The Most Roaring Car!

Patrick had his first Pinewood Derby race today. He and Daddy worked really hard on the car. Patrick picked the shape and design and Tommy (and Emma) helped with the painting. The cars were really amazing, and the theme was "Heroes." I was impressed with all the different designs of heroes, and Patrick decided he wanted to make his hero the Tiger Cubs (which, is the name of his pack, er, den? Something. He's called a Tiger Cub right now. :)
His car is second from the right (it's sitting backwards). It has Tigers and stripes on it. This is pre-stripes (can you tell it's a tiger?). Emma "helped" paint some more with no supervision. I'm not sure which stripes were her doing. It's still kind of cool.
The judges voted on the cars the night before, and Patrick won the "Most Roaring Car" award. I love this photo.

The side of the car says "Tiger Cubs" but the wheels covered some of it up. Patrick raced 6 times and won 2 of the six. Here is a video of one of his wins! My favorite part is the "good sportsmanship" part at the end of the race. Each boy did that after each race and the proud mommy in me loved it. (I only got to see a couple races since I had to work. I was grateful that Tommy filmed one for me!)

The Train Show

Our family decided to go visit the local train show. It was a really neat show, but there were TONS of people there. I think it's funny to see all the old men with their "toys" and how much pride they have in them. William wasn't really sure what to make of it, but we had just brought out all the trains in the basement and a few with us. The more trains we saw, the tighter he held his train and starting making "choo-choo" sounds.

I love all the detail of the train sets.

Patrick was really interested in the trains, but he wanted to keep moving. It was a stop here, look and just keep going. It was kind of funny, because once he got a flyer from somebody with a map in it, then he was ready to stop.

Thomas model train.

This one's for Dave!

We waited in a very long line to ride the Thomas train. The kids loved it!

Can you see how many people were there? We visited with the Iveys afterward and had dinner at Chuck E Cheese (mommy had a few Tylenol that day to help her along) where the guys played basketball and ski-ball. We always have a great time with the Iveys, and Chuck E Cheese is always fun!

In the car today:
Emma: Mommy, what do we wear when we die?
Me: (distracted) What, Emma?
Emma: Do we wear clothes?
Patrick: Of course we do! We get Saint's clothes!

(I just thought this was adorable!)

Sunday Ramdomness

It's time for some more of my mumblings and ramblings! January is here, so it's time to start the new year right. :)

• My skin is finally starting to clear up. I think I have the hang of this sebhorraic dermatitis thing. I HAVE to wash my face 2x a day, and I need the thickest moisturizers to keep my skin from going crazy. It still peels a little, but definitely not as bad as it was. I am so grateful that I finally got some answers.
• Thanks to all of you who have been so sweet and joined in the meme!
• We have a dilemma, and we can't seem to find a good solution. One of my kids got a gift at Christmas and it is something we have already, or like it. I have tried almost every.single.store in our area, and nobody seems to carry this toy. My first thought was Toys R Us, but they won't take it back without a receipt or a phone number. Really?? It was a GIFT. I KNOW you carry this thing, why can't you just help me! So frustrating.
• I have a milestone birthday coming up. It makes me laugh because it seems like it's a bigger deal to other people than it is to me, and Emma is the first one to remind me that I about to be older. I would like to throw a big bash, but February is such a busy month with all the other family birthdays, Mason basketball games, work days, and a little thing called Lent. Tommy has actually planned a family weekend with some friends (the weekend before my birthday), but my fears is that the weekend will end up like this trip on Shannon's blog (I LOVE this blog) but with much younger kids, and no fun reading time, just chasing-the-toddlers-around time.
• I am on time with all of Patrick's school grades! I feel so good that we are doing well, and he has all A's in his subjects. Thank goodness it's only first grade! LOL We are going to apply again at our parish's Catholic School (we are on the wait list from last year) and we will see what happens. I am really glad I have had this time with my kids if they are off to school next year, and I feel REALLY good if I need to/want to continue homeschooling. My mom homeschooled all of my siblings at one time or another, and I knew I wanted to try it. I know I am not some of my sisters who are so smart and can teach just about anything and at any grade level, but I know I can do what I need to. I think I could do a whole post about this, so I'll stop here. LOL I had no idea that I was going to type so much about this.
• We have done some re-arranging of seats in the van, and it used to be just William in the middle seat. Patrick and Emma used to play/argue in the back seat and it was usually pretty private for Tommy and me to have a conversation in the front seats. Now, Patrick is next to William and REALLY involved in our conversations. I forget sometimes until he chimes in with a question about what we are discussing. Oops. LOL

This is a test

It's only a test, and an easy one at that. I found this at Margaret's blog and I thought I would share in the fun. I would love to see some more of you comment, so I am going to try a test. (let's see how this goes).

