jt's world

a different kind of mower

noreply@blogger.com (poray) — Tue, 29 May 2012 16:26:00 +0000

I talked to a friend the other day and she told me she bought a new lawn mower. I thought it was the kind that used gas but she said no. I could not imagine what it looked like until I was able to get online and saw a reel mower to which I called to husband to ask if it requires gas to use. He said no, so there. I have finally found (and for the first time at that) a lawn mower that does not use gas. I do not have to imagine about it anymore. It is pretty simple actually and I think it is neat, not to mention good for the air considering it does not use fuel at all. It is so pretty I might even buy one for myself, to cut the grass around the house where the riding mower can't get to. I wonder if it is safe for kids to use?

no internet access

noreply@blogger.com (poray) — Fri, 18 May 2012 16:32:00 +0000

Somebody has not been online a lot. We are on the process of moving to our own house which unfortunately do not have internet hook-up so we are all left with nothing to do but twiddle our thumbs. Just kidding, lol. There are plenty of things to do at the new property, only none that concerns electronics that connects to the world wide web. So the little man spend very little time being online much to my delight. He does get online when he gets outside with his touchpad because one of the neighbors have unlocked wi-fi but the connection is not strong enough that he gets kicked more often than not. He gets angry about it but found out soon enough that it is not something he can control so he lets it go. This gives us time to explore the yard, start a garden, lounge in camp chairs outside for hours on end, and just enjoy the day as it goes by. He was (and still is) a bear when he wanted to get online and couldn't but I think he is getting used to it. I, on the other hand, is about to go crazy. I need my internet and the husband better help me decide which provider to choose from before I drive him crazy. I hope we can make a decision soon. Not that we will tell the little man about it. There is no point in weaning him out of being online only to get him back at it again. I kinda like this arrangement, as long as I do not suffer. I am, after all, old enough to get online every chance I get :)

a big bed

noreply@blogger.com (poray) — Wed, 09 May 2012 23:00:00 +0000

We bought the little man a new bed. He still has his Thomas the Train bed but his father thinks that it is getting too small for him. We have a half bed but he said it is also small. He wanted to buy his son a queen mattress and that was what he did about a month ago. Complete with frame too. I thought that was too big for a five year old but two people said it is just right. It is the cheapest mattress we can find because he is only a kid after all. No memory foam topper or any fancy stuff for him yet. Just plain queen bed where he can sleep and play and make a mess in. He loves and is proud of his "big boy" bed. He said if only he can have a television set it will be really like a big boy room. I just don't know about that yet, lol.

reading is good

noreply@blogger.com (poray) — Sun, 06 May 2012 18:07:00 +0000

One of the things that can make the little man settle down is a good book. Childrens book, at that. It does not have to be illustrated as long as it is a story, he reads it. He can sit for hours just reading book after book. He only comes up for air when he encounters a word he cannot read or does not understand. Then he goes back to reading. He reads to his father. He also reads to his sister especially when she is fussy and I could not get to her right away. The little girl loves it when she is being read a book and normally settles down as long as she is not either dirty or hungry. I love it that my son loves reading because it will help his vocabulary and his imagination as well. I also love to read and has introduced him to the wonders of reading. I hope he will continue his enthusiasm and that he will learn more from the books he read. I know we will nurture his desire to read by buying him more books he will enjoy.

she is not doing it again

noreply@blogger.com (poray) — Fri, 04 May 2012 19:23:00 +0000

A friend got pregnant just months before I got pregnant with my second child. She said she had a good pregnancy but she did not like the fact that she had to go for several blood test in Philadelphia (where she lives) but I told her they do conduct blood tests. I think I had two each pregnancy. I am not very sure though because I am not good at remembering events or schedules especially when it hurts me in any way. She also had a c-section because she is tiny like me but she had a gorgeous baby boy. When I asked her if she wanted another baby, she said not anymore. She had a lot of reasons but mainly because she said she does not want to go through another pregnancy again. I don't blame her. It is not easy getting pregnant then having to go through a lot of OB visits. I told the husband I am not getting pregnant again either. Not because I am afraid of tests or getting pregnant but because two kids are all I can handle. And he agrees.

crazy about angry birds, again!

