Alabama

So Pete's been in Alabama since last Sunday, and returns home this Friday night. The trip is for some sort of training for his work. I've been home taking care of the kids. It hasn't been too bad, but I do miss Pete and will love it when I can get some sort of break. We talk every day and evening. Other than getting good experiences from his training, he's also eating good too!! From the sounds of all the yummy southern food Pete's been eating, he's gonna come home with a few extra pounds on him!! :)

While down in Alabama, Pete had the opportunity to meet for the first time with my Dad and his wife Pati!!! They happened to be close by for work (they truck drive), so while on their way through they met Pete for lunch. From the sounds of it, everyone enjoyed the visit and had great stories and laughs to share. I'm a little jealous that Pete got to visit with them without me (it's been about 15 years since I last saw my dad), but I am happy that this happened. It's a good start.

"I've Got A Girlfriend"

I was sitting on the couch this afternoon with Kristjan on my lap, when he whispered in my ear "Mom, I want to tell you something". I asked him "what?" He whispered "I've got a girlfriend". I asked him who his girlfriend was, even though I already knew the answer. He whispered "Isabelle". I thought it was so sweet that my son wanted to tell me this. Isabelle is a petite little girl with a tiny little voice in his preschool class (she's far right in the picture above with dark hair). Starting at the end of January Isabelle started giving small little things to Kristjan, like a homemade card or pretty yellow jewel (which he slept with and carried around with him for days after receiving it). Today he made Isabelle a card to give at school on Thursday. With my help, it was a pretty pink card with jewel stickers and tiny pink heart stickers. He's so excited to give it to her. So sweet!

Cookie Monster

Last night Kristjan woke up with his first 'bad dream'. I think it was after midnight when Pete first heard Kristjan crying. He went in to check on him and then came back to bed, saying that Kristjan had a bad dream. We went back to sleep. Shortly later, I woke up to Kristjan practically screaming in his room and crying! Thinking something serious happened, I jumped out of bed to check on him. I found him sitting up in his bed crying hysterically. I hugged him and asked what was wrong. He said he "dreamed about cookie monster, and cookie monster was chasing him and trying to eat him like a cookie"! He said this word for word. I comforted him while trying to keep my laughter inside!! I felt bad that Kristjan had a bad dream and was clearly upset by it, but to hear him say that was hilarious!! (or maybe it was because I hadn't had much sleep yet and it was the middle of the night). I got him calmed down and back in bed. That didn't last long because a half hour later Kristjan was awake crying again. Pete ended up bringing him in bed with us where he slept (peacefully) the rest of the night.

When Kristjan first described his dream, I thought 'what a weird thing to dream about-we don't even watch Sesame Street'. So I couldn't figure out where he got the idea of Cookie Monster from UNTIL I remembered the cartoon we watched earlier in the day. Cookie Monster made a 'cameo' appearance in the cartoon. So now I wonder if Kristjan is going to be terrified of Cookie Monster whenever he sees him (like those afraid of clowns). We'll see. At least Pete and I got a good chuckle out of this.

Heck of a Find!!

Yesterday afternoon we had to drop off our van at Les Schwab to get some work done on it. The van had to stay there for two hours! So to kill some time, all four of us went on a walk to look around the surrounding area and businesses. Right next door to Les Schwab was a second-hand store. We looked around and was just about to leave, not really finding anything worth our money, when Pete happened to find it. The 'it' was a LEGO Creator "Race to Build It" Board Game!!! It was only $2.50, so we thought "why not?". What a fantastic find!! After we had a family night of pizza and a movie, we brought out the game to check and see how much of the game itself was missing (since it's LEGOS, we were anticipating a lot of the pieces to be missing). Luckily, there were only 3 LEGO pieces missing, which were easy to find and replace from the boys' LEGO bin. The game was easy to follow and was so much fun! I think the one round we played lasted about an hour and a half! This will definitely become one of our most favorite (and often played) game. It sure was one heck of a find!

Beauty and the Beast

On Friday night, Kristjan and I went out on a 'date night' together to see a "Disney's Beauty and the Beast" play performed in Everett by high school students. We got dressed up. Kristjan wore his suit jacket and a tie. He fixed his hair all by himself with some mousse, and Pete sprayed him with some of his cologne. My little boy looked so handsome! I fixed my hair and makeup, and wore a skirt. When we got to the auditorium all the girls were smiling and saying how cute Kristjan looked. I let Kristjan pick where we sat, which was about 5 rows from the very front. The actors were amazing! There was some fantastic talent! After every song, the audience would clap. Kristjan would be sitting right on the edge of my lap clapping away to show his appreciation. We were there for about a total of 3 hours, with a 15 minute intermission. There was lots of 'action and drama' in the second half of the play and Kristjan was so in to it! He'd laugh and gasp at the appropriate spots. When the play was completely done, the cast members came out to see their friends and family in the audience. I tried to get Kristjan to go say hi to the girl who played 'Belle' but he was being too shy. Eventually 'Belle' made her way over by where we were standing. When she saw Kristjan she immediately came over to say 'Hi Sweetheart" and gave him a mini-hug. Kristjan was still acting shy but you could tell he enjoyed it. At one point he asked "where's the beast?", but we couldn't find him in the crowd. We finally made our way out and to the car. We got home around 10pm. It was so much fun and Kristjan really enjoyed it. I told him when he gets bigger he can do what they did (sing and dance and act). As he gets older, I can see Kristjan leaning towards the arts.

Add halibut to the list?!

Here in the next month or so it'll be time to schedule both boys their next allergy check up. At this next one, Kristjan will for sure have another allergy test done on his back (since Clifford's allergies are 'environmental', he doesn't necessarily have to have the test done yearly). When we go in, we are going to add more to the test along with all the nuts. We'll add some particular farm animals (cattle, horse, goat, etc) but we will definitely be asking that Kristjan be tested for fish. Although he's eaten salmon, crab and shrimp before with out any issues, this week we had halibut twice for dinner. Both times, after eating it, his face rashed up (the first time, his poor eyes were red and rashy). Luckily there weren't any breathing issues and after giving him some benedryl the rash started to disappear. So until then, we'll make sure not to have any halibut (and keep an eye on any other seafood) until we know the results. We'll keep you posted!

An Awesome Sunday!

Sunday was fantastic!! We had a great time spending the whole day and evening with friends! The four of us met up at the Science Center with our friends Gordon and Michelle, and his sister Jennifer and her boyfriend Mose (he's Samoan. his name is pronounced like 'mo-say' or Jose). We had four guest passes available that we wanted to use up before June so we were able to get them all in for free. We started off with going to the imax to to watch Hubble 3-D. That movie was so fascinating! And it was so cute to look over at Kristjan every once in a while and see him try to 'grab' at the stars. Both boys did really great watching their first movie in 3-D. When that was over we made our way over to the exhibits. Both Michelle and I held hissing cockroaches. We were lucky enough to witness a butterfly hatch from its cocoon. That was amazing. We were hoping to see more because you could see a few with their heads popping out of their cocoons, but they weren't ready to come out yet. The weather was gorgeous in Seattle, so we took a break for lunch and ate outside. The boys kept busy trying to feed the birds. Last time we were at the science center the new exhibit, "Mars", had just opened up and it was packed full. Since it's been out for a while, it was almost empty while we were there. It was nice to be able to look around and not be pushed to the side by everyone. One of the exhibits in "Mars", you can get hooked up to a harness and they somehow adjust it to where you only 'weigh' so much and it imitates like you're walking on the moon. Pete, Michelle and I all did it. It was fun, although the straps cut into my thighs a bit. While at this exhibit we had an 'exciting' moment where we thought we had lost Kristjan, but luckily it was a misunderstanding (on my part) and he was as safe as can be! (that feeling of thinking your child is lost is seriously sickening! I hope I never have to experience that again!). We continued on through the rest of the exhibits. Michelle bought the boys some astronaut ice cream, which didn't taste too bad. We completely left the science center around/after 4pm to go get some real ice cream. After that we walked around and stopped to watch the giant ball that squirts water out (I have no clue what it's really called. One day I will learn it). Pete, Gordon and the boys went down to play. The boys did end up getting wet, but luckily they weren't soaked. About this time we're all getting hungry (I think it was almost 6pm by the time we headed out!). We made plans to meet up at Gordon and Michelle's house for a bbq, which was delicious!! The boys were so exhausted. They crashed asleep on their couches. After a great day at the Science Center, good food and good company, Pete, the boys and I finally made our way home after 10pm!! We were insanely exhausted, but it was a great end to the weekend!!

On the brighter side...

we made our plans for the 4th of July!!! we're headed to long beach!! for a few days we were trying to make it (financially) work on going in with pete's cousin and family to rent a one or two bedroom suite there, but we'd have to split the roughly $1000 bill!!! no way! so i did some research and found a rv/tent camp site. i got a hold of the owners yesterday evening and they had one tent spot left!!! i was so excited, so we took it. it's $20 a night for the first 2 adults (any other adults are then $2 a night), room enough for 2 tents, kids under 16 stay free, it's a mile from the beach and there's showers!! so instead of spending hundreds of dollars on a place, we're only spending $60 and can now afford to spend hundreds of dollars on fun activities there! (i think for all of this i can handle sleeping in a tent for 3 days-haha) i'm so excited to start making lists and plan and shop for this trip!!! it's going to be a blast!!!

move on?!

i just don't understand people sometimes!! in two separate conversations pete and i had with someone this week we were basically told that we need to 'move on and go back to how things used to be'. what?! things can never, and will never, go back to how it used to be. for me personally, the trust is completely gone. in fact, i don't even LIKE some individuals now. honestly, if i never see some of them ever again, it won't bother me. damage is done. and it goes deep. i personally was attacked-as a mother! since day one of getting married, i have had to deal with issues with people for various things. my trust has been broken lots of time, then 'repaired'. well, now enough is enough for me personally. peter and i did not cause this-you guys did. whether you were directly involved, or just 'standing by'. it's so frustrating when these incidents get brought back up-and then progress isn't made!! and who are you guys protecting?! for heavens sake, if you say you didn't do it (but you obviously do know who did), just tell us!!!! you want to work on building back a relationship? then start with that. just tell us. and one condition will always stay firm with us-get rid of those damn goats if you want to see them down there! seriously, why is a fricken' animal more important??? unfortunately peter and i have to cover all bases so we don't have any more incidents like this; and that includes not allowing our sons to ever visit down there while those animals are still there. do i need to repost pictures of what he looks like after being around them? or should i make a video of his labored breathing and coughing after every time they came back from visiting? you can make your choice on what you want to do with that. but if there's ever family visiting there (like rumor has it that some are coming up from out of state to visit), you want a family photo, you want us included in a holiday, or just see them for a weekend etc, etc, etc, it won't EVER happen if those goats are still there. that's your choice; not ours. if you're satisfied with only seeing them at a trailer, then that's fine. remember, you guys made your bed; now you can lie in it. i just feel sad that two innocent little boys are going to have suffer the loss of what was a great relationship with their family all because someone couldn't keep her mouth shut....

you want to see the boys sometime and visit at the trailer, that's fine. just call and ask. but don't talk to us again about all this unless you drop the attitude of 'move on and go back to how it was' attitude (because it can't ever happen). and don't talk to us unless you're will to make progress. it's stupid that the conversation has to always keep going in a circle.

Easter

Easter weekend was long, busy and super fun. After school on Friday, I took the boys to see "How to Train Your Dragon". It was a fantastic movie. All three of us enjoyed it. I didn't do the 3-D version for us, but it was still great. We got home in time for me to straighten up the house a bit before Jessica and her three boys showed up. Since Pete and Daniel went out camping, I invited her over to our place. They ended up spending the night. We loaded up all the kids and headed to Walmart so she could do some Easter shopping. On the way home we picked up some thai food for us and pizza for the kids. Not sure what exact time all the boys went to bed (I mean 'sleep'); all I know is it was late! The next morning we got everyone ready and headed out for an Easter Egg Hunt in Mill Creek. It was the first time going to that one, and I enjoyed it better than all the other ones. There were bouncy houses, games and face painting. The boys had a car painted on their face with the color they picked. For the egg hunt, there were two different ones. The first one was for kids under 5 years old, separated by age. So Kristjan and Damien went first. Then a half hour later was for the older kids. However, Jessica and I were exhausted at that point, so we let Kristjan and Damien go again with Clifford and Dominick. They came home with lots of hershey kisses. Once that was done, we treated the kids to happy meals and let them run around in the play area. Jessica had plans for a massage and to go out later that day (she was going to drop off her kids at her mom's), but she couldn't get ahold of her mom. So I offered to watch her two older boys and have them spend the night. After Jessica and the baby went home, I took all four boys swimming for a few hours. Think they were tired after all of this? Nope. I think it gave them MORE energy. I fed them dinner, and then we started dying easter eggs. When that was done and over with, and everything was cleaned up, I made popcorn and we watched E.T. I had them in bed by 8pm, but of course they didn't fall asleep until much, much later. Once they were finally passed out, the "easter bunny" paid a visit. The next morning, I was up early getting myself ready. The boys didn't wake up until 8am. We spent time looking at what the easter bunny brought everyone, had cinnamon rolls for breakfast, and got washed and dressed to go to Aunt Janet's for an early dinner (I ended up picking up Dominick and Damien some polo shirts to match my boys). Hanging out at Aunt Janet's was tons of fun. We just all relaxed, talked, ate and watch kids do an egg hunt. The boys and I left her house I think around 4pm to go pick Pete up. Like I said, it was a long, exhausting weekend, but it was lots and lots of fun!!!!