Do you want fries with that?

We had Trunk or Treat at church this past Saturday. We had a good time. Hoss got to show off his awesome costume for the first time. He was an original. No duplicates of his costume!

If only Donnie and I were a coke and Big Mac. Then we would have really been the hit of the party! :)

I'm cranky!

Yesterday I talked about my 7 favorite things about being out of my house at 6:30a.m. I didn’t want to make you think that I liked it or anything because I sure don’t. We are lucky to make it by 7a.m. to school each day and I am NOT very nice when I’m in a rush. I hate being late.

Since I don’t want to deceive you here are my 7 least favorite things about our new schedule.

7. For some reason there are other people who believe they too should be out at 6:30a.m. and there is just way too much traffic for a sleep deprived mother listening to “Apples and Bananas” on the car cd player for the 5th time in 10 minutes to handle.
6. I get the bejeebies walking into work alone in the dark while people sit in their cars and stare at me. (I lock the door behind me!)
5. The alarm sounding at 5:30a.m. and again at 5:37a.m., and 5:43a.m., and 5:50a.m., and finally 5:57a.m.
4. Hoss is not a morning person. Oh my word, there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.
3. My bank account is hurting from the early morning breakfast trips. I need to get some portable breakfast foods at my house.
2. There is only one cash register open at Wal-Mart. What is that about?
1. If I have to hear the whining and crying from Hoss in the morning every day for the rest of my life I will loose my mind.

Did you know the sun doesn't even rise until after I am at my desk at work? That is just not right.

Since Hoss began school our morning routine has been dramatically changing since Hoss has to be at school at 7a.m. That is BEFORE 7a.m. Like, school starts at 7a.m., so not 7:05 or 7:10a.m. Nope, more like 6:50a.m. That means we leave our house at 6:30a.m. Did you know that the sun has not even begun to rise at 6:30a.m? Yeah, I didn’t know either, until last week.

I am currently in the works to change my work schedule to 7:30a.m.-4:30p.m. from 8a.m.-5p.m. This is not officially approved yet, so I have been arriving at work early for the past few days. However, I have been trying to be constructive with my extra time. I have learned a lot of things about being out and about at 7a.m. Here are my 7 favorites (because this is about 7a.m. and I couldn’t think of anymore).

7. There is a 24 hour CVS! Enough said.
6. You get to watch the sunrise every day.
5. You can find GREAT parking spots at the 24 hour Wal-Mart.
4. Those McDonalds drive-thru lines are not nearly as long at 7:10a.m. as they are at 7:45a.m.
3. Sweet tea is a great breakfast drink.
2. You have time to actually shop for shoes for yourself at Wal-Mart, especially since it didn’t take ten minutes to find a parking spot.
1. I score a great parking place at work. And no one cares if I put my head on my desk for 10 minutes before I start my day because NO ONE ELSE IS THERE!

School, week one

Hoss has been going to school for about a week now. He seems to enjoy it. He sometimes whines in the morning when I drop him off, but I don’t think he is all out crying. At least, the teachers are not reporting that to me. He doesn’t talk much about school. I have to drag it out of him. From what I can gather, by harassing the poor kid, I have figured out that they read “Humpty Dumpty” on Monday and they are learning their days of the week. Tuesday he told me that “Monday and Tuesday are da days of da week.” He said it in a sing song voice so I assume they are singing a song teaching the days of the week. If not, then Hoss has developed a song about Monday and Tuesday. He looked at me like I was losing my mind when I asked him about Wednesday. Oops, I guess I ruined today’s lesson for him.

He started riding the bus Monday. So far, so good. Unfortunately he has to be dropped off at a bus stop down the street from my in-laws so they are walking a little ways in the cool weather. I may be taking up quite a battle with the bus garage over that one soon. It may get messy.

The only thing that slightly concerns me is Hoss’ nervousness level. He is an extremely sensitive child. I was very sensitive and nervous about new situations and my husband was the same, so put both together and poor Hoss is a mess. The first two days he chewed on his thumb, which is a new thing that I had never seen him do before. He is not doing that now, at least not on the way to school or after school. However, he is peeing ridiculous amounts while at school.

