DOVE FAMILY

Last night I made home made fried party wings for dinner. The kids love them-- they are smaller chicken drums and wings and easier for the kids to handle. As we were chomping down on our wings, Matthew began to cry frantically. We had no clue what happened. Then he says with tears coming down..."I think I ate my tooth!" He had a very loose tooth and we knew that any day now it was going to come out. Sure enough, he must have bit into the chicken leg and the tooth got stuck in the meat and he swallowed it! We explained that it would be ok and that he would just "poop" it out and he could write the tooth fairy a letter.

Here is the note he wrote to the tooth fairy last night along with a picutre of him and the chicken bone. He put the note under his pillow so the tooth fairy could find it.

"Dear Toothfairy, I swallowed my tooth. Love, Matthew Dove"

Tuesday, March 27th, we went to Camp Woodlands in Riva, MD for Matthew’s kindergarten Field Trip. Camp Woodlands is an extension of Arlington Echo but it is only for the Kindergarteners. The bigger Arlington Echo is for the older children and provide a full overnight camp to those in 2nd-5th grade. The children in Anne Arundel County are expected to have environmental service so the kids have been learning about saving the environment, recycling, importance of trees, water, fish, bugs and more. Dave and I thought we were ready for this trip. David was so wonderful to volunteer as an activity leader and he was chosen to row the boat for the kids all day. He wasn’t too thrilled at first, but once he got out there, he was perfect. He kept the children calm, talked about the different animals they would find in the water. He asked them to listen to the animals that the heard while they were in the water. He rowed out to the little river/creek so carefully, helped the children in and out of the boat and talked about nature and the environment. The highlight of the children’s day was of course riding the boats and that certainly made it worth the hard work. I volunteered as a chaperone and although Dave thought I may not have had done as much as he did….let me tell you…we hiked, we climbed, we hiked some more and we were digging, searching for pine cones, acorns and hugging trees, using binoculars, tweeters, singing, dancing and did I mention that we hiked some more? Wow- we were all exhausted from the busy day but it was so much fun. I would do it again in a heartbeat. I can’t wait for the overnight camp. I am not a camper…nope, not me. But I enjoyed it and it was wonderful when the kids were laughing, smiling and experienced the water, the woods and being out in nature. (There are a lot of pictures!)

David rowing Matthew and his friends

Waiting to see how many and what kind of fish and shrimp
the activity leaders are going to find!

Hula Hoop Game!

Row, Row, Row your boat....

TREE HUGGER

Dancing by the camp fire

Learning about different birds...but the most popular question from the kids was,

"How did these birds die?"

How many eggs can you lay?

Hmmm..how long do I have to sit here?

Many of you may not have seen this. Some of you had a glance at this. Some of you have experienced it at its full force. I apologize to those of you have experienced it during its peak, during the beginning stages or any stage of it for that matter. It is scary. It is quite embarrassing. I think it may be hereditary. I am trying to get better.

It’s not a disease I don’t think. I am not sure what it is. Dave has given me an Avenger type name. FAMISHED DRAGON. This is what you see when I don’t eat, when I miss a meal, or if I do not eat on time. I turn into this creature. I have grown accustomed to eating throughout the day at work so I do not change into this creature in front of my co-workers. It has happened a few times when I had meetings lasting longer than 3 hours and I left my snack on my desk. My co-workers were scared. However, I cannot control it on the weekends. I try. Along with the snacks that I pack for the children, I include snacks for myself. I bring water, crackers, cookies, fruit everywhere I go. There are those days on the weekends though that we are running from one thing to another, running errands and I just didn’t bring enough snacks with me. It comes out. This creature. I get snippy, I talk back, my attitude comes out. David says that fire begins to come out of my ears, my mouth and nose. He describes this as the HULK type of transformation. During this time, everyone is wrong. I argue about everything, I bark at Dave, bark at the kids. I don’t mean to. I need to be fed. It’s simple. This is just a warning to those of you who haven’t seen it. For those of you who are in direct hit of this creature, pack snacks with you. When you see it, offer it food and water. That is the only thing that will keep the Famished Dragon away.

You have probably been wondering where I have been this last week...SPRING BREAK. NUF SAID. Dave took off a few days as well so we could have a few dates as the kids were in school/daycare. We spent a few days hanging out, shopping for us and the kids and ofcourse trying out some restaurants. We celebrated his 40th birthday and also our upcoming 11th wedding Anniversary. Yup- I said 11th!

Do you remember a few blog post ago....I mentioned that I wanted to purchase cute luggage tags? David loved the Redskins luggage tags for our Disney trip and I wasn't havin' it! I searched online and I was ready to purchase a few sets until I realized that I could totally do this. Not so crafty me could come up with something that loosk decent right? I could easily purchase luggage tags from the store, have my luggage look like everyone else's and have no cute style to them. But no...you know me better than that don't you?! I can do this. I have Dave to help me cut straight, I do have Michaels very close to me and I have access to the Internet.

Printed templates with our last names on it. I still needed Dave to do some cutting around the edges so they fit properly and the names were centered.

Matching ribbons from Micahels completes the whole look! I am making a few for each family because I know we have A LOT of luggage to haul with us!

We had a pretty big celebration for St. Patrick's Day this year- much different then what we have done in the past. Along with Aunt Debbie, Uncle Jim, Dave's mom also invited Aunt Linda, Uncle Brian, Brenden, Brandy and baby Reidd for some St. Patty's Day fun! We had classic Irish food, lots of green decorations and of course lots of fun outside with all the kids! The best time of all was of course our little make-shift temporary tattoo parlor in the kitchen! Matthew had so many tattoos - that they were going up his arm. It was a killer trying to scrub them off but they enjoyed it. The only one who didn't get a tattoo was me..ofcourse. Hey- I like to be different!

Matthew's other tattoo...not sure if this was tattoo number 3 or 4

Aunt Linda helping Dave with his tattoo

Baby Reid playing outside with his Grandmom (Aunt Linda) and his mom Brandy.

My little Filopino Irish baby

Well...what can I say. Not sure what I like the most about this picture...the glasses, the watermelon colors, the wedge flip flops or the hip action she has going on as she prepares for daddy's pitch.

Matthew played his first soccer game for Spring and boy was it a fun day! His teammates had their jerseys on, they were ready to play and they all looked so cute. Matthew just loves this season so much because two of his good friends from school are playing with him. Even little Julia got in on some of the action by running around with daddy and ofcourse posing for some pictures while cheering her brother on! It's going to be a FUN season!

Watch out kids-- here comes Matthew!

Matthew can even play soccer with one shoe on! He lost his shoe

but he is still fighting to get that ball!

Daddy & Julia running down the big hill.

Me & my baby girl....

I realized that I am usually the one behind the camera...so now that Dave has this brand new snazzy camera-- he finally took one of me & Julia. I must say, that I really like this picture. No makeup, no lip gloss. Its just us. Maybe it's me and Julia. Nah....I definately think that its the new camera :)

Today (March 12, 2012) Dave is celebrating his 40th Birthday! How awesome is that? Dave is probably hiding under his desk while he is reading this because he is a bit more shy than I am. He doesn't like all the attention on him! He is a bit more quiet than I am but thats why I love him so much. He is laid back and teaches me how to be calm. He is funny- many of you may not know that and only see Dave's quiet side, but he is hilarious. He is protective of not only the kids but of me as well. He is so caring and selfless. Happy birthday to a wonderful and loving man, an awesome daddy and a truly remarkable husband.

Ashley has one of the best birthdays because she gets to share it with her son Alex. How cool is it that she had her son on her birthday. This past Sunday we celebrated Ashley's birthday with Dave's so they didn't have to celebrate it at Chuck E Cheese last week! She is perfect for my brother and we are so happy to have her in our family. Happy Birthday Ashley and your beautiful family! We can't wait until your first trip to Disney World this summer- we are going to have a blast!

