I am a "Man" again today....

One of the amazing things about living in this area is the HUGE diversity of languages and cultures. I've come to expect it. In fact, when I happen to be in an area with a smaller ethnically diverse group, I start to notice.
I walk Ethan to school every morning. Because of the regular walking trek, I have begun to expect to see certain things. House #775 leaving for work; bus #260 at the bus stop; my neighbors car which leaks terribly covered with the newest rain proof goo, tarp, or today clear plastic wrap...There is someone else that I have started to look forward to seeing each morning. I have come to fondly call her "the man woman." Almost every school morning without fail, she and I cross paths going in opposite directions. I try to say good morning to everyone I pass and she is no exception. The only difference is that we see each other almost daily. So as we pass we greet each other with what has become our standard practice, "Good Morning" but my friend the "man woman" adds a little something special. I haven't the nerve to correct her nor do I think that she will actually understand me but she says, "Good Morning, Man" (instead of ma'am)...It makes me smile every morning. So I have become her "man" and she mine. Gotta love it!

Merry Christmas

This had all of us laughing and Margaret not quite sure what was going on and threw in a few laughs to be polite...

Non-Crappy Starring You! eCards on JibJab

We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

What Kind of Flower are You?

I am an Echinacea What Flower Are You?

So this was kind of fun. I have actually NEVER before ever heard of this flower but it is supposed to be me.....

Seven Months Old

I can't believe that Margaret Elise will be seven months old tomorrow! I was just getting used to the fact that she was 6 months old. She is coming along. She doesn't really roll over. Her therapists and I decided that she has no real motivation to roll over because she really can't see well. She is more content to be on her back-it's obviously easier too. She is doing much better propping herself up on her arms while on her belly and is also coming along with sittin gby herself. She eats well. She is getting used to solid foods and really enjoys it.

Halloween Costumes

This is the first year that I think Ethan wasn't a superhero in years! He decided that he wanted to be a knight. Greyson wanted to be a scary skeleton-and he was! My mom laughed that there were so many bones and asked if they were anatomically correct. Well, yeah. Of course. How else was I supposed to do it? Margaret Elise was a baby tiger.

Carving Pumpkins

For FHE we carved our pumpkins. My boys REFUSED to "gut" the pumpkin. They'll coat themselves with mud, smash bugs and grubs BUT they will not gut a pumpkin because "it is so gross!" Go figure!

What a cute BABY!!

When Grandpa Carl was visiting, I asked him to take some photos, he does such an incredible job! In spite of the very difficult time that he had trying to get two energetic boys and a baby to look at the camera, he snapped some amazing shots. I am not the most interesting person in the photos but I thought that this photo of Marg Elise, as Greyson calls her and whose name we've all adopted, and I was just precious. Having a baby girl is pretty awesome. I love my boys and would love Marg Elise if she were a boy, but she's not and I love having this incredible little girl as part of my life. I realize sometimes how lucky I am that she is so miraculous and feel so extremely blessed that I can be a part of her life as she is to mine.

Happy Birthday, Rob

I realize that I am not so good about sending birthday wishes often times before the actual day or days for that matter. I truly think about the upcoming birthdays and other events for days in advance. I am going to invent a devise someday that can translate positive brain waves and their intentions into real life manifestations! I only wish my good intentions could be better. So from your sister, I wanted to say Happy Birthday, Rob!!

The Pit

THIS IS THE PIT...When Grandpa Carl was visiting, the boys energy was diverted to digging. This was not your typical digging in the dirt.. Oh no...this digging practically went all the way through to China. Okay, maybe not that far but Greyson's head is pretty much flush with the top of the pit. You can see his blonde head bobbing as he walks around. Grandpa Carl also put stairs into the pit to make for greater ease in accessing the pit's space. The pit even had boards put on top of it for a "roof." After Grandma Judy told the boys about her cousin who lived outside in his own dirt "house" because the family house was too crowded, the boys asked me if they could sleep out there too. I actually never heard them ask but once. I think that they may have realized that actually sleeping in the pit might be a little too much. I guess no one else is doing much with the yard and I don't want to be the one to fill in the GINORMOUS hole/pit, so I guess for now the pit will stay. If it's not about getting dirty, it's not about being a boy!

Just Because....

I realize that it has been a loooonnnnngggg time since I last posted anything! Well it doesn't help when your husband takes out the hard drive from the computer that you were using and everything that you had saved on the other hard drive is now lost in cyber space. Well, you ask why? So do I. I guess that the best, simplest answer is....Just because he can?

Rice Cereal...WHY?

M.E. has officially been introduced to rice cereal. I don't think that she thinks that it is very exciting. She does not have a great interest in it. Her brothers loved it on their very first bit. I wonder how much of her visual impairments affect her interest in it. She is doing well. There are babies that have issues far greater than M.E. I am grateful that she is still with us and doing well.

1st Day of First Grade

It's official! Ethan is now a 1st grader! His first day was great! Now on his fourth day, he is feeling the effects of a full school day! It is going to take him some time to get used to the time difference from Kindergarten. When we ask him what he did throughout the day he looks at us with a matter-of-fact, don't you get it look and his response is, "It was such a long day! I can't remember a thing!" As I picked him up from school on Friday, I told him that he was bigger then when I dropped him off at school that morning. I said, "Not only have you gotten taller, but I think that your brain grew too." He was pretty tickled by that and had to tell his Dad later that his brain had grown. I saw Ethan's Kindergarten teacher who told me that she was very pleased that Ethan has the first grade teacher that he does. When she told me that she thought it would be a "good fit" for him to have the teacher that he does was very good to hear. He has only started first grade but if it is anything like Kindergarten, he'll be in second grade before I know it!!

