The Pirate's Suite...and more!

This week was a great one! Ron had managed to book the Pirates of the Caribbean Suite at the Disneyland Hotel for us and was even nice enough to allow my Grandma to join us. (In case you, like my Grandmother, are wondering how many of these rooms there are....the answer is ONE.) Now don't think we somehow got rich-because we didn't. Ron got the room for $119. This room can go for $2000 a night during the summer!! The door bell sang, "Yo Ho Yo Ho A Pirate's Life For Me!" There were so many cool things about this room! The flat screens were all framed with picture frames, and our remote was touch screen to name a couple. I'll just post a some of my favorite pictures (I took A LOT!).







So we were getting ready to leave our room, when a guy at the elevator says, "Did you guys stay in the Pirate's Suite?! Can I see it?!" That led to him telling us he had once stayed in the Mickey Mouse Penthouse. He offered to show us where it was so we could take a picture by the door. It just so happened that the people that were staying there were outside taking pictures as well! So then they invited all of us in to see that room as well! We traded rooms for a while to take even more pictures. I had always wondered what it looked like!






Hope you enjoyed taking a peek into these fun places. I tried labeling the photos, but it wasn't working out very well-plus they are pretty self explanatory.

Birthday Parties

This past Saturday was a full day of partying! We had Colin's friend, Cody, turn four and have a fireman themed party, and then our friend Kaiya turned five and we got to spend some time with her family and let the kids play together.

Cody's party was very educational! His Grandmother did a fabulous job with every detail. She made each child their own fireman's jacket complete with badge, reflective stripes, and blinking red lights! Then they also had the hat, goggles, and mask. The boys all dressed up and went to the local fire station where they learned all about the trucks, how to stop, drop, and roll, and got to see where the firemen eat, sleep, and work out.

We had fireman's chili, hot dogs, a drink that was red that the kids got to use licorice for straws. The kids played different games, but their favorite was the obsticle course set up in the garage. They had to start in the fire engine, work their way through tunnels, throw water bombs at a burning house, save a puppy by climbing a ladder, and then bringing it back to the fire truck. The boys just went crazy over this game!

We were exhausted by Kaiya's party, but still really enjoyed our time! Colin practiced his letters on her chalk board and Blake got undressed and messed with the Livingstons electronics-as usual. We ate pizza and had delicious Jello cake! Taking pictures hadn't even crossed my mind, and I'm sorry it hadn't. :( Here are some for the earlier party:

Learning about the tools on the truck. Blake tried touching the saw....

STOP! DROP! and ROLL!

The group in front of the trucks

The start of the obsticle course-Colin and the birthday boy, Cody

The Sunday Blues

Another Disclosure: This will be a long post of nothing but venting. If you need something to cheer you up, don't read this post!

Have you ever had one of those Sundays that you were just sure you child or children were out to get you? I have. Often. I know the following story in no way applies to ONLY me, so I ask for your sympathy as I vent.

Today started off normally. My boys protesting, "No church!" or "I don't wanna wear a tie!" all morning long. I got them dressed and turned on a movie so I could get ready. I step into my room to get dressed where I find Blake naked. Again. I dress him, again.

Once I'm ready I have to push Colin out of the door where he walks as slowly as humanly possible to the car. Before we enter the church building, I turn the car off and have my weekly talk with them about their expected behavior during sacrament. We find a spot to sit, then Blake immediately starts to DEMAND a snack (I normally don't let him have it until after the sacrament has been passed).

Everything just went downhill from there. There was fighting, crying, head-butting (Colin accidentally did that one-but it made my eyes water and head spin! That kid has a noggin!), you name it-it happened. Both of them started crying quite loudly while I was taking the bread, I grabbed each one by an arm and marched them out to the foyer where they had to sit separately. Not a peep was uttered for the first five minutes. I think they could sense my anger.

Another mom came out to check on me and see if I needed help. I thanked her and told her I'd be fine. Then it happened. I cried. I felt so silly not being able to handle my own two children! I'm the adult here! So why were they in control? (I have a friend out there who often shares her stories of embarrassment when her little angel cries during sacrament. I tell her that no one notices, and they probably don't. But today-EVERYONE heard my kids!)

After sacrament, I had many comments from many different people. I'm pretty sure I cried each time someone brought it up. A few people offered to help me every Sunday, others said things like, "It looks like you're having quite a day!" or "Are your boys behaving yet?". My pride just took over. I was greatful and appreciative of the offered help, but ashamed at the same time.

Then the Bishop invited us over for dinner. I would really love to go. They are a great family that I would enjoy getting to know better. But I doubt Ron will be home from work by dinner, and I doubt my children will behave. Dinner is a tough time for us. Colin rarely eats at other peoples' homes which can be embarrassing and frustrating.

The hardest realization is that my kids are going to do this if I'm alone in church or not! It doesn't make things very much easier even if Ron could come to church every Sunday. I'm going to have to think of something that will help them behave better during sacrament mettings. Colin is tricky to discipline. He doesn't always understand cause and effect. But at this point I'm willing to try anything. If anyone has something that has worked for them, PLEASE let me know. I'm open to any and all suggestions.

