Mom Were We Like This? I Am So Sorry!

Luke's Batman Cake

Hailey is Concerned About Luke Blowing Out His Candles

Eli Thinks Ate' Alison Should Play Too

Brandon, Aidan and Luke Inventing Their Own Games

Not Really Sure What Lucas is Helping Landyn With

Try Explaining Pin the Tail on the Donkey When He Doesn't

Know What a Donkey Is!

Lucas and Eli Both Received BDay Gifts

Coke Glasses and COKE!

No It's Not For Football

No It's Not a Motorcycle Helmet

It's a BASEBALL Helmet

Klayton Waiting For a Chance

To Pin The Donkey Tail

That would be a statement from one of our girls in the middle of Lucas' "Kids" birthday party. I had to laugh as the kids were really good. Just a lot of noise and activity. What amazes me even more is that I remember the girls' birthday party involving 10-12 girls, overnight, Barbies and a lot of giggling. Ok we had the giggling, there were only 9 kids here plus their parents and no one was injured, vomited or cried so it was a success.

I guess maybe the girls have this scary view that I'm always organized and apparently they didn't realize how much that went out the door when the boys came home. The party was definitely "free" form. I figured if the kids were having fun who cared.....a little different from the old days girls. Sorry!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Make a Smilebox collage

The Trip Back From Lucas' Party

As you've read from the previous days entries you know we've had our fair share of winter. Tonight we went to Mike's parents for Luke's birthday party, they live 1/2 mile from us. Well to say we had to go through drifts is an understatement and usually in the car the boys are not quiet but when Mike busted through the first drift Lucas said, "Dad, what you doing? Crazy!" and then silence rained until we reached Grandpa and Grandma's door.

Coming home we went the long way trying to avoid some of the deeper snow. Eli's running back seat commentary (I suppose he thought Mike could use the emotional support) was to chant, "Good job, good job, hit the snow man, good job" Ok took a second but I finally got that he thinks the drifts are snow men. Eli and Dad must have done a good job tag team driving as we made it home safe.

Happy 10th Birthday Lucas!

Wanting to get rid of the snow and start baseball practice - Good Luck!

Getting a call from Ate' Rachel at college!

The color on his cake was 2 shades of purple (NOT pink)

Well Lucas received some of his birthday wishes and not others. He was thrilled with the helicopter, r/c motorcycle and the basketball game to name a few but greatly disappointed that there was no school again today. (They just cancelled school for tomorrow too!) He had his treats bagged up for his class and it doesn't mean much when I say he can take them tomorrow when I've been saying they can go to school tomorrow for a week now and due to weather it's been cancelled. High winds and blizzards kept school closed again today.

He's had his favorite foods today which seem to be about as important as the gifts. Chicken, spaghetti (last night for supper) and then pizza and cake tonight. We went to Mike's parents for supper and had a small family birthday party and then he will have a cousins birthday party on Saturday with the all important Batman cake he has talked about since Christmas.

Still can't understand why there isn't a beach to swim at in Iowa on his birthday. I finally said, "Look around if you can find it you can swim in it." He looked at me, looked at the blizzard outside and said, "No! Cold!" Ok then.....

Ees Okay No More Snow, Dirty!

That is Lucas' opinion on winter in Iowa. After his shower this evening he informed me that it was indeed ok by him if the snow went away and was no more. Ummm....sorry bud it's only January and we have 3 1/2 months to go.

It definitely has gotten ugly outside the ice of the last couple days began melting along with some of the snow and now we have lovely calf deep slush, ice and brown snow. Gotta love it. I'm trying to prepare myself for the day the boys have decided that there is no green left here and want to go back to the Philippines.

Lucas did talk about the typhoons this past summer while we were discussing the "dirty water" outside. He told me how they couldn't go to their school for awhile and how the water was bad, no swimming.

A Question You May Want to Rethink...

I've been thinking about this post for almost a week and since it doesn't seem to leave my mind I guess that means I need to write about it.

The adoption world is a world that is somewhat insular to itself. It has it's own language, culture, law, education and hierarchy. Mainly it can be very confusing starting out. I remember almost a year ago when we started into the process that I was somewhat put off by some that I met within the adoption world who are very "passionate and opinionated" about their views as to what and how every process, approach and answer to adoption issues should be handled. I guess I'm just as passionate that there is no single one way for each adoptive situation and family. Thinking back (and stop laughing those of you that know how opinionated and vocal I am) I remember thinking, "Man I hope I remember not to come off like that. I wonder if they realize how off putting they are? No wonder people don't ask questions about adoption if that is the response they get." See within some adoption communities there is a whole perceived view on what is and is not politically correct for those on the outside to ask and wonder but if you aren't tuned into adoption you are unaware of this until you are slammed by somebody. I have to say it happened to me at a meeting of perspective adoptive moms early in our journey and I remember thinking (well I thought a lot of inappropriate things) and then I thought I want to make a concerted effort to not to respond to people like that.

