grammydebbieshouse

When raising your children, as a parent, you use your best judgement.   Parenting does not come with a “How To” manual.   You remember what your parents taught you.  You teach your children to be kind, do their best and you hope for the best.  Sometimes, life throws you a curve ball and you need to overcome obstacles.  For example, when my children were small, their Father passed away unexpectedly.  The boys were only two and six.  At that time, I had to make a choice to either dwell on what had gone wrong or pursue and raise the boys on my own.  Of course, I choose the latter.  I did the best I could; trying to teach them right from wrong, independence, to work their hardest and they would succeed.  Again, sometimes things do not always work out the way they are supposed to.  Poor choices, bad decisions and peer pressure, sometimes overpower all of the “good” things that a parent tries to teach; Hence, my raising my grandchildren.

Raising your Grandchildren sounds like a breeze, right?  I mean, you have done all of this before!   I have always been very independent, positive and ready to overcome anything that life throws my way.  I dig in, roll up my sleeves and think “I’ve got this”!   That’s the attitude I had when I received the call to come and pick up my grandchildren.  Had I not chosen to do so, they would have been placed in Foster Care.  I was a little apprehensive at first, but then the “can do” attitude kicked in.  It had been quite some time since I had changed a diaper or tried to potty train a child.  But, you move forward and just, somehow, make it work.   Imagine, you are in your 40’s…children have grown and you are at the stage where you can just go as you please.  Your friends call for a quick dinner date and you just, spur of the moment, go.   Then, bam…. you are back to a time when you need to think about not being late for daycare, babysitters, issues at school  and Blue’s Clue’s.   It really is funny how much you forget.

Not that I’m complaining… believe me, the joys of raising a grandchild far exceed the effort you need to put into it!  The constant questions of why do I need to do that, how come that boy was mean to me and sibling arguing!   Sometimes, you question how you did this before!  But, when that small child comes to you and gives you a hug and says “thank you” for loving me and tells you they love you…. More than 500 peanut butter sandwiches….. It makes it all worthwhile.

When you pick up your cell phone and realize that a 6 year old has sent text messages to your contacts and recorded the words “Butt, Butt, Butt” on your phone or a 7 year old, who had been playing a game on your cell phone, has sent happy stickers to your Facebook pals… it can be quite comical.  Recently, Zacory, the 7 year old send Happy Stickers to a few of my Friends and “liked” several of their comments.  Unfortunately, one of my friends had posted that they had slid off the road and crashed their car.  That one received a Happy Snoopy Dancing sticker and a Love Heart!  They only use their tablets now.

And it is pretty comical when 6 year old Liam comes home from school with a “note” from the Teacher because he told her in class that she was “Not really the Boss because God is the Boss of everyone!”.  When asked, he said the Teacher made a mistake… it was “Not Me and My Teach is Crazy”!  Hey, I thought, at least he is learning something in Church, right?!

It’s trying when your 6 year old has a tough morning because he is not allowed potato chips for breakfast.   Keeps the attitude ALL MORNING!   As the bus arrives, kicks his shoes across the lawn and says he is not going to school.  So… what does a Grandmother do you ask…. She just grabs the shoes from the lawn, picks up the kid, deposits him on the steps of the bus, hands the shoes to the bus driver and says “Have a Great Day!”

Then there are other days, when on the way to the bus, Liam has to stop and say goodbye to all of the “wormies” in the driveway and tell them ALL to have a great day…every one of them.   As we approach the bus, I notice that he has collected a few to bring to school for show and tell.  It’s really a good thing we have a patient bus driver.  As a matter of fact it is the same bus driver that their parents had!

Or recently when Liam, trying to eat breakfast pizza was making a mess.  I took a look only to discover that he was eating with glow in the dark, fake fangs!  I had him remove the fangs, I put them on the counter and told him to eat his breakfast.  Later, as he boarded the bus, he turned to wave goodbye to me… he then smiled… Yup, glow in the dark fangs and all…  I’m sure his teacher appreciated that!

And the word “No!”  When raising your Grandchildren the word No starts all over again.   No, you cannot wrestle in the house, the living room is NOT a gym.   No, you cannot have candy for lunch, even though it had been sneaked into the bedroom.   No, you cannot  use THAT word even if your friend is says it! No you cannot wear your muddy clothes to school.  Although, Zacory reminded me that it was ok for him to wear his muddy clothes to school because it wasn’t like it was Picture Day or anything.  He changed his clothes.  That night however, I received a note from his teacher that I would need to send a note to school that he needed to now wear glasses.  I was surprised because he does not need glasses.  I asked Zacory about it and he, very nicely, pulled from his backpack “reading glasses” that he had picked up from my office.  Big, Black Rimmed ones.  He wore them to school that day because “all the girls told him he was cute with glasses and looked like Harry Potter”.  He told his teacher that he now needed glasses and had worn the glasses all day!  After letting him know that he really does not need glasses, he told me that he was growing up because he noticed that he has hair on his legs and hairy grownups wear glasses.  This came two days after they had missed the bus because Zacory argued with me about wearing a pair of sneakers to school, because all the kids told him those sneakers made his butt look fat!  Really, I didn’t realize that it was the shoes that added a few pounds!  I wish I had known that all along!