Here it is: Leave a one-word comment (excluding “Fuzzy”) that you think best describes me. That's all! I will be happy to participate in YOURS, so join in the meme!

Thanks!

(we have a stomach bug going through our home, so I am looking for a small distraction. I am feeling like the-cleaner/catcher-for-all-kinds-of-bodily-fluids, so I am *hoping* for a different result)

And the award for bad mommy goes to....

..the mommy who finally took her son to the shoe store and discovered that his new size 6 1/2-7 feet will NOT fit in his current size 4 1/2 shoe. Oh man.....

Life as Wii know it

We love it. Really. We love having the Wii, though I admit I did fight the purchase of it. I was unsure of how it would work out with the homeschooling and chores, but I admit, it has been really nice. It's so much fun to play together and it keeps the kids from making a big mess (sometimes). Even William gets into the action! He grabs a Wii-mote (why does that make me giggle every time I say it? Tommy has to make a little stop in the middle because he says he feels funny saying. Try it. It will make you laugh) and starts waving it in the air like we do, and he is so proud of himself. I have to admit that I use the Wii for leverage to get certain things done around the house because it is so new, and the excitement is still there. Patrick is a whiz with the games, and when he is the #1 wii-mote - oh boy, watch out! He wields that power well.

We have some really great games, but I have to say my favorite is Toy Story Mania. It's like the ride at Disneyworld and it makes me laugh and feel like I am at a carnival and WDW all over again. The other games are fun (Sports, Resort), but I like this one the best. I am not very athletic and when I go to play the sports, I get this feeling of being back in school: the last one picked for a team, everyone's just waiting for you to finish your turn because they know you aren't going to hit the ball/shoot/whatever very well, let's just get on with it. It's terrible! I get a little competitive, but it frustrates me that I have so much trouble with those. (LOL I get frustrated easily) But when Tommy gets up there, he is always good at the games, and he must get the opposite feeling: the crowd is hushed, the outfielders move back, closer to the walls, the archers are sure to move out of the way all because the BIG MAN is up! We want him on OUR team! It's fun to watch him play because he does do so well.

I like that we have something "cool" at our home since I never had any kind of computer or video games growing up (we did have Pac-Man, but I don't remember playing it). I love sharing it with the others and so does Patrick. If we have anyone come to the house they are immediately bombarded with "doyouwanttoplayWii? whataboutWiisports? OrwehavesupermariobrothersandwecanplaythatbutIdon'tlikethislevelsoI
won'tplaythatone." Do you think the excitement will die down anytime soon? If I know my son, the answer is nope.

ETA: We are doing Adjectives in English right now. We had an exercise that required writing your own adjective for the noun "home." Patrick's answer: the Wii home. Google is a verb, why can't Wii be an adjective??

He did it again

The family went to a George Mason basketball game yesterday. Patrick was a bit upset about a snack that made its way to the seats we were in, and I was trying to calm him down. I said there were 3 more quarters left in the game, and we could get something later, or not at all. Patrick says, "No, Mommy, that's football. There are only 2 halves in this game."

Drat. Why can't I get it right?

My husband says it might be me.

Is it? Is it really? Am I really that kind of person who doesn't stick up for herself? I have to admit that some days I really feel like it. Then again, there are others where I feel I need to reign myself in, clamp my hand over my mouth and walk away because God is giving me an opportunity to do some purgatory on earth. Either way, I know that each circumstance is different.

