Raiders in da House!

It finally happened. The Oakland Raiders came here to play the Arizona Cardinals. Daryle has been on cloud 9 about it since the schedule was announced sometime last spring. The day arrived as any other day arrives except these two boys were ready to get their game faces on! Here is a demonstration.
Last week Daryle made a special trip to Party City to get their silver and black face paint. These are faces only a mother could love! LOL

Evidently while walking around Travis found another Raiders fan close to his age also sporting some interesting face painting!

If he wasn't so cute this picture would be scary! They had a great time, even though the Raiders lost at the last second. You may be wondering where Connor and I were. Well, Connor enjoyed some one on one time with Grammy and Grandpa (and dinner with Great Grandma) while I was at home writing 5 papers for my online class and studying for a midterm that I have to take on Wednesday. Thank goodness for grandparents, that's all I can say! My kids have the best grandparents in the UNIVERSE!! I still have to make it through conferences this week, midterm tomorrow and get everybody packed. I am looking forward to boarding that plane at the end of the week because that is when I will be able to breath a sigh of relief!

Finally...

I have been trying to upload these pictures for two days now! I am not sure if the problem has been blogger, my computer or user error. Anyway, finally I got a few pictures on here to share. We have a little lime tree in our backyard. It sure yields a lot of limes for being so "little"! Here is Daryle picking some limes off the tree. I sure wish our orange tree would produce a little something. After almost 6 years and no oranges I am not sure what to do.

Here are Grammy and Connor at Travis' basketball game. (Thank goodness it finally uploaded after about 6 tries!)

Now if only Travis would pay attention to us the way he listens to his coach and teammates...

My little basketball player. He sure does LOVE sports! It's a good thing he is pretty coordinated too.

WATER!!!

And just in case you were wondering what was going on in the stands while I was able to play with Grandpa's camera, well, here is the truth. The grandparents were having tons of fun entertaining Connor and keeping him busy. Thank goodness for grandparents!!

After the game they found this tether ball off to the side of the gym. They never slow down, except maybe when they are asleep. Ha!

Budding Photographer?

Oh I know, two posts from me in one night!! Geesh! You would never know that I spent 6 hours today doing homework for my last two classes. Tomorrow I hope to catch up on the housework. Daryle did keep up on the laundry for me, that was a big help. Connor got out this camera and chased me around the house telling me to "Smile Mommy!" I thought he was pretty cute so I got out my camera to get some shots of him. He was so cute! Perhaps photography will be in his future?
Here he is checking it out, making sure the strap is around his neck properly.

Hmmm.... upside down... not sure if this is genius creativity or, well, you know...

Smile Mommy! (Too bad there is no film... yes I said film... the camera is a few years old...)

The little fella likes to give directions too.At least he takes directions well too. Look at this cutie pie!

I know I just did a big post of Travis' basketball pics but I just found this one on our camera. I thought it was cute and shows just how much fun Travis has on the court.

Last weekend Daryle and Travis went to the dbacks game and Travis got his picture taken with these giant bobbleheads. Wow, they are tall!

Well, that about sums things up. Everybody is in bed, we hope for the entire night, and I am sure we will all be up by 6:30. That is when Connor decides we all need to be up! I can't wait for him to realize sleeping in is a good thing!

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!)