The view from up here

I now get to clunk around in this enormous boot. I have been having pain in my foot since before my marathon, which of course got much worse after running the marathon. After 5 weeks of not running it was not better. At all. The xray was normal so I had an MRI on my foot last week which showed inflammation and weakening of the tendon on one side of my foot and fluid in the bone on the other side of the foot, explaining my pain in 2 different areas. Basically I jacked up my foot by doing the darn marathon. Unfortunately time and rest is the only treatment and since not exercising alone wasn't helping, I am now in the boot. I also had to have another cortisone shot (number 4 for those who are counting), this time in the joints on top of my foot instead of my heel. It hurt. Alot. I am hoping this does the trick.

Happy Birthday Mom!!

Today is my mothers birthday. I am getting this post out pretty late in the evening, so by the time my mom reads it, it won't be her birthday any longer. Sorry about that mom!

My mom and I have a great relationship. We talk or text several times a week, sometimes several times a day. She lived with us for a year from September 2005 until August 2006, now she lives about 500 miles away in Southern California. I loved having her with us, and it was such a wonderful experience for the boys. So without further ado, here are some things about my mom.

1. She is beautiful. She looks absolutely amazing, and not just "for someone her age". I can only hope to look so great when I am 61 years old.

2. She is very stylish and hip. She generally knows better then I what is in and what the have-to-have labels are. My wardrobe was its best the year she lived with us.

3. She actually convinced me that thong underwear were comfortable. I hated them and never thought I would actually wear them, but she just kept insisting I hadn't tried the "right" ones. She bought me some, and I have to admit, that is what I wear now. I am not sure why she cared or insisted, but she did!

4. I aspire to be the mother she was/is to me. I always remember she made us a hot breakfast before school. Every day. She was always at my school functions, sporting events, etc... She was involved and I knew she cared.

5. She is an awesome grandma. She would do anything for her grandsons (she has 6! My 4 boys and my sisters' 2 boys). She adores the boys, and they know it. Despite living almost 500 miles away, my boys are as close to her as they are to the grandma they live near. They get so excited about her upcoming visits, I usually don't even tell them she is coming until we are on the way to the airport. They drive me crazy otherwise!


6. There are some things I still can not do (very well) without her. I can't buy a decent bra without her, for one. For years I had to call her whenever I boiled eggs because I could not remember how long to boil them for. I still call her whenever I make any kind of meat for dinner (as a vegetarian, I do not make it very often). I don't know what I am going to do when my kids call me for help on stuff. I guess I will have to tell them to call Grandma!

7. While I try to be the mother she is, I don't even attempt to match her neatness standards. Somehow she managed to keep everything spotless in the house (in my defense, she had 2 girls, I have 4 boys!). She is a maniac with the iron. She even irons pillow cases. In my house, if something truly needs to be ironed it either sits in the hamper forever, or goes to the dry cleaner. Her bed making skills would satisfy any army sargent. To her credit, she never once complained about the state of my house when she lived here. I am sure it made her cringe on a daily basis.

Mom, you are the best!! I hope you had a day as awesome as you! I can't wait to see you for Thanksgiving.

Hello Saturday!

Today is our first official soccer-free Saturday. The boys' had their final games and end of the season parties over the last 2 weekends. While it is nice to have free time on Saturdays again, I actually miss the soccer! It is such a great, active way to spend our day together, rooting the kids on. Can't wait until baseball season!


Here is Vinnie playing his last game.
Excited about his first trophy!

Joey's last game.
A few kind words from his coach/dad!
Zachary at his last game.
Getting his trophy.
These are the cupcakes I made for Zach's party. I had the idea to color the frosting green after I had already frosted 20 of them. I then scraped the frosting off and started over. The kids demolished them in 5 minutes. The moms there appreciated them though.


"What? You mean the season is over already?"

The party's over boys!

My house is frequently a mess. I vascilate from acceptance that life with 4 boys is messy and will get better (when they all go to college!) to complete irritation at it all. Pete and I haven't been very good at making the boys do more around here to help out. Pete grew up the youngest of 7 kids, and had to do alot more for himself then I had to (that is what he says anyway). I only had one sister, and my mom stayed at home, so I have to admit, she did everything for us. I do remember having chores as a teenager, but I do not remember them when I was younger.

I have to admit, it is mostly laziness on my part that explains why our boys don't do more. Let's face it-- It is faster and easier to just pick up the toy room myself, then to hear them whine about it. Problem is, I am getting tired. I just can't keep up anymore.

So, we are working on a chore system. Each boy (well,not the baby) has a chart with chores listed on it. They get a check mark for doing said chore. If they whine or complain about doing the chore, they do not get a check (but still have to do the task). Can you tell I am fed up with the whining!? I have at times erased points for particularly annoying behavior. They save up points to spend at the "points store". Since Zachary is able to earn more points, each item "costs" him more then Joey, who also has to "pay" more for things then Vinnie. We still have some work to do, but I think we are making progress. I am trying to think of more things to add to the store. I am open to suggestions, on both the chores and points store!


