Well, Zane will be home for four weeks starting next week. He's been at his school's summer session/camp thing up until now. They do music at the summer program, and it's quite fun.
The reason I am getting a little apprehensive about the weeks to come is based on how Spring Break went this year. Here's a true story about the third day of Spring Break.
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Tuesday morning my day started at 6:30AM. Damon mercifully lets me sleep to 6:30 most days, even though the kids are often up at 5:30 or earlier.
As soon as I get out into the living room, Zane informs me that he hasn't been fed breakfast yet. OK, what can I get you? At his request, I serve cinnamon french toast (I buy it frozen) with some syrup on top. Zane grumbles that he prefers to have a cup of syrup so that he can dip each bite. I tell him it's a done deal, and by the way it's getting cold, so he'd better start eating.
Naturally Wyatt hasn't been fed, either. He asks for a "good nana" (banana) and I peel the top for him (he likes to hold it on the unpeeled bottom half). Wyatt takes exactly one bite before he drops the half-peeled banana on the carpet.
I manage to get a quick shower before Zane's friend shows up for a full day playdate. Friend's Mom is a single parent, and school holidays are a challenge for her.
Anyhow, these extended days together are both good and bad. The big kids entertain one another pretty well, but the mess they leave behind is beyond description. Plus, Wyatt now wants to join them. They play with him for 3 minutes at a stretch, and then I get to listen to Wyatt shout for both of them (by name) for the next hour.
I fed all three kids some Cheese Nips for a snack, plus juice for the older ones. This involves getting out three small, identical snack bowls, filling them up with precisely the same number of crackers, then pouring juice for the older kids into different colored cups (but otherwise similar in size and shape, of course). I briefly consider whether I should go find a ruler to make sure the cups are filled evenly, but I decide to take a chance on eyeballing it.
Wyatt eats 2 or 3 of the cheese crackers, then dumps the rest onto the carpet. He promptly steps on them so that they become a lovely heap of orange crumbs.
Wyatt doesn't take his morning nap. Gee, I can't imagine why he can't sleep given the noise level in the house... I remind the older kids to try and keep their voices down, but it's futile.
For lunch, I had planned to make grilled cheese sandwiches. This is one of two foods that I know all three of these kids will actually eat. Friend immediately informs me that he had a grilled cheese sandwich yesterday. Grrrr.
"Would you guys prefer pizza?" This is the other food that I know all three of them will eat.
Pizza takes awhile. You have to preheat the oven, and then cook it. "Grilled cheese sandwiches are quicker." No, they want pizza.
Wyatt starts jumping up and down about the pizza idea the second the pizza box comes out of the freezer. "Eetsa! Eetsa!" Yes, sweetie, pizza, but it has to cook first. "NO!!!!! Easta!"
As the oven takes three days or so to preheat, I put out plates and drinks for the kids (two napkins each). Wyatt will have to sit in his high chair for this meal, because I need to remove his booster from the barstool where friend is going to sit. He is NOT pleased with this change in routine, and lets me know with several minutes of ear-splitting screaming.
Within two minutes of sitting down for pizza, Zane knocks over his water. At the moment it happens, I'm still wrestling with Wyatt trying to get him into the high chair without accidentally breaking any bones.
As usual, Wyatt eats his pizza, then asks for "moh" (more). After one bite of the fresh piece, it's "uh-duh" (all done).
Next is cleaning up the lunch dishes and finishing moping up the water that Zane spilled everywhere. I ask myself, did I eat? Oh, yes, I stood at the counter and had some cheese or something.
I tell the older kids that they can have M&Ms for desert in an hour or so. Five minutes later, Wyatt starts in with the "oc! oc!" (chocolate) requests. I give him his M&Ms, because he doesn't get the concept of "later" at this stage. Naturally, the other kids don't want to wait for theirs, either. Zane spills a few on the floor, and then gets upset because Wyatt picks one up and eats it. "Mom! He ate one of my M&Ms"
"Honey, you don't need to shout about it. There's no need to get upset. Just go over to where his M&Ms are, and take one to replace it."
The next problem is that some batteries fall out of a toy, and Zane can only find 3 of 4 of them. He insists, loudly and repeatedly, that the other one is "GONE! It's Gone! This is where I lost a battery that other time!" What, you think there's like a Bermuda Triangle for batteries right here? The battery is found approximately four seconds later.
For afternoon snack, I retrieve the identical snack bowls and serve them all some pretzels. The older kids are upstairs, so I take them small glasses of water and ask them to please drink them down some before spilling them.
When they come back downstairs, the newest game somehow involves the laundry room. The details on this next part are a bit fuzzy, but apparently Zane climbs up on the washer to get our "grabber" thingy down. He then tries to use the grabber on a box of powdered bleach which is also above the washer. (You can't make this stuff up.)
"Umm, Mom, I'm really sorry." These words always precede Bad News. I discover that a veritable avalanche of powdered bleach has come crashing down and is now covering the entire laundry room floor.
I occurs to me that it has not been a very good day for our floor.
Vacuum comes out, and as I'm vacuuming, I find Friend hiding behind the laundry room door. "I didn't do it! It wasn't my fault!"
"OK, it's OK, just get out of here so I can vacuum this mess up."
"He did it! It wasn't me!" Yea, OK, Mr. Tattletale, I get it.
At the end of the day, I informed the friend's mom that the kids were pretty good, but a bit louder and wilder than usual. Apparently when she mentioned it to her son in the car on the way home, he immediately said "I wasn't the one who spilled the Clorox!" Friend's mom calls me on the cell phone for clarification.
I spent about a half hour this morning trying to peel tape off the doorknob to the den. I think they used about a half of a roll on it playing some spy/detective game. At least it wasn't super glue.
Monday, June 30, 2008
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
I love my dentist
No, I really don't. He remodeled his office this year, and I'm certain that my dental work made a significant contribution to the fund.
The enamel of my teeth is as hard as...Play-Doh. Seriously, I am the queen of tooth decay.
My check-ups go something like this. "Wow, your gums look super. Almost no tartar. I can see that you've done a great job brushing and flossing. Honestly, I can't make one suggestion because your mouth just looks great. Oh, and by the way, you need another crown."
This will be my third crown this year. I have, ummmm, 4 or 5 others, too. At $1000.00 to $1,200.00 each, that adds up rather quickly. And, seriously, there are sooooo many things that I'd rather spend my money on. Even grocery shopping and gas are more fun to pay for.
Mike (my dentist) and I spent many hours together. I wouldn't exactly call it quality time, but I've certainly got the routine down, and the unpleasantness at least moves along at a decent pace. Two visits for a crown, in case any of you haven't had the pleasure yet. I might be the only woman in the world who is in her mid-30s and already seeing a prosthodontist.
I've only needed one root canal, fortunately. Yep, they crown 'em without a root canal if you don't need one. Of course, that leaves open the possibility that you will eventually need a root canal on that tooth, but apparently they can drill through the crown if that happens. Gee, I'd love to have an endodontist drill through my thousand dollar crown. Please don't crack it, OK?
I have a Water Pik. I use special Biotene toothpaste. They use a super duper special orange-colored fluoride varnish on my teeth when I get them cleaned. Plus brushing and flossing and chewing sugarless gum. I can't imagine what my dental bills would be like if I wasn't doing all that.
So, eat some chewy candy for me, 'cause caramels and Tootsie Rolls are forbidden in this house.
The enamel of my teeth is as hard as...Play-Doh. Seriously, I am the queen of tooth decay.
My check-ups go something like this. "Wow, your gums look super. Almost no tartar. I can see that you've done a great job brushing and flossing. Honestly, I can't make one suggestion because your mouth just looks great. Oh, and by the way, you need another crown."
This will be my third crown this year. I have, ummmm, 4 or 5 others, too. At $1000.00 to $1,200.00 each, that adds up rather quickly. And, seriously, there are sooooo many things that I'd rather spend my money on. Even grocery shopping and gas are more fun to pay for.
Mike (my dentist) and I spent many hours together. I wouldn't exactly call it quality time, but I've certainly got the routine down, and the unpleasantness at least moves along at a decent pace. Two visits for a crown, in case any of you haven't had the pleasure yet. I might be the only woman in the world who is in her mid-30s and already seeing a prosthodontist.
