Blogging in General

So as you can tell from my last post below, I wrote it in word and then cut and pasted it into the blog box. So there is some crazy carriage returns. Sorry I didn't check it before I posted it. I'm still having a heck of a time with getting the pictures where I want them and in the order I want them. Like below the first photo should really be the last one.


I've also noticed I say "So" a lot in my posts. What's up with that? I actually use to be a good writer. I'm just way out of practice I guess. Maybe if I blogged more, it would take care of it's self. But I'm sitting here almost falling asleep and I still want to upload my Jan & Feb pictures to Snapfish. But I think that's going to have to wait until another day. Not that there are that many pictures - Brianna being silly, the kids on the carousel at the mall on a rainy day, and the Sharks game.


Here are the pictures I promised of Greg's ankle. I didn't get any good ones of his stiches. But you get to see his book and the two small scars he now has on his ankle. His physical therapy is going great and he can now walk around the house without the boot, but still has to wear it anytime he's away from home.

OK, I'm going to sleep now. Talk at you later.

Liam's First Sharks Game

I finally did it. After years of debating when the right time would be,
I took Liam to a hockey game. I had gotten Greg three tickets to the
Sharks vs. the Thrashers for his birthday. I know, I know. It was as
much a gift for me as for him. But he's really hard to buy for and
likes events more than stuff.

Anyway, the game started at 1:00, so I wanted to be there no later than
12:30. We got up and got ready - All three of us in our Sharks jerseys
(Greg and Liam had gotten new jerseys for Christmas). We dropped
Brianna off with Grandma and Poppi and then headed to the game. It's an
hours drive and Liam did the typical are we there yet, when are we going
to be there, why is this taking so long. I decided to spend more and
park near the arena just in case Liam fell asleep and we'd have to carry
him. Greg is still in a 'boot' from his ankle surgery and while he can
get around, I didn't want him to have to carry Liam a long distance in a
crush of humanity. Turns out Liam was wide awake and didn't fall asleep
until we were half way to Marina.

We get inside, do a potty run, and find our seats. Liam is still
pinging with excitement. I actually felt sick to my stomach on the ride
up because I was so excited for him. Would he like the game? Would he
get bored one period in? Would I be able to enjoy the game?

He LOVED it. He's head was on a constant swivel taking everything in.
He couldn't wait to get the cotton candy we promised him. He loved the
lights. He was mesmerized by the shark head coming down onto the ice
(they keep it covered in a huge black cloth until right before the
players skate through it onto the ice). He just kept saying, "Look at
that. What's that?"

And then SJ Sharkie (the mascot, in case you couldn't figure it out)
came rappelling down from the rafters and Liam was hooked. He was
hooked before the game even started. It was one of those moments where
you're just so proud and your heart is screaming, "Yeah, that's my son!"
He loved when the players skated through the shark head with the glowing
red eyes. "See that? See that?"

So the game started. Liam enjoyed clapping along to the music and the
folks around us enjoyed him. No goals were scored during the first and
second periods, but there was a good fight. Which after I cheered it on
and felt kind of bad about it, I explained to Liam that fighting is only
ok in hockey and boxing. Greg just gave me one of his looks, like "Yeah
right, he's going to buy that after you just cheered on the guys
pummeling each other."

I can't remember what period it was but the cotton candy man was walking
up the stairs near us (we were in the middle of a row, down in the lower
bowl - section 109 for those of you in the know). Liam saw him and we
explained that he needed to raise his hand to get the guys attention.
He totally reminded me of that character from Welcome Back Kotter. He
was practically jumping out of his seat. The folks around us smiled. I
smiled. The cotton candy guy threw the bag at Liam. Greg passed his
money down the line. Liam was happy. We all were happy. The Sharks
hadn't scored yet.

We also had to keep telling Liam that he could be as loud as he wanted.
I had to keep screaming during the make some noise parts of the game
just to show him that it was okay to be loud inside. The Sharks went on
a power play. We showed Liam how to chomp. He did small little chomps
(not the big chomps he does at home), but I believe the first power play
he was still eating cotton candy. The Sharks scored the first goal. We
jumped up and cheered. Liam was looking up at us. We got him up out of
his seat. He couldn't see over all the adults around him. I offered to
pick him up. Greg offered to pick him up. He was happy to sit there
and watch all these adults acting crazy.

