QUOTE OF THE DAY

"I'd pay one billion gazillion dollars if we could just move back to Zurich.  I'll give you all my monies mom, EVEN my bills." 

QUOTES OF THE DAY

#1:

Me: Chance, if you'll help me prepare and set up for our garage sale, I'll pay you money.
Chance: Okay, I'll do it, but only if you pay me in ALL CHANGE.

#2:

Chance: There's a new guinea pig at school.  He's in our science class.
Me: Oh, you have a separate science classroom?  What do you do in there?
Chance: Everything that scientists do.  You know what scientists do right?
Me: No, what's that?
Chance: Scientists mix powders and stuff together and wear goggles.

Incredible Moments

I got a call around 10:20 today from the school nurse telling me Chance just wasn't right, and could I please come get him.  So Chance spent the majority of the day with Brooks and I "recuperating".

And while I spend a lot of time complaining lately about our current living situation, I must admit that today was one of those days filled with incredible little moments that you wish you could freeze frame, throw 'em in a box and replay them later.

One of the blogs I read reminded me of this project currently going on in which they are asking people around the world to film something on 10-10-10 (pretty memorable date I think) and submit their video for possible inclusion in a comprehensive video/movie they are making. I find the project intriguing, and yes I plan to film something and submit it. Not so much cause I think my video would even come close to being chosen, but because I want to be granted free access to the final video. It’s going to be pretty darn cool.

Thinking about this video made me think about our day, the moments we had together today just milling around the house. And for an instance it all seemed magical, a nice little reprieve from the stress that seems to be following me around lately.

Every day around 2:30 Brooks starts milling about the house saying “Buh Buh”, his word for Chance. He somehow has an internal clock that tells him it’s about time to take our 15 minute walk the bus stop to get Chance. The bus stop is right outside our house I might add….but Brooks walks the whole way and it takes just that long. It’s the highlight of his day, and for the first hour when Chance gets home, he is stuck by his side. So today when I told Brooks we needed to go get “Buh Buh” he was so excited, until I started to put him in the car. I finally convinced him that we had to get in the car to go and get Chance, and after some initial objection, he chanted “Buh Buh” all the way to school….falling asleep along the way singing a very sleepy “Buh Buh” song over and over.

So back at home we spend 30 minutes in the back yard playing at the water table.  Some how my phone gets chunked in to the water, ruining it.  Back inside, dirty baby Brooks leads me to the bathroom say "Bubble" the whole way.  I couldn't believe he was so direct in telling me that he wanted to take a bath.  He is getting so big!  Moments later……..sick boy is suddenly bouncing off the couches and I manage to capture it on video…..the boys dancing together. So cute in itself, and even better it was Brooks’s first time to dance without holding on to something. Each time the music would stop, Brooks would cry and scream until Chance rewinded the video and played it again.

It's these moments you can't get back.  Thank goodness we have it on video.

And Finally He Noticed

Chance has this small fan at his bedside table that he likes to blast at full speed when he goes to bed.  He likes to bundle up under his down comforter, and to counter act the 81 degree heat that we live in, he employs his trusty friend to create some coolness. How he can sleep with 100 mile per hour winds blowing so close to his face I have yet to understand, cause when I lay down with him to spend a couple minutes before bed, it is eye-dryingly strong wind. 

Every night before we go to bed, either Ryan or I sneak in his room and turn off the fan.  I have secret fears of it catching fire or blowing Chance straight thru the wall.  Possibly even creating a tornado, cause we all know we don't have enough of those around here already.  Funny thing is, he's NEVER noticed or mentioned the fact that he goes to bed with the fan on, and wakes with it off.  I keep wondering at what point he'll notice.

And finally he noticed, 4.5 months later, telling me tonight not to turn off his fan in the middle of the night.

THE GOOD, THE BAD

THE GOOD: I didn't have to miss playground time cause of my doctors appointment. At least I got to school on time.

THE BAD: I had to miss a little bit of Drama cause Ms. M was testing me for reading.  And I told my friends that I went to 13 different countries, and they said I was lying.

