Manners?!

It's about that time that I talk about it.  Manners.  What happened to them?  Why is it so rare to see or hear them today?  I think it's sad that when you do see children or people with manners it takes you by surprise!  Of course I have two wonderful stories and examples to blog about so please continue reading below (see how I used the word please?)

Example #1:  A few weeks ago I was shopping at a grocery store with Will.  Will's "new" thing to do is reach out and touch any and all items in his path.  I understand that he is at the age of discovery but I also am not going to have one of those children who reach out and touch everything-especially in a store.  The biggest reason is just for safety.  So as we were shopping up and down the isles Will would occasionally put his hand out to grab something and I would put his hand back in the cart and tell him "No-don't touch". 

Well, Will got a little persistent and after I told him, "No", the little angel grunted at me and furrowed his eyebrows together and for that-he got a hand slap. 

All of a sudden, a lady next to me says, "A little harsh, don't you think?"....

It took all of my will power to not say something very nasty back so I just said, "he doesn't have any money"....

I wanted to add..."and I bet you have brats at home that you can't control" but I kept my mouth shut. 

If any of you see my little boy you will know first hand that he is the last thing from being abused or hurt.  I want anyone and everyone to be able to take Will out to any store and not have to worry about him touching or grabbing things along the way.  Basically I am parenting.  Oh, and trying to teach Will some form of manners at an early age.

Example #2

Dan and I just had job interviews at a school in Orlando, Florida.  I know, I know....that is another blog for another day. 

Anyways...we were boarding on the flight home and almost everyone had found their seats.  A family of four came through the isle and you could tell the mother was getting upset.  Come to find out all of their seats are separated.  One of those seats was next to Dan and I.  I didn't even hesitate to say to the mother, "you can have our seats and we can sit separated". 

Did the mother say "thank you"?  Did the father?  Did the kids?  NOPE.  It was like they expected us to give up our seats. 

I wasn't looking for a thank you-or anything of the sort but it threw me for a loop that it wasn't just an automatic. 

As we landed the family blew past Dan and I-we had to wait for everyone to unload because our carryon's were towards the back of the plane-and then someone with manners said,

"One good deed should never go unpunished"....and there was a lady and her husband carrying our luggage up to meet us. 

I'm thankful that some people still have manners...and you can bet that my son is going to be one of them!

Boy Days

Today is one of those days that I realize how much of a "boy" Will actually is. 

Let's start from the beginning:

When Dan and I went for my ultrasound to see Will for the first time I just had a feeling I was going to be having a little boy.  Even though the thought of having a little cheerleader in the house and being able to shop for all the cute girly clothes complete with tons of glitter and glam were floating through my mind, I knew I would be a mom to a boy.  Dan and I had Will's name picked out so quickly-we knew what we wanted to name him even before the thought of having a child had crossed our minds.  And for some reason I am not squeamish when it comes to broken bones, blood, spiders, frogs...the like...all the makings of being a mommy to a little boy.  So when the ultrasound technician asked us, "what do you think you are having?" Dan and I just looked at each other and in unison said "boy". 

So even though Will is not yet one here are the signs of his "boy-ness" already...

*upon discovering that Beesley our Yorkie had an accident in the house-he started playing with the poop not wavering at the awful smell it was emitting (no worries...nothing was consumed)

*his obsession with remotes, Dan's PS3 controllers, the computer and cell phones

*burping and passing gas are extremely funny

*tumbling all over the floor and couches (thanks Aunt Chelsea!)

So today's revelation was brought on by watching Will play with his toys-as he was banging some toys together to see if they would make some noise Will decided to look at one of his books.  This particular book has a bunny finger puppet and as he was looking at it-he attacked the bunny-like bit down hard on it.  Not finding that satisfactory enough he proceeded to find any and all toys to start biting down on.  Now I know that he in the dreaded teething stages but this is not just a bit because of teeth.  This is pure cannibalism towards any and all toys. 

So as I finish this blog and post I am looking at my little boy now as he knocks down his workbench and is climbing on it in desperate attempts to reach the well-placed Blu-Ray discs his father just moved up a notch on the entertainment shelves.  I hope the nurses in the ER don't find out our names first-hand for at least two or three more years!

Traditions

Dan and I always have the conversation each holiday that revolves around these few words..."this should be our new tradition"...and it seems as though every year we forget what we did the last year as our "tradition" so we invent our new one.  Don't get me wrong...we have a few sacred things that we actually follow through on but now that we have Will it makes me think that we should probably pick a few and seriously make them stick.

So what are the top holidays to have a tradition?  New Years, Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas are my top four...I mean sure there are others but honestly..you can go bananas just thinking about the next holiday coming up.  I do appreciate Target and their hastiness in redecorating their stores as soon as I walk through their doors reminding me of what holiday is just around the bend.  Cause otherwise I would totally forget..."oh it's Memorial Day...how nice"...and I always smirk when I see those back to school posters as both parents and kids groan in the middle of the summer...

I'm rambling...

Traditions...I will list out what Dan and I do first and then underneath is what I grew up participating in:

New Years:  always celebrated at the Phillip's house..and we play the dollar gift game...you bring 3-$1 gifts and it's a rolling of the dice, trading and hoarding your sacred gifts only to open them up later and find out that you picked a beautifully wrapped and cleverly stacked cans of sardines.

