The Great Remodel of 2010 Continues.. in 2011

Back in April 2010, the remodel of my house began. 


(work being done by my landlord (AKA- my grandpa) and my uncle who does the work in his spare time... if he has any)


I asked for wood floors in my living room and dining room. 


What I got was an ENTIRE house remodel. Every single room, every single wall, floor and window. 


While I appreciate all the nice new stuff.. and how great my house looks now... the problem is, it's still not done. 


My room, the living room, dining room, hall and bathroom have been done. Only took a year to get those done.... 


But now they have officially moved on to the end (I HOPE) of the project. 
Drew's room.... the kitchen and the laundry room. Oh, and last minute they decided to rip down the fence in my backyard and build a new one, and add a slab of concrete for the storage shed they think I need (ummm, yes, I do have a lot of crap Grandpa, thanks for noticing!)

This part of the project has actually gone along pretty quickly over the last two weeks... until this weekend. My uncle was there both Saturday and Sunday working on Drew's room. Walls have come down, flooring has been ripped out and drywall is everywhere.

And while my uncle was working away inside... my cousin was outside in my grandparent's backyard (just on the other side of my back yard) putting in ANOTHER bathroom. Yep, a bathroom in the backyard... (of my grandparents house, not mine.) This was all fine and dandy and didn't concern me one bit, until they mentioned that they were connecting it to MY plumbing (but they pay my water bill so what do I care?) Oh, and there was a problem with one of the pipes so they wanted to replace the whole line.... That runs under Drew's room and my kitchen.

We are SOOO lucky that they were working on both projects at once because my cousin had to come in with a freakin' jack-hammer and dig a huge hole through the width of Drew's room and right down the middle of my ENTIRE kitchen.

Horrible lighting, but that's the whole in the floor

of Drew's room looking in from my kitchen.

And I know you can't really see it here, but this 

is my tiny kitchen with a massive hole in it.. and tarps

covering my countertops.

To say that it was a LOUD, filthy and eventful weekend is a huge understatement. 

I am not looking forward to cleaning up after this mess. The plan is to finish Drew's room completely before working on the kitchen. So they will be putting down a temporary floor until they're ready... at which time I will need to empty my kitchen completely in order to clean all the DUST and debris that has worked its way into my cabinets and every dish I own. 


Fun times!

3rd Grade

It finally happened. 


I've known the day was coming for awhile (almost 8 years actually). But with this being our first full year in a private school with a year-round school schedule, it seemed to take forever. 


This morning my little man.. love of my life.. my son, my moon & my stars... started THIRD GRADE.

He's just so freakin' cute, it's kills me! (Yes, very proud Mama)

I had to force him to take the obligatory first day of school pictures before we left.

He's going to do GREAT. This boy is beyond ready for third grade... but he was still a bit nervous today. Right now I love knowing that my son's biggest fears are cursive & fractions... oh to be young again... 

Bring it on 3rd grade!! My boy can handle it.. and hopefully I can too. I'm anxious to hear how his first day went.... and to see how many stains I need to remove from his precious white shirt. 

And let me just add... that this is the first year that I didn't cry on the 1st day of school. 

Wow... WE really are growing up. 

The Randomness That is Us...

* How in the world is it already September?? Anyone want to tell me why 2011 is flying by?


*We had orientation for little man's class last night. Third Grade... don't even get me started on how my itty bitty is even old enough for 3rd grade... 


*I truly feel sorry for his teacher.. she will have to deal with me.. daily.. for the ENTIRE year. Yes, I am THAT Mom. The one that knows her child is the best thing to ever happen to the world, the mom that requires notification if her son so much as sneezes during class, the mom that needs to know 3 months in advance if there will be any field trips, class parties or projects. 


*Drew's room is currently under construction. While I am SOOO glad that this project has FINALLY been started, and involves my minimal involvement... It still stresses me out because I know that I will eventually have to put everything back in there. We have never moved since Drew was born so I had no idea how much STUFF that kid really had. It's a lot.. too much really. 


*And since my kid has sooo much junk... I might just have myself a little yard sale this weekend. Maybe... it's still supposed to be in the high 90's outside... and I really don't do outdoors unless it's at the beach... and I'd be doing it all alone.. so probably not.. but maybe.


* I have every intention of doing some unnecessary shopping this weekend. Old Navy has their NFL stuff out now and we both need new team shirts (Go Cowboys!!!), and Michael's just sent me come coupons in my email so I'm sure I'll find a few things I need there. 


*We have ZERO plans for Labor Day... but I'm thinking we'll either hit the L.A. County Fair... or hang out by the pool. Every intention of enjoying our last day of Summer. 


*Drew lost one of his baby teeth on February 15th... and it still hasn't come in yet.. and there is no sign that his adult tooth has any intention of coming in any time soon. I think 7 months is WAY too long for a tooth to come in.. I think a trip to the dentist is in order. Oh, and the tooth next to it came out in April.. and hasn't come in yet either. My poor toothless baby.... he has another tooth loose right now and I told him there is no way I'm allowing another tooth to come out before those top two come in. (note to self: stock up on superglue!)

