Okay, so to me, it seems like I just wrote on this blog less than a month ago. But no, time has completely escaped me!
Let's see what has happened....
New Year's- we stayed home. Usually we hang with our good friends the Dela Cruz's, but the twins were really sick, so we all passed.
I kicked Les out of the bonus room, aka his office and put him in Loren's old bedroom. Loren and Langdon moved into the bonus room to share. Leland will be moving in when he turns one. We had both rooms painted: the boys have a nice taupe and Les chose a softer (softer/muted color than last time) yellow. Now, all 4 kids have the opportunity to have sleepovers in the bonus room together and Les can't wake anyone when he plays on his computer (he's no longer between two bedrooms).
Chinese New Year- we had dinner with my in-laws. We did the traditional red envelopes for the kids, they made BANK!!
Valentine's Day has come and gone, too. Les and I went out for dinner to a Cuban restaraunt in Pasadena, it was so-so. We'll stick to our usual haunt out there for Cuban. Unfortunately, Les was so tired from not sleeping (his flight was delayed 2 1/2 hours the night before, he had a 6am conference call, that he just stayed up anyway), that we were home from date night before the kids went to bed. Even they were surprised. For Valentine's we dont' do the flower and/or candy thing, it's not what we really care for. What we really want is a date night! So we were happy to get out for even a few hours. Yay!! However, as a belated Christmas gift I received a Cricut cutting machine, so for Valentine's Day, the kids and I made little boxes for Les and we put Jelly Belly's in each one. We gave him four boxes, one from each child. He was glad to see I have been trying to use the Cricut.
I've started scrapbooking. You'd think that it should be any easy thing to do, pick some photos, glue them to a sheet of paper and ta-da! But, no! My first page took me 4 1/2 hours to complete, I had no idea of what I wanted to do with the photos I chose. Luckily, each page is taking a little less time now. My 3rd page took me 2 hours, start to finish. Whoo-hoo! I'm still a newbie, so if you have suggestions, bring them on! I am interested in hearing them.
Well that's all for now. Hope life hasn't taken you by storm, too!
Monday, February 23, 2009
Monday, December 22, 2008
Leland has a cold
There are a few times in parenthood that can truly test any person's limits. For me, they are 1) teething, 2) colds and 3) the breastfeeding phase. Today, I am just going to talk about colds.
As a member of a local MOPS group (Mothers of PreSchoolers) I attend bi-weekly meetings. This means that my kids have to go into a daycare each meeting. As all parents have learned, daycare settings usually mean your child will come home with a virus. Because I have 4 kids, I'm bound to bring home a cold each time. It sucks! Well, I had our last meeting before the holidays this past Friday and I guess another child had a cold, because on Sunday morning, Leland woke up with a runny nose. He spent the day fairly fine, but after I took a walk with my boys, the cold air effected him and his nose was a faucet. Naptime was horrible, poor thing couldn't breathe. I tried to nasal aspirate him, but like most babies, he screamed. He slept a little, but not well.
Bedtime, was not so good either. He was amped up from the cold meds, and couldn't decide if he was tired. Finally, Les and I decided for him, bedtime. I laid him down in the crib and he didn't fight it. He fell asleep around 9, but was up again by 11:00. Once again, his nose was stuffy, he was agitated and nothing we did could make him happy. At 12:30, Les put Leland back in the crib and he again didn't fight it. He slept until 4am. At 4 I got up with him and he was screaming, again nothing I did for him made him happy. He was miserable! He rarely screams, but Leland screamed his head off. So I decided that since he was already screaming, I would clear his nose. Boy did this piss him off! Finally, at 4:30, I gave up. I put him back in the crib and he cried for about 5 more minutes, then fell asleep.
I went back to bed at 4:30 and crashed. Luckily, so did Leland. We both ended up sleeping until 10:15 am. I know, that's crazy-late, but we both needed it. (I don't do so well with interrupted and little sleep. It's best if I get more than 6 hours, best for everyone.)
Today, Leland is still having a hard time breathing, but he took a decent nap and his mood is much better. He's been able to drink his bottle without too much difficulty and he is able to be soothed, a major accomplishment. Tonight, we will be using the Humidifier at all times to try to keep the air moist for him. I will even be putting a rolled up blanket under one end of the mattress to help elevate his head while he sleeps, this should help with drainage and not keep the mucus in his nasal passages. Wish us luck! We will need it.
For all you parents out there that read this, I am always open to suggestions on your remedies, preferably homeopathic.
Take care this "cold" season and happy holidays.
As a member of a local MOPS group (Mothers of PreSchoolers) I attend bi-weekly meetings. This means that my kids have to go into a daycare each meeting. As all parents have learned, daycare settings usually mean your child will come home with a virus. Because I have 4 kids, I'm bound to bring home a cold each time. It sucks! Well, I had our last meeting before the holidays this past Friday and I guess another child had a cold, because on Sunday morning, Leland woke up with a runny nose. He spent the day fairly fine, but after I took a walk with my boys, the cold air effected him and his nose was a faucet. Naptime was horrible, poor thing couldn't breathe. I tried to nasal aspirate him, but like most babies, he screamed. He slept a little, but not well.
Bedtime, was not so good either. He was amped up from the cold meds, and couldn't decide if he was tired. Finally, Les and I decided for him, bedtime. I laid him down in the crib and he didn't fight it. He fell asleep around 9, but was up again by 11:00. Once again, his nose was stuffy, he was agitated and nothing we did could make him happy. At 12:30, Les put Leland back in the crib and he again didn't fight it. He slept until 4am. At 4 I got up with him and he was screaming, again nothing I did for him made him happy. He was miserable! He rarely screams, but Leland screamed his head off. So I decided that since he was already screaming, I would clear his nose. Boy did this piss him off! Finally, at 4:30, I gave up. I put him back in the crib and he cried for about 5 more minutes, then fell asleep.
I went back to bed at 4:30 and crashed. Luckily, so did Leland. We both ended up sleeping until 10:15 am. I know, that's crazy-late, but we both needed it. (I don't do so well with interrupted and little sleep. It's best if I get more than 6 hours, best for everyone.)
