Scenes of Christmas 2009

Here are a few scenes from Christmas in our world. We hope that Peace and Love were felt throughout your day as well.
The slideshow will open in another box and take a minute to load. So enjoy some of our favorite Christmas tunes and take a second to catch up on some of the posts you may have missed.

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Ryan Rocks the House

Ryan got his much desired electric guitar for Christmas, which has inspired Scott and I (mostly I) to sing songs at him about wanting to be a rock star. I tend to do this whenever I see him pick it up and start to "practice", which is driving him crazy. Here are a few of our favorites (with some creative liberties taken), please feel free to suggest others. He won't appreciate it but I will.

Didn't know how to play it, but he knew for sure
That one guitar, felt good in his hands, didn't take long, to understand
Just one guitar, slung way down low
Was a one way ticket, only one way to go
So he started rockin', ain't never gonna stop
Gotta keep on rockin', someday gonna make it to the top

And be a juke box hero, got stars in his eyes

and

Got my first real six string, Santa brought it right on time
played it til my fingers bled, it was Christmas 2009
These are the best days of my life

and

Ryan was a school boy, when he heard his first KISS song
Rock-n-Roll all night I think it was, and from there it didn't take him long
Got himself a guitar, used to play every night

Holiday Greetings

Wishing you and yours

a joyous Holiday Season

Scott, Jackie, Sam and Ryan

Happy Holidays

I am going to admit something publicly in this post, and I hope I don't get burned at the stake, but here goes.....I am a HAPPY HOLIDAYS person. Lately, I have seen Facebook postings and groups formed regarding the Merry Christmas vs. Happy Holidays debate, and I even had someone ask me if I realized that my own HOLIDAY card said "Happy Holidays." Yes, I did and Yes, it was deliberate. My reasoning is very simple and has nothing to do with taking Christ out of Christmas. It is simply that, to me, the holiday season encompasses all of the holidays that take place between October 31(if you include Halloween) and January 1. "Happy Holidays," to me, means "Have a Happy Thanksgiving, a Happy Hanukkah, a Merry Christmas, a Happy Kwanzaa, and a Happy New Year." This is the way I look at it, and I don't see any reason everybody else can't try to see it the same way. When somebody says "Happy Holidays" to me, it means that they are wishing me well on all of the November/December holidays that I celebrate or mean anything to me. Why say Merry Christmas to somebody unless you're reasonably sure that person celebrates it. You shouldn't necessarily be afraid of offending them, but you're going to be telling them something that's totally meaningless to them. If somebody were to wish me a Happy Hanukkah, I wouldn't be upset, but I'd probably just say "Uh...ok." And to the argument that "Happy Holidays" is just all about political correctness I say so what. What is wrong with going out of your way to not offend someone. Would you go out of your way to say Merry Christmas to someone you knew was Jewish or Muslim? Isn't this the perfect time of year to be nice and not offend anyone? As to the boycotting of stores that refer to "Holidays" rather than "Christmas," what is the big deal. It is a marketing strategy employed by retailers trying to cover all consumers with their advertising. They are after all, a business, and trying to make as much money as possible. I actually take issue with businesses that try to promote God and Christianity as their marketing strategy, but that is slightly off topic and better saved for another post. I never can understand why these Christian groups spend so much effort this time of year focused on what goes on in stores. Maybe we should all take a lesson from the Grinch who said "Maybe Christmas doesn't come from a store." I also don't have a problem with the way schools treat the holidays. Is it really that big of a deal that the time off is called winter break? It is not just December 24 and 25 that school is out, it is a two week period. When they are off for Yom Kippur in September it is called a teacher workday, so all's fair right? I think schools can go too far in taking away any symbols of Christmas, though. Do I think that they should set up a Nativity scene in the lobby, No, but a few wreaths and stockings are fine. Anyway, I know some will think that I am missing the point, but I hope that I have made a few good points of my own.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL!!!

