Basketball Game

Finally we had a moment to take some pictures of Travis playing basketball. Grandpa brought his camera, but since we are still figuring out all the bells and whistles the pictures are a bit blurry. I think I have figured out the problem so that the next time the pictures will be better. For now, enjoy!

Travis actually made a basket on this one!

Travis is very good at guarding too.

Today Travis scored two baskets. He loves playing all sports and is actually pretty good at all of them. I don't want to jinx myself, but the last three games Connor has actually sat right by me. No more running up and down bleachers and being chased onto the court! I have found that a couple of books, a Leapster, and a few snacks are enough to keep him tame. It also helps when the grandparents come along too, extra hands always help! Only three games are left, then we have a break until soccer in January. That's one thing about having boys, sports keep you pretty busy year round!

Change of plans

I have not had the camera out this week, I have been too busy getting my last two classes figured out. My original plan was to take two online courses this semester and then graduate in December. Well, the graduating part stays the same (thank goodness!) but the two on line courses had to change. I am still doing one class online, thankfully that class was set up exactly as I had thought. However, the other class was completely different. The in person version of this class is done in 8 weeks, but the online version was 16 weeks. I figured it would be fine that I would have twice the time to complete the work since it would be spread out over a longer period of time. Well, Monday evening I logged on and sat at my computer in total shock. In addition to being completely exhausted from my day at work this was all I saw, "Must check in online every day or at least every other day to watch for updates..... all work will be done with your online group... you will be graded entirely as a group.... only 2 things are graded individually.... you must be engaged in the class for the duration of the course, all 16 weeks.... no assignments can be turned in more than 1 day early.... you get the picture. What? All group work? Online? I can't turn in things early?? I was starting to panic. Plus, this class was a pilot for a new online format. Thus, I was spending a lot of time looking around trying to figure the system out. I was having trouble finding things on there. I spent over an hour just in awe of all the smiley faces bouncing around the screen. (She even had a link on there for proper use of emoticons...) It was as if a PowerPoint presentation was running around on my computer. My head was spinning and I had this sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. To say I was feeling overwhelmed is an understatement! I figured I would just go to bed and look at it again in the morning. Before heading off to bed I did check into the in person class and I found out it was going to be on Wed nights with a nice teacher I had heard about from other classmates. (The reason I didn't take her class to begin with was because I wanted to be home in the evenings. I have missed so much in the last two years by being gone one evening a week!) I decided that was my back up plan as I went to sleep Monday night. Tuesday morning I went on line again and thought to myself, "I CAN do this!" That afternoon I was at school and I had a moment to check my email. I had a friend request from facebook as well as a message from an unfamiliar name. I investigated a bit more and realized it was somebody from my online class. I remembered the name because this individual had already disclosed in his introduction that he was autistic and spoke at national conventions around the country. Great. (I have nothing against autistic people. I have taught many and they are some of my favorite people ever. I just knew from the minute I saw his intro that he was going to be in my class and sure enough...) I realized that the teacher had formed our groups that morning so he was "johnny on the spot" by getting our group together. It seems we had an assignment due on Friday already. My heart started beating a little faster and I got that feeling in the pit of my stomach again. I closed it up and went along with my day. After school I got the boys home and we were doing our thing. At 5:30 I had to take Travis to a church class and there was a parent meeting during that time as well. Daryle stayed home with Connor. When I got home (after 7 pm) I noticed there was a message on my phone. Daryle said he didn't recognize the number or name so he didn't answer it. Yep. You guessed it. It was the guy from my class. Get this, I never even gave him my phone number!! I told Daryle about the facebook contact and now this. That was when real panic started to take over and I started to freak out. He didn't call just once.... he called, hung up, called one minute later and left a rather lengthy message and then an hour and a half later he called a THIRD time!! AAGHHHH!! I was already having high anxiety about this class and now THIS??? I was putting Connor to bed and Daryle was putting Travis to bed so once again we didn't answer the phone the third time around. I told Daryle I felt like I was being stalked. I said it sort of jokingly, but sort of not. I decided in the morning I would email the teacher and tell her I was going to check out the Wed. evening class. So, Wednesday morning I got online to email her. Well, it seems this student decided to send me an email on my NAU account. He was "very worried because it was Tuesday evening and our first assignment was due on Friday." That was when I about lost it. In less than 24 hours this guy had found 3 different ways to track me down! I emailed my teacher about possibly switching classes and I told her about what was going on with this student. She is an awesome teacher because by the end of the day she had met with her department chair, they got in touch with this person's advisor and I had an apology from him on Thursday afternoon. I was told they did not disclose my name to him and I know for a fact that I was not the only student who he contacted that day. I am sure he probably can figure it out though. He seems pretty intelligent. It was humorous though how he said he figured his group members who weren't responding might be "deadbeats, or lazy"... I had to laugh! Poor guy, he doesn't have a family to take care of nor does he have a full time job. I would never think of myself as a deadbeat or lazy! Anyway, that took up my entire week's worth of energy. Now I am in the Wed night class, the teacher seems great (she is from Bulgaria...sort of like a Russian accent. We already discussed the beauty of Russia since she has lived there before. I like her a lot!), all group work will be done in class and the best part is that I will be done in 8 weeks (well now 7!) and then I can just finish up the other online class. It's a good thing this was a three day weekend because boy did I need it! ;-) I am finally breathing normally again and that feeling in the pit of my stomach is finally gone!

