Christmas treats, yum, yum...

I am really bummed I won't get to eat any tonight and the boy can't wait himself. I need to make a few packages to send out to som of my employees out of the state, I want to make sure it gets to them in time and before they take time off for the holidays.

I love these chocolate haystacks that we had as growing up, I remember helping my mom make them and they would really only be made over the Christmas holiday. As I was making them tonight H yelled out "I know what you're making, they are sooooo good, you're making extra for us right?". And I also made some chocolate covered pretzels.

I am excited to have some tomorrow, hopefully we are able to package some up before we eat them all.

Megamind Mega Fun Night...

Code can Dreamworks make a bad movie? Code I don't think so. Even what you would call their worst (other's opinion not my own) it was Cars and really I think that was a great movie too. H wants to see a few movies before his upcoming trip, tonight was Megamind. It was in 3D and the boy loves the 3D, I have come to like it. They have come a very long way since I went to the theatres for 3D with the red and green plastic film glasses. I even got a kiss from the boy at the end when Megamind and the girl are together *love it*. We even got pictures of us in our "gansta hats and glass" as it was put. We had fun, it was a great movie and if you haven't seen it the code go out and see the movie, you won't regret it.

Thanksgiving Story on Black Friday...

Last year was the first time I have ever gone out for actual shopping on "Black Friday" I must say I really don't see the hype for it, sure I got all my Christmas shopping done on that day but really I wouldn't say I had a good deal that it was worth my while. I must say it was fun just to go out and hang with my sister and friends, I will do it again but it will really be for the company. When I have my son I don't go out for shopping then, no offense but I would prefer to spend time with him. I must thank my family for picking up a few things for me and looking for others.

I got the joy of serving Thanksgiving dinner, a week before the holiday I had realized I didn't have anything bought yet. I got it all bought and was working on cleaning the house then. I know it's family but I need to be able to feel comfortable in my house if we will have everyone over, clean is the only way. It was not the cleanest but survivable.

The night before I was working on cleaning when I get the call from my sister, "Hey, you coming over to help tonight?", yes that's right I forgot about the race day packets and helping with the race. If I didn't have enough to do already, but we made it over to help after we got the boy's room cleaned. We worked on the packets got them done and had to head home and worked on cleaning more. My wonderful young son saw me getting more stressed and was willing to work on cleaning so I could prep food for the next day. He cleaned until 2 in the morning with me prepping food. I must tell you I was never more proud of him then him stepping up to help me out, I love these moments when I see what a wonderful young man he is becoming. I let him sleep in as long as he needed the next morning while I got the turkey and food cooking. I want to thank my sister for letting me get out of helping on race day (I promise next time I will be more prepared) so I could finish cooking and cleaning.

Usually my dad comes over and gets the turkey prepped and in the roaster the night before but he didn't come down this year. I woke up and was getting it ready. I remembered to wash it off and the the innards bag pulled out and the neck. While I was covering it in homemade rosemary butter I was looking at it and wondering first, which was the breast side and second where were the drumsticks because don't they normally stick out? I got all confused and didn't know what I was doing so I went to the back of the turkey. Oh wait there is the drumsticks tied up with a plastic thing. Yes, I realize I am not a cook by nature but come on I should have credit for taking the bag and neck out.

I am sure it is easier to remove the plastic from the turkey if it is not all buttered up and in a roaster but why would I make things easy on myself. The turkey was not done in time, when we pulled it out it was still not cooked all the way, I felt that I had ruined it all but they all made me feel better about it (yep I over react and still I wonder where the boy gets it from).

My family usually never eats my stuffing/dressing (call it what you will I call it stuffing) and H will usually eat it with me. This year just to please us two we decided we would upgrade Stove Top, we added in fresh onions, celery and dried cranberries. We did use half a package of bread chunks too, but my family gobbled up the whole pan! Who knew!

I appreciate my mom for bringing me a bottle of wine, it was wonderful.

