The New Bear

Okay, don't tell Bear that I posted his picture... He was sleeping, so he'll never know. His hair is starting to grow back and it doesn't look so bad now so I decided it would be okay to post a pic. I've also noticed that his hair seems to be coming in alot darker than before. He's to the stage now that his hair is looking shaggy and you can see the longer hairs. I'm a little surprised by how quickly it's growing in, but that's fine with me because I was worried that it would still be really short by Christmas pictures this year. Now I think it should look okay... I hope!

Goodbye Sweet Friend...

I have some sad news tonight. Our wonderful sweet horse Dino passed away today. No one is exactly sure what happened. My parents went out of town and had a neighbor feed the horses. Yesterday he noticed that Dino had layed down. He tried his hardest to help Dino up, but Dino was too weak. He couldn't get his legs under him. After a while he gave up and didn't know what to do. He thought of calling a vet but the vet may have euthanized Dino and taken him away, so he decided to just watch him. This morning when he went back, Dino was still alive, yet by the time my parents arrived home, Dino was gone. He had collapsed by the feeder. Horses have a life span of about 29 years, and I believe Dino was about 27 or 28. It still doesn't make it any easier though. Dino was my Dad's horse, and he is heartbroken! I now have the task of explaining this to my children, whom were just playing with and feeding Dino on Friday. I already know that my horse, Pantabarr will now be very lonely. Even though Dino was a bully to Pantabarr, he was there with Panta for many years and now Panta will be alone. Pantabarr is only a year or so younger than Dino, but hopefully he has a few more years left. Goodbye Dino, we love you and we'll miss you. We will always remember your fun personality and all the great times we had!

The final cut

Well this morning I had to finish shaving Bear's hair off. After yesterday's haircut, I just couldn't do anymore and I stopped. Unfortunately his hair looked bad because there were still areas of hair that were longer than the rest and he had "spots." So today I shaved it as short as the spots of already short hair and now he looks completely bald. After I finished shaving his head this morning, I looked at the photos from yesterday, that I thought looked horrible, and actually, he looked so much better than he does now. I'm not posting any new photos for his sake, at least until his hair grows a little thicker again. My poor boy. At least now I don't have to cut his hair anymore... For a long time! Bear looked in the mirror and said "I look like someone else." Bug wont stop rubbing his head. She says it feels good.

OH NO!!!!

I had to, I didn't have a choice! While I was cutting Bear's hair today, I decided to shave the back of his neck a little. Normally he sits really still but this time he decided to move. I had a nice even line going and when he moved, the electric razor shaved about an inch into his hair. The only thing I could do was shave up that high all the way around the back. After I fixed this problem, I had a new one... IT LOOKED HORRIBLE. The only other thing I could do was shave his head and give him the spikey look. Unfortunately Jeff's razor doesn't work very well and the attachment wasn't catching Bear's hair. It was only cutting it in clumps and it was cutting it too short. So Bear ended up with this horrible haircut... And I ended up in tears. All his beautiful curls are gone! When Bear was a baby, Jeff taught him to say "Shave it bald" because he knew it bothered me and I would never do it. Well the other day Bear was pulling his hair out and we told him that if he didn't stop pulling it out, we would have to shave his head bald. He freaked! He cried and screamed and told us he liked long hair. And now this! I cried for hours! Luckily Jeff didn't freak out too much and he showed Bear a picture from when Jeff was in the marines and had his hair shaved. That way Bear would see that it was ok and that he had hair like Daddy's. Too make everything worse, Bear says he doesn't like it and he told Jeff that he hates me because I cut his hair like that. He eventually apologized and said he loves me again. I am never shaving his neck again!

Happy Birthday Big Brother!

Happy Birthday Jeremy. I hope you have a wonderful day. We love you very much!!

Rock-N-Roll

The kids love playing with their new guitars. They think they know everything about them already. They look so cute when they play them.

Growing Up... Too fast!

When Bug changed out of her new outfit into an old one, she said she wanted her robe on because she was a little cold. Well she finally decided that she was warm enough and took the robe off. I noticed her playing with the tie inside the robe. She was attempting to tie it. I started playing with her and I showed her the "bunny ears" way to tie. She picked it up right away this time and successfully tied a bow. I've tried this way on her several times but I think she was too young to remember the steps. I don't use this method of tying, but for little kids, I think it's the easiest. She was so excited to have finally mastered this trick!

Little Red Riding Hood

I bought this outfit for Bug for this winter. I found it in the ABC catalog and I absolutely couldn't resist! I think it's adorable. I wasn't keeping it for Christmas, just for when the weather turns cold, but I just couldn't keep it hidden for that long. It was calling for me to try it on her. She loves it! She said it was too hot and when I told her to go in her room and change her clothes, she said she wanted to leave it on. But luckily I won the battle and I convinced her that we should keep it clean so she could wear it later. I did however, promise her that she could try it on later to show Daddy. I think she looks adorable in it. I told Bug that she looked like Little Red Riding Hood and she really got a kick out of that. It's a 3 piece outfit consisting of a fleece poncho, black velvet pants and the red and black fleece handmit. Nice and cosy warm!

