Two Weeks Late

Tonight, I finally got Jonathon all ready to start school. I wanted him to have new shoes, some new clothes, school supplies, a new haircut, new glasses, and of course a father's blessing before school started two weeks ago. The shoes, clothes, and school supplies were ready for the first day of school. The father's blessing was done the following weekend. He got a new haircut a week later. The glasses were last on the list.

Jonathon had an eye doctor appointment today after school. We got there at 4:30, picked out frames, and were leaving by 5:15. Not bad. The secretary said they would do the glasses "in house" and would be done much sooner than sending them out. She felt bad for him with his broken glasses (the temple piece was missing) and wanted them done as soon as possible. She said they would probably be done this weekend. Jose (who made them) called me at 6:55 and said they were done already! Luckily, today they are open late, so we went and picked them up. I told Jose that he's my hero. Apparently he hears that a lot.

The Taco in the Sky

I made half of a peanut butter sandwich for Eliza and cut it into a half-circle (she doesn't like the crust).

I held it up, then asked her, "If this were in the sky, what would it be?"

She promptly replied, "A taco!"

In her defense, it DID look like a taco! And according to Eliza, if it were night it would still be a taco.

Future Mets Fan

The Biggest Helper

If you were to ask me who is the biggest helper, Jonathon or Christian, I wouldn't know which one to say. They both have their moments. Jonathon, right now, is holding Katie. He loves to hold her. But then, so does Christian. Whenever Katie cries, usually Jonathon gets her, but sometimes Christian does. Whenever I need help cleaning the house, if Christian is motivated, he'll clean the whole kitchen by himself. He's even cleaned multiple rooms without me asking. Jonathon will do what I ask him without complaining. I think he's trying to have a cheerful attitude. So I guess I have two biggest helpers!

Club Empty-bed

Well, I have unofficially joined all of the wives out there that are part-time single moms. Yes, I'm talking about women whose husbands travel. Michael called me today to give me the "good" news. Next week, he'll be gone for just one day to California. Then in another few weeks, he'll be going to Germany for a week. Then he'll be gone to Germany or the Netherlands for about a week every month for the next year or so.

Mom, would you like to move in? I promise I won't make you cook or do laundry or change any diapers. You can even have my bed while Michael's gone. I wouldn't even mind the neck ache from sleeping on the couch.

Christian's Vocal Chords

Christian and I (plus Timmy and Katie) just got back from the Ear, Nose and Throat doctor. I think the hardest part for Christian was getting cotton put in his nose. It had stuff on it to numb his nose and throat (he was NOT happy when he learned he'd have to wait two hours to have lunch). That had to sit for 5 to 10 minutes. Then the doc put a small tube in his nose and looked at his vocal cords while Christian took several deep breaths. The doctor let me look and showed me how in the middle of a deep breath (just before exhaling), his vocal cords totally closed up. They should stay open. Next we have to go to a "breathing coach". Basically, he has to learn how to breathe using his diaphragm. So continues the saga...

Ahhh, Memories...

Lately I've been thinking about last summer when we had a family reunion in California. We went there first and foremost to see my paternal grandparents. My grandpa was not doing well health-wise and we didn't want to wait any longer to go and see them. We left on August 23 and flew into San Jose. We spent the evening with my aunt and her children and grandchildren at my aunt's house. The next day, we drove down to Monterey and stayed in cottages. One of the nice things about that was we had two bedrooms and an eat-in kitchen. We stayed there for a few days and got to see Grandma and Grandpa several times. We had our "big" family reunion at "Wild Things" and got to see a bunch of animals that are trained to be in movies and commercials. Then we had lunch in their picnic area and took a bunch of pictures. The next morning we went out to breakfast (a long standing tradition whenever we see them).
One of the highlights of our trip was driving down to Los Angeles and going to Disneyland. We stayed in a Hilton with suites. Even though we had a kitchen, we mostly ate breakfast at their complimentary breakfast and their (Mon-Thu) complimentary dinner. One morning, we went to Disneyland and did one of the character breakfasts. It was so worth it! The characters that we got to see were: Minnie Mouse, Winnie the Pooh, Eeyore, Captain Hook, the Fairy Godmother, Gepetto, Chip and Dale. We had a wonderful time! The food was pretty good and we have it on good authority (because she told my niece, Ashleigh) that Minnie made the Mickey-shaped waffles.

We tried to go on most of the rides, but there were just so many, it was hard to go on them all! The kids were fascinated on "It's a Small World" and loved Buzz Lightyear. We went on a large pirate ship, too. We got to see the parade twice and went to a really funny hillbilly show.

Timmy on the carousel

Michael & Eliza on a spaceship ride in Tomorrowland
My brother Chris, Nathaniel, Jonathon, Christian, Eliza, & Timmy on the Mad Hatter ride

Eliza in "It's a Small World"
The parade that goes down Main Street

Christian, Jonathon, & David watching the show
Eliza, Timmy, Mandy, & Nathaniel on the pirate ship

We went to Disney's California Adventure on the last day (August 31). At California Adventure, there was a talking trash can that was on wheels and followed the kids around and talked to them. It asked them their names and answered questions. It was so funny to see the kids' reactions! The three oldest boys went on their first really big roller coaster. Several times. We stayed until the very end of the day and got to see the Electric Lights Show.

Both of these were taken at Disney's California Adventure

On September 1, we drove back up to Grandma's and Grandpa's and saw them one last time. We stopped at the coast a couple of times and got to enjoy the Pacific Ocean a little. We stayed in a hotel in the area and the next day went to church. Then we drove up to San Jose to catch our flight home.