UGH. Mom told me there'd be days like this...

It has been a tough week with Liam. Every so often he has a doozy of a bad day and they are normally few and far between but this week...we've averaged a few truly rotten days. It is at the point now that he might not get to go Trick or Treating. We've taken away toys, tv, and all other privileges but nothing seems to be working. I'm tired and frustrated and feeling rather deflated and ineffective. A woman I work with says "You should beat his butt black and blue like I did my kids when they misbehave like that!" but Ken & I are really trying to teach him to be respectful by choice and not out of fear. (We have never spanked him and really don't want to ever have to unless it is a MAJOR violation--like doing something that could seriously harm him or his brother for instance.) After he has these kind of days he is normally very good and apologetic and we don't see another for a month but lately...not so much. I am not sure if it is his age, school, or what? I feel at a loss. I wander if other parents go through these types of things or if it is just us? Then I start to worry that it is something more than just a tantrum and then I get sad and worried all over again and then feel bad for even thinking it. This mornings episode started (as they have been lately) with me leaving for work and him not wanting me to go. He got upset and asked me to stay. Add this to Sawyer screaming and crying clinging to my leg (major separation anxiety) and I just feel like crying. Mom, you always remind me what Grandma told you..Nobody ever said parenting was easy and boyhowdy! you weren't kidding!

:-(

"But what if I need LOVE when you're at work?"

Last night both of the boys were especially snuggly. I sat with them in my lap for a long, long time. We got on the topic of LOVE (Liam says this word with much emphasis) and I was telling Liam how much we loved he and Sawyer and how we would love them forever and ever no matter what. Liam asked "Where do you get LOVE?" and I told him it comes from inside our hearts and that every time I saw them or thought about them my love would grow even more and more and that every day I had more love for them both. Liam then asked "What if you run out of LOVE??" and I explained that I would NEVER run out of love and that I will hug and kiss him always. Then he looked at me, concerned and said "But what if I need LOVE when you are at work?" I told him he could always pick up the phone and call me and I would blow him kisses into the phone. Then we had to act it out so he would know what to do. He then said "I know Mommy. If Daddy is home I can go and get LOVE from him too!" I half expected him to call me today but I guess he had enough LOVE to carry him through until I get off work.

Sigh. Oh how I LOVE my guys!

It wouldn't be a weekend without a plumbing problem...

Last weekend we had the misfortune of dealing with a broken water pipe that sprayed all over our basement. This weekend was a toilet that overflowed...and flowed and flowed all over the bathroom floor after Liam flushed it. We heard him say "oh it keeps swirling and swirling. It's still swirling! Why is it still swirling Daddy???!!" Ken had to wade through the water and muck and then trek to the Hardware store when we realized we didn't have a plunger. Later we were trying to figure out why it flooded...we were fairly confident that the poo from Sawyer's diaper couldn't have done it... THis morning Ken was asking Liam "Hey buddy, did you throw something in the potty yesterday?? You can tell me, I won't get mad." Liam looked at me, tried not to smile and said "NO!" I looked at him and said "Are you SURE Liam??? Did you accidently knock something in the potty?" Which he replied, "Yes. I did. I dropped Sawyer's toy ("It was the red circle that had a number one on it") in the potty when I tried to flush it and it just went down the drain. And one other time I dropped a wheel from my truck and it got flushed down." Eegads. No wonder we are having plumbing issues.

Things That Make Me Wonder...

So driving into work this morning I happened to look out the side of my window and I noticed that sitting on the side of the road was a fully decorated, untouched, pink birthday cake. It was even still in its protective plastic covering. Why? I have no idea. Did someone stop along that country road to change a tire or look at the view and decide that they didn't have room in their car anymore so they dropped the cake off? Did they suddenly remember they were supposed to be on a diet and the guilt overcame them so they immediately pulled the car over and ditched the offensive confection? Or was the cake possibly for a significant other, and on the way to give them their cake, they got into a horrific fight over the phone causing the cake giver to toss the cell phone, pull the car over abruptly and scream "Screw this relationship. You just cost yourself one sweet cake buddy!"