Passing the Time

This week I had to take Travis in for his first ever Orthodontist appointment. I just don't know why they made us go. Just look at this smile! Can you figure it out? Gee, neither can we!! LOL
Hahaha! Anyway, we did go because Travis has a gap in his front teeth and his two other top teeth have been MIA for over a year. The good news is that since January the gap has closed a considerable amount and for his age it is ok that those teeth haven't appeared yet. We go back in 3 months to see if anything has changed. I am praying we will see some teeth and will be able to cancel the appointment. Wishful thinking I am sure.

Here is what Connor was up to while Grammy and Grandpa came to babysit this past Friday. It appears they were building skyscrapers on the coffee table. Our babysitter was out of town so it was "Bappas" to the rescue! Connor calls my parents "Bappas".... he knows they are Grammy and Grandpa but this is his shortened version of what he calls them. It is so cute. Connor's language continues to explode each and every day. Just last night in the car this is what he told Travis. "Shush up! Knock it off! Enough!" We had to control our laughter. First of all, Travis has found it to be quite funny to teach Connor how to say Shush up. So for Connor to use it back on him was funny. We have been all over Travis for teaching him this. However, it could be worse. The other two phrases I am sure are directly from me. Again, it could be worse!! I am just glad to see Connor sticking up for himself. The amazing thing was.... Travis actually stopped pestering him when Connor scolded him like that! The rest of the ride home was pretty peaceful after that.

Here they are enjoying a rousing episode of Calliou. Although Travis has seen each episode at least 20 times he is still glued to it when it comes on. Connor enjoys the show too. It's nice to see them getting along, even if it is in front of the T.V. We take what we can get around here!

Here we are, all cuddled up. Even though it was over 115 degrees outside on this particular day. It's a good thing Mommy always has time to cuddle with her boys. I won't have much time for this after today. Tomorrow I start my last two classes for my Master's degree. I am doing them at the same time and they are both online. I am so anxious to finish them up! Since they are online I hope to get ahead of the game and finish them up as soon as possible. Graduation will be in December, I can hardly wait! In some ways this program has flown by and in other ways it seems like 2 years ago was such a long time ago. I think some of this is because my life has changed so much in the last two years. I am so glad I took the leap, now I am almost done! Gee, what will I do with myself when I am done with these classes??? LOL Something tells me I won't have a problem keeping busy!

Not Our Best Day

This morning started out as any normal Saturday. Travis had an early morning basketball game plus team pictures before hand. We had to have him there by 7:15. Ugh. Anyway, off we went. Daryle and I used up a lot of energy chasing Connor around the basketball court. Boy does he have energy that just does. not. quit. We came home and hung out for a bit before going to a birthday party. This was at one of those jumpy places. I figured great! Connor is going to sleep soooo well this afternoon. I will be able to get SO MUCH DONE! The party went well. Once again I was chasing Connor all over the place. I think he could give the Energizer Bunny a run for his money! (Of course Daryle didn't come with us because yesterday he had an ingrown toenail removed and he was keeping his foot away from dangerous children who may want to stomp on his injury. I was on my own.) To add to all of the chaos Travis has been doing breathing treatments the last 2 days because he has a sinus infection and it is draining which aggravates his asthma. After the basketball game plus a jumpy house he was pretty worn out so he decided not to go with Daryle to the Diamondback's game. Darn. Part of my plan was beginning to go downhill. I was hoping that while Connor napped I could get things done and have some time to.... MYSELF! Well, of course Travis wasn't feeling well and I didn't want him to get worse. I figured it would be ok. I could handle them for the rest of the day. Dad left and I put Connor down for his nap. Or so I thought. He has decided to climb out of his crib again. For about 3o minutes we played the game. Connor gets out. Mommy puts him back in. Connor gets out. Mommy puts him back in. You get the picture. Finally, I put him down and he stayed in bed. I checked on him and he was in his crib reading a book. Phew. I went to take care of some things when suddenly out walks Connor. It took me a minute to figure out what he did. His hair was slicked back and he was holding a tube of ointment for his scalp. I ran into his room and discovered that he had climbed up onto his changing table, got not only the tube of ointment but also the container of Vaseline and had rubbed it all over his hair as well as all over the top of his dresser!! I whisked him away to the tub and tried washing his hair 5 times with 3 different types of shampoo. I attempted to comb it out. Oh. My. Gosh. It was not coming out. I began to panic. This is what he looked like after the shampooing. About an hour after. His hair dries quickly. This is grease. Not water. Ick.
Fortunately for me I have a lot of friends on Facebook. I posted that I needed help and ASAP. Lucky me I got a lot of advice. Since Connor has sensitive skin I opted to use corn starch, clarifying shampoo and a conditioner. My mom even came over with the supplies so we could get to work. Here is our ammunition.