noreply@blogger.com (poray) — Fri, 04 May 2012 19:07:00 +0000

The little man got it into his head to play Angry Birds (again) and not only win every level but also get three stars on each. He does try to play the game but when he could not win it, he either follows me around or aggravate his father to play the game for him. It is annoying if I am busy but I sometimes find myself playing the game and enjoying it, that is if I win. If I lose, that is another story. The husband does the same thing. If it gets too bad, I do not charge the touchpad so we do not have to play the game for a few hours at least. The little man of course bugs me nonstop to give him the charger but he knows I do not give especially when it is not good for him or us. It is a good thing that he has other toys he can play with so he forgets about the game quick enough. Until, that is, he gets bored. Then mommy has to find something else for us to do. Anything to keep him occupied.

another trinket

noreply@blogger.com (poray) — Fri, 04 May 2012 18:48:00 +0000

The other day, the husband's older son came by to visit. He has made it a habit ever since we now live near where he lives. He mainly just stays a few hours to talk or help with yard work, if asked. He always has little trinkets for the little man to play with and the latter loves it. This last time he brought us, or his younger brother, a tv mount. He said he got it from a friend who bought all new stands & mounts for his televisions at home after he renovated his house. He only brought one and it is really slim and elegant but just thinking about putting that thing in the little man's room makes me cringe. I know for a fact it will not last looking that good for long. And the worse thing is that he is liable to climb up on it and get hurt. I know I sound negative and paranoid but I know what my son is capable of. We might just have to find a place for that television stand somewhere else in the house. Away from grubby little hands where everybody will be safe.

a major surgery

noreply@blogger.com (poray) — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 15:53:00 +0000

One of the little man's aunt underwent surgery just a few months ago. She had blockage on her artery that her doctor said had to be taken out. She was under for hours and it was tense because it was the first time somebody in her family was having a major surgery. When we visited her weeks after her surgery she was so weak and still was recovering. She recounted her experience as something like having spinal surgery but she did not elaborate why. At the time she said she did not want to do it ever again but a week later she was told they needed to get her under again to "rearrange" her since she was complaining of digestive problems. She eventually recovered from that but now she is scheduled for another surgery and that is for her kidneys. We think that is a lot of surgery in just a matter of months but the doctors insist it is something she has to do. We hope she will have speedy recovery and that she will be fine after her last surgery.

band aid

noreply@blogger.com (poray) — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 00:27:00 +0000

The little man's solution to everything? The band-aid. You know, those sticky little things you put over a boo-boo? We have bought and used so much band-aids in the last year, you will think I have ten kids here. And that is not a joke. He asks for a band aid on every little boo-boo he gets. It does not matter if it is just a bump it has to have a band aid. Sometimes he will just get it from our first aid drawer and put it on himself. He has gotten really good at applying band aid on his supposed boo-boos. Even the wall or a chair gets a band aid if he sees any scratch or writings on them especially if he did the damage. I have talked to him and told him band aid does not work on every thing but boo-boos but he told me the wall looked bad so chances are it needs a band aid. I have already explained to him the difference between living and nonliving things but I guess it has not really sink in yet. It will eventually then maybe we will not have to buy band aids in bulk. These things get expensive so I am keeping my fingers crossed.

noreply@blogger.com (poray) — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 12:25:00 +0000

Bad people go to jail. Good people go to McDonalds. ~the little man~

See how fun it is to have a five year old? Lol. We never know what he will come up with. Sometimes it is embarrassing to even repeat here but most of the time it is hilarious. He uttered the words above when he wanted us to go to a McDonalds drive-thru. He was really bad that day that I told him we are not going to reward his bad behavior by doing what he wants. He has to behave and be good, at all times, to make his parents happy and proud of his behavior. We had a long and interesting talk and in the middle of it was when he said the words. His father who was just listening burst out laughing at his son's "ingenuity" as he called it. And that, folks, is just a part of my day dealing with my smart and smart-mouthed kid :)

5 going on 20?

noreply@blogger.com (poray) — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 17:37:00 +0000