Heads In The Clouds!

While we were outside enjoying the weather today, I took my blanket out to lay on. I have a pulled leg muscle right now, so walking is kinda difficult. As I was laying there taking pictures of the kids' adventures, Bug came and stood over me. I took her picture with the sky as the background. Then of course Bear had to copy her. Unfortunately, his picture turned out a little blurry but it is still cute, so I just had to post it.

Nice Day

The kids went outside to play in the sprinklers today. The weather was great and we know that by this time next month, it will be too cold to play in the water anymore. Even today was a little to cold for Bug. She ended up shivering and her lips literally turned blue! Each of them took a little time to relax and enjoy the green grass. Our yard has been dead all summer and finally with the extra rain and cooler temperatures, it came back to life!

Happy Birthday Shane!

Today is Shane's 27th birthday and I just want to wish him a good day. Shane, we've been friends for about 7 years now, and you're such a wonderful friend! Thank you for everything you've done for me over the years. I hope your birthday is the best so far.

Bananas

My little Bear is allergic to bananas. It took us quite a while to figure out this allergy. When he was a baby, we noticed that he often had very red and raw looking cheeks. I asked his pediatrician about this rash several times, and he always said that it looked like dry skin and just to moisturize his skin often. But his poor cheeks just looked so painful and nobody wants to see their little baby in pain. Well I really started paying attention to when his rash would appear and I noticed one day when he was about 1 1/2 that his rash appeared. I sat down and wrote a list of everything he had eaten that day. The rash lasted for a few days and then the next time it appeared, I again sat down and made a list. The only thing that was the same was bananas. I had never heard of anyone being allergic to bananas before... I tried this experiment again one day and sure enough the rash came back. So I told everyone of this problem so they knew not to give him any.

I told his pediatrician about my discovery and he told me that there are plenty of other foods with the same nutrients, so it wasn't a problem if Bear never had another banana in his life. But I just can't live with this. I absolutely love bananas and there are so many yummy foods that Bear would miss out on. I just can't allow this. I know that some people outgrow food allergies. My Dad used to be allergic to walnuts, and now he's fine. I used to be allergic to tomatoes but they are my favorite food and when I was little I ate them all the time. I too would get an itchy rash around my mouth from them, however I kept eating them and now I don't react. Some foods you just can't live without. I'm also lactose intolerant, but I can't live without milk and soy is not for me. I'm willing to live with the stomach aches and nausea just to have my milk.

Occassionally we try Bear on bananas just to see if there is any new developments. My parents gave him half a sandwich with peanut butter and banana a couple weeks ago and nothing happened. So today I decided to let him have a whole banana with his cereal. He has looked fine all morning, however when I sat with him at naptime, I noticed that the dreaded rash has arrived. It's all around his mouth and on his chin. His lips also look red and a little puffy. I'm not afraid to test this again maybe in a year because luckily, his allergy isn't too dangerous, mostly just uncomfortable. I've altered the picture so you can see the rash better. It was a little hard to see because of the flash on the camera. I was doing some research on the internet a few months ago, and I saw that bananas are actually one of the most common allergies, and many people who have this allergy are also allergic to latex. Now I always alert the doctors about this other possible allergy.

Living Planet

Today we took the kids to the Living Planet Aquarium. We go there pretty often and we have passes so we get in for free. As soon as we pulled into the parking lot, Bear got so excited and started yelling "We're at that aquarium now!!" We walked around and looked at all the familiar exhibits. The octopus was extremely active today. That was really neat to watch because normally he just sits there and does nothing. Of course the most exciting thing is always the petting tank. The kids are allowed to reach into the water and pet the stingrays. The rays don't always cooperate, but the kids almost always get a touch in. The adults can easily reach to the bottom of the tank, as long as we're willing to get a little wet. Bug and I had gotten our stingray fix, and we decided to watch the sharks. The shark tank is located just behind the petting tank. Jeff and Bear were still over at the petting tank, when something happened.

There was a man there, with his children. He was wearing one of those backpacks that a baby can sit in, and he was trying to help his Daughter touch one of the stingrays. She looked like she was about 7 or 8. The man held his Daughter out over the tank by one arm and one leg. Unfortunately this made him top heavy and he slipped. His Daughter went under water and the man tried to catch himself with his hands. The baby in the backpack shifted and almost fell into the tank. This made it impossible for the man to push himself back up. Jeff walked over and pulled the man out of the tank and after about a full minute, the man was able to pull his Daughter out of the tank.

That poor girl was so shocked. She didn't know what to do, so she was just sitting in the middle of the stingrays not moving. After they all got out of the water, a lady had to walk up and fix the baby because he was falling out of the backpack and his leg was stuck inside. I think the baby was the most shocked out of all of them. One moment his world was peaceful and great and then he almost went swimmming with the stingrays! It's times like this that I wished I had the camera with me. What a great memory!

A change of plans... and seasons.