Hoss is still not potty trained, much to my chagrin. I have started an informal schedule of sitting on the potty at home this week and Hoss has had one success so far. He is receptive to sitting on the potty and gets really excited when I ask him. He said to me last night, “wanna fwush it?” indicating that he wanted to flush the toilet. Of course I let him and he doesn’t budge until the last drop of water swirls out. Then he has to wash his hands, which he also loves because he gets to splash in the water. My nephew told on him yesterday and said that he likes to play in the potty at Grandma’s house. Interesting.

Anyway, my point is that Monday and Tuesday he soaked his clothes at school. He wears a pull-up and they changed him at least twice Monday and he still soaked. Tuesday he wet walking back to Grandma’s house from the bus stop and soaked his pants. I’m not sure if his nerves are causing all the extra peeing or if it is something else. I give him a cup of milk before we leave for school each morning and he drinks another at school, but that really isn’t much more than usual for him.

Today he had no accidents so maybe it’s just a new process for all of us to get used to. He gets to sit on the potty at school as well, so maybe that is helping.

Whatever the case, if peeing is the only concern, I think we can handle it.

Pumpkin Patch 2008

We have been busy. So busy I haven't had the time to update pictures. With Hoss having to get to school by 7a.m. I have been trying to get to bed earlier, although with little luck on most days. Now I'm trying to play catch up.

Saturday Hoss and I went to a local Pumpkin Patch with some new friends. We had lots of fun. Hoss got to enjoy lots of fun activities like feeding kangaroos and a zebra (which bit Hoss's finger) at the petting zoo, riding a pony and a camel. I know, a camel. At a pumpkin patch. Interesting, isn't it.

Hoss also enjoyed playing in the hay castle and picking out pumpkins, although he refused to look at the camera, but said "cheese" non-stop. The stubborness is definitely from his daddy. Definitely.

Zacheuss (am I spelling this right?)

Hoss likes to sing. I finally caught a song on camera, his own version. Sorry, you'll have to hold your head sideways.

We will be working on the line "and the Savior passed THAT way" instead of "passed away."

The First Day of School

Today Hoss had his first day of school. He began attending Early Start through the local school system. Hoss' school is a middle school. Apparently when they built the school they added on a wing for Early Start classes.

Hoss and I visited his class and met his teacher on Friday. His class only has 11 kids, mostly boys with only two girls. Hoss enjoyed his few minutes playing on Friday and was rather mad that I made him leave.

The drawback is that his school is from 7a.m.-10a.m. I will take him each morning and he will ride he bus to my mother-in-law's. A three year old, on a school bus, a mother's nightmare. He will wear a harness which attaches to the seat though, so I that calms my nerves...slightly. The fact that he is he first stop and his bus stop is within 3 miles from the school helps another little bit.

This morning at 6a.m. I woke Hoss up. Um, he's not a morning person. Neither am I. This will be an adjustment for both of us. Hoss woke up relatively well, but refused to eat breakfast. I think he was nervous. He started chewing his thumb as soon as he got up and seldom stopped. I have never seen him do this, but it appears to be a new nervous habit. Oh my heart. My poor baby.

I had planned to walk him in to school for his first day. But, despite the attempts not to shed tears before I got there I failed miserably. So, I decided I was not going to be able to handle walking him in to school. Thankfully they have a pull up drop off. I had sucked up the tears at this point and helped Hoss get out of the car and away he went with one of the teachers. He kept reaching for my hand and finally realized I wasn't coming with him. I got in my car as I heard and saw him turn toward me saying, "Mommy? Mommy?"

Oh I cried. All the way to work. It is a really good thing it was 7a.m. and there was little traffic and no one else at work.

I'm better now. Hoss had a great day. He dumped his milk on himself during breakfast, but seemed to do well, according to the note we got. My husband picked him up today (some people don't work on days called Columbus Day, it's just not fair) and I plan to pick him up tomorrow. He only goes these two days this week because a short fall break starts Wednesday.

Next Monday Hoss starts riding the bus. That's the true test.

Of course I took a few pictures.

He would not put down the Incredibles figures. I pried them out of his hands at the school before I got him out of the car.


Walking to the car with his adorable backpack. Oh how I love him

Hoss and the shaving cream

What happens when a 3 year old finds shaving cream?

Find out over here. (My blog on the right hand side of the page. I'm Jessica.)

A couple things

I just joined Twitter. I've been reading all about it on other blogs so I finally had a few minutes today to check it out (during nap time). Anyone else on there too?