About half way through the third period I saw where the camera man was
and I started to get Liam to dance in his seat during stoppages in play
whenever the camera man was pointed our way. Then two rows in front of
us a man put his small child (1 yr?) standing on his lap and dancing
around. The camera man caught it. I looked up at the jumbotron. There
was Liam over the right shoulder of the kid dancing away and not knowing
why Mommy and Daddy were so excited. By the time we got him to look at
the jumbotron the image was gone and replaced by the players in the face
off circle. I was super excited. Greg made some crazy comment about me
painting our faces for the next game.

After the game was over, we headed down to the Sharks store. There was
a huge line. Liam waited patiently. He just had to get something for
himself and his sister (he's so thoughtful). He got her a little plush
SJ Sharkie. He got himself a small goalie stick and a rubber bracelet
(a boy's bracelet). He hasn't taken off the bracelet as of 6:30 this
morning. I remained strong and didn't buy anything for myself.

The Sharks won the game easily, but more importantly they won over
another fan. I can't wait for our next game in March. And maybe next
year we'll introduce Brianna to the Shark Tank.

Valentine's Day

So Greg and I sat down a few weeks ago and planned out our year, sort of. We decided that this was the year we'll turn the garage into a playroom/exercise room. The first step of this project was to empty the garage and take everything we didn't want/need to Goodwill. It took three or four trips with Greg's truck full to get rid of the stuff we realized we just weren't going to use anymore. Then everything we wanted to keep got put into a POD. If you don't know PODs, it's a 12 ft. storage container that they drop off in your driveway. You can either keep it or have them haul it to a storage facility. We're keeping it in the driveway, which means we can only fit one car in the driveway right now - not that you really care about that part.

Then the next step is to have cabinets installed to hold all the stuff we're keeping. I thought ahead and actually measured everything that wasn't of a standard size to fit on a regular shelf. We're going to put rubberized (and green - meaning recycled) flooring in the garage - like what they have on the floor of the Biggest Loser gym (Is it bad that I love to watch that show with a big glass of milk and M&Ms?).

For those of you in the Mid-West, most Californians don't use their garages for cars - at least not in this part of the state. We don't really get weather and we don't have basements, so the garage turns into the storage center of the house.

I'm very excited about having a cabinet to store all our purchases from Costco.

So all this info is just background for the point of this story. I was reading Cousin Ginny's post on Valentine's Day and it made me happy. I too have never been a fan of this holiday. So when I set up the POD delivery for a holiday weekend to give us enough time to get the garage cleaned out, I had no idea it was Valentine's Day. So Greg and I had the most romantic time going through all our junk and then being sore and achy that night, not to mention covered in dirt and cobwebs. I did, however, get to take a really nice bath which is a rare treat (of course my back was spasming, so I didn't really have a choice).

I hope you all had a productive Valentine's Day.

Out of the mouths of babes

Another real conversation with Liam in the car on the way home.

Liam, “Did you know who made this city?”
Me, “Who?”
Liam, “Heaven made our city and he made you and me and everyone.”
Me, “wow”
Liam, “Yeah and it was really hard and when he was done he was tired, so he took a little rest. And did you know that his best friend is Santa?”
Me, “That’s cool. I really like Santa.”
Liam, “Yeah. Mommy did you know Heaven’s short name?”
Me, “No, what’s Heaven nickname?”
Liam, “I like to call him Heav for short.”

At this point it takes all my concentration to make the left hand turn I’m in the process of while trying to stifle a laugh.

When I gain my composure, “Cool, dude.”
Liam, “yeah, Heav lives in the sky.”
Me, “uh huh.”

And that was the end of that conversation.

Oh and his new favorite saying that he got from Mrs. Hord is “Easy Peasy”. As in “That page was easy peasy mommy. Do I have to do another page of homework or can I take a chocolate milk break?” We have been lucky this week because the alpha friend is Leo the Lion – L. Since his name starts with L he already knows it, so all the English homework was easy peasy this week. He’s always really good with the math homework, so I finally got a week where I didn’t have to struggle with him to do his homework. I still think it’s crazy that Kindergarteners have homework though.

Oh and Brianna is going to be ahead of the game because she loves to watch Liam do his homework and is already really good at the letter sounds. More on her antics later.