Saturday, February 25, 2006

Pronunciation

Conor talks very well for his age, but there are a few words, or rather letters, that he has some problems with. One of them is F. He pronounces most words that begin with f with a t. He says toot and teet instead of foot and feet. Jeff tries to get him to say it correctly and tells him, "Say fff fff fff foot." So Conor says, "fff fff fff toot." It is quite hilarious. He tries so hard and can get the fffff sound, he just can't put it with other letters....

Conor has also been singing a lot lately. He just makes up songs and sings them. It is so cute. I need to get it on video, but haven't done that yet. He usually does it in the car or when we aren't near or ready with the camera. I will get is soon, though!

His newest thing is that he is a tiger. He crawls around on the floor and talks in a low, gravely voice. If you say his name, he replies, "I'm not Conor, I'm a tiger." It is certainly something new all the time.

On Thursday night, I decided that I wanted to take the kids and do something fun. It's cold outside, so I couldn't think of anything to do besides Chuck E. Cheese. Believe me, I tried. I called Allie from my cell phone to tell her to be ready when I got home from work because we were going to leave right away.

Once she was in the car, I asked her, "Can you think of any place fun to take Conor?" I was hoping she would come up with something different, because I really didn't want to go there. But she had the same thought. So, we went. The whole way up there I thought, "Well, it will be something to write in my blog. I even started composing the post. 'What was I thinking going there?' was one of the things I was going to put. But it didn't turn out that way.

They recently remodeled the place, and it wasn't that crowded, so we got a booth in an area for little kids to play. They had a slide, a Bob the Builder bulldozer to ride on, and a couple of other ride on things in there. Conor took to the slide immediately. After a little bit, Allie and I tried to talk him into going outside the little kid area and playing. But he wanted none of it. So we sat in the booth and watched him. He finally, after the pizza came and we ate, noticed the tunnels up on the ceiling to crawl in. He went up there and crawled around - I followed from the ground, worried that he would freak out and not remember how to get out. But no such thing happened. He had fun. Then we went and played Skee-ball. Conor tried, but most of his balls went just over the hump - for 0 points. He was getting the hang of it after a while, though, and was even making it into the 20,000 hole.

After we ran out of tokens, I told him, "We have to go now, let's go get an ice cream."

"Yeah!" was the response. I fully expected a "NO, MOMMY, I don't want to leave!!" response, but I was very happy it didn't come. We left and went to UDF to get some ice cream. Then we went on home. Conor and I played cars in the kitchen while Allie watched her TV shows. So, it turned out to be a really good evening for all of us. I think Allie was a little bored - after all, Chuck E Cheese is a little too young for her now - but she still had fun. She was the one who made me dread going there when she was young.... she was the one who cried and screamed when it was time to leave.... lol Glad she grew out of that!

Hope everyone is having a good weekend, and a good week!

Saturday, February 18, 2006

New Year

Well, 2006 is beginning out pretty good. Conor has a little girlfriend at his baby-sitter's house, so he looks forward to going there every day. Her name is Carly and she is 4 years old. It is very cute the way they are together, she is very patient and likes to show him things. They always hug good-bye. I actually just got her dad a job where I work. He is a Cisco Engineer and had lost his job of 20+ years last year (2005). We had been looking for an engineer for out branch for a while, and when Cindy (Conor's sitter) told me that Randy (Carly's dad) was laid off and looking for work, it was just a perfect fit. He started the first of this year.

Conor is getting so grown-up! Whenever I say "That's mommy's baby boy" he replies with, "I'm not a baby, I'm a big boy!" I always tell him that he will always be my baby boy! He'll get it someday.

Allie is going to be an official teenager this year! She will be 13 in July. Wow, time flies by! I find she is getting a bit lazy in school this year, maybe it is not challenging enough for her, or she is just getting interested in other things. She doesn't want to play out-door soccer this year, but wants to do indoor. I guess as long as she stays active, it will be OK, but I will miss the out-door games. Indoor is just not the same.