Then we were watching tv going through ads and talking, we got all worked up because of an actor on the tv and who he was and what he was in. It was all good fun though. I couldn't have asked for a better day.

The boy will not be here for Christmas, he will be celebrating Chanukkah (harmonica according to the boy)with his father and step family. H said they say a prayer all the time and his dad says he does not need to say a prayer because he is Christian but that he should try anyway, I let him know that a prayer comes from your heart and it doesn't matter who you are praying to as long as it comes from your heart so he can pray with them to share their holiday.

State Capital Field Trip and Mean Mom Story...

One of the few things I get to do as a working mother is find the time to go on field trips with the boy and his class. This was one part of a two part trip that was taken about 3 months ago, I just have not had anytime to blog about it. The boy loves learning about history and politics but our non-religious side came out as we were pulling up to the state capital, "mom, that's the temple." It took the remainder of the time explaining to him the difference between a temple and a capital building.

Our first stop was to the knock off Liberty Bell, yes it has the crack and all. They allowed the children to touch and "ring" the bell, the ring is in quotes because they rang it by just hitting it with their hands, with close to 30 children it made some noise.

Then we made our way to the representative room, they took us to the upstairs and sat us in seats. The old woman who was our guide, bless her heart, wanted only questions about the room itself because she could answer those, but the kids were not interested in that at all they wanted to ask about the rules and laws. The actually thought this was the court itself but we finally got them to understand this is where they make the laws.

This room is much smaller than I expected, when you see it on the tv it does look so much larger.

Then there was the "gold" room, I really didn't get to hear much about this room because one little, young man decided to throw some attitude (ratatouille style) and got pulled out into the hall. We spent the remainder of the time fighting with each other.

But the view was great!

We got a class picture on the stairs, can you find H?

There he is with a mean smile because he and his mom were fighting.

I am just reminded of our parent-teacher conference though and H had to write a story about what has been bothering him, his was not of the weather or peer pressure or anything as interesting as that, no his was about his mean mother. What has been bothering him is I have taken away video games from him for a very long time because he has not earned them back yet, he has not liked this very much. So he said how this bothers him that I have grounded him but at the very end he let me know that he knows that I still love him even if he is grounded for it. What more could a mother ask?

It's already October... Eeks...

I can't believe it is already October, so much needs to be done this month. H is wanting to get the decorations out but me being a mom I want the house cleaned first. I am off to a good start got the living room cleaned, next up we tackle the kitchen.

Hopefully we get it all done and then the boy will be just as happy as mom.

No punch reward...

I always feel like I have to explain the whole punch comment to everyone because I don't want them to think I am like hitting the boy or not, they have a punch card at school we are treated like a demerit so the teacher will paper punch their sheet. My wonderful young boy finally go 0, which really is more of an accomplishment for me because I finally signed all of the 100 papers that are sent home for me to go through and sign then return (I don't think I have signed so much in the k - 3 as I have this first month in 4th).

Knowing that he wanted to go to the fair and honestly not going with my family I was really not wanting to go there this year without them, I gave the boy the option of going to Boondocks or to the fair. He excitedly wanted Boondocks.

We went to Costco and got discounted passes and made our way there (I know me at Costco on a Saturday, yikes, but I survived).

It started off really fun, he wanted to do miniature golf first. Of course he got all annoyed because I was beating him so then I had to pull the "oops guess some how I have lost my skills at playing mini golf just so my son is happy today" trick and quickly he started liking the game again.