Today, Leland is still having a hard time breathing, but he took a decent nap and his mood is much better. He's been able to drink his bottle without too much difficulty and he is able to be soothed, a major accomplishment. Tonight, we will be using the Humidifier at all times to try to keep the air moist for him. I will even be putting a rolled up blanket under one end of the mattress to help elevate his head while he sleeps, this should help with drainage and not keep the mucus in his nasal passages. Wish us luck! We will need it.
For all you parents out there that read this, I am always open to suggestions on your remedies, preferably homeopathic.
Take care this "cold" season and happy holidays.
Scent of a Woman
Or in my case,of a mother. As a single female or wife, you get to choose your scent for the day a la perfume. This could be a scent your significant other has purchased for you (either current or ex). My favorites tend to be from the Chanel family, like Mademoiselle and Coco. My newest fave is Estee Lauder's Sensous, very warm and musky. However, as a mom, your scent isn't always the one you choose.
When I had Lindsay, I could still wear my perfume of choice, but she might add to the scent with her own, courtesy of formula spit up. Pretty!!! After a while, she started deciding what "we" would wear for the scent of the day. Some days it was Coco, other days it was nothing at all, and still other days it was whatever kiddie scent we had in the house for her at the time. Now, that she is older, she has her own perfumes, and I can go back to mine.
When I had Loren, he liked to ADD to the scent I was already wearing. Luckily, he was "nursed" until he was 8 months, so his scent wasn't nearly as bad. Langdon and Leland were both nursed as well, so their scents weren't nearly as bad. However, Leland is on formula now (my choice) and he's just reaking up every person and room when he spits up, which can be a lot!
Now, you're probably saying, "Just go without perfume then!". Well, I have. When I was working the Med/Surg Department for a hospital, we were told not to wear perfume because it could be offensive or nauseating to the patients. Hah! By the time I was done working each day, I was nauseated by all the offensive smells my patients were emitting! I wanted to bathe in a vat of perfume to get those smells out of my clothing, hair and mind (sometimes they stuck). When I worked in Home Health Care, it was a bit easier, by asking the client or their family I was able to wear light scents like Sarah Jessica Parker's "Lovely" to work on a regular basis, without making anyone upset.
As a female, we like to have things that make us feel prettier. This could be a purse, jewelry, cosmetics, clothing or shoes, or even a perfume. For me all those things are great. But when I want to feel womanly, even when I'm just hanging with the kids on a rainy day in the house in my sweats, I spritz on a spray or two of my favorite scent and I feel like a woman again.
What's your favorite scent?
When I had Lindsay, I could still wear my perfume of choice, but she might add to the scent with her own, courtesy of formula spit up. Pretty!!! After a while, she started deciding what "we" would wear for the scent of the day. Some days it was Coco, other days it was nothing at all, and still other days it was whatever kiddie scent we had in the house for her at the time. Now, that she is older, she has her own perfumes, and I can go back to mine.
When I had Loren, he liked to ADD to the scent I was already wearing. Luckily, he was "nursed" until he was 8 months, so his scent wasn't nearly as bad. Langdon and Leland were both nursed as well, so their scents weren't nearly as bad. However, Leland is on formula now (my choice) and he's just reaking up every person and room when he spits up, which can be a lot!
Now, you're probably saying, "Just go without perfume then!". Well, I have. When I was working the Med/Surg Department for a hospital, we were told not to wear perfume because it could be offensive or nauseating to the patients. Hah! By the time I was done working each day, I was nauseated by all the offensive smells my patients were emitting! I wanted to bathe in a vat of perfume to get those smells out of my clothing, hair and mind (sometimes they stuck). When I worked in Home Health Care, it was a bit easier, by asking the client or their family I was able to wear light scents like Sarah Jessica Parker's "Lovely" to work on a regular basis, without making anyone upset.
As a female, we like to have things that make us feel prettier. This could be a purse, jewelry, cosmetics, clothing or shoes, or even a perfume. For me all those things are great. But when I want to feel womanly, even when I'm just hanging with the kids on a rainy day in the house in my sweats, I spritz on a spray or two of my favorite scent and I feel like a woman again.
What's your favorite scent?
Friday, November 28, 2008
Thanksgiving Tradition
Once again the holidays have begun. Usually, it starts with Halloween, the costumes and candy. Then we parents start to think, hmm, 2 months until Christmas Day. Oh no! Where did the year go?
Well, yesterday was Thanksgiving. Most people celebrate this day eating turkey and stuffing and spending the day with their extended families. Not this family. Since we're a mixture of two cultures, American Holidays are done a little differently with us.
In the beginning, when we first had Lindsay, I would make the whole Thanksgiving feast. Turkey, sweet potatoes, pumpkin pie, dinner rolls, mashed potatoes, and even cranberry sauce. That was then, now, if I cook, it's usually something completely off the scale when it comes to Thanksgiving, Ropa Vieja and a burrito station for the kids or chow mein with char su and veggies and wonton soup. "What happened?", you might ask. Nothing really. I just learned that Les doesn't eat turkey, he only did it to appease me since I went through all that effort. Lindsay wouldn't eat turkey, it was difficult, she just didn't like it. So for a year or two I gave up. Then came Loren and I tried again. Again, no one ate the turkey and it was all wasted, so I gave up for good.
Two Thanksgivings ago, I did the Ropa Vieja and burrito station, that was a big hit with everyone in our house. I made so much, that I froze half and took it to my mom's for Christmas dinner. Last year, we went to my mom's house, where you would think it would be a traditional meal, again not so. Mom usually does some sort of chicken, rolls, mashed potatoes and salad. Well, I decided we should all do something. So mom made her usual chicken. My younger brother and his wife did Deviled eggs. I made wonton soup and the chow mein. My kids ate the chicken, mashed potatoes and rolls that my mom made. They also ate my wontons and noodles, but they wouldn't touch the eggs. Go figure!
