I have been cleaning my house lately. You know, that kind of cleaning that makes a HUGE mess? Well, I keep going to put something away and finding forgotten dump sites that need to be sorted through, so I make absolutely no noticable progress. Well, one of these ventures carried me into the God-forsaken office/guest room that is also where Jeremy’s closet resides (Yes, I kicked him out of my closet. There just wasn’t room enough for the both of us!). I found my way to the plastic drawer tower to put something away and couldn’t shut the drawer, so I HAD to organize that drawer, which led to the next drawer, and the next. Anyway, I came across a misplaced gift card that Joe and Kelli gave us about 3 years ago to Z Gallerie! I am sooo excited to use it. I thought that I had lost it forever. I must have stuck it in that plastic drawer tower when we moved into grandma’s house. That tells you how often that thing gets organized! It’s been 3 years! Well, thank you Joe and Kelli! I’m finally going to cash in on your gift of decoration.
Writer’s Block… I mean I forgot my camera! April 24, 2008
So, I’ve been trying to think of some really great material to put on here. So much is going on. I have some great stories to tell, but I keep forgetting my camera! For example: I took some pictures of me eating sushi for the first time (Kristi I know you are proud!) I ate raw salmon on a dare and didn’t think to take a picture. I knew that NO ONE would believe it without digital evidence, so I had to eat that nasty crap again! My friend took a picture on her phone, then sent it to mine. The dumb thing will not cooperate and I can’t seem to get them downloaded to use on here! They were really juicy too! I had other stories, but can’t seem to remember them because I didn’t document them… I forgot my camera!
Oh, by the way, when I remember it the batteries are dead.
Spring with a 4-Year Old Boy April 8, 2008
It is finally Spring and this means so many things to a mother of a 4 year old boy. There is the doubling of laundry from 3 changes of clothes per day due to sidewalk chalk EVERYWHERE, dirt from planting flowers, road grime from power wheels adventures, and blood from falling off the bike and scraping knees and falling down rollerblading. There is the desire to stay outside until the last possible minute, and the begging to stay up past the bedtime because the sun is “still awake.” There is the constant allergies and expensive medicine to control them, the begging for a puppy, and the countless trips around the block on whatever the vehicle of choice is for the day.
Some of these things are trying, some are wonderful, but the best part of it all has been the bouquets of weeds that I get from him everytime we venture outside. My baby loves his mommy and he knows how to melt my heart. He makes a point to think of me, even when fun is on his mind, and I could not ask for a better gift!
Awake April 8, 2008
Jeremy and I watched this movie last night and it totally freaked me out. It was about this billionare who needed a heart transplant. When he goes under, the anesthesia paralizes him, but his mind and senses are completely aware of everything happening to him. He is yelling at them in his head that he is awake, but there is nothing he can do to alert him. Can you imagine laying there feeling all of that pain and not being able to do a thing about it? To top it all off, he hears the doctors (who were supposed to be his friends) talking about this plot to kill him during the surgery. He just got married and he finds out that she is in on it too to inherit his fortune and pay all of the surgeons out of malpractice debt. Can you imagine laying there knowing what is happening to you?
So I am totally freaked out by this concept and google anesthesia awareness. It turns out that this really happens!!! It is rare, but many patients come out of surgery remembering the whole procedure, or having post-traumatic stress from subconciously remembering it. Yikes! No thank you.
Can you tell how quiet my life has become 
I am blogging about movies. Not that I am complaining. It is definately nice to have some quiet.
On a lighter note… April 2, 2008
So we had our usual Tuesday night rendezvous with the Hausmans. The kids were adorable. Logan danced with the girls and twirled them around like a little gentleman. At bedtime, he asked Peyton to be his “wife”. I love those little kids. Times like those really make you step back and contemplate what is truly important in life. It makes the frustrations that seem so overwhelming throughout the day become insignificant. Isn’t it amazing what power 4 and 5 year old kids can have over your point of view?
Beware of Preschool Teachers! April 1, 2008
Anyone who knows Logan knows that he has a unique personality. He does strange things when he feels uncomfortable, and he acts defiant when he is bored or overwhelmed. At 4 1/2, he hasn’t learned how to regulate his emotions. He acts out in strange ways (such as doing the robot dance when he is talked to by someone he doesn’t know) because that puts him in a comfortable place when he feels uncomfortable. He also stares off into space regularly, but usually comes out of it with an intelligent question or statement. Such as: “How does that heater make heat to blow by the fan?”, “Are these poles holding up the highway so it can be in the air?”, or “How do the spinning things on top of the helicopter make it go up in the air?”.
I have called him my little engineer since he was 2 1/2 because he is constantly thinking about or asking baout how things work. He is reading and doing math at a first grade level, including writing. Why can’t his teachers see what I see?
Last year in preschool, Logan’s teacher decided that she didn’t like him from day one. I know that parents say this about their kids’ teachers all of the time. I am a teacher. I know how that goes, and that it is usually just an excuse for their child’s behavior, but this is different. She told me that he was way behind, didn’t know his letters, would not obey instructions, and would not socialize with the other kids. She even went as far as to pull out another student’s work in his class and show us a comparison between his work and hers, just to point out how far behind Logan was. I thought this was ridiculously inappropriate, and false. Logan has known his letters by pointing the out since he was about 16 months old. He wouldn’t perform for her becuase he sensed she didn’t like him. We pulled him from that school seeking something better for him.
I am a teacher myself, and I do not take it upon myself to diagnose my students. This year, it has been mentioned that Logan is showing autistic behavior. I think someone needs to look up a clinical definition for autism. Logan is extremely affectionate, he interacts with other kids and adults well, and is about as mellow as a 4 year old can be. Since when does quirky behavior and intellegence equal autism?
Pretty soon, they will be demading that he be heavily medicated so they don’t have to feel uncomfortable around him. Maybe his teachers should try the robot dance. It seems to work for Logan.
HELP!
Wicked Witch of the West to Fish in Just One Week April 1, 2008
Read with a slight flutter and voice of panic:
“I’m melting…melting…meltttiinngggg…….”
Read with a British accent:
“How do you know she’s a witch?” “She turned me into a fish!” “Well you’re not a fish now.” “I got better!”
I think it was a newt, but in Logan’s case, it is definately a fish. He began last Monday so afraid of the water that he went in kicking and screaming and clinging to me like the water was going to eat him up. By yesterday, he was pushing off the steps on his own and swimming around the pool like he owned the place. Keep in mind, he cannot touch the floor anywhere in this pool.
He swam from one end of the lap pool to the other without stopping half way; he tred water for quite a long time; and he floated on his back without help for at least 2 minutes. He is practicing being pushed to the bottom (in 5 ft of water) and pushing up to the top to tred water on his own and is doing GREAT! At this rate, he will be diving to the bottom to get dive sticks by the end of the week. I am so happy that his fear has melted away faster than the wicked witch.