He got to go to the smaller track to race, he wanted to do the bigger one but he is still about 8 inches too small. While standing in line there were two boys that were being very obnoxious and then they started to beat each other up, I had to step in to break them up because I guess their parents were no where to be found to stop them from fighting. When it was finally their turn to race H was with them, the reason why this story is significant is because H finally passed them after he got on stuck on the course and there was a small part of me that was really rooting him on.
We then went to the arcade, of course, it is like his favorite part of going to places like this is playing whatever he can. The problem with him being an only child and having me as a single parent is I don't necessarily just let him win, I just get to the point where I really don't care to win so I let him win frequently. This is bad, very bad. Why is it bad???? Well because when he does start to lose he gets extremely upset and frustrated and "the game totally cheats" attitude comes out. He was so upset that I almost made us leave at this point but I decided I wanted to drive one of the go carts first so I would give him the chance to chill out before then.

As we get in line for the go carts where I would drive he would ride, if did everything I could to get him to cheer up... guess what it worked. I was rather proud of myself because I don't normally succeed, picture below for proof.
We got to ride and I chicken out of letting step on the gas from the get go but I think we did pretty good of catching up to everyone and we even passed quite a few. He enjoyed every minute of it.


Last time we were at Boondocks my experience on the bumper boats was less than desirable, I was ready to scream at one kid and I actually think I did, but I had the boy convince me to get on this time. He was so ready to take me down.

He was so happy I got so wet, he tried to hide back his smile. I enjoyed it this time, even if I still got soaking wet from other punk kids, including my own this time.

But I think I did pretty good getting him wet too.

And don't forget prizes, he was so happy to get this inflatable hammer and yes it squeaks (oh joy for me)...

And of course the LARGEST smarties I have ever seen, the are like a quarter size around! Seriously freakishly large.

When all is said and done I am proud of my son, it is not easy being my kid but he does a pretty good job most of the time. I love him and am really glad we could spend the day together having so much fun.

Spiderman, spiderman...

I am a geek at heart, I am not good at remembering all the nitty gritty details when it comes to the geekhood but I like it none the less. I am quite proud to say that the boy is taking after me in the geekness and even better yet he does remember the details.

I have worked at my job for 10 years now, there are many new faces that I don't know names to but there are some old ones that I consider friends with. In my many hours at work sometimes to get through the day I find ways to amuse myself and hopefully others. One of those ways is at the end of some of my emails I put a note of "Thanks, from your friendly neighborhood AP girl". One of the guys I work with got a kick out of this and we have joked back and forth about this. He even sends me invoices to enter with some fancy artwork of the Spiderman symbol on it.

Well one day I had one of my girls bring me a package and inside was a Spiderman comic book, seriously made my day, I left it out for all to see and of course had to explain the inside joke. Well I did finally get around to telling my friend thanks for the comic, he said he was cleaning out some stuff at home and wanted to know if I wanted a few more. I gladly accepted to take these off his hands and brought them home to the boy. There are 8 in all, probably not worth anything but they are still great, the boy was so excited for them.

H made a thank you letter that I am to send out to him. It reads like below...

"Dear Mr. Q,

Thanks for the Spiderman comics I read the web of Spiderman spider-armor. I love Spiderman. Your the coolest. Too bad that I haven't met you in face.

Sincerely,

HIG"

He even drew a picture of Spiderman's face and on the back a picture of Venom's face with a screaming victim.

Fun Friday, okay so it's Monday...

This year in school they get to have Fun Friday's, as long as they don't have more than 4 punches (demerits) and they are caught up on their school work. This includes any number of things, last Friday they were supposed to walk to the CommonCents store to get Icees. Well not enough parents had volunteered to help out but it was also quite cold so Mrs. G ended up postponing it until Monday. I had planned on showing up on Friday but had completely forgotten so I made the effort to make sure I was there today because really come on this is totally cool in kid land.

I love to help out with his classes when I can, I don't get to do as much as I want because I have some serious deadlines at work but when I can make it work out I try as much as I can because when I show up to class for him H treats me completely different and even though I know he loves me I know he really shows it while I am there to help out. I am not sure if it is boasting that he has a parent to come in to help or what but it makes me a proud mother on one cute and adoring little boy when I am there.

