I have been taken hostage....by PIRATES!

The other morning we were getting ready for school and while I was making lunches I was informed that I was a hostage. The hostage of two pirates...Amelia & Roman, and they were in full character and even dressed for the part.

They decided to release me when I told them they would be allowed to have ice cream after school! Life is a negotiation...full with bribes, swords and ice cream!

Amelia knows me very well...someday she will do the same!

I took the kids to Ruby's for lunch over the weekend and Roman ordered a hot dog, Amelia ordered a corn dog. Their food came and Roman proceeded to cry saying he wanted a corn dog. I immediately took a deep breath and told him that he should have ordered a corn dog and next time he can get one. He kept up with his crying and I kept up with my deep breathing. I took one last deep breath and said...Amelia....she was eating her french fries...she did not even look up or stop chewing...she just said NO! I know what you are going to ask. She was right, I was going to ask her to share with her brother, I realized that wasn't going to work so I made Roman order a corn dog and we brought the hot dog home for later. I know someday Amelia will do the same thing with her kids.

The Red Dragons won again!

Well, I have to admit I LOVE soccer...Amelia actually likes it too! I always said that I never wanted to be a soccer mom, the thought of going to practices and standing around in the heat, and cutting up oranges sounded like no fun for me. However, Amelia's friend, Makayla plays and Borys played. Amelia recently went through a I want to learn to do everything phase so I asked her if she wanted to play....she said yes so I figured we would give it a try. Now, her first practice I thought no way I want to go...I made Borys take Amelia to practice & Roman tagged along. The second practice I figured there was no way I wanted to go on a Sunday morning in the cold & mud (although Roman loved getting into the mudd) so I declined to go said Annelise was tired and I relaxed for an hour of me time. Well, then she had her first game and I had to go because now she gets to wear the cute little uniform and she got up to put it on at 6am! Shin gaurds and all! So, off we went to find where they were going to play for a half hour we finally found it at Pierce College and right after I set-up my chair Amelia scored her first goal. Now, I am not sure if she knew that she scored or if it was an accident because she didn't react much. However, she did do it again at her second game & then again yesterday at her third game. I have to admit when I am not talking to the other moms about bible camp, swimming lessons, teachers, etc. I do pay attention and I recently have found myself laughing at some of the things that have happened. For instance, my friend yelled out to hit another player (she realized what she said & corrected herself by saying get aggressive), or when some other mother was holding Annelise and Annelise proceeded to spit up all over this poor woman. The woman than asked me if I was nursing or if it was formula...how do you answer that one? Nursing & yes, that is part of me that just landed on your leg. She was very nice about it, but still awkward. Anyways, the point is Amelia likes soccer and I do too!

Amelia started soccer! Red Dragons!

Amelia has started soccer and she is playing on the Red Dragon Team with her friend Makayla. So far she really enjoys it and we will see how it goes. Unfortunately, now we have practices and games to work our schedules around, and Roman of course always wants to go and kick a ball so it is going to be a busy Spring! Wish us luck!

You will LIVE Amelia!

Amelia and Roman were in the tub last night and Amelia bumped against the wall and hurt her lip. She was CRYING!!! I said to Roman to ask her if she was ok and if he could do something to make it better. I was trying make him stop and notice someone in pain & to help them especially since they are siblings. He stopped and looked at her and said, "You will LIVE Amelia!" He then proceeded to pick his nose and offer her his bugger! I guess he kind of got the point of it, and she was being VERY dramatic. When he offered her his bugger she did calm down and thankfully she did not accept it!

"If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything." Mark Twain

Amelia is definitely learning & developing her story telling skills. Yesterday, Amelia gave in to the temptation to color on Dana's dining room table. This is really strange for Amelia to do something like this, and my only thought is that she has been battling the cold the other two have been & she was out of sorts. Well, she then proceeded to go and get my sister and point out the coloring & said "look at what Everett did!" Her only error in this statement was that Everett was not home to do it. My sister asked her she was lying and Amelia quite skillfully looked her in the eye & said she didn't that Everett did. My sister asked her one more time & she confessed! Thankfully, she did reveal the truth, but I think she is trying to see how far she can push it.

