"Yes Ma'am"

It's not very often that Samson & I have time alone. For the most part, I have children here for many hours out of the day and if Kaleo is at school, we are tending to other people's kids needs. It's our way of life, and we are very immune to it. However, on one particular day this week, something odd happened. No one brought their kids. So I got Kaleo ready for school & Samson dressed for the day. It was just the three of us. How nice, I thought to myself. A morning to ourselves!

After I dropped Kaleo off at school, I headed to the commissary. I got there so early, they weren't even open. Samson & I sat outside the store on the bench with an elderly couple until they opened the doors. And he refused to sit in the cart. He was determined to stand throughout the entire trip. I'm sure a lot of the older people were thinking.... you need to beat that kid! But no, I just kept telling him, "Samson you need to sit down, you could fall & hurt yourself". And by the time we got to the cereal aisle, I was just tired of saying it. He was starting to get cocky standing there in the buggy and while I pushed, he bounced back and forth singing a little song.

Until I stopped. He continued to bounce and fell backwards into the cart. Since there was not a lot in the cart, he landed on the metal part of the bottom. His legs were straight up in the air. He was screaming "Mommy ouchy, Mommy Ouchy" over & over. I said, "Samson, are you going to sit in the cart now?" And his response was "Yes, Ma'am" and he sat for the rest of the trip.

YES MA'AM!!!

The Gloves Make Him Strong!

We probably had the busiest weekend in a very long time. I don't remember having that much to do in one week's time period, much less two & a half days. So on Friday, we had plans to meet with Matt & Kari & their twins at Qdoba. Then Brad & Valerie flew in from Mississippi and also met us there. What started out as a 6pm dinner date turned into a night-owl chat. We were there til after 9pm.

Saturday we had Gary & Tanja & Maison over for a home-cooked breakfast. Then we loaded up to go to the car show on the Virginia Beach boardwalk. Before we could leave, we got a call from Brandi who was on her way over. She got here & went with us to the car show. Afterwards, we headed to Target to get a movie and a frozen pizza. We all had run around enough for one day!

Sunday we had church at 9am. And amazingly, we got there on time. Sloane, Amber, & Jason were waiting for us when we arrived home. We loaded up. They drove our van and we drove the motorcycle. Fun fun! We went to Dunkin Donuts, Big Lots, and Cycle Gear. At Cycle Gear, as per a previous promise that Davin made Kaleo, he had to purchase him a pair of Fox racing gloves. (Davin promised that if Kaleo practiced & learned how to ride his 2-wheel bike, that he'd buy him these gloves.)Then we headed across town and went to Lynnhaven mall to look for maternity gear for Amber. Last, Fresh World.

And the funny stuff happened there! Outside was a guy trying to get people signed up for tae kwon do. He said for a $5 donation, your kid could get a free uniform, and 2 lessons. I thought... well that's wonderful! So I signed Kaleo up. The guy asked Kaleo to show him his fist and to punch this soft thing. I don't know what the thing was. It looked like a padded tennis racket. Then he showed him a wood board and ask him to punch it. Kaleo did it, and hurt his knuckles and didn't break the board so he ran into the store crying.

Davin was somehow able to talk to him about the tae kwon do. He got him very excited about getting a "costume" (the uniform) and by the time we were checking out, Kaleo was talking about trying to break the board again. But this time, he'd use the gloves we had got him at the motorcycle store. He tried on our way out, and he did break the board!!! Very exciting. He took his board with him to school on Monday to show everyone.

Such a funny kid!

Now he's on his way to his first tae kwon do lesson. He is pretty excited, especially that he gets a "costume". And he definitely has his gloves on!

"Freakin' Huge!"

Davin & I went our separate ways yesterday afternoon. He headed to Wal Mart to get some replacement pedals for Kaleo's bike and some copy paper, and I headed to Sears to shop their clearance. When I arrived home, Kaleo greeted me at the door by saying, "Mom you should see my new pedals, they are FREAKIN' HUGE!!" and so it seems... Davin could not find replacement pedals for a child's bicycle, so he bought the replacements that would fit an adult's bike. Lovely.

Now, you must understand that the reason we had to purchase these pedals in the first place was because during the time it's taken Kaleo to learn to ride the bike, there have been about 247,891 falls which have caused the bike pedals to break off piece-by-piece. Now we won't have to worry about them breaking, because not only are they adult sized bike-pedals but they are metal. And now, I must worry about my child's leg getting chopped up by his bike pedal!

Life is Good!

It's cheesy I know. But it's true. We have a lot to be thankful for. I have 26 days to go on my Master's degree & Davin & I have turned over a new leaf. Things are going well, to say the least. Thinking back, things haven't been all bad... just challenging... and a huge learning experience. Our kids are happy & healthy. Davin's enrolled in the civil engineering degree program at TCC and I think he's finding himself there. Now that I'm just about finished, I'm also finding myself. This life is quite a journey!

Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.
~1 Thess. 5:16-18

Easter Weekend

Well not a whole lot is going on this weekend. I had a midterm, which I did so-so on, and we've pretty much just gotten ourselves together. We got the windows tinted in the new Mazda. Davin refused to drive to Lynchburg in May with them untinted. We've been at home for the entire day just washing the cars and having a good time outside. Kaleo has been riding his bike with no training wheels but he's fallen down so many times the bike is officially not ridable because both pedals are broken off. Davin put Samson to work scrubbing the floor mats of the cars while he washed the cars. I planted some bulbs in the front walk way garden. Hopefully they grow this year.

A lunch time conversation had me concerned for my children's safety. Kaleo said that "at nine o'clock, after you & daddy are sleeping, someone talks outside my window and says 'sammy, kaleo' real fast". However, we know that this is not true. Even so, Davin and I were blown away by this. Now that it's dark, Davin's convinced that we should go outside and yell "sammy, Kaleo". No, I don't think so.

On a lighter note, my mom came over on Friday and we did a bunch of stuff. Then she stayed with the kids & Davin & I rode out on the motorcycle for about 3 hours. I have to say, my buttocks was quite sore when we got home because there is only a 6 inch seat on the back of it, and my behind is a bit wider than 6 inches. And I'm very pleased to say that now that Davin saw the bruises the seat made, he has ordered a very nice, 12 inch wide seat for me! I mean, it benefits him too since it came with a new 16 inch seat for him. But now we can ride comfortably & I won't have this sore issue after a night of cruising!

There's a BEAR in that car!!

So maybe I've gained a newfound sense of humor. Who knows. I do know, however, that Kaleo is a funny kid! We were driving home from Cycle Gear a couple of days ago, and there was a huge dog in the front seat of the truck next to us. I'm sure most of you know where this is going from the subject line. It may just be one of those "had to be there" moments, but he said, "Daddy, there's a bear in that car!" Davin barely gave it a second thought and corrected him, "Kaleo, it's just a dog" but Kaleo was convinced that this huge dog was a beast of some kind. He said, "No dad, for real, it's a bear". I have to admit, the dog was very big and furry. Davin just looked at him and said, "Kaleo it's just a really hairy dog". I do believe that Kaleo was disappointed by Davin's bland responses to his utter excitement.

I laughed so hard for the next 5 minutes that I cried. I couldn't contain myself. It was hilarious.

A Flower, Mommy!

In a recent visit to Qdoba Mexican Grill, I got a naked burrito for me & the kids to share. They love it and I don't get it spicy. If anyone has every been to Qdoba, you know that there are all kinds of spices in their seasons including whole parsley leaves. Samson picked out two of them and gave them to me & said, "Here mommy, a flower". I didn't know what he was trying to say at first, because he's 2 and the word flower was a little jumbled. When I realized he was saying flower... I had to laugh!

So Little Time! So Much To Do!

Or so it seems. Honestly, the list seems to grow on me daily. I mean, make the dog's vet appointment, check on the car insurance, call the bank about some crazy security emails I've been getting, call Holly wood video because they have charged us a ridiculas late fee because we did not know that although they are a franchise, you can't return the video to just any Hollywood video, it has to be the one that you rented it from. And then comes the schoolwork which includes a critical analysis of a peer reviewed journal article and a midterm by the end of the week. Easter is this week, also, and I assume that some traveling is in order.

So like I said... so much to do & so little time to do it!

Today has felt chaotic even before I've begun my to-do list. It's been madness. There are so many children in my house that I feel overwhelmed. The baby I've been keeping is finally walking so he's toddling around running into stuff and then there are three others that are RUNNING around like maniacs. Here's a great example: I told Esias to stop walking on my couch. He said "Miss Tiffany, I not walking, I running!!!" And that he was. My ultimate goal is to teach them that it's okay to have fun, but that certain things have limits, and we must be civilized even when we have fun. It's very challenging when there are 4 boys in the house all day long!

Now on to the to do list!

Blue Spots on your forehead

And the question is, "why are there blue spots on you & your brothers foreheads?" and the answer did not shock me coming from Kaleo: "because, mom, I stamped our foreheads with the stamper at naptime". I asked, "why would you stamp Samson's head while he was sleeping?" and the answer, again, was not shocking, "Samson wasn't sleeping, he was awake, and I asked him before I stamped him and he said it was okay".

And so that is why there are blue & orange spots all over Kaleo & Samson's foreheads and hands. Oh yes, they do say & do the darndest things!