WInter Parade

Today was the annual Winter Parade for Lake Wylie Elementary and the Steele Creek area. There are floats representing the various classrooms at the school, as well as many area businesses. The parade route starts at the school and actually runs right down the main street in our neighborhood. The first year that we lived here we heard a marching band and were like "What the Hell?" Normally Scott and I are very involved in the parade since we have access to a truck and trailer, but after 4 years I decided to take a break. My taking a break resulted in Ryan's class not having a float, but that is not as bad as it seems since he didn't want to participate,so he wasn't upset. Probably he was glad to have a break from hearing me bitch about making the float. So it was win win. Let me tell you, it is much easier to just drop your kid off at his float and pick him up at the end. Sam's class rode on an antique firetruck which was really cool. He is not visible in the pictures, though, because he ducked down when he saw us on the parade route. Little stinker!! If you notice the two kids in the front corner looking down, that is where Sam should be. Click on the pictures for a larger view. Even though it was a cold and wet day, a good time was had by all!

Advent wreath or Menorah

As many of you know, although I do try, we in this house are just not the most devout religious folks in town. I'm going to relay a story about Ryan that proves this very statement (let's keep mum about that, this post has not been "Ryan Approved." Ryan goes to Faith Formation (what we used to call Catechism or CCD)once a week and will make his First Communion in the spring. We have been working very hard on memorizing all of his prayers and such, but I think that some important facts about Catholicism and Christianity may have slipped through the cracks. In FF on Monday he made an advent wreath as a craft. They must have been talking about Advent and the calendar and the liturgical year, because he came home, showed Scott his wreath and asked Scott if he knew what part of the calendar we were in. Scott answered "November" and there was no further discussion. Later that night I was asking Ry about Faith Formation and what he learned about Advent and his craft he made. His reply to me was "Well, I made that candle thing for Hanukkah." The child thought he made a Menorah! Something is clearly lacking in his religious education. I should get right on that.

Dirtbike Days

Last Sunday we made our first trek down to the dirt bike track. This is one of Sam's all time favorite activities, and Ryan is starting to get into it as well. I currently have to go with them because Ryan sticks to the tracks, while Sam and Scott take to the trails. I CANNOT WAIT for the day when this becomes a Boys only activity and I get these Sundays all to myself. That is Sam in the top picture and Ryan below.

Operation Christmas Child

In some of our previous posts I have written about how Ryan's teacher likes to promote "giving back" to the community. So far we have done a walk for the homeless and after the holidays his class is going to sell hot chocolate in the mornings at school and give the proceeds to charity. I thought I would help her out by organizing the class to give items to put in the shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child. The kids each brought in items and we had enough to put together a box for a boy and a girl. If you go online and make a donation to help with the shipping they will track your box for you and let you know where it ends up and what the kids are like in that region. I think that the kids will enjoy knowing that information. The one hiccup that I came across with this project was how to explain to a group of seven year olds why Santa can't find these kids. I explained that the boxes were given to the Moms and Dads so that they would have a gift to give to their kids since they don't have much money for gifts or many stores where they live (or the Internet, because online shopping did come up!)

Community Service Saturday

This was "Community Service Saturday" in the Lockwood house. Ryan and I did a walk for the homeless through Uptown Charlotte. His teacher has been trying for a "giving back" theme for the class and this was part of that lesson. Although the turnout from his class was minimal, Ryan had a good time and learned something valuable in the process.

Sam went with his scout troop to plant trees in Huntersville as part of an effort to clean the air for the County. I guess he learned something as well, he just hasn't quite been able to verbalize what it was. He talked more about the Arby's that was provided for lunch and how many roast beef sandwiches he ate. And if you look at the front page of the local section of Sunday's Charlotte Observer and spot the red shirted blur, that is Sam.

Scott helped out the Upper Class community by finishing up wiring for a new million dollar house. Good to know everyone hasn't been hurt by the economy.☺

A Message from Ryan to The General

THE YANKEES WIN THE SERIES!!!

