A Hidden Gem in Manassas

I've heard a bit here and there about this whole geocaching thing, knowing that this was something my boys would LOVE to do. A "treasure hunt"--come on, what little kid would not dig that!

My brother Jeff took the boys out a few times, in search of buried treasure, while they were in Buffalo and we've know found two this past week! I'm not "hooked" quite yet, but it definitely has potential to be a Kunz Family pastime. If it wasn't so darn hot today and if Evan wasn't Mr. Crab, we may have even had a good time!!

The cache today took us to a fun little park hidden up on a hill in the middle of an apartment complex. We even had a bit of a history lesson, too!The boys loved that there was a "real" canon that they could sit on and get an incredible view of Home Depot! Gotta love that! As you can tell, though, Evan could have cared less!
Jared was our lucky treasure finder today! He was so excited to find it, but rather disappointed when he found that it had been "muggled" (did you know geocachers use Harry Potter terminology? Hmmm....). We filled it back up with some of the kids junk--another plus to geocaching is that I don't have to throw the kids little "trinkets" away, they freely give them away now!
Poor Anna was sweaty and hot, having to stay in the backpack the entire time. When I finally put her down, she just wanted out!
I tried to take a (good) kid pic for Rob at the cache, but some (one) of the kids wouldn't co-operate...I wonder which one...
In case you couldn't figure it out...Anyways, fun little park with a water fountain, history lesson, plenty of area to run around, benches to sit on, a quite cemetery AND a cache! If you're interested, let me know and I'll get you the coordinates!

My Sweet Husband

So, Rob has purchased a gift for me. No Japanese souvenirs for me! If you want to know what my super nifty surprise is, you can check it out at my new super secret crafty blog here. Now, this blog is still in the works. I just tried to change the background and screwed something up, so it is what it is for right now, until I can figure out what I did wrong. Enjoy!

P.S. My husband ROCKS!!!!

CVS

Ever heard of it? Nope, not the pharmacy! Cyclic Vomiting Syndrome.

Jared has CVS. He was diagnosed over 3 years ago after months of constant vomiting. Here's some basic info from the NDDIC (National Digestive Diseases Information Clearinghouse):

In cyclic vomiting syndrome (CVS), people experience bouts or cycles of severe nausea and vomiting that last for hours or even days and alternate with longer periods of no symptoms. CVS occurs mostly in children, but the disorder can affect adults, too.

CVS has no known cause. Each episode is similar to the previous ones. The episodes tend to start at about the same time of day, last the same length of time, and present the same symptoms at the same level of intensity. Although CVS can begin at any age in children and adults, it usually starts between the ages of 3 and 7. In adults, episodes tend to occur less often than they do in children, but they last longer. Furthermore, the events or situations that trigger episodes in adults cannot always be pinpointed as easily as they can in children.

Episodes can be so severe that a person may have to stay in bed for days, unable to go to school or work. No one knows for sure how many people have CVS, but medical researchers believe that more people may have the disorder than is commonly thought (as many as 1 in 50 children in one study). Because other more common diseases and disorders also cause cycles of vomiting, many people with CVS are initially misdiagnosed until the other disorders can be ruled out. What is known is that CVS can be disruptive and frightening not just to people who have it, but to the entire family as well.

For more in depth info, you can click here.

Luckily for us and Jared, his case is not that bad. In the past two years, we've only dealt with the cycles a handful of times. But poor Jared is often found complaining of "stomach aches." I always struggle with sending him to school when his tummy hurts. Usually, I do send him though because his cycles don't begin during the day--typically they begin in the wee hours of the morning.

Jared's CVS seems to be triggered by viral infections (sometimes just a cold) or over excitement (long fun trips). Sometimes it'll last just a day, sometimes several days and sometimes it'll be random days within a week or weeks of time. It's so up in the air. I guess we could let it confine us, but what fun would that be! Jared would be sad if he had to miss out on all the fun. And it's SO random.

Today, we will miss having to see The Clone Wars again (a secret "yippee" from me...shhhh) as we ride this cycle out--hoping that he's just "sick" this time.

Well folks, there you have it. Your lesson for the day. Maybe you can take this info, store it away into the corner of your mind and share it with someone who needs it one day (you'll seem so knowledgeable)!

Tokyo

Three weeks in Japan down, two to go. Besides work, work, and more work (at least I get overtime) and missing my family (Ms. Independent and the clan) I've had a little bit of time to site-see. I would have said I'd had 'a couple of days off', but my team has hammered it into my head that if I make them work the morning and then give them the rest of the day off, it's not 'technically' a day off- details... Anyway, last week on our first non-technical day off, I ventured into Tokyo. And what did I find? Yep, you guessed it, the liberty bell!!! It was given to Japan by Douglas Mcarthur.

After visiting this historic site, we went to the park to stretch. I'm not the most flexible person in the world.

After that, we found a place for people like me who are away from home.

After visiting my 'away from home' friends, we left the park and headed into the crowded city and came across this awesome car/bike.

It was the weekend so several of the major roads were closed off to traffic, and even though it was rainy, the shoppers (and tourists) were out in force.
We entered a massive 8-level Sony store, and found among other things, a camera that automatically takes a picture whenever you smile. It tracks your face with little squares, wherever you move. I'm pretty sure it uses the cosine to accomplish this.

After visiting some tall buildings and absorbing the view, we hopped back on the train and headed back to Yokosuka (pronounced Yo-ko-skuh). While on the train we were trying to figure out what in the heck the train was trying to do to the A/C. Any guesses?
That's all for today. Stay tuned for my Tokyo China Town Adventure. Here's a great China-town T-shirt for any numchuck fans out there:

Sayonara,
Rob

Ms. Independent

Sigh..........Sigh.........I sure do miss my husband.

I miss how computer savvy he is.

I miss having him here to fix all the technical "problems" with the things in the house.

I miss his handyman abilities.

I miss his enjoyment of the cub scout program.

I miss his knowledge of were all the tools are.

I miss how he knows the layout of the storage room and what works and doesn't work in it.

I just miss depending on him.

I know, I should be proud that I can be Ms. Independent. But I don't like being her.

I'm a team player and I hate knowing that I'm "okay" without him. It just sucks.

Temper Tantrum

Back in the good ole' days when I worked at McDonalds (and loved it, thank you very much--circa 1992), I remember clearly the parents who would do anything so their child could have an impressive collection of happy meal toys. This never really bothered me when they would ask to "trade" toys or when they would practically beg on hand and knee for a different toy. I know it annoyed some of the other employees, but to each his own, right? I did, however, decide that I wasn't going to be one of those parents...

Fast forward to today...so far we have Anakin, Darth Vader, a wookie, a stormtrooper, C3PO and R2D2. (No, I have NOT went to McD's 6 times in the past week, we've just gotten lucky so far in getting all different toys for each of the kids.) I decided to take Evan and Anna out for lunch to get a new toy. When Evan walked in, he noticed that a little boy had this toy:Evan's eyes lit up, "Luke Skywalker!!" (and from my understanding, Luke wasn't even a thought during the Clone Wars, but then I was asleep...maybe I missed something!)

He ran right up to the counter asking for Luke. He was beyond excited. Well, we got our toys...Padme Amidala and another Anakin. Evan immediately assumed that Anna would have the padme so he handed her over and then I saw the sadness in his eyes as he held Anakin. I asked the McD's employee (gasp, I can't believe I'm doing this...) if they had any other toys. He said they didn't, so I explained to Evan that this was all they had.

Shock and horror, how dare they not give him a Luke Skywalker! Evan grabbed the toy and started crying on the floor while banging the toy on the ground. "I don't like Anakin, I want Luke Skywalker!" Granted, no one could understand what he was saying, except me, but I was appalled by this little temper tantrum!

I told him this was his toy, if he didn't like it then he could give it back. He gave it back. And please, please, I beg all of you to remind me that I will NEVER ever be that parent, again!

Busted!

So sad looking, I know! I felt so bad for poor Jared, but I almost felt worse for Tyler because he accidentally caused this damage. And you could see the anguish on his face...he felt awful!

No worries, though, with a little ice, the swelling went down and he was left with only a small black eye and a tiny cut. And Tyler learned a lesson on character. He really felt remorse, something I've been wanting my children to understand--rather then the grumpy "sorry" as they're walking away.

