A decision has been made...

And.......

Nic has decided to wrestle!

He has a physical Friday and practice starts Monday.

And so it returns...

Tracking was checked last night. It was due to be delivered by UPS today - and living so far out we know that means late afternoon delivery...

The kids were glued to the upstairs window awaiting the truck...

Suddenly the POUNDING of feet flying down the stairs...

The door is flung open with a YEA!!!! The UPS man just laughs!

As I sign for the now fixed x-box I tell him you made my kids day today. He says, yes they are usually pretty excited to get them back fixed!

And now... My 14 year old and my 5 year old are glued to the TV - the house could probably burn down and they wouldn't notice. Hmmmm maybe I can get away without fixing dinner tonight...

Halloween Dilema

Justin is going to be a blue power ranger for Halloween and carry his nerf sword. He is way excited about this and can't wait for Trunk or Treat Fri. night at church. I"m kinda excited for the chili and corn bread. I am going to make a killer chili and can't wait to bring it in my witches caldron soup crockpot! It will look so cool!

Anyway here is the problem...

His school doesn't allow the kids to wear "Halloween Costumes". They have to dress up as a "Literary Character" and bring the book they are in. But, Justin wants to be a Blue Power Ranger. So he is finally understanding that he can be the Power Ranger Fri night just not Fri Day.

Here are his choices:
1. Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Tree - brown pants, green top and letters stuck on him.
2. Thing 1 from Dr. Seuss - Spraypaint hair blue and I have red feety PJs for him to wear and I'll put a round white circle on him and write Thing 1 on it.
3. Dazzle the Dinosaur - I was in the nursery today moving stuff around and he found an old Dino costume and he just knew he had a book to match. Yup the costume is the same blue color as Dazzle. But the costume is a tad small like about 4 inchs at the feet and hands.

I love the Thing 1 idea and of course he loves the Dazzle idea. Can't even change his mind with the whole we can spray your hair blue. Just freaked him out that his hair would be blue and "how will we get it out"! Oui! The boy stresses me out sometimes!

Loving Life in Arizona

These are the days I love! And luckily Arizona has so many of them!

Cool crisp mornings sitting on the back patio watching the dogs run and exercise and the kids bounce on the trampoline.

Gorgeous afternoons of bike riding, street hockey and football.

Cool clear evenings.

Arizona does have a few months of unbearable heat but I will take that in exchange for the rest of the months having this gorgeous weather.

Wrestling

I have encouraged Nic to join an activity this year at school as it will look good to colleges to be well rounded. He has chosen Wrestling - my 90lb when wet child chose WRESTLING!!!!

Last night was the mandatory parent's meeting. Wrestling is going to stop Nics life for the next 4 months completely! I talked to him today and we came up with Pros and Cons and I left him saying this is completely your decision.

Concerns:
Practice - 3 to 545 M-F and 8 to 1130 on Sat.
No missing practice or kicked off team.
This practice schedule means home at 6 - shower and dinner - start HW at 7pm and bed at ??? 10 maybe 11 (he goes to bed at 830 now).
Did I mention he has to be at seminary before school at 6am?
Scouts is Wed. night 7 to 830 (630 to 9 with drive time) so unless a school vacation day he will not be able to go or he will never get HW done. With practice on Saturdays that means no fall and winter camping with scouts...

And he has to wrestle against girls - my feeling - completely inappropriate for a contact sport. There needs to be 2 separate teams.

But it could build self esteem and its exercise and something to put on a college application and a way to meet new kids...

I'll let you know what he decides...

November...

Is going to be a hard month...

Lots of meds... so many I need to highlight a list after I take them so I don't repeat them...

Lots of shots... some with ginormous scary needles!!!

Those scary needles give me lumpy sore butte that makes you want to stand and never sit.

Surgery - I don't wake up well after anesthesia... they swear they can fix that this time though.

Some "princess" days where I get to lay in bed and do absolutely nothing - and if my orderly house falls down around me then so be it - it can be messy for a few days right??? Cause my butt is going to be stuck like glue to the bed.

No lifting, pulling, or pushing over 15 lbs...

Lots of Appointments...

Lots of Hope and Lots and Lots of Prayers...

odds are not as high in our favor this time...

So that adds even more hope and tons and tons of Prayers...

California Here We Come

My parent's flew in from CT and we took off for our first vacation getaway in FOREVER!

The car was packed and we were armed with plenty of movies. My youngest's talking could have one of us throwing ourselves out a window if we didn't have movies to curb the talking. We threw Justin and Grandma in the back of the burb - we didn't want to listen to Grandma's backseat driving either... That left Nic and I in the middle and Alex and Grandpa in front to navigate. Our drive was uneventful other than the 2 stops near the Mexico border to make sure we were legal and then our chins dropping to the floor when all of a sudden we entered the Arabian desert and wondered where the camels were. Really who knew CA had sand dunes - too cool watching people ski down them and drive dune buggies and such!

Then we entered San Diego traffic - I vowed never to leave the hotel without someone else driving. I HATE driving and there was no way I was driving there! Traffic was moving at quite the fast pace and I swear the highways were not made wide enough for SUV's and the parking spots everywhere were for midget cars not my suburban!

Too keep costs down we shared a 1 bedroom suite with Grandma and Grandpa. We just didn't plan for a midget size hotel room. It looked like a reg size hotel room that they just threw a wall up in between the couch and beds. Oh well, we made do. When we were at the hotel the kids were swimming or sleeping for the most part anyway!

The first day of our adventure we headed to see "The Big Fat Fish" Justin's name for Shamu. We saw Shamu of course. Justin was in awe! Justin held raw squid and fed a sting ray by himself - UG! We fed the sea lions and watched the shows.

Our 2nd day had us heading to the Harbor. We went on a harbor cruise and saw all the military boats - my dad liked this. He was stationed in San Diego after joining the navy. He was on a sub during vietnam. He said since he had been there over 40 years ago it had all changed. The boys highlight was watching the navy seals do manuvers, the dolphins training in the harbor and the sea lions laying on the barges sunbathing. We then headed for some fresh seafood in a restaurant on the water - YUMMY - fresh seafood just like at home in CT down by the shore... Then we headed over the bridge to the beach. Beautiful! The sand has gold specs in it, the waves were crashing, so many sand dollars to collect for treasures, sea lions bobbing just past the waves, perfect weather...

Our 3rd day had us heading back to Sea World to see our favorite exhibits again and of course Shamu. We then headed back to the beach again. The boys really enjoyed the beach. Nic and I hunted for Sand Dollars and Grandma and Justin built sand castles. DId I mention my dad and Alex stayed in the car to "rest" they didn't want anymore sun. But when we got back they were laughing at the shananigans of people instead of resting.

Our 4th day had us heading to the San Diego Zoo. The zoo was ok, but it won't be something we go back to on a return trip. Our Phoenix Zoo was much nicer. Just a tip - walking at the zoo is either straight up or straight down. My 5 year old has 1 speed - running! He just about gave me a heart attack every other second! I so could not convince him that running on a hill that goes straight down will cause him to summersault to the bottom and give him some severe road rash!

Our 5th day had us in the car driving back home. We all survived the trip, had fun and made some great family memories.

Test

I know I should be telling you about vacation and posting pictures of Justin petting the rays and feeding them gross stinking fish! Of Nic walking on the beach and finding treasures ~ sand dollars.

But...

Well, it starts tomorrow. A test... I have my antibiotics to take tonight and my 800mg of ibuprofin to take tomorrow right before my test. I don't know why I'm so nervous this test doesn't hurt as much as the procedures and shots that come next...

I'll post about vacation later in the week.