Sometimes you cannot believe what they get into.  I was cleaning in the bathroom and heard a pounding noise outside.  Thinking that they might be throwing the basketball against the house, I went out to investigate.  I discovered TJ, the 13 year old in a tree on the front lawn.  Zacory was looking up.  I asked what they were doing.  TJ exclaimed that he was trying to get Liam.  I asked where Liam was?  From the roof of my house, came the “no fear” Liam and asked what I needed.  I looked up in surprise and immediately told him to come down from there.  He explained that he was “only trying to get the cat”! I asked him how he got up there?  He said he climbed the tree, the same one TJ was in, and jumped to the roof.  We got him down and we cut down the front tree.  Did I mention that we call him “Monkey”?  My neighbors just LOVE wondering what is going to happen next!

Raising grandchildren does keep you young.  You really have no time to slow down to get old!  Just the other day in the car, Liam said he smelled something burning… Zacory immediately responded… “Oh, don’t worry about that… It’s only Grammie Debbie’s tires because she is going so fast!”  Really?!  Most of my family and friends will tell you that I drive like Magoo!

I will leave you with a little advice about raising grandchildren.  Not that I’m any expert or anything.  Remember, to give lots of hugs, Don’t compare your grandchildren with their parents, they really ARE very different.  Try to take each day and make the best of it.  These Little People trust you, respect you, look up to you and love you unconditionally.  And, remember to take a little time for you to “regroup”.  You CAN do this.  You ARE awesome!  YOU’VE GOT THIS!

When raising your children, as a parent, you use your best judgement.   Parenting does not come with a “How To” manual.   You remember what your parents taught you.  You teach your children to be kind, do their best and you hope for the best.  Sometimes, life throws you a curve ball and you need to overcome obstacles.  For example, when my children were small, their Father passed away unexpectedly.  The boys were only two and six.  At that time, I had to make a choice to either dwell on what had gone wrong or pursue and raise the boys on my own.  Of course, I choose the latter.  I did the best I could; trying to teach them wrong right from wrong, independence, to work their hardest and they would succeed.  Again, sometimes things do not always work out the way they are supposed to.  Poor choices, bad decisions and peer pressure, sometimes overpower all of the “good” things that a parent tries to teach; Hence, my raising my grandchildren.

Raising your Grandchildren sounds like a breeze, right?  I mean, you have done all of this before!   I have always been very independent, positive and ready to overcome anything that life throws my way.  I dig in, roll up my sleeves and think “I’ve got this”!   That’s the attitude I had when I received the call to come and pick up my grandchildren.  Had I not chosen to do so, they would have been placed in Foster Care.  I was a little apprehensive at first, but then the “can do” attitude kicked in.  It had been quite some time since I had changed a diaper or tried to potty train a child.  But, you move forward and just, somehow, make it work.   Imagine, you are in your 40’s…children have grown and you are at the stage where you can just go as you please.  Your friends call for a quick dinner date and you just, spur of the moment, go.   Then, bam…. you are back to a time when you need to think about not being late for daycare, babysitters, issues at school  and Blue’s Clue’s.   It really is funny how much you forget.

Not that I’m complaining… believe me, the joys of raising a grandchild far exceed the effort you need to put into it!  The constant questions of why do I need to do that, how come that boy was mean to me and sibling arguing!   Sometimes, you question how you did this before!  But, when that small child comes to you and gives you a hug and says “thank you” for loving me and tells you they love you…. More than 500 peanut butter sandwiches….. It makes it all worthwhile.

When you pick up your cell phone and realize that a 6 year old has sent text messages to your contacts and recorded the words “Butt, Butt, Butt” on your phone or a 7 year old, who had been playing a game on your cell phone, has sent happy stickers to your Facebook pals… it can be quite comical.  Recently, Zacory, the 7 year old send Happy Stickers to a few of my Friends and “liked” several of their comments.  Unfortunately, one of my friends had posted that they had slid off the road and crashed their car.  That one received a Happy Snoopy Dancing sticker and a Love Heart!  They only use their tablets now.