When I showed up I was talking to the teacher and she had made mention that CommonsCents were not going to donate the Icees this year but she had gone in and begged them to reconsider, so an extra special thanks to Mrs. G and to CommonCents for making this happen especially with many companies making many cutbacks for such things. The kids LOVED this, they had so much fun.

The three boys in the middle are the terrible three as I call them now. Garrett, Hunter and Travis. Garrett has been friends with Hunter for years now, they have gone to the same day care and school since before kindergarten. Travis is a new friend of Hunter's who has just moved into our complex, he is a pretty good kid. Hunter makes friends so easy and many of them call him his best friend, but between Travis and Garrett I totally am sensing some strong competition for Hunter's attention, but he does a good job of mellowing them out in the end so it makes me proud of him.

Shopping with mom...

H for the most part is really good at shopping, there are a few things that happen that can get on my nerves though but as long as we are in a hurry we don't normally encounter problems like this.

First, avoid the toilet paper/paper towel aisles or you will need to check behind every one to find him.



Of course sometimes his "hiding" is not as good as he would like to think, but most parents know how that goes.




Second, avoid going towards the pillow sections, he will literally sit there until you go to find him and then he can't even get out by himself, you have to help him up.


And last but not least, avoid shoe shopping unless you want him wearing the booty socks the whole time, but really who can a void such a cute boy?

Remembering heroes and other things...

I know, how cliche but I remember talking to H about 9/11 a few months ago, this date is significant to America now and I usually don't hide things when it comes to my son, he asks and I may not explain all the gory or unfortunate details but he does get the truth.

9/11 happened in the same year he was born, he was just 8 months old and I was riding the bus on the way to work. On the back seat I had a walkman, not an iPod, and I was listening to my radio station I normally do on the way to work. I couldn't believe a word I was hearing, I cried the whole way, not much work got done in our office that day.

I have not been one that has wanted to have a family for a number of different reasons, listening to everything happening only reminded me why I didn't want to have children because it is hard for me to even think today on how we can live in a world with such tragedy, but I have learned to find the good in things, I struggle still with this but usually the best moments with my son help to remember what is right in the world.

There are many different heroes, some step up in the heat of the moment and others are heroes by choice. We just want to offer a wonderful thanks to any and all heroes but most importantly we want to make sure that any heroes that have fallen in duty your bravery is forever rewarded in our hearts.

Genius vs. dummy...

Okay, so the boy is old enough now that I give him chores.

Usually most of the chores are the ones that I had when I was younger growing up and hate to do even to this day. One of these chores is helping me to load the dishwasher, he is in charge of the silverware. No way he could screw this up and it was always the most tedious part of the dishes that I hated.

Now what urks me the most is I have done this for years and years but I never thought of what he has decided to do. When he puts the silverware in the dishwasher he sorts them out in the basket.

Why oh why have I never thought of this growing up and even in my adulthood? So a chore that took me 3 times as long as him now only takes him a matter of a minute at most to grab the clean silverware out of the basket and put them into the drawer. I tell you I don't know if I like my son being smarter than myself.

How fair is this that he has taken just moments to figure this out and I never have? I forget that he does this so when I have him do his chores before he can play and it takes such a short amount of time I just get more annoyed with myself.

Really...

The comment really is just for me, really has it been that long since I have blogged, I feel so bad.

School has started, my little one is now in 4th grade. He loves it, I don't know how we are going to pass because homework means serious business in this class. Wow, he has had so many punches (aka demerits) because we have not signed something or turned it in on time. I guess we will only learn as we go.

My favorite thing overheard at the first day of school after the teacher described Fun Friday's and what fun things they usually do "This is going to be the best year ever!", more power to you teach for getting them to say that.

My other favorite thing so far is a homework assignment that H had, a questionnaire about his name, it goes like this...

Why did your parents choose your name?
It was the only name they could agree on. (this is a very true statement)

If you were named after someone, who was it?
Isaac is my dad's Jewish name. (again true)

What nicknames do you have, and how did you get them?
Hunt from Garrett. (I have never heard him call this and part of the reason why I agreed to Hunter was because you couldn't shorten it)

Do you like your name? Why or why not?
Yes cause it's a good name. (glad he likes his name)

If you could choose another name, would you, and what would it be?
If I got tired of Hunter it would be Officer. (is this because you could choose it as a profession? I love the way his little mind works)

Adventurous Trip...

How does one's vacation start, of course we get to the airport with plenty of time only to find out that our plane was delayed. Well I have decided to try the online check in thing from Delta and had print out our boarding passes before we got to the airport, nice but still new to it so it kind of through me off. We get to the airport and we have bags we have to check, well because we were using the AMEX card we got to check our bags for free.

Well given that I don't know what to do at this point because we have our boarding passes and we have to check bags but Delta only has two options from what I could tell when we walked in, the desk side (and they guard that sucker tightly and you are seriously not allowed over there with out good reason or the Kiosks), I needed neither so I wait in a line in hopes to make it to the man there barking orders at other passengers. This man then started yelling at a couple that were going through the exit, they said all they needed to do was to check their baggage because they had their boarding pass, I was thinking score, I know where to go now, but I didn't dare just to go there without having his confirmation. When I finally got his attention he then looked at my passes and asked if I paid for my baggage, I looked at him confused and you could tell he was annoyed with me, he then asked again. I looked at him and said "I don't know what you mean by paid, it says the bags were free." He looked at the passes again and asked if I was able to show the counter my Skymiles number, I said yes and like he didn't believe me because he asked right back "are you sure?". I finally make it up to the counter and have my sky miles card ready for the counter, well the lady there didn't even want to look at it, so why was this man such a jerk? Whatever. We were told that our plane was delayed, which is fine, we are still making it there so it's all good. H pulls out his Nintendo DS and starts playing his games (first picture on top).

Finally after the plane and catching a bus we get on a train (much like the UTA Frontrunner) called the Coaster and make our way up to Carlsbad. The only thing that has got H off his DS is pictured to the left. He quickly put it away when I told him I spotted the ocean. The game was away for the rest of the ride. This picture does not do the ocean views we saw along the way any justice but it still is good.

We finally get off the train and we were going to walk to the hotel, it really didn't seem that far away on the map but I kind of freaked out and decided that we would call for a taxi and take that to the hotel.

That brings us to the stalking ant (not aunt) that H found. Yes, according to him it is Mr. Ant's wife (an ant he caught and tried to keep back home, he did so for about two months). I asked how he knew it was her and I was told he knows what the ant looks like. Sorry Mary lady bugs have nothing on ants.

If I make mention I am talking to Mary he makes sure I ask about the cat and dog so hopefully she is being a very good sub mom to them.

After finally making it to the hotel, H has decided that instead of sitting on it or sleeping it in he will jump in the bed. But really what mother could say "no" to a face like that? Even with all the problems we have been having H is looking at this as an adventure, I can only hope to improve on this.

I will try to blog later but who knows, I may get too involved and this may be my only blog about this trip, but a girl can only hope.

Hunter's Pizzaria, now open...

The return of the boy, yes he has returned only in time to make sure I have enough crumbs on my couch and floor to annoy me to death. Upon said return we were in his room (he was all to excited that I was able to hook up cable in his room on his tv). Well we found a box lid (?!, not sure why or what for) and on the box lid was something he wrote however we did not know what it said. I think he just randomly decided he made a sign for his Pizzaria. Well we find another lid (still not sure why and I am sorry to say yes sadly his room is that messy that two random box lids could be in his room and we don't know why) but this on was blank. I told him he could write on that one instead, I guess he now has a pizzeria that has EVERY pizza in the world. But I am sure you could get his all time favorite cheese (yes you have to order cheese even though a pizza comes with cheese or he will not be happy), mushrooms, pineapple and pepperoni (aka peppers, only to be pulled off and given to others because he really doesn't eat them and he can't just let them sit on his plate).

