Pretty good . . . for Grant.

Grant went to Cubbies tonight while the rest of us went grocery shopping. I am still so love/hate toward Waremart (Winco). I love that I can get Stove Top for 98¢ or less, but I hate having to bag my own groceries at the end. How in the world did we fit all of those groceries in the cart in the first place when we can't fit them in after they are bagged??

Also, the timing sounds okay, but in reality maybe it isn't. The reason we go shopping on Wednesday night is so that we don't have to take Grant who is too big for the cart and too young to just walk beside me. Sometimes a leash is tempting. The drawback to Wednesday nights is that we have a short window of time to run around the store (in a very methodical fashion) before rushing back to Dallas to pick up Grant. Our window shrinks significantly when we bump into friends who are also using the small window to do their shopping (since their kids are in Awana, too). It shrinks even more when Mitch bumps into a client.

[sigh] Mitch runs into people everywhere we go. It is kind of fun, but a bit frustrating at times. People want to talk insurance in the middle of the grocery store with the ketchup staring them in the face. Give me a break!! To Mitch's defense, he did try to hint that we were in a bit of a rush, but he is just so stinking polite. I never would have commented about the deer and rabbits congregating on the client's property. I think I would have said, "So nice to see you! Gotta rush off!! Hope to catch you again sometime." Maybe that is why I am not in the insurance industry. People want to work with someone who cares. Mitch certainly does. Empathy is not a big spiritual gift of mine, though. Pretty sure it was at the bottom of the list. That doesn't mean that I don't care. It just means that I don't always "see" the problem. And really . . . if you just stopped feeding the bunnies and deer on a regular basis, they will either find their own food or die just as God intended.

By the way, the gals at Cubbies said that Grant was "Pretty good . . . for Grant." What in the world does that mean? He is a good boy. He knows what correct behavior is like. He obeys excellently. My goodness, threaten the kid!! He WILL behave. His sweet (young) table leader said that she has only ever seen his active side (aka. obnoxious side). Seriously, I think I will go put the smack down on that kid next week at Cubbies. Time to open up a can . . . (WWF reference from my days as a 7th grade teacher. My boys were obsessed with The Rock.)

No Cubbies

Well, Grant didn't get to go to Cubbies. Mitch went out with some friends (wonderful friends who lift him up and encourage him in his faith), so I stayed home with both boys.

Cole's bedtime is usually 6:30, which is why we haven't been able to do small groups this term. When he was younger (months 3-5), we tried it, but the nursery workers had to hold a very fussy Cole the entire time. I had mercy on him and them and decided to just do small groups next fall. We still send Grant to Cubbies, though, so Cole doesn't really get to go to bed right at 6:30 (since that is when we drop Grant off). Actually, since the "Is it even worth it?" incident, we have been going grocery shopping every other week during Cubbies. Cole is fine as long as we keep moving, and I don't have to fight Grant throughout the trip. Another bonus is that since we only go grocery shopping twice a month, we spend WAY less on groceries. And . . . our pantry and refrigerator get even cleaner!!

Anyway, I figured that it would be easier to just stay home with the boys than to drop Grant off, put Cole to bed, wake him up at 8:00 and pick Grant up. So, Grant won't get the perfect attendance award. Bummer.

On a slightly related note, Cole may be allergic to eggs at this point in his life. My friend Janet's daughter was allergic to eggs and would vomit when she ate them (even in birthday cake). I knew this when I tried eggs on Cole a few weeks back. He seemed to like them, but I don't know how many he actually ate (since I found a ton in his seat). I fed him eggs for lunch yesterday and put him to bed. When he woke up, I noticed a large amount of spit-up on his blankets. Not enough to consider "vomit", but enough to have to wash all of his bedding. Later, I had just finished reading Curious George to Grant and Katie when Cole, who was sitting on my lap, projectile vomitted all over himself, me (down the front, between the legs, down to the knees - and keep in mind that I am sitting) and the carpet. (So, now we have room #2 that needs to have the carpets cleaned. One more room to dirty and I will call the carpet cleaner.) Katie's mom was due to arrive any minute, so I just sort of stood there wondering what in the world I was supposed to do. Thankfully, my knight in a shining green Dodge pickup pulled into the driveway. Mitch had stopped in to change his clothes before meeting his friends. I had a chance to strip myself (even my underwear was wet with puke!!) and Cole and hop in the shower with my pukey boy. Cole was happy as a clam!!