Step one: Cover hair with cornstarch.

Step 2: Wash with clarifying shampoo. As you can see, it was still sticking straight up. We had to do a round 2. Connor was not in the mood to cooperate anymore after he found out about round 1!

Ahh. Finally I have my little boy back. Needless to say, Connor never took a nap. It is now 8:00 P.M. I am exhausted. I didn't get as much housecleaning done as I had hoped. My mom has come to the rescue (just like Supernanny, minus the English accent). She stayed a while and let me eat some dinner, she gave Connor a bottle, helped me straighten up and then she went home. Daryle is still at the game. Travis is watching some TV. Connor, of course, is sound asleep. I do not want a redo of today! Thankyouverymuch.

On to a happier memory. Last Saturday I went to visit my grandma. We just don't have enough pictures of the two of us. Here we are. It was so nice to enjoy her company without chasing my kids around or having them climb on me. It can be hard to watch people who are close to you age. I am so lucky to still have her around and in my life. I love you Grandma!

As I end this crazy day I look at this picture and it makes me smile. Being a mom has its ups and downs and this picture reminds me to hang on...tight! But above all, it also reminds me that we are always there for eachother. We are a family. And... thank goodness for GRAMMY to help us get through it all!! I think she is the only reason I made it through this day sane. (If I am not sane, just don't tell me! Thanks!)

6 Years Already?

Somebody once told me that when you become a parent the days seem long but the years are short. Those words have always stayed with me. I never knew how true they were until I became a mom myself. On Monday, August 16, 2010 we celebrated 6 years of Travis "officially" becoming a member of our family. "Unofficially" he was always our child. We just needed a judge to make it official ... and legal of course! Prior to August 16, 2004 we carried this one and only picture around with us. We told anybody who would listen that this was our son and we were waiting to get "the call" to bring him home. That was the longest 10 months of my life. Here is what that little picture looked like.
And here is what my little goofball looks like today! LOL I can't believe my camera caught his eyes like this. It reminds me of how he sleeps. With both eyes half way open. He is always on the look out for action!

Each year we celebrate by going out to dinner and then coming home and watching the video of when we first met Travis in Blago. At the end of the video we record him and talk to him so that each year we can see how much he has grown from the previous year. I am amazed at how he has grown and how his voice has changed over the years. He really is growing up. We are so proud of him. He has come such a long way over the years. Here are some pictures of our dinner on Monday night.

Travis with Grammy.

Travis and Grandpa. AKA Grammy-Grandpa

Travis and Grandpa. AKA Red Truck Grandpa.

Here are the three of us. I can't believe how tall he is getting!

Of course Connor was there too! Here I am with "my boys" as Connor so lovingly says every day. Sure we have our daily struggles but overall we are all so blessed to have each other. I can't imagine not being a mom/mommy/mother to my boys. I know they were hand picked for us and we wouldn't have it any other way. Happy Gotcha Day Travis!! We love you!!

Fun Times!

Last weekend I broke down and let the boys blow bubbles inside the house. I figured I was going to mop the floors anyway, so why not? Well, I was around the corner on the computer and all I could hear was laughing and giggling. I came around the corner and this is what I saw:
Yes, Travis decided it was best to get up as high as possible so that the bubbles had farther to fall! A little dangerous. Yes. But did they have some fun? Of course!

