December 17, 2006

Quick update for you all. The tile is finally done. It looks great, I wish I could actually get to enjoy it for a while! The Curtises helped me get the toilets in, but of course the tank bolts in one of them are all rusted out and need to be replaced to stop leaking, and the water hose to the other doesn't reach, so I have to make another trip to Home Depot before the bathrooms are fully functional.
Yesterday I had a goodbye party for the boys at our house, which went great. I had the kids all make quilt squares and I'll put together a "remember Florida" quilt for them. Blake Santaniello and Pierce Hill from their Pre-K class were there, as well as Luke Johnston, Cassidy and Liberty Curtis (and Aerin and Madison), Aidan Pratt (and his sisters), and Emma Allred from church, and Jonathan Piaggio and Shane Reese (and his brother) from Kindergarten all came plus an assortment of parents, so we had a full house and the kids had a good time. Shane brought a plug-n-play Disney video game for the boys which has been very popular, and Jonathan brought an 8x10 enlargement of a picture of him and Brigham which made me cry. I bought cowboy hats from Oriental Trading to give to all the kids who came, and we had cake and sandwiches and chips and cookies and drinks and other good stuff. We will sure miss our friends here.
Last week I had the boys go to friends houses each day after school and that really helped me to get stuff done. Mosey "helped" me during the day, and was mostly very good except for Friday morning when he poured out my new can of paint into a water bucket. I had just waited in line for 35 minutes at Home Depot to get the paint and so I had to go straight back that afternoont o replace it! But thankfully he emptied it into a bucket and not onto the floor. Guess it could have been much worse.
Today was our last day at Church which was very sad. After church we went up to Deerfield beach to enjoy the sand and the water one last time. No, we didn't get in the water, it being the Sabbath and all. Plus a whole bunch of Portuguese Man-o-wars had washed up and so getting in the water probably wouldnt' have been smart anyway. After it got dark we got in the car and drove down A1A for a while, found a parking place, and then walked over to the Intercoastal Waterway, right by a drawbridge, to watch the Pompano Beach Holiday Boat Parade. That was pretty fun. I think the boys really got into it. I got lucky on the parking today. I only had 60 cents in change for the parking meters, so I chanced it at Deerfield Beach, and didn't get a ticket even though we stayed probably almost an hour past the meter time. And then when we parked for the parade, I went to a Hotel nextdoor to see if I could get change, and the Valet guys saw me with the 3 boys and told me just to park in the Hotel parking lot, so that was nice. And 2 out of 3 boys fell asleep on the way home, so that was a bonus too!

Naomi comes tomorrow and we are so excited. SHe will be such a big help and the boys can't wait to see her.
I've told you all how my boys don't believe in Santa (so sad!!), but they are still pretty intrigued by the idea. Last night Joseph said to me, "I know a way that we can find out if Santa is real, mom." "Oh really? What is that?" "Just get on Dad's computer and go to the map where you can see houses and then go to the north pole and look all around to see if you can find a house up there." He is talking about Google Earth, which totally fascinates the boys. I thought that was pretty smart!!
Two small gripes about Christmas grinches. Friday afternoon I was running errands with the boys, and stopped at Home Depot (to replace the can of paint I mentioned above). I was unloading the boys, and Joseph had already climbed out of the van. As 5 year old boys are want to do, he unthinkingly sort of leaned up against the driver's side door of the old beat-up Toyota next to us. A woman was sitting in the passenger seat, apparently waiting for whoever was in Home Depot. The drivers side window was halfway down. ANyway, she totally yells in this mean voice, "Hey!" and poor Joseph jumps a mile and then scurries over to bury his face in my shirt. Can you believe that? What a mean lady. That got Joseph feeling bad, and then when we went into Home Depot I had to take Mosey to the bathroom. I had one of those low-to-the-ground push carts, and Joseph was sitting on it waiting for us to get out of the restroom. An overly-zealous employee comes over and is waiting for me when I come out of the restroom with Brigham and Mosey. "Ma'am, I'm sorry but your son can't be on the cart. He'll fall off and get hurt." Umm, my 5 year old son is going to fall 4 inches off a cart that isn't even moving and get hurt?? Ok... Well, Joseph was in a funny mood from the lady in the car incident and didn't want to get off the cart. The guy kept standing there telling Joseph he had to get off, until finally I just told him, "I understand he has to get off and I'll make sure he does, ok?" Finally he walks off and I'm able to convince Joseph to get down without making a scene. Ugh. It's not a huge deal but sometimes it just feels like people are soooooo uptight when it comes to OTHER PEOPLE'S KIDS. Has it always been like this or is this a more recent phenomenon? Aren't people supposed to be nicer and friendlier this time of year? Oh well...

Ok, Joseph is still awake upstairs so I better get up there and get him to sleep.
I hope everyone is doing well!