Alita Naomi

We had the ultrasound yesterday and found out we are having a girl! Alita (Uh-lee-ta)Naomi Drinen will join our family in May 2007. She is healthy as far as the ultrasound can detect and quite active. The boys came with us and were mesmerized by the little black and white figure moving around on the screen. Since a sister is what they wanted they are quite happy with the results. John and I are just happy she's healthy and we are excited to go on this new adventure. John asked me on the way home from the doctor, "What do you do with a girl?" "Don't ask me," I replied. "I have sons!" I'm sure we will figure it out and enjoy every minute getting to know our daughter.

Joshua's Quote of the Day

Mom, you smell strange.

Well, isn't that special Josh.

Joshua's Quote of the Day

"Girl football is for pregnant ladies."

Your guess as to what the heck this means is as good as mine.

Turkey Day at the Drinen's

We had a lovely Thanksgiving. Celebrated a couple of days late. Abby worked on Thursday and Friday so we had family over on Saturday to enjoy a Southwestern Thanksgiving meal. John made a turkey but shredded the meat and put it enchiladas! John also made his famous chile rellenos! For sides we had Mexican cornbread, rice with cilantro, southwest bean salad, queso fundido and tomotillo salsa. After all that cookin' we opted for store bought cookies for dessert. John's parents, Gordon and Karen joined us along with John's sister Amy, John's sister Molly, her husband Daniel, John's brother Paul, his wife Amber and their precious new baby Anamarie! With our beautiful weather we ate outside by the pool. We were having so much fun we forgot to take a picture! Shame on us! Well, you will have to use your imagination.

Joshua's Quote of the Day

"Mom, does God bite His tounge sometimes?"

One of the Sweetest Sounds

I FINALLY got to hear the baby's heartbeat in the doctor's office this morning! I don't know why my kiddos hide from the doctor's Doppler. For those who don't know, 8-12 weeks pregnant is normal to hear a heartbeat and I am 15 WEEKS! I heard Jesse's around 11 weeks but Joshua hid until 16 weeks! Who cares? What matters is, my boys are here and healthy and we now know this baby is in good health as far as modern medicine can measure. Ultrasound is in 3-4 weeks and we do plan to find out "blue or pink". I don't want to find out the sex and keep it a surprise like we did with Joshua but it's sheer torture for John. He let me have my way last time so, I figure it's only fair. More baby news as it comes................

Joshua's Quote of the Day

Today, Tuesday, is Mom's first day alone in the house because the kids are in school! On the way to drop Jesse at his school and Joshua at his pre-school Mom and Joshua had this conversation:

Mom: So guys, Mom is going to be all by herself this morning because you will be in school! What do you think I should do?

Joshua: Whatever you want Mom, you are a grown-up!

Yes, I am! I think I'll put my feet up, watch daytime TV and eat bon-bons! I believe I've earned a morning off in the last 6 years. I'll think about housework tomorrow..............

Jesse's First Day of School

Jesse attended his first day of school yesterday. He was very excited in the morning to get going. It was quite strange to have him gone all day! Josh and Mom didn't know what to do with all that time! When I picked him up at 2:55 his face was glowing and shining! He had a huge smile on his face BEFORE he saw me. His teacher said he had an excellent first day. Jesse fit right in to the classroom she said. On the way home Jesse verbalized more than I've ever heard him before on what went on in his day. He told me he went to PE and kicked a ball in the net. He said he made two friends, Wesley and Coby and that they played Superheroes together. And he told me he listened to tapes of books. Jesse said he liked school and he wanted to go back tomorrow. This has been a tough, emotional transition for Mom but it makes it so much easier that he is so happy! School is a hit! God, once again, has taken care of Jesse and blessed him with exactly what he needed when the time was right. Not that we expect any less from our loving Heavenly Father. Amen!

Fall in Flagstaff

John had to travel to St. Louis on business the last week in October so Mama and the boys went to Flagstaff to see the beautiful Fall colors. We had a wonderful time with Grandma and Grandpa! The boys had fun raking leaves, riding bikes, going to the park and watching "March of the Penguins" snuggled up with Grandpa at night.

A Big Announcement

We are having another baby! Abby is about 3 months pregnant with our 3rd child, due in late April/early May. We are very excited to be welcoming another person into our crazy little family of four. The boys ask every day when the baby is coming. (Maybe we should have waited to tell them until, oh, the day we go to the hospital........). Jesse has already decided it's a "sister", he walks around all day saying, "I can't wait to meet my baby sister". Josh says he wants a sister too. I hope a brother doesn't dissapoint them! We would be thrilled with either a son or daughter. We already know boys are so much fun and a daughter would be a new adventure for us so either way we win! God is so good, we are blessed for a third time with His gift of a child. So now you know our big news, we will keep you posted.

Josh's quote of the day

Jesse and Josh were "playing" together in the other room. Josh came walking into the kitchen and says "Dad, Jesse is destroying me." Long pause and Dad gets it "You mean he's annoying you?". Josh "Yeah."

The End of Swimming Season

It's very sad but we have had to hang up our swimming suits for the year. Even though it's still 90 degrees outside our pool is a chilly 68 degrees and it doesn't feel very good. Two weekends ago Grandpa Drinen was down and he took the boys swimming. Grandpa and Josh actually got in and swam a bit even though it was just for about 10 minutes. Jesse splashed on the sidelines. We will miss the swimming but I have found just sitting by the pool with a good book is very peaceful and relaxing. What is it about water that makes you sigh and sit back?

Jesse's Quote of the Day

Jesse: I don't like pink! Pink has gluten in it!

Note: For those of you who don't know, Jesse is on a special diet where he can't eat anything with gluten in it.

Joshua's Quote of the Day

Joshua: So Dad, how's work going lately?

John: Do you really want to know or are you just asking?

Joshua: I'm just asking.

Question of the day

Last night we were driving home and were stopped at a light. I looked to my left and saw a Maricopa County Sherriff's truck. As we sat there we watched two teenage boys running back and forth across the street on the other side of the intersection. There was a vacant lot with 8 foot high construction fence around it and one of the boys started to jump the fence.

John: I can't believe that cop is not seeing this.

The sheriff immediately flashed his lights from the turn lane and hit his siren.

Abby: Those boys are in trouble.

Josh: What is the police man doing?

Abby: He is going to take those boys home to their daddy and they are going to get a whuppin.

Josh: What's a whuppin?

John: That is a step up from a spank.

Josh: (solemnly from the back seat) Oh.

I sat there and thought of the dumb things my friends and I used to do on Friday nights and wondered if I am really up for this parenthood business. Joshua's Oh killed me and I can not get over how he now knows what a whuppin is, it will be fun waiting to hear him use it in a sentence, I am sure somehow this is going to come back and bite me in the butt.

My Sweet Boy

I was pretty sick this week. Spending most of my time on the couch one particular day. The boys were being really good letting me rest. Josh was fetching me water, kleenex and stuff. I went upstairs to watch a little TV while the boys were occupied coloring. After 20 mins or so, I heard Joshua say, “Jesse, you’d better ask mom.” So I quickly came downstairs. Jesse was standing at the counter in our kitchen; he had a little round purple plate, he’d cut up a banana (don’t worry, butter knife) and was putting grapes on the plate. He looked up at me and smiled and said, “See mom, a fruit salad for you.” I have never seen him do something like that for someone else! This truly was a milestone!

Joshua's Quote of the Day (again)

Mom: Josh, you are a cool kid.
Josh: I know. But do you know why I'm cool?
Mom: Why kiddo?
Josh; Because I like cool things, like tattoos. Can I have a tattoo right now?
Mom: Um, no.

Joshua's Quote of the Day

Joshua was drinking a fruit smoothie. He tends to get "ice cream headaches" easily. So, as he was drinking his smoothie he was holding his head. I asked him if he had an "ice cream headache" and he said "No, I'm just keeping my head warm so I don't get a cold headache."

Mt Hood from a Plane

John took this majestic pic on his phone returning from Seattle.

Arizona Skies

I just loooooove this time of year! The clouds are outstanding, I just want to jump on them.

Jesse the Joker

At dinner "someone" let some gas pass and it was a bit noisy. Jesse said, "Was that you Mom or thunder?"

I am so impressed with his ability to make jokes that I will allow myself to be embarrassed by posting this for all the world to see. I guess I could have left my name out of it or blamed John................

JESSE'S Quote of the Day

As mentioned in the previous post, Jesse tends to take off his clothes and enjoys being naked. Today Jesse came into the room I was in and I noticed he wasn't wearing any pants.

Abby: Jesse, where are your pants?
Jesse: (smile) They are invisible.

I laughed so hard I almost peed mine (pants).

Mom's Absorbed

So I was on the computer checking my email. I must have been totally absorbed because Jesse stood next to me talking about Superheroes for about 5 minutes before I looked at him and noticed he was completly naked.

9 years of "total bliss"

This month we celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary. We did not take a big trip, we did not purchase expensive gifts, we did not look through our wedding album. In fact I am semi-ashamed to say that we did very little. I am finally getting around to scanning the thousands of pictures from our wedding 9 years later. I have no excuse for not doing this earlier, that is actually valid and I do not believe that I can justify this. Not only have I not scanned any of our wedding photos, we have never had any prints done or sent to friends or family. As I sit here and wait for the scanner and load photos one at a time I thought I would make some notes on the old blog site. I think I am going to post a couple of good ones, completely unedited, just for fun. I sure hope Abby comes back around and cleans up my sloppy work as she is beoming quite creative with the editing software.

Joshua's Quote of the Day

Me: Joshua, stop doing that.
No response
Me: Joshua, stop doing that!
No response
Me: Joshua Benjamin!
Joshua:(turns to me calmly) Do you know why I'm not listening?
Me: No, why.
Joshua: Because I have an alien in my brains.
Me: An alien in your head?
Joshua: Yes, and do you know what he's doing in there?
Me: No, what?
Joshua: Watching TV.

