little better.

I asked Zack all about his adventure and he told me "I want to go back sometime." When I told him he had to ask dad he responded with a "I sure will Mom". Then he told me all about Dad using someone else's gun to shoot and how dad said it was OK to do that. When I asked him whose gun he used he said "I used the green one." I said "I know it was green but whose gun is it?" (Kris sit down now) Zack looked at me like I was asking the dumbest question the world and he said "Mom it is my gun!"

Painting weekend

How did you spend your Memorial Day? We spent several days painting Zacks room. After all it was exactly 3 years since we purchased our house, we figured it was really time to get some paint on the walls. There were so many marks on the walls it was ridiculous. You know how builders paint attracts every little mark and makes it stick out even more than it should. I swear they water that stuff down and use half the paint they should. I tried washing the walls but there was a lot of stuff that just would not come off.

It took a lot longer to do his room then we thought it would. The measurements for the stripes were not working out right. When we finally got that all done and painted the white stripes we realized just how bowed the walls are (love the quality workmanship there - NOT). I was pretty amazed at much paint soaked into the walls. We used a paint that has the primer in it to try to save a step.

Once the white stripes were dry we taped off the stripes the way we wanted them, then started in on cutting in the first color.
Of course Zack wanted to help. Here he is learning how to 'roller'. He did not do a bad job at all but gave up to quickly when he realized how much work it was.
We opted to leave two walls solid. Trust me if we were going to be putting in stripes on these walls we would probably still be up there measuring and not have a single drop of paint on the walls yet.
Once we finished painting everything with the lightest color, we started working our way down with the remaining colors. Once all the colors were done we pulled the blue tape to reveal the white stripes. I was pretty amazed at how little bleeding there was, I will admit I expected a lot more. I do think the room turned out great and Zack loves it so I think it was worth giving up our weekend for.

Oh and we used a satin finish so it would be easier to wash the walls down if a certain little man decided to run his toys against the walls again. I will say next time I will put some pure vanilla in the cans of paint before we ever start because here it is several days later and the room still smells bad.

Anyone who knows my husband knows he would prefer to live in a house with all white walls so a great big thank you to Kris for going along with painting the room with stripes and doing something different from the norm.

Dental destruction.

Can someone tell me how a 4 year old can not see a large outdoor dining table when running? That same table that has been there for 2 years. That same table he has eaten at many times.

A few of the neighbors kids came over to play last night so there were a lot of silliness going on. Someone said lets play tag, 'game on'! A few minutes into the game and my ever so graceful child runs face first right into the table :(

Poor kid went down hard. The tears, the screams, the cries all came on after a moment of stunned silence. This time he hit teeth on the opposite side of the last incident. There was a bit of blood but nothing like last time. It does not appear to have moved or loosened any of the teeth. (Thanking the Lord for that).

This morning he woke up and his chin has a black and blue on it. Thankfully we aren't planning on getting pictures done anytime soon.

I sit here wondering if my child is on a path of dental destruction. Did I bring it on always telling him he had to brush brush brush to keep those pearly whites? Somehow it just seems like he is trying hard to loose all those pearly whites.

Surgery.

David went in to surgery this morning to repair the damage to his knee. He tore the ACL and had damage to the cartilage. Lilly has been keeping me posted since I can not be there. They took him back into surgery at about 7:30am. It was supposed to take an hour or so but my phone was ringing at 8:15 am. He was in recovery at that point. Took less time then expected so I am hoping that is a good sign, that maybe there wasn't as much damage as they thought. Lilly will call when she knows more.

I will admit to being a bit nervous for him last night, after all he is still my child no matter how old he gets!

The little volcano

At my Moms house today Zack wanted to go outside with my Mom and my Aunt. They were both trying to tell him that he did not need his shoes on because they were only going on the porch. He was being insistent about getting his shoes on and they were being insistent about him not needing his shoes. I heard him tell them "Guys stop erupting me". I am pretty sure he was meaning 'stop interrupting me' but then again it may have been a Freudian slip and he was telling them he was about to erupt if they didn't leave him alone.