P.S. If you must know, a light saber was involved in this accident, not in a battle kind of way, though...it was thrown to free up Tyler's hands so he could jump down and he didn't look where he was throwing. Ahhhh...the lessons of our youth. This is only the beginning, but I'm proud of them already!

Dumb Dumb, Dumb Dumb Dumb Dumb, Dumb

Sing the title to the tune of Star Wars...this is exactly what I thought of the movie--DUMB!

But eight young boys were thrilled as can be, sitting on the edge of their seats, laughing hysterically during the movie (or glorified Saturday morning cartoon). I guess this was George's target audience and they should be the ones writing the reviews.

...and three adults were snoozing during the movie. And three adults were lucky eight young boys were still there when they woke up!!And of course, the Happy Meal toys were a hit! When the girl cousins showed up, they weren't too thrilled about the toy selection, but this crew of crazy cousins were as pleased as can be! We already have Darth Vader, Anakin, and a Storm Trooper! Maybe the obsession is getting a little bit out of control...just maybe!

Sweet Moments

My parents get the Patience Award of the week, in my opinion. Having 12 grandchildren and 7 adults staying in one house can cause A LOT of chaos, but they took it all in stride (lucky for them, they still had to work during the day)!

I think this sweet moment made it all worth it, though. My mom had her birthday on the 14th the kids insisted that she have a cake (we didn't let them know that their Mimi doesn't even like cake...shhhhh). All the kids lined up and sang her Happy Birthday and of course in typical mom fashion--she cried.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MIMI!

Enjoy the Silence

J-Dawg, The Tan-stigator and Little E
Six year old cousins and buds!

I arrived home yesterday from our fun filled whirl wind of a trip to PA with only two of my children...I still can't wrap my head around how this happened, but all I can do is shout a HUGE "thank you" all the way to Buffalo. I had suggested having Little E come to our house for the week for some extra cousin time, but Tyler and Jared ended up going to his home instead. Maybe I just looked too pathetic having the screeching Anna at my side the whole week and they took pity on my poor self...whatever reason, I am so, so, so grateful!

And I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the boys are behaving themselves...

The Buzz

I never thought I'd see the day when my boys would have a buzz (haircut), but because of my attempts to save a penny and "keep up with the Joneses" (or should I say Haley's), Tyler and Jared are now sporting a new do!Diane let me borrow her new hair clipper set before they left out of town. I thought I'd give it a try. Jared's turned out "okay", but then came Tyler (my oldest) and it progressively got worse and worse. I had flashbacks of a horrible haircut I once had in elementary school. I seriously could not sleep that night because I felt so bad for ruining his hair and it ruined my enjoyment of Joshua winning SYTYCD. Ty took it all in stride and could have cared less, but I couldn't have felt worse. And what was I thinking...I even cut Evan's hair after butchering Tyler's (thankfully, his turned out decent enough).

That next morning we went straight to the corner cuttery to see if they could fix my mess before someone turned me in to CPS! Tyler was never interested in getting a buzz cut, but he was such a good sport. After my newest hero fixed him all up, Jared begged to have the same haircut as Tyler. Afraid to even attempt a buzz on my boy, I had the lady of the day buzz him, too. Jared's hair and buzz cuts don't mix, but their hair grows so fast, it'll be perfect by the time school starts!

Now I'm sure you're all dying to see pics of the awful haircuts. Am I right??!! Well, too bad! I did take one of Jared, felt too terrible to take one of Tyler and got a few of Evan. Then when I was uploading them something screwed up (oh, I mean, I suck at using the computer) and the pictures were lost. I was okay with losing them, but not okay with losing half the pics from Jared's party! Grrrrrr...I guess I can't have the best of both worlds!

Not to Rob...you're kiddos send you lots of love! We're missing you!
P.S. Something screwy was going on with the comments on my last post. They showed up and then disappeared and some of them came back. I did, however, get all of the comments in my inbox, so no worries! Let me know if it gets weird again and I'll get on blogger about it.

Pop Culture

So, I'm feeling really cool these days...not really, but it's my lame attempt at distracting myself from the impending sadness of my husband leaving for a month!

