Dinner and a (funny, funny) movie!

Date night! I can't believe we made it out after a long, long time. We've tried many times to go, but something always came up, someone always got sick. So when I woke up yesterday with major sinus issues, chills and a daughter who obviously felt the same way, by her every action.....I thought it was a lost cause. I was destined to stay home. A shower and postive attitude does wonders!!!

I did make a joke about Bart's shirt and he changed to a "better" date night shirt. He teased by threatening to wear THE MAP shirt. Great start. This shirt I bought him as a joke and he wears it all the time (well, used to until I threatend to burn it) He actually tried to wear it to Church once, and in all honesty said it was a "Church shirt" becuase it was new. Fashion challenged!!!
We have Bart's Aunt Vickey to thank for wacthing the kids. They had a great time playing with cousins too! I honestly, after calling just once, felt very secure and could enjoy my time not worrying about what they were putting her through!

So we drove the country side (She lives out a ways) and did it in SILENCE. Of course we were in a mini-van and both of us yawned at least 3 times before we made it to town! We went to O'Charley's for diner. (THANKS DAD!!!) Yummy. I ate and had lots of time to do whatever. I did not have to scold anyone (Bart behaved), or get down on the floor and clean the mess my kids made. I did not have to sing kids songs to entertain or spell out everyone's name on paper placemates. I did not have to cut bite side food 3 times, or request a cup with a lid. It was strange!

Since dinner was a success and all was good, (Of, course we called to check) we went on to the movies! RV was showing. I thought it would be good, it was the only movie we could agree on too! Since we were already stuffed from diner we went ahead and tortured ourselves with popcorn, soda, and snowcaps. Can you really go to a movie and not get those 3 essentials?

RV-----------------HILARIOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I laughed until I cried! I laughed half way to get the kids. I still think of parts of the movie and laugh. We are campers, (BIG TIME, LOVE IT, WANT TO LIVE IN AN RV, CAMPERS)and although it is a passion, it is new and we make mistakes. We could easily see how things in this movie are "true" to life. And it had a great "moral of the story", too! One that if you have kids...It will make you weep, even grown men! It is a must have on DVD for the ONE house!

Thanks to all who contributed! Date night was such a great refresher for a Mom with a lot going on.

Jimmy!

This is great! I can talk about my love for another man and my husband is all for it, all because it includes Cardinals baseball. Remember his bubble? Cardinals and Annheiser Busch. Well, he has given up one of those two on a daily basis, so the other we give extra attention to support his sacrifices!

Back to Baseball! Jimmy.....what a hit! 3 run homer gets the game rolling! HE IS BACK. He might have had a rough start, but I do every morning until I get a least one cup of coffee, give him break! He played the field on top of it too!

I tell you what, I love my husband for re-introducing me to baseball. 3 years ago I HATED baseball and the Cardinals because it took a piece of my husband away from me. I could tell when they lost because he would be really grumpy. He ignored me when games were on and he was very sneaky so he'd be near a radio or tv when they played. I used the "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" concept and found out what all the hype was about! I can't believe I was missing out on all this!

Oh, and I guess I will have to give props to Scott Speizio as well. I really get this ping in my stomach when he does good and bad. I am happy his career is back and he is contributing to OUR team. But sad that he was influenced to make some bad choices. I just hope he shaves that little red goat like thing off his chin for starters. It creeps me out.

A great write up at cardinals.com about Scott with a little tid bit about Jimmy's BIG 3 RUN HOMER here:
http://stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/gameday_recap.jsp?ymd=20060427&content_id=1421901&vkey=recap&fext=.jsp&c_id=stl

Also Jimmy: Hall of Famer I like the sound of that!
http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=4999

647.5 MILES ADDED!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A little bit about Dante

Dante sure is growing up! We went to the book fair the other night and he bought a baseball book, and a basketball poster. He also bought a wish list book for his teacher that he donated to the class. I was proud of him! This was the book fair mascot. Who knew book fairs had mascots? I FORCED him to stand by the dog(?) for this picture. He refused until he had no choice, the whole time saying I'm too old for this under his breath! I am surprised he looks happy in the picture, becuase he was anything but happy!
And for all you people out of touch with today's fashion. Hot pink is the new cool color even for boys! This is his class shirt. They voted to have pink. Even Stone said, "Wow, Dante you got PINK!" 

I'm back begging for you to WALK with me! Help me please!

For all those regulars out there who are checking in to see what adventures happened at the ONE house....You are not going to read the story how Lucy broke Stone's glasses with a toy wooden ring, even though that was part of our day yesterday. You are going to be scolded for not participating in a great cause! Some of you are lacking in miles and encouragement for us who are walking!

For the other new readers especially the April DTC group (name to be announced later) welcome to the ONE house adventures. So called because my kids call the house we live in the ONE house. True story. When we moved here 2 years ago my almost 3 year old could not understand that the house you live in were called home. We kept our last house as a rental and it is right by the school, so we saw it often. He still calls it home. We didn't have the heart to tell him that wasn't home anymore....actually he wouldn't change his decision. That was home and we live in the ONE house. It goes on and on as Bart's flat in Germany ended up being theTWO house. But that is the short end of the story! I am on another mission....MILES!

Please check out the Walk with me to China site. Here you will find all the latest walking funnies and facts. I have to give special thanks to Stacy and her Trek through China. She is helping by adding her miles to my (way over my head) goal and I am having fun learning things through her site! She also pushes me through support to get out there and get walking!

As the crow flies there are 6862 miles from the ONE house to Beijing ( just a good point to pick). We are getting a little closer with every step. This was originally started to get family and friends involved with the excitment of the adoption. Also to get out there and start living healthier.

Send me messages, support, MILES, anything through e-mail jennvandeven@yahoo.com or comments! I need all the help I can get! You are also welcome to send any pictures of your walks or things that might help motivate and I will (with permission) include them with a special thanks. I am blessed with so many things and I love to share it all!

I am on the road to get my KATE! Join me!!!!!!!!!!

I actually drive by this road almost everyday. It is a great reminder of what road our family is on! All in due time we will get there, and she will come home to the ONE house!

Picture Perfect

What to buy a four year old sensory child to play with: A DIGITAL CAMERA

I have had soooo much fun watching Stone have fun these last few days with the extra camera. Don't you love his self potrait?! He is really getting into the picture taking thing. The camera only has about 10-12 picture memory, and then we download them for him to see and tell me about them. Surprisingly some are pretty good. A career (?), or maybe he’ll end up like Greg Brady and end up with a black eye…knowing his luck.

We have pictures of chairs, light fixtures, balls, me, Lucy, Dante, the floor, a duck, the tv….He took a picture of every one's bedroom, and the brick outside.
He even helped capture a not-so-happy Mom moment. Lucy loves to color on anything, but paper. Mr. Permanent Marker was introduced to Miss. White Window Trim yesterday by the lovely match maker Lucy. Magic Eraser to the rescue!!! That bald headed man has saved me lots and lots of money in the long run! Did you know in Germany Mr. Clean's name is Mr. Proper? Mr. Clean translates into a naughty word, so it was changed. I bet I could have used it and a few other naught words as I was cleaning Lucy's creative expression.

Little Einsteins

The ONE house has been under the wrath of LUCY this weekend. If I went over the details you would feel sorry for me and everyone else in the house, but I don't want your pity.....I want you to take her for a day maybe two and then fix her and give her back!!!!

In all honesty it has been a challenge not to scream, yell, and I hate to admit that I did break down with a few tears as I was leaving church (as Pastor was greeting everyone. It hadn't even started yet.) while she laid in the back on the floor, litterally kicking and SCREAMING. I just don't get it. Last week she sat fine the whole time. She also won't stay in the nursery by herself. She screams (not cries) until I return. I can't do this to the awesome volunteers. I really do think it is a phase, allergies, maybe some molars, and the NO Pacy thing.