I've only needed one root canal, fortunately. Yep, they crown 'em without a root canal if you don't need one. Of course, that leaves open the possibility that you will eventually need a root canal on that tooth, but apparently they can drill through the crown if that happens. Gee, I'd love to have an endodontist drill through my thousand dollar crown. Please don't crack it, OK?
I have a Water Pik. I use special Biotene toothpaste. They use a super duper special orange-colored fluoride varnish on my teeth when I get them cleaned. Plus brushing and flossing and chewing sugarless gum. I can't imagine what my dental bills would be like if I wasn't doing all that.
So, eat some chewy candy for me, 'cause caramels and Tootsie Rolls are forbidden in this house.
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Suns game
Damon and Zane went to a Phoenix Suns game a few months ago. It was a huge treat for them.
They managed to get on camera at the pre-game show, and Wyatt and I actually saw them on TV. Of course, we then had to call both sets of grandparents so they could look for them, too. Zane was excited beyond belief about getting on camera. He talked about it for weeks afterwards.
I'm sure the whole neighborhood heard me screaming at Wyatt. "Right there! See Daddy and Zane? Look! Look! It's Daddy and Zane!" Plus, I was on the cell phone with them. "We see you! We see you! Yea, we can see you right there!" followed by another round of "Look! Look! Look!" and much pointing to the TV. I'm surprised the cops didn't show up on a disturbing the peace complaint...
After Wyatt went to bed, I spent the evening scrapbooking and eating Dreyer's Grand Light Cookies and Cream ice cream.
Learn about paid surveys
Go ahead and skip this entry if you are not interest in doing paid surveys online.
Paid surveys are popular with the work-from-home crowd. If you like to give your opinion, they can be fun. Like most of the work-from-home stuff you will see me discuss, there is the potential to earn a little extra money if you work at it.
I like Fusion Cash, InBoxDollars, and A.W. Surveys (see bottom of blog for signup links). I also suggest signing up for Send Earnings. These sites all have a good reputation, and you accrue cash in your account. When you reach a minimum amount, you request a payment. Most sites have a signup bonus.
There are many other paid survey sites, and you can choose to join as many as you want. It just depends on how much of your day you want to spend doing paid surveys. The more sites you sign up for, the more surveys you can potentially complete.
InBoxDollars and Send Earnings will also send you paid emails. Basically, you click on their link and it takes you to an ad. After viewing the ad, you click on another link to confirm seeing the ad.
Fusion Cash, InBoxDollars, and Send Earnings all offer a daily survey. This means you can do at least one paid survey every day with these sites (two with Fusion Cash). However, you will not quality for every survey that you attempt, and some days you might answer a fair number of pre-qualification questions before you get a survey you can complete and get paid for.
These sites also have "offers" that you can complete. Many offers are free and require no credit card. You can choose to do some offers, or choose to simply focus on surveys. Remember to keep track of any offers you decide to complete.
I'd be happy to share my own personal experiences with paid surveys if you'd like more info.
Paid surveys are popular with the work-from-home crowd. If you like to give your opinion, they can be fun. Like most of the work-from-home stuff you will see me discuss, there is the potential to earn a little extra money if you work at it.
I like Fusion Cash, InBoxDollars, and A.W. Surveys (see bottom of blog for signup links). I also suggest signing up for Send Earnings. These sites all have a good reputation, and you accrue cash in your account. When you reach a minimum amount, you request a payment. Most sites have a signup bonus.
There are many other paid survey sites, and you can choose to join as many as you want. It just depends on how much of your day you want to spend doing paid surveys. The more sites you sign up for, the more surveys you can potentially complete.
InBoxDollars and Send Earnings will also send you paid emails. Basically, you click on their link and it takes you to an ad. After viewing the ad, you click on another link to confirm seeing the ad.
Fusion Cash, InBoxDollars, and Send Earnings all offer a daily survey. This means you can do at least one paid survey every day with these sites (two with Fusion Cash). However, you will not quality for every survey that you attempt, and some days you might answer a fair number of pre-qualification questions before you get a survey you can complete and get paid for.
These sites also have "offers" that you can complete. Many offers are free and require no credit card. You can choose to do some offers, or choose to simply focus on surveys. Remember to keep track of any offers you decide to complete.