Well . . . the end of the story is that I put Cole to bed at 5:30 instead of 6:30. He didn't know the difference. Grant watched Madagascar while I watched Episode 1 of Survivor Fiji on my computer. Then, Grant and I played Buzz Lightyear games (on disney.com) and Clifford games (on pbs.org) until 8:00. I was lonely, so I didn't put Grant to bed. Instead we watched Episode 2 of Survivor Fiji and ate Girl Scout Cookies. At 9:00, Mitch walked in the door and caught me allowing Grant to stay up!! I had no idea he would be home so early. We talked, played and wrestled until 9:40 when we finally put Grant to bed.

Oh, and Cole is fine.

[sigh] A gal asked me this morning how my little family is doing. I told her, "I just love my little family!!" I am constantly in awe of the gifts God has given me in my husband and two sons. Amazing love!!

(Thank goodness for "mommy memory". I can overlook the puke.)

Lost

My friend Erin C. has been watching seasons 1 and 2 of Lost on DVD. I was never into Lost. I watched it once, didn't understand it, and then just decided that I didn't want to get sucked into a new show.

We got rid of TV a few weeks back and had been enjoying quiet evenings as a family. Then, we visited Tim and Sara. They loaned us Seasons 1 and 2. Mitch said he was not at all interested in watching Lost, but he joined me in watching episode 1. He was officially hooked. We watched the whole first DVD that night (4 episodes) and then worked our way through both seasons in a matter of about 2 weeks. It has been so much fun!! Now, we are working through season 3 (the current season) by watching episodes on the internet! So much for no TV!

I have no idea how people can watch this show week to week. Too much anticipation!! I would explode!

I may follow Erin's lead and work on 24 or Grey's Anatomy or something like that next. (Of course, Mitch says he had no interest . . blah, blah, blah.) Any recommendations?

Gearing up for Cubbies

I have to tell you all what happened last Wednesday. It was Valentine's Day and we didn't have any big out-of-the-ordinary plans. Then, Katie shows up at the door looking adorable, as always, with a flower for me, a balloon for Grant, juice for her class party and a bag of valentines for her classmates. After dropping her off at school, I figured I had better get my act together as a mom and go get some valentines for Grant's friends. Yeah, you can buy valentines for a buck, but I figured that Grant would love "Cars" valentines and candy. I wanted to be the popular mom whose kid brings fun goodies for his friends. Yeah, it was a total mommy-ego thing. So, I bought "Cars" valentines and candy for $6.50. Keep in mind that I wasn't planning to buy anything, so this was a pretty penny to spend on something that is just going to be eaten and tossed.

Since we had the valentines, we had to go to Dallas Indoor Park to get rid of them. I always say that I am not going to go to the DIP holiday parties because they are so chaotic, but I always end up going anyway. I had enough time to rush home, write, "Love Grant" on the bags of candy, and rush back out to Indoor Park. The party was actually not too crazy, plus I got to see some friends, so it was a good thing that we went. Grant handed out some of his candy and ate a lot more.

That night, while dinner (frozen pizza) was in the oven, I pulled out the "Cars" valentines. I put them all together (temporary tatoo goes into the little slots, heart sticker holds them closed) and wrote to "my friend", love "Grant" on 35 valentines. We put them in a special bag with his leftover candy from DIP and I gave him instructions to make sure he hands them out to his friends at Cubbies. No problem, mom.

