The First Tooth Is Gone!

Well, it finally happened!  Zeke's tooth has been loose for a number of days, and this morning, while biting into a croissant, it fell out.

He's so happy though.  He was so exciting about getting a loose tooth, I guess because some of his friends at school have already lost teeth.  "This means I'm going to be 6 soon!" he was telling me on the way in to ESP this morning.

Ah, to be 6 again!

I remember losing my first tooth.  I was 5 and waiting in line at school to go to morning assembly.  Standing in Ms. Thompson's classroom that morning, I was so excited and proud to sport my new snaggle-toothed grin.  :-D

Life was simpler back then, huh?

Unfortunately, Zeke misplaced his tooth somewhere on the living room carpet tonight (not long after I told him to be careful not to lose it), so I'm going to have to try and find it before I vacuum.  I told him he was going to have to wait until tomorrow night to put it under his pillow, and while somewhat disappointed, he took the news pretty well.

So after 27 years of inflation, what's the going rate for a tooth these days anyway?

Oh well.  Better go look for that tooth so that I--I mean the Tooth Fairy--can do her job!  ;-)

Gabe's TWO!!!

I posted pictures of Gabe's birthday get-together on Facebook, but I wanted to include a few snapshots here, too, just for the record.




Gabe ADORES Scooby Doo, so it wasn't hard to decide what the theme was going to be for the cake! :)



I love this one. I still think he's going to be left-handed, though Hubby still thinks it's too early to tell. We'll see. I don't know of any lefties in either family, so Gabe will be the first (if he is a lefty, that is). He seems to want to draw with his left hand, and he always holds his fork in his left hand, though admittedly he'll still eat with his right. I don't know.

We had a good time, ate lots of Indian food at my parents' house, followed by the Scooby Doo cake. Gabe got lots of birthday money in lieu of gifts (being the younger boy, he inherited a lot of Zeke's toys and clothes), so we're getting his college savings put away for 16 years from now!

College savings...oh, joy! That should be a whole separate blog entry, I think. LOL!

Anyway, just wanted to share a few pictures. Working on potty training now, and with him moving up to the 2's class at the daycare, that should pick up the pace pretty quickly. I'm so looking forward to being done with diapers! I've changed a lot of diapers over the past 5-6 years, and I'm ready to retire. Besides, according to one of the displays at the Discovery Center, it takes 500 years for a baby's diaper to completely decompose. That's a scary thought! I guess my boys have left their mark on the world, and not necessarily in a good way, I'm afraid. :-\

Oops! My break's over. Better get back to work! :)

Mommy Day!

"Mommy day, Mommy day, hey-ho Mommy day!"

That's something Gabe likes to sing, which I think he picked up at daycare. Sometimes, he sings, "Daddy day" or "Zekie day," depending on whoever's in the room or in his little head. But today, it's the theme of my day, specifically, Mommy Day.

The boys had dentist appointments this morning, and after taking them to school/daycare, I took the day off to just do "Mommy Day" things...clothes shopping, getting my hair done, and trying out a new place for lunch. I haven't had a day off without kids with me in I don't know how long, so this really was a treat!

I've decided perhaps I need to do this more often. Call it a mental health day or whatever, but taking a day to do things just for me really is a refreshing change. I even told myself I wasn't allowed to do laundry or dishes or pick up the toys that always seem to be strewn across the living room floor. The only thing I'm going to do today is cook a couple of dishes for the week (which was something I was supposed to do yesterday, but I took the boys out to the Discovery Center instead).

So after a day around town, I'm kicking back in the recliner with my feet up and a enjoying an episode of "All In The Family" that I recorded on my beloved new DVR...minus the commercials. Ahhhh!!

I have to say, I was a little disappointed with lunch though. I decided to stop by the local Five Guys restaurant in town, since someone had highly recommended the place some time ago. Since I was in the area, I figured I'd give it a shot.

I got the little cheeseburger all the way, fries, and a drink. Since it cost me $10, I figured this better be good. The burger wasn't bad, but the bun left a lot to be desired. It practically fell apart on account of the toppings, disintegrating right before my eyes, and left me eating the thing in pieces. The fries were good though--fresh cut, homemade, and cooked well. Their sweet tea was strong and not overly sweet, just the way I like it. They even had bottles of malt vinegar with the condiments, which reminded me a little of home. :) The place itself was clean and well lit, and the service was pretty good as far as wait time was concerned.

