Nothing Special

There's not really anything special to report here today. It seems that when I have a witty moment or a great picture, it gets pushed aside because of some disaster/melt down/ issue/mealtime... I guess my family eating IS more important than me blogging.

Halloween is over and the kids had a great time. They each collected a full bucket of candy and donated a good portion of their goodies to a local dentist. Said dentist gave out $1 for every pound. Six dollars later, we drove to the Humane Society because the boys wanted to donate their new found money "for the puppies and kitties". Sometimes they just amaze me.

Speaking of puppies and kitties. Right now we are dog sitting Scooby and Pele the cat. It drives me crazy to sit here and work while I listen to the dog snore in the back ground. What a life. Right now she's curled up on the couch looking very snug. She's not supposed to BE on the couch but moving her does no good. She just hops right back up. Listens about as well as the kids sometimes.

And on to the kids. Our activities have slowed down considerably. Football is over. BMX racing is over. Swim lessons were full so we'll have to wait until next session. All we have right now is Colin's boyscouts. That keeps us busy enough for the moment. Did I mention that he sold $1,100 in popcorn? He had the 5th highest sales of the entire pack (80+ boys). Not bad for a six year old boy that did not get a lot of help from mom and dad. He asked to go out nearly every day and sell. Who could resist buying from this kid?

He also took 3rd place in the Rain gutter Regatta. Not sure what the point of the whole thing was, but he was excited so we were excited for him.

I'm finding it hard to fill my afternoons with Camden. It seems that my work is slowing down so that is good. The tv is on more than I would like. He still loves to do crafts and make crazy creations but there is always a huge mess if he is left unsupervised. He does a good job of "cleaning" but it's never quite clean. The mop usually needs to be brought out and at the very least the broom.

He starts gymnastics today so that should help with our boredom. We're pretty sure that next year we'll go ahead and put him in full day kindergarten. If we did half day, I would just have to find more activities for him in the afternoon. He'll be one of the oldest in his class anyway and I think he is ready.

It's snowing today. There's not much snow on the ground. It has just been dusting all morning. Of course the boys use it as a great excuse for hot chocolate. I can't say that I mind. After all, I make enough for me too.

Just last week we were in short sleeve shirt raking leaves outside. We have had a stellar fall season this year. This is really the first cold day we have had. The fact that it is Nov. 11 and it's the first snow is pretty amazing. Last year it snowed the second week of October and never let up. Here's to the nice weather we are leaving behind.

On a final note, as I was getting dressed the other day Camden made this comment to me, "Mom, you are so 1980's." Now where in the world did he get that from?!

Camden is Five!

I can’t believe my baby is 5 years old. Halloween always reminds me of the time right before he was born. The story goes a little something like this….(yes, it’s a long one…)

When I was pregnant with Cam, I had an OB appointment on my birthday, September 13. We lived in KC at the time and Steve was in Chicago. My mom had to come out to visit me for my birthday.

I brought a friend, Carrie, along to my appointment as I thought I was having blood drawn. Since I always pass out at blood draws, I thought it would be good to have someone else drive home. My appointment went fine and I did not have blood drawn. At the end of the appointment the Dr. noticed me trying to catch my breath. At times, I felt like I had a side stitch and just couldn’t breathe. Since I did not have Braxton Hicks with Colin, I just figured that’s what I was feeling. The Dr. was not too happy about this, asked me about my symptoms, left the room and came back in with hospital admission papers. I didn’t want to go to the hospital. I didn’t want to leave Colin at home. But I also didn’t want to risk Camden being born 8 weeks early. I knew the Dr.’s would take care of me, but I was scared. Funny thing is, when I was admitted, the nurses told me that I would probably go home in a few hours since they see “false” preterm labor all the time. They hooked me up to the monitors, talking in hushed voices and brought in a cart full of meds. The first med they gave me made me so hot I felt like I was on fire. The second med they gave me chilled me to the bone. It is such a strange feeling when these meds go through your body. You can literally feel them crawling through your veins. I’m not sure which was which, but I had a med to help stop the contractions and a med to help Cam’s lungs develop. My sis, Roxanna, stayed with me until Steve got there. I was just scared to be there alone.