He Isn't Even Slightly Phased By You

Oh to be young again. 
Carefree.. without a worry in the world.


Ok, wait.. he does have worries. He worries about when he will get to play the Wii next. He cares if we have dessert each night. And he definitely cares if he's getting shots at each of his doctor's visits.


But my son... my gorgeous and intelligent little 7 year old.. doesn't care what people think. 


When I tell him to get his clothes ready for school, he simply grabs the 1st pair of shorts in the drawer without considering the color or pattern. Then he goes to the closet and grabs the 1st shirt he sees... not stopping to think if it will match his shorts or if it even still fits him any more. 


He doesn't care. Appearance means NOTHING to my son. 


He sees nothing wrong with giving the toys he no longer plays with to his friends for birthday gifts. He does not see the need for the toy to be in it's original package.. unopened.. un-enjoyed. NEW is not important to him... and he doesn't think it matters to other people. He would be excited to receive a game from his friend... not ever looking to see if it's ever been opened or where it came from.


He knows that I buy clothes for him at the thrift store whenever I see something cute in his size. Clothes that have been previously worn by another child... clothes without their tags on them... and he doesn't care. The only thing he questions at theses times is why I keep buying him clothes that he doesn't need!


My son is not phased by labels. He couldn't tell you who any of his shoes were made by. The only labels this kid cares about are Wii and Xbox.. his two best friends. (And I guarantee if there was a knock-off video game brand I would have bought that instead of the Wii.... and he wouldn't have cared one bit.)


My son cares about people's feelings... when it comes to them being sad or happy. He just doesn't care what they think about him. He's a kid.. of course he wants to be liked by the other kids on the playground... but he's not on a mission to impress anyone.


He's a practical and resourceful little man. He will think of a way to re-purpose ANYTHING I want to throw away. He could live on mac & cheese and chicken nuggets daily, and thinks I'm wasting money buying anything else. 


The world hasn't corrupted my baby yet. He hasn't been impacted negatively by TV advertising and celebrities. Greed hasn't taken over his pretty little mind.. yet. 


I am realistic and know the day will probably come. The day when he HAS to have the latest Nikes... or HAS to buy his friend the new video game for his birthday.... The day might come.... and he might start to CARE...


But until then, I will enjoy his innocence and lack of concern. 


And I will wish that I was more like him...... 

Vegas With My Baby

After very little discussion, Drew decided we'd be going back to Las Vegas for our vacation this year. This makes 3 years in a row.... The only other place he even considered was Miami... to see a Dolphins game. And since I knew there was no way I'd be able to save up $3,000 in a few months, we settled on Vegas. 

** Don't mind my horrible pictures, we are in desperate need of a new camera**

First off, Vegas is HOT.. ridiculously HOT. at 8:30 in the morning it was already 99 degrees... YUCK. We stayed at the Monte Carlo again because we LOVE their pools. The wave pool, lazy river, and regular pool. Drew would have gladly stayed out at the pool all day, every day... but even for this Summer-lovin' Mamma, it was just too stinking hot. 

We pretty much spent our mornings at the pool, afternoons napping in our room, and nights on the strip. 

Our lives really aren't all that hectic and crazy... but we both really needed this vacation. 3 days away from everyone we know.. no work.. no school.. no computers, video games or phones (except one call from his Dad). We just needed a break. 

On our last night there we went to see The Tournament of Kings at Excalibur. 

I was kind of hesitant to take him since it was completely new to him (and he HATES new things), and they warn of smoke, fire and loud noises (all 3 things that he HATES)... but I've always wanted to go, so we gave it a shot. He was pretty reluctant... but once he accepted that I was making him go anyway, he was fine. 

And I'm SOOOO glad we went because he LOVED it!! All he's wanted to do the last few days is have sword fights and joust in the living room. There were moments (fireworks and cannons) that freaked him out, but he handled it really well. And the food... oh I was nervous about that too. This kid is a super picky eater.. and the idea of him eating without utensils was kind of funky to me... 

But once again, Drew surprised me. He loves "Chicken on a bone" (drumsticks) so he was excited to rip them off the chicken and gobble them up. Of course the brocoli was never touched.. but that was to be expected. It was really a great night there. We loved the show, the food was great and we had a blast.

On our last day there Drew asked if we could go to the Wax Museum. There weren't that many "people" he recognized.. but he enjoyed seeing the ones we did. And since we were the 2nd ones to enter that morning, we pretty much had the place to our selves... and were out in less than 20 minutes.

Of course Michael Jackson was his favorite... but he was a little nervous to stand next to him.. Some of those statues look so real it's creepy. 

All in all it was a good little vacation for us. But once we got home we both agreed that we'd had about enough time alone together... so he went to school the next day to play for a couple hours while I ran some errands.. alone. Guess some times you can have too much of a good thing. 

School Shopping Jealousy

Growing up, I LOVED back to school shopping. (I was a kid and Mom was buying me stuff.. of course I loved it!!)