Hmmmmm. Forget the mystery of the Pyramids. *THIS* is the stuff that will keep me up at night.

Portland Revisited...

Here is a picture from my rainy Portland marathon two weeks ago. Note the droopy, saggy visor that was perpetually down in my eyes the ENTIRE time. There are a few pictures where I actually look like I am a mentally handicapped runner--and I am being totally serious when I say that... I am hoping Denver produces some better pictures so I can send to my friend/former boss Jeff who I ran the races for. Here's hoping!

The Great Pumpkins

This is the sight that greeted me when I came home from work tonight...two cute little pumpkins. Thanks to Great Uncle Todd & Aunt Wendy for the adorable shirts!!!!

The Weekend, in Review...

I just finished my second marathon in two weeks and I lived to tell the tale (barely!). For some reason I managed to contract some sort of violent intestinal bug that has hung on all day. So needless to say those 26.2 miles were touch and go--but I did manage to finish with only my second worst time ever (4:10) but all and all, I am happy. Ken and Liam came down to cheer me on and that made this race by far my favorite. Something about seeing your men cheering love and praise from the sidelines and watching your oldest child running beside you with a grin the size of his face was worth the stomach bug!

Other than that it was an interesting weekend. Yesterday was our anniversary and we got to spend it with relatives which would have been good but the water main broke in our basement and we were without water for most of the day while Ken and Bill Sr worked feverishly to fix it. But they got the water back on around 8:30pm so all is well that ended well. Always something!

I am going to try and go find something I can eat without having it go right through me. (sorry for the graphic image there). Since finishing my race 9 hours ago I have been able to keep little down which stinks! This is the time that I normally love to go hog wild and eat everything I haven't been able to eat all week pre-race. Sigh. Oh well. Maybe tomorrow.

Madness, thy name is Marathon

It is a lovely fall day here in Colorado. If I had to order perfect weather, THIS would be it. Sunny, blue skies, warm with a slightly cool breeze. It is the kind of weather that makes me want to go pick out pumpkins and bake an apple pie and eats lots of carbohydrates. Speaking of carbohydrates...I've decided probably rather foolishly, to run another marathon this weekend. Running two marathons TWO weeks apart is pretty insane and highly foolish. Everyone keeps telling me so and I realize this. But there is that self-competitive (or is it self-punishing???) side of my personality that wants to try, just to see if I can. It will more than likely be a train wreck but I've already put in the training and the race is practically in our own back yard (figuratively speaking) so why the heck not give it a go?? Ken's business partner David also ran Portland two weeks ago and he decided to run Denver this Sunday. I started to come down with another cold this week and thought maybe I shouldn't run Sunday, but then I found out David officially signed up and I couldn't let him suffer alone. Well actually it was more like I couldn't let him be the only fool to try two back to back. Isn't that healthy?? Sometimes I hate how stubborn I am. It will only get me into trouble. (Might I cite the Boston Marathon Incident of 2003, where I ran the race with a fever and a raging respiratory infection, as an example of my foolishness).

I doubt anyone will ever accuse me of having too much common sense.

Viva Las Vegas...

Ehhhhh, not so much. I am sitting here in a conference room on a press check in Las Vegas. A press check is basically where you go and watch a printer mess up the color of your design job and then you make them correct it. Over and over again. Luckily there is a window in my conference room so I can see the top of a palm tree but other than that, this room is the majority of my Vegas experience. I flew in this morning and leave this evening--it will be a very long day. It will be kind of neat to see the Strip lit up from the airplane (assuming I get a window seat), but I decided that I am NOT a Las Vegas person. At all. I don't like to be confined around a bunch of people drinking and acting crazy. It's probably the same reason I dislike cruise ships--it's just something about the excessiveness of it all. No thanks--give me blue cloudless skies and miles of running trails and I am happy. (I would also take miles and miles of sandy ocean beaches too!).

I'm tired. Only 10 more hours until I am back home again. Sigh.