All in all, it wasn't horrible. But let's just say it didn't exactly wow me. If I'm going to pay $10 for a hamburger meal, I think I'll stick with Red Robin and their Royal Burger. Yeah baby!

Well, I guess I'd better get up and get those dishes cooked for this week. Last night, I made a cheese and onion quiche (with fontina cheese that I shredded myself...very fancy, I know!) to go with a strawberry and spinach salad and homemade balsamic dressing, and I made taco meat for a taco salad. Today I'm fixing shrimp fried rice and baked ziti for the week's menu.

I've only got an hour of "Mommy Day" left, and I'm gonna ENJOY IT!! Luckily, I find cooking enjoyable.

Here's to a new tradition! Like I said, I think I'll be doing this more often!

Wow! Where've I Been??

Yeah, to say the least, things have gotten busy in our household. This is my first official post of 2011! *hangs head in shame* Not that I haven't THOUGHT about blogging. With Hubby back on the road, and the boys and me running the household together, that's just a recipe for craziness, and boy, is it crazy!

I need to post about Gabe's recent birthday, but I'll have to do that when I have access to my pictures. HAPPY 2ND BIRTHDAY, LIL' MAN!!! We are so very proud.

But yeah, I've recently upgraded the RAM on my laptop (hello blazing light speed as opposed to running through molasses), and now I'm working on getting ALL my digital pictures touched up and organized in folders, then transferred to my new flash drives.

A little behind the times, me thinks.

So when I do finally get my act together, I'll be able to post some wonderful cake-in-the-face pictures from earlier this month. Woo hoo!

I do have one little snippet to share. I found a recipe on another blog, wickedgooddinner.com, for some amazing-looking watermelon pops! Check it out right here! I might not be able to keep these in stock at home, so the kids better move fast if they want some of this. Hehehe...

And now, back to work...

On Divorce

This is not a cheery topic by any means, but I felt I needed to say a little something about it. A friend of mine recently revealed to me that she and her husband have decided to get a divorce. This came as a huge shock to me...the couple in question overcame some amazing odds to be together, and the last thing I thought would happen was to see them split. They have 3 beautiful children, and my heart really goes out to these kids at a time like this.

Nobody can really say what it was that drove these two people apart. I'll go out on a limb here and speculate that stress over money, family, kids, and work played a huge role in this fiasco. We try our best to get through the day-to-day struggles that all marriages face, but I guess sometimes the struggle just becomes too much.

Hubby and I were both very saddened by the news. Talking about it, and speaking for myself, I came to realize just how lucky I am to have what I do. My own two sons, though I would do absolutely anything for them, can sometimes stress Hubby and I out to the point we get on each other's nerves. What we need to remember is that when we get to that point, we need to regroup and shift the focus toward a more positive direction.

Easier said than done at times, I know.

In the long run, though no relationship is perfect (be honest...there's always something that could use improvement), it feels good to be able to reflect together on the things that strengthen that bond between husband and wife. Sometimes it's as simple as looking at things from the other person's perspective, something we might overlook in the heat of the moment. (He came up with that one himself! I was so proud.) Other times, just talking about how each person feels can bring light to the situation, and the other party might never have dreamed you feel the way you do and was going along without giving it a second thought!

I hope we can both remember these points, if and when the need should arise. But in the mean time, I am thankful for what I feel is a wonderful marriage to a man I have continually grown to love and respect over the near-decade we've been together. I know not everyone can say that about their spouse. For that, I am truly sorry.

To anyone reading this who has gone through a divorce or knows of a couple going through it, I hope you are able to surround yourself with people who know and love you, and who are willing to walk with you through this devastating period in your life. Divorce is hard on everyone involved, as well as those closest to you. I sincerely hope that our friends will come through this without a lot of heartache and loose ends, and that their little ones will one day understand that their parents made this choice because they were really trying to do right by them in the long run.

We love you all.