It's a Bird, It's a Plane, No It's a Shooting Star

We're driving home from baseball tonight, LATE, it's dark.  I soon come to realize that the amount of times Chance has actually been outside when it's dark is very limited.  Yes, I do need my evening time which is why my kids get put to bed before the roosters go home.  But I am coming to realize he is almost 7 and the kid has seen stars only a handful of times.  My wake up call went something like this as he describes the airplane coming in for a landing:

MOM!!!  I see a shooting star!  No, I see 3 shooting stars, no 4!!!  And they are all shooting together.  And they are blinking!  See, there they go, shooting across the sky, really really low!!!

Pathetic

Quote of the Day, and this didn't come from Chance.  So that leaves.......guess who.

"Pleeeeeeeeeease make me cookies.  Do not make me call my mother."

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BROOKS

I can't believe it's been a whole year.  I remember sitting in church a long while back and the preacher said that life is like a roll of toilet paper, the closer you get to the end, the faster it goes.  Seems like ever since we had kiddos, this is the case.  It feels like it was just yesterday we were in the Zurich "hotel" hospital drinking cappuccinos and eating massive amounts of croissants to recover from the traumatic birth of Brooks.  But oh it was worth it.  What can I say, this little man has completely changed our lives, brought us so much joy, let us be parents all over again.  We can't imagine a world without him, and feel so amazingly blessed that he is a part of our lives.

I didn't really plan anything big for the day, keeping it low key and at the pace of of the little man.  Mimi drove up for the big occasion and Nanny and Pappy came over to celebrate it as well.  Brooks had been toying with the idea of walking all week but decided to go ahead and hold off until the big day.  He took his first "official" steps on his actual birthday. 

He even walked outside to greet everyone as the arrived and show off his new moves.  Thank goodness for helium balloons to offer a feeling of security.

We did lots of things that Brooks likes to do........bubbles:

Water table:

Eating (birthday boys never let go of their balloons though):

Present unwrapping (with the help of big brother, whether you want it or not!):

Playing with your new toys:

And most importantly, getting completely drenched in cake.  Brooks wasn't so sure about it at first, but quickly warmed up to the fact that, oh this is why mommy can't stop eating this stuff.

And while the birthday boy would have liked to remain green all day, he had to go get dipped in the bath to round off the day.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO OUR VERY SPECIAL BOY!  We love you!

THE GOOD, THE BAD

THE GOOD: My class read for 22 minutes today.  (They are working towards reading alone for 30 minutes)
THE BAD: Yesterday on the playground me and E and A decided form a secret club.  Today E didn't want to play with me.  He only wanted to play with his other friend and didn't include me.  I even told him he could be the boss of the club but he said no. :(  I really miss my friends in Zurich.

On a side note, I've gotta say I'm pretty darn impressed with the kid for going at it with a positive attitude and getting out there.  It's gotta be hard to move to a new place and try to fit in.  Boy can I relate.  He was given a 2 week project to complete his "ME".  He is so cretive, and such a hard worker.  He worked very diligently to get this done and way before deadline.  I'm pretty proud!

A Little Lake Action

Goal for this past weekend: GET OUT OF THE HOUSE.  No more yard work, no cleaning, no errands.  Just get out and have some fun.  Like the good ole days.  I've been missing the footloose and fantsy free weekends that we used to have in Zurich. Funny how the memory is so selective, funny how you only remember the really good or the really bad and nothing in between.  At least that's how it works for me, and currently my mind is in the grieving Zurich phase of, woah is me, life in Zurich was SO GREAT ALL THE TIME. I'm sure that is how it REALLY was! It doesn't help that I read the blogs of all our friends there and read about all their fun adventures.  Common theme here: Stacey, your behavior is NOT helping the situation. 

So, self therapy to the rescue: The Lake.

I was very pleasantly surprised when we pulled up and found little jetty like cliffs, each with their own private picnic tabled gazebos and grills.  And then we had a nice little cove/beach to play on. 

We fired up some burgers on the grill, gave Brooks a watermelon to devour and we were set.

The boys took a dip in the lake, and I got taunted a little for being such a wimp.......no thank you Mr. Water Moccasin and gigantic man eating carp, I don't want to be your swimming companion. 

The view from the lake while I was watching the swimmers was quite fab. 

And we even happened upon an ancient ruin from the original settlers of this region while there.......for a moment I felt like I was back in Europe.