Upon his return he has decided to camp out on the floor instead of sleeping in his bed. He has also decided that EVERY doll he as will sleep with him and sleep on him.

Ah, the return of the boy, my life would not make sense with out him.

Top 10 Movies...

So while I have been waiting for *stupid* Comcast and *stupid* Tivo to try to work together *stupid* digital converting and it will wig out just the same, but whatever *stupid* Comcast.

Anyway, while I have been waiting I decided to come up with a list of my top 10 favorite movies, not necessarily of all time but what I could think of. An all time list would be considerably longer as well as it would take more time than I have to think to analyze the list. I order from least to the best...

10- Okay really I couldn't think of a the 10th one, but really having a top 9 list doesn't have the same ring to it.

9- As Good As It Gets - Loved this movie probably more than I should have, but I am sure that a major part was the company that was there when I got to see it.

8- Girls Just Want to Have Fun - Seriously fell in love with Sarah Jessica Parker in this movie and it had Helen Hunt. Great time, made me jealous and I wish I could dance but I live through movies and other people's lives.

7- Dreamworks How to Train a Dragon - I loved this movie, not sure what it was that made me like it so much but I am seriously glad me and the boy go to go and see it. It has become his passion, although short lived, for a while.

6- Lilo and Stitch - Really another good one, of course because it is based in Hawaii (even if cartoon), but I really liked the story line. Even though it was a sister and sister relationship I love letting H know that even that we are broken we are still good. And he loves to tell me where my madness level it, let's me know to bring it down a notch.

5- A Few Good Men - I don't really like military/army type movies and such but there is something about this movie I just love and don't mind seeing over and over. I remember when my brother was running for student body council and we made posters quoting this movie (bad words taken out).

4- Dark Knight - I know it was rather dark but really this was one of the best Batman movies (sorry it may be in my eyes only but I feel it) ever. I think what puts it in this list though is Heath Ledger's performance, I miss the guy and the Joker will never be the same if played by someone else.

3- The Hangover - Of course Bradley Cooper playing in it all hottie and GQed up that really helps but I laughed through the whole thing, great, great movie.

2- The Devil Wears Prada - I love Ann Hathaway, she is great. I really never in a million years thought I would like this movie. I even protested it for the longest time. It came on tv once and I decided what would that hurt? LOVED it, I have watched more times than one person should (really I should own a copy but no I don't) but it is a great movie.

1- Star Trek - This is probably the only other movie that I love more than The Devil Wears Prada. I was trying to pinpoint a favorite part in this movie but really I couldn't and just dubbed the whole movie my favorite. I can watch this again and again. Of course I don't because I would have to devote time to watch the whole movie just because it is so good I can't pause it or anything. Maybe with *stupid* Tivo and *stupid* Comcast being a pain in my side I should start watching all of my movies.

The Devil's Slide... (nothing bad just another memory)

We would drive all the time to Pennsylvania and Ohio to visit our grandparents, New Mexico sometimes. Even though we would drive straight through (me usually topless in the very back with no seats and yes I was young enough to be topless still), our only stops were for gas, restroom and if we were lucky enough to eat at a restaurant it only meant that my dad was too tired and needed to sleep so we would get to go in and eat while he slept in the car.

I remember first learning about the Devil's Slide in Weber Canyon from my dad. He had decided to pull off and look at the slide from the viewing area (honestly I don't remember the other kids being there so this may have been just us but I think we all were there because I seem to recall my mom being there too). I googled this landmark and there is not much on it really but the story he told stuck with me because I remember trying to call him out on his bluff. He told me that the devil slides down on it every February 30th.

I remember thinking about it and then looking at him telling him that there were only 28 days in February. I don't think he realized that I was the smart one in the family *wink, wink, nod, nod* so then his reply back was, exactly, that's because he is the devil.