Ceara is living with her Mom most of the time now, going to school from her mom's house. It is a change, but everyone is adjusting. She is still here almost every weekend - there is usually one a month that her mom has off work that she likes to keep her there for. It's funny, as much as Allie and Ceara fought when they both lived here - Allie misses Ceara now, and they get along wonderfully. Conor and Ceara always got along pretty well, and so now, Conor misses Ceara when she is gone, too.

Ceara did not come here last weekend, so when Conor and I got home last night, and she was here, Conor saw her and ran up and hugged her leg. He was so happy she was here.

We are all addicted to a new game that Jeff bought - World of Warcraft - which is a MMPORG (Massive Multi-Player Online something Game) lol. Or maybe I have the letters wrong - I dunno. Jeff has been re-considering his major because of this new way of playing games. He originally was going to school for Computer Forensics, but the college he goes to just started a new program on gaming, and he is also interested in that. It is a fitting major for him since he does love computer games.

I recently got another unwanted "promotion" at work. That is where they give you more work, but no more pay. I have been so far behind all year, just when I thought I was going to catch up, Jean took vacation and they assigned me to our Louisville, KY branch to do for them what I already do for Dayton. And their branch is a mess. I find myself unable to get off the darn phone at work to get anything accomplished. Between the techs, engineers, sales people, and the branch manager in Louisville calling me with problems to solve, there is little time for me to do my job for Dayton. When I get off the phone with one person, I usually have at least 2 messages for others that I need to call back. It is an endless loop. Sometimes I find myself not really paying attention to what is being said because I am trying to work and listen, so I miss stuff. Hopefully it will all smooth out soon, because if it doesn't, I might go insane. :)

This all happened around Feb. 7th, and work has been very bad since. I rarely take lunch and I have been pushing my day later and later every week. I have been trying to stay no later than 5:45 because Conor has to be picked up, and there isn't anyone else to do it.

I find myself forgetting a lot of things lately - at work that is unusual, but it feels like my brain is too full and it is now throwing stuff out to make room for the new stuff!

Jeff is still doing the same route and going to school. We want to try to do some painting and room switching soon - with tax refunds when we get them - but when we will find time to do it is beyond me!

So, that is a little bit of what has been going on here with us. Sorry for not writing as much, I will try to be better at keeping you all up to date. I will also need to get some pictures taken to post. I haven't had Conor's picture taken in a while, so I also need to do that. Lots to do!!

Hope everyone is doing well and enjoying the New Year!!

Wednesday, February 08, 2006

Hello, again!

Wow, it has been like, forever since I have written on this, huh? Last year as a matter of fact. There has been a lot going on, at the same time, not much is happening. Does that make sense? :) Christmas was wonderful - I really enjoyed everything about it this year. Spending time with friends and family, good food, good company, games, everything! On Christmas morning, Jeff and I got up first and had to wake the kids up! Do you believe that?? Conor walked out of his room and didn't even notice the presents under the tree. He walked into the kitchen and I had to steer him back to the living room for him to see. Then we dragged the girls out of bed... lol

We were supposed to have breakfast at our house on Christmas morning - it has become a tradition over the years to have a big breakfast with my parents, my sister and her family, and us. So it was at my house this year. We almost always have bacon, sausage, biscuits, gravy, eggs, and whatever else. We had all of that and baked French toast that my sister brought, fruit, juice, everything. But only Molly, Jeff (her husband), and her kids came this year. My dad called and cancelled and then my mom called and cancelled.

But we enjoyed it anyway. After they left, we had to start getting ready for Jeff's family to come over. His mom, dad, sister (Naomi) and her husband Jerry. We had lunch - ham, scalloped potatoes, corn casserole, green beans, and rolls. We played games, ate, laughed and had a good time.

It was a very good day.

OK - one update done, I am going to try to write more - and more often. :)

Let's see how many of you still check this thing since I haven't updated in a while!