I will go to college and get a day job. ~the little man~

I forgot to ask what he was going to college for, lol. I don't know what got into him but lately the words that come out of his mouth are not normal to be heard from a five year old. He sure keeps us on our toes and helps us keep our wits with us all the time for fear of saying yes to something we are not supposed to. Oh, he does have his outbursts of temper and bad behavior like any normal five year old but more often than not acts like an adult, or tries to anyway. I told him to enjoy being a child because it will not be too much fun being an adult but I think he is having fun pretending to be an adult. He is so precious and fun to be around with albeit a little exasperating sometimes.

good for a five year old

noreply@blogger.com (poray) — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 20:05:00 +0000

The little man has his own chairs. We started by buying him a foam chair with a Sesame Street design. When he got too big for that we debated whether to buy him plastic stackable chairs for less or an elaborate kids’ chair with faux leather and is really pretty but expensive. It took us a while but we eventually bought him the more affordable of the two. We have to be practical because kids outgrow chair like they do clothes. He had two of the plastic chairs, a green and a blue. He already broke the green by leaning on it too hard but the blue is still good and he still uses it from time to time. We have bought him another chair, a camping chair, because he claimed he needed something sturdier to sit on. I told you kids outgrow chairs.

to the eye doctor we need to go

noreply@blogger.com (poray) — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 20:02:00 +0000

The husband and I have been talking about going to the eye doctor to have our eyes checked and then renew our prescription for eyeglasses. We have been talking about it for months but we have not made an appointment nor have we decided where to go. We only remember about our eyeglasses when we need to look at something and we cannot see it because both of us have bad eyesight. I have scoured the internet for possible offices to go to. I have looked at GreatEyeglasses.com for eyeglasses but without a prescription we cannot even order our eyeglasses. The husband laughed at me when I told him it is bad when we cannot even call for an appointment for something as important as prescription eyeglasses. I know I need to get serious on it and soon before our eyesight get worse than it already is.

how do you spell...

noreply@blogger.com (poray) — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 21:16:00 +0000

The little man is very good at spelling. His memory is really amazing because once he's read a word and pronounced it right chances are he can spell it for you without difficulty. I make it a point to test his vocabulary by letting him ask what a certain word means, then make him read the word to tuck away for future use. The other day we were practicing spelling and he was really doing good spelling words like warning and parking without assistance. Until I asked how to spell banana. He tried several times but the poor thing could not do it. He refused my help either. He cried but I told him he will get it next time which he did the next day after we practiced on it. I thought it was funny how he labored over a simple word and I actually laughed when I told the husband about what happened. That was, when we were alone because I don't want my little boy to think I was making fun of him. Quite the opposite, in fact. I am proud of him. He is such a smart kid even if he does test my patience sometimes. I was told though that boys are a handful and he sure is.

wellness mat

noreply@blogger.com (poray) — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 17:19:00 +0000

The house that the husband bought has laminate wood floors. As much as I like how they look and feel when walked on, I found out it is hard to keep it clean. Especially if the area is close to two thousand square feet, and there are two muffins hard at work at making a mess. I am not complaining okay, just stating a fact, lol. I already have plans on bringing in our old rugs to use but I also plan on buying new stuff for the floor like Wellness Mats that seem to look good on the pictures I have seen of them online. Who knows they might even be comfortable to stand on while I am cooking or doing something in the sink that requires longer periods of time to finish. I do hope they are a bit more affordable though because with everything so expensive anymore I might have to cut some corners to get the things I want. This could mean a few items that will not make it on the list because I have to consider what is important first. If only I won the megamillion then money would not have been an issue :)

little drummer

noreply@blogger.com (poray) — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 14:00:00 +0000

The little man has been bugging us to buy him a set of drums. He sure knows how to pick the most expensive "toys", lol. When we were at the mall last month he ran straight to a music store, sat in front of a drum set, and started playing like he knew what he was doing. I had to apologize to the store manager who just laughed and said it was okay. He probably thought it was cute for a five year old to seem to know what a drum set was for. I wish I can get him something cheaper to play with but a drum set is not only expensive it can be loud too. I don't think I can handle that yet. I am ready to forget about the drum set but then I read about Toontrack Superior Drummer which I think works like a drum set only it is a software. I still have a lot of reading to do because this seems a lot better than a real drum set. The price is still a bit high for our budget but nothing is cheap anymore these days. I will also have to let the husband know and get his opinion. If the little man will continue to ask about a drum set this will probably be a good replacement. We will know for sure after I have read the specifications and reviews online. I just hope we will have enough money to buy it. Better not tell the little man about this yet to not get his hopes up.