This Thanksgiving we didn't do any cooking. We went camping for a few days prior and that was fun (read "Let's Go Camping"). We started the day like any other day, hung out with the kids and let them play outside, even when it was raining outside. I was suppose to go to my aunt's house to stop by for some pie, but my little ones played "nap tag" (one naps when the other one wakes up), and Leland didn't wake up until after 5:30pm so we just went to eat in Rowland Heights for Chinese food. Chinese restaurants are always open on major holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas. We ended up at Boston Cafe out there, Les was craving their food (it's rare he would have a craving, it's usually me). We had noodles, two types of rice dishes, a bread dish, tung yao bang, ma po tofu, and curried fish balls. All very tasty and very satisfying, exactly everything we would want our family meal to be, and we spent it together. We took home lots of leftovers (even had it for lunch today, with more to finish). We even spent time with my in-laws for the kids to get their Yeh-Yeh and Ma-Ma time. See, our Thanksgiving may not be the "traditional" way, but we still incorporate the premise of it, we just twist it to our advantage. We get to eat tasty food, usually don't have to clean up after, and we see some family members, all without the stress. Another aahh moment in our lives.
Thanksgiving tradition to us is mixing it up and giving our kids an opportunity to see what they really like, to experience a little bit of everything. In the future, I foresee that we won't be spending as much time together, they'll each want to go hang out with their friends, so we want to make the time spent enjoyable, not stressful. Think about it, give your kids an opportunity every once in awhile to choose what they want to do, it lets them know that their opinion matters too. They might surprise you by telling you that they do want to go see the family 9 hours away for the holidays, or they might just want to stay home and make it a quiet holiday.
Enjoy the holidays and stay safe. Happy Holidays.
Well, yesterday was Thanksgiving. Most people celebrate this day eating turkey and stuffing and spending the day with their extended families. Not this family. Since we're a mixture of two cultures, American Holidays are done a little differently with us.
In the beginning, when we first had Lindsay, I would make the whole Thanksgiving feast. Turkey, sweet potatoes, pumpkin pie, dinner rolls, mashed potatoes, and even cranberry sauce. That was then, now, if I cook, it's usually something completely off the scale when it comes to Thanksgiving, Ropa Vieja and a burrito station for the kids or chow mein with char su and veggies and wonton soup. "What happened?", you might ask. Nothing really. I just learned that Les doesn't eat turkey, he only did it to appease me since I went through all that effort. Lindsay wouldn't eat turkey, it was difficult, she just didn't like it. So for a year or two I gave up. Then came Loren and I tried again. Again, no one ate the turkey and it was all wasted, so I gave up for good.
Two Thanksgivings ago, I did the Ropa Vieja and burrito station, that was a big hit with everyone in our house. I made so much, that I froze half and took it to my mom's for Christmas dinner. Last year, we went to my mom's house, where you would think it would be a traditional meal, again not so. Mom usually does some sort of chicken, rolls, mashed potatoes and salad. Well, I decided we should all do something. So mom made her usual chicken. My younger brother and his wife did Deviled eggs. I made wonton soup and the chow mein. My kids ate the chicken, mashed potatoes and rolls that my mom made. They also ate my wontons and noodles, but they wouldn't touch the eggs. Go figure!
This Thanksgiving we didn't do any cooking. We went camping for a few days prior and that was fun (read "Let's Go Camping"). We started the day like any other day, hung out with the kids and let them play outside, even when it was raining outside. I was suppose to go to my aunt's house to stop by for some pie, but my little ones played "nap tag" (one naps when the other one wakes up), and Leland didn't wake up until after 5:30pm so we just went to eat in Rowland Heights for Chinese food. Chinese restaurants are always open on major holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas. We ended up at Boston Cafe out there, Les was craving their food (it's rare he would have a craving, it's usually me). We had noodles, two types of rice dishes, a bread dish, tung yao bang, ma po tofu, and curried fish balls. All very tasty and very satisfying, exactly everything we would want our family meal to be, and we spent it together. We took home lots of leftovers (even had it for lunch today, with more to finish). We even spent time with my in-laws for the kids to get their Yeh-Yeh and Ma-Ma time. See, our Thanksgiving may not be the "traditional" way, but we still incorporate the premise of it, we just twist it to our advantage. We get to eat tasty food, usually don't have to clean up after, and we see some family members, all without the stress. Another aahh moment in our lives.
Thanksgiving tradition to us is mixing it up and giving our kids an opportunity to see what they really like, to experience a little bit of everything. In the future, I foresee that we won't be spending as much time together, they'll each want to go hang out with their friends, so we want to make the time spent enjoyable, not stressful. Think about it, give your kids an opportunity every once in awhile to choose what they want to do, it lets them know that their opinion matters too. They might surprise you by telling you that they do want to go see the family 9 hours away for the holidays, or they might just want to stay home and make it a quiet holiday.
Enjoy the holidays and stay safe. Happy Holidays.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Let's Go Camping
With both of my older two kids in Scouts, getting the opportunity to go camping has been put on the back-burner. It seems like every time we think we have an opportunity to hit the road for some family fun, a scouting event (usually boy scouts) pops up. We can say no, but the events help Loren earn a belt loop or patch of some sort, so we feel bad and end up cancelling our trip. However, it just so happened, that this past weekend, no scouting event was scheduled. We took advantage of the freedom and went out to Idyllwild, here in SoCal. I booked our reservation through our membership company on Friday afternoon. Now mind you, you can only book it M-F from 8am-4pm, that's it. Well, I got our reservation booked at 3:58 pm on Friday afternoon. That's cutting it close.
Friday evening we spent running errands to pick up some last minute items that we would want to take camping with us, ie. diapers and formula. You know, necessities. Saturday, we pulled the 5th Wheel out and started loading all our clothing, food and other necessities. I even prepped Fried Rice for the trip, we had left over rice so what the heck.