Late night memories...

So one of my first memories of staying up late is when I was sick and I got to go downstairs and watch tv with my mom and dad when I was a young child. I remember that being one of the coolest things ever because I got to be alone with my parents and I got to watch their tv shows.

I remember that they were watching of the many "Nightmare on Elm Street" movies and I feel in love with them. I don't remember being scared of them and I know my love for all things scary grew from there.

I think horror movies are great, most of them have no effect on me really. Every once in a while I do have one that spooks me just enough that I have this feeling in the pit of my stomach but it has never stopped me from watching them. Usually it is the more real ones that get me (sorry you are running as fast as you can from a guy who is walking with a limp, not real, your going to out run them), one in particular that I always recall as actually scaring me is "When a Stranger Calls Back".

I would hope that my son would share in my obsession, but alas he has fallen into the others category who get too scared so you can't watch them (sorry more choose not to watch them). But I can only hope it is a phase and he will out grow that and join in watching them with me later in life. If I want to see them now I have to wait up late and watch while he is sleeping.

The picture is of my leg and the boy and us staying up late at our new house. We are in the bean bag (kind of miss that gigantic thing I should clean up and pull it out of storage). I miss those pajama pants they are what I was wearing when I went into labor with H. They recently had to retire because they just fell apart. Good times growing up.

Team Jasper (and Alice) and outlook on love...

I am fairly sure I have talked about this before but instead of me finding the previous post I will just write a new one. Why is it there are really only two teams to choose from in the whole Twilight saga. Really book Edward beats book Jacob, but that is paper. Movie Jacob beats movie Edward (sorry mom and Mary, besides I wouldn't want my mom to attack him if by chance he were to come across). But really my heart belongs to Jasper. There is just something warm and wonderful about him (book and movie) that I adore.

I went to Eclipse, I think this one is my favorite out of the three and a lot of that comes from more screen time and story line for Jasper and Alice. They are my favorites, even though I dreaded the midnight showing with some of the crazies (hated the no air situation) it was great to be with friends and my sister. I started to feel weird that we were the only ones that were not taking pictures of each other just sitting in the seats (no they were not even dressed up or anything) so we pulled out our cell phones to try to fit in better. Below is me and my sister (I look like I am going to fall asleep but I was awake for the whole movie).

Given that I don't believe in much when it comes to love anymore, too many things have happened in my life that has tainted it. I won't lie, it is lonely at times but I have way too much at stake anymore and the relationships that I have had that involved H has just become too much. He is way to precious and I will not put him through it all again unless it is it and it will take some time to get there... Anyway back to my original rambling. As for love, the whole Edward and Bella romance is too much (maybe I think this because I have not found the love of my life), I find lots of aspects of the two of them a little overboard and I don't think love is like that. I find the Jasper and Alice love a little more believable, theirs compliments each other that I find a little more relatable there fore I find it more appealing which I do think is why I like them more. Alice is the type of girl I would like to be, but I know I am so far away from but she is very peppy and cute and likable.

To all the guys out there... hopefully I find a love closer to theirs in the future, I don't hold out any hope that I will fall in love again but know I am not closed off just I am done being the one to search and do the work. I am a strong and independent woman who has been doing things by myself for a rather long time so don't expect me to call you for every little thing. Now if you call me asking for help I probably will accept it, not willingly. Also just know, it will be a very long time for H to be a part of your life, he is by far the most important person in my life so he will be protected. He has been hurt by others so now I am tainted but if you really want to be in my life I am sure I (and H) will be worth it, you just need to put yourself in our shoes and know where we are coming from.

Seattle memories...

I wish my memory was better about when we took this trip but I am fairly certain he was 4. One of my favorite memories about growing up was a trip we took to Seattle. Of course this trip was really for a job interview for my dad but he took the whole family up. We actually got to stay in a hotel, truly rare considering my dad didn't fork for a hotel on the way to Pennsylvania (if we couldn't make it there with in 48 hours we weren't going on vacation there). We did get to go to the Space Needle and most importantly we got rent a VCR and watch E.T.. I know not a big deal to most but hey in a family with 5 kids doing this kind of stuff was seriously the best.

