Double Digits

I can't believe this guy is 10 years old already! Every birthday brings back the fond memories of H's birth. The labor and delivery were a breeze compared to the other two. I'll never forget the first words out of the nurse's mouth, "He has a full head of hair and a dimple". Ah yes, we were in love!

H brings much fun and laughter to our home. He is a joyful boy, carefree, and quick to forgive.

As of late, H has been the one who can get Crew calmed down at bedtime. Often I am too exhausted (and there is still so much to do by nightfall) that I am unable to spend the time getting Crew to sleep. H will take Crew into the bedroom and go through a nighttime ritual where they talk to Mickey Mouse and wrestle before laying down to sleep. I don't know how he does it but its working for him.


All H really wanted this year was to have a sleepover with his 3 best friends. These 4 boys play together all the time so it is really no big deal to have them over. They watched "Twilight" and "Bedtime Stories", jumped on the tramp and had cake and icecream. I love low key parties, yes I do!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HAMMER!

Goodbye July

Once again, another one of my favorite summer months has come to an end. My lack of blogging truly is an indication of how busy summers can be. What happened to the carefree days of summer anyway?

The boys and I have enjoyed the pool several times, a Bee's game, 3 baseball games a week, fireworks, a race or two and lots of Popsicles.

We've seen a change in Crew this past month. His moods are all over the place... giggling from deep within one minute and a full blown tantrum the next. That boy is one passionate kid! I see an adorable boy who only wants one thing... to DO and BE what the other boys are. Like I've said before it takes the whole family and then some to be his legs and arms, his voice. We are all exhausted by noon day and then there are still so many hours to go...

The nights are out of control. He is up 4 or 5 times a night now climbing out of his bed and fumbling around in the dark. He screams and cries and then we go through the whole calming routine to get him to sleep again only to have him wake up as I gently "try" to sneak back to my room. I can get by with 6 hours of sleep but 4 or 5 is really pushing it.

With his passion comes a drive that we haven't seen before. Crew is trying to get up (vertical) all the time now. I can proudly say that Crew officially learned to "pull to stand" this month. He has done it multiple times. The first time it happened I was making dinner. He was in one of his bad moods and I was doing my best to ignore him. Finally, I turned around and there he was standing up!!! One hand was gripped tightly to the arm rest, the rest of his body in flex mode and he was screaming! Startled, I said something like, "Oh, Crew look at you standing up, Look how big you are" as I quickly rushed to his aid. Instantly he started to giggle and then he beamed, so proud!

What will August bring?

H2O FUN

Lucky for me, all 3 boys LOVE the water! It didn't start this way though. I remember when S was 5 years old. I had him signed up for a beginners swim class and I was in a Parent/tot class with H. After the first 2 days I was really frustrated because the teachers weren't able to coax S into the water. I pulled the teacher aside and told her that when I signed him up I specifically asked which class would be appropriate for a child that is scared of the water and this is where they wanted him. If I recall correctly, I politely stated that either they get him in the water that day (which was the 3rd day of class) or I wanted my money back. Needless to say he came home wet that day. On the way home we stopped at Kmart to look at bikes. I bribed S to complete the class willingly and in return I would buy him a bicycle. LOL. Can you believe I was so desperate!!! Good times. Last summer I noticed a special needs kiddo taking lessons with this guy. I asked the manager (my neighbor) about it and she said he had done that for several years. "Would he take Crew?", I asked, "Oh, and how much?". I thought it would be really expensive to have a private lesson but she said he just likes doing it and they would only charge me the same as a group lesson. Wow! We got him signed up this year and he loved every minute of it. It's such great exercise for Crew, he has fun and then takes a NAP. Couldn't get any better than that!
Here is the boy that once wouldn't get near the water. This is his first time taking the diving class. The teacher said he's never had a kid progress so fast. The first day S had never really dived before and by the end of the class he was so close to completing a 150 front flip. The guards were really excited about it!

3rd day of class... perfecting the dive.

H had a fun time this year too! Like Crew, H has never feared water. Swimming lessons are great in that each kid can progress at their own rate, its really low key and tons of fun. It looks like H is starting to favor those individual sports and that's okay with me:)

Lovin' these LONG summer days!

Newton Dam

My brother was in from Texas for his MIL's funeral. I didn't get to spend a lot of time with him due to the circumstances but we did have a few hours at the reservoir.

My cute Texan nephew, Jack. Isn't he adorable!


Another cute nephew! Aren't 3 year olds fun???



Grandma with my littlest niece.




Niece, Celie, also from TX. She is just a couple months younger than Crew.

Crew, blowing kisses! He loved the wave runners. Loved it, loved it, loved it!

Grandpa, just a week after knee surgery. Crazy guy!

Beautiful, youngest sister Dar!

H, looking so grown up! He sure knows how to have fun and loves playing with all those cousins. We missed S this week as he was away at scout camp for 6 days!!! He had a good time and earned 5 merit badges.

Summer is going by way to fast!

In my Garden (June 2009)

This month has been filled with a lot of cloudy skies and RAIN! The sunny days have been far and few between which has been a little disappointing for me. I live for this time of year! Fortunately, the rain has produced some beauties for us to enjoy. Long live the summer;)

If you're interested

Since I started running more I realized that the one thing I like ALMOST as much as running is talking about it or reading about others experiences. This can be particularly annoying to a lot of people. Consequently, I've decided I'm going to keep the content of this blog "Mels Thoughts", geared more towards the happenings of our little family.

If you so desire to follow my running journey you will want to bookmark this link:

Comments are always welcome!

AIR SHOW

I'm a little slow getting this post up... We were lucky enough to enjoy the HAFB Air Show the day before it was available to the public. Crew's school was invited for disability day. We met at the local high school where we were to board the buses and ride onto base. However, because of his wheelchair they let us drive onto the base and right up to the flight line (we were accompanied by a very nice military guy). What a blessing it was to have our vehicle with us! Crew was TERRIFIED right from the start. Even with the ear plugs, hands over his ears and a blanket over his head he was still quite hysterical for at least an hour. We were able to sit in the van and calm him down. It rained off and on and so once again having our van with us was a huge benefit.
The rest of us thoroughly enjoyed the show. We haven't taken S since he was ONE which means H has never been to an air show before.

Funny thing is we had a miscommunication about the starting time. We arrived 4 hours early. Doh. We used Carl's base pass to kill time at the batting cages and some racquetball too. Oh man, was a I sore afterward!

Seize the Day

The neighbor boy brought over this awesome sprinkler! Come to find out, they are Super hard to find and because of supply and demand they run about $250 on ebay. Go figure!

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY