December Already

Sigh - where do I begin? I haven't blogged forever and a day so there is so much to share.

Alex is really starting to enjoy Roncalli. The teachers ask the parents to fill out a questionnaire and one of the questions for me to answer was "does my child enjoy school". I figured - I'll go right to the source so I asked Alex, do you like school. His response was "it's okay"! That's a huge improvement from no, I hate it so "it's okay" was viewed upon as a huge success.

He is one very moody child though. He must get it from his father's side of the family :) One day he can be an angle and the next day his head is spinning 360 degrees. Roncalli hosted their elementary Christmas concert last night and we went through our annual "mom I hate sweater vest" but seriously people....he looks so darn cute!

In case you're wondering...he knew I was sitting there taking pictures but REFUSED to give me the satisfaction of looking at the camera.

A New Mommy

Kiki gave birth to a litter of 5 puppies last night. Mommy and babbies are doing well.

Some things are worth fighting for

The classic sister’s fight occurred approximately 0700 hours this morning. Haley had “borrowed” Ashley’s sweater without really asking permission.

“You always take my stuff without asking”
“You wore my shoes yesterday”
“I’m not driving you to school”
“DAD”

Dad had already left for work so it was on like Donkey Kong

I usually stay out of these arguments as I’ve normally already waged my own war – getting Alex to school. We were upstairs when we heard the commotion coming from the basement. Alex looks up from his corn flakes and says “Mom, are they fighting about birthday cake? Because if they’re fighting about birthday cake, I’m going downstairs and joining the fight”

“No Alex, they’re arguing about a sweater”

Alex puts down his cereal and raises his hand “A SWEATER?!?!? What a stupid thing to fight about. Now birthday cake….that’s something worth fighting for”

Halloween Update

You will not be seeing Alex in a costume this year.

Why?

Well first he insisted that "it was for babies" Then he said that he wanted to go trick-or-treating, but he wanted to be a bloody ghoulish monster rather than the cute costumes I've choosen in the past. I hate bloody ghoulish costumes so I gave him the choose - choose a costume that didn't have blood dripping from it or not go trick-or-treating

He choose to stay home

UGH - he is so stubborn. Perhaps I was just easily persuaded with candy as a kid, but nothing would have stood in the way of me running the neighborhood dry of it's chocolate supply.

Alex, however, was going to stand his ground

Haley Turns 15

We celebrated this beautiful girl's 15th birthday this past Saturday



Even the dogs wanted to get Haley a gift!



After eating tons of cake, per Haley's request, we went to see Paranormal Activity 2 - and I hate scary movies. I don't understand why anyone would pay to have the life scared out of them. I've been married twice - that's scary enough.

I made it through about 20 minutes before I ditched the group to go see Jackass in 3D - which was equally as stupid but I didn't have to sleep with the light on after the movie

Anyway, back to Halley....she is about as fabulous as any 15 year old can be. She's smart and funny - and positively stunning. She is her father's baby and those big brown eyes could melt anyone's heart. I love her artistic side and how she refuses to follow with the trends of her school mates and chooses to march to the beat of her own drum. Happy birthday Haley - and lots of love

Halloween

Alex doesn't want to dress up for Halloween because "it's for babies"

I'm not ready for him to be done with the trick-or-treating event! Don't I have a say in this? I mean come on....32 hours of labor should entitle me to dress him up as Pooh Bear until he's in his 20's....right?

Cha Cha Cha Changes

Alex is not a child who likes changes, and he loves to be a challenges for his mother. Everyday for the first month of him attending his new school, he would remind me of how much he misses Madison and how much he hates his new school. Everything his teacher would ask him to do, he would reply "I didn't have to do that in Madison so I'm not doing it here"

Then in the evening, he would defy everything I asked of him. For two weeks, he didn't have games, friends, TV - any privileges at all. One evening, he came out of his room with his bags packed and told me he's moving in with Jordan - Bruce's 18-year old who lives in the dorms on his college campus. When I told him you have to be in college to live in the dorm, he told me he would just go into foster care until he could live with Jordan.

Every night for about three weeks-a month, this was our life.

Thank GOD things have turned around. He's loving his school and getting accustomed to the religious aspect of his new curriculum and the requirements. He has made some really great friends who have invited him to slumber parties and games - as well as a little girl, Sam, in his class who asked him to be her date for an upcoming dance.

