Have to keep in mind now

Scary...what's going on at home, gives one a pause to think, wow, I really need to start taking better care of myself, not take my body for granted.

Skate Straight

I noticed there was a presentation at the Wooster Library that was from a Pro-Skater by the name of Doug Brown. I thought it would be nice for Darius to go and listen, simply because he likes skateboarders (Tony Hawk game). So, we spent in the area of 3 hours at the Wooster library this evening. Hunter and I attended a toddler group, and Chance & Darius attended the Doug Brown talk, where Darius fell asleep about 5 minutes into it. He slept through the entire thing, unfortunately, but he did get his autograph and his picture taken with him. I guess it wasn't for nothing :o)

I'm Shocked!

I was so surprised this evening when I asked (kind of half-heartedly, not expecting any results) Hunter where his body parts (nose, mouth, eyes, ears, hair, tummy, winkie, bum, toes, hand) were, and he knew them! I remember when Darius was little we drilled him on those questions until there was no way he could NOT know where they were. I've NEVER asked Hunter where anything was, and I asked him a bunch, and without hesitation he knew!
My jaw dropped, and I was shocked...almost speechless. He learned this on his own, without guidance...at 19 months old! (I wonder why I'm so shocked when he knows about 60 signs)
Holy Shit, I thought...my baby isn't a baby anymore, he knows himself!
I miss my babies...I wish they were babies, and not as grown up as they are. Darius is going to be 6 this year, and Hunter's going to be 2!!
It's going too fast, I can't keep an accurate memory of them as they are today in my head, or my heart. I want to grab them and hold them tight like this forever. I don't want them to ever grow up.
Then I remember I can handle anything they throw my way, and come back to my senses.

Another week come and gone...the precursor to the entire year.
I've finally gotten everything together for Hunter's shot, which we'll hopefully be able to get done this week. It was incredibly frustrating last week when we went to get them done originally. We waited for an hour in a line-up in the hallway of an office waiting for a nurse to flag us in, and then another 45 minutes while she entered our information into her computer. With both kids. It was embarrassing the way she asked for a card for Hunter and Darius (insurance) and when I could only produce one, and another outdated one, she looked at me and said "Who am I supposed to bill??" Like she couldn't give them their shots without someone getting a bill for it. I just said, there's not much I can do for you as this is all they've given me. She told me to call them and ask for a replacement card next time. It was all very frustrating, and in it's own way humiliating. Made to wait in a Line-up with no chairs for children or mother's carrying their child in a cramped hallway that was fairly busy...and then have them grill you and look down their nose at you as they read you personal information out loud to you (but enough so everyone can hear). At one point she actually asked me what one specific immunization that Darius had received, and that they didn't recognize it. I mean, what did she expect me to say ? Oh, they were just kidding, he didn't actually have it??
I'm hoping this one will go over better.
Did I mention they only have a two hour limit in which they accept people for immunizations? (That goes for babies/children AND seniors)
In any event, I can now brace myself for this week's, cause I'm sure it's going to be a fiasco.

Took the boys out yesterday, as Chance had to spend his day on the phone with various ppl. We went and bought a new phone, and a few other things that were needed around the house. We spent a grand total of 6 hours out and about together. We only went to three stores, but it was still a lot of fun, cause we took our time and were patient. They both even napped in the truck while I got to eat my lunch.
I got myself a new purse, which I really like cause it's a heckuva lot smaller than the current one I've got...which means I'm mommy-ing up. No more room for spare toys, or diapers, or wallets in my new purse, everyone will just have to find their own way.
I've discovered I'm back up to a size 14...*sigh* I had wanted to lose weight this year (the aim was 120-25 by June...5lbs per month) but it's just not going over very well because I'm just not willing to fork over my effort. So while I was out, I was going crazy on the stretchy clothing I was looking at for myself.
I mailed out Valentine's Cards for everyone...
Been keeping myself busy I suppose...haven't been chatting on the phone as much these days.
Am coming around slowly, but surly.

Uploaded Pics to Flickr.

Our computer is swamped with viruses. I keep getting pop up windows with advertisements for Omax, Wall Street something or other, and a couple of other non-memorial places. It's annoying.
I took us shopping yesterday, as someone mentioned that Hunter may need some new clothes. I sorted through what he had as I was doing the laundry...tossing out what was too small, and (I also got rid of a bunch of toys) figuring out what was left behind. So, once the money was put into the bank, I got ready in the morning and we were outta here.
I've been saying for a while now we need a gate for upstairs like the one we have at the foot of the stairs, and never get around to buying one. So, that's what we did yesterday. We went up north of here (only about a 30-40 minute drive) to go to the store that sold the particular gate that we wanted. I spent 153 bux in that store...but we all got a little something. I got a new pair of shoes for 6 dollar, Darius got a new pair of "casual" (Chance uses this word so often when referring to apparel for D it really grates my nerves and makes my eyes twitch) shoes for Darius, Hunter got a bunch of socks, and Chance got a new hat that came with a new t-shirt.
Don't ask me how it added up to 153, cause I couldn't tell ya.
On our way back, there was a Goodwill (like, the only thrift store...LOL It's comparable to Salvation Army there) that was having a "grand re-opening", so I persuaded us to stop. Chance found an ottaman with storage in it (for the toys) and a set of Left Handed Golf clubs with a carrying bag for D (amazingly enough, the perfect size).
I bought myself some new shirts (as I've gained weight, I don't really fit a whole lot of what I've got) and got Hunter some new PJ's (cleaned em out of their size 2's!). There was some kid who attatched himself to me in the store...stayed with me for 45 minutes (even though I kept asking where his mom was and that he should get back to her). I felt like Gramma...LOL I remember thinking (gosh) my Gramma's crazy cause she used to talk to random people on the street, have complete conversations with a stranger...and kids used to glue themselves to her too.
Anyhow, afterwards we went to the outlet mall where Chance works, and I bought three outfits for H in one store that apparently doesn't do so much in business that Chance covers on breaks, went to the Vanity Fair store where I got 11 (yes, that right, I said 11) new pairs of underwear. It's an underwear extravaganza! LMAO I can't even remember the last time I bought new undies...I'll hafta check my blog. I blog embarrassing information like that.
Anyhow...afterwards I hit the children's Place and bought 4 more pairs of jeans for Hunter, and a faux fur lined sweater so I can stop putting him in the annoying winter coat I bought him. On our trip yesterday I had to feed Hunter and he couldn't get his hands out of his jacket sleeves, which required me to crawl around the truck(while moving) trying to get him out of his jacket sleeves at least so he could eat. It was stupid, and it left me incredibly frustrated. So, I spent a whopping 9.95 for a new sweater/jacket thingy to appease myself. It had a hood as well, so I felt it'll do the job in the future quite nicely.
When we finally got home, we all stumbled into the door, and Chance went to get his mom so she could come and pick up her car (she was out of town for the week and loaned it to us) and in that time I removed the tags from everything (a considerable amount), tidied up and put the new stuff where it belonged, and got dinner ready to get going (along with cleaning the pots to cook them in).
It's funny, I stopped doing the dishes everyday, and let Chance do them...after three days of it, he suggested we buy paper (the bio-degradable kind of course) plates for an occasional relief from the dishes.
It's also funny that when I didn't have a computer I really missed daily blogging. Now I only blog about once a week. Hhmmm