At 8:00pm, I picked Grant up from Awana. As I walked into the Cubbies room, the leader walked up to me with a frazzled look on her face and said, "This guy. Oh!! He was crazy tonight. Just ran wild." Short phrases. Frantic gasps for air. Yikes!! She walked away and I walked over to his table to talk to his table leader (who happens to be a friend) and asked if he was really bad. "Well, all of the kids were pretty crazy tonight, but yeah, he just wanted to run around all night." Oh boy.

Oh, and the valentines were not handed out. He brought home one valentine from another kid, but the rest of the valentines in his bag were from Grant.

We went home to "deal" with the problem. The tough part is that I take his misbehavior so personally. Like it is a reflection on me! You know that when you see a kid who is acting like a freak you think, "Well, their parents are not doing their job!" Yes, I promise we are doing our job and doing our best. Sometimes the kid is just plain obnoxious regardless of what the parents do. The first time Grant didn't say his verse at Cubbies I was so upset. I started getting mad at him and had to bite my tongue. I was seriously on the verge of tears asking him why he didn't just say it for his teacher. He KNEW it, so why didn't he cooperate. I have since gotten over it. Don't worry. (Let's blame that little episode on hormones, okay?) Well, this time, I thought about the expense of the valentines that he didn't hand out, the time I put into preparing the valentines, and the look on the leader's face when she expressed her frustration with my child's behavior . . . which was probably my fault since I let him eat all of that sugar at Indoor Park. Argh!!

So, Cubbies is on Wednesday. We have been talking about his behavior at Cubbies for days and reminding him that he must obey his teacher. We are debating about whether one of us should stay and help out (if that is an option for us) so we can monitor Grant's behavior. I'll let you know how it goes!

Here I come!!

Cole has been on the verge of crawling for quite some time. For the past couple of weeks I have been saying, "He can crawl." He wasn't very efficient at it, but he could get to his destination eventually. Today I announce, "Cole is crawling!"

BIG difference. Some moms proudly announce to everyone that their baby started rolling over at 2 weeks. Well, yeah, but it was probably a fluke. Cole rolled over 3 times one afternoon when he was 2 weeks old. He didn't do it again until he was 2 months old. (And Grant didn't do it at all until 5 1/2 months!) No, I would not say that my baby was rolling over at 2 weeks. He rolled. Period. He was officially "rolling" at 3 months.

So, now that you know my criteria (kind of), you can trust me when I say that Cole is crawling!!

A Day With the Girls!!

I had the most marvelous day today. For the first time since Grant was born, I had an entire day to myself without any kids or husband. I left the house at 8:00am and took a beautiful drive from Dallas to Newberg. I met up with some friends in my old neighborhood and then drove on up to Hillsboro to meet another friend and do some shopping at Tanasbourne. It was awesome!! We ate lunch at Chevys and enjoyed some great girl/mommy talk back at a friend's house. It is so nice to be reminded that I am not the only one going through rough times in mommyhood.

So often I am surrounded by other moms who want to project the image that everything is wonderful and perfect. It makes those of us who struggle feel like there is something wrong with us and maybe we should just check ourselves into an insane asylum. Thankfully, my "Newberg friends" are REAL!! Their friendship means so much to me. We have made a renewed commitment to get together more often and I look forward to seeing them again.

Mitch watched the boys today and was thinking about taking them to the sportsman show. I nixed that idea!! I told him that what I really wanted him to do was stay home like I do every day (especially since they have runny noses) and feel the pain. So, Mitch calls me after lunch (they went to Burger King) and says that things are going great. I thought, "You just wait, buster!!" Oh, and Cole took formula from a bottle. "Oh, really?" I asked in a surprised voice. "Why do you sound so surprised?" he asked. "Well, he doesn't really take formula or a bottle," I replied. "And you left me here with him knowing that he might not take a bottle??" I'm so evil.