For the most part I approach questions as whether people are genuinely interested, interested in adoption themselves, interested in the process or just being nosey. Very few fall in this last category. To what degree I provide answers depends on the motivation for questions or the privacy of the boys. If there is something that falls under the category of the boys privacy generally people don't mean to ask these types of questions or realize what the reasons would be to not answer them. Then I just circle the issue or depending on the person explain why (nicely I might add) why I can't answer that question.

There have been a few times that I've been blindsided by questions either because they are good questions that I'd never thought about or because people are people and sometimes we say stupid things.

Thus bringing to the reason behind this long winded post. Last week I had someone, who I've known distantly my entire life, walk up to me (in the most inappropriate imaginable place and time) and loudly ask (and not nicely) "So, how's your second family?"

Again total blindside. Well number one, the boys are not second anything, they are our sons just like the girls are our daughters. I don't know why this bothers me so much other than it's one of the few times that I've not been able to give a constructive, redirecting answer. Quite frankly I wanted to slug her. It probably falls in the category of think before you speak. Again we were not in an appropriate place to address her "question" so after a pause I said "our sons are fine and so are the girls" and walked away. I didn't realize how rattled I was until I got away from her. Some of it was the way the question was spoken, it was not in a positive manner or by someone without skills to properly form a question, it was more of a snide, you are ridiculous for adopting tone. I was a little "surprised" in how much I don't think about the boys being adopted just that they are our sons. The concept of adoption has played such a huge part of this last year that I'm not sure when exactly the switch over was made in my mind. Either way this encounter was good for me at one level, I had a VERY protective, possessive reaction. Guess for those tuned into attachment I've reached that level of motherhood with the boys that I think I could probably wipe the floor with someone who questions their places in our family. Maybe not the most mature realization but motherhood isn't 100% rational.

I don't want to in any way convey that adoption (the word or the process) is off limits. Most definitely the opposite. Without adoption in all it's incarnations ours sons would not be home, every aspect has brought these guys into our lives. Unfortunately not everyone we encounter is open to this and I'll go back to trying to be constructive and positive with our answers.

Ok, now I'm worried I will put off questions from those of you who have been so supportive throughout bringing the boys home. That is not what this post is about. Without all of you our boys as well as ourselves wouldn't have the wonderful support system we have. You are the ones who can ask the questions and will understand if the answers sometimes need to be evasive. Thanks for thinking out the questions and caring enough to understand!

Love My Kids But COME ON!

Can you tell by the header that yes once again we are iced in by a winter storm? Ha! I started to write this on Wednesday and was interrupted, now it is Thursday and school is still cancelled because of ice.

Love my kids but we are all driving each other crazy! We attempted to send the boys outside for a few minutes yesterday as they were begging to get out of the house. No matter how much we tried to warn them, explain the words ice, slick, slide, etc. they were on their collective posteriors within 30 seconds. Which is saying something as they are pretty darn coordinated.

Ice vs. the "Filipino Fire" = Ice wins and they were back inside in 3 minutes. Ice definitely not as much fun as the snow. My inside activity ideas are getting slim as they blow through them so fast. Maybe we'll bake we haven't taken on that project yet (yes I have lost my mind!). Now if we don't lose power!

2 Injections = Hershey Bar and Coke

Well the price of the boys' bribes have gone down immensely from the first bribing event. The first set necessitated new PSP games and a tranquilizer for me, this time they let us slip by with Hershey Bar and a Coke.

Ok, yes I know, we just went to the dentist but I'm not as worried about their teeth falling out right this second as I am as to whether we will get them to bed before midnight because of the overload of sugar and caffeine. Let's see late night or screaming, inconsolable wailing (me not the boys).....late night wins!

I'm not sure which they wanted to show off more their muscles or their band-aids.

What Were Birthdays Like For Lucas?

Well this is going to be a long week for Lucas. He has anxiously been waiting for his birthday and if you've seen him lately he's probably told you "January 25 - me 10!" He is definitely our calendar watcher for all events. The kids had yesterday off from school and when he checked the calendar in the a.m. he realized that his birthday is one week from yesterday. Needless to say the day was consumed with birthday talk.

It was pretty interesting to listen to him (and Eli as his echo) about what birthdays were like for them at the orphanage is Zamboanga. Now we have to do a little funneling as I think some of the descriptions were mixed with holidays other than birthdays.

We learned that they had a pinata, a cake (cake is REALLY important) with a glass of juice and then they got to have a bottle of Coke. We do have a picture of one of their birthday cakes. It looks like a regular sheet cake without the frosting. The first time I made a cake they were so excited that was until I started frosting it....you should have seen their horrified looks. They really thought (and at times rightly so) that I had a screw loose until I gave them a taste. Now it's an argument on when the cake is cool enough to frost. FYI Lucas wants a Batman cake with white and chocolate cake. He has no clue about receiving birthday gifts but asks if he can have a Coke.

Shoot the Ball Eli!

That was the scream that Lucas decided should be his theme for Eli's first basketball game today. Didn't matter if Eli had the ball it was what Lucas thought should happen. Eli on the other hand did very well, he went (most of the time) where the coach told him, ran the correct direction (didn't attempt to make a basket in the wrong hoop - one huge asset) and generally looked like he had a good time.

The boys on his 1st grade team play at the YMCA on Saturday mornings. It is probably what sports should be as the kids had fun, learned something about being a team and the adults were well behaved. Give it another year and we'll see how that all changes. We sat in on the end of an older girls game and that was down right nasty.

The video is short and Eli kind of looks like he's preparing for church but it's better than the still pictures we got. His coach got one thing through his head, "this is your spot", the kid can rebound....now if we can get him to stick to the kid he's suppose to guard. And he even managed to make a basket. Not bad for a basketball playing Pickle!

Dad, Eli, Dentist, Car Sickness Add Up To?

One huge mess! Mike did the solo parent thing and volunteered to take Eli for his dentist appointment. Oh - I'm pretty sure it's the last time.

He picked him up at school (where he'd just been given his fluoride treatment) and proceeded to drive 50 miles to the dentist appointment. I'm guessing approximately 10 minutes away from the office Eli got car sick. Ooops! Holy Mess!

Give the guys credit, Eli managed to avoid himself, (Dad's car floor not so much) and Mike got him settled and into the dentist (yuck!) The good point of the day - NO CRYING - although I'm pretty sure Mike wants to as he is outside now trying to clean the car. Thanks honey!

The dentist thought it was from the fluoride - Sydney's reaction was "Wow! He's got something else in common with me." .....she can't do the fluoride thing either. Can't say as I was sorry to miss this particular bonding experience but please don't worry I've been graphic explanations, gestures and just short of a reenactment so I'm ok with the loss of the actual experience.

Siberia American Style

Yes I know 2 posts in one day but this was something that happened on the way to the dentist with Lucas today.

It's very white and wintry here in Iowa. Snow, blizzards, sub zero wind chill, you and the boys would think we are living in Siberia. The boys arrived home mid November after the leaves had fallen off the trees and all the crops were in. No green except for evergreens.

One of Lucas' big things to talk about is when will the snow go away and when will it be hot. Our common frame of reference is on Eli's birthday, June 4. Anyway, traveling down the road he looks over at me says, "In Philippines trees leaves, no leaves in America?" Ooops, thought we'd covered this but maybe not. I had to explain that the tall, brown sticks beside the road and in yards are trees and that their leaves will come back when the snow is gone.

With his infinite wisdom and exasperated sigh he said, "Ya, ya I know, I know - Eli's birthday! Hurrumff!" Sorry kiddo welcome to Siberia American style.

I'm Not Too Proud To Say....Bribes Work!

Today was step 1 of 2. Lucas had his first dental appointment with a new dentist that came highly recommended. If anything puts a bigger stresser on the kid than injections at the pediatrician's, it's injections by a dentist.

The plan was that Mike was suppose to go with me today as he apparently inspires better behavior than myself. Unfortunately he ended up working an hour and a half from home today and couldn't go. So it was myself and "he who has the ability to scream like a banshee" by ourselves. So what did I do you ask? I bribed the little poop to not throw a fit! Yep - don't care what the "experts" say or the books - it's effective. It let him control himself as much as possible (only one short crying jag) and I as well as the dental office have our collective sanity and hearing.

We are so lucky that this new dentist is so good with kids. She has a lot of patients that are internationally adopted and is very familiar with issues they may have. I've never seen a dentist open her office up like this one did. She said I could come in and out as needed, she took whatever instruments were freaking Lucas out of the exam room, let him play with the water and suction, let him operate the polisher. She even handled it very well when he grabbed her hand when she was counting his teeth with a "sharp scraping device". I've seen dentist's flip when that happens - not her. Lucky, Lucky, Lucky - and bribes do work! Keep us in your prayers step 2 is Eli's appointment is on Wednesday and he doesn't bribe easily.

No Go Back Philippines - Even When You Get In Trouble

That's the million dollar question for Lucas these days. He's testing the boundaries which is good as he's becoming comfortable enough to try and bad cause there are consequences to the testing which he's not in favor of.

Tested the boundaries all week-end with me (how'd I draw the lucky straw?) and finally exceeded my maximum allowable point of no return. Got chewed on by me and then we talked about it with Dad as he decided he'd continue the behavior. (Talking to Dad about bad behavior is about as bad as it gets for him as they are buddies). After that discussion there was the usual few minutes of silence and then he pipes up and asks, "I go back to Philippines now?"

Well okay then......made mom and dad feel like dirt......may have been the idea too. We then sat and explained that this isn't like when they went to live in Manila for a few months, they are here with us forever, no matter how many times they get in trouble and we love them even when we are mad. Lucas' answer to this, "OK, I stay here, America with you forever." I'm really sure we'll be having this discussion a lot.

Genetically Engineered Whining

Ok. I just want to know. Guys. Young, old. Seasoned husbands, new sons. What on earth makes them all whine? Shopping - nobody's favorite in our household but just like laundry and cleaning the bathrooms it has to be done. Stop whining. This is not an island where food mysteriously appears - we have to go shopping! No I do not have to shoo (the boys' word) and go shopping by myself - you help use up the supplies and food - you help to restock. Easy concept - stop WHINING! I'm not kidding we have been snowed in and unable to let the kids go outside because of the dangerous wind chill for 2 1/2 days so you would think they'd have cabin fever and want a change of scenery - but no, not if it involves grocery shopping.

When you do finally manage to get all reluctant participants (yes I won! everyone went!) to the store, does the whining end? No. Whine about what kind of toothpaste, what kind of yogurt, what kind of "whatever", we had to restock on rice cause you'd think we were throwing it in the snow as fast as we go through it these days and the boys managed to argue about which kind of rice - which had I been able to understand the Tagalog words they probably would have had to go to the car as I'm pretty sure there were a couple of not so good ones. You know those "Easy" button commercials on tv? I want a "Mute" button for whining. Stop It! - Now I will stop - yes I feel better.

The Boys and Sydney Steal a Car?

No they did NOT! But I got you to read this post.....

Today we are having another snow "issue" 7 inches more and wind to go with it. Sydney drives herself and the boys to and from school. With all the snow we have her driving our Jeep most days and I have the pick-up in case I'd need to run into town. Today I needed to drive into Omaha and with the weather deteriorating I decided I'd better switch vehicles with Sydney. I called school to let her know that I was making the switch. Nothing unusual....until school let out early and she and the boys walked up to the truck and she tried to get them to climb in.....no dice. Both backed up said no, no Jeep, Jeep. Began looking for the jeep in the high school parking lot while Sydney was trying to explain the change in vehicles. Under great protest they finally climbed in and buckled up. Even when she explained it was our truck they still frowned and said "No Jeep!" I think it was a real quiet and disgruntled ride home.

Eli Was Seeing Polk-a-Dots

Yep - it's official the boys are truly our sons as they will now both be sporting glasses like everyone else. Eli went today...and did excellent for the eye doctor.....and he will be getting his new glasses next week. Unlike his big brother he is very excited. Only a little hitch when he was helping to pick out glasses he decided he really, really liked the polk-a-dot glasses on display. No we did not purchase them. Mike would have freaked! We'll wait to see if he's as excited to wear them when they get here as he is now. Keep your fingers crossed!

Eli, the Pediatrician and Mom On Her Own

Today Eli and I took a trip to see our pediatrician as he's developed a cold, cough and still pulling at his ear. Luckily the doctor says he just picked up a cold but the good news was that the last round of antibiotics seems to have cleared his ear infection.... whoohoo! At least for now it delays a trip to the ENT.

Better even than the health news was the fact that Eli let a nurse check his temp in his ear.... I admit to my own small panic attack as this was a different nurse than normal and she didn't know about our previous issues, she moved right in on him and went for his ear, he gave her a "you must be crazy if you think your putting that anywhere" look, I asked her if I could show him the thermometer first, then he let her take the temp. When the doctor came in he sat straight as a board,no crying, whimpering or theatrics (Eli not the doctor) and let her check his ears, throat and chest!

I'm sure the whole thing would be comical to someone behind a two way mirror as two "seasoned" adults held our breathes and looked as if we were disarming a nuclear warhead but hey the family hasn't dubbed the boys the "Filipino Fire" for nothing.

Eli is so proud and we are too of how far he's come in 7 weeks. Now on to his Thursday eye appointment, if possible he squints worse than Lucas did.

Sass Is Sass In Any Language

Yep most definitely someone who shall be identified as possessing testosterone (and is not Mike or Eli) in our household has developed a definitive taste for sassing me. Verbally in English and Tagalog and with body motions......anyone want to guess how well that is working out for him?

As this has been escalating over the past week-end but today when we finally had to make a trip to town for some medicine and other things "he who shall remain nameless" decided to pull out all the tricks; refusing to get out of bed, refusing to get in the shower and then to get dressed, refusing to talk (which why do kids think this is punishment to adults?) and then after being ignored by myself, his brother (who handled this whole thing very well) and Rachel and Sydney, decided to up the antie in the car and make faces behind my back while I was driving. Ordinarily this very bright, loving and considerate child has not brought this behavior to the table....yet. Shall we say the honeymoon is over and now some major testing going on? You would also think that this not stupid child would realize after being ratted out by his siblings that perhaps he should stop with the sassy gestures----ummmm nope. For the past several days I'd used every trick in the book (literally- all those adoption books) to address this behavior and always running into the blank wall of understandable language, that is until I dropped the "recommended intervention methods". So I shall say we had a non-physical, come to Jesus session in the parking lot of Target where the language barrier was dropped...amazing how much English is understood when a PSP is threatened to be eradicated.

We've had to have a few reminders this afternoon but so far so good - egg timer was also purchased at Target and explained that bad behavior would equal so much time without the highly regarded PSP. Have your kids ever had a toy that you hate but at the same time becomes your allie?

No Touchy - No Touchy!

Ok we are all stir crazy from cabin fever and too much snow......"No touchy, no touchy" is the new screaming motto in the house. It is screamed, shrieked and giggled at a constant and repetitive rate.

First it was the boys who would scream it when the girls tickle them, then it was the girls shrieking it when the boys run by and poke them then it is giggled (how can giggling be so LOUD) when it's a game of tag as they all 5 try to catch each other to tickle, poke and generally annoy one another.

Enough we are venturing out to see if we can make it to the highway and if successful we are going out to lunch - Lucas is appalled by this as he has come to the unfortunate and totally wrong opinion that all food should be made in our kitchen, by me. Oh son, you've so much to learn.

Mom's Bragging on Some Pretty Neat Kids!

Merry Christmas! For those that may be in the tropics - which is pretty much anyone not in western Iowa today - we are buried in snow. Drifts waist high and probably 15-18 inches of snow. More on the way today. Yeah for a white Christmas, bummer cause no one is able to make it here for Christmas dinner but all the kids are home (at least until 2:00 when we attempt to get Alison to her job 13 miles away).

Because I'm no longer under stress of cooking I decided to sit down and share one of my gifts with you and brag on my kids. I knew Sydney was planning something that involved a lot of people but at Christmas you don't ask too many questions. It's neat to have a 16 year old plan, make and really put love into a gift for you and if she can involve her little brothers' cooperation even better.

Lucas and Eli have been running around for the past week or so saying "secret", giggle, giggle.

Again don't ask questions at Christmas. When we got home last night the three of them couldn't wait any longer and wanted me to open a gift. The result is up above. Pretty neat gift and kids. The words are hard to read in the picture so they are posted below. Made my Christmas - Happy Holidays!

When Mommy saw your picture, I think she knew that her two sons were the both of you!

We traveled to a land so far away - it took 24 hours - an entire day.

Mommy's eyes glistened when you were in her arms, for she knew you were safe from any harm.

Mommy's expression was hard to hide and some of her rules you don't like to abide.

But everything will be okay, I know it's true, because you now have a family that loves you!

Sydney Pickle 12/25/09

First Day of Christmas Break

Today began the first full day of the Christmas break for the kids. We let the kids sleep in this a.m. thinking it would be a treat. I think it may have been an error in judgement. Changes to routine are not good for the guys thus not good for anyone. It's one of those things that we are aware of with the boys but it's easy to slip into a comfort zone thus leaving a gaping hole for issues to arise. We survived the day, everyone is back to smiling and tucked into bed. If we weren't experiencing an ice/winter storm I think Mike and I would possibly go to the store for a stronger beverage than pop (oops forgot to mention we have no water - pump went out on our well late today hopefully the well company will be able to fix it when they come in the a.m. - yeah for living in the country!) Here's a prayer that things are on an even keel tomorrow. - yes I'm in a funk and will just stop writing now.

Is This Christmas?

Rachel's method of brother control.
Too Cool For Anyone's Sanity

Eli and Grandma (playing Santa)

Lucas and Grandma (no he wasn't pulling her over, just hugging!)

Eli traveling with the presents - he was consumed a couple times when there was an avalanche.

The Cousins - minus Landyn who was napping and "safe".

Apologize for dropping the posts this past week. Posting and holidays are a little challenging. We have had a very busy week, a pediatrician's visit (without the meltdown) although Eli does continue to have a nasty ear infection, Lucas has his new glasses (pretty much hates them - and as I post this I've just realized I forgot to get them on his face for school - oops!) and we traveled to my nephews' for the first of 3 Christmas celebrations and stayed in a motel for the first time since the boys came home. Why do I mention this? Well it took a tremendous amount of talking, convincing and reassuring that we were staying only one night, we were coming back to our house and the all important item - no plane rides involved.

More confusion came as we tried to explain that yes we are unwrapping gifts at this Christmas but this wasn't actually Christmas day and Santa wasn't involved at this one. The big question from Lucas - "How many Christmas?" Last night I mentioned that it is 4 days til Christmas. Again with the dropped jaws. Yes boys, the first tradition of Christmas.....CONFUSION!

One thing about this Christmas was that most of the little ones were there and my Mom was able to sit with each of them and give them their gifts. As her eyesight is pretty much gone the kids had to get close for her to be able to see them. Take a look at the faces they're better than words!

Hope everyone has a wonderful holiday and I'll try to get back in the swing of posting and pictures. No matter how many times you celebrate may you all have a Merry Christmas!

Communication vs Grunting

An observation that has been going on around our house since the boys arrived is the differences in our daughters and our sons. The foremost being their differing styles of expressing themselves.

Anyone who knows our girls know that they verbally "communicate" to the extreme. They've never been at a loss for words and live under the guidelines of the bigger the word the more powerful your conversations or at least you stand the chance of confusing the other person into your point of view.

The boys on the other hand seem to have mastered and perfected the ability to grunt and achieve ear splitting decibels in noise production.

In our very unscientific study of this phenomenon here are some observations:

• they both seem to get their views across to their respective gender
• there are more grunts and noises available for everyday life than words
• the girls are appalled by these noises
• I am appalled that Mike understands and has begun to use this same noise producing language skill (it's probably been dormant all these years as he either had to use words or never get a noise in edgewise prior to the boys arrivals)
• A common spoken language isn't necessary when noises are universal

Our challenge now is to raise two boys into adult men who understand that communication has progressed since the cavemen and words are our friends. Save the noises for interacting with other noise producing humans - girls appreciate a guy who speaks or at least listens. As for the boyfriends and future husbands of our daughters - learn the art of communicating with words, they won't understand the noises and will assume that you agree with everything they say. Use your words!

Generations of Aggravation

Family members will know that Aggravation is a board game that we started playing with my grandparents which would be the boys great grand parents. The board looks a little different and the rules are slightly different but basically it's a marble game where you race around a board to try to get all 4 of your colored marbles safely in home while wreaking havoc on other players.

Today we visited Grandma Plummer and her game was out where the boys caught sight of it. So far the games we've played haven't had a lot of rules and are short in duration as we work on attention spans and taking turns. Well they really wanted to "play" game. Well after limiting some of the rules and watching to make sure they each followed the rules and took turns, an hour later they are hooked on Aggravation. Now part of Aggravation is to take your opponent's marbles off the board if you can. This part of the game Eli loved, Lucas not so much cause Eli was really good at it. The other thing Eli is VERY good at rolling 6 and 1 which are vital in the game. That was the other thing we had to watch cause the temptation to slide the dice instead of roll is really strong.....not to worry that this is necessarily a trait of the boys because I remember watching my 90 year old grandmother do the same thing....only difference being is I couldn't correct her and felt that I should at least try to get the boys to play fairly. But Debbie (my sister) says she wants to take Eli to Vegas when he's older!

So here is fair warning for those who may have the opportunity to play Aggravation with the boys, there is much squealing, shouting, sighing, pouting, a little temptation to cheat and a whole lot more activity than your normal game of Aggravation. (Pretty sure the entire care center where Mom lives was aware of the game in Mom's apartment. They probably think she was throwing a wild party.)

Learning Independence

Today was a bit of a milestone for Lucas and Eli. When we first came home they were glued to each other as you would expect. Until this past month the consistency they've had is each other and coming to a new home, family, friends, country that pretty much cemented them into each others shadow.

But today after school Eli came in the house asked for his snack and to watch a movie and Lucas wanted to play outside in the snow. Not a big deal for most but they were out of each others' sight and doing things independent of each other with no worry frowns and no checking on the other brother. School has been a huge help with this I know but it's definitely a step forward into their adjustment here in their new lives.

And Let There Be Sight!

Yep - Lucas is officially in the Pickle/Plummer families. He will now be sporting glasses as he is in the doctors' words, "extremely far sighted". As said best by Lucas during the exam when she finally focused everything for him, "Wow! Yes!"

He's not real sure about the whole eye glass thing. Definately glad we got the kind you can practically tie into pretzels.

He about broke my heart when we were trying frames on and he looked at me and said, "My eyes blue now?" He is so into everyone's eye color and wants blue eyes like Mike's. I told him no that he has beautiful brown eyes and that will always be their color. But it really drove home the point on how much he wants to be like most of the people in his family. We'll have to make a point to show him all his cousins, even though they aren't Filipino, that have brown eyes. I can't believe how much older he looks in glasses.

Oh Say Can You See?

Today we are headed to the eye doctor with Lucas. We've noticed him squinting since we first brought him home, so doctor appointment #?.

We're lucky to have an eye doctor who is aware of the language barrier and fear factor so we'll see how this goes. Hopefully not as scary to him (or us) as the pediatrician appointment that shall remain forever in our brains. We thought we'd have to take him out of school a little early to make the appointment but it's another snow day for school - day 3 and counting.

We opted not to have Eli tested right now as doctors of any kind are Trauma with a capitol T. Hope we're able to get an accurate testing for Lucas' eyes. He squints at reading, tv, even when he talks to you across the room.

I tried to explain the eye doctor, saying it's to see if he can see better with glasses - we all wear contacts or glasses so I pointed to mine. Again with the horrified face - I'm pretty sure he thought I was going to make him "wear" my glasses and that pretty much ended the conversation.

Happy Birthday ala 9 Iron!

Today is Alison's 24th birthday. She spent the night at our house last night after she got off work due to the winter storm. She has definitely gotten used to her night shift and is used to sleeping in as was evidenced when Lucas and Eli realized she was downstairs sleeping and decided they should wish her Happy Birthday!

Alison shall we say is not a morning person. She was woken up by the boys screaming in their usual fashion "Ate Alison - Happy Birthday!" When she pried her eyes open it was to see Lucas and Eli grinning at her but what really got her excited was the part where Eli had discovered a set of golf clubs prior to reaching her bedroom and was standing over her with club in hand. Now I'm sure waking up from a dead sleep to see someone standing over you with a golf club is not the way most people are expecting to wake on their birthday (unless you're related to Tiger Woods).

If I'd only known during Alison's high school years that the way to motivate her out of bed was with a combination "Good Morning" and a 9 iron, getting up for school would have moved much faster!

Are We Sledding or Canoeing?

Today was a cancelled school day due to snow and blizzard conditions. No school again tomorrow. The boys are thrilled with the snow if a little puzzled by all the things to do in it.

Eli loves to throw his version of snow balls which is really just picking up a handful and throwing it. Unfortunately he rarely allows for the wind direction and generally gets it back in his own face. Funny for those of us watching as he is always mystified as to why that happens.

Lucas loves to throw himself on the ground. It doesn't matter if it's on his back or face first. The snow is deep enough now that you can't see what may be under it so I'm sure there will be bandages involved at some point.

Mike took them sledding this afternoon. Ummmm - yes they liked it, no they didn't have a clue what to do, no they didn't want to come in. Finally their stomachs won and they had to come in for food. The best way to describe their first attempt at sledding is that it was like watching someone trying to row a canoe on dry land. It took quite awhile to convince them that it would slide without them powering it with their arms.

Tonight after it had gotten dark and is still snowing we had to turn on the yard light every so often so they could measure the snow that is piling up by the family room door. They are now convinced that it will be over their heads in the morning. Yes there is a lot but not quite to that level yet.

Mom, Tooth, Phewey, Flush

I want to say that I do have a picture of this next story but was vetoed on posting cause of the gross factor. Alison is the veto person which says something since she's a nurse.

This morning in all the excitement of getting ready to go outside, Lucas went into the restroom for a minute while Eli finished breakfast. When he comes back out he says, "Mommy, tooth all gone!" I was very excited by this as those who know me - I DO NOT DO TEETH PULLING - I don't look at loose teeth and can't even pull off a convincing "Oh keep wiggling that!". So I was pleased that the thing was finally out.

I asked him where it was so we could put it under the pillow for the tooth fairy, explaining as I went who and what the tooth fairy was. He absolutely thinks I'm nuts. After the explaining and (somewhat) phony excitement I asked again "Where's the tooth" He looked at me shaking his head and said "Phewey, (spitting sound), toilet, flush, no tooth fairy!" and walked into his room still shaking the head and muttering. I don't even want to know what the Tagalog words were cause I'm pretty sure it was "I am living with a crazy woman!"

Snowballs and Winter Excitement!

The boys totally didn't understand why they had to put on their coats as well as the coveralls, that is until they stepped outside with the negative wind chill. The expressions at school were great when they found out that all their winter gear had to come off before class time.

At first Lucas didn't understand that you don't take turns throwing snowballs at the other person's face while they stand still. Eli threw first while Lucas stood still, as soon as he hit him Eli took off down the driveway. Didn't take long after that for the battle to proceed.

Mike and Lucas in their snowball fighting stance, good thing Mike had his shoulder surgery or he'd be on the losing end of this battle!

This morning was very exciting for a lot of reasons. It was the first full day of school for Lucas and Eli and we also had our first snow fall. (We're in a blizzard warning tonight).

Last night right before bed I turned the yard light on so they could see the grass was covered - really big stuff. This morning they had to get up earlier than ever 7:00 a.m. as opposed to the 8:30 we managed last week. Needless to say doing anything fast was not in the cards until Dad said something about the snow then it was all about teeth brushing, clothes dressing and putting on the winter gear to go to school.

Of all the things they talk about snow -which a lot are from pictures and movies - they constantly talk about snowball fights. Great, not a problem at home but explaining that it's not allowed at school was to say the least received with much frowning.

They were dressed and ready for school 45 minutes early and out the door with Dad they went, the pictures tell the rest except that when we finally all made it into the pickup to go to school I looked over and the boys are literally covered from hats to boots in snow, then I look at Mike and he's in the same condition. Once again it probably should have been a learning moment when it was explained it's ok to get snowy but brush it off before coming inside or getting into the cars but how do you do that when the 49 year old sitting beside you hasn't learned that lesson either?

The Best Gift is in the Giving & Playing in the Box Afterwards

We celebrated Alison's 24th birthday this week-end. She received the "luxurious" gift of a vacuum. She is truly an adult now as she was tickled with it.

We took Sydney and the boys shopping to pick it up. Walmart, ever our friend - not, rearranged their store and the vacuums were directly across the aisle from the toys. I walked around the corner after searching for the vacuums to see this and I have to say the thought that ran through my mind was not nice. How to choose a vacuum and keep the boys from going into overdrive wanting to see the toys. They knew we were there for a vacuum - it's one of their favorite items at home - besides the can opener that Eli took apart and still needs replaced and they knew it was a birthday gift for Ate' Alison.

We made our choice, they were impressed because it was red - apparently a "good, good color"for vacuums according to Lucas and they helped Mike put it into the cart, which I'm sure Walmart security was laughing at the great amount of lifting, face contortions and I really hope they don't have sound on those surveillance cameras cause we definitely had grunting.

Anyway they made a brief stop to look at a remote controlled toy and we left the toys behind without a problem and without buying one.

When we got home the boys were playing in their room and Sydney was going to help me wrap the box. Eli came running out and by the pictures hopefully you can see what serious business the wrapping of presents is to him. Lucas and Eli both took great care in signing their card to Alison.

We took it to her today, they helped carry it in and helped her unwrap it. Just like at Grandma Katie's birthday party they were so excited to give her the gift. Whether they understand it right now or not they truly do inspire us daily when it comes to sharing and finding joy in the everyday things whether it's for themselves or others. Hope they always have that ability.

Oh Wise One!

Ok once again the limited English is kicking my proverbial (bleep). Everyday after school one of the first questions the boys ask is "School tomorrow?" Well I hadn't thought that far ahead to have a short, non-complicated explanation handy to explain week-ends.

There are just so many things to explain that a person's mind is in a constant spin cycle. I get broadsided so often by the simplest of things and trying to explain them. Guess what there are a lot of things that we do in our everyday life that really defy description or need. Can we say re-evaluate?

Anyway, I took the easy way out for this week-end, showed them the calendar. Explained Saturday as play/house cleaning day and Sunday as church and Alison's birthday party. They soak all the explanations up and wisely nod their heads. It's like talking to dual Yoda's. (Star Wars for those of a certain age). May the force be with us in the days and years to come!

Jingle All The Way or at Least into the Audience

Tonight was the Christmas program at the elementary. The boys have only been in school 3 days and we decided that we wouldn't put them in the program as they hadn't learned all the songs and let's face it a crowd that large is scary to a lot of kids although the boys seem to have a "no fear" policy at this stage.

We did take them to watch their classmates. They were both so excited to see their new friends up front singing and then to see their teachers from across the gym that they were literally crawling all over Mike, Sydney, me and thank goodness Donna and Ron Riley were in front of us because I know they got kicked, patted and poked for the entire time.

It was such a thrill to them to see people they knew and point them out. When Lucas' classmates waved at him from across the gym he was over the moon. Telling us, "Friends, my friends, yeah my friends." It's always hard to tell but I don't think it ever crossed their minds that they could be missing out on something. What we also were treated to was that the boys knew some of the songs and sang along from the crowd, which again we are very grateful for the people surrounding us as they handled it better than some might. They knew the songs partly in English some in Tagalog and as Lucas has started teaching us, some Vasaya.

A Rocky Start But Overall Success?

Well day 2 of school had the potential to be a bad deal. We (meaning Eli and myself) had a little rocky start beginning with the removal of a band aid and ending with a chunk of hair cut out of his noggin by no other than Himself.

Let me back up, last night Eli took a tumble and scraped the back of his head. After receiving "raising boys" advice (Chris and Dawn) and seeing more than a fair share of head bleeding at work I cleaned it up but as head cuts do it continued to bleed so short of wrapping his entire head in gauze I stupidly put a band aid on it and let him sleep with it on.

I should have let him go to school with a band aid glued in the middle of the back of his head but no Mom that I am tried to take it out. He objected loudly for 40 minutes, even when I'd stopped after 3 minutes. Talk about one ticked off kid. So while we were waiting for calm to return I got the scissors out thinking, again I don't know where my brain went, that when we were under control I'd clip it out. Before I could get my hands out of the dishwater Eli walked up beside me grabbed the scissors and performed his own band aid extraction. No I don't have a picture of the bald spot!

We did manage to make it to school on time and by all teacher reports for the day they had a good one. I on the other hand had to visit my work place for a dose of adult behavior (yes you people are suppose to act like adults!) So thank you to all of you who have returned my questionable sanity.

The boys are safely tucked into bed - injury free, band aid free and snoring. Next time, because I'm assured there will be a next time, there is a head cut the gauze is coming out and they'll look like they are wearing a helmet.

Lucas and Eli's First Day of School

The boys started the morning bright and early asking if today was the day they got to go to Ate Sydney's school. Yep today is finally the day - I'm sure to Lucas anyway it seems like it's taken forever before this day arrived - me it's come around pretty fast.

Eli surprised me again. He hung his coat in the locker, remembered where his classroom was, knocked and when his teacher answered the door said hello, then proceeded to march into the room and go to his desk. All on his own with no reminders. It amazes me how you can show the boys something once and they remember it, that's probably cause my own memory is sliding downhill.

After Eli went into his room Lucas got a little quiet but went and put his things away and as we waited a few minutes to go into his class he saw Eli's class leave the room for lunch. Once he saw Eli marching down the hall with the rest of his class Lucas took this big sigh and smiled at me. Guess he was wondering how well Eli would like school too.

Can I just say by the amount of English and Tagalog spewing forth on the way home from school from both sources it was a successful day. These are the highlights of what I could catch:

school, lunch, playground, friend, friends, football, basketball, star (on worksheet), write name, friend, hot dog, drink, orange drink (turned out to be strawberry milk) Mrs. McGinn, banyo, bike now, hot dog, eat, bag, Mrs. Olson , friend, recess, 2 , 3. All said in about 15 seconds

We came home had to call Daddy and Ate' Rachel. Sydney and Alison had already called to check on them. Think we were more worried about the first day than the boys? Now the conversation is tomorrow this school, tomorrow that school. We'll mark it down as a good day.

Apparently school is a hit as the boys ate supper, asked for their showers, video and have their clothes layed out for tomorrow. The only negative that we heard was they were amazed that they were only given 1 hot dog, that discussion has gone all afternoon and night. By the way they cleared their plates tonight and we discovered they love grilled tuna sandwiches. I guess school lunch will make a person reevaluate the food supply.