Travis decided this week to be a police officer and write us tickets for various violations around the house. He says he wants to be a police officer when he grows up. (I think he just likes to have power over others!) Sometimes he just cracks me up. He had his pen and paper tucked into his belt along with his two walkie talkies and his pointer stick. (It was funny to watch him try and bend over. I tried not to let him see me laugh!) He wrote Daryle a ticket for sitting on the couch. Too funny!

Earlier in the week Connor did some finger painting at the baby sitter's house. He came home with this masterpiece. Here he is proudly displaying his hard work. (And of course Mommy was crying as I took this picture...he is growing up too fast for me!)

On another day this week he made these masterpieces. I can see he has fabulous decorating skills already! Do you think he likes yellow? (Or as he calls it, "SUN!")

Here is how I found him this evening before Travis and I left for the Mother Son Sock Hop at school. He is watching his favorite good-night programming. He loves to sit like this and I was finally able to capture the moment. Even though it appears as if he is still, this pose only lasts for a short while before he is off and running around again. That is why it has taken me all summer to get a picture of him like this!

Here is a picture of me and my date tonight! Isn't he just so handsome? The school had it's first Mother/Son dance and we had a great time. So many of his friends were there, we both had lots of fun. He didn't want to dance with me.... I see how it is... LOL There was a group of them avoiding their moms. Travis isn't my dancer, that would be Connor. However, once they started the limbo and then the hula hoop contest Travis really "let his hair down" so to speak. It is hard to get him to come out of his shell sometimes. I finally got him to at least stand by me and sort of dance to the last song. Of course most of the people were gone by then. I will take what I can get!

We ended our date by going to get ice cream at McDonald's. Now that's what I call a nice way to end the week!

August Already?

Where is the time going? It seems I blinked and it was August. Travis and I have fully returned to school and Connor returned to the babysitter this week. It's amazing how we just fall right back into our regular day to day schedule pretty easily. This didn't happen by chance, we had to do some careful planning and then hope it all worked out! Last weekend Connor didn't seem to want to take a nap on Saturday so on Sunday we decided to keep him awake in an effort to get him prepared for his new schedule. Just as I had him sleeping in until 7 or 7:30 in the morning it was time to start waking up by 6:15 every day. Travis and I went to the grocery store and when we came back Daryle told me he found Connor like this on the floor in his bedroom!
It seems he was completely exhausted!! So then he put him in his crib where he laid like this. Boy was he pooped! We let him sleep for about an hour then got him up, gave him dinner, a bath and then off to bed he went. He has been back on his schedule ever since. Phew!

Yesterday he made a little visor at his babysitter's house, here he is modeling it. He was so proud of his creation. He seems to like yellow, whenever he sees it he says,"SUN!!"

This morning Travis played his first basketball game and he even scored a basket! We were so excited for him and he was so proud! He is really good at defense, but we do need to work on his dribbling skills. He looks like such a big kid in his uniform. It seems that no matter what sport Travis plays he does well. I definitely think he has the "athlete" gene in him! Now if I could only get him to pick up a book and enjoy reading more we will be on to something! (Of course that is the teacher coming out in me! lol)All in all it has been a pretty good week. Daryle's dad is moved into his new house down the street from us and Travis and I are both settling back into school. I have 29 kids (whose counting?) and they talk. A lot. They require a lot of training. A lot. It wears me out. Hopefully it will be time well spent and then we can enjoy a nice year together. Efforts to get another teacher didn't work out so we decided to just deal with the situation the best we can. After all, it is only for 180 days, right?? (as of today we are down to 172...) In addition to Travis and I doing well at school it seems that somehow Connor has managed to recognize most of the alphabet, count to at least 13 and even recognizes the numbers 0-9. This morning I woke up believing Connor knew about 10 letters or so. Well, he proved me wrong. I picked up a Dr. Seuss alphabet book and went through the letters just to see what he actually knew. There were only about 6 he was shaky on. (Truthfully I lost count, he got way more than I thought he would and I was a little in shock!) He even identified about 3 of the letters by their sounds. Some people may think that is normal for a 25 month old, but I have to say I am pretty impressed. Mostly because I have not done anything to encourage this. It's not like I sit around here and drill him with flashcards or anything. I am way too busy to be doing that! He just picks up all of the phonics based toys we have around the house (thanks to grandparents we have a ton) and has seemingly taught himself. I am so thankful that at least one of my children is benefiting from the money spent on these toys! Not only that, but this is a child who didn't even hear English until he was 12 months old. Amazing.