Surprise!!!

I had a minor procedure done today:

Tap did it for me:

Whatcha think?

(pic courtesy of Aidan on the i-phone)

It's been 11 years since my first tattoo and I've wanted another one that I could actually see without looking into a mirror. It hurt so much but was definitely worth it. Shell, I could breathe this time around so I'm getting better!

Aidan's art

He had to mix the brown and black to get the right color. I asked him what color everyone else used and he told me tan. I told him that he could have used it also but he shoved his arm in my face and told me he wasn't tan! I love him!

Today's my Friday!

Thankfully! I'm tired. We've had some sort of activity each night this week and although I'll have the day off with the boys tomorrow, it's filled with appts.

You'll have to check in on me tomorrow evening to see my surprise that I've been keeping for two weeks. Let's pray I have the strength to actually go through with it!

The weekend flew by.

And I'm extremely exhausted from it! Here's the recap:

Friday night we had a few friends over for pizza and a movie. We watched Lakeview Terrace. It was pretty good but I had no idea it was about a racist! Everyone left by 11 p.m. and the boys and I got to bed around 11:45.

Saturday we slept in since we had the morning free. (Thank God for this!) Aidan had a basketball game in the afternoon. They lost again - it's so frustrating to watch! Aidan is the smallest boy out there and unfortunately his teammates don't pass him the ball. He never got to attempt a shot. We raced from Aidan's game to get to Tristan's soccer game. He was playing his rivals and wasn't looking forward to the game. Who would have known that his team would play the best that I've ever seen them and they won 10-6! T had a wonderful game and gave 200%! Off to McDonald's to celebrate.

Sunday we had to be at the soccer complex by 10:30. They both had 4 mini-games scheduled to get warmed up for their spring season's coming up. Unfortunately they played most of their games at the same time so I ended the day not feeling like I had seen anything even though I was on the field for 5 hours! That's frustrating.

When we got home I felt like it was time for bed. Aidan agreed because he vegged on the couch with Spongebob for an hour. Unfortunately, I had to get everything ready for today and start laundry amongst all the other house stuff. I watched the Oscars and went to bed late.

The great thing is that the boys were too busy to get on my nerves or get into any trouble!

Self-control

Tristan and I were having a pretty heated argument this morning on the way out of the house. It was in regards to what kind of outerwear to put on. He didn't like the jacket that I had out for him and wanted to wear a sweatshirt. I experienced something that had never happened to me before:

I almost flipped him the bird.

Seriously, what kind of mother thinks like that? I had to really restrain myself. Wow. Five days with Dad gone and I'm losing it.

My V-Day gift

Josh surprised me with a Sony Reader for Valentines! How cool is that? It was a shocker to me - his gift wasn't even comparable. I had mentioned that I saw Amazon's Kindle on Oprah's favorite things but it was so expensive that I had forgotten all about it. I have a few physical books to read before I can dive into that digital world of reading, but I'm excited. Just wanted to share!

President's Day

I worked yesterday so that I could enjoy today with the boys. Wise choice by far!

Josh left us for a two week training event for work so we dropped him off at the airport. This is going to be interesting - two weeks without dad. We haven't done that in quite some time.

The boys had dentist appts also. Aidan's was pretty standard but Tristan's had a surprise involved. He's going to need to have one of those retainers placed on the bottom to make room for his teeth to come in. I thought they used to call them spacers but this sounds like it's some sort of a permanent retainer. Anyway, we have another appt next week to go over more details and take all of his measurements. In the end it sounds like he will have braces also! At the age of 10 or maybe 11! It just goes to show you how much faster kids grow up nowadays. Don't you remember everyone in high school having braces?

We have soccer this afternoon which is a relief to me. The boys need that time to use up their energy - it makes our evenings so much more pleasant. Hope you all have had a great day also!

T's phone

Okay, I know it's pratically ridiculous for a 10 year old to have a cell phone but he does. The main reason why is that there are times he is at a practice or activity without us there with him and if something weird happens I want him to be able to call us. Plus I can't forget the time that I forgot to pick him up from basketball practice. Yep, I'll admit it - not so perfect in the mom category that day!

I knew I had to pick him up and needed to leave by5:10 to be there. Next thing I know I look at the clock and it's 5:18. I grabbed my keys and ran out the door. I looked for him on the way to the school but it was getting dark and thought maybe he might be there waiting for me still. After a few minutes I went back home only to see his crying face open the door for me. "Why weren't you there to get me," he asks? I apologized profusely and found out that he did wait for a bit but then ran home.

Anyway, my friend has older girls who got new cell phones for Christmas so T's is a hand me down. It's a "pay as you go" phone so he is limited on minutes. We haven't used it much at all actually, it's just more of a comfort to know that he has it with him. So that's the story!

Irony

We haven't had alot of school delays or cancellations this winter. Believe me, I look forward to these about as much as the boys do!

How ironic that today we had a two hour delay and the boys don't even have school! Bummer.

Anyone Top Chef?

I was watching last night's episode this morning and I cracked up at one of Fabio's comments. He had broken his finger during the competition and was trying to peel potatos, onions, and had to chop up the chicken. Anyway, lots to do with only one hand. He says, "I have so many kicks in the ass right now that when I go to the bathroom I'm still pulling out boots." He's Italian and has a pretty strong accent so writing it out doesn't compare to hearing it. It had me laughing though!

Here's a pic of Tristan and Joel after receiving their basketball trophies at last night's celebration! Watch out or the glare from the trophy will get you!

Skating!

Last night our school had a roller skating party at a local skating rink. The skating rink sent a bus to the school to pick up the kids and they went to the rink for 2 hours and then the bus brought them back to the school. I wasn't keen on it because Tristan didn't want to go therefore Aidan would be going alone. I asked Aidan if we could just do it next time and he said sure. (He's so great about that kind of stuff!)

Not 30 minutes later does the phone ring and we find out that T's best friend and his older brother have decided to go! I told Aidan he could accompany them and left it up to T if he'd like to go. I really didn't think he would go but I could see him considering it. He wouldn't want to be the only one not there! He caves of course, so now they are all four going together. I'm feeling better but still nervous because this is their first time at the skating rink by themselves! Shoot me now - it's painful to watch them grow up!!!!!

I tried to call T four times but no answer. (Okay, this is something that I was going to write about but haven't gotten to yet. Yep, he has a phone now. More to come on that later!) I was a bit nervous but as they were getting on the bus for the ride back to the school, he calls. I asked him about the 4 missed calls and he told me he couldn't skate with the phone in his pocket so he put it in his shoe. Well, of course! Get someone a cell phone and they keep it in their shoe. Makes perfect sense to me.

All went well. They didn't think it was super fun so I don't know if they will do it again. Aidan won the limbo contest and got a free slushie. It sounds like they filled up on junk while they were there. Pizza, soda, pretzels, and slushies. Guess that's what you do when you are out without the parents.

But the funniest part of last night was that I finally found out why Tristan didn't really want to go. A girl from 5th grade had written him a note inviting him to go skating with her. He tore it up and threw it away (so typical of Tristan), he hadn't planned on going so no biggie. Until his best friend has a change of heart and decides to go! He gave him such a hard time about changing his mind and reminded him about the girl.

He never told me if he ran into her at the rink but at least now I know why he originally didn't want to go. An older girl! He's so anti-girl right now it's not even funny. He won't even hypothetically discuss them with you. It's so not possible right now!

Valentine's Cards

We had extra time yesterday so I had the boys go ahead and do their Valentine's cards for their classmates. I remember the days when I used to have to do them all myself and I'm so glad they can do them now! Not only do they have to address them but they have to write a personalized sentence for each classmate. This can be interesting and if your kids are anything like mine you better double check their work!

These are the Valentine's that Aidan is handing out. He did such a good job but I had him correct one. He wrote, "You run funny," for a little boy. He didn't think anything was wrong with that statement because it's true but he changed it for me. It now says, "You run good." (Got to overlook the grammar.) He was even considerate to the special-ed classmates and made sure that their sentences were easy to read.

Tristan's Valentine's are pirate themed. He did fine but had the hardest time trying to think of something nice to say to a few of his classmates and his teacher. He had a lot of smart comments during this activity but when I double checked his sentences, he was very nice and appropriate. Whew - I'm glad that project is over. Now we have to make a container/holder for Aidan by Thursday.

Too busy...yep, I said it.

Too much is going on around here lately but I wanted to update you on a couple of things.

I finally finished reading, "East of Eden." It was a good book but it was 602 pages. I don't think I've ever read something that long before!

Josh and I went to see the Wrestler a few days ago. I enjoy watching the movies that are nominated for awards but Josh doesn't! He graciously accompanied me to watch it though and I'm very thankful. It wasn't bad but didn't blow me away either. I guess Mickey's acting was pretty awesome, I can't imagine him in a different role. One of the wrestling matches was so gruesome that I couldn't watch it and most of the time that you see Marisa Tomei - she's naked. That's about all that I have to say about it.

We have so many sport activities happening right now that I'm looking into carpools and asking people for help. I hate that! I hate asking for rides mostly because that means that I'm not present for one of them. I worry that they won't behave appropriately or they might get hurt. Ugghh, what a bummer.

Happy Birthday to my baby!

Who's not so much a baby anymore!

It's weird to have a birthday on a weekday when you have to go to school and work and then basketball practice in the evening; but we are trying to make it as special as we can.

Out to eat for breakfast, taking donuts to school to share with friends, and then cake and presents tonight once we all get home together.

Happy Birthday Aidanpoo! You always make me smile!

What a day!

This is how our day went:

8:30 a.m. Arrive at school for Tristan's first playoff game.

9:00 a.m. Game starts - it goes really well. They won 30-17.

Had a little time before we had to be back for the second game so we grabbed breakfast and went to another school to watch a friend play in his first game of the day.

1:00 p.m. Second game for Tristan. This one was a bit more tough - the team was really physical. Tristan was fouled a few times and had a chance for free throws. They won 19-14! Championship game here we come! (Sorry soccer. T's team had to play without him.)

3:00 p.m. Championship game against a school that hadn't lost all season. I had to miss the game because Aidan had his basketball game at 3:30 but from what I hear Tristan had the best game ever. They lost 24-20 but I'm really happy that he played well and ended his season on a high note. 2nd place isn't bad in my book.

3:15 p.m. Had to be at the Y for Aidan's 3:30 game. Here's his team - they are all soccer players trying basketball for a change.

3:30 p.m. Aidan's team won their game 20-2! He had a great game and scored his first basket!

Once we were done with all of the sports I had to run to the store to get a gift for the birthday sleepover Aidan was supposed to be at that evening. We made it a bit late but got him there and then Tristan and I went home to an early bedtime!

I have to say that I have the best husband ever. He was scheduled to work during the day on Saturday but I needed his help with the conflicting games and he didn't want to miss T's playoffs. He was with us all day and then had to work from 7 p.m. until 7 a.m. today. I couldn't have done that and if you would have seen him drag himself in today at 7:30 you would have felt as bad as I did. He's asleep now but I'll wake him soon so that he doesn't miss the Superbowl! Thanks honey for being the best dad ever!

Go Cardinals!