Jeff and I were talking tonight and I mentioned that I saw a really cute Autumn wedding idea on the internet. I told him all about it and he agreed that it sounded nice. Then he made a suggestion that we change our wedding date to sometime in the fall. I said "Yeah, but we've already told everyone the date..." He said "Yes, but it's not in writing yet, so it's not official." Okay true... So we started thinking about the pros and cons of a fall wedding. We thought about how it would be cooler and more comfortable for us, since Jeff, Bear and Dad will be in black, and long sleeves too. And if I get the dress that I've had my eye on, it too will be long and lots of layers. Not to mention lace, which tends to be itchy on hot skin. We'd be able to pick whichever frosting on our cake without fear of it melting. And we wouldn't have to change our wedding colors since Burgundy is also an Autumn color. Bug's dress will still be suitable since it doesn't get that much cooler by then. Plus, we could start the wedding earlier so that the "old folks" aren't out past their bed time. The only obstacle is that while we're on our honeymoon, my Parents would have to take Bug to and from school for a week since she will be starting Kindergarten next August. So after much thought, as well as checking the Autumn temperatures for Maui, (low to mid 80s) we've pretty much decided on September 22nd, 2007. We originally picked the 23rd, which is the Fall Equinox, but it's a Sunday next year so we had to change it so the date would fall on a Saturday. But the Equinox floats, and ocassionally lands on the 22nd. Nothing is official yet, but this idea sure makes things seem easier. We'll see if it sticks.

Double Trouble

You can see by these pictures that I have alot to look forward to when Bear hits this age. These boys are my soon to be Step Sons... Yes, Identical Twins! Bear is already so much like his big brothers. They look so much alike (as you can see from the baby pics. The baby on the right is Bear.) And he even makes the same facial expressions. They'll be 13 years old in December. So not only will I be a Mom of 5 at 26, but 3 of those 5 will be teenagers! What was I thinking?

Coming Home

Jeff and Mary will be arriving home late tonight. I'm really excited. They've only been gone for a week, but you just don't realize how much you will miss someone until they're not there. Fortunately, Jeff has been able to call me every night to tell me about their adventures. I've been keeping myself busy by taking care of the kids, doing some housework, and yard work too. I even got some more wedding ideas planned out. The kids didn't like the fact that Daddy was gone... Bug has had an attitude from hell all week, and while Bear didn't have any attitude problems, he refused to mind me until about the 5th or 6th time he was told to do something. Jeff wont be home until around 10:00 tonight and I was planning on putting the kids to bed so they could wake up to Daddy being home, but Jeff insists that I let them stay up late tonight. We'll see how well this goes. I have let them stay up late a couple times this week, but they had a hard time hanging on and told me many times that they were ready to go to bed. I'm sure they'll stay up for Daddy though!

Arachnophobia

A couple weeks ago while digging in the garage for some unimportant item, I noticed little baby spiders running around. "Oh great!" When we first moved in, I noticed we had spiders in the house that looked alot like black widows. Luckily, after some research, I discovered that they were common house spiders, that are just related to black widow. I had NEVER seen these before now! We bought a large jug of spider spray and I soaked the windows and doorways. Things calmed down quite a bit in the spider department. I've found several of these big spiders in the garage as well. 3 nights this week as I've gone to lock the back door at night, I turned to see the BIGGEST FREAKIN' SPIDER EVER on the wall by the stairs.

Each night I drag the spider spray down, and give the creepy crawly a nice fatal bath. When the spider died, I put the body into a small garbage can downstairs... I'm getting quite a collection of HUGE spider bodies in there. I went out to our garage today to bring in one of my exercise machines, and as soon as I opened the door I was attacked by spider webs. I'm glad that's all it was. We've already made the decision to bug bomb the garage before we move again, but when I walked in there, I made the decision to do it much sooner. Again I saw a handful of baby spiders scatter, and just to my left was a large box with Gavin's old crib bedding in it... On the side of that box was 2 very lovely egg sacks. I ran in the house for my beloved spider spray again and I soaked them! After further inspection, I found another HUGE yet already dead spider just below the egg sacks. They look like wolf spiders, but I already know that wolf spiders don't have webs! As I got the exercise machine through the door, I turned to close the door and saw a jumping spider just above the frame. I couldn't reach it to smash it so I again brought out the spider spray. I'll squish the little ones, but I wont go anywhere near the monster ones!

While I was putting Bug to bed tonight, she started screaming that she saw a spider. Sure enough there was another jumping spider just under her window. I killed the beast and flushed it down the toilet. After I ventured down stairs to murder yet another monster on the wall, I decided to walk around the basement and respray all the windows and cracks. I walked around the corner only to be greated by a much smaller and not so scary spider. I killed that one too and by now I was getting pretty frustrated. I noticed that I had a growing pile of dirty laundry on the floor. "Well I'm already down here, I might as well do my wash..." I picked up each item very carefully, knowing quite well that clothes are a favorite hiding place for creepy crawlies.

I almost escaped without incident when I picked up an item of clothing and saw a small dead spider. Yuck. The next item revealed an earwig. Okay not so bad... Oh wait, there it is. ANOTHER SPIDER. It was a small and very fast spider, not sure what kind. He got away. Lucky sucker!!!