In a funk

I think everyone is just in a funky mood this week. Several times today i've thought - "Is it ONLY Wednesday?! Ugh!!" I'm sure it has to do with the gas prices and Katrina - along w/our everyday life's stresses on top of it all. It's alot to take in. I'm also wondering about the moon - has it been full the last few nights? Usually when we have full moons - it's crazy at school. The kids just act different - really hyper or cranky or moody. It's been a bit chaotic lately. I couldn't wait to get out of there today - and I hardly ever feel that way. Not in a long time, at least. And then I feel selfish for worrying about my petty issues when I think about all of the families that have lost everything w/the flooding. They don't have homes anymore or everything is ruined inside. They aren't working, their kids are out of school, their lives are totally upset down. I can't even imagine. I should be grateful. And really I am. I'm just ready for everything to settle down. For everyone. *sigh*

But I do have some good news. Cameron had an awesome day today! YAY! He walked into his class today w/no troubles (he's been hanging on to my leg & pouting lately) and said "Hi" to his teachers and friends and sat right now and joined the others at a center table. :) I checked on him around lunchtime & he had a great morning. He also went down for a nap today w/no problems (wow!) and slept almost 2 hours. (double wow!) This afternoon I got the same report about him being a good boy.
That just makes me feel so good. I let him pick out a "reward" at the grocery store - and he had a Scooby Doo popsicle after dinner tonight. :)
He started to throw a fit b/c I wouldn't let him have 2, but finally gave-in after he figured out that it wasn't going to happen. LOL

Well, tomorrow is a new day. We'll see what happens. :)

Well, I made it through Open House. It went great & we had a really good turn-out! I was glad about that! I'm excited about this school year w/all of the improvements of the school. It's really looking nice & we have some awesome teachers right now! YAY! :) Hopefully after school "officially" starts next week - things will calm down some. It's been totally crazy & of course, Regina (owner/director) & I have been stressing ourselves out by making sure everything is perfect & in order, etc. But all of our hard work has paid off b/c Open House was a success! :)

Regina & her hubby took us all out for dinner at Papacita's (yummy Mexican food!) after Open House last night & it was nice to talk w/all of the girls w/out any kiddos! LOL Hanging w/friends, chips & salsa, and a refreshing beverage - it just doesn't get any better! :)

On another note - Cam didn't have a good morning at school. He yelled at his teacher, wouldn't sit in time-out, and stuck his tongue out! *sigh* Ms. Lauren took Cam to the office to talk w/Ms. Regina - and she asked him if he wanted her to call Mommy (I was out running errands for the school) and he said "Uh-huh!" and she said - "Do you want me to call Daddy?" and he said "No!" ... So she called Shane, of course. He came up to school and talked to him & ended up swatting him, as well. :( I hate that we've been having to spank him lately - but that seems like the only way to straighten up his stubborn little self. :( I'm thinking about going to Walmart tonight to get some type of paddle or flyswatter b/c we hate that we have to use our hands. Shane & I had a big discussion about it a few nights ago - the pros & cons about spanking, what society thinks about spanking, the whole nine yards. We're hoping that we can just threaten to get the so-called paddle off the top of the fridge & that will be enough to calm him down. My Mom kept a flyswatter on top of the fridge growing up - and all she had to do was reach her hand up - and we straightened up in a blink of an eye!! LOL She maybe actually had to use it on us like less than 5 times.

So - no flames for spanking my child - but that's what works for my family & what we believe in ... as a last resort, of course & NEVER when we're fuming mad or upset.

Anyway - apparantly Shane's little appearance had an effect on Cam b/c he was WONDERFUL the rest of the day - according to his teachers.
I went on & on about how proud of him I was for being behaving good the rest of the day and how happy that made me, etc. He smiled and hugged me and said - "I was a very good boy, Mommy. I got a sucker & a happy face!" :)

My little stinker. He's so dang cute & sweet - but BOY - he loves to push those buttons!! LOL He definetly takes after his Daddy!! ;) He's Shane made-over!!

The death toll is at 80 people so far this morning after Hurricane Katrina hit parts of Louisiana & Mississippi. I just can't even imagine going through something like that. Having to leave your home & evacuating the city - and possibly coming back to a flooded house or not a house at all. All of your belongings destroyed or disappeared. :(

My friend, Cari, was worried yesterday b/c she her in-laws live in Covington, LA and they were hit pretty bad, I think. Nobody had any word from them - as of late yesterday afternoon. Many, many prayers that they are doing okay. Hopefully, when I go to work this morning - Cari will tell me she's spoken w/them & they're fine. *prayers*

First off - thinking of all of the families involved with Hurricane Katrina. They're saying it could be a MONTH before they get power in the New Orleans area. Oh gosh. I hope not that long. That's so devasting.

Not really much to talk about today. Cam had a pretty good day - considering he was so stinkier this weekend. His teachers said he was "okay" - so that's better than horrible!! LOL Of course, he could've been horrible, and they just didn't want to tell me. But usually I know about it b/c they'll bring him to my office if he's acting up TOO much. And no sign of him all day, so that was good. We didn't have any trouble w/him at dinner or after tonight - and he went to bed w/no problems, so today was good. My boy was good! YAY! I gotta celebrate these days!! Tomorrow could be a different story. I have Open House tomorrow night at school - so just hoping he's good for his Daddy. Usually he give ME the trouble & is better with Shane. Hope that's the case - or maybe he can just act up a TAD since I had to deal w/him all weekend!! LOL J/K

I've been lurking around on some of the different blogs that people have set up and just in AWE of how cool some of them are! WOW! Looks like alot of work to me & not sure I could get mine that cool! HTML codes and all that involves is pretty Greek to me. Maybe I can read up on some of it and try & see if I *get* any of it... here's to hoping!! LOL

Hey, I'm just happy that I've kept up with this as good as I have so far.
I think i'm on a roll!! Yee-haw!! :)

Until tomorrow -
CEC

Weekend at Giggy's

We (Cam & I) got home from Wichita Falls (visiting my grandma, aunt, uncle, & 2 cousins) around 4pm today. Shane is nowhere to be found - I guess he's 4-wheeling! His cell goes straight to voicemail so left a few messages.

