Pest Control

The three kids and I came home today after a full morning of play, swimming, and lunch ready for a well deserved nap. I get Luke into his crib, Zac contained in the living room and walk with Claire to her room to sleep. She immediately starts crying about something "brown moving!" I roll my eyes irritated and then realize that the "brown moving" really is. It's a giant cricket. I call Zac who immediately runs in to save the day. I walk with him to the living room to put the cricket back in the OPEN bag of crickets sitting next to the computer...

Flashback to last night.

Me: Eric. The bag of crickets is open.

Eric: Well they need air.

Me: Can't they get out.

Eric: They won't get out.

Me: (Heavy sigh and eye rolling.)

Back to today.
Zac puts the giant "brown moving" back in the OPEN bag. We go back to Claire's room where she is on top of the bunk bed pointing at the other 2 crickets. Zac once again came to the rescue and Claire went to sleep.
Zac and I spent the next 45 minutes collecting crickets from the boys room, my shower, the bathroom, the hallway, and the living room. We had to leave the 2 giant sized crickets up on the ceiling since neither of us could reach (and we tried). Zac only washed his hands 3 times during the hunt. I only screamed and jumped 3 times.
Satisfied with our work we finally laid down to rest... But first we had to get another 2 crickets.

Eric is home. He has found a few more crickets that we missed. 2 are still on the ceiling. And as I sit here typing, the bag of these beautiful pests, is leaning against the computer screen.

Lost Tooth

Zac is a "story teller." That is our nice way of saying that he is full of --it, most of the time. I like to think he's...imaginative. Anyway, because of this trait, we often have difficulty believing him. Shocking, I know. So when he told us he had a loose tooth, well, we didn't believe him. Wednesday I decided to take a look at this "loose tooth." Oops. He was telling the truth! In fact it was so loose that it was bleeding a bit. At dinner time he was super dramatic about how he just couldn't eat anything. We tried to convince him to pull it out but he was not having any of that! Soon Zac and Eric started playing around like dads and kids do. Eric began poking Zac in the lips, teasing him. Suddenly Zac turns away with eyes as big as saucers. Sure enough he spits out the tooth! Feel free to try that with your child. It was effortless and apparently painless! Yay Zac
!

Fake Kindergarten

The school year has come to an end. That means Zac's first year of "fun pretend Kindergarten" is over so he can go to "real Kindergarten" next year.;) The celebrations began a couple of weeks ago at Vista's annual Multicultural Day. Zac's classroom studied the Caribbean. He painted fish, made a shell necklace, a drum, maracas, learned a dance, and much more. The children put on a short play called Hey! Get Off Our Train where Zac played a tiger. He did great reciting his memorized line. The last day of school was quite eventful. After his successful run as a tiger, Zac got to push his performance skills even further. He performed a group dance at the school's talent show. This is called folklorico. I later thanked the mom who coordinated the dance for teaching my little "white boy" such a fabulous dance! You can see more pics on Picasa. Zac's whole class performed the Macarena. I got the last bit on video. Here you will get to see a glimpse of our son being a clown (and he is not alone if you check out his friends). I have no idea where he gets that from!

The end of the day Zac's teachers put on a recognition ceremony. All of the parents piled into the classroom with various recording devices in tow. When it was your child's turn, you were given permission to stand up and take the token shot. Here's ours.

I was not alone as I sat there with tears in my eyes. Mine for different reasons than the others. I feel so lucky that Zac got to experience what I believe to be the best Kindergarten program around with three of the best teachers/friends I know. He will be my only child to attend Vista, where I teach, and I am so glad we got that experience. Making the decision to move him was a hard one! But now I am anxious to find out what it is like to just be mom.

By Luke J.

Today I am 8 weeks old! I have decided that my family is pretty cool. I'm giving them a few smiles here and there and I make cute little "talking" noises that gets them pretty excited. I've spent the last few nights in my crib and I only wake my mom up once. She seems to like that a lot!

Besides eating, my favorite time of day is bath time. I never cry, even when my mom accidentally makes the water too hot, oh, and too cold that one time. I can't wait until I can get these arms to splash the water out of the tub the way my big bro and sis do!

Speaking of them...they are pretty great. Claire is always telling me what a "good baby" I am and she loves to shove the pacifier in my mouth even when mom says not too. Zac is always kissing my head, rocking my car seat, and shaking really loud toys in my face even when mom says not too.

Dad likes to walk me around the back yard. He uses lots of big words about the plants and wildlife that I don't quite comprehend. Maybe someday. I love being outside with him!

Car rides aren't my favorite. The dumb shade makes it so I can't see anything and I always have gas and my tummy hurts. I've decided that screaming through the entire ride at the top of my lungs is the only way to get me out of that thing!

All in all life is good. I can't wait for what's next!

Suffer through the video and you will finally see me smile. My mom asks that no one teases her about the narration!

The Moby Wrap

I went to the Village which is Claremont's down town with my friend Iona recently. We went into a trendy new baby shop and soon realized we would buy nothing there because it was too pricey. I soon spotted these baby carrier's that I had seen around town (the Moby) that cost $70 (too much). The owner came over and asked if I wanted to try one on. Since Luke was with me I thought, "why not!" After she trained me in the elaborate art of the wrap, we put Luke in. It was so great! My enormous baby felt light and it was really comfortable unlike my other carrier I had at home. She pointed me toward the non-organic fabric Moby's for only $39! I was sold! When choosing a color the owner informed me that Brad Pitt was seen wearing a black one...a good way to get the husband to wear it.


Twins aren't they! ;)

Great Grandma

Although I am still suffering from blog phobia, I thought it important to share a special moment.
My children's only living Great Grandparent, Mily Tucker, has been living quite close to us for the past few years. She is 83 years old and has quite a legacy of Tucker children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren. Two of her daughters are moving her closer to them about an hour away. My mother-in-law,Diana, has been her main caregiver and decided to throw her a little going away party. Great Grandma's request was a pic with all of her great grandkids. Only a handful, ranging in age from newborn to 10 years, could come on short notice. All of us were expecting a photo shoot from hell (to be blunt). We were wrong. The kids were all smiles and happily posed for quite a few shots. (Maybe the promise of cake after the picture helped?) My favorite picture is of Mily with her newest great grandchild Luke.

Writer's Block?

I have one minute to write and apologize to my 1 maybe 2 loyal readers (mom and Susan...thanks). I have many fabulous anecdotes I would love to blog, but can't seem to find the time or the words. Hopefully I will be back to normal soon. I have a good excuse right? :)