Another event that actually does not relate to my kids (WOW, I know!). We have a lot of TVs. Why? Because we have a lot of people in the house. They are mostly older ones we've pooled together, or had passed down to us. The one in the bedroom is the biggest and oldest. It is now also tempermental. At any given moment it turns off. We are silly people and have been battling this for over a year!!!! We literally fight with the TV and turn it back on, then it turns off. Again, we turn it on, then it turns off. I really wanted to watch ROSEANNE last night and turn it back on 6 times before I finally took defeat and went to bed. Most shows I wouldn't do this, but Roseanne is just one of those shows I watched growing up and it also made me feel normal. Besides I love all the referrences to places close to "home" such as Elgin, Dekalb, and Chicago. So back to the crazy TV.. Why do we do it? Because sometimes we win and it stays on. Bart thinks it has a mind of it's own, since it stays on only when he falls asleep, as if to taunt him.

Finally, a funny little coincidence. We love the Disney's Little Einsteins. The four kids...Leo, Qunicy, Annie and June take us on adventures all around the world and include great music too! A new video comes out this week, too!!!! Take a look at the kids though! Leo, the red head with glasses=Stone. Quincy, the African-American (black) little boy=Dante. Annie, the blond haired, blue eyed little girl=Lucy. And then June, the asian little girl=Kate (to be included soon!) We are the walking billboard for Little Einsteins. And my kids are as smart, cute, creative, and talented as them too. Now, where can I find a Rocket?

(FINAL) Can't leave home without it: Part 5

And finally, what I can’t leave home without….
I ALWAYS have these three items! The camera is just in case of well…anything cute, horrible, funny, pretty, or unbelievable. The phone for emergencies. I always want to be available in case any of the kids need me. And my ring. Which I have a habit of twirling and know the instant I don’t have it. I will turn around in the car for it and have many times.

Things I wind up never getting to leave the house without:
Lucy (Stone and Dante take the bus to and from school!)

Now…Here is a list of thing I shouldn’t leave home without but....
Juice for Lucy
Milk for Stone
Stone’s spare glasses
Extra clothes for Stone
Extra clothes for Lucy
Diapers
Wipes
Extra wipes
The list I just made of things to do and get
Batteries (for camera)
Dante’s gameboy for Stone
Games for gameboy
Movies for dvd player in the van
Earplugs
Snacks (cheetos)
Checkbook (money/credit cards) I’ve been know for leaving this one!
Ibuprofen
THE timer
Small baggies or cups for snacks
Children’s tylenol/ibuprofen
Children’s benedryl
Lucy’s pacy in case I just can’t take it anymore!
Pictures of the kids (people always ask when I don’t have one!)
My date calendar
My address book
Stamps
A pen
WHISKEY (HA!)
Paper
Snappy the snake and Arnie the alligator (Stone tends to behave better when I talk to them through him.)
Gameboy charger
Phone charger
Lucy’s hair clips
Sunscreen
Glass cleaner (for Stone’s glasses)
Tide to go stick
DUCT TAPE
Scarey BIG Bird
My BIBLE
(I used to carry my dossier paperwork, but not since we have been DTC 4-6-06!!!!!!!!!!)
I could go on and on as any mother of three knows.

Can't leave home without it: Part 4

Lucy is known to tote around a lot of things at various times on all our outings, but this is an absolute must have item:

HER BLANKET...

Thanks to Grandma Millie this one is "carry size". She has another for sleeping that is bigger and covers her up perfectly for now. (They grow to fast). Her Blanket gets really, really dirty and helps to wipe runny noses and other such things in a pinch. It however has never been left anywhere. I can say this and not be worried something will happen because, Lucy always remembers the things she has and is good about reminded us what she/we forgot. She's got good "wife and mom" skills.