Sunday was our check in day, so we hit the road at about 12:00 noon. It had been 3 months since we last took our rig out, so Les and I were trying to go through our mental checklist of what needed to be done. Safety cord on hitch attached, check. Food, clothing, diapers packed, check. All 4 kids in the truck, 1,2,3, and 4, check. Gasoline, check, oh but it's kind of low. I hope we can make it. Okay, I think we're set. On the road again... We get on the 15, usual traffic, nothing to really speak of. We get on the 60, and now it's slow moving even before we hit the 215. It seems some friggin genius decided it would be a good idea to do repairs on the freeway the week of Thanksgiving. The 60 was down to 2 lanes for most of the drive out, crap. What should have taken maybe an hour and a half to drive took a little of two hours. Once we hit Banning, we got off the freeway to head to our destination, Silent Valley Club. The road up the hill is very curvy, not a big deal for me, but I should mention, everyone else in the car gets carsick. Oh goody! Langdon fell asleep so that took care of that. The older two were complaining of getting dizzy, "look out the front window" we told them, "focus on something far away". It helped, we had to just keep reminding them because they kept finding things down below to look at.
We arrive at Silent Valley about 2:30, the ranger can't find our reservation. Luckily, I happen to write down our reservation number and gave it to the ranger. Apparently, our membership company didn't fax the reservation list to the administration office at Silent Valley, but they let us in anyway. Woo hoo! We were here 3 months ago (our last trip out) and we had parked right at the kids playground area. We literally had a slot that backed up to the playground. This play area has two entrances, both with gates to lock the little kids (aka Langdon) in. The spot we used last time was occupied, darn, so we took the one to the left, it still allowed us to back up to the playground. It was just next to a high traffic path, to the playground of course! We let the kids loose to play while we set up camp. (It's so much easier that way.)
Normally, once camp is set, I stay inside with the baby feeding him and giving him naps. Because of this, Les usually has to stay outside with the other 3 kids trying to keep them busy. Not this time. Leland started getting tired and I was bringing him in for his nap, but Les offered to take care of him and I stayed out with the others. Lindsay and Loren were already in full swing playing with all the other kids in the playground, so I took Langdon down to the Tennis Courts. (He just loves hitting his racket on the ground.) I just bounced the ball off the back fence for him to catch. He loved it when his racket made contact, because then he thought he really was "playing" tennis! Sometimes, I hit the ball a bit hard so that he would run after it. Remember, he's two and full of energy (read "Let's Go Shopping"). We played for about an hour and then the older two plus a girl named Alissa arrived wanting to play too. I had them go get the other rackets and we all "played" tennis. It was fun, Alissa had an arm on her so I hit all her balls, versus when Loren hit the ball, Lindsay would get those. Sometimes, we would just hit the ball towards Langdon to keep him included in the fun. Boy did those kids run a lot, so did I. Eventually, Lindsay and Loren couldn't stop bickering about whose ball it was, Langdon was getting ultra-cranky, and Alissa's dad had come to take her back to their campsite, so we all departed.
While we were all out, Leland slept and Les got some work done. Yay! Leland had just woken up so I took over. Les was going to cook the fried rice while I showered the kids. That's not exactly what happened next. While I changed Leland's diaper, Lindsay was in the bathroom disrobing and Langdon came in and turned the shower knobs, Lindsay tried to fix the problem, but somehow broke the knob off the wall and water was spewing like a geyser! Like lightning, Les ran in to stop the geyser, Lindsay took over watching the three boys, and I threw on my shoes and ran outside to stop the water at the source. Whew! It took awhile, but Les fixed the knob and we got the water running again. We decided to get dinner going again and get the kids showered. Well that didn't last long. I went to throw something away in the trash just below the bathroom and BANG! The hot water knob on the sink blew off and once again water shoots up like a geyser hitting the ceiling. Once again, I run out to turn off the water at the source while Les works on stopping the blow out. Les ends up jimmy-rigging the knob (it's cracked from when Lindsay broke it from a previous trip) with several layers of tape. This ends up solving the problem for now, but we will have to definitely take it in to the shop to get it professionally repaired. (Did I mention we have a Weekend Warrior, now bankrupt!) Anyway, the rest of the night went off without a hitch.
We had surprised the kids with a new movie, Wall-E. After everyone finished dinner and showered, we turned it on. The kids were happy, except Langdon, who was constantly told to stay still so the rest of us could watch it. Eventually, Langdon fell asleep, and we all enjoyed the rest of the movie in peace. Aaahh! Once the movie ended, everyone crashed. The kids were snoring in a matter of minutes, remember, I made them run around the tennis courts earlier. I went to bed, I was sleeping with Leland in the main bed. Les eventually went to bed in the bottom bunk, with Langdon, who moves constantly-even in his sleep. Sleep for me sucked. Leland is actively teething and can't stay asleep. He moved all over the bed, crawling in his sleep. Almost off the bed at one time, even with the bed-rail on. Then, he decided that 6am was a good time to awaken, for the day! Ugh! Les apparently had a rough time sleeping too. Langdon kept falling through the bed and back ramp. There's a 4 inch or so gap between the bed and ramp, and Langdon kept going through. Les had to keep picking him back up about every 30 minutes.
A new day starts. Monday starts with no big deal. Les makes breakfast for the family. The kids get dressed and they all go play in the playground area. Aaahhh... The day went well. The kids played tennis, built a fort with other boys up in the hill area just across the creek, and the little boys took their naps together. Aahh again... When it was time for dinner, the next door campers decided to invite our older two over for roasting hot dogs and marshmallows, and we let them. Les and I had dinner with the two little ones and it was actually quite relaxing. Eventually, the older kids came back, we got everyone showered. Once we were all clean, we opened yet another movie.... Kung Fu Panda. Les and the kids had already seen it in the theaters, but I had stayed home since I had just had the baby recently and it's not easy to keep Langdon still that long. I really enjoyed the movie, but I'm no critic. It was really cute. Again, Langdon eventually fell asleep during the movie, so we finally had a chance to enjoy it. Bedtime once again, wow were we all pooped. This time though, both Leland and Langdon slept a lot better, which in turn means so did Les and I.
