Big Boys Club

This weekend Jim decided that Brandon should try being in the "Big Boys Club". This means that Jim put Brandon to bed with no Pull Ups. I can't say I was really in favor of this idea. I'm the one that helps Brandon get dressed and I know that most mornings he's wet. But it's the weekend and worth a try. Jim had a long talk with him about him and Arion not wearing Pull Ups to bed and that's how "Big Boys" did it. The first night went good. Apparently he did get up in the middle of the night to go potty. In the morning he was dry and all was good. The next night was not so good. Brandon woke up in the morning soaked. Of course I was the one that had to strip the bed and wash everything. Later that night I was the one that had to do the bunk bed work out. If you don't have a bunk bed try imagining making a bed while stand on the bed stand and then getting down and then standing on a little latter and then back to the bed stand about 10 times. Highly recommended for those looking for physical actively. I then told Jim that if he wanted to continue, he could do the sheets and all. I then sent Brandon to bed in Pull Ups again and told him to try to keep them dry and then we could try again. In truth, I am really not to worried about it. I've known other kids that were still wetting the bed at age 7. I think we really just need to give it more time.

I Can See Said The Blind Woman

Yes, you read right. I went to the eye appointment on Saturday and we talked again about the contacts. She went over my vision with the contacts and decided that I needed a stronger lens in the left eye. The end results is a pair that I can see out of and are comfortable. YES.

Later in the day we had an appointment for Brandon. That was fun. We did the best we could in trying to get him to identify which way the E faced. Then she did a lot of looking in his eyes as they focused. Apparently they can sort of tell when the eye is focused by how the light reflects back. The end result is that Brandon also needs glasses. His vision is about 20/30 which is not so bad and she think could get better. The problem is that he also has a astigmatism like me. Not good and it won't get any better. Got to love those bad genes from Mom. She thinks that that is more the reason for his squinting. In the end we ordered glasses for Brandon. He found a pair of Xgame frames that are the bendable type. Good for very active boys. Now we just wait for them to come in.

New Games Working Out Well

It's no secret that I am one of those crazy Moms that is always trying to teach the kids something. I am always coming up with games to play in the car or at restaurants while waiting for the food. Since Christmas I have added some new games to the mix that seems to be working out well. Thought I would share. For Christmas Santa gave the family a new globe. We have been going through the globe and finding new places. The new games now involve the globe.

First Game: Guess the Country

One person gives 3 or 4 clues about a country. I try to use things like the Continent, neighboring countries, general location (i.e., east coast, northern part) and maybe a landmark. Example: 1. Continent of Africa 2. Northern part of Africa 3. Has pyramids. Answer: Egypt. I try not to make them too hard, Lauren is only 8.

Second Game: Find the Country

You have to have a globe for this one. One person give the name of a country. Then they have to give some clues about where it is. Example: Find Chili. Clues: It's in South America, to the East of the Continent, long and thin.

Lauren has even been asking me to bring the globe in the car so we can play while waiting for the bus. Brandon like to point to countries and have me tell him the name. If you are interested in other games, here are some others we play.

Animal ABC

As a group or by taking turns you name animals that start with the letters of the alphabet. Example: A - Ape; B - Baboon; C - Cow; etc.

What Animal Is It??

By giving clues to the animal, another person has to guess what animal you are thinking about. I try to have them say if it is a mammal or reptile, etc and what it eats (meats or vegetation). I have been trying to get Lauren to use the term Carnivore, herbivore or omnivore. They also need to give the color/colors, where you might find them and a specific feature. Example: Mammal, herbivore, lives in Africa and has long neck. Answer: Giraffe.

For those with kids with ADHD, these games work great for keeping little bodies still. I find that if you can keep the mind working at full speed, it tends to slow down the body.

My Latest Headache

Lately, I have been taking my health a little more serious. You know. I just got a bunch of work done on my teeth and then I set an eye appointment. I was going to try contacts again. I have been wearing glasses for about 27-28 years. My eyes are really bad. Not just bad, but REALLY bad. I think I am up above 20/600. My right eye has a stigmatism and that causes problems. My depth perception isn't great. Then there's the whole cross dominant thing. If you don't know, that means I'm right handed, but my left eye is dominant. This is why some people (like me) have trouble telling their right from their left. The brain just gets confused. OK, so I decide that I would really like to try contacts again. I have had them in the past. The first time worked the best. They gave me a truncated lens for my right eye and everything was fine for that year. The next year you couldn't get that lens anymore and that's where my trouble started. Every other lens bothered my right eye. So I discussed this with the eye doctor and she said there were several I could try and we just needed to find the right one. OK, it sounded like I had hope. I got my first trial pair. Once I put the right lens in I knew we had a problem. It seemed fussy and not comfortable at all. She said it should calm down. NOT. After 5 days I took them out and gave up. I went back on Saturday, wearing them and told her the left was fine, but the right was bad. She said I was seeing 20/20 and they fit my eye, but it was still fussy, no matter what she said. She then gave another pair to try. The problem was the old pair was a 2 week disposable and the new ones are 1 month disposable. Not good for mix and match. So I wear them home. Guess what. This time the right eye is fine and sees well and the left eye is driving me crazy. It seems fussy all the time. They gave me a headache today and I had to take them out by lunch. We'll see how it goes. If these don't work, I will give it one more try before I give up.

