Silver Children????

I don't know.....Bailey is my Golden Child, so are the rest my Silver Children???? I don't know......they sure are darling children though!!!!!! "Darling" is one of my favorite words....does everyone have favorite words, or am I just weird? Actually, it's "darlin'" that I like. Anyway, since I bragged about Bailey so much in my last post, I thought I should put pictures of my other little angels up also :o) Here's Cam just looking like his irresistable self....
Caden....up to his mischievious self :o) I don't remember what he was getting into, but I'm sure I busted something up when I asked him to look over at the camera. Look at that bowl cut!!!! Dad is not a fan of the new haircut. Daddy goes to work and doesn't have to look at his bad hair all day long though.....I took matters into my own hands. I'm entitled to do that as the mommy, you know?????
Bennett has figured out where toys are hidden and can get them now! You can't take your eye off this one.....he's fast.....and he's always on a mission!!!
He doesn't care that the twins attack him and play roughly with him. Just wait.....he's only 4 pounds behind them.....he's going to be kickin' butts and takin' names before long. He might be the "baby" of the family, but he is going to be the "king" of this family....I see it already!
He loves his little bare-bottomed crawling around after bath time! He just takes off and loves the air on his tushy!
Okay, it might be a while before I blog again. I know, I know....call me a loser. School just started again and I'm frazzled already! I decided to double-up on my last two classes to finish faster. Now I will finish on April 2.....that's not too far away. It will be a LLLLOOOONNNGGGG six weeks though, because I start working on March 1 (just what I need, right?) It's only 3 days a week, 4 hours a day.....so, it's no big deal, it's just "something" else to worry about. Once I'm done with school, I will love my job. I've been volunteering at the Children's Waiting Room (it's a service to patients at the hospital funded by the ASYMCA) since last February, and a volunteer coordinator position came open. So, I decided, since I'm there anyway, I should probably just be the volunteer coordinator and get paid instead of just volunteering......I did my time :o) Anyway, I'm excited about it, because, of course, I'm going to go in a mix it up.....I've got lots of changes to implement :o)
I'll try to post something at least once a week (probably without pictures) just to vent, but nothing too crazy. I just have a hard time writing a little old clip of info....I like to ramble! Can you tell? Okay, anyway.....I hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine's Day, anniversary, birthday, etc.....all of those things that have happened the past two weeks!!!!!

