Health | It's a Vivas Thing!

Jun 11 2009

Parks and Police Officers!

What a fun day! Really. I mean, we look like we're having fun, right?

Drama Queen and the Smart One

Charge!

Waiting for her turn on the swing

And yet, strange things always happen to us! When we first arrived at the park, we noticed some police had pulled over someone. No big deal, really, everything seemed calm, so we went about our business of playing. After a while, we commented that they'd been there for a while. Again, no real concern since everyone else was enjoying a day at the park. And then it happened.

All of a sudden, my niece's mom yell, "Get the kids, he has a gun!" I look up, I see a police officer pointing a gun at someone in the vehicle. She's panicked and grabs my niece. I yell at my nephew to come here. He ignores me. My daughter comes running to me. My son tries to get my nephew. I yell at him to come to me again. He runs in the opposite direction…towards the gun yielding police officer! I run, grab him and join the others behind the park bench. We don't hear any gunshots, so we proceed to go further down the park, away from the potential shoot out. My niece and nephew are crying and my daughter is pretty shaken up. A woman asks what is wrong, and we tell her to get to safety, there's an officer with a gun.

She smiles. She tells us it is a training session; she saw the officer change into civilian clothes, so she asked. There is no sign. There is nothing that could have led us to believe it was not real.

Once we could breathe again, we did take the opportunity to talk to my nephew about why it's important to listen to us when we call him. The Drama Queen said she felt like she was going to throw up, she was so shaky.

Interesting, isn't it, how a simple hour in the park can turn into a real adventure!

Jun 08 2009

Summer Swimming!

So we decided to go out and have some summer…and relax. Yes, you heard me…I was bound and determined to relax today. After I dropped off my nephew at school, I grabbed B-boo, the Smart One, the Drama Queen and headed over to pick up my sister-in-law and her children for a day of cousins and swimming. So we headed over to the Sandlot Pool….well, that's what we call it anyway.

Our city is known for it's great pools…small pools with amazing slides and such….the kind everyone wants to go to. Which is why we avoid them like the plague! Instead, we head over to our neighborhood pool with the high dive and for the most part, no little kids. The lifeguards are great and know most of the kids by their names. Bound and determined to relax, we even drew an imaginary line…and once it was crossed over, no negative thoughts were allowed. You see, my sister-in-law and I have one thing in common; we've both extended our families to include children not born directly from us. We're part of, or have been part of, that thing which we call, *the system*. And honestly, sometimes it isn't a lot of fun. And you can't relax. And it doesnt' seem like it will ever end. And you can't relax. It's exhausting. And it's hard to relax. Did I mention we went to relax?

So, we drew that line and we headed on in!

and I remembered my camera this time!

And we swam laps. Lots of them. Really. A whole bunch of them. So many that I am exhausted. It was a great day, it really was. Well worth it. But I don't think laps count as relaxing, do they? I'll probably need to relax tomorrow, because I don't think I'll be able to move much!

May 24 2009

All Play? Some Work!

Saturday wasn't too bad of a day. After accomplishing most of my monthly shopping at Wally-World, Costco and Albertsons, I was ready for some fun. The Good-Looking son came over with a friend. Being the good mom that I am, I made him a fantastic lunch while he helped bring in the groceries! After we were done stuffing ourselves and vegging for a bit, we headed off to the water park for some of this:

And then we came home…and well, since we were already in our bathing suits, we decided I decided that it would be a good time to wash the van. We decided the kids decided that it'd be fun to help. Ok then! BTW…the photography below was taken by none other than B-Boo! Ain't she grand?!

Well, ok, mostly play….but some work, honest!

Apr 28 2009

My No Good, Rotten, Bad Day!

Today was one of those days that you just want to end…I mean, you really, REALLY want it to end. Ever have one of those days?

It started off with me trying to get B-Boo ready for school. I make her breakfast and a hot chocolate every morning and then we sit and read the Bible and/or study for a current test. The past month has really made it hard; but the past week has gotten especially bad. The two newest additions are very demanding in the morning and completely stop B-Boo from being able to get ready for school. So, I implemented a new rule; hopefully it works. From now on, if they wake up early, they are not allowed to come downstairs and interrupt us, instead they have to wait. I'm not talking about a long wait, but enough of a wait. Then, I can totally focus on them and getting their breakfast just like I'll be able to focus on B-Boo.

This may sound crazy, but when you have to get six kids ready in the morning, shifts sound like a good idea!