Ashley, Abe, Alex & Amaya!- The "A" Team

Dave took advantage of the nice weather and played with his new camera all day on Sunday. He even took lots of acton shots of the family....I can tell he is loving this new hobby of his. My experiences in using the new camera include.... leaving the lens cap on while taking pictures, locking the camera so we were unable to take pictures and using the incorrect modes while taking pictures. So different then my little point and shoot. So happy that Dave loves his new camera and his new hobby. Very cool hobby but an expensive one!

Matthew was recruited by his cousin Daniel as a stand in for their flag football practice. One of the boys on the team couldn't make practice and they needed an extra body. This was right up Matthew's alley. He gladly volunteered and was out on the field with 9-11 year old holdin' his own. He was running fast, some of the boys couldn't catch him. He grabbed their flags, ran with the football and loved every minute of it.

I've got the ball now...Catch me if you can...sucka!

I may be small, but I snatched your flag!

Cousins! (Matthew & Daniel)

Alex celebrated his birthday last week at Chuck E Cheese. As always, Chuck E Cheese was as crazy as ever, families coming to play and eat pizza, lots of little kids running around and many birthday celebrations. Alex loves Monster truck and cars so you know his birthday cake was all about Monster Trucks this year! The kids really enjoyed the party from the pizza, cake, presents and of course the games and prizes. You can't go wrong with Chuck E Cheese! Happy Birthday 4th Birthday Alex! (Thanks Ashley Arceo for the pics since I didn't have a camera that day)

Julia decided she didn't want to sit and watch Matthew play tennis so she asked if we could take pictures of her. Yes-- she does believe that life revolves around her. So we told her we would take a few pictures but she has to come back to cheer on her brother. Here is what happened at the photo shoot at the tennis club!

Julia loves to pick out her own clothes. If this girl could wear a skirt or a dress every day- SHE WOULD. It's very hard though having her wear a dress sometimes at daycare because they are outside most of the day. When I pick her up, her tights will be ripped so I try to just have her wear play clothes, but when you are a Princess you just can't help but wear a skirt or a dress every day!

For school, she decided to wear her Hello Kitty gliiter skirt, leggings underneath and a glitter butterfly shirt along with her glittery headband.

The last 8 months, we have been slowly converting our pantry to All Natural, Whole Grains and baked snacks. It has taken a long time but I am glad to say that we are almost there. It was difficult at first because I thought it was more expensive. I tried different brands, the kids hated it, we threw it out and I was just wasting money. Once I found the brands that they liked and would eat it was a much easier process for me. The meats, milk and eggs were of course the easiest to change. The kids LOATHE whole wheat pasta so I had to find pasta that looked white but packed a lot of fiber and whole grains or find a whole wheat pasta that didn't have the grainy taste. Crackers and pretzels were also easy to change and find whole grain options The other pantry staples like Pop-Tarts, Cookies, and CEREALS are still very difficult to change. My refrigerator is now stocked with a big bowl of fruits like grapes, cuties and apples. So as soon as the kids open it they see all of the fruit. I have also cut up peppers and cucumbers to snack on as well.

I am not a the food police at all. I do my best to give them the healthier options at home, I can’t change all of their favorite snacks but I feel good knowing that I can change at least 90% of them. I cook a lot so we only eat out every once in awhile or grab a bite to eat on those unexpected crazy nights. So when we are at home, I want to make sure that it’s the best possible, healthful foods and snacks I can give them. The other times they are spoiled at their grandparents houses with snacks and candy. They go to birthday parties and go buck-wild and eat candy, cake and juice like its crack. They can pick whatever they want on the menu as long as there is also a fruit or veggie.

It’s been a long road making these changes, the kids really haven’t noticed it except for when I changed out Alien Orange colored cheetos for baked cheetos. Matthew blew up on me like I committed a crime. Or the time that I switched to low fat Oreo cookies and Julia almost threw it up. I tried. That’s all I can do. I know that there are some snacks that I can’t change and that the kids just HAVE to have. It’s ok. They are kids. What they don’t know is that mom is adding extra fiber, whole grains, puree'd vegetables in sauces and giving them wheat baked snacks in all of the other things that they eat!


http://www.amazon.com/Food-Rules-Eaters-Michael-Pollan/dp/014311638X