Tuesday and Leland is up at 6am yet again. I tried putting him back to sleep, but that was not on his agenda. I fed him and burped him. Once he was satisfied, he started chatting away which woke Langdon up, which means everyone was going to get up too. There is nothing quiet about Langdon, NOTHING! Les makes breakfast for everyone then the kids get dressed to play outside. Just as they get out there, it starts raining. Les and I panic, he throws on his clothes, we were enjoying our coffee, and he runs out to start packing things up. I quickly get dressed and start cleaning up the interior of the rig, all the while, Leland is crying because he's tired and wants his morning nap. I keep Langdon quiet with the movie Wall-E. Lindsay helps from time to time with Leland so I can hurry. We finally get everything done and the rain subsides, but we decide to head home anyway because Les has a conference call to jump on at 1:30.
Our drive home was fine. There was a point on the 60 where some blue-hair jumped in front of us at an on-ramp, instead of waiting to get in behind us-there was no one back there. We had to slam on our brakes, which wouldn't have been a big deal, except that the older two were in the 5th wheel playing PS2. Luckily, they were okay, except that a soda that was open had spilled. Other than that, we got home safely and unloaded the rig quickly. Les was able to get on his call in time. Yay!
Camping with the kids CAN be enjoyable, but it's definitely never boring. When kids become part of the equation, you never know what's going to happen. Look out they bring adventure with them wherever they go.
Friday evening we spent running errands to pick up some last minute items that we would want to take camping with us, ie. diapers and formula. You know, necessities. Saturday, we pulled the 5th Wheel out and started loading all our clothing, food and other necessities. I even prepped Fried Rice for the trip, we had left over rice so what the heck.
Sunday was our check in day, so we hit the road at about 12:00 noon. It had been 3 months since we last took our rig out, so Les and I were trying to go through our mental checklist of what needed to be done. Safety cord on hitch attached, check. Food, clothing, diapers packed, check. All 4 kids in the truck, 1,2,3, and 4, check. Gasoline, check, oh but it's kind of low. I hope we can make it. Okay, I think we're set. On the road again... We get on the 15, usual traffic, nothing to really speak of. We get on the 60, and now it's slow moving even before we hit the 215. It seems some friggin genius decided it would be a good idea to do repairs on the freeway the week of Thanksgiving. The 60 was down to 2 lanes for most of the drive out, crap. What should have taken maybe an hour and a half to drive took a little of two hours. Once we hit Banning, we got off the freeway to head to our destination, Silent Valley Club. The road up the hill is very curvy, not a big deal for me, but I should mention, everyone else in the car gets carsick. Oh goody! Langdon fell asleep so that took care of that. The older two were complaining of getting dizzy, "look out the front window" we told them, "focus on something far away". It helped, we had to just keep reminding them because they kept finding things down below to look at.
We arrive at Silent Valley about 2:30, the ranger can't find our reservation. Luckily, I happen to write down our reservation number and gave it to the ranger. Apparently, our membership company didn't fax the reservation list to the administration office at Silent Valley, but they let us in anyway. Woo hoo! We were here 3 months ago (our last trip out) and we had parked right at the kids playground area. We literally had a slot that backed up to the playground. This play area has two entrances, both with gates to lock the little kids (aka Langdon) in. The spot we used last time was occupied, darn, so we took the one to the left, it still allowed us to back up to the playground. It was just next to a high traffic path, to the playground of course! We let the kids loose to play while we set up camp. (It's so much easier that way.)
Normally, once camp is set, I stay inside with the baby feeding him and giving him naps. Because of this, Les usually has to stay outside with the other 3 kids trying to keep them busy. Not this time. Leland started getting tired and I was bringing him in for his nap, but Les offered to take care of him and I stayed out with the others. Lindsay and Loren were already in full swing playing with all the other kids in the playground, so I took Langdon down to the Tennis Courts. (He just loves hitting his racket on the ground.) I just bounced the ball off the back fence for him to catch. He loved it when his racket made contact, because then he thought he really was "playing" tennis! Sometimes, I hit the ball a bit hard so that he would run after it. Remember, he's two and full of energy (read "Let's Go Shopping"). We played for about an hour and then the older two plus a girl named Alissa arrived wanting to play too. I had them go get the other rackets and we all "played" tennis. It was fun, Alissa had an arm on her so I hit all her balls, versus when Loren hit the ball, Lindsay would get those. Sometimes, we would just hit the ball towards Langdon to keep him included in the fun. Boy did those kids run a lot, so did I. Eventually, Lindsay and Loren couldn't stop bickering about whose ball it was, Langdon was getting ultra-cranky, and Alissa's dad had come to take her back to their campsite, so we all departed.
While we were all out, Leland slept and Les got some work done. Yay! Leland had just woken up so I took over. Les was going to cook the fried rice while I showered the kids. That's not exactly what happened next. While I changed Leland's diaper, Lindsay was in the bathroom disrobing and Langdon came in and turned the shower knobs, Lindsay tried to fix the problem, but somehow broke the knob off the wall and water was spewing like a geyser! Like lightning, Les ran in to stop the geyser, Lindsay took over watching the three boys, and I threw on my shoes and ran outside to stop the water at the source. Whew! It took awhile, but Les fixed the knob and we got the water running again. We decided to get dinner going again and get the kids showered. Well that didn't last long. I went to throw something away in the trash just below the bathroom and BANG! The hot water knob on the sink blew off and once again water shoots up like a geyser hitting the ceiling. Once again, I run out to turn off the water at the source while Les works on stopping the blow out. Les ends up jimmy-rigging the knob (it's cracked from when Lindsay broke it from a previous trip) with several layers of tape. This ends up solving the problem for now, but we will have to definitely take it in to the shop to get it professionally repaired. (Did I mention we have a Weekend Warrior, now bankrupt!) Anyway, the rest of the night went off without a hitch.