Mitch called me later in the day and said, "I've had such a great time. I don't know why you think this is so hard." Are you kidding me?? I told him that I did not want to hear that things were going so well!! He thought I would be happy. I said, "Well, that is great! Then you can do this more often." Now that I have had some time to calm down, I realize the wisdom of those words spoken in the heat of the moment. Yes, Mitch can do this more often. When I arrived home at 5:00, the house was clean, the boys were happy and Mitch was beaming. He said that he had such a fun time with the boys that he wants to fly solo with the kids more often. [hear the chorus of angels?]

What a wonderful day!! This is a breakthrough for us. Cole is not as attached as we thought he was, Grant behaved wonderfully and Mitch got a ton of stuff done around the house while enjoying the company of his children. And . . . mom got a much deserved break!!

Time for some tea

Some days you just need to make yourself a cup of tea. Today is one of those days. I know I told everyone that I would not whine anymore, so I won't burden you with my frustrations. Let me just say, Grant needs to either spend some time with Grandma (hint, hint!!) or Mitch needs to take me to Hawaii. Either way, I will be a much better mommy when normal life resumes. In the meantime, some tea in a nice, pretty little cup and saucer will have to serve as escapism.

Notice the little details in this picture. It was taken a moment ago in my office . . . actually it is the man room and it has a computer in it. Never mind that I'm the one who uses it the most! You'll notice the binoculars, of course. Look behind the picture of my precious Grant with his daddy and you'll see the scope, too. Mitch is a birdwatcher, and yes, the coaster with the chickadees on it is accurate. My tea is perched atop a MomSense magazine. This is my MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) magazine that gives me all kinds of encouragement in this stage of my life. The tea is in one of my white mugs and of course you can see my lipstick. I just put it on in an attempt to freshen up and look a little less frantic. Mitch came home for a quick lunch and he saw the "real" me. No lipstick and hair tweaking out every which way. Frenzied. (And Mitch, just because I want to share the joy: after you left Grant never did fall asleep, but he trashed his room for me. Cole's nap was incredibly short. The house is a mess, AGAIN and I'm not sweeping up the popcorn kernels. I'm gonna let you do that!)

I need to drink that tea now.

Twin Rocks

Yesterday, we decided to head over to the coast. We hadn't planned to see Tim and Sara, but we had hoped that they would be available to visit with us and show us around their turf. When I called from Tillamook, they were excited that we had dropped in! (whew!) They met us at the cheese factory where we just HAD to buy some Tillamook cheese (not that we don't buy it every week anyway . . . ) and then Tim and Sara led us back to one of their favorite restaurants. After a satisfying bowl of clam chowder, they took us to see their little apartment at Twin Rocks Friends Camp and Conference Center. What a great little place to live as newlyweds. It was bigger than our first place and came fully furnished!! (Some of you may recall our tiny little starter apartment. Great memories!!)

They took us on a tour of the camp and it was fun to see some of the landmarks that I have always envisioned from my childhood when Dad spoke at high school camps. A lot has changed, but the room where I accepted Jesus as my Savior is still there (Dad was the speaker that night). The craft shack is also still there. I remember sitting with Mom and Jen learning how to etch glass while watching the big kids play a field game on the muddy field. I saw the little cabins that we stayed in as the speaker's family. Jen, that little cove of trees that we kept circling around the night of the councelor hunt is right outside Tim's door. I remember speaking loudly enough for the hidden councelors to hear, "It would be so great if we could find a councelor so we can earn some money to spend at Disneyland. We really need some money for Disneyland." Poor, pathetic, little beggers.

We've made plans to return in the spring with the Lusk family and some time in the summer, too. I want my kids to have some of those same memories of camp that I have. It is so awesome to have family members working at two of the camps that I have such fond memories of. Matt and Jen Lusk (my sister) work at Quaker Meadow Christian Camp where Matt is the Camp Manager. That camp had a HUGE impact on my life and we plan to send our kids to camp there when they are old enough, even though it is in California!! Camp ministry is near and dear to our hearts!