THE YANKEES WIN THE SERIES!!!

IN YOUR FACE OLD MAN!!!

Halloween

Aren't they awesome! Ryan rock-n-rolled all night as Paul Stanley from KISS, which was a big hit with kids and parents alike. Sam made his own costume this year, which was a Wii controller. It was a little touch and go with the rain, but we managed to squeeze in about 90 minutes of trick or treating between the showers.

Great Wolf Lodge

On Thursday we went to The Great Wolf Lodge in Concord to celebrate Sam's birthday. Since the boys were out of school on Thursday and Friday I thought it would be less crowded to go during the week than on a weekend. I apparently didn't consider that there were 130,000 other kids out during these same two days, because it was still pretty crowded. These days, though, with homeschooling and year round schools, you never can tell what your gonna get. Judging by the parking lot it could have been a lot worse. The waterpark is for resort guests only, so you have to stay to play. I'm not really fond of staying in hotels, and staying in one 30 minutes from home seemed weird, but the boys find it fun. I would have been fine with going home to spend the night and going back the next day, but whatever. The lodge was really cool, and we had a great time. I did, however, have one issue with the "theme" rooms. When I booked the room I found out that if you put the word "SCOUT" (Sam is a Boy Scout and I had never heard this, but I found the coupon code online) in the promo box you got a standard room at a rate of $159. This was $60 off of the online rate, and this is what I booked. The scout rate only applied to the standard rooms, not the theme suites. Now the theme suites are pretty cool if you are a kid, they have kid sections within the room that are set up like log cabins or tents, with bunk beds and their own tv and video games. It would have cost way over $100 more for the theme room. I figure what the kids don't know won't hurt them, and it was only one night, they need to be in the water park, I'm cheap, and so on and so on. Anyway, so we are walking to our standard room (which by the way was pretty nice, it had 2 queens and a separate sitting area, a mini fridge and a microwave), and all of the doors are signed with "KIDS CAMP" "WOLF DEN" "KIDS CABIN" as to what type of room you have. Now, they are still cleaning rooms, since we got there early, and the doors are open and my boys can see into the rooms with the tents and log cabins and are getting excited. We get to our room and there is no sign, just room #2019. I tried to say that we got a Scout room, we're scouts, we don't need fancy cabins, they were like WHATEVER. The lodge might as well put a sign on the standard rooms that says "Mothers who don't love their children enough to pay for a good room." But they were fine with what we had. See, if you don't overindulge your children, they learn to appreciate whatever they get. I didn't even have to say "Not all kids get to go to the Great Wolf Lodge" which I was fully prepared to do. The water park was awesome and they had a great time. Sam is more into extreme rides that are super high and fast, which these weren't, but even he thought it was great. I don't think he will want to go much past the age of 12 or so, but it sufficed for 10. They had a special Halloween event in the evening that Ryan and I went to. Sam wasn't willing to give up waterpark time. You got to wear your costume and Ryan is dressing as Paul Stanly from KISS, but we forgot his wig, which meant the world was coming to an end for Ryan. Somehow I got to take the blame for this, as usual. But I spiked his hair and he just went as a generic 80's rockstar, which seemed to placate him, until someone asked him if he was John Travolta in Grease. He doesn't even know who that is, but he still got pissed. But all in all, a good time was had by everyone, and I think we will start a new family tradition and go at least once a year.

We Got Boo'd

Last night we got Boo'd. If your not familiar, this is a neighborhood thing where you get a pack of Halloween goodies left at your doorstep with a Boo poem and a picture of a ghost. The poem instructs you too make two goody packs of your own, copy the poem and ghost, and go Boo two additional neighbors. Then you stick the ghost in you window so that everyone knows who has already been Boo'd. Now, we are not entirely positive who Boo'd us, but we can only think of one person whose treat bag would have no chocolate, but consist of pretzels and a FIBER ONE bar. A fiber bar!!! We chuckled all night at that. Thanks DM, it had to be you!