We had surprised the kids with a new movie, Wall-E. After everyone finished dinner and showered, we turned it on. The kids were happy, except Langdon, who was constantly told to stay still so the rest of us could watch it. Eventually, Langdon fell asleep, and we all enjoyed the rest of the movie in peace. Aaahh! Once the movie ended, everyone crashed. The kids were snoring in a matter of minutes, remember, I made them run around the tennis courts earlier. I went to bed, I was sleeping with Leland in the main bed. Les eventually went to bed in the bottom bunk, with Langdon, who moves constantly-even in his sleep. Sleep for me sucked. Leland is actively teething and can't stay asleep. He moved all over the bed, crawling in his sleep. Almost off the bed at one time, even with the bed-rail on. Then, he decided that 6am was a good time to awaken, for the day! Ugh! Les apparently had a rough time sleeping too. Langdon kept falling through the bed and back ramp. There's a 4 inch or so gap between the bed and ramp, and Langdon kept going through. Les had to keep picking him back up about every 30 minutes.
A new day starts. Monday starts with no big deal. Les makes breakfast for the family. The kids get dressed and they all go play in the playground area. Aaahhh... The day went well. The kids played tennis, built a fort with other boys up in the hill area just across the creek, and the little boys took their naps together. Aahh again... When it was time for dinner, the next door campers decided to invite our older two over for roasting hot dogs and marshmallows, and we let them. Les and I had dinner with the two little ones and it was actually quite relaxing. Eventually, the older kids came back, we got everyone showered. Once we were all clean, we opened yet another movie.... Kung Fu Panda. Les and the kids had already seen it in the theaters, but I had stayed home since I had just had the baby recently and it's not easy to keep Langdon still that long. I really enjoyed the movie, but I'm no critic. It was really cute. Again, Langdon eventually fell asleep during the movie, so we finally had a chance to enjoy it. Bedtime once again, wow were we all pooped. This time though, both Leland and Langdon slept a lot better, which in turn means so did Les and I.
Tuesday and Leland is up at 6am yet again. I tried putting him back to sleep, but that was not on his agenda. I fed him and burped him. Once he was satisfied, he started chatting away which woke Langdon up, which means everyone was going to get up too. There is nothing quiet about Langdon, NOTHING! Les makes breakfast for everyone then the kids get dressed to play outside. Just as they get out there, it starts raining. Les and I panic, he throws on his clothes, we were enjoying our coffee, and he runs out to start packing things up. I quickly get dressed and start cleaning up the interior of the rig, all the while, Leland is crying because he's tired and wants his morning nap. I keep Langdon quiet with the movie Wall-E. Lindsay helps from time to time with Leland so I can hurry. We finally get everything done and the rain subsides, but we decide to head home anyway because Les has a conference call to jump on at 1:30.
Our drive home was fine. There was a point on the 60 where some blue-hair jumped in front of us at an on-ramp, instead of waiting to get in behind us-there was no one back there. We had to slam on our brakes, which wouldn't have been a big deal, except that the older two were in the 5th wheel playing PS2. Luckily, they were okay, except that a soda that was open had spilled. Other than that, we got home safely and unloaded the rig quickly. Les was able to get on his call in time. Yay!
Camping with the kids CAN be enjoyable, but it's definitely never boring. When kids become part of the equation, you never know what's going to happen. Look out they bring adventure with them wherever they go.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Me and My Shadow
Did any of you ever turn on the the show "Bear in the Blue House"? I did, my daughter loved that show as a one to two year old. There was always a part where Bear would sing, "Oh where, oh where is Shadow? Oh where, oh where is Shadow?" and then a shadow of a girl would appear and say, "Here I am Bear!". Then the two would talk about a story or rhyme. The nice thing about that scenario, Bear could call to Shadow and she would appear when requested. Not so with a two year old. Man! I can't get anything done by myself. Nothing!
Need to go to the car because you forgot something? Not by yourself you won't. Need to use the restroom for the first time in 3 hours? Not without an audience you won't. Want to cook dinner, not without help. Shower? Have a chair or stool ready, because he will be there with you. Usually it's not that big of a deal. It's just those times when you're walking and decide to stop or turn, and bam, there's your shadow-you just smacked him across the head with your hand!
There hasn't been a day that I haven't smacked my "shadow" in the head. I try to wait to do things when he's taking his nap, but lately, he's trying to phase those out. Usually, when he does take a nap, I will power-clean. I will do whatever I can, as fast as I can. It may not be the best job, but it will have to do. It seems that whenever I start a cleaning task, Langdon's radar (even in his sleep) will go off and pow, there he is, standing next to me saying "Oh hi, mommy" as if I surprised him.
Normally, a shadow disappears when you turn the light off, right? Not in this house. My Shadow still appears at all hours of the day AND night. Every night I put the baby down after his last feeding around 8:30-ish. Then, I will try to sit with Langdon in his room until he falls asleep, this can take up to an hour sometimes. Once he's asleep, I stealthily tiptoe out the door. Within an hour, Les and I will be seated on the sofa to catch up on our shows. By 11:00-11:30, you can expect Langdon to mosey on down the stairs to see what we are doing and to be close by. It is amazing that he hasn't fallen down the stairs as a result of his sleepy stumbling. Sometimes, we'll put him back right away, sometimes we'll let him chill until we head back upstairs. We always put him back in HIS bed. Then, Les and I go to bed, in our own bed, just the two of us.
Sometimes, Leland will wake up in the early morning hours for a feeding, and I'll get up to take care of him. However, it never seems to fail, my back is killing me. Lo and behold, I discover the reason why, Langdon is in our bed, practically sleeping on me. Or, if he's not sleeping ON me, he's sleeping horizontally with his head in my back and his toes in Les' ribcage. Not comfortable for us at all, but he's comfy. I'll take him back to bed on my way to Leland's room. After taking care of Leland and getting back to bed, I too can get some sleep, now that it's less inhabited. By the time I get up for the day, once again, there is Langdon in our bed, happy as a clam in the sand. Even if Les is already out of bed, Langdon will be up against me, trying to make as much bodily contact as possible. Even though I'm hanging off the edge of the bed, he will still be pushing up against me. (Just so you know, we have a King-size bed, that Les and I each get an edge of.)