A Little Quieter Now

Things are a little quieter this week so far. Lauren and I drove Arion back last weekend. At the last minute I decided to take Lauren with us. She was pissy about having to go to a sitters for a couple of hours while Jim went somewhere and I thought it might be fun. The drive was long as usual, but we did have a OK time. She got a good look at the campus and thought Arion's dorm smelled bad. Man, it did. I tried to help him clean up some, but it really didn't help. We went out to dinner and then dropped Arion off and then had a fun girls night at the hotel. On Sunday morning we headed back and the ride went pretty well.

The most memorable part was in the hotel with Lauren when she said she knew what sex was. My heart stopped. Oh God, she's only 8. I asked her what she thought it was and here was her answer: "First, you a man and a woman get naked. Then, they start kissing. And then they do a bunch of ROMANTIC stuff and that's all I know." I left it at that. At 8, I think it is all I can handle.

Confusing Morning

Here is a conversation I just had with Brandon. You see what you can make of it.

Mom - "Brandon, eat some raisins"

Brandon - "I like the big ones, they make you long long time"

Mom - "You mean they help you live a long time?"

Brandon - "No, they make you long time"

Brandon - "They make your brain give you smarter"

How did I miss that one.

Hoping for a Green New Year

This year I actually set a New Years Resolution. I don't usually set one, because it's just a set up to fail. I know, Great attitude. This year I am hoping to do more for the environment and teach the kids more about going green. My goals are to continued to change out all the bulbs in our house to CFL's and try to recycle, reuse and reduce more. So my first attempt went a little off course. I sat down with the kids (the little ones) and tried, over dinner, to discuss the concept and why we should turn off lights when we leave a room. I also tried to discussed not running water when it wasn't necessary. Well things kind of went off course when I mention the polar ice cap melting and the effect on the polar bears. Lauren wanted to know how Santa's castle was doing. OK. What the hell. I told her that Santa's castle was in danger of melting if we didn't remember to conserve energy. I know, cheap shot. But if it works. What the hey.

I would like to congratulate my big boss. You see my company owns 5 apartment complexes. This year the boss decided that all of the common area lighting was to be switched to CFL's. This is no small undertaking. Think about this. I have one of the smaller sites. I have 16 buildings. Each building has 5 porches. Each porch has a light fixture that holds 2 bulbs. We are going from 60 watt bulbs to 13 watts. This is a saving of 7,520 watts. The buildings also have flood lights. There are 144 flood lights going from 75 watts to 19 watts. That's a saving of 8,064 watts. I also changed out the office, shop, restrooms, etc. This was a savings of 720 watts. The grand total is 16,304 watts. Not only will the company see a big reduction in their energy bills, but think of the impact on the environment when you spread this over the other 5 complexes (which are much larger then mine). Please also remember that the initial outlay is going to hurt, because these bulbs are not as cheap, but they will last 3 times as long so we hope to end up with a large savings in time and cost in the end.

Not My Gum Drop Buttons!!!!

So last night I am sitting on the edge of my bed waiting for Lauren to get her PJ's on and Brandon to finish playing in the tub and Lauren walks in with tears welling up in her eyes. I of course ask what is the matter. Her reply was "my buttons". She seemed to be having trouble getting them done. My first thought was here we go again. Her over reacting to some minor thing. Now . . . how to show her that she is being a bit over dramatic. Oh . . . I got it. I first use my best 1920 dramatic voice and say . .

"Not . . . the . . . Buttons, Oh my god, not the buttons." I then fall back on the bed yelling and flopping around like a wet noodle. My voice now changes to the gingerbread man in Shrek and I say: "Not my gumdrop button. Nooooooo. Not the buttons, my gum drop buttons."

After a minute or two I am told I am being silly. REALLY. I do her buttons and ask if we are good now. I think I made my point.

New Years Not Hectic At All . . . NOT

So my sister calls me on the night of the 30th to tell me that her oven is on the fritz. Seems the panel has burned itself out. Great. She was supposed to cook New Years Eve dinner. You see, one of us always cooks the free turkey we got at the grocery store on New Years. So she has a 20 pound turkey and nothing to cook it in. No chance in getting the parts because the f**king thing is 15 years old. So the next morning I go in to my second job where I happen to sell appliances to look to see what they have for take home. I have an idea, but I'm hoping the Gods are in my favor. I see the boss and ask him what we have I can take home now and he mentions the one in the box. "Not that thing, I need something better". Then he remembers the one he was about to put at 40% off. He has been trying to get rid of this model for awhile. It's been discontinued and we needed to sell it. Wonderful. You see it's a nice one and stainless to boot. I call Mary and let her know what her options was and then bought the stainless. With the 40% and my discount I got it pretty cheap. I tell them to wrap it up and I will be right back. I run home, get the back seat out of the van and pick it up. Then I drive the 25-30 minutes to Mary's and fight the fight to get it in and the old one out. This was much more complicated than one might imagine since her house is about 100 years old and we had to drag it around the house on an under sized side walk, over the back stoop and in the front door and then thru the house to the kitchen in the back . After we got it in it was then drag the old one out the front, over the stoop and around to the van. Me and the kids took it to the dump at Mary's work and after I dropped of the kids, I then ran to Jim's Mom's apartment to pick her up (40 minutes) and then home (15 minutes) to put the seat back in the van and load everyone up and then return to Mary's house for dinner, which was cooking nicely in her new stove.

Dinner was great and then we left early to get everyone home before the drunks hit the roads. We let the kids stay up to see the ball drop. They both made it this year. I kind of wish I had put Brandon to bed. You never know how he will take things. When the ball dropped and we said it was a new year, he started to cry and kept it up for a good 10-15 minutes. He didn't want a new year. He liked 2007 and didn't want 2008.