I had orginally planned to add her pacifer (pacy) but for the past 2 nights and 1 day I have been through screams and withdrawls. It all started with the last one going to work in Daddy's truck on accident (So he says). We made it through the night without it, so I was not pulling it back out. She only has asked for it 2 times since that night. She is very grouchy. Cries, screams, hits, kicks....So, really there is no difference! HA! Actually the evil little girl, we created with love and care has become more evil due to Satan's hold over her addiction. I keep thinking there is a cut off time period that becomes easier. This is my only hope. I have also noticed how much she really talks and sings. ALL THE TIME (when she is not crying)! If I have to have one more conversation about Stone falling in the yucky water I am going to think hard about popping that thing back in her mouth! She even created a song about it!!!! But through it all, (MY TIME TO ME PROUD OF ME!) I have been pretty calm and cool. I have not yelled, screamed, or used any light (or any for that matter) physical actions. I have prayed A LOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Today she is happy and singing, NOW! Give her a few hours! Like any addict it comes and goes. As we get further away, the one worry I do have is one of the 3 missing pacies that I have searched for high and low for hours on end to shut her up, will be found by mini-me. She will be smart enough to go hide and get her fill before she comes to show me her prize find, and I will know it by the silence!

Walk to China updated!

Can't leave home without it: Part 3

A whole lot of nothing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dante would actually leave the house and forget his pants if you did not remind him. He would be completely embarressed mind you, but he has too much on his mind and easily forgets everything.

He loses things easy too! He is a free spirit, hurry and GO GO GO!!!!!!! He only thinks of something to bring if you have one, and then he has to have one too.

I haven't figured out if this is good or bad yet. I get fustrated when he doesn't have things he needs, yet he doesn't bring a lot of junk either.

So, to sum this one up.....Dante CAN leave home without it.


Football summary:
Last night of football went very well. Dante finally showed me, all the other parents, and the coaches that he could play the game! He caught a couple passes, ran the ball, and made quite a few tackles. He got hurt at least twice and of course laid there and waited until the coach come over and helped him up at least once, but both times went back into the game. He still has to learn that footbal is a game of getting hurt and living through it! All in all, I am afraid he will be joining the ranks of the other 100 kids in playing fall league, but we'll have to wait and see! 

I interrupt this program because I have been tagged!

I have been tagged. In blogging world people tag each other to tell things about themselves. Stacy tagged me to tell 6 weird things about myself. So....

1. I had a cat growing up that had no tail.

2. In college I pierced my belly button.

3. I can't stand the sound of people's feet rubbing on carpet. It hurts my teeth.

4. I like the smell of a tanned skin in the summer.

5. I LOVE antiques but married a man who hates them!

6. I have bad eye muscles that cause me to see things blurry at first and give me motion sickness very very easy.

Now I am supposed to tag someone....but I am a beginner blogger and don't know too many out there who haven't been hit with this one. So, consider yourself lucky for now!

I will continue "can't leave home with out it" tomorrow with another lucky family member!

Updates now at both Kate's Quilt and Walking to China!

Can't leave home with out it: Part 2

Can you guess who I might be talking about today????

Poor Stone, At age 3 we finally took him to the eyedoctor. I had suspected a sight problem for some time but just was not sure. Little things he did, like point every which direction when you told him to get something and say "over there?" over and over.
He also never looked at a camera or in a person's eyes. Stone sat 2 feet from the t.v. to play games. We'd scoot him back and he'd end up right back next to it.

Taking him for the first visit was tramatic. They had to guesstimate his prescription. I will NEVER forget seeing him for the first time with them, either. Cindy was a blessing for us at this time. She worked at the eye doctor and fit his glasses. Stone connected with her because she was so caring and understanding of his "issues". He came walking down the hall in his glasses just wide eyed and amazed! He walked right up to me and said "Mom, you got eyes!" WOW! Sure, he knew I had eyes, but really had never seen them distanctly! Soon after that he became very blurry through all my tears!

So many new discoveries were made and milestones reached, and a lot of mischief too. He also has improved his moves on the gamecube (like he wasn't good enough already) Now he does everything with his glasses, except swim and take a bath. He even sleeps with them. (The picture is of his spare because he is right now asleep with his new ones on.) I can't image him with out.

