Should I change our family moniker from the Beeno family to the Asthmatic Family?

Hi all!

Yes I'm still alive and well as is the rest of my family.  I still haven't figured out how to upload pics from my camera to this new computer and taking pics with my cell phone just isn't cutting it.  I like to be able to have pictures to go along with the majority of my posts and for some reason, without them I lose motivation.  I promise to try and figure this out soon and be back to regular posting.

In other news we have had a lot go on this past month:

We got Boo'd by some great friends and then proceeded to carry on the tradition and had a fun time driving up to other friends' houses with the lights off and sneaking up to their front doors, knocking and running like hell back to the car.  Me of course, I was was laughing so hard, I had to use every last ounce of  muscle control NOT to pee my pants.  Damn side effects from child birth! 

What else, let's see now...

The little princess might be asthmatic after all these years of me thinking she had no breathing problems what so ever.  After MANY bouts of pneumonia they think asthma may be the culprit.  She is going to see my son's pediatric pulmonologist next week for an evaluation.  Apparently my genes are just too damn strong and I may have passed this illness on to both of my children now, (insert sigh from mom guilt). 

The coach too, thinks he may be developing a bit of asthma.  He finds himself getting winded very easily and needing to use a rescue inhaler.  He too has an appt. with my doctor to find out if he has adult onset asthma.  (I can visualize my medical and prescription bills soaring through the roof as I type this!)

Speaking of asthma, after 30 or so years of living with asthma coupled with allergies,  I have decided to try and do something about them.  I started by having allergy testing to see where I'm at.  I can report to you all that unfortunately I am no better off now than I was when I first got tested as a child.  Still allergic to cats and dogs, (and yes I have 3 cats and know I would probably be a lot better off without them but after 4 years, they aren't going anywhere, so don't even bother telling me otherwise.  I already know this.)  Rant over.

I'm allergic to EVERY tree common to New England, especially the birch tree.  (Can you say screwed?)  I learned something pretty freaking cool from the nurse doing my testing.  While she was documenting my allergic reactions she asked me if I had any trouble eating fruit.  I quickly responded, "No".  To which she asked more specifically, "Do you ever get a numbing or tingling sensation in your mouth when you eat apples?"  That rung a bell. As a matter of fact, every damn time I eat an apple that happens to me.  I actually try to avoid them because I don't like the way it makes my mouth feel.  It turns out that in some people with a birch tree allergy they also have something called "Oral Allergy Syndrome".  Basically your body mistakes a certain fruit that you consume for the pollen of the birch tree causing you to react.  It can happen with different kinds of fruit, with me it's apples.
Cra-zazy,  Right? !!!

As if I didn't have enough allergies to deal with, throw in a severe allergy to dust mites, ragweed, and mold and I think you get the diagnosis of pretty much doomed to suffer year round or so I thought.  There are a couple different treatment options that my doctor is currently looking into for me.  So until I here otherwise I'm assuming there is still hope for me and others like me.  I might not have to just shut up and deal.  There's a chance I might actually get some relief from the constant throat clearing and stuffy nose.  Hallelujah!

And since I have spoken about the medical state of everyone else in the fam, I can't leave out the athlete.  It is a pleasure to say that despite being asthmatic and an allergy sufferer, I can honestly report that if you never knew he's asthmatic, you would never know it!  He is doing fabulous on his current regiment of meds.  He runs three miles without batting an eyelash.  He can play an ENTIRE soccer game without subbing out.  If he gets a cold it doesn't slow him down like it used to.  He responds to them like a typical non-asthmatic child.  It is so nice to see him doing so well! 

I hope that some time in the near future we will all be feeling as good as the athlete!


Fingers crossed until next time!

Hey All...

Hi guys,

Just a quick update to let you know that we are all alive and well in the beeno
househould.  Several weeks ago we bought a new laptop computer after dealing with a very old, very pain in the ass, PC. 

I am in love!   We hmmed and hawed over making the decision to switch to a laptop but after several weeks of working on it from the comfort of my couch I give it two big thumbs up.  Definitely the right choice for us. 

I have a couple blog posts in drafts but haven't been able to figure out how to upload individual pictures from my camera to the new computer so they are stalled there until I have the time to figure this crap out.  (Technology is NOT my strong suit folks).

