A fun day at the zoo!

I decided against taking the kids to the fair. I'm pretty sure that I made the right decision. The fair can get so crowded and with 3 kids to one adult the numbers just were not with me. So, we went to the zoo instead. The boys wanted to play on the toys so we went to the play area. It was swarming with kids, and older kids probably 10-12 year olds?!? I let them play then after about 10 minutes I realized it wasn't working. There were so many kids playing on the jungle gym that Justice couldn't even get on it, Brosnan was just wandering around aimlessly, and Arcadian was just running....everywhere... The kids that were there were on a field trip so I decided it was time to put Arcadian back in the stroller and go look at some animals and come back to the play area after the older kids were hopefully gone. Arcadian was not agreeing with me, getting in the stroller was the last thing on his mind. I did a quick scan to make sure I saw Justice and Brosnan. Justice was attempting to climb the toys, Brosnan was standing less than 10 feet away from me, so I returned to forcing Arcadian back into the stroller. He was arching his back and making it very difficult to buckle him in. After a minute or two he was in the stroller, time to grab the other boys and start walking. Justice....check... Brosnan....hmmm, where did he go? He was just here... not good..

I tried to weave my way through all the children searching for his blue and gray striped shirt. Shouldn't be to hard to find him, all the other kids were wearing khaki pants and navy or white shirt. No such luck... no Brosnan. After a couple of minutes of continual searching in the play area I come to terms with the fact that Brosnan is not there. Crap, now what do I do. No employee's in sight. I found a nice looking person and told him I lost one of my kids, he offered to stay with Justice while I tried to find someone to help. I figured that way if Brosnan was still in the area, or returns, Justice would still be there and able to recognize Brosnan. So by now my heart is pounding and all the terrible things were going through my mind, he's lost, in with the polar bears or something, or he has found a new family. I walk up to the next area, where the Meerkats are and do a quick scan, nothing. So I went to an employee who had a little concession booth and told him I lost a child. He radioed for help. I told the guy I was going to go continue to look, walked back down toward the area with the Meerkat's and THANK GOD, I saw him. He was playing quietly in a sand box covering himself up with sand. Not a care in the world. No concern that his mother was no where to be seen. I went back and told the guy I found him and went back to claim Justice. Brosnan was upset that I took him away from the sandbox, but I think he could tell that I was pretty concerned about him runnning off. The whole ordeal was probably only 15 minutes long but felt like eternity.
The rest of the day went off without a hitch. Luckily the rest of the zoo was not crowded at all so it was pretty easy to keep an eye on all three. After all was said and done it was a good day. The boys behaved and listened fairly well and I felt quite accomplished after venturing to such an uncontrolled public place with them by myself! I will however be giving an extra big hug to all three of them tonight as I realize the situation could have ended up a lot worse.

JP

Okay, one more post for the day. Checking to see if I can update through my phone!

April 15, 2010 Another Sunny *Tax* Day

Today has been a pretty relax day. Currently the boys are all outside playing in the sunshine. The boys are taking turns pushing each other on bikes. I just finished cleaning off our table outside so I think I might bring my laptop out there and try and get some homework done.

I am looking forward to the kids being able to play in the sunshine, but I am NOT looking forward to the extra bumps and bruises that the hard concrete and balls and bats will bring.

Today is my father-in-law Walter Hawkes Birthday, so HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO HIM! Justice (daddy) said he is spending the day doing something out in the woods that involved live fire (people shooting guns at him). Hopefully no one sneezes while shooting. Although the situation is controlled, it is still a bit scary knowing that he is running around with people shooting real bullets in his direction.

The Spring Fair at the Puyallup Fair grounds is going on this weekend. I have been contemplating whether or not to take the kids in the morning. The thought of bringing all three of them gives me a bit of worry and anxiety. They have a tendency to run... So, we will see how well they are behaving in the morning. My other option is to take them to IKEA. I just realized this morning that now that Brosnan is potty trained both him and Justice can go into the play area. That would mean an hour of semi-peace while Arcadian and I looked around. Hmmmm, I guess we will have to wait and see what tomorrow brings! If all else fails, the weather is supposed to be gorgeous again tomorrow so I will at least take them to the park.

I am really going to try and keep up a little with this whole blog thing. We shall see how that goes though. Maybe someday I'll even get creative and add pictures!

Until next time,
JP

Is it Finally Spring?

I can not believe it is almost the middle of April. It has been almost 6 months since Justice left for Virginia and the boys and I have been managing well. However, I am looking forward to having him back in a few months.

A quick update on everyone... Justice is 5 and will be starting kindergarten in the fall. He is a very smart boy, he enjoys looking at books, playing with Lego's, and of course video games.

Brosnan is 3 and enjoys pretty much the same things as Justice. His favorite game to play on the PlayStation is Lego Batman. He LOVES that game. He has been going to speech therapy for the last 3 months. I'm not sure how much of an improvment it is making. I know that I need to work with him more at home in order for it to be effective. He can talk and has a pretty good vocabulary for his age, he just needs some help with his pronunciation. OH!! and Brosnan is finally day time potty trained. 2 down 1 to go!!

Arcadian, my baby, is just a few months shy of his 2nd birthday. He is at that stage where he is on the go constantly and curious about everything. His innocence and willingness to do anything puts a smile on my face all the time. He loves yogurt and fruit and music and dancing.

I do not know how I would make it through this separation from my hubby if my kids were not here. They drive me crazy on most days but when I look at them I remember why we are where we are.

As for myself, I have 3 classes of coursework left in my master's program then 3 quarters of internship. This time next year I should have my M.S. in Mental Health Counseling. I will finally be able to start my career!! Unfortunately most of what I make will be going towards student loans :-(

As I sit on the couch looking out the front window I see blue skies and tree's blooming and growing leaves. Does this mean that Spring is finally here? I am very ready to get outside on a regular basis in the SUNSHINE! I heard a rumor that it will be in the 60's towards the end of the week. BRING IT ON!

JP

Slacking...

So obviously I am a little behind on updating this blog..however.. since I am adding the address to our christmas letter I thought I'd pop in and put something here so everyone knows I have not forgotten. It is a new years resolution to be more diligent in the blog updating... Here's to 2010!!

moving up in the world

Meetings...

This is the first time that Justice and Brosnan saw their little brother. Justice thought he was cute. Brosnan just wanted to play with everything in the room. This is the first picture of all four of my boys together. Daddy looks happy :-) His hair is so short because he had just got back from OCS (officer candidate school) the night before.
Grandma Jeannie cleaning up Arcadian's first poops. She has been lucky enough to do that with all three of the boys!