Anyway - we had a good time visiting. The trip there & back went pretty good. Cam was in an okay mood and Johnny's laptop entertained him for a few hours - Shrek2 and Spongebob DVDs.

We got there around 6pm on Friday. Ordered some Stanley's take-out (famous for their beanie burgers) but I stick to the chicken fingers, gravy, and fries. :)

Cam was hard to settle down - and finally had to put in Scooby Doo - but watched the whole thing before he fell asleep - around 10:45pm! *yawn*
Up at 8am - ate some cinnamon rolls & orange juice, got dressed, and hung out until 11:30am or so then headed to my Aunt's for the day.
Everyone hung-out outside around the pool. Cam had fun swimming and didn't want to get out! Imagine that. Tyler really played w/him alot - and Cam says Tyler is his "best friend" now! So cute! I was impressed how much patience Tyler had with Cameron - that's not very usual for a freshman in high school - esp. a boy. They rode scooters, attempted the pogo stick, played with plastic animals, ran around outside on the sidewalks, and played "tennis". Cam had a blast and I think he wore Tyler out!! ha!

As for the grub - it was great as usual. Uncle Mark grilled some shrimp on the grill for an appetizer and we had some guacamole (sp?), salsa, onion dip & chips. Yum. I love guac!!! :) For dinner we had chicken fajitas - double yum!! Cam didn't really eat good - which surprised me. But who knows! He was a whole different child the whole weekend pretty much anyways. Talk about whiny!!! OMG! He was worse this weekend than he's ever been! Goodtimes!! *rolling eyes* This will pass... this will pass! I keep telling myself!! ;)

It was good to see my Giggy. She was doing much better this visit than last and barely had to use her walker. I was happy about that. She's lost alot of weight though - and is looking much older these days. She was very happy to see us though - esp. Cameron and just laughed at him. I'm glad we were able to come up to visit w/her. I know she cherishs the time spent w/us and vise versa. Cam wanted her to come back with us to Longview - when we were leaving he said to her "Come with us, Giggy!"
It was sweet and I think it made her day that he "wanted" her. :)

I could go on & on about how tootie fruitie Cam was this weekend - but I won't. Crazy - that's a good word. He definetly wore me out w/his behavior! *sigh*

Until next time ~
Me

Growing... Growing ... Growing!!

Cam had his 3 yr old well check-up this morning! He did great and kept standing on his tip-toes so that Dr. Hudson could see how BIG he was!!
It was very cute!! And my big guy is 40.5 inches tall and 36lbs! The 90 and 75 percentile on the charts!! :) He thought Cam was growing up just fine & was impressed about how good he could talk!! (he asked him a MILLION QUESTIONS!!) LOL

And now some counties in Texas require the Hepatitis A vaccination for entry into public schools & daycares, so Cam had to get a shot in his arm this morning. (and then another one at 4!) He didn't even cry! What a tough guy!! But... he wasn't thrilled about it, no doubt!! "Hey!! Why did he do that for? I didn't want a shot!!" LOL

He got to pick out some stickers, of course, when we left. Batman and Spiderman is what he chose - "Duh!!"

Booty Shaking & Whining

Oh my goodness! My boy can dance!! ha! We turned on the radio in the den tonight after dinner and he instantly stood up and started shaking his booty!! ha! ha! I really need to get out the camcorder and get some of this on tape! His future wife will appreciate it, i'm sure! He totally cracks me up - and wish I could describe in words just how freakin' adorable he is! He really gets into it w/the serious face and the up & down movements of his shoulders. Then he'll add some breakdancing moves on the floor! What a little ham! :) We went to several weddings this year already - and he tore up the dance floor! I think he danced 98% of the time, no joke. He's a dancing machine!

And now the whining!! Good lord - it's insane!! It's like sometimes he can't even talk in a "normal" voice - just the whiney "Moooommmmmy!" tone. *pulling hair out* I've talked with some other Mommies of 3 yr olds - and i'm glad to find out that it's not JUST Cameron, that it's the age!!
I'll take the "Terrible Two's" over the "Whiney-bag Three's" anyday! Bring'em on!! ha!! If he doesn't get his way or he has to do something that he doesn't want to do - there he goes. Whining, crying, putting his head down, throwing a little fit. Not the whole screaming & kicking fits - but he gets REALLY upset and will hang on me. I'm not sure what's better!! We've been working on different ideas to help him get over this little phase and it's helped some... Those poor 3 yr old teachers. A room full of these little whiney creatures! I bet they drink when they get home!! ha! ha! But you gotta love'em though! They are really dang cute! :)

First post!

I think this is my 3rd attempt at blogging - so we'll see how this one goes!

Why I picked "Donuts, Superheroes, and Hugs"?! If you know my son, Cameron Reece, this title fits him perfectly!! LOL Of course, I could've substituted "donuts" with a couple of different foods - "bacon", "mac & cheese", "chicken", or "chips & cheese!" or his fav. drink "choc. milk!"
He is currently obsessed w/those little chocolate donuts for breakfast in the morning. Hey - I know it's not healthy - but I'm not a big health nut, myself! ;) He does drink Olvatine w/them - that has lots of good vitamins and minerals, so there!! ha!