I usually babysat on New Year's for either my family or the Raw family-who had three boys.  At the Raw house I would freak myself out watching The Twilight Zone marathon every year just so I would stay awake. 

Easter:  don't really have one here...but I'm trying with the whole Easter basket thing

Going to church on Easter is a no-brainer and it's not a tradition for us because we are in church almost every Sunday.  My parents used to hide the Whopper Eggs around our house the morning of.  Mine would be located at the highest eye level, Tiffani's in the middle, and then Chelsea's at the bottom in random places all over the house.  Then one year I got a major insult when it was announced that Tiffani's were now the highest to find and mine were in the middle.  I unfortunately was surpassed by Tiffani's awesome height when I was in High School.  The funniest part about the Whopper eggs were that during the year we would find an orphaned, rogue egg behind a book in the bookcase or behind a glass in the cupboard and we would dare each other to eat the now very stale Whopper.  Chelsea always did. 

Thanksgiving:  nada really...it just depends on where we are and what family we are around

Our family Thanksgiving's were not that exciting.  On one side of the family the dinner's were terrible...mainly for the cooking so it was a bummer when we would find out where we were going so Thanksgiving was always a gamble for us.

Christmas:  nothing...it's pretty much the same as Thanksgiving

Christmas's at the Foster house started off by my sister's waking up at the break of dawn and hearing them run back and forth from each other's rooms giggling.  My parents were smart and put a "don't wake us up until 8am otherwise the presents are going back" rule in place when we were youngsters.  When my mom was first married to my dad she made a hand-painted nativity set out of ceramics.  Okay-get ready to laugh and don't be a hater on the Foster family as this story continues.   My mom decided that she would start wrapping the baby Jesus in Christmas paper.  Christmas morning we read the Christmas story out of the Bible and one of us three girls would get to unwrap the baby Jesus showing that He was the "first gift" of Christmas.  Are you laughing?  Cause I can hear it.  Anyways...my parents wanted to keep the Christmas gifts in check and gave us girls three gifts each because the Bible mentions three gifts-gold, frankincense and myrrh.  So, being the loving, caring sisters we always were we would "fight" over who got to open the baby Jesus because it was one more "gift" to open up.  We could never remember who opened it the past year...so my mom would either decide to "start over" and let me open it first...or let Chelsea open it because she was the youngest.  I can't tell you how many times Tiffani was slighted as she was continually skipped over to open the sacred gift.   

So that is what I have to go off of....Whopper eggs and wrapping baby Jesus up in Christmas paper.

Out of all the holidays that Dan and I have a tradition on it's Groundhog Day.  We watch the movie Groundhog Day and eat a huge bowl of ice cream in the dead of winter.  Aren't we so exciting?

So for all of my friends out there-if you have a fun or exciting tradition you do-then good for you!!  Traditions are always so much fun to hear about and think "wow..that would be awesome to adopt for our family" but I'm being real here when I say-I will probably forget and pretend to start a new tradition the next time a holiday rolls around.  Unless it involves Whopper eggs or wrapping up the baby Jesus in my nativity set.

WAAAYYY Behind....

So I have to say to my blogger followers...myyyy badddd.....I haven't written in so long...but I am really going to work on staying up to date...PROMISE.

You may be thinking, "What has happened to Dan, Rachelle and Will?" -  Here is your answer my friends:

January:  nothing new

February:  nothing new-ummm but I guess I can tell everyone in bloggie land that I did turn 30.

March:  Dan resigned from his job as a Manager at the group home..but he is still working there until they find someone to fill his shoes...and Will surprised us with getting four teeth in!! 

April is here and Dan is still working at the house.  No one has filled the position yet which is a blessing right now because it is still bringing in a good income...Will is kind of growing :)  We took him to his nine month checkup and he is in the 3rd percentile for height and the 6th for weight.  He is so much fun-his newest thing to do right now is wave and shake his head back and forth.  Can a 10 month old already know the word "no"?!  

I am in PA visiting my parents right now.  We are having a good time catching up and I love seeing my parents spend some time with Will.  Mike and Chelsea are able to see him and spend some "quality" time with him as well (tonight they were on their own as they were faced with a messy diaper!) and Will loves his PaPaw, Nona, Uncle Mike and Aunt Chelsea.  He and I have also been able to see my Grandma Bowles (GiGi) and it's been precious to see her hold and feed Will.  

Today Dan went to the Buffalo Teacher Fair-which you had to preregister for in January and then be invited to attend.  There were over 650 other teachers there as well-isn't that so sad?  Some were college students about to graduate this spring but many were displaced teachers.  Dan had 40 minutes to get his resumes to school districts and hope that they had time slots for interviews.  He was able to really talk to three districts-all out of state-but it was encouraging for him.  There are a few Christian schools interested in him as well-but it is so hard to not be impatient as we wait for the next chapter of our lives.  As much as it would be convenient to stay in Buffalo we really don't know if that is going to be an option anymore.  All I can keep reminding myself is that God is in control.

I am working on my Master's degree online and I really am enjoying it.  It's a lot of work and very late nights but it's rewarding.  

I think you are all caught up now...that I can remember at this moment! :)