Happy Halloween!

Sorry! I couldn't resist.

Some September Stuff

These last couple of months have been crazy. I haven't been able to keep up with posting or putting up pictures that I've wanted to. I thought that life out of the baby zone would be calmer, but it seems like the older they get, the more hectic the schedule is. At the end of September, I had a fun double date, birthday dinner with my main squeeze, Diana, and Tony. On my actual birthday I got home late from choir practice, and I was exhausted. So, we decided we would go out another night. Diana and I both have September B-Days, so we just decided to do an end of the month get together. We went to Benihana, and we had a lot of fun. It was mostly girl talk; the boys really weren't necessary. Oh wait, that's right; we needed them to pay. John and I love Benihana. It has sentimental value. He took me there for our senior prom...ahhhhh. Thanks Diana and Tony for my gift; I'm enjoying all of my new bath toys.

Props to the Real Teachers

For the last seven days I have been teaching a Pre-K Title 1 class in North Las Vegas. I normally only work a couple days of week, but a teacher I know asked me, a while ago, to take her class while she went on vacation. I've had two days to recover, and I'm still exhausted. Twenty 4-year-olds for six hours everyday, feeding them breakfast and lunch, trying to teach them the basics, dancing around and singing like an idiot with puppets and scarves, butchering the little Espanol that I remember from school, being sneezed on, bled on, and cried on all while trying to make these kiddos feel special. The end result, I went cross-eyed. This girl was not cut out to be a full-time working woman; especially when I start my second (more important job) when I get home. At least now I know, I am not real teacher material. I have gained a lot of respect for those moms that teach everyday, then come home to their own kids. It takes more energy than running a marathon. Then, I start to think about the single moms making it all work. Incredible! Why do these men and women not get paid more? Could I do it if I had to? Sure, but I would be one grouchy momma!

First Day

Yes, school started over a month ago, but I wanted to show Christian and Coy's first day of school pictures. Christian is now in second grade and Coy is in 4-year-old preschool. They both love school, and are doing very well. Christian (Mr. Smarty Pants) will nearly cry when he gets an A-. He is very competitive, especially at school. So, we are trying to help him understand that as long as he is doing his best, it doesn't matter what anyone else is doing. Christian is very social, of course he wants to be the leader, but he loves being around all the kids. Every activity going on at his school, he wants to be involved with. By the way, having your first born make school look like a piece of cake is not easy. I'm trying to keep an open mind that Christian is not the norm, so I won't automatically expect the same from Coy and Corinne. I already know that Coy learns much differently than Christian, and I have to work with him more. Coy loves preschool, I think mostly because of the dress-up corner. He already has found his future wife there, and the other night, during his prayers, he said,"Thank you for Kylie to be my wife when I am bigger." I guess big events do take place in preschool. The teachers at his school have had to rearrange a few things because of Coy's love for dressing up. One morning, Coy's teacher had noticed that he had been in the bathroom a very long time. Miss Lisa finally went in and discovered that Coy had taken every change of clothes out of the individual Ziploc baggies that were in the cabinet for the students in case of an accident. He was standing there buck naked about to try on yet another outfit. So, they had to move the emergency clothes to another bathroom. Another time, Coy had come home with his pants on backwards for the second time, and his underwear was seeming to vanish. I realized that he was, once again, getting into a high shelf in the preschool bathroom, taking off his underwear, and putting on the cool looking "Toy Story" pull-ups. Yes, those also had to be removed from his classroom's bathroom. He told me they were so cool, and he didn't care if they were for babies. I will be shocked if Coy is not an actor or performer of some kind. He always entertains me. Corinne will be in the 3-year-old preschool next year, and she can't wait. She always wants to stay when we drop Coy off. I am enjoying the girl time we have after we drop the boys off. So, here's the pictures.

Patience and Wisdom

This is so funny! Thanks for the forward, Debbie.

Summer Fun With Cousins

This past July and August we were able to visit with some of the cousins from my side of the family and John's side. The kids all had a blast together. In July we went to visit my sister in California after she had baby Eli. My mom and I tried to help by taking two of her kiddos, Tori and Luke with us to visit my dad in Eureka, CA. They all had fun visiting Grandpa and playing at the beach when it was 65 degrees outside. Then in August, John's sis, Elise, and her three kiddos, Josh, Grant, and Lauren came to visit for a couple of days. They all had fun together at the museum and swimming at the lagoon by Grandpa Tony and Diana's house. Yes, having all these kiddos together at the same time is very loud and lively, but I'm so glad they were all able to visit each other. My favorite memories as a kid are from when I went to visit and stay with cousins. Hopefully, my kids will have the same experience.