October Updates

So pretty much nothing blogworthy has been happening around here lately, but I couldn't close out October without another post. So here is how we've been Livin' Lockwood for the past few weeks.

SAM - Fourth grade is going to be the death of both Sam and I. I have already done
4th grade, and I am not enjoying going through it again. This year Sam was moved up into what his school calls the "Enrichment Program." It is a slightly modified version of a "gifted" program, since I don't think any of these kids is actually certified as gifted. Anyway, I really thought that this would be great for Sam, but now...not so much. Math is great, science is fine, but writing...OY VAY! You would think this child has never put pencil to paper, and I mean this literally, as in he cannot hold a pencil correctly and form letters. Apparently he has spent the greater part of his school years thus far doing worksheets, because I have never noticed this like I have this year. It goes far beyond handwriting, though, throw in sentence structure, grammar, punctuation, etc. I have also come to realize that if Sam has no interest in a subject than he just really doesn't give a damn about paying attention and learning anything about said subject. Sam is working on these issues and I am working on not concluding each homework session by screaming at him. I have not had my finest mommy moments in the past few weeks, but don't call Nanny911on me yet.

Sam finished up his Fall basketball league and it went really well. There were some great ball players on this league and I think that it really helped him to be a better player himself. He has a couple of weeks off before his winter league starts.

The boys have off of school tomorrow and Friday, so we are going to the Great Wolf Lodge for Sam's birthday. He turns 10 on Nov. 5th, and this is one of those indoor water park resorts. And we know he loves his water parks! I will post more about it when we get back.

RYAN - Ryan has finally finished up his first season of baseball, which he loved. It was so awesome to see how he kept improving and how his love for the game grew. He is still struggling a little in school, but he has a fantastic teacher who is working with him on different learning methods. We are in the beginning stages of having him monitored/tested for dyslexia or some other form of a learning disability. Don't know much about that yet, but I am glad that he finally has a teacher that wants to take more of a proactive approach to his difficulties.

Tonight Ryan has gone with my Dad to watch his beloved Yankees in the first game of the World Series. They are going to the place that my Dad sees Ric Flair most weeks, so Ryan is also in "stalker" mode. He has gone with his camera, a WWE newspaper article he would like to discuss, and his Ric Flair action figure. Hopefully RF is there or he will be really disappointed.

SCOTT AND I - Business has really started to pick up for us. This is the busiest we have been in awhile. We have projects booked out to the end of the year, so YAY US! Now, getting people to actually pay their bill is another issue altogether. I am getting to be quite the expert at filing small claims lawsuits. I have filed lawsuits in every county within 100 miles of Charlotte. This was all new to me, despite Scott's belief that because I worked as a paralegal for 10 years I should know how to do everything that might happen in a courthouse. I did real estate and estate planning. If you need a mortgage closed or a will, I'm your girl, but not so much on suing people. But I'm a pro now. NOTE TO PEOPLE WHO DON'T PAY YOUR BILLS - Don't put all of your information on Facebook. I have tracked down more deadbeats using Facebook, so at the very least make your profile private. Dummies.

We've got our water park and Halloween coming up, so hopefully I'll be posting more regularly. See ya then!

You Just Need to Stop

The boys had a day off from school on Monday for Yom Kippur. Every year since Sam started school he has had this day off, and every year Scott asks "why do they have a day off already, they just started school." And every year I answer "Yom Kippur" and you know what's coming....every year he says "what is that?" As God is my witness, every single year it is the same conversation. And his response to me is always that he doesn't know any Jewish people....how that explains why he can't remember this is beyond me. But this rant has nothing to do with my post, so I will get back on topic.