And it is pretty comical when 6 year old Liam comes home from school with a “note” from the Teacher because he told her in class that she was “Not really the Boss because God is the Boss of everyone!”.  When asked, he said the Teacher made a mistake… it was “Not Me and My Teach is Crazy”!  Hey, I thought, at least he is learning something in Church, right?!

It’s trying when your 6 year old has a tough morning because he is not allowed potato chips for breakfast.   Keeps the attitude ALL MORNING!   As the bus arrives, kicks his shoes across the lawn and says he is not going to school.  So… what does a Grandmother do you ask…. She just grabs the shoes from the lawn, picks up the kid, deposits him on the steps of the bus, hands the shoes to the bus driver and says “Have a Great Day!”

Then there are other days, when on the way to the bus, Liam has to stop and say goodbye to all of the “wormies” in the driveway and tell them ALL to have a great day…every one of them.   As we approach the bus, I notice that he has collected a few to bring to school for show and tell.  It’s really a good thing we have a patient bus driver.  As a matter of fact it is the same bus driver that their parents had!

Or recently when Liam, trying to eat breakfast pizza was making a mess.  I took a look only to discover that he was eating with glow in the dark, fake fangs!  I had him remove the fangs, I put them on the counter and told him to eat his breakfast.  Later, as he boarded the bus, he turned to wave goodbye to me… he then smiled… Yup, glow in the dark fangs and all…  I’m sure his teacher appreciated that!

And the word “No!”  When raising your Grandchildren the word No starts all over again.   No, you cannot wrestle in the house, the living room is NOT a gym.   No, you cannot have candy for lunch, even though it had been sneaked into the bedroom.   No, you cannot  use THAT word even if your friend is says it! No you cannot wear your muddy clothes to school.  Although, Zacory reminded me that it was ok for him to wear his muddy clothes to school because it wasn’t like it was Picture Day or anything.  He changed his clothes.  That night however, I received a note from his teacher that I would need to send a note to school that he needed to now wear glasses.  I was surprised because he does not need glasses.  I asked Zacory about it and he, very nicely, pulled from his backpack “reading glasses” that he had picked up from my office.  Big, Black Rimmed ones.  He wore them to school that day because “all the girls told him he was cute with glasses and looked like Harry Potter”.  He told his teacher that he now needed glasses and had worn the glasses all day!  After letting him know that he really does not need glasses, he told me that he was growing up because he noticed that he has hair on his legs and hairy grownups wear glasses.  This came two days after they had missed the bus because Zacory argued with me about wearing a pair of sneakers to school, because all the kids told him those sneakers made his butt look fat!  Really, I didn’t realize that it was the shoes that added a few pounds!  I wish I had known that all along!

Sometimes you cannot believe what they get into.  I was cleaning in the bathroom and heard a pounding noise outside.  Thinking that they might be throwing the basketball against the house, I went out to investigate.  I discovered TJ, the 13 year old in a tree on the front lawn.  Zacory was looking up.  I asked what they were doing.  TJ exclaimed that he was trying to get Liam.  I asked where Liam was?  From the roof of my house, came the “no fear” Liam and asked what I needed.  I looked up in surprise and immediately told him to come down from there.  He explained that he was “only trying to get the cat”! I asked him how he got up there?  He said he climbed the tree, the same one TJ was in, and jumped to the roof.  We got him down and we cut down the front tree.  Did I mention that we call him “Monkey”?  My neighbors just LOVE wondering what is going to happen next!

Raising grandchildren does keep you young.  You really have no time to slow down to get old!  Just the other day in the car, Liam said he smelled something burning… Zacory immediately responded… “Oh, don’t worry about that… It’s only Grammie Debbie’s tires because she is going so fast!”  Really?!  Most of my family and friends will tell you that I drive like Magoo!

I will leave you with a little advice about raising grandchildren.  Not that I’m any expert or anything.  Remember, to give lots of hugs, Don’t compare your grandchildren with their parents, they really ARE very different.  Try to take each day and make the best of it.  These Little People trust you, respect you, look up to you and love you unconditionally.  And, remember to take a little time for you to “regroup”.  You CAN do this.  You ARE awesome!  YOU’VE GOT THIS!

Source: Broken Arms, Pig Slobber and Is Ice Cream Breakfast Food?

So many people have commended me for doing such a good job with my grandchildren.  I have really put forth an effort to make sure they are well behaved, kind and caring boys.  Believe me, it’s not always easy.  Trying to maintain a work schedule, keep track of school events and medical appointments keeps me busy!   Although I try to keep track of it all, sometimes I might overlook an event.  The most recent “brain lapse” that I had was the first day of school.    I looked at the school calendar at least three times to make sure I had it correct.   The boys were to start on a Monday.  Sunday night, I arranged their new school clothes, got them to bed for a good night’s rest and made sure backpacks were all packed and ready to go.  The next morning, we were up at 6:30.  Three lunches packed, waffles for breakfast, teeth brushed and out the door they went to wait for the bus.  After waiting for twenty minutes, TJ, the 12 year old, yelled that he did not think the bus was coming.  I told him that it was the first day and the bus was probably running late due to everyone taking pictures.  I then snapped a few “first day” pictures of my own!  Ten minutes later, he exclaimed that the bus had NEVER been his late.  I told him to just wait because I did NOT want him to miss his bus.  I ran inside and brought up the school calendar on my computer.  After reviewing the calendar for a fourth time, much to my surprise, I noticed that I had   misread the calendar!  Their first day was Friday…. not Monday!   Smiling at my mistake, I called to TJ that he could come on in.  The bus would not be coming today!  Although I thought it was a little comical, he was not impressed!   Hey, guess my mind is not as young as it used to be!

Every morning is such a challenge to make sure the boys eat right before heading out the door to school.  My morning usually starts with trying to wake up TJ.  After about 4 attempts of telling him to get up and dressed, 15 minutes before the bus is due to arrive, he slowly gets up, dressed and eats something very quickly.  Sometimes a bagel just goes in a bag to eat on the bus.  TJ is not a morning person at all.  Liam, the 4 year old, strolls out with his blanket.  Every morning, he asks for a bowl of ice cream and every morning I tell him ice cream is not breakfast food.  There is usually a little meltdown before he finally eats his waffle or cereal.   Zacory is next to roll into the kitchen.  I am usually making lunches and snacks.  Zacory is the artist in the family.  Every morning his first thing to do is grab, in his words, the “repertament markers” and make a picture for the day.   It doesn’t take him too long to draw a Dragon or a T-Rex.   I usually have my assignment for the day to deliver the picture to someone in the family.  Speaking of packing lunches, just last week, while packing the lunches, our “ghost” showed up again.  While packing the mini Oreo’s I found that there were several cookies with no cream…. Hmmm guess the ghost likes the creamy center too!

Getting them ready for school the other day, while watching Zacory draw, Liam proceeded to explain to Zacory that he had a boy in his classroom that had three arms.  He said the boy could draw, eat and drink all at the same time.  I asked him where the third arm was…. He looked at me like I was from Mars and said, duh….on his body!   Oh, I guess I should have figured that out!  Sometime’s I wish I had three arms! Zacory’s arm has most recently been in a cast.  He feel off the monkey bars at school.  As he explained to the doctor, he and a friend were playing Ninja Turtles, he was Leo and his friend was Raff, he lost his grip and fell.  That’s when he heard a crack and knew that he had broken his arm.  He then reviewed his x-ray with the doctor, pointing out where he could see the break.   He asked the doctor if he was going to need the bone replaced.  With a smile, the doctor explained that he could probably fix the bone that was already in his arm.   Once the “camo” cast was on, the doctor explained to Zacory that he needed to keep both feet on the ground, for six weeks.  Zacory tried to negotiate using a “slide at school that was really, really, low”.  The doctor said no.

It is very insightful listening to them while driving.  In the past week I’ve discovered that the newest saying apparently is “you are kind of like pig slobber!”  No, it is not a swear, just not a nice word!  Also, if you tell someone they are a looser with a capital “L”, that is kind of mean, if you are accused of “tooting” you know when it’s the dog not you because you can feel in in your butt…. and while talking about Liam’s upcoming birthday, speaking of their ages, when they were born they were apparently zero’s.

Until my next post, I hope every day you get to use your “repertament markers”, you have lots of creamy filling in your Oreo’s and please know you are definitely NOT “pig slobber” or a zero!  And go ahead, eat Ice Cream for Breakfast!

I have had so many people ask me when my next blog would be posted.  Thank you!  We have had so much going on. This past spring started with baseball.  With two boys playing, we spent quite a bit of time at the Little League fields. In between we tried very hard to clean up last year’s leaves, piles of dog doo and broken toys. Many nights were spent having pizza, sandwiches and leftovers. I DID pull out the festive “Christmas” paper plates, though. It seemed to make dinners more fun. And thank God for pre-cooked chicken! Eating together is such a great time to listen to the boys and have them talk about their days. Like Liam, the four year old, explaining that he just cannot eat his potatoes. When I asked him why, he very convincingly explained that he was just like Batman and Batman does not like or eat potatoes. Oh, ok then… I guess if he is going to be a super hero we will need to skip the potatoes.   Zacory, the 6 year old, at the same time was going on about how he had actually caught the baseball! He was pretty impressed with himself. He just kept repeating “did you see me catch it? I actually caught the ball! I think I am ready to play for the Red Sox”. Watch out Pedroia! You’ve got competition. I ask Zacory about his day at school. He tries to get “good day notes”. I asked him if he had gotten a good day note… his reply you ask?  In a somber voice…”No, no good day note today… but the teacher said “NO MORE WEDGIES”… Guess that’s probably why he didn’t get a good day note!  In the meantime, I try to ask Liam how his day went. He has his hand up to his ear, shushes me and proceeds to tell us that he is talking with his invisible girlfriend, Izzy.  When I ask what they are talking about he tells me they are talking about worms and frog eggs. He then asks if we would like to see the video he took of his invisible girlfriend with his invisible phone. It was a great video! Speaking of Girlfriends, TJ the 12 year old just recently “met someone” at the State Fair. Apparently, it was love at first sight. Driving him to the Fair to meet her again, a couple of days after they had met, he informed me that they were really getting along great. They had already been together for 2 days, 10 hours and 36 minutes. Must be love! We do have a lot of love in our home!  We have a lot of music and songs too. Zacory sang us a song just the other night that he explained he knew, although he had never heard it.  He said George Washington sang it.  He learned it in school. Hey, at least he is not just dancing to the music in his head!  Summer time has been full of running around from one activity to another. Zacory is in our local Rec program, having a blast going to the beach, playing in the pool and enjoying the summer with his friends.  Although he recently let me know that he does not really like his life jacket too much. When I asked him why, he said some life jackets just “hurt your balls”. Yes, I’ve ordered a new one!   Liam has been having fun, as well. He attends a preschool, that he loves. However, he was beginning to become obsessed with the X-Box. I have started limiting their time played on video games. I told Liam that he could only play for ten minutes the other day. As I shut the game, he stommped off and said “his life was ruined”. Guess I’m doing my job!

I try to have the Boys play outside as much as possible in the summer days. One of their favorite past times is digging up worms for fishing. My Dad is an avid fisherman. He has taught the men in my family how to catch the perfect trout from the best fishing hole, how to bait the hook and how to clean your catch of the day.   Much to my surprise, in doing laundry the other day, I pulled out a handful of nice, dead, worms from the pockets of Zacory’s jeans… hmm.. I asked Zacory why he put the worms in his pocket.. “oh, I was saving them to go fishing with Grampy Pete!!  We are going to catch a huge trout”!   Of course you are… I put the dead worms in the trash and continued to wash his jeans!   Spiders though, it’s another story… Every man in my family has a fear of spiders. It doesn’t matter whether it’s small or large, there is still a lot of screaming when there is a spider around. Fortunately, Grammie Debbie is not too afraid of spiders.

Until my next post, I wish you lots of “good day notes”, music to dance to in your head, few spiders and a life jacket that fits!

Patience… Not very much with 4 and 5 year olds.  Not even much with an 11 year old.  In my opinion, it’s very hard to teach Patience.  Each day, it’s I need a drink of juice NOW, I need something to snack on, NOW, I need you to look at my school paper NOW, I want to win my video game NOW!!  Just, today, I was in the bathroom.  I came out to find Zacory peeing off the deck because he could not wait for a couple of minutes.  I explained to him the he was not an animal.  He could wait a couple of minutes.  Liam them, piped in to explain that Zacory really was an animal!  He was a Tiger, Tigers are cats and they pee outside.  Zacory said that’s what Liam had told him he could do…Oh..now I get it.. LOL… Patience is SO hard to teach.  But, I continue to try!

My Mom had quite a bit of patience.  She took care of four children and five step children.  She and my Dad had us convinced that they knew where we were and what we were doing at all times.  Now that I am older, I know that there is NO way that they could have kept track of nine children!  They might have had some IDEA of where we were.  My grandchildren wonder in amazement how I know things.  How do I know that they fed their dinner to the dog, how do I know that they hid candy in their bed or that they really didn’t finish their homework… It’s funny how they think they can get away with things.  Just the other day I noticed a small hole in the boys’ closet.  Of course, I asked how it happened… nobody knew…. I went to patch it up and Zacory piped up.  “You might want to take the potato out of the wall first”… I looked at him with a puzzled look on my face… “Did you say a potato?!?”   “Yup”, said Zacory, “Liam put a potato in the wall”.   I put a rubber glove on, stuck my hand in the hole and much to my surprise pulled out a Raw potato with a small bite out of it!  I also found candy wrappers, toys and a half eaten container of jello… I called to Liam and asked him about it. With a slightly convincing look on his face, he blamed the cat!  I patched the hole!

It seems we have a ghost in our house too.  When the Cat doesn’t do it, the ghost does!  Our “ghost” has eaten all of the ice cream, made a huge mess in the bedroom, and dumped cereal all over the kitchen floor.  Funny, that same “ghost” has been around since MY boys were little.

