Mama has spoken

When you have two boys, wrestling, climbing, jumping, hanging upside down is allowed in the house (well in my house it is.) But purposely hitting each other because you are mad at them is a NO NO NO. Well, yesterday afternoon, I had gone to the bedroom to get something and when I returned to the living room, I caught Patrick kicking Ronan after he pushed him down on the floor. I was livid! I wanted to scream but I knew they wouldn't hear that. So I sat both of them down, and with a deep and loud (over normal speaking voice) I started my interrogation. "What happened here." P:"I was building my lego and Ronan just took it without asking" R: "I wanted it" Did you use your words to ask for it? R: "No, but I want it" P: " So I took it back from him and then he hit me". R: "He didn't want me to have it" " It is NOT appropriate and acceptable to use physical violence! You do not hit your friends, you do not hit your brother! You use your words and if that doesn't work, you find me! Is that understood! I am very disappointed and sad with this behaviour. Turn the TV off and it will remain off for the next 3 days!! Ronan you stay here and sit on that chair and Patrick in dada's office on the time-out chair". They went quietly on their respective chairs and I turned the timer on--7 minutes. And as I put the 'shroud" over the TV and write the sign I realized --holy mackarel, this means no TV for me too. (yikes). Ronan who usually complains when put on time out was very quiet--he knew he was very guilty. Anyway, when the timer went off, I sat both of them down again and had them look at me in the eye and tell me what they are not to do and what to do when words don't work. Then I had them look at each other and apologize. And this is when Patrick says " mom, he looks like he's going to kiss me!". Well they said sorry to each other and gave each other bear hugs until they fell off the couch and then they gave me a hug. All is well in the world again....at least for now. Let's see if we survive the next 3 days without TV.
Wish me luck.

Wanted: Bubble Head or Burka

This is Jim fixin' to go on an 8 mile run. Because of the sand and strong winds, he has to wear the glasses and face veil to keep from inhaling the sand. I remember getting hit by sand on a windy day on the beach and that hurts!. He said he's received a lot of email from y'all. Thank you so much! They really make his day!
On a side note, I have now officially lived too long here in the south as, "fixin'" and "y'all" are now in my daily vocabulary.

Ronan's Good Night Prayer (video)

At bedtime, the boys usually ask when Jim is returning (again). It's also a time when they express their wish that their dada is home. I tell them "oh, I wish he was home too but he will come home." That's when they say " I'm scared...dada can fight the monsters". Well of course I reassure them that their mama is champion monster fighter and if they say their prayers, their guardian angels will protect them at night. Needless to say, they've been praying extra loud the past few weeks. Patrick will sometimes say his prayer twice including "The Lord's Prayer". Last night, Ronan let me video tape him (a ham he is). When Patrick was about 2 1/2 he learned his evening prayer and I had always said "Oh, i have to record that"...I never did. So here's little Ronan saying the evening prayer he's been saying since he was 2 1/2.

Homework (video)

Patrick doing homework while Ronan watched and listened. Soon after Patrick was done reading--Ronan says "it's my turn!"

And what do you know he can "read".

Doctor D.

When we got this photo from Jim, I got a little confused because he was in civilian clothes in front of a medical school. Turns out that Carnegie Melon, Texas A & M and Cornell have campuses in Qatar. Jim has to do a presentation once a month at the med school. Of course, ignorant me, had to ask "English universities?" DOH! the Qatari and lots of UAE nationals are very wealthy (hello! OIL) , educated and speak english! . Let's see I only know one phrase in Arab "salam aleikum". Peace.

Greetings from Qatar!

Jim's email and regular mail address in Qatar:
Lt. Col. James Dolan
379 EMDG
APO AE 09309

james.dolan@auab.centaf.af.mil

Postage is regular domestic rate and mail gets to him in about 10-12 days. If you have time to drop him a line, he would love to hear from you.

Qatar Deployment

A couple of days after we returned from our vacation, we found out that Jim's deployment date got moved up a week early. It was a pretty hectic week for us as we scrambled to prepare for his departure. Patrick and Ronan were not very happy at all that their dada will be gone for as Ronan puts it "a long long time ago mama". These photos were taken on the afternoon Jim left. I think they really captured how the boys felt particularly Patrick. The first 2 weeks was hard. Patrick cried for Jim almost every night. Evey time we get home from being out and about, Ronan would see Jim's car and think his dad is home. He'd say "Dada's home!" and he'd run in the house and look for him. He gets pretty upset when he can't find him. Fortunately, Jim is able to call us nearly everyday so that helps a lot.

Disneyworld Slideshow

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Welcome 2008! - January

We started our year with a fun family vacation in Disneyworld and Kennedy Space Center.  We packed the car and made the 9 hour drive to Orlando.  The kids did so well on that drive that we never had to use our DVD player.  I had more trouble with the ride as my idea of a long drive is 3 hours max.  We went to MGM/Hollywood Studios, Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom.  It was so FUN to experience Disney magic with kids.  Kennedy Space Center was pretty awesome too.