Golden Child

It is amazing that my child isn't the most stuck-up, snobby kid that has ever walked the face of this Earth. Don't get me wrong, he does have his "proud" moments, but, for the most part, he is quite humble. I swear though, that kid can do anything. Maybe it's the only-child syndrome (he really does have those characteristics since he's 9.5 years older than the twins) or even the oldest-child syndrome. Anyway, let me live vicariously through him for a moment and share what an awesome kid he is! Anyone who knows Bailey knows he is the most polite, respectful, trustworthy kid.....really, he is. Okay, ya I know this is a mom's perspective, but humor me :o) Okay...background...straight A's all through school (nothing ever less than an A on a report card), in the gifted education program every year, taking Algebra in 6th grade, just an academic dream......he's done the whole musical instrument thing (piano) and did very well, his passion has been baseball (he does well, certainly not the strongest player on the team...that's okay though), has tried basketball (not a great player), tried football for the first time last year (did very well...surprisingly...actually won MVP for his team at the end of the year over all the other veteran players who had been playing since they were little wee kids.....coach said he's a natural leader and could always count on Bailey to keep the team focused and make sure the plays happened).....then there was the whole student council president thing, again, totally awesome....okay, here's the newest proud mom moment.....Bailey started playing tennis last summer. He did a few week-long group lessons and has been taking weekly group lessons since. He plays/practices 1-2 hours a week....not much. Well, his group coach has been working with him and told him to enter the youth tournament to get some real playing practice. Well, Bailey's the type that doesn't care if he loses (nope, not like his mother at all in that way) and just wants to try. So, we show up to look at the brackets about 30 minutes before the tournament started. He was the only 12 yr old, so they had to bump him up with the older ones or bump him down to the younger ones. Honestly, since he's only been playing 8 months, it would have been much more fair to bump him down. Well, they bumped him up to the 13-14 yr olds....okay, whatever! Well, there were an odd number of kids, so Bailey got the bye for the first match (only 1 set matches....thank God). Well, somebody didn't show up, so that girl won by forfeit. Bailey watched her warm up with her friends, and I thought he was going to cry. She's 14, in 8th grade, and has been playing a couple of years. She's not AWESOME, but she's better than he is, and her serve is much more refined than his is. He still double faults alot. Anyway, she serves first...he breaks her. He serves...she breaks him. I thought, oh Lord, this is going to be a long match. The only good thing I'm thinking at this moment is that there is no tie breaker, it's the first one to six.....Bailey won the first one, so he has the advantage if they keep breaking each other. Well, they didn't....she was winning 4-1 at one point....well, he came back and it was 5-5 and she was serving for the match. I was getting excited. He won! He beat her! He was so psyched!!!! I was so proud of him. So, he went into the winners bracket automatically since he had a by. Everyone else had played 2 games, and he had only played 1. He watched the "champ" play twice and kill her opponents.....it wasn't looking good for Bailey :o( The twins were there with me during the championship game, so I wasn't able to keep an eye on the match like I wanted to do. I saw the beginning, and it was 1-1....okay....good start. I missed the end of the next two games and motioned over to Bailey asking if it was 2-2, he said it was 3-1....I thought oh crap.....I saw him win the next game and I wanted to confirm the 3-2 score....he said, no mom, it's 4-1......I almost screamed. I thought he was losing 3-1 and then went up to 3-2....no, he was ahead 3-1 and jumped to 4-1!!!!!!! WOWWWWW!!!!!! Okay, this is getting long, to make it short, he won the next game to make it 5-1, she won the next 2 games to make it 5-3, and then he beat her! He won the tournament for the 13-14 year old bracket! He just turned 12 less than a month ago and has been playing less time than any of those other chumps :o) Okay, see why I have to brag on my Golden Child???????? The twins and Bennett have some huge shoes to fill.....Bailey has set every bar so high for them. It will be so hard not to compare them.....but, really, I know there is no comparison. It's just amazing. He really is. I'm just so glad that he doesn't expect to win and do well at everything. He was totally expecting to lose his first two games and be done today. When he won the first game, he thought he'd lose the next game and then play in the losers bracket. He was okay with that.....which is good. I could have a real monster on my hands if all of his success went to his head. His newest thing right now is trying to get into Space Camp!!!!! Again, a far-fetched goal, but this is Bailey we're talking about....you never know!!!!!!




Here's Bailey with the other finalist :o) That's who he beat to win. The shirt should say, "I won a tennis tournament and all I got was this lousy t-shirt" hahahahaha.....that's okay.....it's was a free tournament. You can bet he's hooked now and will enter every youth tournament he can get in!!!!!!

email forwards.....

Okay, so I've gotten 3 or 4 of these "getting to know your friends" emails just in the past week. I usually fill them out and send them back, but I'm just going to post the answers here to save me some time. Nothing too spectacular.....just the average girl next door :o)