I am so grateful things have started to turn around. Bruce does such an awesome job with him as well - which has been so incredible as I don't know if I could have made it through this transition without his support. I'm sure there will still be little bumps in the road, but I finally feel good about the road he's on

Life in Aberdeen

So despite his spectacular first day, the week that remained was a disaster. The second day he complained that his socks weren't ironed. The third day he wanted to see the doctor regarding his headache. The third day he claimed his ankle was broken. I knew something was wrong - but really didn't know what it could be. I talked to him and he just continued to tell me he wanted to go to Central - the public school and not Roncalli.

His friends that live on the same block as we do attend Central and he was being stubborn when it came to meeting new friends at Roncalli. Boys would ask him to play at recess and he refused. Grrr....

I know Roncalli is where he needs to be. It goes beyond the Christian teaching - it's a smaller school with a more intimate teaching atmosphere. The are able to offer him more one-on-one help with reading then he would get in a class of 800. After a few nights of all out war inside the linder house, he has started to break down and get with the program. He invited a friend from Roncalli to go go-cart racing this Sunday and his teacher told me they've buddied up on a few projects at school - phew. I also had the guidance counselor talk to him and wasn't really surprised when he came back to tell me Alex is mad at me for the move. This is not a kid who likes change and he is giving me a ride for my money.

Good gravy - anyway, things are starting to get better. It has been a good week so far and his teacher said he is becoming more engaged with other students.

That's pretty much been my week - fighting with my son and standing steadfast against hurricane Alex

Alex starts school

Alex started his first day at Roncolli with excitement and apprehension. He apparently thought the uniform policy was ....optional? I really haven't figured it out, but the morning of the first day was a bit difficult after he realized he not only had a very specific required uniform, but the policy was also to have everything tucked in and....brace yourselves....it has to be clean. As scooby would say - Rut row

He wasn't even going to pose for pictures



Chewy waited patiently to hear how Alex's first day went - given the poor attitude he left the house with this morning



Guess what - after he arrived at the school and realized everyone, not just boys named Alex, had to wear the same uniform, he had a great day!!!



The first thing he said when asked how school went was "it was awesome mom - we saw cheerleaders!"

Hmmm, moving on...

What were the cheerleaders doing at the elementary school?

Alex went on to say "the cheerleaders were there for a press conference"

"Press conference" I asked. "Do you mean pep rally?"

He thought for a second before responding with "yeah, that to"

And even more from Mexico

This will probably be the last I write about Mexico - but when I look back years from now, what I will remember is the bonding experience Alex and I were able to share with each other and Bruce and the kids. I use to say I would never date a man with kids, but now I can't imagine our lives without them.

A few last pictures

More from Mexico

After our day of shopping and senior frogs, we enjoyed a night a night of sushi! I'm a pretty lone ranger when it comes to the love of seafood in my family, so when Ash and Jordan also said they were fans, I was thrilled.





The next day - snorkeling. We stayed out a bit too late at the entertainment the night before so we were a tired bunch the next day. This was Alex's first time snorkeling in the ocean so he was jazzed and ready to go before anyone else






Ashley, Jordan and Amber also went para sailing and they loved it! As for me, I was fine watching them from the comforts of my seat on the boat. I know....I know...what a chicken. Here's a little secret though - I can't swim and when you go up on those crafts, you can't wear a life jacket. So, I wouldn't let Alex try it which disappointed him, but he's still in one piece. Maybe after a few more years of swimming lessons he'll give it a whirl

Vacation - Day 3

I was a little nervous going into this vacation. It was the first time Bruce's kids have spent a significant amount of time together and I didn't know how everyone would handle this precious family time. We've all gotten along great up until this point, but a week together - who knows what could happen.



Alex attached himself to Jordan's (Bruce's oldest son) hip and thankfully, Jordan and his girlfriend Amber were okay with their little tag-along! After our first day on the beach, the kids realized the beach was a topless one when a European woman, slightly overweight, walked by with a cigar hanging from her mouth and her boobs hanging somewhere by her thighs. Amber made an "oh my" sort of noise when Alex looked at her and said "what are you grossed out by, that's one of your own kind.



We ventured into Playa del Carmen for some shopping and a trip to Senior Frogs - Bruce's favorite spot!





This mannequin on display looked familiar, but maybe it was our imagination



Pics from Senior Frogs









We stayed in Playa for most of the day and then headed pack to the resort for dinner reservations at a seafood joint. Alex, Jordan and Amber beat us back as they wanted to swim and hang out at the beach - well, Jordan and Amber wanted to hang at the beach, Alex wanted to chill at the ice cream bar for the afternoon. Anytime we lost track of Alex, we would look for him at the ice cream bar with Carlos - chatting it up and taking in every flavor of ice cream ever made

We've Reached our Destination

And look at the animals who called the resort their permenant residence