The WSU Game

Yesterday Travis was supposed to be going to a WSU game with some guys from church. (every year Washington State comes over to Seattle so that the alumni gets a chance to see them play
~that's why they were in Seattle) Our friend, Jim, was the ring leader in the whole thing. But, Friday night we get a call that Jim has thrown out his back and do we want his two tickets. Of course we grabbed them up! So, instead of Travis going with a bunch of guys, he went with two of his own little guys. He took Joseph and Spencer and they had a blast! It was a really great experience for the boys to be with their dad and go to Seahawk Stadium. Their only request was they wanted a hot dog. It cost $22 to buy 3 hot dogs and 2 drinks!!! But, it was worth it for them. So, here are a couple of pictures of them at the game. Oh, and the top picture is of them on one of the many pigs that we have all over Seattle. They are all painted differently. This one in front of Qwest Field is called, "the Pigskin"!!! Get it? I love it! (by the way~WSU got their butts kicked! Then later UW got their butts kicked. GOOO Washington football!~See why we love our Hawks?)

Now, if any of you are concerned about Connor feeling left out, don't. He and I had a great time. I was going to just stay home and work on the place and school stuff, but I felt bad that he might feel left out, so we went on an adventure. Or as Connor says, we went on a venture! He and I walked all over the neighborhood, then we went to Jack in the Box and had a little lunch and shared a fruit smoothie cause we had a free coupon (o: Then we went and watched some cars get washed at the Shell station car wash. After that we walked to Fred Meyer and rode the escalator up and down. We wandered the store for a while and spent about an hour in the toy aisles. A good portion of that time was spent by the two of us playing with the self inflating whoopee cushions. Connor laughed his head off every time we squeezed the cushion. He even declared that it sounded just like Daddy! It was awesome! Then we bought a candy bar for everyone and headed home. On our way home we picked up little pine cones for some future school project that has yet to be thought up. So, we had lots of fun, even if we didn't see a game.

Binoculars and Blogs

This week the boys took their summer reading lists in to the library and got their prizes. Their very own, very cool......binoculars. They have been using them to spy on the neighbors, the workers painting our building, bugs, and just about anything else they can. (yes, Joseph needs a haircut~they are all getting one tonite)

So, with the summer closing out and the boys earning their end of summer rewards, and my previous post stressing about school, I guess this means it's almost time for school. (o: I am almost ready. It's exciting now that I am more prepared. But, since I don't want to bore you all with the nitty gritty details of my homeschool life, I followed Shauna Jones (dang it!I typed Sorensen and had to backspace it. sorry Mike) advice and started my own homeschool blog. So, if you are ever interested in the specific details of school life, visit our new blog nelsonboysacademy.blogspot.com. It's also in my list of blogs on the right side, so you can just click on that.

Okay, well, it's now time to go and break out the scissors. I have three pumpkin head boys with Grandma Teese sized bouffants waiting to be cut. (love ya mom!)

Getting ready for school

I'm right in the middle of a pile of papers and books, but needed a break. This is my break. (o: I'm trying to pull together all of the things that we will need for school this year. It's a bit more work now that I am teaching all three boys. Connor is just preschool, but it's still quite a bit of work. I got a degree in Preschool Education! If they can make a degree out of it, even an Associates, then there must be something to it, right? My little plan is to have Joseph and Spencer help with the teaching of Connor though, so that can make it fun. We have 11 topics we have to cover for the older boys. Social Studies doesn't go with History like some other states, so for the social studies, I am having the boys each help teach their brother. Joseph is in charge of letters and letter sounds. Spencer is in charge of numbers and they are both in charge of reading to Connor on a regular basis. The boys are already doing a great job at reading to Connor and the other day in the car, after I turned right, Connor told me good job turning right. That was impressive enough until Spencer announced,"I've been teaching Connor which side is his right and which side is his left. I think he understands what I'm teaching him!" LOVE IT!!

So, with all my planning, I haven't really been thinking of much of anything else. I've been rearranging furniture and reorganizing books and supplies. The bedrooms are shameful because I haven't gone near them for quite a while. Not that anyone sees the bedrooms besides us, but my mom would have a coronary if she saw them. (o: Still, this is a good distraction for me because otherwise I would be sitting around counting down the minutes until September 16th arrives and we find out if we need pink or blue in the crib.