I'd be happy to share my own personal experiences with paid surveys if you'd like more info.
Monday, June 23, 2008
Freedom!
Zane learned how to ride his bike without training wheels last weekend. It was such an exciting thing for him.
I remember how much I used to ride my bike when I was a kid. Bike riding brings a whole new level of freedom to your life, and Zane is enjoying every minute of it so far.
Wyatt insists on having his own picture taken if the camera comes out, so here's one of him take the same day.
No, not really
No, I really didn't write all this stuff today. I'm moving things over from other places, so there will be a lot more posts here in the next few day than what I expect to be my "usual" pace.
Swimming lessons
I've started giving Zane swimming lessons. We gave him the choice of taking lessons at the Y or letting DH or I work with him a few times per week.
Zane is 7, and he really does not like the water. He's managed to talk his way out of lessons for a couple years, but this year he finally seems to have a bit of interest (because all his friends can swim already). Swimming is big here because of the climate, and he's figured out that he's going to be left out of a lot of stuff if he doesn't learn how. If that's what gives him the push he needs to finally get in the pool, that's fine with me. I just want him to learn. Neither of my parents know how to swim, and it has been a real disadvantage to them.
Zane originally picked Dad as the teacher, but it took about 3 minutes for us to figure out that I needed to be the one working him. Dad does not have the patience to deal with Zane's reluctance to get his head wet.
Anyhow, I managed to peel him off the side and get him walking in the shallow end. We practiced his back "float" with him laying on the top step. I had him use his own hands to wet his own face. It was progress, though it's obviously going to take some time before he has any real skills.
Wyatt, who was 2 in February, loves the water. He's fearless to the point of being almost reckless. It's quite a contrast. Hopefully we can keep him interested as he gets older. In the mean time, we have to drag him out of the water shivering and with his teeth chattering because he does NOT want to be done once he gets started.
We have a community pool here, which is convenient. Actually, there's both an indoor pool and an outdoor pool, so we just swim inside to avoid the sun exposure.
I don't really get to do real swimming, because I'm in the shallow end with the kids, but at least it's some physical activity for me.
Zane is 7, and he really does not like the water. He's managed to talk his way out of lessons for a couple years, but this year he finally seems to have a bit of interest (because all his friends can swim already). Swimming is big here because of the climate, and he's figured out that he's going to be left out of a lot of stuff if he doesn't learn how. If that's what gives him the push he needs to finally get in the pool, that's fine with me. I just want him to learn. Neither of my parents know how to swim, and it has been a real disadvantage to them.
Zane originally picked Dad as the teacher, but it took about 3 minutes for us to figure out that I needed to be the one working him. Dad does not have the patience to deal with Zane's reluctance to get his head wet.
Anyhow, I managed to peel him off the side and get him walking in the shallow end. We practiced his back "float" with him laying on the top step. I had him use his own hands to wet his own face. It was progress, though it's obviously going to take some time before he has any real skills.
Wyatt, who was 2 in February, loves the water. He's fearless to the point of being almost reckless. It's quite a contrast. Hopefully we can keep him interested as he gets older. In the mean time, we have to drag him out of the water shivering and with his teeth chattering because he does NOT want to be done once he gets started.
We have a community pool here, which is convenient. Actually, there's both an indoor pool and an outdoor pool, so we just swim inside to avoid the sun exposure.
I don't really get to do real swimming, because I'm in the shallow end with the kids, but at least it's some physical activity for me.
Work from home to earn a few extra dollars
A few of my blog entries are going to talk about legitimate work-from-home opportunities. These are not "get rich quick" or even "get rich slowly" opportunities, but they represent some ways to earn a little bit of income.
Reminder: don't EVER pay for a work from home "opportunity." Legitimate, non-scam stuff will not ask you to buy a manual or invest money to get started. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
Also: set up a special email account for this before you start. The SP*M will be notable.
And: start a spreadsheet to keep track of which sites you have signed up for, and which (if any) offers you have completed on each site.
If you're looking for a "real" telecommute job, check out Genuine Jobs. These are the kind of jobs that require skills, education, a resume, etc, and the application process is fairly competitive.
