Life in the Durst Home

Good news for us and Devun….

No more Dragon Breath (as Zack calls it)

No more smacking when he chews

No more talking funny

 Devun officially has his front too teeth where they need to be, so as of yesterday he no longer has to wear his retainer. His spacer that he had broke about a month ago, but we never went in and replaced it ($400) so the dentist said yesterday that he would do it for free  I really liked the sound of that. Especially with all the medical bills we are going to be facing in the next week or so. Blessings come small and large …

 I really thought I was in early labor yesterday when I got home from the Othro. I was having contractions, tons of pressure when I walked… So I made my family walk and walk and walk. But the contractions never got any harder. So I went to bed. Today nothing is happening. So I think I am going to just go to the pool and try to relax.

He will come when he is ready…. Patients Patients Patients

1-2-3 Magic….

Ava had a Dr’s Appointment on Friday… She decided to do her little crying whinny nose that she makes when she is doing something that she doesn’t want to do. The Dr, could sense my frustration, and said that they have a class to help with children that have Discipline problems, He went on to say how his son was a handful and the class really helped his wife and himself. He also said I could buy the book in the office upstairs…

I opted to buy the book, we’ll they were sold out of the book, but I could rent the D.V.D from them. So I did (much better then reading a book)

I watched the movie, and tonight I will try to convince Anthony to watch it as well. It was very good, and helpful. I have been using it all day on my kids, and haven’t had to yell at all. Once I get to #2 they stop arguing fighting or talking back, and start a new conversation, or play a new game

Ava & Zack both had one time out, and that is really all it took.

What I like about his program is you don’t talk to your child about the mistake after they where punished, they come off Time out and it’s like they are a brand-new kids until they do something wrong again….

I guess I recommend this movie to anyone that has 2-12 year olds. I wish I watched it when Devun was little… Hopefully this will help me control my anger, and I will be a better mom for it.

On Monday we went to cold stone for Ice Cream after Family Night, Aubrey fell and cut her lip open pretty bad (tons of blood like the tooth went through, but hadn’t)…. She also had a fat lip for 2 days… Today as I was changing her diaper and she was laughing at me, I noticed that she chiped part of her top front tooth… Do I go get this fixed? It’s a baby one… or do I just let it be? I really have no idea what to do- any suggestions…

Yesterday I took the Kids to the Zoo… They had the day off for Martin Luther Kings B-Day, and I really didn’t want to sit home all day so I surprised them…. We got all the way to the exit before the Zoo, when Devun read the sign Zoo-Next exit and figured it out…

It was a nice warm day. We got there about half hour after the park opened and it wasn’t too crowded, but by the time we left you could see the crowds pouring in…

Ava’s favorite Animal was the Elephant… She said “mom can we get one”? Then after sitting there for a good 7-10 mins I told her the kids wanted to look at more animals, and she said “Mom, we have only been here 3 mins, lets stay for 2 more”.

Devun liked the chimps,

Zack loved the giraffes,

Aubrey loved the Meerkats… (Just like Dad)

Marissa was just happy to be out of the house…..

And me, well today my legs hurt! Pushing the stroller up those hills in Oakland with Ava & Aubrey in it was HARD work! At the end of the day I told Ava she needed to walk!

(She was happy to do so). But I really enjoyed being there with my kids by ourselves. It was new to me, I am learning to be more self reliant… I normally hate going anywhere with out Anthony or a friend…. Maybe I am growing up…..

I was in the kitchen, preparing my crock pot dinner, Taco soup (thanks Grammy)…

And I saw a police office park across the street and get out of her car… This is a normal , so I didn’t think anything of it… Then she started walking to my house.

1^st thought, she is going to give us a ticket on Anthony’s dads truck. (It’s been sitting in the same place for awhile).

I opened the door to greet her,

Officer- is there a problem

ME- looking dazed and confused No…. (Thinking in my head, did someone call the cops on me???)

Officer- someone called 911 from your house…

Me- what??? Then Zack little face flashed to my mind…

ZACK- did you call 911????

Zack – No mom I didn’t…

Mom- Zack don’t lie to me, I know I didn’t call, and Aubrey is in her high chair…

Office – Zack let’s talk about when we do call 911…. And gave him a few examples…

She was nice and said don’t worry it happens all the time…

Then she went to her car for a while…

I have never been so mortified in my whole life! I am just so happy that I was forced to clean my house yesterday…  

This was most likely a warning to me, DON’T LET YOUR HOUSE GET DIRTY! YOU NEVER KNOW WHO WILL BE STOPPING BYE….

This is how my day started…

I got up planning on going to the gym, a friends holiday party and then Aubrey’s Drs Appt…

So as our family gather together for morning prayer; I offered it, and the words that came to my mind was please allow me to not conflict my schedules and allow me to have a  stress free day…. I have no idea why I said this, but as soon as I said a men, I turned to Marissa and said “is your parent teacher conference today?????

I looked on the fridge and sure enough her appointment was at 2:30 and Aubrey’s Drs Appointment was at 2:20… No way could I have attended both…. And I would have forgotten all about Marissa apt, if the spirit didn’t prompt me to say these words during my prayer.

So I called Anthony to see if he could go to one or the other, but of course he was VERY busy at work, and couldn’t get off on such short notice…

I ended up Cancel Aubrey’s Dr, not going to my friend’s party, and just reading scriptures and a little bit of yard work.

Aubrey took a good nap, Ava was at School, and Zack had is best friend over for a fun day… It was pretty peaceful I have to say…

So when I got to the school, on time…. No stress, I was greeted by a very friendly nice teacher…

She said wonderful things about Marissa, and told me that Parents would pay to have her  report card……

I really lucked out with Devun and Marissa; they love school, and aim to please…

The teacher said to keep on doing what ever it is that I am doing… I said I really don’t do much… I just have lots of kids and in our family we have to work as a team to get things done…..

She did however say that Marissa needs help on her reading.. She can read the words, but doesn’t understand what she has read when she is finished…

(Devun and I have the same issue)

She stressed that Marissa is a delight to have in her class, and she ended by giving me a BIG HUG…..

Very Nice Day…

Words couldn’t describe the joy that was on my sons face as he came home late last night after a LONG days work….

He gave me a BIG huge and told me how much fun he had… Then he talked about all the perks… Like playing with a puppy, getting free donuts from the plumping supply store, getting to go out to lunch just him and dad, and climbing in a hole that they dug together….

He told Anthony he wanted to go to work with him everyday… Anthony had to break his heart and tell him Work isn’t always this fun…

They both came home very dirty, and in need of a shower.….  

They took a shower…..

Then we surprised all the kids, and instead of Anthony and me going on a date, we took the kids with us… We had dinner at a burrito place near the Theaters… We didn’t tell the kids what we were going to do, and after dinner we stop in front of the theater so I could “see something”….

Then we bought the tickets and walked in to Madagascar… My kids loved it! At the end of the movie Zack said “mom, I didn’t even know that we were going to the movies”. I said I know it was a surprise….

It’s nice to treat your kids to something new every once in a while….

Devun in the hole

Pictures will follow-

Today Devun went to work with Anthony! Yes I said that right, my 9 year old went to work…

Anthony is installing a dog septic tank today, so Devun went to help dig a hole… He was so excited he came and woke Anthony up this morning telling him they were running late. (7:30).

Then as I went to the car to say good bye, Devun said he forgot his lunch in the house… I went in and got it, and Devun made his own sandwich, packed a pudding as well as a drink…  That kid is growing up way to fast!

I took a picture of them in the car. He had smiles all over his face…

I hope that he is this excited to work with Anthony as he gets older and really has to work! (lol)