Joshua's Quote of the Day

I sang Joshua a lulluby last night. Afterward he looks up at me and says, "Mom, you have a beautiful voice. When you sing it makes my heart move." I guess I'll let the "snail" comment go....sniff, sniff.

Joshua's Quote of the Day

As I am putting Joshua to bed last night he looks up at me and smiles a sweet smile, a pure, unconditional, loving smile that only a child can make and says to me, "Mom, you are as beautiful as a pink snail."

Jesse's first crush

Jesse has a new therapist named Shannon and though she is in her thirties Jesse is very fond of her. Jesse was playing "Clubhouse" the other day (inspired by a Berenstein Bears book) and he wrote a sign for his "clubhouse" that said "No Girls Allowed". I noticed it, smiled and went on with my day. A few hours later I went back in the playroom to announce dinner and noticed Jesse had an addendum to his sign, at the bottom it read "Welcome Shanen".

Joshua Benjamin's quote of the day

Joshua: I'm going to have 2 kids.
Abby: You mean when you grow-up.
Josh: Yes, when I grow up to be a daddy. But if the mother says "no" then we will have 16 kids.

I've created a monster

I've started telling Joshua the "Knock-knock" jokes from my childhood. I know, I'm an idiot. It's like when I bought the boys plastic swords for their birthday and then was upset when they "stabbed" each other with them. However, what's worse than Joshua memorizing the jokes I tell him and telling them to me over and over is that he makes up his own. They go like this:

Josh: Knock-knock
me: Who's there?
Josh: Eyeball
me: Eyeball who?
Josh: Eyeball butthead!

And if you didn't find that funny, try this one.

Josh: Knock-knock
me: (sigh) Who's there?
Josh: Cup
me: (bracing myself) Cup who?
Josh: Cup, eyeballhead and your butt!

Bottom line, all of Joshua's knock-knock jokes have "eyeball" and "butt" in them and none of them are clever or funny. He's four.

It all comes back around

His mom had purple hair, his dad a mullet, both have tattoos. No wonder the poor kid is confused and wants, what he calls, a hohawk.

Flying fish

The fish can swim and fly...

More swimming

Summer fun continued...

Raising fish

Just about every day we swim. The boys want to swim nonstop and hate to get out even when their wrinkles have wrinkles from the water. They have learned to swim so quickly and I already have nightmares about December and how I will convince them that it is too cold to swim. I have been so poor about posting and updating this blog that I am going to post a lot of pictures that we have taken over the last couple of months of both boys. For those of you that will not see him in person, yes Joshua has a mohawk in some photos. He asked for it, I have a feeling it will be gone by the weekend.

Cousins

Abby's cousin Megan and her daughter Suzanna came to visit for a week in order to get out of the cold and rain of Northern CA this spring. The boys really enjoyed having their third cousin around. They went to the zoo, swimming and spent time playing big brother.

Splashdown!

Yes, yes, yes! Our pool is finally finished and it is warm enough to enjoy it! Before you get too jealous, remember, we are enduring heat upwards of 110 degrees while we enjoy this watery playground.

Jesse still loves the babies

We were sitting outside a Cold Stone eating ice cream this evening when a family walked by. First the dad walked by carring a baby. Then a little girl who looked to be about 5 walked by followed by her mother who was carring a toddler. Jesse looked at me and asked, "Was that a baby or a kid?" For some reason I stumbled around for the word "toddler", Itold him it was a "kid-baby". The mother laughed and Jesse seemed content with that explanation.

Joshua and the telemarketer

I HATE telemarketing calls! And no matter how many times I politely tell the callers to take me off their list, I still get more calls. They seem to multiply like rabbits. So, I usually don't answer, hang-up or if I'm feeling frisky I give the phone to Josh. His last phone call with a telemarketer went like this:

Josh (he spoke very quietly the entire time): Hi...........What?.............Who is this?........Who are you?......My mom is just here.........She's juuusssst here...........My dad is away at work...........What?......Mom, it's for you.........

And I hung up. I hate taking telemarketing calls but apparently Joshua is quite able to handle them for me. I just have to teach him to hang up.

Fiesta Bowl

We were unable to get Fiesta Bowl tickets, but we went to the pep rally and to see the school bands on New Years Eve. The kids got to watch a very unique magician / juggler / clown guy that looked eerily like Nostradamus. They had a blast.

Father-In-Law?

How cool is this? The boys thought it was the funniest thing they had ever seen.

Suburban street luge

The latest in Xtreme sports...

Playing in the pool

It is not done, but we have started playing

From big hole to finished product

So the boys finally know what the big hole is for in the backyard. I do not think they know what that means, but they know there is a pool in the yard. We passed the final inspection and are now waiting for the final step of Pebbletec. Then we will start filling it up.