Reminder: don't EVER pay for a work from home "opportunity." Legitimate, non-scam stuff will not ask you to buy a manual or invest money to get started. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
Also: set up a special email account for this before you start. The SP*M will be notable.
And: start a spreadsheet to keep track of which sites you have signed up for, and which (if any) offers you have completed on each site.
If you're looking for a "real" telecommute job, check out Genuine Jobs. These are the kind of jobs that require skills, education, a resume, etc, and the application process is fairly competitive.
Camp Rock
I'll bet that I'm the only adult on the planet who saw Camp Rock three times this weekend. Right, not once, not twice, but three times.
It was a nice movie, but by the third run, the charm was starting to wear thin.
My 7 year old son , Zane, had a hard time staying awake for a show that started at 8PM, so we kept trying -- Friday night, Saturday night, Sunday night. At 8PM all three nights. With Zane asleep by 9 each time.
Personally, I can't really leave a movie midway through unless I'm really disliking it, so I sat there all three nights until the movie ended.
Damon was a little puzzled by my initial enthusiasm on Saturday morning. I explained that "It had a nice message, and it was kind of romantic." The music was fun, in a teen-ish pop kind of way. I won't be running out to buy the CD, but it wasn't bad for that sort of thing.
In my gee-that-was-romantic haze, I asked Damon "Do you think I'm too too old to become a Jonas Brothers groupie? Oh, yea, I guess I am." He reminded me that I am old enough to be a parent to these guys (close enough, anyhow).
The movie had a positive "be yourself" theme. It was timely, given the last dozen or so talks we've had with Zane about the importance of doing what he knows is right (versus what the class creep pressures him to do).
I don't remember peer pressure being like this at 7. I figured we'd have the serious anti-drug and sex talks around age 9 or 10. Ha! We've been pushing the anti-drug message since he was 4, and I don't think we started a day too soon.
As for the sex talks, he insisted on knowing exactly how babies are made about 6 months ago. Holy freaking cow. I passed that one off on his Dad. "Good luck with that, sweetie."
Dad was pretty thorough, and no doubt scared the hell out of the kid.
Then, about a month ago, he tells us that the boys can see [girl's name] panties when she sits down and/or goes on the slide, monkey bars, etc. Gosh, I'm so glad to hear that he is noticing these things already. I told the girl's Dad that it's time for her to start wearing shorts under her skirts because the boys are getting a cheap thrill.
It was a nice movie, but by the third run, the charm was starting to wear thin.
My 7 year old son , Zane, had a hard time staying awake for a show that started at 8PM, so we kept trying -- Friday night, Saturday night, Sunday night. At 8PM all three nights. With Zane asleep by 9 each time.
Personally, I can't really leave a movie midway through unless I'm really disliking it, so I sat there all three nights until the movie ended.
Damon was a little puzzled by my initial enthusiasm on Saturday morning. I explained that "It had a nice message, and it was kind of romantic." The music was fun, in a teen-ish pop kind of way. I won't be running out to buy the CD, but it wasn't bad for that sort of thing.
In my gee-that-was-romantic haze, I asked Damon "Do you think I'm too too old to become a Jonas Brothers groupie? Oh, yea, I guess I am." He reminded me that I am old enough to be a parent to these guys (close enough, anyhow).
The movie had a positive "be yourself" theme. It was timely, given the last dozen or so talks we've had with Zane about the importance of doing what he knows is right (versus what the class creep pressures him to do).
I don't remember peer pressure being like this at 7. I figured we'd have the serious anti-drug and sex talks around age 9 or 10. Ha! We've been pushing the anti-drug message since he was 4, and I don't think we started a day too soon.
As for the sex talks, he insisted on knowing exactly how babies are made about 6 months ago. Holy freaking cow. I passed that one off on his Dad. "Good luck with that, sweetie."
Dad was pretty thorough, and no doubt scared the hell out of the kid.
Then, about a month ago, he tells us that the boys can see [girl's name] panties when she sits down and/or goes on the slide, monkey bars, etc. Gosh, I'm so glad to hear that he is noticing these things already. I told the girl's Dad that it's time for her to start wearing shorts under her skirts because the boys are getting a cheap thrill.
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