Child proofing is something that everyone does.  I HAVE to share with you a recent incident about my brothers’ “childproof” side by side.  We were recently visiting for dinner.  While I was talking with my brother in his garage, Zacory came running to let us know that Liam was sitting in the side by side, supposedly waiting for his ride.  My brother looked at Zacory and said “don’t worry… it’s “kid proof”   Next thing we hear is a loud engine and a bang.  We both run to the “kid proof” side by side, only to see Liam jumping off.  He looked at my brother and said “Uncle TJ, it started all by itself… Oh, the GHOST again… My brother was amazed.. as we looked at the vehicle, almost on his front deck!  He then told me that you need to press the brake, turn the key and shift all at the same time… it’s supposed to be “kid proof”… not for Liam… the mastermind!  I have NO IDEA how he knew what to do.. he just figured it out.  Or perhaps the Ghost explained it to him.  Liam’s punishment… he had to pick up all the little white rocks that were misplaced on the front lawn and put them back in the walkway.  To our surprise… he picked them all up counting each and every rock.  The Ghost helped him.

I will leave you with a piece of information that Zacory explained to me today.  He wore his Sandals to school, with socks.  He explained to me that Sandals were to wear in the sand and the socks were to keep the sand out of your toes.  Good to know, with Summer coming and all…

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and a very Happy Mother’s Day!

Small town Baseball Games are the best. A local community, supporting young men and women, cheering them on to victory. Last night while at a baseball game for TJ, I felt extremely prepared. I had packed sandwiches, snacks, drinks and even let Zacory and Liam bring a couple of toy trucks to play with. While sitting at a picnic table, eating dinner, Liam introduced me to his “invisible girlfriend”, named Izzy. He even shared his ham and cheese sandwich with her! She seemed very nice and very quiet. After dinner, while watching TJ play his game, I let the two youngest boys play in the dirt with their trucks. A little bit later, I could hear whooping and hollering. I heard a parent say “I wonder whose boys those are?”…. Yes… those would be mine. I looked up to find them jumping in a huge culvert puddle. I could hear the sounds of Whoo Hoo and then the splash. They were “swimming” so explained Zacory. They were completely dripping wet, hair, coats, sneakers and all, huge smiles on their faces. Note to self… next time pack extra clothes. I walked the two dripping boys to my car to try to dry them off as best as I could. I looked around and found Liam’s pre-school backpack. I remembered that I had a couple of extra pairs of pants in it. They changed in the car. Zacory then jumped out of the car with pants that looked like Capri’s, a “belly” shirt and bare feet. I could only think of “Huckleberry Finn”. He didn’t mind… he just kept tossing his baseball in the air and catching it in his glove. Finally the game was over and we headed home. On the way home Zacory said that wanted to dig up the dead bird to see if it had turned into a zombie yet. I explained that it was not a zombie and we could not dig it up. He wanted to know if it had gone to Heaven like his Grandfather. He said his Grandfather was in a box. Not sure how he knew that?!   He asked how the boxes get to Heaven.   Liam then said “why do you have to wear boxers in Heaven?”… I said, you don’t have to wear boxers in Heaven… and Zacory, God knows how to get people to Heaven.   Next they went on to being Born… Zacory explained to Liam that when you are born you come out of your Mother’s belly… naked.   Liam explained to Zacory that when he was born, his Mom coughed really hard and he popped out of her mouth!   He said she did not even bite him!   Now THAT would be something to see!   Even TJ chuckled.

At home they decided to play outside. They wanted to check their pollywog eggs that have been “hatching” in a bucket…They were putting on their sneakers when Liam became frustrated because he could not tie his shoe… Zacory looked at him, hands in the air and sarcastically stated “That’s exactly why you wear VELCRO!”

It’s funny to hear them discover the world around them. It’s even funnier to hear them try to explain it!   I hope that you slow down and take time to notice the wonder around you every day!   And if you are in too much of a hurry, no worries….just wear Velcro!

First T-Ball game of the season… very exciting!   Zacory was dressed ready to go in minutes – Helmet, Hat, T-Shirt and Cleats.  Playing the game was a little rough.  Liam felt that he was Zacory’s “Water Boy”… he felt that needed to make sure that Zacory was thoroughly “hydrated” at all times.  Of course, I had to keep letting Liam know that he needed to get off the field and let them play.  Zacory really did not need another drink, nor did he need another brotherly hug.  He had already had about 50!!  Of course, I’m exaggerating at little… but not much!  Zacory had a big play and caught the ball.  He was so excited and surprised!  He kept saying “I caught the ball.. I really caught the ball!  TJ’s first game was Saturday, as well.  He was the pitcher.  He was happy to be pitching, but I think he was more excited that he did not need to wear a cup!