Now I know that I should be thankful that he wants to be near me, because when he hits his teen years, it will be over. I just need some breathing space, you know, with no contact. Sometimes, your body goes into contact overload, and you just want to hurt the next person that touches you. It would be nice, if at the end of the day, I could go to bed and know that I would wake up with no child pressed up against me. My body and my mind would be recharged for all the contact my children would like to give me.
Shadows are usually present when there is light. My shadow is present even in the dead of the night. Where is your shadow? Behind you? Next to you? Sitting on your lap? Or is it lurking around the corner, waiting to engulf you when you least expect it.
Need to go to the car because you forgot something? Not by yourself you won't. Need to use the restroom for the first time in 3 hours? Not without an audience you won't. Want to cook dinner, not without help. Shower? Have a chair or stool ready, because he will be there with you. Usually it's not that big of a deal. It's just those times when you're walking and decide to stop or turn, and bam, there's your shadow-you just smacked him across the head with your hand!
There hasn't been a day that I haven't smacked my "shadow" in the head. I try to wait to do things when he's taking his nap, but lately, he's trying to phase those out. Usually, when he does take a nap, I will power-clean. I will do whatever I can, as fast as I can. It may not be the best job, but it will have to do. It seems that whenever I start a cleaning task, Langdon's radar (even in his sleep) will go off and pow, there he is, standing next to me saying "Oh hi, mommy" as if I surprised him.
Normally, a shadow disappears when you turn the light off, right? Not in this house. My Shadow still appears at all hours of the day AND night. Every night I put the baby down after his last feeding around 8:30-ish. Then, I will try to sit with Langdon in his room until he falls asleep, this can take up to an hour sometimes. Once he's asleep, I stealthily tiptoe out the door. Within an hour, Les and I will be seated on the sofa to catch up on our shows. By 11:00-11:30, you can expect Langdon to mosey on down the stairs to see what we are doing and to be close by. It is amazing that he hasn't fallen down the stairs as a result of his sleepy stumbling. Sometimes, we'll put him back right away, sometimes we'll let him chill until we head back upstairs. We always put him back in HIS bed. Then, Les and I go to bed, in our own bed, just the two of us.
Sometimes, Leland will wake up in the early morning hours for a feeding, and I'll get up to take care of him. However, it never seems to fail, my back is killing me. Lo and behold, I discover the reason why, Langdon is in our bed, practically sleeping on me. Or, if he's not sleeping ON me, he's sleeping horizontally with his head in my back and his toes in Les' ribcage. Not comfortable for us at all, but he's comfy. I'll take him back to bed on my way to Leland's room. After taking care of Leland and getting back to bed, I too can get some sleep, now that it's less inhabited. By the time I get up for the day, once again, there is Langdon in our bed, happy as a clam in the sand. Even if Les is already out of bed, Langdon will be up against me, trying to make as much bodily contact as possible. Even though I'm hanging off the edge of the bed, he will still be pushing up against me. (Just so you know, we have a King-size bed, that Les and I each get an edge of.)
Now I know that I should be thankful that he wants to be near me, because when he hits his teen years, it will be over. I just need some breathing space, you know, with no contact. Sometimes, your body goes into contact overload, and you just want to hurt the next person that touches you. It would be nice, if at the end of the day, I could go to bed and know that I would wake up with no child pressed up against me. My body and my mind would be recharged for all the contact my children would like to give me.
Shadows are usually present when there is light. My shadow is present even in the dead of the night. Where is your shadow? Behind you? Next to you? Sitting on your lap? Or is it lurking around the corner, waiting to engulf you when you least expect it.
Let's Go Shopping
For those of you without kids this may be something to think about. For those of you who have kid/s, you know where I'm coming from. Been there, done that. With the holidays fast approaching, the schools are having their holiday parties. My kids are in year-round school and we are on C-Track which exits this Friday and won't return until after the New Year. With that said, yesterday I was on the hunt for an already-baked Pumpkin Pie. (Normally, I would bake one, but I just didn't feel like putting that much effort into it.) Easy you say, not quite so. Appears everyone else was having the pumpkin pie cravings (or buying for their holiday parties, too). I went to one store during the day with all 3 boys in tow to see what I could find. Nada. Well, my timing was bad so I had to go home to put Leland down for his nap. (I had already gone to a couple of other stores to get other errands completed while out.) I decided to wait until the night time to try again. I hate leaving the house more than once with the kids!
After everyone was bathed and the older two went to bed, I decided to take the two little ones with me. After hitting my second grocery store (yes, it took me two stores before I got the brilliant idea) I decided to buy a frozen pie and bake it last night so Loren could take it to his class to share.
Well, shopping with the two boys is not that easy. Here's how the shopping experience went: Once we got in the car to go to the store, Leland decided he was hungry, AGAIN! He cried all the way to the local Albertson's. Now mind you, this store is only 3 minutes away via car, but man, was that the longest 3 minutes. UGH! Once I got him in the shopping cart, I tried getting Langdon in. Ha ha! Kid took off like a bolt of lightning back through the front doors to see if he could get them to open again. All this, while I was trying to buckle Leland into the cart, before he konks his head on the side of the metal shopping cart. Luckily, I got the baby buckled and Langdon came through the doors and I caught him and sat him in the basket portion of the cart. Whew! Now I can feed Leland his bottle while shopping around the market. I started pushing the cart, darnit, the front wheel was bent! Picture this: a mom pushing two boys in a cart, one in the basket jumping, the baby up front- drinking from the bottle mom is holding while she is trying to steer the cart and NOT knock down any displays or run into the other customers in the store. Now mind you, I haven't even been in the store but maybe five minutes. Okay, I'm ready to go home! The things we do for our kids.
So I finish feeding Leland his bottle and I'm able to use two hands to steer the shopping cart. Langdon is still jumping inside the basket of the cart, but hey, I'm not chasing after him. I load the milk, the pies and some bananas. Langdon loves bananas. He starts pulling them apart and trying to figure out how to open one so he can eat it. I finally get him to stop pulling them apart, after the second one is disconnected. Wow, he listened. Leland decides he doesn't want to sit anymore and starts crying. I pick him up and hold him in my left arm, while still using both hands to push the cart onward. I can't stop shopping just because the baby needs to be held. You learn to multitask when you've got kids. So once again, I am trying to push the cart that keeps veering off to the right. What a workout! Even though the two arms are using different muscles to push the cart forward.