In other news,  the kids are still fighting like nobody's business, thus making the coach's and my life miserable.

I have a huge bin of winter clothes still sitting in the upstairs hallway that I was planning on putting away in everyone's drawers this weekend until I saw the weather report for the holiday weekend.  It has been in the 80's since Saturday and the kids are back to wearing all summer clothes.  I'm not complaining though, I'll enjoy it as long as it wants to stick around.  I just hate seeing that ugly pea green bin staring at me every time I make my way up the stairs.

The athlete had a field trip to Mt. Watchusett on Thursday.  The coach went along as a chaperone.  They both loved it!  They all made it to the summit and took some great pictures.  They have since decided that we need to start hiking as a family.  I am all for it!  Anything to get us up and moving together is a great idea!  I think we're shooting for Mt. Monadanock next.

The coach decided to seal the driveway this weekend since the weather was going to cooperate.  After returning to the store 3 times for more materials, he said to me, "Wow, I guess I didn't realize just how big our driveway is!"   Yeah, turned into a much bigger, much more expensive project.  I was so thrilled about that. 

Since the driveway is newly sealed we have no place to park our cars.  They currently reside in the grass on the front yard.  We look like we live in the ghetto.   I am so done with this now. 

Today is Columbus Day and the coach and I both have the day off.  We are hoping to finally have the time to go apple and pumpkin picking.  It completely depends on the behavior of our children.  If I was the gambling type, which I'm totally not, my money would be on us NOT going.  Leave a comment and place your bets!

That's all for now folks,

Happy Anniversary...

Eleven years ago today, I married my best friend, the one man on the planet that was meant to be my soul mate and father to my children.  God knew exactly what he was doing back in January of 1998 when he guided me to apply at a daycare center in the town where I was going to college.  It was where I met the coach for the very first time. 

He walked in leading a group of school age kids off the bus, he smiled at me and introduced himself.  I had a crush on him from day one and couldn't wait to go to work so I could see him.  A few weeks later I remember him reading a sports article on the Boston Bruins.  Casually I asked him,  "You like hockey?"  He replied that he loved hockey and most sports.  Without thinking things through I blurted out, "You wanna go to a Bruins game in a couple of weeks?"  (People, I didn't even have Bruins tickets, but I knew my dad had recently bought a pair and I was hoping I could get them from him!)

Obviously he said yes and obviously Daddy's little girl was able to weasel the tickets out of her father.

We had one hell of a whirlwind romance.  I finished college and instead of moving home we got our first apartment together,  six months later we found out on Halloween night we were expecting the athlete.  He was born in July of 2000 and three months later on a picture perfect day in September we were married surrounded by 170 family members and close friends.  It was quite a party!  I was 23 years old and the coach was 25. We were young and inexperienced but we had each other and we were a family.

It has been eleven years and boy what a journey we have been on.  We have survived job changes, many relocations, the blessing of a second child, buying our first home.  There have been struggles and challenges along the way, but each time we have come out of them stronger then ever.  Side by side there is nothing we can't get through. 

 I have my best friend and the love of my life with me always.   He loves me unconditionally, faults and all.   He picks me up when my world is spinning out of control.   He does whatever it takes to protect and provide for his family.  He's the kind of father to our children who comes along once in a lifetime,  and his relationship with his children never ceases to amaze me. 

I am so blessed to be living this life with my true love and soul mate.  Day by day, month by month, year by year.  It just keeps on getting better. 

I love you, forever and always.  Happy Anniversary Baby!

T

All about me: Autobiography of the princess

This was waiting for us on the princess's desk at school tonight when we arrived for open house:

In case you can't read it clearly, here it is typed out for your reading pleasure:

All About Me!

I am short and I have long blond hair and I have pretty dark blue eyes.  I like to play vacation with the daycare kids and I like to write at school and play soccer because it's the only sport I like.  I do not like to fight with my brother because it just leads to more trouble like punishes, like losing stuff.  I am kind to others because I help hurt people and I play with people who have hurt feelings and I am a hard worker.  I want to change my name because I do not like it.  I want to change it to Chloe.  I like that name.  And that is All About Me!

And there you have it folks. 

Fights...