Because of these great memories I remember loving Seattle and wanting to share the experience with H. We went to their zoo and can I just say Hogle Zoo does not even compare to any zoo I have been to outside of the state, I actually cringe to go there and see them caged up and only wish that they will work on making it a better experience. I should go back because I know they have made some improvements but really I know they are nothing like anything I have seen so far.

H LOVED the Space Needle. We walked there from our hotel, it was quite a long walk but I remember having to explain to him why there were people sleeping on the street. I forget how sheltered we are and more importantly how much my little boy will need to grow up to know these things. We hit the Children's museum and there was a little carnival thing next door and everything.

Well at the zoo they had a bird exhibit, this is another one of my favorite pictures. He loved having the birds fly up to him. It was great. I hope to take him back again.

San Diego Zoo...

I am terrible at remembering dates of things, I believe we went to San Diego in 2007, but off hand I don't recall. We did end up going with my sister and the zoo was one of our stops. I have gained a lot of weight over the past few years, I need to reminisce more so I can remember why I am trying to lose it, other than to be healthy and for my son.

The boy has a very hard time just allowing a natural picture, if he knows a camera is on him he hams it up for you. But he is still cute none the less. I like to have pictures of us together. It doesn't happen that often but it I love it when they do.

The boy actually took the picture up above, it is of me and my sister outside of the zoo. We LOVED San Diego, we will be going to Legoland this year. I am hoping to lounge at the beach for the majority of the time but we will see.

Slug bug...

Ah yes, the good old days where you would punch your siblings until they were black and blue, now a days you politely tap them so they just know you could have done more than that. A few years back I was trying to teach H the game, well at the time there were not a large number of real "slug bugs" out there, it was hard to find the beetle bugs for me to teach him the game, then for unknown reasons the boy couldn't differentiate between the beetle and a PT Cruiser (really I have no idea why but thought it was cute), so to help with this I allowed the Cruiser to be part of the game. Well it only grew from there, then he wanted convertibles and motorcycles and even more recently he wanted Mini Coopers. On one of our walks with the dog we came across an auto body repair shop and there was what is being called an "old school" Mini Cooper, I guess it kind of looks like one right?

Cleaning day...

So before my wonderful, young man left for his dad's for the better part of the summer I forced him to help me clean. Of course he struggled with me but I finally won out int he end, I had to hold the video games out until he agreed to help. I took this picture while he was helping me and I love that it shows how overly dramatic he is and it shows the pain and agony I put him through while cleaning. I love the Rambo look too, it was a ribbon he had found while cleaning so he tied it around his head. The picture shows him carrying the money jar which is rather heavy but the picture is just too cute.

After we took the picture we were laughing so hard we forgot to keep cleaning, but the thought of cleaning was there at the beginning for a few moments. Oh well, we tried.

Catapulting Indiana Jones...

H loves Indiana Jones, he has a shirt that looks like IJ's, a hat, a whip, a gun and a "man" bag. His grandma gave him this get up for Christmas one year. He can't stand that he doesn't have IJ pants and I have to convince him he can wear any pants. He loves to run around wearing it. Before he left for his dad's he dressed up for a whole weekend. It was rather cute going to the store while he had his hat on and his bag. I didn't get a picture of him dressed up all the way but after our Lowe's class for building his catapult.

He was oh so excited to build a catapult, he said it would make him be a real viking. During this class it was more successful than the Mother's Day Trellis that we tried to complete. The whole time we made it he asked if he could catapult an egg. I finally agreed, it was not very successful, then we tried to give it some height, he finally just decided to catapult it with his hand and it finally cracked. But it was lots of fun none the less.