he made a mess

noreply@blogger.com (poray) — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 02:55:00 +0000

I have been working on a project for two weeks. It is to paint the living room and the kitchen of the house we bought. I coated it with primer three times before doing the final coat. It took me two weeks because it is a pretty big space plus the fact that I had to let the paint dry. So when the day I had to do the final coat I was so excited. I finally will be able to finish it up and be done with painting for a while. It was beautiful but for some reason the pictures do not do it justice. To see the walls with the sun shining in it is just amazing though. Anyway, guess how long that beautiful work of art lasted? Less than a week! The little man found a pencil and wrote these things on the wall.

I don't even know what it means. Could have been from one of his games. It is awful. I feel like crying. All that work and here is the result. No appreciation at all. Thank goodness it can be wiped clean and whatever will not come off will just have to be painted over. The husband who knows what his son is capable of bought an extra gallon of paint for times like this. I should have known to be prepared but it slipped my mind. I hope he will not do it again like he promised. I am keeping my fingers crossed.

a new game

noreply@blogger.com (poray) — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 02:29:00 +0000

The little man's aunt bought him a new nintendo ds. He had been asking me for one for so long that every time his aunt hears about it she asked me why I would not do it. I told her it is not time to get him one yet. So she took it upon herself to make the little man happy, she bought him a new ds lite with games. Oh, he was static! He loves his ds. But like most kids, he is not very good with keeping track of his games and stylus. I have been hunting games and styluses since he had the game which is driving me buggy. I thought that since he loves the game so much he would treat them like winners would with their trophies but I am wrong. When he gets tired of playing a game, he takes it out then just leaves it anywhere he feels like and then comes back to me later on to ask if I have seen it. I am at a point to where if he asks me again where his games are or his stylus, that I will just go ahead and hide the thing to keep my sanity. The husband who sees all these going on laughed at me and said this is what I get for allowing his sister to buy a game for the little man. Sigh! Now it is all my fault. Electronic games shouldn't have been invented. Don't you think?

electronically advanced?

noreply@blogger.com (poray) — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 03:38:00 +0000

If there ever is such phrase, lol. The little man is quite advanced for his age when it comes to electronics. He started using the computer when he was two and has not stopped since. I can actually trust him in the computer because he can read well and understands what he reads so he does not just click any prompts that come up on the screen. He normally just ignores pop-ups (those that slip through the blocker) or yells for help when he thinks I need to be informed. He likes anything new when it comes to electronics. When I had my first cellphone that I was able to use to get online he had been talking about buying a blackberry phone which he apparently saw on ads when he surfed the internet. He has his own laptop and a touchpad but when he saw a friend's daughter with a Kindle last Christmas his face lit up and keeps on reminding me every day how great it will be to have one (no luck on that one since daddy said we are not buying). Then he said he wants a smartphone too because I don't let him use mine. He is something else and I am hoping that he will continue to want to learn. Being updated with what is new on the market is good as long as he does not end up asking his parents to buy every thing he sees. He has been trying but we keep on telling him there is buying and then there is admiring. These are different things and one does not cost any. Hopefully he will eventually understand the difference.

big holes

noreply@blogger.com (poray) — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 00:16:00 +0000

I don't know what's with the little man or what he does with them but his jeans have holes on the knees. Out of the four new jeans I bought for him for the winter, only one remains intact. It is a shame really since I bought the jeans a size bigger thinking he will be able to use them come fall but the rate the jeans are tearing up, there is no way it is going to happen. He is getting expensive. When I asked him what he did he just said he did not know what happened, that he just saw the holes in his jeans. I know he will not admit to tearing them up or doing anything to cause it but I still wanted to ask him. His jeans are mostly made of heavy denim that could have lasted a while. Sigh! I will need to buy him more jeans but I am hoping it will not get tear up after just a few weeks of use. Jeans are kinda expensive and it will really help if they will not "magically" just get holes in them. Here's hoping that I will find little boy jeans on sale at the end of season sale in stores.

earrings for the little man?

noreply@blogger.com (poray) — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 04:27:00 +0000

