The "Finnster, et al."

Today Finn and Sam both went to the dentist for the first time.  I know, Finn is closing in on three and half years old and never been to the dentist - I have never claimed to be "mother of the year."   My children are lucky to leave the house with their hair combed.  Anyway, I have been dreading this for about a year (it took me about that long to schedule Finn an appointment). I work in child welfare law and so many of the children that come into state's custody have a mouth full of cavities.  I was terrified that I would be one of those neglectful parents. I was also dreading Finn's reaction.  Well adjusted as he is, (NOT) I figured that this would be really rough on Finn.  We have been talking it up for a few days.  This morning Finn and I laid on my bed and practiced laying on our backs and opening our mouths.  When we got to the office I had a ream of paperwork to fill out.  Sam emptied my wallet and then explored.  Finn read. You know your

On Thursday Michael took my car to the dealership to get a few things looked over and tweeked.  Since he had my car, I took his car to work.  The minute I got in the car my stomach fell, I couldn't believe that Michael was driving a car that was in such poor shape.   There were several things wrong with the car; the electrical system has been shot for years, the seats are torn apart, the car wobbles back and forth on the frame and it squeaks really loudly.  Last year the starter went out, the seatbelt stopped working and the brake pads needed replaced.  The only thing that worked well on the car was the engine.  Oh, and a couple years ago we learned that we can't park the car on any kind of an incline without the car rolling away.  The emergency brake helped to keep the car in the driveway until a couple of weeks ago when that died too.  Now we use a piece of firewood (as pictures below).  Despite the problems with the car, Michael has driven it for years without a major compl

Monday was a State holiday so Michael was home all day. The boys had spent the night at Gran's house so Michael and I slept in until 9:00. After a waffle at the Waffle House we picked up the boys. They were exhausted from their sleepover so they went down for their naps quickly. While the boys slept I prepared for trial. Finn woke up from his nap and hopped into bed with me and played on the IPad while I finished up. Around 3:00 Michael took the boys to the store while I ran and prepared dinner. Michael said it was the worst trip ever and that he will never take both boys anywhere together again. Since it was a fairly warm day (low 60s) Michael decided to cook fish on the grille for supper. Finn and Sam played outside in the yard while Michael cooked. After supper it was bath time. Finn asked if he could take a bath in my bathtub. I put both boys in and let them play while I straightened up. It wasn't too long before I noticed Finn squeezing soap on to Sam. I as

On Sunday the boys went over to Gran's house after church to spend the night along with Joseph, Turner and Walker.  In order to get everyone where they were going in a timely fashion, we picked the boys up after Sunday School.  When we walked into the nursery area I saw Sam's teacher carrying him to another room. (We were the last to pick up up poor Sam and he was in the process of going to a different class.)  When he saw me standing in the hallway he perked up and said "MA . . . MEE."  It was so sweet. While Michael got the boys ready for Gran's I went to do a home visit way out in Westmoreland.  Then I had a scheduled phone conference.  After all of the work was complete, I sat down on the couch and enjoyed a few minutes of piece, as well as a few minutes of Tim Gunn - I love Project Runway!  Too bad I don't have a fashionable bone in my body.  Later in the day Michael and I got ready and went for our Valentine's Day dinner at the "City House

Nana!  Today Nana came to Hendersonville to celebrate Valentine's Day with the boys.  She arrived around 12:00 and brought gifts.  I got some "thin mints" for my homemade ice cream.  Sam got all sorts of fun kid snacks. Finn got things to play "school" with, pixie sticks, chocolate candy and a harmonica.    Finn blew it for a few minutes and then Nana took a turn.  Nana discovered that this harmonica wasn't easy to use so she decided to get a real harmonica.  Next it was time for lunch.  Nana asked Finn what he wanted to go.  He went back and forth from Firehouse to McDonalds several times.  We were pretty hungry so we decided to let Finn mull it over in the car.  While we were driving Nana asked where we could by a harmonica - I mentioned Cracker Barrel.  When Finn heard Cracker Barrel he knew for certain what he wanted for lunch.   When we got to Cracker Barrel we put our name on the list and went in search of a harmonica.  I found one in the toy sect