Giggles

Zack had to have his binoculars to go to the library today. According to him he needed to explore the library.

They were around his neck and when I buckled him in to his car seat I wasn't thinking and put the buckle on top of the string that holds the binoculars. While driving I looked back to see him trying to unbuckle so he can get them out. When I saw that I yelled "Don't you dare unbuckle that Mister."

His response sent me into a good giggle. "Mommy don't call me Mister! I am a child!"

Put him to work.

Putting a four year old to work.

Would I be a terrible parent if I made my 4 year old do his own laundry? It is not as if he has tons of laundry to do or that it is hard for me to do. He just loves to push the buttons on the washer and dryer so why shouldn't I put him to work.

I gathered up all the dirty clothes in his hamper and the towels from his bathroom and headed to the laundry room. He followed. I separated things and added the detergent, he did the rest. When the washer was done he went in and put everything into the dryer, got out a dryer sheet and turned the dryer on. He even folded clothes when they came out of the dryer. Okay I will admit he folded 2 pair of pants and matched up the socks while I did everything else, but that is a start right? Oh and he didn't fold them the way I would but that was alright with me, I left them the way he did it.

He has a job to do each time I unload the dishwasher. He has to put away the eating utensils. It takes him forever and a day to do it but he does get it done. I do go through and take out the sharp knives first but the rest is his job. One that he does well.

Whenever I am vacuuming he sometimes wants to help, other times not so much. You see he has always been fearful of the vacuum so we try to encourage him to help with it, even if only for a minute I feel that is a step in the right direction. Now I will say he feels right at home sweeping the floors. He has his own broom and will go into the hall closet multiple times a day to get that broom and sweep up the floor. I won't complain about that.

He hasn't had to 'clean' his room yet because there isn't much in there. We don't really have toys in there other than his babies to sleep with and a train set. Right now there are too many clothes just laying around because I cleaned out his closet and his dresser and haven't done a thing with them. He does need to clean his playroom out but that will be a month long chore I am sure. The toys are everywhere. We need to get them sorted before we make any decisions on what stays and what goes.

What next?

I am sitting here feeling like a terrible parent.

Why?

That's easy to answer.

When my child was an infant I bought him a Bumbo seat. Later on they were recalled. The repair was a sticker to inform you only to set the seat on a floor and keep an eye on your child.

I spent a fortune to buy a better car seat. Later on they were recalled. The repair was just a statement saying not to use the Latch system after your child weighs 50 pounds. Why did I spend so much for a seat that I can not use to the fullest extent?

I put my child to bed in a crib that was bought new for him. Later on after he switched to a bed I see they recalled the cribs. I am waiting on the repair kit.

I bought my child a cute little push buggy car from Step 2. Later on they were recalled. The handle can become unattached while pushing your child in the car. I am waiting on the repair kit.

I bought my child some Thomas the Trains. Later on they are recalled for lead. The train was thrown out.

I bought my child name brand cold medicine and also fever reducers because they are made from a company I trust. Later on they were recalled but the company says they aren't a health risk (sorry I am not buying that). I received my refund check today.

I am getting so irritated that I can not buy things for my child without worrying what damage they will cause to him or to any other child who may use these items. I am feeling like a bad parent even though I know it is nothing that I did wrong nor can I control it.

All these recalls have to stop, what ever happened to quality control? Why aren't these companies testing and retesting their products before they are mass produced? I look around the house and wonder what is going to be recalled next.

The results are in...

David finally received the results of the MRI that was done on his knee. The verdict is not the one I really wanted to hear. He tore his ACL and did some damage to the cartilage. Now he has to have surgery to repair it.

I hope the surgery and the physical therapy are much less harder on him then they were on Kris when he went though the same thing.