Rare Never Before Seen Footage

Catching Sawyer walking on film is much like trying to film Loch Ness...by the time you grab your camera he has disappeared into oblivion. Or more likely up the stairs, or in the garbage, the toilet, etc. So here is a brief early morning video of him walking. Since this was taken he is more sure on his feet, but you get the idea.

Your Daily Liam

To say that Liam is excited for Halloween would be an understatement. If a love of the artfully creepy is genetic, then Liam inherited his love of Halloween and spiders from me. He decided back in August that he would be a spider for Halloween. Not "Spiderman", but an actual arachnid. I bought him a really cute spider costume and he has wanted to wear it everyday. On October 1st he woke up excited because "Today is Halloween!!" When I told him no, he still had 30 more days to wait he got VERY upset and snarled back at me "Well YOU told me that when it is October it would be Halloween and today it is October!!!!" At age four he is very much into semantics.

Yesterday we were (surprise!) once again talking about Halloween and pumpkins, etc. I told him that maybe this weekend we could go find a pumpkin to bring home. He got excited and said "Yeah! We'll buy a pumpkin and then sit it outside on our porch and then it will grow eyes and a face during the night!" Apparently he thinks that the Jack-O-Lantern faces "grow" on the pumpkins in the middle of the night and are fully developed in time for Halloween. Which honestly, would be a LOT easier then carving the thing.

Batten Down the Hatches--Beanie is Walking

The Bean has been taking steps off and on for the past three weeks but it appears that now he is officially a biped. If he could run he would be even happier but for now he is VERY pleased with himself. HE figured out pretty quickly that if he wants to carry something while walking he should just put it in his mouth so it doesn't interfere with his balance. I think he is seriously part canine (except for the walking on two feet stuff). Liam loves that he is walking and is anxious for him to be able to do the things HE does. He is for the most part, a very good big brother. This morning Liam was getting dressed and trying to shut his dresser drawer. I heard him tell Beanie "Hi baby! Do you want to help me shut the drawer? Come here and you can help me. Good Job Sawyer!!" He typically is very patient with his brother and I am enjoying it for the moment because I KNOW that in a few more months when Sawyer is taking his toys and running off with them he might not be so patient. Ken and I can already tell that Beanie is going to be a bit of a turkey. He will toddle up to Liam who is quietly playing a game and then pounce on him by pulling his head back via his hair. And then laugh about it. Yes, I think I should enjoy the peaceful moments while I can...

Back Home

I'm back from my race and feeling rather pooped. The race was a lot of fun even though it was pouring down rain and only 50 degrees and I was wearing shorts and a tank top and I was freezing cold by the time I crossed the finish line. It was the best I've ever felt after a marathon, even though my time wasn't that great(3:56) and 20 minutes off my PR I was still content. The only bummer thing was that my timing chip malfunctioned so there is no official record of me finishing (or even starting, for that matter). I just hope that the race photos turned out (they should--my bib number was pretty prominent). So now I am tired and going to try and get some sleep.

Oh--this is a picture of me and my friends. I feel like a giant in this picture!

Off to Portland

I'm headed out to Portland in the morning for my marathon on Sunday. So far the weather is calling for highs in the 50's and rainy--which is actually pretty good marathon weather! Daddy is in charge while I'm gone so the Fraternity will be in full swing. Liam told Patrick, the father of his buddy Sam, "My Mommy is running 6,700 MILES this weekend!!!"

For the record I am NOT running 6,700 miles. But sometimes at mile 26 it sure feels that way! See you after I return,
L

Your Daily Liam

Ladt night I was giving both the boys a bath. Liam and Beanie were giggling at each other and splashing around. Liam hugged Beanie and he looked up at his big brother and gave him big kiss. Liam was SO thrilled by this that later he told me, "Mommy, I think you a had a REALLY good baby come out of your tummy. Sawyer is the best baby ever." It was so sweet that it almost made me cry. I told him that I was lucky because I had TWO really good boys who came out of my tummy. Sweet little turkeys.

Beanie makes his mark

This morning I was helping Liam pick out some clothes to wear for school when Sawyer decided to get artsy and chew on a marker while my back was turned for two seconds. Luckily I managed to stop him before he got too detailed in his rendering...