1. What time did you get up this morning? 5:45
2. Diamonds or pearls? Diamonds and more diamonds....pearls are for old ladies
3. Single/married/committed? married
4. What was the last film you saw at the theater? I don't even remember...it must have been a kid movie though....maybe Barnyard
5. What is your favorite TV Show? Grey's Anatomy, Desperate Housewives, The Real Housewives of OC, Top Chef, The Hills, Dr 90210, basically anything on MTV or Bravo
6. What did you have for breakfast? coffee
7. What is your middle name? Lynn
8. What is your favorite cuisine? I'm not too picky.....I like food :o) I like lots of flavor though....my leasy favorite is Asian!
9. What foods do you dislike? hot dogs, chicken still on the bone, spam
10. Favorite Chips? salt and vinegar
11. Favorite CDs? I don't buy CDs anymore....I make my own.....country and top 40
12. What kind of car do you drive? I don't know what the hell it's actually called. It's a piece of crap Japanese van that is just too weird for me.
13. Favorite sandwich? meatball or reuben.....I don't like cold sandwiches
14. What characteristics do you despise in others? stupidness, dishonesty
15. What are your favorite clothes? old t-shirts, maternity panties, and clean socks
16. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation? Italy
17. What color are your eyes? blue
18. Favorite Fashion Brand? Abercrombie jeans, Banana Republic jackets, Coach purses....anything that looks cute and makes me look skinny will do
19. Where would you want to retire to? someplace that has everything.....beach, mountains, culture, sports, fine shoppng and dining, city life, country life....I want it all
20. Favorite time of day? when the kids first wake up and when they go to bed
21. Where were you born? San Gabriel, CA
22. Favorite sport to watch? college football
23. Coke or Pepsi? coke
24. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share with everyone? can't think of any
25. What did you want to be when you were little? I don't remember.....probably something stupid
26. What is your best childhood memory? playing "BBBZZZZZZZZZZZ" tickle bee with my grandpa
27. Did you ever skip school? all the time
28. Who was your best friend in school? Elementary school - Becky, Jr High - Jamie, High School - Renee
29. Do you have any piercings? ears
30. Ever been to Africa? nope
31. Ever been toilet papering? many times
32. Been in a car accident? once
33. Favorite day of the week? Friday
34. Favorite restaurant? While here on Okinawa - Arin Krin
35. Favorite flower? plain ol' white Daisies
36. Favorite flavor of ice cream? Ben and Jerry's Chubby Hubby, coffee, and PB & chocolate
37. How many times did you fail your driver's license test? Never
38. Before this one, from whom did you get your last e-mail? Todd.....some stupid crap about our renters wanting a new garage door because it closed on their car....not my fault they can't pull in all the way
39. What store would you choose to max out your credit card? Home Depot
40. What is your bedtime? 8:00 if I'm lucky :o) 11:00 if I have homework
41. Last person you went out to dinner with? Oh gosh....Sunday night we went to Sam's By The Sea with Matt & Ali, Sean & Abby, Shack & Danielle, Ashley & Bob, Sean & Courtney, and a couple girls I don't know
42. What are you listening to right now? Cam yelling "I go pee" from bed because he doesn't want to take a nap
43. What are your favorite colors? don't have any
44. How many tattoos do you have? don't know......one (officially), but more, really.....I'm not going to explain :o)
45. Favorite book? Bringing Up Boys by Dr James Dobson