I seem to be at the doctor's offices quite often lately. One occasion called for going to see a specialist because of something seen on a test (which, when you do some research, your worries compound and you start to imagine things). Mind you, I had some pain as well, so I thought this is going to be great. I will get some answers, he will explain what they saw, and I will know what to do from here. The appointment arrived and (you know what's coming) the pain was not there. Naturally. Okay, I'll be fine. I know this pain. I know this pain. Fine, I'll still go in for some answers. I get there, and it's a tiny office. I mean REALLY tiny. 2 exam rooms, one office, and I can see each room from the exam room that I am sitting in. Okay, a satellite office, no biggie. The lady next to me has this disease, the lady coming in is on the transplant list (add a prayer for her) and after a loong wait, it's my turn. Questions, questions, and more questions, and he tells me we need to do some more testing. Fine, whatever. I describe my pain, and he says to me "That area doesn't have any feeling. There's NO WAY that you could be having pain there unless it's for these reasons."

Excuse me? So, because you don't think I have either of those issues, I'm not in pain. Wow. I really was stunned, and when he said that to me, multiple times, I just didn't know what to say. Sure, he's the specialist, and I'm just the patient, but.....really? That's what you are going to tell me? I've had surgery there, I know what I'm talking about. He never even addresses the test results from before. I tried to ask about those too, but nothing. I got to the front desk, and decided I just can't do this. I can't deal with someone who is going to treat me like this. I got in the car and started crying. I called my mom (of course - she's the one who can understand me when I am bawling, Tommy still hasn't mastered the art :) and told her about it. Maybe I could have done it differently, but do you really think anything would have changed? I've never had a doctor tell me that.

My husband, who is worried about me, said I needed to do more, but I know that he just wants me to feel better (and stop complaining about pain) and resolve the issue. I am hoping this isn't a serious issue (how can it be serious if that area has no feeling?) and will do better, AND if I ever have that experience again, I need to work on my skills.

Found a plaque the other day with a great quote for us Moms:

1 Corinthians 15:51:

"We shall not all sleep

but we shall be changed."

It was placed above a changing station in the bathroom in a Church near our home.

(it's not our parish, but a Mass we can hit if we are running late.) So appropriate.

Dinner conversation

Emma: (eating spaghetti) You know, I didn't really like Tony's spaghetti.
Me: Really? Whose did you like? (hoping for a particular answer)
Emma: Yours. Because I love you!
(that is what is for dinner, so I am happy!)

Emma: I am going to eat all of my dinner. I am just going to leave the messy stuff in the bowl, and I'm not going to waste any food tonight.
Patrick: I'm just going to waste a little bit of food. Can I have dessert tonight?

Giddeeyup!

Look at how cute!






I love it when they are playing so nicely. (Please disregard the *stars* in the air, as the kids call them. I did just vacuum, promise.)

Happy New Year!

Well hi! Thanks for stopping by! How are you? Did you have a nice vacation? Lovely Christmas? Get anything exciting under the tree? Are you a party-goer on New Year's? Yeah, me neither.

We had a really wonderful vacation. I was worried that it would be hard on everyone, but I think the hardest part was Tommy going back to work this morning. LOL He especially enjoyed his stay-cation, and we really loved that he was home. We spent many mornings sleeping in (VERY hard to break that habit) since the kids would go downstairs and play Wii at all hours of the morning. And the day. And evening. They are really enjoying that gift. We had a birthday last week, and I was called in to work 2 days (goes to the Christmas bills that will be coming. yay!). Tommy spent the majority of his vacation re-organizing our storage room/laundry room in the basement. We are almost done, but I am so happy with how it looks right now. It was getting difficult to walk to the washer and dryer, but he cleared, cleaned and stacked everything to make it easier. It is great to go in there now, with a rug for under my feet, new shelves for everything and finally a place to hang up some clothes.

I would like to tell you about my BEST gift, right above the re-organization. Remember this? I'm sure you do. Well, its gone.

Isn't that better?!?!? I am tickled pink for my new fridge that can comfortably fit 4 gallons of milk! I can see what I'm looking for, and have plenty of room for leftovers. Yipeee! Tommy totally surprised me after Christmas, and I am so grateful. The kids love the ice and water on the door, and I just looove how big it is. (Thanks, Wilson, for helping move the old one to the basement!)

So, back to reality, back to school work (we are almost halfway done with the year!) and back to work. Back to eating less sweets, and getting up in the morning.

So, tell me, link, or whatever: what was your best gift??