Spring is such a great time of year. Birds chirping..blossoms  blooming… and cleaning up after a LONG… Winter!  Sunday was spent cleaning around the yard.  I cannot believe the amount of dog poop there is.  No to mention the layers of driveway gravel on my lawn from the plow. AND, I REALLY thought I had cleaned up all of last years’ leaves!   I made the boys play outside.  I could hear them playing in their sand pile as I was raking.  They were building a city with their trucks and hard hats on.  I could hear “Hey Bro… want to help me build my house”.    Liam came to watch me rake.  He proceeded to let me know that Zacory was trying to bury a bird in their sand pile.  A BIRD?!?  I went to see what was going on.  Zacory had found a dead bird near the front window.  They had named it “Rose”.  They were trying to give “Rose’ a proper burial.  I explained to them that they could not bury it in their sandbox.  I told them that they should not touch the dead bird.  Their reply “Why not, it doesn’t have any blood on it?”  We, in turn, gave “Rose” a proper burial in the woods.  Zacory prayed that God would let Rose fly again in Heaven.  We found just the right rock to label “Rose” for a headstone.   As we were burying Rose, I noticed Liam eating something.  I asked him what he had… it was an Easter Egg with candy in it that he had found under the deck.  Hmm…. We did not have an Easter Egg hunt outside this year… I had him spit out the year old candy!

Zacory went inside to help me put the yard clippers away.  When he did not return, I checked only to find that he had put on his Iron Man costume from the Halloween bin.  He was now going to be Iron Man.  Liam wanted his Batman costume, but it was nowhere to be found.  I saw a pair of St. Patrick’s day sunglasses.  I grabbed them, a St. Patrick’s day hat and a towel.   It took a little “convincing”, but Liam was now… Leprechaun Boy!!  Out they both went to defend the Universe!    We all need a little help now and then.  Until tomorrow, if you spot Leprechaun Boy or Iron Man, please let them know their dinner is ready!

It’s amazing how much you forget.  You raise your children, then, once they are on their own, you get used to coming and going whenever you want.  You only have yourself to take care of.  You somehow forget how many times in an hour you hear he is touching me or he took my toy.  You forget the bickering, the wants and the needs.  But, it’s really like riding a bike, so they say.  It all comes back when you need it.  Last night, upon picking up Zacory at his after school program, he came to me with tears in his eyes.  He was upset that he would not be able to do his homework because someone had mistakenly taken his backpack.  We were already running late for baseball practice.  I explained that we would get it back tomorrow, hoping that we really would. That’s when he told me that he had dribbled on his underwear at school.  He was not wearing any because he had put his “slightly wet” underwear in his bag.  I can only imagine the look on the face of the parent that had collected the wrong bag!  We drive to the baseball field, which is not too far from the after school program.  We had been there for about ten minutes, just long enough to meet the coach, when Zacory whispers to me that he really needs to go pee!  I tell him that he can go in the trees, but he “does not want anyone seeing that he has no underwear on”. Back in the car we go, drive to the school and head to the bathroom.  We all go… just in case!