Any parent of multiple children is well aware that 90% of the time siblings don't get along.  They spend more of their time looking for ways to intentionally piss each other off and a fraction of that acting civilly.  It's just the way it goes.

I'm sure that family dynamics such as the number of children, their ages, and genders play a huge role in sibling relationships.  As well as a parent's stance on what is acceptable behavior or not.

Having two children of the opposite sex and the athlete being three years older than his sister means that in this house we do not allow fights and arguments to become physical.  I'll be honest here, just because we don't allow it doesn' t mean they don't happen.  I also think the rule is a little lopsided and greatly benefits the princess.  Nine times out of ten SHE is the one who becomes physical knowing full well that her brother is not allowed to put his hands on a girl.  He ends up getting kicked, slapped, pinched or what have you and when he finally reaches his boiling point and lashes out he gets in trouble for defending himself.

Because of this, the coach and I will usually intervene before things get nasty but lately their bickering has been nonstop.  I am so sick of refereeing fights! 

Yesterday afternoon when the princess decided to stir things up a bit by pretending to throw a pear at her brother I decided right then and there I was gonna sit this one out and quietly observe from the couch.

Holy shit people I was impressed!  The entire episode lasted over twenty minutes, with each taking turns locking the other in the livingroom closet.  They also took it upstairs raiding each other's room and stealing their most prized possessions threatening to destroy them.

Two points were scores by the princess when she pretended to rip down the athlete's favorite poster of the Bruins winning the Stanley cup and making tearing sounds were her mouth, successfully flushing him out of her room.

Two points were awarded to the athlete for making the princess actually think she had won the fight when she got him out of her room.  But oh silly princess, did you actually think he would leave without snatching some collateral to take with him?  Taking her rock collection was a brilliant idea and definitely got the reaction he was looking for.

More racing around.  More yelling and screaming.  More verbal threats and things like "Oh yeah" and "How'd you like that?"  More scuffling and shoving sounds.When they reached the stairs I had to finally step in for fear of one of them falling down them.  

I calmly separated them both, told them it was over and to get in the car.  The princess put on quite show trying to convince me how hurt she had gotten even going as far as telling me she was shaking with fear and couldn't calm down.Her reason and I quote:  "I had no idea he had such a temper".  Are you joking me?  My one and only response to her?  "Well, now you know so don't push his buttons like that again."

The athlete was only concerned with making sure I was well aware that it was "all her fault".  My reply to him, " You are just as much to blame as your sister.  Next time ignore the pretend pear flying through the air and walk away.  Not only will you not be in trouble but you also won't be late for soccer practice.  Now get in the car."

And that was the end of that.  Thinking about still I'm not sure if it was the most appropriate thing to do.  But , I do know it was a big eye opener for them and for me too.  I didn't know they had that in them! 

What are the family dynamics in your home?  What are your rules for sibling fights?

Give and take...

I have a son.

That son of mine is growing up.

He is not a baby anymore.

I. am.  the.  parent.  of.  a.  tween.

I got through the newborn stage, the toddler/preschool stage.  The school age stage.  With each came new challenges, new obstacles to overcome, new parenting techniques and strategies.  But also great joy and a sense of pride at seeing my child grow, learn, and succeed.

This new stage, the "tween years"?  By far the most difficult yet.  It's a confusing time.  A time hard to define exactly because your child is not a baby anymore but not a full blooded teenager yet either.

You get glimpses into the future and you can see where they're headed and what it's sort of going to be like parenting a teenager, but there a times when it is quite clear that your child is still just a child who needs a parent's guidance and help to navigate through the challenges of adolescence.

Case in point:  The athlete came home from school on Friday begging to go to the varsity football game later that night.  He has never asked to go to a football game before, so me being the intuitive mother that I am knew there was more to it than a new found interest in high school football.

Upon further digging, I discovered that it was going all around the 6th grade that day that "Everyone", was going.

We decided to let him go.  We even let him invite a friend.  We did however tell him we would only be staying till half time.  He was ok with that and just happy to be going.  We got to the game and we gave him a couple of strict rules to follow.
1.  Stay with your friend

2.  Check in with us in one hour.

3.  When it's time to go, it's time to go.  We don't want any arguments.

He nodded in complete agreement.  Or so we thought.