I know this will all pass eventually. But I'd also like to be able to enjoy Sundays for now. Looking forward to church would be a blessing.

Bathroom Break

Disclaimer: This post is could be considered a bit TMI, so if you don't want to hear about toilet stuff-don't read it.

Today I visited Heather. We had a nice time chatting while our kids played and bossed each other around. Towards the end of our visit we discussed our childrens' inconvieniant #2 breaks. It always seems to be somewhere public, or for me, when you're helping someone move and your younger cousin "breaks in" the new homeowners toilet. Today I had another instance.

Just after visiting Heather, I went on one of my "three-times-a-year" visits to Wal-Mart. I hate going there, but I had to today. Just after seeing a former co-worker with her two-year-old daughter and some-odd-month-old twin boys, I finished paying for my one item in electronics. Right then, Colin states, "Mom. I have to poop." Of course he does. I take him to the restrooms where he decides he wants to try going to the men's room alone. I agree feeling proud of his independence.

Three drinks of water from the fountain (Blake), two yells into the restroom, and twenty five minutes later, I can't take it anymore. What is taking SO long?! I see my friend down the isle so I call to her desperate for help. I ask her to stand watch by the door so I can go in. An employee hears my planning and sends in a stranger to "help"! What stranger is going to wipe my nearly six-year-olds bum?! And, on top of that, Colin isn't going to accept help from any stranger! He goes in, comes out twenty seconds later and says, "I think I scared him." NO DUH!

I barge in and find the stall Colin is in. Nothing was really wrong, he was just taking his time. I helped him finish up buttoning and zipping everything, then we wash our hands together. Then I watched my friends twins as she took her daughter to the restroom.

Heavenly Father sure knows when to send us friends, doesn't he?!

Note to self: Always take Colin into the restroom accompanied by an adult.

♥Heart Breaker♥

Like I said yesterday, Colin is a bit behind in some areas. His emotions aren't always appropriate for certain situations. I've never tried explaining death to him because there's never been a reason to. Plus I'm not sure how to explain it to him so that he'll understand.


Tonight the boys were winding down and watching, "The Land Before Time". Towards the end of the movie, Colin gets a really sad look on his face and quietly starts to cry. Ron goes to his side to find out why he was so distraught. Colin said, "Chomper is gone!". The little dinosaur had not died-just moved back with his parents, but Colin understood the role and friendship of this little character, and that the other characters were sad to see him go. I was so surprised! This is huge for him!



While putting him to bed, Ron said Colin went into our bedroom and said, "Come on, Chomper. You can sleep in Colin's bed." Now we've added a third friend to our troop. Ü My cup runneth over.

Friends Anyone?

"WAIT MOM!" This is the phrase I'm constantly hearing from my five-year-old recently. He's a very sloooow mover, and apparently his new friends are as well.

I've come to realize that Colin is about two years behind in his not-really-milestone-milestones. His random comments have just started (the latest bedtime one, "Kids love birthday parties"), the MINE phase has yet to end, and now we've gained imaginary friends.

The other day I was in a rush to get out of the house. I had things to do and places to go. I had just locked the front door when Colin said his new phrase for the first time, "WAIT MOM!". I frantically unlocked the door hoping it was an unprompted potty break. The door opened and Colin stood still for a moment. Then he replied, "Come on R2D2. Come on C3PO. Let's go." He looked back as he walked away as if to check on their progress.

The next of several times was when we were leaving the parking lot of Las Brisas. I put the car into reverse, and again hear "WAIT MOM!". I slammed on my brakes. Colin opened his door and encouraged his friends to get into the car. This time he added machinery-type sound effects as if the robots were being loaded into the car.

Our new friends have enjoyed meals with us, shopped at Costco, bath time, and playing with the dogs. So far I think I'm the only one that has been made aware of their presence, and I'm happy to share this friendship with my little guy. (How could you not like friends that share, don't complain, don't yell, and always eat their food?!) Welcome to the family, boys!

I Drew A Blank...

Our new Ward here in Chino is really small. Hardly any kids in Primary or Nursery, and lots of retired people. They've all been so great, but our family has strange names, so people seem to be having a hard time remembering them let alone pronouncing them. Colin is now an icky body part (guess I should have spelled it with two L's), and I'm still Carissa or Teresa, and our last name is all kinds of different guesses. Ron and Blake really haven't had a problem...until recently.

The nursery is small so they have a few ladies that rotate out. The first couple of Sundays it was the same two ladies. Then I met another lady after a few weeks who's the Nursery leader. After Primary (I've already been called to be Second Counselor), I went to get Blake and the new lady greeted me saying, "Blank did a great job today!" I thought I probably had just heard her incorrectly, so I ignored it. Then I got his papers that he colored on and they all said, "BLANK". I couldn't stop laughing and I told the Leader, "His name is actually spelled with an E and no N, so it's Blake." She looked confused but said, "Oh-okay."

I'm not a celebrity-I could not name my child a stupid name like Blank!