It is all about TIMING!

Last night Amelia decided that she wants a.....BUNNY! She asked me if she could get one and I said it was a family decision and needed to be decided on as a family. I tried to get out of it with the typical questions of who will take care of it, will she clean up after it, feed it. She proceeded to tell me that we can get a box for the bunny's poops and she would definitely feed it. She is so persistent so I said what I have been saying a lot lately..."you will have to ask your dad" I thought I was in the clear because her dad was at the Red Wings Game....I was WRONG she got her phone and proceeded to call him. I tried to explain to her that asking him when he was at the hockey game was the wrong idea. I said she might be more successful if she asked him when they are snuggling watching television or after a day at the park.
It rang and rang...voicemail...."Daddy, I need to talk to you about a bunny!"
Good he didn't answer...I am safe I thought, well...he called back a half hour later. Amelia answered the phone and said she had to talk to him...."Daddy, I have to ask you a question? Can I get a bunny?" I could hear the noise in the background and I was holding my breath that he would not say YES just because he couldn't hear...thankfully, they didn't' score at that moment and thankfully, he said NO. She actually thought she could get a quick YES out of him. She is so smart. After he said NO, he said "you have pets Amelia you have fish" She said that she doesn't like fish because she can't cuddle with them. At least, she knows what her likes & dislikes are....well, then Roman decided that he wants a lion! I finally got them off of the phone by telling them that we could eat the rabbit that it just tastes like chicken...that comment led her to full tears. Oops, it was just a joke! I said maybe we could get a dog...these are my kids....they said NO we are scared of dogs! I was so relieved that I averted the bunny conversation for another week or so, last month she wanted a cat! Thank you, honey for not saying YES to the bunny, but I have to hand it to Amelia she was persistent.

Happy 9th Birthday Grant!

We celebrated Grant's (my nephew & the kids' cousin) 9th birthday on Sunday night. We had a great time and Grant enjoyed celebrating with his friend from his cab to school, Daniel. It was so nice to see Grant being social and interactive even thou he ran to his room after everyone sang Happy Birthday. Grant is high-functioning autistic and simple things to some are a challenge to Grant. However, Grant is doing well, and the fact that he had a friend he made at school at his party was wonderful. It struck me as so funny when Grant asked to hold Annelise and to show her to Daniel's brother and he was asking him if he thought she was cute? However, then out of the blue Grant says "I am allergic to cats!" I guess Annelise reminded him of a cat or something, but it cracked me up!
Daniel has become a good friend to Grant. They ride in the cab together and Daniel is in the 7th grade. They both have an interest in DS Nintendo Games and Poke-mon. Grant has come a long way in the past year. I was amazed the other night when he was in his room with the door closed and when I knocked he said "come in". It was a moment when you think wow, that wouldn't have happened before. Anyways, it was a fun night of birthday wishes!

Can your kid do this?

Borys happen to have taken this picture of Roman & no, it was not Halloween he we just wearing the costume around the house. He definitely has a sense of humor and often tries to get people to laugh. Roman definitely knows how to manipulate his mommy and Amelia is the brain behind a lot of their little plans to tug at my heart strings. They both amaze me daily and Amelia has blossomed lately. She has her own phone...yes, I can't believe that we did it, but we got her a phone...correction...Santa got the phone with a phone book and know we can be surprised by her phone calls....14 of them actually the day she got it. She called her Aunt Dana & cousin Helena 14 times in 20 minutes with several updates about her day. I have since instructed her that she needs to ask me when she wants to call people and so I can check that it ends up back on the hook. However, she is great with numbers now & has most people's phone numbers memorized...then again, it might be due to the fact that she has placed high frequency of calls.

We had a great Uki Christmas in Palm Desert, I stopped by to see dear old friend, Jason St. John. I have not seen in him in at least 14 years. I was great and the kids had fun playing with Drew...possibly a little too much fun. Drew ended up needing a cast on his foot after jumping to Momma Mia with Amelia & Roman. Poor little guy - who knew that Momma Mia was so dangerous, maybe it is just my kids that are?