I spent 5 days in the hospital hooked up and drugged up. The next 3 weeks were spent on bed rest. Keep in mind that I had a toddler at home. Grandma was able to stay and take care of Colin, but watching him from couch about killed me. I literally had to lie on my back every second of every day. I was not allowed to get up except to go to the bathroom and shower. Camden was due on Nov. 4. On October 14 the Dr. lifted my “total” bed rest restrictions. Cam was born on October 15.

Looking back on things, I am so glad I followed the Dr.’s orders.. I know Camden would have come into the world even earlier. He couldn’t wait to come into this world. He has been running ever since. He is so hard to keep up with. He craves constant movement and entertainment. He is such a joy and a crackup. Every day he makes me laugh out loud. Every day he makes me want to pull my hair out. Every day he makes me cringe at his dare devil acts. Every day he wants me to snuggle with him at night. Every day he gives me joy. Every day he pulls at my heart.
You are a sweet (stubborn) little boy. I am so lucky to have you in my life. You mean the world to our family. I am so blessed that God gave us you!

Almost Fall

As I sit here looking at all of my Halloween decorations, I am realizing that I seem to have time to post on my blog about once a season. Try as I might, I just can't seem to get to it as often as I would like. It's certainly not for lack of blog worthy tales to tell. We have plenty of those around the Silva house.

Here's just a few events as of late:

Colin finally made it to school without crying. It was Friday. The Friday that he earned his last puzzle piece for at least holding it together until he got on the bus. We'll see what Monday holds.

Camden started pre-k. He was so excited. Just skipped away from me with no issues. That's a nice change.

I just booked a four day trip to Las Vegas with Steve. Grandma is going to come and watch the boys. I am already nervous for her. I am nervous for me. I am nervous for anyone that will encounter my kids while I am gone. Will the become hooligans? Only time will tell.

I have picked up the same toys 493 times over the last month. I am so tired of kid stuff I could scream.

I love my kids. Really I do. But it seems impossible to have any space for myself. I am constantly picking up things as I go upstairs, as I come downstairs, going out to the garage.....

Oh, here are said kids home from a birthday party now. Blog time is over.
:-(

Where in the World is the Silva Family?

The better question would be where haven't we been this summer?

The kids and I have not had a lot of time to do our standard "summer time" activities (zoo, park, splash park, sand box at the mall). Since the summer started off with a bang (i.e., Disney World) we have had a hard time topping that activity.

We have done a lot of fun things this summer but I feel like the time has gotten away from me. In a few short weeks Colin will be off to first grade. I feel like this is the beginning of the end. I am very apprehensive and trying extremely hard not to show it. My first concern is that having school for most of the day and then after school actives like soccer and karate will eat up all the time that I have with him. Now he tells me he also wants to be in gymnastics (thanks KS cousins) and try Boy Scouts. There is no humanly way possible to fit all of this into each week.

My other concern is how Camden is going to handle Colin being gone. We had a conversation at the dinner that a few weeks ago about marriage. My oldest niece, Larissa, got married on July 24. I was explaining (prior to the wedding) why people get married. I told the boys that hopefully they will marry someone that they are friends with first. They would grow to love them and then get married and live with their spouse for the rest of your lives. Camden asked if he could marry Colin. He absolutely loves his brother! Don't get me wrong, they have their moments. But all in all, they are good to each other. Camden is going to fall to pieces when he understands that Colin is going to be gone all day every day. It is going to be up to me to entertain him. At this point I have Cam enrolled in pre-k M/W/F for 2 1/2 hours. I am seriously considering putting him in gymnastics and soccer during the day to give him something to do while Colin is at school. There are going to be a lot of tears all the way around come August 18.

So, what have we been up to lately? We have been camping a few times in Estes Park. We got to spend time with our cousins from Charleston and from Aurora.

The boys did the Sizzler Run in Lafayette.

Went to the lake with friends.

We have gone on our typical bike rides, played a outside and have just been hanging out. We've made a handful of trips to various outdoor pools with friends and finished up t-ball. We went to KS to see Larissa get married and then stayed for a week visiting my sister, Roxanne, and Steve's family. It was a great time!

The boys learned all kinds of gymnastics moves from Tom and Steff's girls. It's a bit scary to watch Colin and Cam attempt handstands and somersaults when they have absolutely no idea what they are doing.