Update of quilt! : http://dearestkatherine.blogspot.com//

Can't leave home without it: Part 1

I have been thinking a lot lately (NO JOKES!) I get a lot of free time when I walk and am outside with the kids. This time allows my mind to turn over and over...
I catch myself in "blog lingo thought". Always looking out for a hit on the site. For the past week this one keeps coming up, so for the next few days you all get the privledge to learn about our treasured items.

THE THINGS WE DON'T LEAVE HOME WITH OUT AND WHY!

Bart gets to go first because he is really pretty easy. He always has his wallet. No question about it. The name badge usually follows the wallet. This is required to get into the plant and is very important to get a paycheck! I was going to add his keys too, because he normally is driving, but sometimes those get missplaced. And when this happens it is only allowed to be before 6:00 am! AND I have to woken up, because I obviously, am the keeper of lost items!

Join us tomorrow for another family member's precious items!

Hide and Seek

Bart lost at hide and seek on Easter Sunday. Can anyone guess why?

 

All in due TIME!

I have found one way to win with Stone. I started using a timer for game time and potty time a while back and it worked. No fits and he is like that dog with the bell and food. It "dings" and when prompted he does what he should, usually (I say usually) with out a fight. (At least with me, Bart's a different story!) I recently read about this too in a great book that I got at the library. I hope to add it to my personal library in the future. It is Raising a Sensory Smart Child, and really is by far, one of my favorites!

This too though has snowballed. He has caught on and when ever he wants to do anything he says, "Let's get the timer." He also knows how to speed up time or slow it down if it is in within his reach. We joke that he will always need this timer....thus morphing him into......Flavor Flav. For those of you who need to be schooled on this character....sorry, I just can't go into it without flashes of Stone wearing a HUGE clock around his skinny little white neck while shouting out "Yeeeeaaaahhhh Booooyyyy".

I shiver trying to shake off the chills.

Happy Easter from the ONE house!

 

Easter shoes.

Today us girls did one of our favorite things......SHOE SHOPPING. Lucy literally tried on at least 15 pairs of shoes and did the cat-walk for anyone who would look at her! I loved these sandels, but the heels were a little too much for an almost 2 year old! We settled for a plain white canvas shoe. And by far the least expensive!

I did take the stroller, and for anyone driving by as I was checking it out for any stow-aways (snakes), you are welcome for the laugh. It was not an easy task for me, since I still get chills when I looked at the stroller or the corner of the garage. I knew I had to defeat the fear early and decided the stroller was a must for the shoe shopping trip. No surprises, but now I will always be wondering if I missed it and it got in the van!!!???? I caught myself checking the floorboard a couple times. Silly me! 

Mommy and baby try to steal our stroller right out of the garage!

Today was supposed to be a "no-adventure" kind of day.
And then mommy snake and baby snake changed all that!!!!!
Dante came in talking about a snake in the corner. I wasn't too concerned, since he was not freaking out. You see, Dante is afraid of bugs, frogs, snakes, worms, fish, snails, slugs.... a lot of things!!! So I go out to conquer the snake. I feel brave enough to handle this. Bart is on bedrest due to his current medical condition. I look and look and ahaaa, I see something. I am not brave, but our neighbor James is outside and I know he is.
I have this picture to prove it. Yes, that is him in the tree, cutting down limbs! Brave or Crazy!





So he comes in and rescued me from......A STICK! whehhh, that was a close one. He leaves with out making fun of me and even says to "holler" if we need any other help. I have the best neighbors. Then I go in and accuse Dante of being silly, and he explains in better detail what corner to look in. I look, and sure enough....a BIG snake under the stroller, and then I see hidden in the stroller another smaller snake. Okay now we have MOMMY and BABY! I send Dante to fetch the brave neighbor, but he is not home. Panic and then strategy. Here was my best plan: we stand guard for a few minutes in hope that he just went to get gas for the mower he had just pulled out. No plan B needed, he returns within a few minutes. He comes over as a few neighbor kids gather, his wife (who is also super), and the babysitter (her son) Nick! I feel safe now. He wrestled with the mommy a little longer then the young 'un, but he won and now they are living in the field and not under our stroller! Okay so I wasn't so brave, but I do have to say I handled the situation without complete mayhem breaking out. Even the brave nieghbor called mommy "healthy" (boothill term for OH MY GOSH, THAT SNAKE IS HUGE!).