The charts below. They have to get cleared prior to marking a task off.


The Points Store. The different points values apply to the different kids. They haven't proven very good at saving, so I doubt I will ever have to pony up a trip to In and Out!

Hidden Villa Farm

One of the perks of not working right now is that I get to spend more time in the boys' classrooms helping out. I enjoy getting to know the other kids, and it gives me a great chance to see my boys interact with their peers. Yesterday Joey's class went on a field trip to a place called Hidden Villa Farm. Part of the excitement (for them, NOT me!) was getting to ride a school bus to the farm. Needless to say, 60 first graders on a school bus with no seat belts was not my favorite part!


Here is Joey and his buddies Shane and Cole on the bus.




The farm had a bunch of 1 week old chicks that the kids got to see and touch. Poor little chicky!


Joey was very nervous around the cow and wasn't interested in actually touching her. Also, the smell was gagging him, poor guy.

I signed up to go with Zachary's class on an all day trip to Sacramento to the State Capitol in the spring. I hope I get picked to go. I hear we get to go on nice tour buses, not a school bus!

By popular demand...

And by popular demand I mean the two people who asked to see pictures of my laundry room and downstairs bathroom. Excuse the cruddy pictures. I am not sure what is up with my camera, but it has been taking some pretty grainy photos lately.

First is the bathroom. The window and door are new. The toilet is new and has the thing that drops the seat slowly. We used to have a pedestal sink and we changed it to a vanity.

Our tiny laundry room. The washer and dryer are new ( I insisted on paying extra for the red color. Aren't they pretty?)
Also new doors and new tile floor (the laminate completely warped after the floods. I hated it anyway). The cupboards are also new.
There you go Suzie and Cardiogirl, my new bathroom and laundry.

Remember our bathroom remodel?

You don't? Probably because we started it 5 months ago. It was one of those typical home improvement projects that exploded completely out of control. Initially we were going to do the boys' bathroom. Then the downstairs laundry room and bathroom flooded (3 times in 3 days. Don't ask.), so we threw those rooms in as well. Then we discovered we were going to have to replace one of the air ducts upstairs, so we decided to replace the entire upstairs duct system. And if you are going to replace the entire duct system you might as well replace the furnace. And move it out to the garage. And so on, and so forth. Then there was a big fiasco with the counter top I originally wanted (concrete) so last minute I had to go with something else, then wait several weeks for it to come it. The entire project took about 3 months (2 months longer then it was supposed to take). I haven't posted pictures until now becuase I have been waiting for it to look clean so I could take a picture. Seriously, I have about a 30 minute window that occurs every 2 weeks after our house cleaners come where it actually looks presentable. So without further ado, a couple before pictures (check out the above link for more) and a few after pics.





Here it is! The cabinets are all custom done. The drawers all have that slow-close mechanism.



The wall above the vanity has a tile back splash. The mirrors are set in medicine cabinets. The best part is, we went from 1 sink to 2.The boys' bathroom is officially the nicest room in out house!

Election Chatter

Joey: "Are you and Dad voting for Barack Obama?"

Me: "Yes, Why?"

Joey: "Dustin says if Barack Obama wins we won't be able to play baseball and soccer anymore because he is going to take all the money"

--------------

At our polling place this morning, Vincent was looking around, taking everything in. He pulled me down to whisper in my ear.

Vincent: "Mom, Where is Rock Obama? Is he here?"

--------------

At preschool pick-up this morning I was informed by Vincent's teacher that he led the class in a chant of "Go Block Obama! Go Block Obama!"

One classmate did not join in as his parents voted for McCain.

The teachers were quite impressed that he was aware of the election and knew (sort of) Barack's name. (I didn't mention to her that he calls McCain "that other guy")

--------------

While watching the results tonight Zachary noticed that Obama won Illinois.

"Look," Zachary said, "he won Illinois. That's because he has home field advantage there."

-------------


Zachary and Joey's reaction upon hearing that Obama won the election



What an incredible, historic night!

1.4 miles...

That is the distance from my house to my new office!!! Woo hoo! Pete and I signed the lease last Friday. About 3 weeks ago we were 1 day from signing the lease on another office, and 2 days from construction when we received a phone call from the owner of the building that Pete's office is currently in. He had an office that was going to be opening up and wondered if we were interested. It is perfect. It is twice the size of the other office (which was really too small, but we had no choice at the time), and has it's own entrance. So we halted the other plans, and started over. Changing gears has set back my opening date by a month or more, but is better in the long run.

Here it is-- Isn't it great?!

Obviously it needs a lot of work to turn it into a doctor's office, but when it is done it is going to be freakin' AWESOME! The best part is that it is so close to home and the kids' school. I will be able to run to their classes to volunteer, participate in class functions, etc...

I can now officially announce that I will be joined by a second pediatrician as well-- Pete! He officially gave notice to his partners that he is leaving. We have always dreamed of opening an office together in our own neighborhood, and now it is happening.

Life is good.