New Kids Fan For Life

So, there I was last Thursday morning just hanging out with the kiddos when I get a phone call. It's my sister, Bethany, and she has called me to brag that in eight hours she will be in Sacramento at the New Kids on the Block concert. Her husband, Lex, has agreed to go along because, well, he is confident in his masculinity and everyone will understand that he is just doing is husbandly duty. Here's a little background on this group and the Badouin girls. For both of us, it was our first concert in 1990. Bethany is my big sister, so of course whatever she thought was cool I did as well. We had every tape, the t-shirts, the dolls, the posters, the black hats that Jordan wore, and every Big Bopper magazine that they graced the cover of. We watched every New Kids cartoon on Saturday mornings, and my sister loyally wrote to them asking if they would come to her 13th birthday party. By the way, she did sit-ups religiously each night just knowing that soon she would meet them, and she needed to look her best. New Kids fizzled and they all went their separate ways, but last year they reunited to make a new album after 15 years and tour around the U.S. I tell my sis that I want to go and that it's not fair I can't be there. Bethany informs me that she had bought a four pack of tickets, so I should just zap myself up there and go with them. "Yeah right", I think, but then I start to plot how this could actually happen. My sweet sister-in-law works for Jet Blue and seems to make vacations happen, and both mom and dad are more than willing to give me their credit they had on Southwest which would expire soon if unused. My mom offers to be the nanny for the next couple of days and tells me to go for it. Could this miraculous event actually come to pass? One last obstacle to jump-convince the other half that this is a great idea and have him agree to let me jet off for a couple of days. Let's face it, the world crumbles for the little ones when mom's not around, especially for Corinne. This can be stressful when one is on daddy duty. As I cross my fingers and put a cute twang in my voice, he whole-heartedly tells me to have a great time. So, I rush to pack and scramble to make myself look like a cute New Kids fan. Lets face it, their fan base is a bunch of twenty to thirty something married moms; how hot am I expected to look? I got to the airport just in time, and my promises of candy and toys when I return is the only thing that keeps Corinne breathing. Coy just lets me know what kind of candy, exactly, he wants. Thank goodness Christian was still at school during this time, because if he knew I was going to visit his cousins without him, he would have thrown a fit. I enjoyed the first plane ride I have taken by myself since having children. Actually, this was my first trip alone in eight years. I had to just smile when I heard babies screaming on the plane. I looked at the moms with sympathy, but definitely with a sincere, "I'm glad that isn't me." I was even able to read during the flight. I forgot that was possible. Once Bethany and Lex arrived at the airport to pick me up I screamed out, "Hey Lex, are you ready to rock at the New Kids on the Block concert?" As people turned to look at him while he was blushing, my mission was accomplished. I told him not to be ashamed of his love for New Kids. The concert was great; I felt like a teeny bopper again, as did all the other grown women who had escaped life for one night to reunite with their former love. I saw lots of husbands with that, "I can't believe I let her drag me to this" look on their faces. So, by the time the night was over, Bethany, Lex, and I had been able to act like kids again. We got to relive a bit of the past. Thanks, sis, for the concert. It was the most fun I've had in a long time. I wish John could have been there. He would have loved it! We all know he was in junior high, up in his room, practicing the New Kids moves, hoping that one day he would be just like them. He still does the dances quite well. Maybe in 15 more years they'll have another reunion, and I'll be there dancing and singing, wrinkles and all.

Speaking of Coy

Here are some pictures of Coy's 4th birthday party back in July. I never got a chance to e-mail them to everyone. Coy had been saying all year that he wanted a Spongebob birthday at Chuck E. Cheese, so that's what he got. He had a great time, and all his dreams came true when his Grammy got him the Wall E robot he had been wishing for. He received many fun presents, and we were so excited that Uncle Lonnie, Aunt Patti, Jasper, and Emilyne were able to come from out of town.

Anatomy Lesson

Never before have we enjoyed the wonders of mirrored closet doors in Romo land, but in our new home we get the privilege to see what we look like from head to toe. It seems like the kiddos enjoy them the most. I creep around and spy on them as they play with their reflections in the mirror. Corinne is always talking to herself or dancing a gig. Coy, however, being the observant one that he is, has taken to examining all parts of the 4 year old anatomy. I walked in his room this morning, (he thought I was taking a shower) and saw my blondie in his birthday suit. He was turned around trying to spread those white cheekies of his. I automatically yelled, "What are you doing?" before his examination could go any further. Coy hurried over to me with a very concerned look on his face and said, "Mommy! There is something in the middle of my bottom. What is that?" Of course, this was all being said while I had a lovely view of him bending over to show me. I tried not to crack up (no pun intended) because he had such a worried little look on his face. After explaining a few things, he was assured to know that this was quite normal. In fact, I'm sure he learned a lot about the digestive system. Who knew bums could be so interesting? Never a dull moment round here.

Back to Back-Tracking

At the end of May, we said good-bye to our sweet Grandpa Clyde. He was one of the warmest, most welcoming, most affectionate men I've known. Since the beginning, when I started dating John, he was always my favorite, and I'm pretty sure I was his :-) He always made me feel special and very loved. I could tell he was a fire-ball when he was younger, and I wish I could have known him then. He was 88, and it was peaceful when he passed away. I miss him very much. He will always have a special place in my heart.

Evil Cell Bill

I never before new that there was a Verizon Wireless fairy who goes around sprinkling generosity where needed. Because of some "out of our hands" circumstances, we were facing a mighty hefty monthly fee. As I paid the small, remaining balance of the frightening sight today, I was once again oozing appreciation and thanks. So, here's to you Verizon fairy.