Neglected but certainly not forgotten...

To anyone who may still be checking my blog.  I am sorry for neglecting you but you have not been forgotten.  I thought I made a promise to myself as well as all of you that I would continue to blog consistently... but... as life would have it children and work and a desperate need for time to myself have gotten in the way of my timely blogging.

So here is what has been happening for the past month or so.

Walker comes home with several red and yellow stop lights for the day.  Needless to say this requires efficient and effective follow up from the parental home front.  Yellow translate to no television for the evening thus resulting in a quivering lip and a few tears.  The red however... ummm results in no television and no Nintendo DS.  So add on top of the quivering lip, multitude of tears and the crying and stomping feet I am exhausted.  But there is a light at the end of the tunnel.  There have been green for the past three days but who is counting.  So the last time Walker came home with a yellow he was in the mist of explaining what he did or didn't do to cause him to land on yellow when Peyton shouts, "I was on green all day."  Please keep in mind that pre-school doesn't even have the color coding yet.  Leave it to the young but smart one to needle his brother in such a fashion.  He said it with such a grin on his face.  The color coding behavior is improving but I am not counting any blessings yet.  Walker is primarily a good kid that like socialize a little (a lot) too much.

Yesterday we got a winter storm that gave us about a foot of snow.  Needless to say schools were cancelled.  That is usually not a problem but poor Peyton woke up at about 3:30 with the chills (but no fever yet) and suddenly got sick to his stomach for the next two hours.  His fever shot up to about 102.  He kept the medicine down and didn't get sick for the next several hours.  There was too much work that still needed to be done so at 5:00 I logged in for the day.  I realized that I hadn't eaten or taken a break until about 5:30 that night. 

There are several projects at work that are keeping me quite occupied to say the least.  Sometimes you wonder is it all worth is when you look back at all the days and extra hours you put in.  Your kids only grow up once.  How often have we heard that?  I don't like missing all the important things and even the not so important things.  These projects are causing me to lose sleep and work excessive hours as many others are doing the same on similar projects.  It is easy to say put family first but when you not only want to do a good job but need to do a good job it is easier said than done.

Last Saturday was the Tiger Cubs Derby Race.  This was a first for Walker.  I have to say that his car was probably the only one that looked like a child worked on it.  Most of the cars looked like they were professionally painted and sanded.  Don't worry we will be prepared for next year.

So though I have not been blogging as often as I should or even like to you are all not forgotten so please when you stop by leave a comment.  It is time to finish this entry as the martini is wearing off and the kids have to get into bed.  Oh sleep... what a novel idea.

So... do you know your Brain Age?

For some this may be a little unfamiliar and for others the obsession has already begun.  You know who you are and there is no escaping it.  We all would like to think we either look or feel younger than we are.  As far as our brain age is concerned Nintendo has defined the ultimate to be age 20.  Ummm... well for some of us that is a little more difficult.  I would like to think that since my age is more than double that of the perfect brain age that I learned a few things but I just may not be able to spew them back as quickly as a 20 year old.  Not only is accuracy important but speed also play a part in the calculation of your brain age. 

For Christmas this year the husband got me a Nintendo DS.  It was at that moment the madness begun.  The more often you take the tests the more tests are unlocked.  You can test your brain age at anytime but only once a day.  The game will graph your progress for each test as well as your brain age.  This can be great as long as you have good days but very humiliating when you don't.  So as long as you don't update your brain age it will stay at whatever it was the last time you took the test.

It is very easy to get distracted while you are taking the test so I try and make sure that I will have the 10 minutes of uninterupted time.  This is not easy an easy task with two little ones in the house.

So I have been taking my brain age and gradually getting better until I came across a new test that had me stumpted to the tune of age 71... very very sad.  So I worked and practiced and I was ready to redeem myself by taking the test again.  Who hoo!  I got a brain age of 24.  At this point in the game you don't want to take your brain age again because you know what a rarity it is to see those low numbers.

I started to take these tests while on Christmas vacation.  Needless to say when I returned to work my brain age increased by 2 years.  Do you think there is any correlation?  Yup... pretty much.  And if you aren't humiliated enough when you don't do as well the game says... your brain must be tired. (Like I need a digital game to tell me that). 

The best story was from my friend (who also reads this blog) what her brain age was after taking Ambien.  Yes it is just as funny as it sounds.  Needless to say she spaced for about 4 minutes and her brain age was in the 70's.  So even I haven't done that bad but the worst I have done was take the test after having a martini.  Sadly... I didn't do so bad. 

So the brain age obsession continues and as of today I am the brain age of 39.  Considering I am currently 42 I will take it. 

Discipline Gets Color Coded

So it is not any surprise to most parents with school age children that discipline has been color coded.  We have progressed from the block system to the stop light color coding of behavior.

In being responsible parent we try to instill the same values at home that they do in class.  It shouldn't be difficult since most are common sense.  Our children are well behaved for the most part but are far from being perfect. 

Last year Walker had quite the transition from the cozy cuddling life of pre-school to the hard knock life of kindergarten.  He lost many of blocks but seemed to turn himself around by the end of the year.

Well needless to say the transition from vacation back to school is not an easy one.  I can't say it is any easier for us adults to go back to work.  I was three weeks out of the office with the last two being vacation.  Walker has proved that the transition has not been easy as he has landed on red light several times since his return to school.  Apparently he is a "chatter box".  The result of him being a "chatter box" is that he doesn't seem to hear the directions he is suppose to be following never mind actually following them.

So the result of his decision has been the banning of the Nintendo DS for three days.  Yes there tears and drama but let's just say it worked because he got his act in gear to get it back by Friday.  So the lessons we are trying to teach are that there are consequences for your decisions so make them wisely.  Of course even us adults have problems with that every once in awhile.

Christmas Recap

So vacation has come to an end and all the Christmas ornaments and decorations have been put away for yet another year.  Every Christmas season comes and goes so quickly that I try and make the best out of each year while the kids are young.  Every year it seems to take forever to prepare and make sure that everything is in place at the right time and moment. 

The secret of Santa continues for yet another year.  Whew... we had a few close calls this year.   Part of the problems is I never seem to remember what gifts Santa made in his toyshop and which ones were purchased by mom and dad.

This holiday we were able to enjoy the company of friends that live near as well as those that live quite far away.  We had time to ourselves and quality time with the kids.  Having two weeks of vacation and three out of the office has proven to be relaxing... but quite addicting.  Returning tomorrow will be difficult I am sure.

I have always thought that my children were pretty well behaved and this Christmas was no exception.  After every gift that Walker and Peyton opened I heard a thank you.  There were no whines and frowns when all the gifts were opened just smiles.  They loved each and every gift. 

So to recap the past few weeks...

RECAP

Christmas shopping in this economy... expensive

Knowing your kids love all their gifts... wonderful

Having a six year old willing to save and spend his own money to buy his own DS... proud

Knowing I have to return to work tomorrow... sad

Knowing I paid the regular price for the robot Walle while others paid $100... hilarious (because that was me last year with the Pat Pat Rocket)

Having your 3 year old get two strikes and break 100 on his first try at Wii bowling... humiliating

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and Happy New Year.  As for me I am making a resolution to make no resolutions this year.  I hope to spend more time with friends and family and less time worrying about work because... you know... they aren't worrying about me.  Now that we have the Wii given to the family from Santa we will be instituting family game night along with family movie nights.

Why the Printer Won't Work

Stay Out of the Doghouse

This is a must see for every man out there.  The Dog House ... it isn't pretty.