Second, does anyone else use bloglines? I have been having lots of trouble with it lately. It is not updating several blogs regularly for me. I just got up on a lot of people's lives today. If you don't use bloglines, what do you recommend?

I fought the guardrail and the guardrail won!

If you are a friend of mine on Facebook you know I wrecked my car this past weekend.

I finally got my camera working after a three year old pushed a million buttons and somehow changed every setting there was on the camera. Now I have pictures to share and the story.

Sunday, which was Hoss' birthday, we were going to church in the morning. Our church is out on a rural road, about 10-15 minutes from our house. The road curves and narrows in some areas. As we turned a blind curve, a car was coming up the other direction in the middle of the road. The road was narrow in this area and I had to swerve not to hit the car coming. I tried to stop before, but there was no hope and I ended up scraping the passenger side of my car along the guardrail.

We are all okay, but the car sure isn't. The front panel on the passenger side crumbled signficantly and had to be removed with the help from some people at church. It was scraping the tire a little. We were able to go on to church, which was about a mile away. The other car never stopped.

We are just very thankful that we are all okay. No one had any injury at all and the damage was only done to our car. I have been dealing with insurance and body shops all week. I will be taking the car in on October 20th for repairs. It will be in the shop for about two weeks. Thankfully, rental cars are covered under our insurance and we should not have any concerns.

Now for the pictures (please ignore the bottle on the ground, I threw it away after the pictures, but I should have done it before).

The party

Saturday we had Hoss' birthday party at a local park. Hoss' cousins and friends came and helped celebrate the big #3.

They played on the playground.
Hoss going down the slide

Hoss and cousin G on the tire swing.



Then we decorated pumpkins. Hoss decided to try to eat the paint instead of paint his pumpkin.



Hoss blew out his candle and we all ate cupcakes.


Hoss opened his presents with help from cousin H.


Hoss had a great time and got lots of fun presents. He has been spending lots of time with his Captain America and Incredibles figures. Thanks Gigi and Grandpa.

Turning Three

My dearest Hoss,

Today you turn 3. I can’t believe that you have grown up so quickly. You no longer look like my baby. You have grown incredibly tall, often taller than most other kids your age. Your red hair is still shining strong and your blue eyes pierce my heart through your adorable glasses. You don’t have freckles yet, but I anticipate you will soon. Your skin is still soft and pale, just like when you were born; however, sometimes marked with scrapes or bruises from your jumping, climbing, and running.

Not only has your appearance changed, but your personality has developed. While, you are very different than I am, you are also very similar. You are not interested in being the center of attention. You prefer to play alone and away from others. You are not a fan of large groups or a lot of noise. You like to be at home. But, despite all of this, you want to cuddle with Mommy often, but always on your own terms.

I love your imagination; it has blossomed over the past year. You are always talking to your superheroes and other toys. I love to see you talking to your wrestling figures (Batista and Undertaker are your favorites). My favorite conversation you had was when you told one of them to “Say Power Bomb Please.” You like to introduce your toys to each other. “Hi Incredible Hulk! Hi Spiderman!” you will say as the two toys face each other as if they are meeting for the first time.

You love your Daddy more and more each day. The two of you are kindred souls. Your personalities are so similar it almost frightens me.  If Daddy loves something so do you. You love for Daddy to do body slams with you before bedtime. If Daddy is using the computer you always climb in his lap and ask to watch Youtube videos of cartoons (most from Daddy’s childhood) or superheroes. You also love to play games on the computer with Daddy.

I love the way you have learned to talk. Although it is not correct, I love when you ask me “Are you hungry?” when you are trying to tell me that you are hungry. I love to hear your sweet voice say “I wuv ewe!” You are always talking about something you have heard on television or from a book. I often am not able to understand you, but every so often I catch bits and pieces and realize just how truly smart you are.

You love music more than anyone I have ever seen. You listen to every song intently and learn the tune and words as quickly as possible. I love listening to you hum the “Indiana Jones” theme song and then tell me you are singing “Inny-anna ‘oh-nes.”

While sometimes I get frustrated with your whining, you are really getting more and more grown up. You got your haircut last week and for the first time you did not fight or shed any tears. I was so proud of what a big boy you have become. Your independence is developing in leaps and bounds. I can’t wait to see how you grow this coming year.

I love you Bubba.

Mommy