Anyway, after getting the two older ones to school, I got the younger ones ready for the day. My niece had her dental appointment at 10 am. It was across town, so we had to leave by 9:15ish. We finally pulled out at 9:24 am and headed down the freeway. I got off at our exit and headed left. I've only been there twice, and one of those times was given a different direction to go. I looked at the instructions from the last time and so turned left like it said. Only, it meant left later, not sooner. After a while I figured out that I was going in the opposite direction. So now I've completely confused myself and call the dentist office that we normally go to, who give me the number to the office of where we were headed. Seems I was supposed to turn right…and then left. Oops. I explain what happened and that I'd be there soon.

I ended up only being about 10 minutes late. After checking in, we sat down to either do our schoolwork or color, depending on the child. At 11:30, I ask them how much longer since our appointment was at 10 am. They check again. Chart's back there now, we must be soon. OK….long story short, it was over 3 hours before we were finally able to leave what was really a short appointment. By this time, the kids were starving and spied a Kentucky Fried Chicken. UGH..but ok, if we must. It was now 1:40 pm. I realized that I had a 3:00 pm appointment for my nephew, so I told them to hurry up because I had to take them home before heading back out for the next appointment. (This is what I do; I go from one appointment to the next every day of my life. It never ends.)

I get them finished and we head home. As I head up the on ramp to the freeway, the van just dies. Stops cold in it's tracks and refused to move any further. Great! My nephew starts asking me if we're going to die over and over again. No honey, we're not going to die, the van just won't start. I call my father-in-law to get me since my husband is unavailable. Then I call our mechanic who gives me the towing company number that he uses and they head out to help.

They both arrive a little after 2:00 pm and we head out. Father-in-law was so sweet and offered to take me to the appointment so I wouldn't have to miss it and said he'd take the kids home while I am in the meeting. He drops me off at 2:30 pm and heads off with the kids.

At 3:30 he calls to say he's there. I let him know that I was told that the man I had an appointment with was in a meeting and he'd be out soon., so I told Dad to go ahead and head home and I'd call him when I was done since he just lives down the street. Finally, around 3:45 pm a supervisor comes out and introduces himself and tells me that the man I was supposed to meet never came to work today; he's out sick. (It seems the secretaries never spoke to anyone, just assumed he'd be out when he was done. OK then!) Anyway, I lost it. Those dern tears just started pouring out and wouldn't stop. I really hate it when that happens.

The poor man took me back to a room and I explained to him that I was trying to set up counseling for my nephew, but that after the day I'd had I was pretty sure it looked like I was the one who needed it. He apologized profusely and said he'd figure out if he could help me. He did…he found the paperwork that I needed and made sure I knew how to fill it out. Turns out he also had some information on another person that I've been trying to get into contact with for the kids…and I was misinformed earlier…so I get to start fresh tomorrow on those calls, too!

Anyway, I finally ended up getting home around 4:30ish, just in time to grab the Drama Queen and run the 4 or 5 blocks down the road to the rec center for dance. I just didn't have the heart to tell her she was going to miss it after the day we'd had. We walked back home afterwards, arriving just as Daddy pulled up.

And that, was my no good, rotten, bad day!

Apr 24 2009

New Teeth

My nephew has what we call two holes in his teeth. A couple of weeks ago, I took him for his first ever dental visit. I just love, LOVE our pediatric dentist! She is wonderful with kids. It was determined that he needed quite a bit of dental work, so we scheduled him at the surgery center where he would happily dream away while they fixed his teeth. Today was the day!

He was so good…how many four year olds do you know that don't whine and complain when they find out they not only can't have anything to drink, but they also have to skip breakfast and lunch!?! He was great. We made a fun morning and he had me take pictures of his *hole in his tooth* before we headed off to get his new teeth.

He talked and talked at the surgery center, entertaining all who would listen! Finally, they gave him some medicine to relax him, as if he wasn't relaxed enough anyway. A few moments later the drugs hit. Our youth pastor was there with us, and I'll have to say it was quite comical. I don't think I've ever really seen a drugged up four year old! He just started to slowly slink down into the recliner…then his words got slower and slower…and then he was slurring…and every once in a while, he'd jump up with eyes wide open and say something that neither of us could understand. We finally figured out that he was saying,

"Aunt Hope, stop doing that with your glasses."

As I was doing nothing with my glasses, the only thing we had to go on was that he must have been hallucinating! Regardless, it was quite comical!

Six fillings, two root canals, two crowns and two hours later, he came out with brand new teeth! He didn't remember a thing except to say that he liked sleeping there and getting silver teeth. What a trooper! Of course, the minute we got home, he demanded a picture of his new teeth so that he could see them..and then crawled into my bed with a hand held mirror…so he can keep an eye on his new teeth.

And while we're in the picture taking mood….I managed to grab a great shot of a beautiful rose in my backyard today!