When I learned that the little man was a boy, I started planning about the things I will buy him when he was born. High on my list was an earring. Just one, for his left ear. I don't know what got into me but at the time I thought it was cute. Of course I did not get to do it because the husband will not let me but I actually spent days looking for earrings for baby boys, which I did not find. What I found were a variety of Diamond Earrings for men which was not what I wanted. I could have bought one for the husband but if he did not want me to buy an earring for his son I was positive he will say no if I bought him an earring. I am glad now that I did not do it though because how would I have explained the earring to his pediatrician? Lol. Or to other people who will surely ask what I (or the husband) was thinking. Now I am hoping he will not want to have any piercings when he gets older. If I will not tell him about my madness then maybe he cannot use that against me should a discussion about earrings and the like arise. I hope.

silly little man

noreply@blogger.com (poray) — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 18:07:00 +0000

I heard the little man giggling and having so much fun so I checked what he was up to. Well, he was in his sister's playpen playing. It was funny to look at him trying to fit in and play inside the playpen but I did not say anything because I did not want to embarrass him. The little girl was in her bed taking a nap while this happened so I did not feel the need to make him get out until he was ready. What is ironic is that when he was a toddler he hated being in a playpen. He learned how to climb out of the playpen way before he learned how to walk which scared me senseless worrying that he will get hurt. As it was, he did not get hurt but I rarely would put him in the playpen anyway to minimize the danger of him falling over. I hope he will not get inside the playpen when the little girl is in it. But then, I think he will not do it since he still has a little bit of that jealousy going on that there are times he does not want to get near the little girl. We are trying to get rid of that bad feeling but it may take some time before it happens.

we had fun

noreply@blogger.com (poray) — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 01:09:00 +0000

When we went to Florida for our vacation, it was a given that we will get in the water. It was not clear whether on the pool or the beach, we just knew we will get in the water. Which we did because the motel we stayed in had a pool. It was all closed in with tampa fence for security reasons. I am guessing the fence was in place to not only keep kids and adults safe but also to ward off outsiders. We enjoyed lounging in the poolside while watching the kids get in the water and play. It was warm enough to be in our swimsuit but not hot enough to get sunburned. We did not get to go to the beach because we were lazy to get in the car and drive. We stayed put where we were and acted like tourist which was fun. We did not even have a lot of money to spend yet it did not stop us from having the time of our lives. Vacations are fun!

swimming

noreply@blogger.com (poray) — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 02:44:00 +0000

When we went on vacation this last time, the little man did good in the pool. He stayed in the kiddie pool even if he wanted to be with the other kids because he was afraid of the deep water. He did practice using the inflatable tube that one of the kids loaned him and I should say he is improving. Barely a year ago he was screaming for his life when we made him get in the big pool even with a tube and his father with him. This last time he had a good time. I am starting to believe that the next time we get the chance to be in a pool he might just get in without fear. I hope. Anyway, since it was warm and sunny that day, I lounged at the poolside a few minutes at a time (I did not want to get too dark) to enjoy the warmth. I wanted to get in the spa but for some reason it was not available and a spa cover was on it. The husband wanted me to get in the pool but I don't know how to swim so I avoid it when he is not in it with me. So you see now why I want the little man to not be afraid of the water? Because I am and it is not healthy. When he gets a little older I might even encourage the husband to enroll the little man in a swimming class. He needs to learn to swim so he will not be like his mommy who never learned to swim as a child and is now too old to learn.

pizza!

noreply@blogger.com (poray) — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 18:05:00 +0000

Last month, the little man was all about pizza. He wanted us to either order online or make one but since we had most of the ingredients in our kitchen I decided to prepare our very own pizza. We found substitute for the ingredients we did not have and made the "best home-made pizza" ever. That is according to my boys, lol. Shown below is the first pizza we made. It had mushrooms (my personal favorite), sausage, two kinds of cheese, pizza sauce we also prepared, and the dough (of course). It is not really complicated to make that we actually did it twice already. The little man's favorite is the cheese pizza. He is okay with pepperoni too. As for me, I liked the mushroom and the bread. Odd, I know. I have a picture of the cheese pizza but I could not locate it so I am giving you a glimpse of the "best sausage pizza" made by me and my family.