As for Zack and his teeth. Well the one tooth that pushed back appears to be in the correct position now so that is not a concern but the other tooth that we fought a long two week battle to save is now a thing of the past. Apparently my child had fun playing with his wiggly tooth using his tongue so when he went to bed a few nights ago it 'just' came out. We geared up for a visit from the tooth fairy, she was so nice to leave 4 quarters for the piggy bank and a gold coin for safe keeping (we could have gotten away with only leaving pennies because that is what Zack is telling everyone she left). The only thing Zack was being insistent on is he wants to keep the tooth so he wrote a letter to the tooth fairy (which he left a Grandmas house so we are real glad that Grandma gave the tooth fairy the letter). The tooth fairy was nice enough to leave a note saying he could hold onto the tooth a little while longer but she is going to want it because it is nice and white and it would look good in her collection. He was satisfied with that.

This is what he looked like a week ago with the wobbly tooth, notice how far down it is compared to the tooth next to it.
Here he is sporting his new look, excuse the wet face he just washed and I didn't realized he never dried.

As seen on TV

Oh no, my child is a walking commercial. I am telling you he is going to be the next guy you see on every infomercial.

Before Christmas time all I heard from the boy was we needed a perfect brownie pan because the TV said it makes the perfect brownies and we can only have perfect brownies with no rips. Mind you we rarely if ever make brownies.

Then I heard day after day how we needed to have the Touch and Brush. You know the one where you push the little lever and the toothpaste comes out on to your tooth brush. The one I find absolutely disgusting. The one he insisted would mean he wouldn't get any toothpaste on the counter anymore.


Then he wanted the Aqua Sand so he could use it over and over again. Right on there kiddo, like I would trust you with water and sand in my house. You have a sand box and a water table outside... see ya.
Oh then there was the Bog Top Cupcake Pan that we just had to buy because we need to make really big cupcakes. Again we rarely bake cakes so how will this help?
The latest and greatest is the Lysol No-Touch Hand Soap Dispenser. Oh my how that child can give you all the key features to this product. He is desperate to have one of these not only so his hands never have to touch the germy soap bottle again but also because it is antibacterial (like he even knows what that means).
I think these companies need to send him a paycheck, after all he is promoting their products sometimes on a daily basis.

I can't read...

Driving past the local Target the other day, we notice a new building next to it. The building looks near completion with the name of the fast food joint already on the outside.

From the back seat I hear "look they are finishing building that Chick-Fil-A".

So I asked Mr. Know It All how he knew that was a Chick-Fil-A if he just finished telling me he couldn't read?

His response was "Mom I can't read books but I can read places!"

The logic of a 4 year old.

Doctors, Doctors and more Doctors.

Taking Zack to the dentist was just like I thought it would be. He was the perfect angel in the waiting room, then he heard his name called and he walked the other way yelling no, I don't want to go. This time I backed off and let Kris deal with it. The dental hygienist was great trying to deal with him, she tried distracting him with a video game. They needed to get an x-ray, he was not co-operating. The hygienist and her student left the room to go get reinforcements. It took four hygienists to get the x-ray.
We went back into the waiting room while the film developed and when they called his name again he freaked out and tried to escape. He had to be carried back to the exam room. When he was put down he tried to make a run for the door again. The dentist checked his teeth and mouth. No damage was done to the permanent teeth, the dentist was not really concerned with the tooth that was pushed back. The front tooth on the other hand was questionable. He gave us the options of leaving it and see if it would tighten up or having it pulled.
Since I did not want my little man going through any more trauma, I opted to leave it alone and see if it tightens up on it's own.
We do have to go bad again in a month to check the tooth out and see if there is any progress. Is it bad to say I already dread that appointment because this little one is too hard to handle. When I was waiting to get the appointment made, Zack headed for the door and walked out of the office, Daddy quickly followed.

As for my oldest and his mishap, he did wind up going to the ER that night, they think he tore a ligament and gave him a brace, crutches and some pain killers. He has an appointment with an orthopedic specialist on Thursday. I pray he does not need surgery.

Speaking of surgery, one of my brothers had some surgery yesterday to break up a kidney stone that just won't go away. He has to have it done again in two weeks because they could get the whole thing broken up. If you could say a prayer for him that his doctor can find a reason why this keeps happening to him so often.

A painful day.