The pictures shown include the mommy in the corner, James and Nick both holding the stow aways, and then a neighbor (Not scaredy Dante or Lucy) getting to pet the mommy

Library and lilacs, a perfect combination anytime!

Last night after a great breakfast for dinner, Dante and I snuck away to the library with permission from Bart. Bart when in-sync can make sure I do get a recharge, and this was perfect for me. I love our library. Of course the library ladies know ALL of us by name. As Dante and I walked in, she even questioned the fact that there were only two of us! They are good to me and the kids! I do confess, I might have taken advantage of the time away. I was sitting looking through books and caught myself reading one, I knew I would be taking home. It was just so quiet and peaceful and did I mention quiet! We were given the 10 minutes to gather your books and make it to the check out counter and in the next 5 minutes I was given a complete makeover through the smell of lilacs that someone had brought in (I even took a small piece) and Dante telling me all about the movie he saw at Sunday School last week. He is so intelligent. You think I am just bragging because he is my kid, but he really, really gets things that most nine year old don't even get exposed to. The best part is he is really interested. The worst part is he asks lots and lots of questions. That is why the library is so special to us. I don't claim to know everything, but I can find it there!


Look at the book Dante brought home! Still, another night of FOOTBALL faces us tonight!

Another day, more adventures!

Lucy needs a friend! Right after the boys left for school this morning she sat in front of HER mirror and has a conversation with herself! She would ask herself questions most of the time referring to Dante and Stone... And then would answer them. She was having a good time, laughing and carrying on.



This gives a whole new meaning to bottomless bag of cheetos!
Check out "Scarey Big Bird" She loves Big Bird and has a new one and this 20 year old handed down with love from her Godmother Kelsey. She calls it "Scarey Big Bird", no lie! But loves it just as much as her new one!













This is one of my favorite parts of my day. Reading Stone's notebook. Most of the time it reads well, "Stone sat "better" at circle time", or "Stone enjoyed being the helper today". Sometimes, it reads more like an adventure, "Stone did circles aroung the classroom". Today was a hard day, but very typical for Stone. I knew something went wrong the minute I looked into one eye through his glasses and the other eye over his glasses. The first thing he says while getting off the bus (without looking at the stairs in total faith that mom will catch me) is "My glasses are broken.". The second is, "I got eggs". The bus driver and helper also told me he was very proud of his eggs and talked about them the whole way home!
Which leads me to "the troubles". The note says he lost an egg. If each child was supposed to have 10 and he had only 9...LOOK OUT! I am sure the replacement was nothing like the original, which was a dilema in itself that only rubbed in the fact that he lost one of HIS eggs. Or it might have been broken or mishaped or the wrong color.....
If that wasn't enough... he goes on to show his inability to "watch out" for dangerous situations. We've all been bonked by someone on a swing, most likely due to carelessness, once. Stone could run out in front of the swings at the park not just once, but 2-3 times each visit. This one left him with bent up frames, but no bodily injury.
He'll start the next fashion rave with my solution!





So tidbit on Dante...Football last night, he gets to run the ball as his team goes through plays. I only needed to give him one pointer. Look just as excited when you know your not getting the ball as you do when you know your getting the ball. From 50 yards away, I could tell every time Dante would be passed the ball as they set up their offense. Can't blame him for being excited. He still is scared to get hit, and has yet to experience a real one! I still have that hope that the BIG HIT may detour him away from football! He came home with a real bad bruised arm last week, that almost called for a visit to see the x-ray machine....all I could think about was baseball season.