Cancelled!

Just wanted to let you all know that I will be cancelling Noah's birthday party this year. We've decided, based on feedback all around and his behavior, that this is something we need to do in order to prove to him that we mean business.

We will, however, still be having Faith's 4th B-day party at Chuck E. Cheese on Sat April 12th. Hope to see you all there!!!!

xoxoxo

Time

This morning I had the privilege of spending some time with Uncle Dale. He invited me over to help him out by taking notes while the lady from hospice went over some things with him. Unfortunately, by the time I got there they were just about done going over everything. Uncle Dale was in such great spirits! He acknowledged that his moods are going up and down (of course, who could blame him), and said that he really hopes no one holds it against him. It's certainly hard to imagine how you would handle this personally, and today I got to spend time with a strong and positive man going through a very difficult situation. Uncle Dale sold his car because he realizes that he will not be able to drive, and he had me run him down to the licensing place to turn over the title. I know that was a very hard thing for him to do, considering that he just got his car back not too long ago, but he handled it so well.

In total, we spent about an hour together this morning, but it's an hour that I will totally cherish. I hope that I will be able to help him out in other ways over the coming months. Really, time and support is what he needs right now. I am so thankful to be able to give him both and will cherish the time I get to spend with him.

HELP!!!!

Okay, I have a question for all you mommies with children young and old. Even if I don't know you, feel free to chime in your opinion. I AM DESPERATE.

My son has a very hard time a lot of the time being respectful to adults, whether it's his parents or teachers, aunts/uncles (Morgan, I know you can vouch for this), etc.

I feel like we have tried everything and am now at the point where I am tempted to cancel his birthday party to let him know we are serious about his behavior.

What I'd like to know is what you all think about this type of punishment. Is it fair for us to take away his party?

Please help.

Party Time!

Okay, so this is me trying to get a jump on some party planning here. I am so terrible at it. And to top it all off, it's not just one party but two back to back. Yippee!!!! I decided this year that I just can't make Noah and Faith share a B-day party, it's just not fair.

So, that said, please reserve Saturday, April 5th on your calendars as a day to celebrate Noah's 9th birthday. We will be going to Roller Valley. I have yet to secure a for-sure time, but I will post again just as soon as I know. I imagine it will be in the early afternoon. All those with children old enough to skate please let me know if you will be attending so that we can have them paid for ahead of time. Sorry Mom's and Dad's you're on your own!

Also, Faith will celebrate her 4th birthday at, where else, Chuck E. Cheese! This will be Saturday April 12th at 4:00 pm. Pizza, cake, games, etc. for all kids.

These invitations are open to all family and friends who might read these blogs. Please let me know ASAP if you can attend either or both. Hope to see ya there!

Black Out

Okay, so it wasn't quite a black out, but the other day our power did go off for a couple hours. Brian was still gone on his roadtrip from Florida so it was just the kids and I. The power went off in the entire neighborhood around 4:30 in the afternoon due to an accident of some sort. I was so amazed by my kids' reaction. While I was calmly looking around for flashlights and candles "just in case" the kids were running around excited as could be about how they were going to get to sleep together in the living room, play games by candlelight, and play hide-n-seek in the "true" darkness. Noah actually said to me that he never knew not having t.v. could be so much fun. I was even happy about the fact that I couldn't cook dinner and therefore had to serve peanut butter and jelly and chips for dinner.

About an hour into our little adventure the neighbor kids came knocking and we invited them in to wait it out with us. The kids had a blast running around in the dark and hiding from each other until about 20 minutes later when the power suddenly came back on. Every single one of those kids groaned in disappointment until they realized that all they had to do was turn all the lights back off again and pretend we still had no power.

It was such a simple and silly thing, but it amazed me how my children could take something that could have potentially been very stressful or even miserable and turn it into something totally fun and carefree. That is the true beauty of a child.

Tagged, Name Game

1. YOUR ROCK STAR NAME (first pet, current car): Dillon Expedition
2.YOUR GANGSTA NAME (fave ice cream flavor, favorite type of shoe): sherbert boot (lamo)
3. YOUR NATIVE AMERICAN NAME (favorite color, favorite animal): Yellow Giraffe
4. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME (middle name, city where you were born): Kym Spokane (I suppose if you pronounce the 'a' in Spokane as a long vowel maybe?)
5. YOUR STAR WARS NAME (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 of your first name): Vavme
6. SUPERHERO NAME (2nd favorite color, favorite drink):blue corona (yeah!)
7. NASCAR NAME (the first names of your grandfathers):Mark Richard
8. STRIPPER NAME (the name of your favorite perfume/cologne/scent,favorite candy): pleasures peanut butter cup (hehe)
9. TV WEATHER ANCHOR NAME (your 5th grade teacher’s last name, a major city that starts with the same letter): smith seattle
10. SPY NAME (your favorite season/holiday, flower): spring calla lily
11. CARTOON NAME (favorite fruit, article of clothing you’re wearing right now): Apple socks
12. HIPPIE NAME (What you ate for breakfast, your favorite tree): special k christmas

Guess I'm sposed to tag someone now. Um, I'll tag Nichole!