While we were in KS we went to the Hutchinson Salt Mine. I highly recommend it if you are ever in the area. The boys loved the tour and talked non-stop about the adventure. They have old costumes and movie reels stored down there. The kids loved seeing the costumes.

We also swam at my Aunt Sharon's house (which I also highly recommend) and the kids evidently tore into the candy in the basement and went over their yearly allotment of sugar in just one afternoon.

I don't have a whole lot of witty things to say right now. I am tired from general summer responsibilities and and currently faced with the task of what to fix for dinner. I guess if that is the extent of my problems, I am not so bad of, right? Oh, and Colin lost his first tooth this week.

Very exciting!

Disney 2010!!!

Needless to say, I owe you all a very long update. I'm going to skip all the backlog, and just bring you up to speed on most recent events. Guess where we went?!?

A few weeks ago we went to Disney World with Steve's family. We had a magical time! From the moment we stepped foot onto the Disney grounds, our boys were in heaven! We had such a wonderful week. Despite late nights (never went to bed before 11:30pm) and early mornings (we woke the kids up every morning - YIKES!) we had a super week. The boys had such great behavior. We experienced a week of pure bliss and joy without a single melt down. Yes folks, you heard right. We took our kids to Disney World and they did not cry once! No, we did not give them everything they wanted and they did not get to eat ice cream for every meal. We kept our spending within reason and had a Popsicle once a day. They were just so in awe of everything around them. They took in all the sights, played with their cousins, talked with Grandma Silva and Aunt Patti. They had so much attention from everyone (including Mommy and Daddy) they never needed for anything. Disney is truly a magical place!

After long week and the trip home, I asked the boys about their favorite parts. Colin liked Space Mountain and swimming in the pool everyday.

Camden liked Splash Mountain (he was a little too small for Space Mountain) and seeing Tinkerbell at the Magic Kingdom fireworks. We saw the fireworks by mistake. It was getting late one night and I decided I was going to take Camden back to the hotel. To my surprise, he did not insist on staying so I knew he was tired. I started walking back with him and then realized that we could not get through the crowd. W got as far as we could. That happened to be right in front of the castle! The fireworks started and I had a feeling that Tink was going to be a part of the show. I held him as we stopped and watched. The kid has tears in his eyes as Tink flew from the castle to chase away Captain Hook. It was one of the sweetest moments ever.

We went to Turtle Talk with Crush in Epcot. Cam was picked to "talk" to Crush. He is the total opposite of shy. He stood right up, told Crush a joke and got the whole crowd laughing. He couldn't have been more proud of himself.

We happened to be in Disney on a Star Wars weekend. Colin (and Cam) got to make their own light sabers out of different parts and pieces. I thought Colin was going to flip out over meeting Chewbacca. It was so magical for him.

The entire week was one that I would love to relive a hundred times over. It was hot and sunny but we made it through. Some days we went back in the afternoon to the hotel to cool off. Other days went hit the pool. One day the kids napped. We were always able to find a cool place when we needed to and a place to sit.

Thanks Grandma Silva for a once in a lifetime experience. I will let the pictures speak for themselves.

Nightmares, Playground Fun and Lunch

The last two nights we have had a kid in bed with us in the middle of the night. Not that I mind. However, it's hard to sleep with feet in your back and a snoring husband. When Colin came in on Wednesday night, he was TERRIFIED. We asked him what his dream was about. He said he dreamt that his head exploded and he died. Hmm, that's pretty graphic. As he continued to explain, he sounded like he was going to hyperventilate. We don't let the kids watch scary shows or play rough video games. Tom and Jerry is about as violent as it gets around here. However, after playing an exhausting round of Super Mario Bro. Wii last night, I think I have discovered where the fear came from. Those little dudes explode all over the place. They spit fire, throw ice and kick butt in general. It's a "cute" violent, so I never thought it would have much affect. Guess I was wrong. Thank you Super Mario Bro. Wii for giving my child the type of nightmare that he will probably never forget.

Now onto to nightmare #2. Camden came into bed last night. He was crying and sad. His nightmare was very easy to decipher. Here's some background on our day yesterday.