Now some of you might be thinking, why don't you let Langdon walk and help you get the groceries? Well, as I mentioned before, he's two. That in itself should be all I need to say. To add to that, he's a rambunctious two year old. I have tried letting him help me shop before, when I was desperate. Then he just runs off down the aisle like we're playing a game of Hide and Seek. He hides and I spend the next 10 minutes trying to find the aisle he's in and then try to catch him before he runs off again, because remember, to him, it's a game. Or, if he's not off and running and I've got a good grip on his hand, he's grabbing food off the shelves and trying to open them. On a side note, Les has taken Langdon shopping and used the "special" carts, you know the ones, shaped as cars, but Langdon will jump out when Les stops to look at an item. Next thing he knows, Langdon has put 3 or 4 food items into the shopping cart. By the time Les gets to the checkout stand, he has to give the cashier about a dozen or so items to put back because he didn't know they were there. Now I must state this, Langdon isn't a bad kid, he's just got more energy than the Energizer Bunny. I just need to find a way to channel that energy into a more productive outlet while still being able to maintain the needs of my 7 month old. (Suggestions are always welcome.)
Needless to say, what should have been a quick 10 minute shopping trip, turned into a exhausting 30 minute, nerve-yanking, hair-pulling event. I was so happy to get home, put the pie in the oven and get the two boys into their beds. Not that Langdon was tired, he kept getting out of bed to see where I was. But that's another story. (Look for: Me and My Shadow.)
The moral of this story. Time your shopping trips right and know your alternatives in case you don't find exactly what you were looking for. There will be at least one time, when you don't have the time to be hunting, that you won't find exactly what you need. I hope you enjoyed my shopping trip. Know this, shopping, albeit grocery shopping, can be a mini-vacation for a parent with no kids around. Offer your friend an opportunity to shop while you watch the kids. Hey, you might need to be reciprocated. Happy Shopping!
After everyone was bathed and the older two went to bed, I decided to take the two little ones with me. After hitting my second grocery store (yes, it took me two stores before I got the brilliant idea) I decided to buy a frozen pie and bake it last night so Loren could take it to his class to share.
Well, shopping with the two boys is not that easy. Here's how the shopping experience went: Once we got in the car to go to the store, Leland decided he was hungry, AGAIN! He cried all the way to the local Albertson's. Now mind you, this store is only 3 minutes away via car, but man, was that the longest 3 minutes. UGH! Once I got him in the shopping cart, I tried getting Langdon in. Ha ha! Kid took off like a bolt of lightning back through the front doors to see if he could get them to open again. All this, while I was trying to buckle Leland into the cart, before he konks his head on the side of the metal shopping cart. Luckily, I got the baby buckled and Langdon came through the doors and I caught him and sat him in the basket portion of the cart. Whew! Now I can feed Leland his bottle while shopping around the market. I started pushing the cart, darnit, the front wheel was bent! Picture this: a mom pushing two boys in a cart, one in the basket jumping, the baby up front- drinking from the bottle mom is holding while she is trying to steer the cart and NOT knock down any displays or run into the other customers in the store. Now mind you, I haven't even been in the store but maybe five minutes. Okay, I'm ready to go home! The things we do for our kids.
So I finish feeding Leland his bottle and I'm able to use two hands to steer the shopping cart. Langdon is still jumping inside the basket of the cart, but hey, I'm not chasing after him. I load the milk, the pies and some bananas. Langdon loves bananas. He starts pulling them apart and trying to figure out how to open one so he can eat it. I finally get him to stop pulling them apart, after the second one is disconnected. Wow, he listened. Leland decides he doesn't want to sit anymore and starts crying. I pick him up and hold him in my left arm, while still using both hands to push the cart onward. I can't stop shopping just because the baby needs to be held. You learn to multitask when you've got kids. So once again, I am trying to push the cart that keeps veering off to the right. What a workout! Even though the two arms are using different muscles to push the cart forward.
Now some of you might be thinking, why don't you let Langdon walk and help you get the groceries? Well, as I mentioned before, he's two. That in itself should be all I need to say. To add to that, he's a rambunctious two year old. I have tried letting him help me shop before, when I was desperate. Then he just runs off down the aisle like we're playing a game of Hide and Seek. He hides and I spend the next 10 minutes trying to find the aisle he's in and then try to catch him before he runs off again, because remember, to him, it's a game. Or, if he's not off and running and I've got a good grip on his hand, he's grabbing food off the shelves and trying to open them. On a side note, Les has taken Langdon shopping and used the "special" carts, you know the ones, shaped as cars, but Langdon will jump out when Les stops to look at an item. Next thing he knows, Langdon has put 3 or 4 food items into the shopping cart. By the time Les gets to the checkout stand, he has to give the cashier about a dozen or so items to put back because he didn't know they were there. Now I must state this, Langdon isn't a bad kid, he's just got more energy than the Energizer Bunny. I just need to find a way to channel that energy into a more productive outlet while still being able to maintain the needs of my 7 month old. (Suggestions are always welcome.)
Needless to say, what should have been a quick 10 minute shopping trip, turned into a exhausting 30 minute, nerve-yanking, hair-pulling event. I was so happy to get home, put the pie in the oven and get the two boys into their beds. Not that Langdon was tired, he kept getting out of bed to see where I was. But that's another story. (Look for: Me and My Shadow.)
The moral of this story. Time your shopping trips right and know your alternatives in case you don't find exactly what you were looking for. There will be at least one time, when you don't have the time to be hunting, that you won't find exactly what you need. I hope you enjoyed my shopping trip. Know this, shopping, albeit grocery shopping, can be a mini-vacation for a parent with no kids around. Offer your friend an opportunity to shop while you watch the kids. Hey, you might need to be reciprocated. Happy Shopping!
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