Back to the baseball field to hit from the tee, try to catch the ball and learn how to run the bases. However, upon return to the field, Zacory sees that someone is using HIS baseball helmet.  He looks at the boy then looks at me.  I give him “the eye” to let it be.  He picks up another helmet, all the while keeping an eagle eye on his.  The minute the boy makes it to home plate, Zacory runs, picks up HIS helmet and puts it on his head.  He is NOT going to loose it again!  The practice is only for about one hour.  It’s surprising how difficult it can be to entertain a 4 year old for an hour.  Liam, while watching Zacory, starts yelling “Zacory has stinky feet!”  I tell him to stop, but he is determined to let everyone know about his brothers feet.  I lead him to the car for the next few minutes. He loudly makes it known that he does not want to go to the car with me.  I watch Zacory from the car, all the while listening to Liam talk about how he can whistle now, how much he loves hot dogs and how he lost a toy boat down the bathroom drain.  I must remember to check the drain…  He also told me that he wanted his own “Checain” for the car. Finally, practice is done. We collect the new baseball shirt, new hat and are finally on our way home.  Zacory, upon getting in the car, strips down and puts on his new shirt.  Very proudly he displays “The Dodgers”.  Thankfully, it is not too far until we get home. I enter the house, only to have TJ hand me his “grocery list” that he has so kindly made me.  On it I see “Oreo’s”, Pizza, Hot Dogs, Fish Sticks and Tartar Sauce.  In big letters is the word “Gummies”. I told him I would see what I could do.  TJ tells me that he has also been making a list of car parts for the car is going to be driving when he turns 16, a Mach One.  Liam then runs into the house and screams that we have all kinds of crickets outside on our lawn.  They are marching into the woods and while he tried, he can’t catch them!  I am still in the process of TRYING to get dinner ready.  Zacory bolts in and informs me that he is going to wear his new shirt and hat to school.  He wants to wear his cleats too.  I tell him that he cannot wear the cleats to school because they will make marks on the school floor. He, in turn, tells me “he will walk really, really slow”.  Suddenly Liam charges down the hallway, into the kitchen, sliding across the floor in the new slippers that his Great Grammie “Rainy” has made. He tells me how fast they make him run.  Zacory then starts running in his “super charged” cleats!  I am only trying to make hot dogs, but somehow it is taking quite a long time!  Finally, dinner is ready.  While eating Zacory informs us all that when he grows up he is going to buy a Ford Mustang for five dollars!  He is going to be an army man and sing a song called “I Love Girls That Rock”.  Liam is going to be a Monster Truck driver and have a Four Wheeler.  He is going to have a loud radio in his truck. TJ is going to be a Red Sox player.  Where would we be without our dreams?  I’m still trying to decide what I want to be!  On another note, I noticed today that my dash in my car read “6a5cap”. Thinking that is was a code for something really wrong with my car, I ask someone what it meant.  They tell me my “Gascap” is not on tight.  Hey, I never said I wanted to be a mechanic when I grow up!  Until tomorrow, I hope all of your dreams are becoming reality!

Wednesday…the hardest day of the week- TRASH DAY! Not only do we need to get lunches, pack snacks, make breakfast and feed animals, we also need to get buckets and buckets of trash to the road!  On top of everything else, I need to be at a Wednesday meeting by 8:45. So, Wednesday mornings are quick breakfast day. Today… Toaster Strudels.  TJ awakes, mostly because he smells the toaster strudels, his favorite. As he is getting ready for school, he tells me he needs a “special lunch” because he has a field trip today.  Really?!  I manage to dig through the refrigerator to find something to put in his lunch pack that he will actually eat.  He will be eating frozen bite sized pizza, a pudding pack and snack crackers.  Zacory awakes and assumes the usual position of playing a quick video game. He REALLY needs to check his dragons or build another strucure in some crafting game; all while eating his Toaster Strudel.  Liam, the 4 year old, finally awakes.  He actually slept in a little today!  I was even able to get dressed early!  He takes his toaster strudel in to watch Zacory play his game.  Liam then realizes that he needs to use the bathroom. Upon returning to the Livingroom, I hear the scream of “You stole my Toaster Strudel!”  Zacory clearly looks upset, painstakingly telling me that it was not him that took Liam’s breakfast.  Thinking that he is fibbing… I try to get him to tell me the truth.  I then notice the dog, licking her chops…hmmm.. now I know who really took it.  I make Liam another Toaster Strudel. TJ’s bus is almost here. Liam, noticing that I have on a dress and nylons, tells me that he likes my legs.  He has decided not to wear what I gave him for clothes.  He wants to wear nylons too.  Thus begins the big debate between TJ and Liam that “boys do not wear nylons!”  By this time Zacory is getting dressed.  He has decided that, because he has baseball tonight, he is going to wear gym shorts over his pants.  Oh, and he really doesn’t like the shirt I handed him. He picks another shirt and wears his gym shorts over his pants.  Again..pick your battles.  As he is getting dressed, he asks “why do girls wear bras?”… Hmmm. I think for a minute…. how do I explain this to an almost six year old… I end up just looking at him and saying “to make sure their boobies don’t bounce around”.  He chuckled… but excepted that explanation.  I turn to Liam who is jumping around the livingroom, not getting dressed.  I ask him what he is doing “I’m dancing to the music in my head!”.  I tell him “that’s nice, but please get dressed”.  I leave them to brush my teeth and get the rest of the trash to the road.  It had not been five minutes when I hear.. “Grammy Debbie!!!  Is buttface a swear?!?”  Liam just called me a buttface!!!  Liam then explains that it is NOT a swear… only a potty word! I remind them that it is still not a nice word.  It’s time to wait for Zacory’s bus.  Liam decides that he is going to chain the dog for me. Very helpful!  He comes back to the end of the driveway and lets me know that he did not even get dog poop on his shoes.  Wonderful!  Zacory boards his bus and is off with the kisses, hugs and the final wave from the window.  I think I might even make it to my meeting on time!  Driving to pre-school today, Liam informs me that cemetary’s are where God has “planted” dead people.  Good to know!  I hope you make the most of every day!  And, please don’t call anyone a “buttface”!  Be nice!