1. I love So You Think You Can Dance! The finale is this week and I'm so upset because I want them all to win and I will miss not seeing Mark dance. Yes, I know, he should have went a few weeks ago, but I heart him and wish he could have stayed--In place of who? I don't know, but this season has definitely drawn me in. And guess who's going to see them on tour (again)--yep, that's right...ME! I know, I ooze coolness...2. As a life long ABBA fan, my interest was peaked this week when my neighbor was leaving to see the movie "Mama Mia!". I'm not a movie fan, and rarely pay to see them, but I had always wanted to see the Broadway version. So when it came to date night, we decided to give it a go. And...I really enjoyed it! It may be too much for some, but I was expecting complete cheese and obnoxiousness on the movies part, so I was not disappointed. I was, however, disappointed that I was denied dancing in the aisles because "it is a fire hazard."
3. "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" is quickly approaching its' release date and I could not be LESS excited. Yet, with my hubby being out of the country, it will be my "good parent" duty to take the boys to see the movie and to go to McDonalds a hundred times to collect the pointless happy meal toys. Oh, the things we do for our children...P.S. Jared's party went well, even though we had to scramble to change the party plans at last minute due to rain. It was his "most favorite party ever" so I guess it was a success. Unfortunately, the kids ran around so fast the entire time, that it was hard to get a decent picture. I'll see what I can come up with later...
4. And last but not least...I have finally jumped on the "Twilight" bandwagon--I'm always so late with these things (i.e. Harry Potter), but when I do jump on, I go at full force. I'm enjoying the first book ( I have about 100 pages left) and look forward to reading the rest of them. After I finish the dry "James Adams" for book club, that is. So now I have something to look forward to--the movie comes out in December, right? And I see that the cutie of a kid who played Cedric in Harry Potter will be playing Edward...hmmm...
So, these are the "cool" things consuming my life right now. I hope you're all having some fun, too!

IV REAL??

Anyone catch my title...SYTYCD fans! I think Jared had a good birthday. He got Lego SWII for PS2 and A Darth Vader/Death Star transformer. What could beat that?! His big party is this Saturday--exciting details to come. Minus having to escort our rowdy kids out of IHOP, the day was enjoyable.
This picture is of Evan on Sunday. Seems like he came down with something fierce. The doctor thinks it's strep but the first test was negative and we haven't heard anything on the second--so I'm thinking (and hoping) its just a nasty virus...because seems like Anna got it, too. I do my best to keep them away from each other, but didn't seem to work--I think it's a feat nearly impossible!
Here they are at the doctors looking a little too cute and silly to be sick!
And check out who is NOT taking it all in stride! I hate being quarantined! And what's with ALL the laundry--hey, Denise, when will you be back?? P.S. This picture was taken after Anna dragged a bowl of spaghetti-oes all over the light colored carpet!! P.P.S. Rob cleaned the carpets and furniture today and they look GREAT!
Today I got a bit of a break from the Sick House and was able to be a "walker" at Cub Scout camp with Tyler and his cub buddies. BUT...much to my avail, Tyler got sick almost immediately after arriving. I went on a mad search for some medicine to keep him "okay" for the day and it seemed to hold him off until we were ready to leave. I just gave him some more and the boys are off to see the Nationals play the Phillies in their new stadium. Hope they have fun and that Tyler is fine. Anna and I are heading to dinner. Ciao!

JarJar

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, a young boy was born...JarJar, Jarhead, J-Dawg...to those reading...Jared. Here is your birth story...

I was set to be induced early on July 29th, 2002, a week before my due date. Because my first baby was a monster in size, the Drs thought it would be best that I not go full term. Minus a constant migraine during the entire first trimester, my pregnancy had been uneventful. My hopes for an uneventful delivery were slim, though. The horrors of Tyler's birth flooded me. I was a bit nervous, but so ready to get this baby out of me. Being pregnant in the middle of a hot, hot summer...no fun!

My Mom came down to help out and so did my sister-in-law, Tara. I was all set to go at 6 am, but they had me hold off until 8. When we arrived, I was quickly hooked up and pitocen was pumped in me. I was feeling good. Then they broke my water--gets me every time. Almost immediately I felt contractions, so the epidural was ordered. I received it about 10:30. However, it didn't seem to take too well and I felt lots and lots of pressure. This was NOT how it felt last time! At 12:00, the nurse "checked" me and said I was ready to push. Already?? I had no clue, it go this fast. Tara had planned on being there, but she'd taken Tyler home for a nap--I honestly thought I'd be sitting around at least until dinner time! No time to fix the epidural...My words to the nurse, "I'm not ready yet!"