I remember the lists of school supplies. Stuff my sister and I would NEED for class. (Besides pencils and paper, most of that stuff was never NEEDED... just sayin')


I remember all the new clothes I planned on getting.... until Mom brought me back into reality by informing me we were only buying clothes I NEEDED... not a single thing just because it was cute... ok, this part I didn't love so much.


When my son started Kindergarten 3 years ago, I was super excited about school shopping. I was looking forward to the list of classroom "necessities" and putting together endless adorable outfits for my little man. 


At Kindergarten registration I was told that there wasn't a "school supplies list". I was told that the school didn't expect the children to bring a single thing to class...... I believe the look I gave the secretary was one of utter SHOCK. What the heck was this lady talking about? Kids need stuff for class... at least some freaking pencils or something?? She told me I could check with the teacher at orientation day, but she doubted I'd get a different answer. 


At orientation I was again disappointed. The teacher didn't want them to bring anything... NOTHING. At this point I was strongly doubting whether I was sending my kid to the right school. What kind of place was this? His teacher explained that all supplies were already provided and they didn't want to put the burden on the parents. Ok, now that was pretty nice of them.... however, I was looking forward to the burden.. I WANTED that burden. 


So I did what any other sane mother does.... I ignored them completely and bought my son every school supply that walmart offered. He was loaded up with a backpack, binder, folders, paper and a full pencil box. My son was prepared for any scholastic emergency that should arise. And of course he was decked out in an awesome new wardrobe. 


By the second week of school I realized I had just wasted money... a lot of money. Not a single item in his backpack had been touched. The only time he even opened the thing was to take out his lunch. And the clothes... oh those adorable clothes... were a disaster. Kindergarten boys get DIRTY... very easily. Why they even make white shoes and white shirts in toddler sizes is beyond me. Every single day this kid came home with a new grass, mud or ketchup stain. 


The next year he went back to that school for first grade. I had officially learned my lesson... well, pretty much. He got a new lunch box and backpack... but that was about it. He was getting new clothes only to replace things he'd outgrown.. and this year we were shopping at the thrift store. I was still bummed about missing out on the whole back to school shopping experience... but at least I wasn't going broke. 


Last year my little man switched school to a private school in our area. I thought FOR SURE I'd be getting a supplies list this time. Nope... instead I was given a bill for "Materials Fee"..... a $310 bill..... Now can someone please tell me  what in the world my second grader would possibly need $310 worth of supplies for? Were they going to give him a new backpack, binder, lunchbox and calculator? Nope. By this time I had given up. I accepted the fact that Back to School no longer meant the greatest shopping trip ever like it used to... 


Yet for some reason I still can't stop going down the school supply isle at every single Target and Walmart I walk into. My son has zero desire for any school stuff. I asked him to pick out a new backpack and he says "why?, the one I have is fine"... I try to convince him he needs a new lunch box, and his response, "Mom, we already have 4 at home." Who's kid is this????? He certainly didn't get his shopping instincts from his mother... And don't even get me started on his clothes. This kid couldn't care less about what he wears. Doesn't care if it matches or even fits him!! He could probably keep all the clothes he has for the next 2 years without asking for a single thing.... except a new Miami Dolphins jersey.. necessities. 


So while everyone else is complaining about the ridiculous supplies lists they're required to shop for... and all the new clothes their kids need after growing 3 inches over the summer... This mom is completely jealous.. and will just have to learn to start shopping for herself =)

Living By The Clock

Not really sure when or how it started. I swear I don't remember always being this way. Maybe it happened when I became a mom... 


I am EXTREMELY conscious of time.


All day.. every day... I have to know what time it is at every moment. 


There are certain things in my life that are planned for specific times of the day. Actually, 90% of my day is scheduled. I know exactly what I'll be doing at 6:45 am on the weekdays. I have to leave the house at a specific time every day. The entire drive to work is spent glancing at the clock, and figuring out how many minutes until I get there, and approximately what time I will arrive. Crazy!!


Breakfast, lunch and dinner are at the same time EVERY day. At 11:20 am, I am sitting at my desk figuring out what I need to get done in the next 40 minutes because everything stops at 12:00 for lunch. There isn't a strict rule in the office about lunch time.. but for some reason there's a strict rule in MY head. 


I must glance at the clock about 100 times a day. Checking the time is absolutely the thing I do the most with my phone. 


Routine and schedule are now HUGE necessities in my life. I will seriously stress out if we are not home by 5:00pm so that dinner can by ready by 5:30. Bed time is at 8:00pm on the dot. Maybe even a few minutes early, just so I can be sure we're in there at 8:00. 


I've realized lately that this is a problem. Not everything needs to revolve around the clock. What is it possibly going to hurt if we eat at 5:45 instead of 5:30? Is the world going to end if I don't wake Drew up exactly at 6:10 every morning? 


I stress out about any time conflict and it affects my son. He sees me stressed so he stresses... and he's the one that has to hear me complain or make him rush if we're even running 2 minutes late for the time I have planned to leave for the grocery store. 


It's ridiculous!! I recognize this as a problem... and now I need to find a way to change it. I do realize the importance of structure, routines and schedule for a child.. and even for a family... but that should only apply to the big stuff... like getting to school and work on time.