So for this day off the boys and I decided to go see the movie "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs" (which cost me $31 by the way, but again, off topic). I guess this is a pretty popular children's book, but I had never heard the story. Anyway, the main character in the story is named Flint Lockwood. Now, as someone who grew up with a unique surname, I get sort of a thrill whenever there is a character named Lockwood. It's as if I have some sort of personal connection with them, even if they are animated. So there is this cop in the movie which is voiced by Mr. T, and he would say things like (in a very Mr. T kind of way) "Is that you, Flint LOCKWOOD?!" or Flint LOCKWOOD. you better get that fool thing out of my way." So of course I have spent the last 48 hours saying things like "Sam LOCKWOOD, you better finish that homework" or "Are you awake, Sam LOCKWOOD." On the way to school this morning after my one of my Sam LOCKWOOD moments, he paused, looked at me and said "Mom, yesterday it was annoying, but today you just need to STOP!!" But I figure isn't one of the perks of having kids being able to annoy the hell out of them.

The Climb

For years now I have had to listen to my boys bicker in the backseat any time that we drive somewhere. Other than the threat that "I will pull this car over and make you get out" (which got me nowhere, especially now that they are aware of the lady in NY who got arrested for doing just that) I haven't had a surefire way to make them stop, until now. Now when they argue, usually over which song to play on the ipod, I simply take the ipod and turn on Miley Cyrus/Hannah Montana singing "The Climb", and sing along at the top of my lungs. They stop bickering immediately and I get promises that they will be good for the rest of the ride. To get why this works so well you have to understand that Sam has a very unhealthy hatred of all things Hannah Montana, which stems from his 2nd grade class in which the boys were outnumbered by girls 17-5. He got his fill of hearing about Hannah Montana that year. With Ryan I think that it's that he just loves his 80's hair bands (just like his Mom) and really doesn't like the song. He would probably watch Hannah Montana if he wouldn't catch so much flack from Sam about it. The fact that I know every word of the song is a testament to how often it has been played, but the other day I did hear Ryan tell Sam that they needed to stop arguing or "Mom will sing that song," so I guess it's working. But just for laughs, the next time you see Sam tell him "Ain't about what's waiting on the other side, It's the climb" just to see his reaction. It's hysterical.

Baseball

So this fall Ryan decided that he really wanted to give baseball a try. So far all has gone pretty well. His team is 2-1, and he seems to be enjoying himself. Scott has somehow gotten involved as base coach for some games, as well. We've taken to calling him Buttermaker around here (Bad News Bears reference). We have had one injury though. Check it out:

Yeah, that's right. Sam somehow got a black eye at Ryan's baseball practice. I didn't really inquire all that much about how it happened. I just know that when I met them for dinner after that practice there were two very pissed off boys. Sam because the ball that caused the shiner was apparently thrown by his father, and Ryan because his failure to have any hits that night was due to the fact that his Dad had bought him a cheap bat. It was a fun meal.

It's his right eye, but you can't see the bruising very well in this picture.

Obama Speech - Part 2

So my boys take on the oh-so-controversial Obama "Stay In School" speech was pretty much as I expected it to be. Ryan could tell me nothing. He was apparently off in LaLa land, where I theorize he spends a lot of his school hours. Sam came away with this little nugget "He said to study and that you shouldn't count on being a professional athlete, but since I'm going to be in the NBA that doesn't apply to me." They did not come home and ask where I stood on a single payer health care system, so I guess they didn't intercept the subliminal messages. Funny side note, one girl in Sam's class elected to not watch the speech, so she was sent to the reading corner and told not to listen. Got to love the public schools!