It has been raining nonstop since yesterday morning. When we walked to the bus stop yesterday, there were worms all over the sidewalk. Camden was fascinated. He picked up worms along the way and wanted to take them home. I assured him that there were plenty of worms at our house and if he really needed a worm, we could get one when we got back from school.

While I was at a Dr.'s appointment yesterday, Steve stayed home with the boys. They did an experiment for school where they had to boil and egg, peel it, look at it and taste it. Not too tough but a little creepy in my opinion. Colin's class has an incubator in their room. They are trying to hatch 12 chicks. They have been talking about the life cycle of a chicken. I have tried to shield the kids from the fact that the cute little chicks will actually become dinner to someone someday. I guess their teacher has a different plan. Since the end result of the egg experiment was to eat the egg, Camden put two and two together. The cute little eggs and the cute little chicks become dinner.

Back to his nightmare. He came in crying and asked is worms really pecked holes into the chicken eggs and then ate them. He was wailing as he said this. Thank goodness it was dark as I know that my face would not have implied empathy at that point. He morphed to major parts of our day into his nightmare. I will be surprised if I can ever get him to eat chicken again.

On a side note, we were at a park over the weekend and a bratty 7ish year old girl told the boys that Santa was not real. Can I just tell you that I wanted to kick sand at her? (Yes, I refrained.) Steve and I managed to cover, but still. Someone must have really wronged that kid at some point. She was cussing and fussing the whole time we were at the park. She was just mean.

Also, while we were at the park, Camden took a super dive into the side of a metal slide. I am not sure how that happened but it left a pretty big goose egg on his head. Steve was with him and I did not hear even a single whimper from across the park. As Steve and I traded off kids, I noticed that Camden's hair was sticking up on his forehead. I lifted his hair and immediately got, "I'm okay" from him. It was a big goose egg so I was surprised that I did not hear him cry. When I questioned Steve about it, he said that Camden didn't cry at all. He rubbed his head for a second, scrunched up his face and said, "I'm okay." Then he started playing again. I guess after two sets of stitches, a set of staples and a round of dermabond, Camden decided that he needed to play it cool when getting injured. I told him last time that if he had to go back to the ER, it was coming out of his allowance. He must really want that Lego that he is saving up for.

You can barely see what is left of the black bruise (which has now turned green) on his forehead. On the other side, you can see the scar that he keeps cutting open. At some point, they will not be able to put Humpty Dumpty back together again.

Last random comment. On Wednesday, I asked the boys what they wanted for lunch. They both decided they wanted to make their own lunch. Who am I to stand in the way of their Independence? Here's what they came up with. Yum.

Silliness

Just a few silly comments made by my kids over the last few days.

On Easter Sunday it was very cold and windy. I just did not seem right to let the day go by without actually being outside. Somehow I just feel closer to God when I am outside. So, we were all outside freezing when Cam comes over to ask me if he can water the flowers. I decided it wouldn't do any harm to let him play with the water hose for a few minutes. As I turned around I saw him with the hose pointed directly at his belly. He was soaking wet! "Camden, what are you doing?", I yelled. "Mom, I'm just watering myself so that I can grow." Hmm, that boy is pretty logical.

Today on the way home from school Camden was telling me all about the birds and the clouds. He was having a full conversation back there in the van all by himself. "Mom", he says, " God sure is imaginative." "What? " Since I know that a four year old should not know the word imaginative. "You know, he has a really good imagination to be able to come up with all of these things.", Camden explains. I guess I just got schooled on what four year olds should know these days.

Every night before bed Colin and I play silly games with his stuffed animals. He reminds me so much of myself when I was his age. It just such a good memory to be able to share with him. We line up his "guys" and wrap them in blankets, serve them a snack, read them books. It's just so cute to see him expressing himself though his stuffed animals.

Today we were getting ready to go outside. He brought down some of his stuffed animals and lined them up on the couch. He then drew a very detailed picture of each animal and the order in which they were sitting. When I asked what he was doing, he said that he wanted to see if any of the animals moved to a different spot while he was outside. He had a - in his words - "sneaking suspicion" that the animals played while he was at school. "Well of course they do," I said. He raised one eyebrow at me and went outside. Guess who moved the animals prior to going outside with the boys? You should have seen the look on Colin's face when he came back inside! Priceless.