Strike one came after one hour past with no check in from the athlete.  We went in search for him and sure enough we found him with his group of friends, running around and joking with them all.  We had to call him over and give him a warning about not checking in.  His reply, "Sorry, I forgot".

We let it slide and reminded him we were leaving at half time.  We told him to meet us at the bleachers when it was time to leave.

Strike two:  Half time arrived and after 10 minutes, no appearance from the athlete.  Again we went in search for him.  This time not so forgiving.  The princess found him first and ran up to him telling him it was time to go.  He was with a group of girls so he ignored her.  

His friend?  Not with him but with a group of their soccer friends several yards away.
Strike three.  You're out.

The coach walked right into the middle of all those girls, told him to say goodbye NOW took him by the arm and away we went.  Utter embarrassment for the athlete.  He came to the car after retrieving his friend, and was all annoyed and red in the face.  We dropped his friend off and once we were alone in the car we let into him.

No phone, no friends, no next home football game.  We reviewed what the specific instructions for the night had been and how the athlete proceeded to NOT follow each and every one of them.  Followed up by an explanation about how he constantly wants us to allow him more freedom but he makes it very hard for us and himself.  When we give him a little leeway and he doesn't follow the rules it breaks our trust and shows us that he isn't ready yet.

We got no argument after that.  That's one thing I will say about him.  When he knows he's wrong, he shuts up and accepts whatever consequences we dish out.

What was suppose to be a fun night for all of us ended in disappointment for everyone, except the princess, she was happy as a clam!  The athlete went to bed disappointed that he can't go to the next home game. We returned home slightly disappointed and upset that he wouldn't just follow a few simple rules.  Now we have to wait some time before we can allow him to spread his wings, even just a little, and watch with pride as he succeeds at this in between stage they call the tween years.

Do you have a tween?  How do you get through the day to day challenges?

I wanted roller blades, he wanted Heelys...

When I was growing up the traditional roller skate was replaced by something more fresh and streamlined, the Rollerblade.  Every kid wanted a pair.  You would see kids rollerblading all over town, to school, to the park, at the track.  It was great exercise and a lot of fun.

Today however, kids can't be bothered with lugging their roller blades around, or even taking the time to change out of street shoes and fasten a pair of roller blades to their feet.  In this fast paced world their accustomed to growing up in, anything that takes longer than 3 minutes to get ready, isn't worth their time.

The athlete used to have a pair of roller blades but he stopped using them because he would get so frustrated trying to put them on securely.  He would say to me, "Mom, if I had a pair of Heelys, you wouldn't have to help me and I could skate around whenever I wanted."  If you've been living under a rock the past few years, Heelys are the original shoes with wheels in the heels allowing  the user to "roll along"  rather than walk simply by shifting their weight to the back of their heels and lifting their toes.

That's why when I was asked to review a pair of Heelys, through Business2Blogger, I jumped at the chance.  The athlete picked out what he deemed, a "super cool" pair and within a week they were at my door.

The set up was so quick and easy he did it himself.  (For those of you who don't know him IRL, he is incredibly book smart, but common sense wise?  Severely lacking.) 

Within 5 minutes he had them laced up and on his feet and was gingerly scooting across the kitchen floor.

15 minutes later he was zooming back and forth down the hallway.

Later that night he felt so confident in them, he wore them to the store and when he thought no one was looking he would take a few running steps and proceed to "Heely"  his was down the aisle.

For those of you who aren't as athletically gifted as he is, have no fear.  You can check out Heely's  How To page.  There they offer tips, tricks, and even instructional videos to help you learn.

The best part for me:  Dual uses.  He can Heely around outside of school and burn off some steam, and he can take the wheels out in a matter of seconds and wear them to school.   If your a frugal mom it's easier to justify the expense because it's like buying a pair of sneakers for your child, but with an added benefit!  To check out all Heelys has to offer including special promotions check them out on their Facebook page, Twitter, and UTube.

He got the approval from all his 6th grade friends who agreed that the black and neon green colors were "wicked cool".  Bostonian stamp of approval right there, my friends!

Disclosure: I was given a pair of Heelys to review through Business2Blogger, but no other monetary compensation was received.   All thoughts and opinions expressed here are solely my own.