Okay, time to get back to work. Hope all is well with all of you. I'm still thinking about the separate homeschool blog that Shauna suggested I should do. (I should never have admired hers!~but it is so cool!) We shall see. Until then...ciao!

FIVE!!!

I decided to search google for a picture of Brown Bear Car Wash instead of going through my old pictures to find one. In search I typed "Brown Bear Car Wash" and got my google results. Here is the 4th picture on the page.

That would be Joseph. And it links to my blog! Then, under that are pictures of Travis from my Brown Bear blog writings from last winter! I told Joseph that he was famous. Now when anyone in the world searches images in Google for BB car wash his picture is right there! Sorry, I thought it was kinda cool. (o: (then again, I didn't get home from work until 4am and got up w/Connor at 6:30-so I'm a tad loopy)

Anyway, on to my story. Yesterday was a day off for Travis. We like to do things with the kids on the weekdays when he is off. Weekends we hang out at home more, but the weekdays we like to go out. I had said that maybe we could do something that didn't involve car washes this week since the people at the one in Seattle know us very well we go so often. (and we've actually only washed our car there once!~well, twice now, but I'm getting ahead of myself) Travis gets on the computer and is reading the papers when he pulls up the Seattle P.I. Right there on the first page is an announcement that Brown Bear is giving free car washes in all of their Seattle area locations all day in honor of their 50 birthday! Ok, we have to go and get a free car wash! So, we load the kids up and head out. We told Joseph that we would go to two car washes for a special treat! We did one in Kent and then headed over to Renton and tried out one that we've been eye-balling for a while. Then we thought, it's early in the day and we have to stop by the folks place to pick up forgotten sunglasses, why not try out the wash in Issaquah. Never been there before. So, we did just that. That would make #3. I look at Travis and say, "It doesn't seem right that we haven't gone to see Daniel yet."

This is Daniel. He's the wipe down guy at our favorite Brown Bear in Seattle. They have windows all along the car wash that we can go in and watch hours of cars being cleaned! The guys there have really gotten to know us. Joseph was ecstatic when we said we would go see if Daniel was working. When we got there and got in line, the guys all started pointing to us and saying, "Hey! Family!" It was cool. And Daniel did wipe down our car. He is the only one that got a tip. (they weren't accepting tips at any of the locations, but we couldn't not give our Daniel a little something something.) (o: (this is wash #4)

Finally, we decided to head home since I had to go to work. We had been out cruising for 4 hours by this time and our car was sparkling. But wait! There's the Brown Bear across from Sams Club on our way home. We just have to go to that one too. They were giving out free bear fresheners!

I mean, come on~free bear fresheners to make the whole house smell fabulous!! We gotta go get some! (I have a lovely little tree in my car that has a very non-obnoxious smell. The bears are obnoxious and aren't allowed in the car anymore, so they are in the boys rooms now) Needless to say we went through car wash #5!!!! I don't know anyone else in the world that has had their car washed 5 times in one day, but it was a huge thrill for the boys and Travis and I actually had fun too. We learned that not all BB's are created equal. The one in Issaquah is really long, the one in Seattle uses more soap. The thing we did find, though, is that there isn't a mean or rotten worker at any of the BB's. They are all really nice.

So, that was our Thursday adventure with good old Brown Bear Car Wash. And in case you were wondering, BB's are locally owned in the Northwest by a family who is probably very very rich by now. I know you are all really jealous of our family and probably pretty jealous of our little old car that is now very very clean. ~on the outside. (o:

Comments

I had to laugh about the comments I got from my anniversary post. I am getting older and some days I feel it, and some days I feel just as young as I did 14 years ago. Dear Katharine commented that my dress was stunning. I have to agree that it was a beautiful dress. The young girls at work that saw my wedding photo said something to the effect of, "Look at those huge poofy sleeves!" And, "That dress is very 80's." Excuse me~1994! At least I didn't have the big poofy bangs that I was sporting just a year or so before. Of course these girls that I work with at work were also born in 1990!!! Hello~I was half way through high school then and my husband graduated that year! So, yes, I am feeling older. But, I also feel a bit wiser. I've been through a lot in the past 14 years. Good and not so good. Still experiencing new things every day. I can't imagine what my life would be like right now if I hadn't met and married Travis. I told him yesterday I don't think I have ever been bored when I'm with him. We are two peas in a pod.

So, yes, we are definitely aging but my mom will always be older than me. (o; And yes, I did have a big poofy dress, but I love it. (I'll never be one of those women who sell their wedding gown on e-bay!) Oh, and by the way. Saturday we didn't go out because Connor threw up all day with his mystery puking that he does for no reason. So, after church we totally broke the Sabbath (sorry Dad) and dumped the kids at Grandma's and went to Jimmy Mac's for our annual date. (seriously, we go on maybe 2 dates a year) It was great fun and after an hour we both wanted to go home because we missed our stinking kids too much! We are a sad couple of people. (o:

Thanks to all the well wishers and everyone have a super duper week!

14 Years!

Yep. It's been 14 years since Travis and I got hitched. (actually tomorrow, the 16th, but since we are planning on being out~I'll post a day early)We've been through a lot during that time, but I wouldn't change it for the world! Happy Anniversary Travee!!! I love you!! (weren't we cute?)

Chicka Chicka Mania

I think this will be the last post that I do about this subject. The above picture is at the library when we checked out "Chicka Chicka 1 2 3". They were so excited to read it that they sat down and Joseph read it to them all. It was so cute and I was so glad I had my camera. Joseph has really been a life saver to me lately. It's so nice to ask him to please read his little brother a story when I have a million things going on and he gladly does it. I'm so proud of my boys!

The following video is of Connor this morning 'reading' "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom" to himself. I can't believe he did it and let me film him. Right in the middle the stupid phone rang. It was the Republican National Comm. You can hear Travis announce that. (he didn't know I was filming) So, Connor got slightly distracted, but it is still the cutest thing ever. So, enjoy!

Did you Know...

...that "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom" has a sister book? I've been out of the preschool teaching scene for a few years and I somehow missed this. Connor saw it at the bookstore yesterday. We went to the library and checked it out today. I've already ready it about, oh, I don't know, chicka chicka billion times. (o:

Can't think of a snazzy title

Tonight it is hot. It's 83 degrees in our apartment at the moment. All three kids are wide awake and it's after 10pm. I can't blame them. So, they are reading quietly and I thought I would jot a few things down to make it look like I update my blog more often than I do. (o:

Tonight I watched Super Nanny with the boys. There were three boys on the show about the same age as my boys. They were beyond naughty. Their parents were young and very short tempered. I sat and shook my head at their ridiculous parenting including letting their kids play rated M video games. No wonder their kids were brats. Then the mom squirted ~yes, I said squirted~ anti-bacterial soap in her sons mouth for lying. I look at Joseph and say, "See, even that kid gets soap, but he got a whole squirt. You get a drop." Then dear old Super Nanny asks the mother if she is insane for putting chemicals in her sons body. Joseph looks at me and says, "See, Super Nanny says no soap!" Thanks a lot Super Nanny! Here I was being all smug because my kids don't know who Super Mario is, but here I am putting chemicals in their body. Actually, I never put it in their mouths and it's the most extreme form of punishment we dish out~reserved only for special occasions. (like my dad and the belt) So, I was humbled slightly, but still feel pretty good about our parenting after watching the show.

Anyway, another topic...Have you ever read "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom"?

I first read this charming little alphabet story when I was a peon teaching aid at the Child Labs at Ricks College. The head teacher did a whole week lessons based on this book. It was awesome, so I bought a hard back copy. Then, when I was teaching Preschool at KinderCare I got a paperback copy because I didn't want my nicer one ruined. Then after Joseph was born, I found this cute little board book version on clearance so I bought that. I read it to Joseph and Spencer when they were little. They liked it and we had it pretty much memorized. I remember Travis telling me one day that all he could think of was, "skit skat skoodle doot, flip flop flee" all day. It kinda sticks. But after a couple of weeks of reading, they moved on. Now we have Connor. He managed to dig up all three copies of this book. He carries them everywhere including bed. He makes me read all three copies before he is satisfied. I tell him he needs to read it himself, and he can recite the whole book. When I am too busy and can't read it to him, he goes to Joseph and begs Joseph until he gets it read to him at least once. This happens several times a day. It's really cute, but kinda annoying at the same time. At least he knows his alphabet really well!

So, if you haven't read the book, I highly recommend it, but please do so with caution. This book can be addictive to young children.

That's all I have to say at the moment. It's just too darn hot in this little room. And, as I have mentioned before, in Seattle, we practically see through white skinned Seattle people don't do well with the heat. So bye for now and have a fabulous day!

How Old is Too Old?

One of my favorite movies of all time is "A Christmas Story". When it was released in 1983, Ralphie was 9 years old. So was I! I could relate to him. Even though the time period was back when my Grandparents were kids, I could relate to the 9 year old boy who really really wanted something special for Christmas. That and the annoying younger sibling part. (o: I have to say my parents were MUCH more mild mannered, but I really really love that movie. So does Travis. Our boys are beginning to enjoy it as well. It's one of the very few "non-educational" flicks we let them watch. But, seriously, it's a Christmas movie! They also watch good old Uncle Scrooge too. (George C. Scott will always be our favorite!)

Anyway, I've gotten off on a bit of a tangent. Those Christmas movies bring back an eternity of nostalgia for everyone. I do have a point here. My question is...how old is too old to put soap in the mouth of a child that is mouthing off so badly that the alternative would be to either tape his mouth shut, or send them to Jupiter? Joseph has been very bad about talking to me the past few days in a very disrespectful tone. My question to him every time is, "Would you talk to Daddy that way?" In which he always replies, "NO!" Today we went over to his grandparents for a short visit. Joseph whined and threw little fits for not getting his way, and told me off for things he felt were great injustices. ("Mommy, who do you think you are to interrupt me?"~this being said as I was talking to his Grandma~how ironic!) Then, we went to Fred Meyer. He wanted to go walk over to the construction site of the gas station they are putting in. It was late and so I told him that we could go and do that tomorrow, but we needed to get home. He really threw a fit which got him "helped" into the car. Once in the car the conversation went something like this.

"Mommy, I'm getting sick and tired of your stupid rules!"

"Joseph, I'm getting sick and tired of your mouthiness and your bad attitude."

"Oh yah, well you need to adjust your attitude Mommy and stop with your stupid rules!"

"Joseph, I've had enough! One more disrespectful word out of your mouth and you will get soap."

"Your soap is stupid too. Just like your stupid rules!"

"Okay, you made your choice."

So, we get home and he runs to the bathroom, because Travis and I are famous for carrying through with our threats. I popped the lock, cornered him and proceeded to put Dawn soap (of course I use Dawn!) on his lips, which is all I've ever done cause the teeth are scary. He put up a fight! Here is an x-ray of what he did to me.

Just kidding. That's not my hand. It's the wrong finger anyway, but can I just say that I now have a new respect for those gangsters of the Yakuza who would cut off parts of their fingers when they dishonored their leader. He bit my middle finger so hard that I screamed. I'm sure the neighbors thought I was getting murdered. Then I cried. Partly because it hurt-a lot-and partly because I'm an extremely emotionally hormonal pregnant person at the moment. All I know is that as soon as he did it, he knew he was in for it. Then when he heard my howl and saw the blood he really knew he was done for. He went straight to his room after apologizing to no avail. Once I got a band-aid on, I went to his room and boxed up his favorite dogs. No more Lucky, Penny, Baby Doggie, Husky Dog, and Mommy and Daddy Doggie. He was howling at this point as well, because this is the biggest punishment of all. Those dogs go everywhere he goes.

So, now the final consensus is that he has to prove that he can be respectful to me like he is to his dad and then he gets his dogs back. I think he's lucky that his dad wasn't here (he's at work), cause he would have been sent to Jupiter compliments of daddy's boot. He was mortified when I texted Travis the whole story. Anyway, this has turned into a very long story, but I'm just very upset that my little boy has begun turning into one of those mouthy little turds like the one ones that I teach (and love very much) in Primary. I have four 10 year old boys in my class and boy can they be turkeys. I'm not ready for that yet. Joseph has checked on me a few times tonight and he asked me if this was going to be washed away when he gets baptized next month. I told him yes, and that he should really start working on becoming more respectful because next month he will have reached the age of accountability and he's going to need to be responsible for his actions.

All in all I think we all learned a lesson. Joseph's going to try harder to be nicer mouthed child and I'm going to invest in some bricks of Lifebuoy soap!