Chocolate Temptations and Wild Cards

Chocolate. Need I Say More?

Last Saturday was the Chocolate Festival in Glendale. I’m glad some friends asked us if we wanted to go. I wouldn’t have gone on my own because of how far Glendale is (not as far as Wickenburg, but far enough...), but when you caravan with a bunch of friends, it’s worth it. 

We also toured the Cerreta’s Chocolate Factory in Glendale. However, standing there in line for the tour and seeing all the chocolate and product, I was kind of tortured. My sweet tooth is quite my nemesis (next to cold cereal) and I was having a hard time.

Some people can have the sweets and it's enough and it's out of their system. Sadly, it doesn't work that way with me. I just want more. I think there is something in that addiction lobe of my brain that is out of whack. 

Except with the Chocolate, etc...

I could totally "Scrooge McDuck" the sweets. Instead of it being a pile of money that Scrooge dives into, for me it would be candy, carbs, cereal, cookie-dough, etc etc.

 I also agreed to go because it was a nice cloudy/rainy day in the 50s. Walking around outdoors when it’s too sunny just gives me a headache and makes me sick to my stomach. 

Therefore, the stars lined up perfectly for the event. Well, the fronts lined up perfectly. Plus, it's fun when you have your friend grab your daughter and make her pose behind the goofy picture. She won't get as mad at him then if you or her Dad grabbed her and made her do it:

I don't know what's funnier...the far off look of wonderment
n Mikelle's face, or Tev poking out from the back...

Not the first time Mikelle confidently brandished a firearm...

        

Jackson Hole, Wyoming. December 2009 Age 9

Anyway, after Glendale, we went to La Tolteca in Phoenix for dinner.

Where's our food, man?

I'm so glad we got the kids away from their electronic-driven lives into the real world where 
we could sit and socialize with others. Oh, wait..

This was from earlier in the day at a McDonalds, but it's cute, so I'm throwing it in...

And the Turtle. Have to show X-Man on the Turtle.

February 11th - Valentines Day Observed

Another Valentines has come and gone, and to be honest, I was glad Chris and I celebrated a few days earlier on the 11^th. It was a weekday too (like the actual Valentines Day this year), but the restaurant wouldn’t have been crowded like it would have been on a weekend or on the actual Valentines Day. 

However, it was hard leaving the kids.

Mikelle does okay taking care of Alexander, but Christian is a wild card. He and Mikelle will get into power struggles and fight and it gets ugly. 

She is a typical bossy older sister, but I think she takes it too far. I mean, sometimes she should have German subtitles, I swear. Therefore, we don’t leave the three of them alone together that often. In fact, when I have aerobics in the evening, Chris is still en route from work. Most of the time I take Christian. He’s okay with it because he brings his homework or the laptop.

However, what happened the pseudo-Valentines evening that Chris and I were to leave, was Christian became really upset and even began to cry because we were leaving to go out. He was upset that after not seeing us because after he was at school all day, he came home only to find out that we were going to leave for the evening. 

I tried to explain that Dad and I rarely did anything like this on a Monday, and it was because we were celebrating Valentines Day a few days early due to Dad’s work schedule.

But Christian’s crying was heartbreaking. It wasn’t a bratty “I’m not getting my way” kind of cry. It was a “You’re leaving me and crushing my soul” kind of cry. Therefore, I found myself scrambling for a solution and it involved him hanging out with a friend and running errands with the friend’s family. I felt awful to put someone out at the last minute like that. If I knew Christian would react the way he did, I would have planned better.   

Like I said, he’s a wild card.

For example, a few weeks ago, I attended a funeral on a Saturday with Mikelle and Alexander. Chris had to do some kind of work project across town and took Christian with him.  We were home from the funeral hours before Chris and Christian got home. When Chris and Christian got home, I noticed Christian seemed sad and I was certain he had tears in his eyes. But he said he was fine. 

A few minutes later, I was in my bathroom messing around with something in my closet. I don’t exactly remember, but my bedroom door was locked.  Next thing I know, Christian is crying because he wanted to be with me and was upset that I was in my room. I was surprised by that. I wasn’t going anywhere and his reaction to my short absence was really out of left field. 

We brought it up with his psychiatrist a week or so later because we already had an appointment scheduled. She said it was because he knew I was at a funeral and it’s hard for him to understand the emotions and sadness behind it. However, I really don’t think that was it. I mean, it could be, but I doubt it. Christian won’t tell me. He gets so upset when we try to talk to him about his “upset” feelings.

Anyway, back to our Valentines celebration, we told Mikelle we’d be home before 10. We knew Christian would arrive back home before we did, and of course when we were about 20 minutes from home, we both got a text from him (no he doesn’t have a phone. He can text from his I-pod at home).

“I got home about a half hour ago, you should be home already.  :-(   "

I really love my Thing 2 and I hope we're not screwing him up too much.  This just goes to show that he needs more concrete scheduling at home, and when things do change (like a Monday night out), we need to prepare him better. That's where I messed up.

Back in 2008 - Age 4. He has grown up so much since then...:sniff: