MEMORABLE MEMORIAL

For Memorial weekend we loaded up the trailer and went to the sand dunes for some fun.  The weather was perfect, not too hot and not too cold.  It was so relaxing to have a long weekend and to get out and see the kids have some fun.  And my baby went for his first 4-wheeler ride.  He did so good!  I'm so proud of him.

CRAZY KIDS

Chance is my picky eater.  He doesn't really eat meat unless you can count hot dogs and chicken nuggets.  Even when I'm at a grocery store he will gag and plug his nose while in the meat section.  The other day I was cooking dinner and Chance came into see what was for dinner (like he's really going to eat what I cook).  He looks in the fry pan and ask me what's that while plugging his nose.  I reply "fried chicken and mashed potatoes, yum yum mommies favorite".  Chance was totally disgusted, sometimes I wonder if they switched babies on me at the hospital.  I told him I could make him some homemade nuggets but he said that was not real chicken and he went to the freezer and pulled out a bag of frozen chicken nuggets and announced to me the this is real chicken.  A few minutes later Chance was back in the kitchen with a can a air freshener hosing down the kitchen from the smell of the apparently fake chicken I was cooking.

So a couple of weeks ago I asked Austin how his shoes were holding up.  It's probably been 5 or 6 months since the last pair we bought.  He said they were starting to wear out on the bottoms and holes were starting.  So we went shoe shopping.  My 12 year old son went from a size 7.5 to a size 9 in men's.  I can't believe how big that boys feet are.  Not to mention the size 14 pants are too short for him as well.  He's excited that he's getting so tall and can't wait until he's taller than me.  And he's also excited that he's starting to get armpit hair.  My baby is growing up too fast!!!

I was getting out of the shower a couple of days ago and found that Chance had invaded Cole's living quarters.

Austin insisted on trying to get in the dog kennel as well.  Yeah right like he's going to fit.

I don't think the dog liked the idea of the kids getting in his space.  Look at Cole's face in the last picture.  It's like he's saying "MMMOOOOMMMM, Austin's in my room!!!"

LET'S GO JAZZ

Last night Austin and I went to the Jazz game.  I decided to take Austin since he has done so well in school he's brought his grades up from D's and F's to almost all A's.  And all the help he gives me at home.  Austin has really been into basketball lately and wants to sign up for Junior Jazz as soon as they start enrolling.  I told him as long as he can keep up the good grades at school then he can play sports. 

We had so much fun last night!!!  The excitement and joy I saw Austin experience is a memory I will cherish forever, and I'm sure this is something he will never forget.  I called it a date night with mommy.  Austin didn't want to admit it was a date and refused to hold my hand . . . at first.  By the end of the night he was holding my hand and gave me a big hug and "thanks mom".

We started out having dinner in the VIP room.  To put it in Austin's words "this is fancy".  When he saw that we were sitting in row 1 his excitment for the game was through the roof.  He cheered, whooped, and hollered through the entire game.  He even was shown on the jumbo screen.  At half time it was back to the VIP room for snacks and pop.  All Austin could say over and over is that THIS IS SO COOL!!!!  At the end of the game the Jazz Bear grabbed Austin and he got to go on the court to celebrate our win and play in the confetti that the big confetti guns were shooting out.

GROWING UP IS HARD TO DO

I wanted to share this with everyone and should have blogged about this a couple of weeks ago, but it slipped my mind.  I was thinking about this last night. 

Austin will be entering Junior High next school year.  I know I know it makes me feel really old.  I remember being in Junior High and thinking my parents were so old.  Now the shoe is on the other foot and it doesn't feel so good.

2 weeks ago I had to take Austin in for his immunization shots for school and his physical for scouts.  Austin is very afraid of needles.  So there was a lot of anxiety leading up to the dreaded day of his appointment.  He knew he was getting shots but not a physical.  I didn't want to over whelm him too much.

So the day of the appointment comes and I could tell he was extremely nervous but trying to be brave.  The first thing they do is the easy part.  They get his weight and height.  My bouncing baby boy is now 100 lbs and 5'3". 

Next they do the eye exam.  And of course Austin's sidekick and little brother was there to help out.  Chance likes to yell out the letters on the eye chart to him or tell Austin when he's wrong.  So Austin is trying to tell the nurse what the letters on the chart while Chance is yelling "he said F, that's a P!!!!" and Chance says to the nurse "make him say P!!!!!"

So now where back in the room and waiting for the doctor.  Poor Austin kept saying "I don't want to get a shot, everyone at school said it hurts really bad".  Finally the doctor arrives and checks the heart beat, eyes, nose, throat, and other vitals.  Then it was the turn your head and cough test.  The doctor told him what he was going to do so he knew what to expect.  Austin looked at me with a look on his face like WTF.  Poor kid, I felt a bad for him.

Austin gets a clean bill of health and now has to wait for the nurse to come in with the shots.  I told Austin that we would go for Slurpee's afterwards hoping this would help ease the nerves if I put a silver lining to his day.  The nurse came in and Auggie was so brave he received the 3 shots with no fight, tears, or screaming.  I was very proud.

Then we get in the car and head to the convenient store for are Slurpee's I was praising Austin and telling him how proud I was and he did such a great job.  I looked over at him to see him go pale white; he slumped over in his seat and started to breath very heavily.  He said he felt really sick and like he was about to pass out.  I had him roll his window down to get some fresh cold air.  I asked if he wanted to go straight home but no he wanted that Slurpee.  Luckily his little episode passed quickly and by the time we got home he felt much better.

DRAGONS ARE COOL!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHUhygdAZIw

All four of us went to see this movie over the weekend and LOVED IT!  Chance could hardly wait until the movie was over to pretend to be a dragon.  As soon as the lights came on he looked at Austin and asked him if he wanted to be a Dragon or a Viking.  This movie is a must see if you have kids or not.  I can hardly wait for the DVD release now.

WHERE'S YOUR 2 CENTS???

So a couple of days ago Chance came to me extremely upset.  He was fighting back tears while telling me he just choked on a penny.  I asked him where the penny was now, a little worried what the answer would be.  He told me it was in his heart.  I think my heart stopped beating for a second; I tried not to show the panic and concern I was feeling.  I asked him if he was sure he swallowed it and didn't just spit it out.  He was sure he swallowed it and he could feel it in his heart and that he felt like throwing up.  I tried calming him down by telling him he was going to be alright hoping he would not throw up which could have lead to the penny coming back up and getting stuck. 

I called Mike and told him what his son just did :-).  I told Mike was breathing ok but he was scared and upset.  I wasn't sure if I should take him to instant care as a precaution or not.  I called around to my siblings to see if any of their kids have done this.  I got a hold of Heather and in fact Ryan had done this before.  He was fine and eventually he passed the coin at some point in time with no problems.  So I told Chance he would be fine and would poop the penny out later, which I think he thought was kind of cool.  When Mike got home Chance said "hey dad, I have a penny in my butt". 

I remember seeing a penny on my bedroom floor for the last few days and every time I passed it on the way to my bathroom I would think to myself I should pick that up.  But of course I didn't listen to my inner self and left it there. So I went to check to see if it was still there.  And of course it was gone in the place I remember seeing it last.  However Chance was now laying on my floor watching cartoons and there was a penny on the ground next to him.  So I picked it up and asked him if this was the penny he choked on but he said no that's my second one.  I told him I was taking it away from him, he didn't argue with me on that one.

DISNEY ON ICE

Everytime that the Disney On Ice comes to town my mom loves to go with all her grandkids, 9 little prince's and 1 little princess.  I bought a ticket from her and went along to help with the kids, along with my brother Mark his wife Rachel and my mom's boss/friend Joelene. 

We decided to ride Traxx to the show which sucked big time!!!  It was freezing cold and was snowing like crazy.  The ride to the show wasn't too bad it was the adventure going home.  On the way back after the show we had to wait for a second train because the first one was too full.  The next train that came still was full but we did get a seat.  But by this time we were all soaking wet and freezing and I had a monster of a headache.  So we get on the train and my nephew Ryan made the annoucement that he just farted (which stunk really bad) this annoucement made my other nephew Adam laugh and he just happen to have a mouth full of punch and guess who got sprayed with that, yeah it was me.  Then I look over at my son Chance who insisted on standing up and holding on to the bar which he was now licking as if it was a lollipop.

The show was awesome.  The Cars was the first show followed by The Lion King, Little Mermaid and then Tinkerbell.  It was really fun and the kids had a blast.  We got these cute hats from the cotton candy that Austin purchased and shared with everyone.