My stomach is still in knots. This morning Kris took Zack outside, they were going to clean out the cars and get them vacuumed out. Zack started helping but then our neighbors son came out and of course Zack passed on helping anymore and went to play. Kris let them go into the back yard to play. Apparently the boys were on the slide, lets just say Zack versus the slide, the slide won.

I was in the house but I heard crying so I went to see what was wrong. There was Kris and Zack coming around the corner. Zack crying so hard I knew something seriously wrong happened. It was then I noticed Kris holding a rag with blood on it. I started to panic a bit when I realized it was Zacks mouth bleeding. I immediately called the dentist. He called in a prescription and wants to see Zack tomorrow.

It took nearly an hour for the bleeding to completely stop. The inside of his lip was cut, the gum was split open, two of his pearly whites are not in the same place they were. His lip hasn't swollen as much as I thought it would but his poor little mouth hurts. He is having a hard time eating anything that isn't soft because of the pain and honestly he is getting grumpy over it because he isn't really communicating to us that he is hurting.

Zack does not know it yet but we have to go into the dentist office tomorrow for x-rays to see if there was any damage done to his mouth or the adult teeth. I asked Kris if he was going to come with us because I know Zack is going to completely freak out when he realizes where we are. I can no longer carry him or hold him down for the dentist to look into his mouth.

I feel so bad for what he is going to go through tomorrow, he does not handle going to the dentist or the doctor at all and I feel terrible making him suffer even if I know in my heart it is for the best. I am already feeling very anxious over putting him through the hell he is surely going to be experiencing by just being there.

I am also upset over his teeth being the way they are. Zack has (had) nice teeth. From the time he got his first tooth I always told him we need to brush his teeth good so he can make sure he keeps those teeth pearly white.

Then tonight my future daughter in law calls to check on Zack and she tells me that my oldest son hurt his knee today and is in a lot of pain. So much she said that she has never seen him in that much pain. I told him to go to the doctor and have it checked out, it is better to be safe than sorry. I do hope he hasn't seriously done any damage. Even though he is not living at home anymore and even though he is 26 years old I still worry about him and don't want to hear of him being in pain.

Both is my boys hurt in the same day, that is not a good thing.

Oh what a night...

Today I was going to write up a post all about our trip to see family this past weekend but that will have to wait for another day.

Zack became sick last night with a high grade fever, vomiting, and complaining of a sore throat. Needless to say no-one in this house was able to get much sleep. I feel so bad for Kris today, 3 hours of sleep and he has a long day at work today.

Zack wanted to add his point of view...
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Dirty eyes

Please tell me how a child can get pieces of dirt in his eye and not have it bother him?

I took Zack outside tonight. We were chalking up the driveway when the neighbor boy came out to play. They drew for all of 30 seconds before the racing around the yard started. They were playing nicely so when they asked to go into the back yard, DH opened the gate and let them in.

The two of them kept running out and telling us the 'oh so funny' things they were doing and saying. Then it became a little too quiet for my liking. I walk to the gate which is still wide open and peeked in. The two of them are digging and tossing the dirt at each other. Now let me just say I use the term dirt very loosely here, we don't have dirt in my neck of the woods we have the infamous red clay that so many other southeastern residents have. Oh how I despise that red, can never be removed from clothing, clay!

A short while after the kids got a talking to about digging in the clay they are not supposed to be anywhere near, we went inside because it was getting a bit on the dark side. Wow that is when I saw how filthy my child had become! He received the warning, do not touch a thing, do not walk on the carpet with those nasty feet (yes he was outside barefoot). He marched straight to the bath. I am telling you it crossed my mind that he could have planted the entire summer garden in the dirt that just encased his neck! It was then that I saw the gunk in his eyes. Actual pieces of dirt and whatever else that black stuff could have been. I thought I had gotten it all out but I was mistaken. It took at least 20 minutes to get the rest of the gunk out of his eye. I do not know how it wasn't bothering him, I know if it were me, I would have been itching it and scratching it a lot.

I am happy to report we were able to gets the red rings off him and off the tub!

Lesson for today: if you don't want mom to have to get the dirt out of your eye, don't throw it!