It was a cold and wet day at the coast, but Grant insisted that we run on the beach. We took his shoes and socks off in the hopes that he would get cold and want to go back to the car right away. (See earlier blog about the snow days.) Nope, didn't work. After running non-stop for about 20 minutes, we finally convinced him to get back in the car. It was a great day!!

Princess Katie

On Wednesdays and Fridays I watch a 4 year old little girl named Katie. She is absolutely beautiful and she knows it!! She is such a girly girl that she fills whatever void I might have in a house full of boys. She has long, wavy, beautiful blond hair and an angelic face. Princess Katie!!

One of the things I love about having Katie around is that she and Grant get along so well. She has such an imagination and has taught Grant so much about imaginative play. They play house and store, of course, but also cars and hide and go seek. They play in the dirt together and dance to Barbie in The 12 Dancing Princesses. Katie wears her frilly dress-up clothes on occasion and Grant thinks she is so beautiful.

Today I heard Katie say, "I know your name: Grant Daniel Ratzlaff. [sigh] I love you!" Grant (in a sqealy little voice) said, "You love me?" "Yes, of course!" Katie replied. Very cute. According to both of them, they are best friends.

Katie considers herself the big sister and I always tell her that she is such a great big sister. I can count on her to keep Cole happy while I fix lunch and to tattle on Grant when he wanders into the vegetable garden. She makes it a point to remind us that she is bigger than Grant because she is 4. I have to remind her that she will always be older than Grant, but Grant is going to get real big like Mitch. A comment she made today makes me think that the concept is finally sinking in. Still, we give her special privileges since she is "bigger" and especially since she is our little princess.

Totally different story:
Funny thing happened. I couldn't get the DVD player in the family room to work, so the kids watched a movie in my bedroom. Well, they didn't actually watch the movie. They rarely do that. Instead, the two little monkeys jumped on the bed.

Next thing I know, Grant is whimpering and calling out. Since I can tell it is a whimper of fear and pain, I rushed into my bedroom to see Grant hanging from his chin and a couple of little fingers. Katie said, "Grant got stuck behind that thing." My headboard. It is a sleigh bed and Grant decided to straddle it like a horse, then swing his legs over the back and slip down behind the bed to hide. He got stuck. I tried to pull him out the top by his hands, but he wouldn't fit. I tried pushing him down so he could crawl out the sleigh bend. That didn't work. I started panicking and was considering calling Mitch at work to help me pull the heavy bed away from the wall. Finally, I figured that if he could squeeze his little hips through the small opening sideways, then he could squeeze them back out. I reached down and grabbed his pant leg and started pulling him up sideways (does that make sense?). We were all laughing (with a tinge of fear) as I pulled Grant's legs with all my might. It worked!! I wish someone could have videotaped the whole thing. The scrapbooker in me looked around for the camera at one point, but since it wasn't in view and Grant was looking kind of pale, I resisted running around the house in search. Over all, it was a fun day. I love it when Katie comes over!

Ice Age

We don't have TV anymore, so we have been making up for it by visiting the video store more often. Grant gets to pick out a free kid movie while I get a new release. He decided that he needed to see Ice Age again. I feel like I have seen the thing dozens of times at Matt and Jen's house, but I think I just saw the same parts over and over. It is a cute movie!

Well, Grant watched it this afternoon while Cole and I checked email. Suddenly, Grant walks into the office with watery eyes and starts describing the scene (as only a 3 1/2 year old can) when the mom hands her baby over to the mammoth, tiger and sloth, then floats down the river. He says, "The baby's mommy died, Mom!" Then his chin started to quiver and his breathing quickened and the hiccups came on. Oh, my precious boy!! We hugged for a very long time and talked about how sad it was that the baby's mommy died, but that he still had a daddy. And, Grant is very blessed because he has a mommy and a daddy and a baby brother. He wiped his tears on his baby brother's tummy.

I have never seen the boy so emotional about a movie! I needed something like this today. That boy loves me so much!!