Only a few pushes and Jared Daniel Kunz was born at 12:26 pm. He weighed in at a feather weight of 8 lbs 8 oz and stretched to 20". One of the sweetest moments in my life was when the Dr handed him to me and he just stared at me for the longest time. I really felt like our spirits connected during that moment. (This is my favorite part of his birth story that I like to share with him--it's our little bond.) I noticed his dark hair and crazy cowlicks. He also had a small birthmark on his left cheek. He looked nothing like Tyler when he was born. We joked that there was no way he could have been switched at the hospital--he had too many identifying features! So crazy, but so Jared--right from the beginning!
Here are a few scanned pictures (pre-digital, ugh.):

Such a sweet and peaceful baby.

Our first family picture

I love this picture of my Great Grandma holding Jared.

Jared was the BEST baby!! We were able to bring him home to a fun nursery that Rob had put together!! Submarines...how appropriate! You never cried. We thought something may have been wrong with you. At your two week well child, you had an ear infection--I never would have known! Until you started teething, we barely heard a peep! You had such a calming effect on me, which I needed because your brother was giving me a run for my money!

Love those big blue eyes! Jared at 9 months

Jared, you may be my crazy child, the one who I'll always be worried about, the one who will constantly keep me on my toes, but you are also the one who I know truly cares about the people around him. You are so sensitive and kind. You look out for the people you love. I know I can turn to you for a hug and a smile. You amaze me daily with your wit and charm. You have the cutest devilish look--my sweet and spicy all wrapped into one!

Always looking out for his baby sister.Always with a look of "I'm up to something!"

Our family would not be the same without you. I hope all of your Galactic dreams come true! I love you, Jared!

A Series of Unfortunate Events

Playing in the water is so much fun!

I just may have to give this slide a try!
Whee!!

I'm having second thoughts!!

I'm not sure if I like this anymore!

Maybe that wasn't so bad! Let's try it again!

AAAAAAHHHHHH...I so want Evan to attend preschool in the Fall. Not that I mind having the little bugger around, I just think it would be best for his speech--being around his peers, teachers and routines of the classroom.

Don't know if it's going to happen, though. My guess "being fully potty trained" entails pulling up your own underwear and shorts, and remembering to go on your own. I really thought we were getting close. The whole pulling off and putting on thing, that can be learned with some serious determination (which I have). Evan will occasionally tell us when he needs to go, but other times he won't...

For example: When we were outside this afternoon, Evan pretty much lifted his leg up like a dog and peed all over the front porch, huge puddle.

Oh, I was so mad!

And he knew it, "Mom, you happy?"

I think he knew my answer when I gave him "the look"--He burst into tears.

He did, however, pull off his wet clothes and put on new ones, all by himself. I guess that counts for something, right?

I'm still not happy, though!

Old Faithful

If we were to do it over again, Old Faithful would not have been the last stop on our list. We could have spent an entire day here, planning a way to see all of the major geysers go off. The boys were devastated when it was time to leave--many, many tears. I even shed a few as we left the park--this truly was an exceptional trip (so great, that I'm still recovering and being very lazy this week--I feel like I need a week to recuperate from our 10 days of straight fun)!
Old Faithful himself was of course pretty cool to see. We hiked up a mountain to get a cool view of the area from above.

Rob took Evan "Mountain Strollering" on the way down!!

We thought the best view of Old Faithful (we saw him go off 3 times) was from the back side--less crowds and less steam, we could actually see the water.

The highlight--or Grand Finale--was seeing Grand Geyser display it's magic! Grand is the largest predictable geyser, going off every 7-9 hours. The predicted time was 11:30 am with a 2 hour leeway before and after. We only ended up having to wait 10-15 minutes past the predicted time to see this beauty!! Jared and I missed the start because we took a stroll to see Castle Geyser, but we weren't disappointed in the 10 minute finale that we did see.

Enjoy a small sampling!!