What's In Store?

Like everyone else, life can be pretty busy and often times...... completely insane!! There are those moments when things seem good and maybe you brace yourself because you know that there is bound to be something around the corner.
We were told at the end of July that the owners of the home that we have been living in for 8 years, ever since we were married, was going to be sold so that we needed to find another place to live. Jeremy has to finish his dissertation at UC Berkeley this next year and then we'll have a job, right? So we have to be around here to do that. Then there is M.E. with all of the therapy and appointments that she needs. Ethan starting school...The fact that we are now a family of five but have the income of a family of one or two!! So trying to find a place where we could live was crazy!
I couldn't go to sleep one night thinking about it. In the morning, I knew that I had to call a particular person. After a number of contacts and even a viewing of the house, we were able to rent it. It was a three bedroom, hard wood floor, newly remodeled place that we could ACTUALLY afford to live in. I had made a special connection with this older woman who would call me daily with news and updates. I spent time in her backyard picking apples. I was ready to pick up the lease papers last week but for some reason did not get around to it. Later that night, the owners of the home we are in called to say that they decided not, yes not, to sell right now. Why they did not realize that it is not the time to sell 30 days ago still boggles my brain. It was heart breaking and actually emotionally draining for me to have to tell this kind woman who was actually ready to give me the keys to the other house that we were not going to be able to move in. I hoped that the apple pie that we had made with her apples eased the news. But to make a long story now shorter, we do not have to move. We will remain here and I wonder...what else is in store for us here?

DILLENDER REUNION

Recently our family gathered to celebrate the wonderful life of my Uncle Lynn. It was bitter sweet to all see each other again. What a great man my uncle is. His family is amazing too.

WARNING...POSSIBLE GRAPHIC IMAGES

IS IT A BOY THING? I have discovered that both Greyson and Ethan, at about the same age, have both enjoyed stripping and "tatooing" themselves with Crayola markers...ALL over! I'm not sure that the Crayola marker company ever tried scribbling on various body parts when they said that the markers were "stain proof!" It took days of scrubbing for Greyson's "art work" to fade. I hope that he gets all of his "tatooing" out of his system now. I guess that at least he did not write on the wall??

Holes in His mouth

Ethan has quite a few holes in his mouth these days. Ethan has lost four baby teeth so far with at least one more on its way. I don't remember teeth growing in behind my baby teeth. Ethan has had that happen. It's kind of weird. I guess the tooth fairy dues have met inflation. I remember a few coins for a tooth. A dollar? or two??? For a tooth???

Wearing Hair

M.E. likes to be tickled by my hair. I had this great idea to see what M.E. would look like wearing my hair....Such a cute baby! Even wearing my hair!

One of those days...

Sometimes I wonder if I will ever catch up on sleep. I know I need more but even when it is time for bed there if always something else that I need to do before I wake up with M.E. anywhere between 3-5am and then by the boys between 5-7am. I loved "American Inventor" and I am America's next inventor....if I could only figure out some way of making a "Sleep Bank" where you can save up on sleep and use it when you need to. Does that make sense to anyone else? This is how I look most of the time with a slight headache always looming on the edge of utter and full fledged headache explosion!

So Bad!!

Something that I can't stand...PHOTOS LIKE THIS!!! One of those, "oh everyone is together...this doesn't happen very often...Let's get a nice photo"...Yea, of everyone else but me!! So gross! Then I start to wonder, "Is that what I really look like or did the camera add 10 lbs. Oh, wait, I think that I did!" Can I still get away with it being post baby weight? I need some greater motivation than all the yummy tempting food.

4 months old

M.E. must have wanted to stay wake until she officially turned 4 months old (10:58pm). I think that she may have finally fallen asleep. Is that a good sign that she will be sleeping through the night? Or is it just a scam and she'll be stirring far too soon...Such a cute baby, though, even at 3 or 4 am.

Growing Up

I have been looking at my boys...When did they grow up so fast! Even Grey is not a baby anymore. He's this big kid!! I have been thinking a lot about how hard it is to be a mom. Some days I am so exhausted. We were doing things all day long but what DID we do? Was it at all significant? Are my boys and now my daughter better off today then they were yesterday? TOMORROW they will be on their missions or something...Step back not too fast now...

Starting Again

I have had requests to start the blogging again. I am so bad at it! I think that the main reason is because I have not too many new things to say and even fewer pictures to include as something at least interesting...

Margaret Elsie, or M.E., is doing well. As she gets older, more about her condition will be revealed. She has been diagnosed with moderate visual impairments. She is also seeing a physical therapist for her muscle tone issues. It's still hard to believe that anything ever did happen to her....But she is doing well-healthy and gaining weight...

Greyson has really gotten into defending his older bro. Ethan could be clobbering him. I attempt to intervene and get an ear full of "that's my brother!" from Grey. Can't win for losing...

Ethan is still the talker. Here is a typical example. We were all in the car together driving. Anyway, most kids would get bored of asking the SAME question over and over again, right? Not him. I counted 22 times that he asked the same question in a 15 minute time period. "Are we almost home?...How about now, are we almost home??" Kind of like the energizer bunny. He keeps going and going.