1. What is your occupation? diaper changer, dishwasher, taxi, butt wiper, cook, crisis intervention manager, maid, shoulder to cry on
2. What color are your socks? white
3. What are you listening to right now? nothing but the keys on the keyboard....Cam finally fell asleep
4. What was the last thing that you ate? don't remember
5. Can you drive a stick shift? Yes
6. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? black
7. Last person you spoke to on the phone? Connie
8. Do you like the person who sent this to you? Yes I do.....all four of them
9. How old are you today? 35
10. Favorite drink? coffee and wine
11. What is your favorite sport to watch? college football
12. Have you ever dyed your hair? Yes
13. Pets? nope.....I clean up after enough humans....no time for animals
14. Favorite food? I'm not too picky
15. What was the last movie you watched? Ferris Bueller's Day Off
16. Ever been out of the country? Yes
17. How do you vent anger? yell, curse, drink, eat, use sarcasm......any unhealthy coping mechanism that I can think of at the moment
18. What was your favorite toy as a child? don't remember
19. What is your favorite fall or spring? spring.....I am SSSOOOOO ready for warm weather to come back around after my bones have been chilled. If I'm going to spend money on pedicures every month, I damn sure want to show off my piggies too. Love to shop for shoes in spring!!!!!
20. Hugs or kisses? can't have one without the other :o)
21. Cherries or blueberries? blueberries all the way.....okay, now I remember I can add cherries to my "do not like" list above.....I really don't like any cooked fruit, not even apple pie
22. Living arrangements? Husband and 4 kids
23. When was the last time you cried? probably a few days ago
24. What is on the floor of your closet? laundry basket and dust bunnies
25. What did you do last night? watched Desperate Housewives and then did homework
26. What are you afraid of? snakes, flying, drowning, heights, germs, disease, something terrible happening to my children......pretty phobic, huh??????
27. Plain, cheese or spicy hamburgers? Cheese
28. Favorite dog breed? don't have one.....labs for playing, little lapdogs to snuggle with, none if I have to clean up after them or listen to them bark
29. Number of keys on your key ring? 1 car key on my keychain that I leave in my car....don't carry any keys....I don't lock anything
30. How many years at your current job? 12 years as mom, 9 years as wife.....nope, I didn't mix them up....I did it backwards :o) Thank God it all worked out :o)
31. How many provinces/states have you lived in? 6, I think
32. Favorite Holiday? Christmas
33. Ever driven a Motorcycle or heavy machinery? no, I'm a girl....that stuff is for men (or shemales)
34. Strangest food ever eaten? Ostrich steak

1. How are you today? dandy
2. What is your favorite candy? gummy bears
3. What is a day on the calendar you are looking forward to? gosh, so many....I guess the next one would be Valentine's Day. My husband would probably say 2/12, because he gets to have another vasectomy, and I'm sure he's looking forward to it :o)
4. Do you wish on stars? yep....always
5. How is the weather right now? beautiful....probably 75 or so
6. Favorite smell? grass, clean hair, coffee
7. Plain, buttered, or salted Popcorn? lightly buttered
8. Do you make friends easily? no, I'm a "difficult" person
9. What is the most beautiful place you've ever actually visited? Virgin Islands

OKEY DOKIE....you all know me now!!!!!!!

party time.....we did it!

We finally had our "Potty Party" and cake!!!!!! We are big boys in undies!!!! We started wearing undies on Sunday. Mommy would put pull-ups on when we left the house, but we wore undies all day at home. On Tuesday she kept us in undies when we went to the park and the store. We both pee-peed in our pee-pee cups she keeps in the car for emergencies....but not our undies :o) We even went to school in underwear on Wednesday......no accidents AT ALL....not even nap time! Cam woke up DRY Thursday morning....not Caden. Friday morning they both woke up dry. This morning they both woke up dry again!!!! They were both up during the night a couple of times and still didn't pee. They both waited until this morning and went straight to the potty!!!! They are such big boys :o)

Here they are "posing" in their undies with their potty cake!!! How cute!!!

We had Landon over to celebrate, because he just started wearing undies this week too!!!!!! Yeah, boys!!!!!!!
They love to look at "choo choo" or "george" or "trucks" on their undies. They don't like it when the design is on the butt though......I guess he was just checking to make sure it was still there. Their little tushes are SSSOOOOOOOO cute in undies too! Their clothes don't fit anymore. They are so skinny.....their diapers helped keep their pants up :o)

ya ya ya....don't comment on the dirty mirror....it's on the floor for Bennett and he runs his slobbery fingers all over it all day long....connie, thanks for making fun of my dust when you were over. i have better things to do than dust!!!!! i do laundry, dishes, and clean bathrooms.....the rest of the house just has to clean itself, or todd does it :o) i found a mamasan to start, but she only has tuesdays open right now....tuesdays are the only days we are home all day, so i need to get someone to switch days with me. my house will be spotless then :o)

We are really into buttons also!!!!!!!!! We don't like mommy or daddy to help us AT ALL with anything anymore. It takes us forever to get our clothes buttoned and unbuttoned (occassionally we give up and ask for help), but we don't like help. We like to do everything all by ourselves :o)