bountifulplate

Something happened last Friday night that I thought would never happen, at least not for another couple of years. Do you want to know what that was?!?!? Well, let me tell you!! We attended a party for a neighbor's daughter who just graduated from high school and we left Dominic by HIMSELF in our house for about 30 minutes!!! We had explained to him thoroughly where we were going and when we would be back. We also asked him if he was okay with it and he said yes. The party was literally across the street from where we live, but still. Both the hubby and I wanted to go to the party and we both knew if we brought Dominic, the minute he saw a bug, he would go running back to our house, dragging one of us back there with him. We timed it perfectly, because from 7-7:30 p.m. Dominic watches his absolute favorite show, "Wheel of Fortune." Nothing short of a tornado taking the roof off of our house would disturb him while he is transfixed to the television for that half hour! Sin...

Today, because of parent/teacher conferences, Dominic had the day off from school.  Last night, he was asking me what we were going to be doing today.  I told him that we had a "field trip" to Kroger in the morning and then after Lauren got done with her day at school, we would meet up with her at Culver's to have lunch.  After Dominic had a waffle, pumpkin muffin and milk, we hopped into the car and headed to Kroger.  To the other shoppers, they probably figured it was a mom and her little boy out grocery shopping and didn't think twice about it.  To me, I used the trip to Kroger as a continuing learning experience for him.  The past couple of times I have taken him grocery shopping, he has preferred sitting in a cart that has a car attached to the front and read a book, occasionally assisting me. Since he hit a growth spurt, he can longer squeeze himself into that type of cart. Well, he probably could, but he might not be able to get back out :)  I ...

This was Lauren's first set of "wheels." I'm pretty sure it was a birthday present for her when she turned one.  If you can believe it, it is still almost good as new and Dominic now enjoys riding it!!  Wish I could say the road to Lauren getting her license to drive a different set of "wheels" was a smooth "ride."  Lauren got her learner's license pretty much as soon as she could where we live.  It took her over another two years to acquire her driver's license. I admit, about 90% of that had to do with me.  I was a bundle of anxiety right from the get go and I think I really stressed her out. I don't think she liked me gripping the side of the car or barking at her that she was too close to the curb.  Who would??  Early on, the hubby started taking her out and practicing with her. Some parents want their teens to get their driver's license, so they can help with getting their siblings around or getting themselves to school, et...

I like to think of our household as our "nest." I have a tendency though, to want to be the "bird" in charge.  I have been working very hard, this summer in particular, in giving both of my baby "birds" more independence. For about the past week, I have been standing at the top of our driveway and letting Dominic go down and pick up the mail out of the mailbox.  It might not seem like a huge deal, but it is.  There was a time when he was younger, that he would run into the street full blast and not think anything of it! Yikes, that is certainly something I don't miss. Today, Dominic was telling me that he wanted to stay in his pajamas all day.  I told him I didn't think that was an option.  His "favorite" red shirt was in our bedroom with the rest of the clean laundry, so I told him to go up and find it.  I figured he would come down with the red shirt on, but pajama bottoms on the bottom.  Nope, he had found a pair of black shorts that a...

Lauren flew on an airplane recently to visit her best friend. She has flown before with the hubby and/or I several times, but she has never flown completely by herself.  Her very first plane trip was to Iowa to visit some of my friends just before she turned two. This most recent trip comes ten months before she turns 18.  The best deal I could find for her was a non-stop flight that required us to wake up at 3:00 a.m. and get to the airport by about 5:00 a.m. When I booked the flight, given that she is now 17, meant that she could fly alone without paying an additional fee to have someone "escort" her to and from the departing and arriving airports.  I thought that I would be able to go all the way to the gate with her.  I asked two people at security about it and they told me to go back to the airline counter and get a gate "pass."  I was told I had to wait in a huge line, which I did for about 30-40 minutes.  Since Lauren had already gone through ...

Ever since Dominic went to a playground a few weeks ago and was able to do the monkey bars, he has been trying to do the same thing on our swing set.  Lauren has been spending some of her free time going outside and encouraging him. I didn't ask her to do that, she did it on her own. She's such a great sister :)  Dominic knows he can do it, but if Lauren even lets go for a second, he starts saying "la-la, la-la."  That's his nickname for her.  She has been giving him a lot of positive praise, but he wants to be able to do it for himself.  Dominic is very determined!!! We keep magnetic letters on the fridge.  Dominic requested spaghetti recently, so I asked him to spell it on the fridge for me. I told him the correct spelling and then he did it.  Over the weekend, he tried to spell it himself without me telling him and he spelled it wrong.  I told him so and then I proceeded to use the magnetic letters and spell it correctly. Domi...