I Don't Get It

Seriously, there is this much uproar over President Obama giving a speech to school children on Tuesday? Now, I know I'm not the most conservative right winger, but seriously! Maybe it's just me, but I don't get what the problem is. A speech on the importance of education, the HORROR! Lord help us if he decides to throw in don't smoke and stay off drugs. I got a call yesterday from the boy's principal stating that if you didn't want your child to participate than you have to send in a statement in writing. I don't know if that was a system requirement or she just knew that most would think it was too much trouble to put pen to paper, so that would be that. This morning I actually heard someone say that since the principal is African American, the "put it in writing requirement" was her was of pushing the Obama agenda off on the kids. WHAT-EV-ER!!!Last night on the news there was a woman who said that she would not allow her kids to watch because of the "subliminal messages" that Obama was sure to be sending out. Seriously??? And than there are those that want to insist that the speech be followed up by someone who could give the opposing view. Dad, might you be available? I guess the opposing view to "stay in school and get an education" is keep your kid out of school, as many say they will do. Anyway, I keep hearing how the first President Bush did this in the 80's, and I have no recollection of that, so these kinds of things apparently don't stick. I do, however, remember Dan Quayle's foray into the public schools and the hilarity that ensued for years over that. The way I see it, Ryan is 7, after 30 seconds his mind will wonder to whatever happened on RAW the night before. I just need to warn them not to drink the kool-aid, right?

Surfside Beach 2009

The first week in August we all went down to Surfside Beach for our annual Separ Family Beach Trip. A mostly good time was had by all, but every year I continue to marvel how four people raised by the same parents can all lead their adult lives so differently. I guess to each his own, but a select few could reflect on their life and try to figure out how to be more productive human beings. That's all I'm gonna say, because you know, I don't approve of the gossip ☺. Here is a synopsis of our week:

THE GOOD:

Spending time with loved ones, of course. I hope the boys are creating memories and stories that they will some day pass on to their children. I have great memories of going crabbing with my PopPop, and this was the first year that we attempted to do this. We had two boats, so it immediately became a contest, of course. My team was myself, Ry and Sam, Scott, my Dad, and my sister, Steph. The other boat was Staci, Don and Trace, Mike and Lilly, and Steph's husband Todd. Sadly, my team lost. Badly. I wanted to tie myself to a string and throw myself overboard when the radio call came from MIKE (of all people) that he had caught the first crab. And the calls kept coming, so we had to admit defeat and ask them where they were to join them. In the meantime, all that had happened in our boat was that Sam had gotten a jellyfish caught in the net, which he then somehow got all over his face. "Something is stinging my face, something is stinging my face." And he is my smart one! The bast part for us was that we were smart enough to bring snacks and they weren't. To entertain ourselves, we tossed them one bag of mini oreos just to see them fight over it like a pack of wild animals. Although the day wasn't successful enough to have anything that consisted of crab that evening at dinner, it was still a fun day.

On Wednesday the boys and I took off to Isle of Palms to visit with some friends that were also at the beach. I love that beach, and it was a nice break in the week of family to visit some other people. The boys loved being able to play at the beach with their friends. Sam had yet another run in with a jellyfish. This time it was on his leg, and he insist that I pushed him into it. I swear I was only trying to help him in his attempt learn to surf.

Thursday, we rose at the ungodly hour of 5:45 a.m. to go on a fishing charter. This was all for naught because nobody except Ryan caught anything. And caught is not really accurate for what Ry did, because he snagged a fish through the eye. But like all good fisherman, our fish tales have grown:




That's our story and we're stickin' to it!!!










THE BAD:
This is just my own personal thing about the house that I'm putting out there in case anyone googles "O'Live By The Sea", which was the name of the beach house. This house was very nice, although obviously someones investment, and not a house that the owner uses. It had a great floor plan, very nice upgrades, but was not very well stocked in the kitchen. The biggest thing, though, was the beds SUCKED. Big time. All of them. The house was for sale, so maybe they will be replaced. If your looking at renting this house, you might want to check into this.

THE UGLY

The biggest bummer of the week was that Ryan's bike was stolen from the arcade at Garden City. Scott and the boys rode up there to check out the pier, and when they got ice cream it was swiped. They had a lock but it only fit around two of the bikes and Ryan's was left out. We rode all around looking for it, thinking maybe a kid took it and just ditched it somewhere, but to no avail. I've been checking Craig's List, but nothing has shown up.

So now we are in our last week of summer vacation, and we are trying to make the most of it before school starts on the 25th.

Sam on Sunday

Sam made this video of himself at the lake this past Sunday. It stutters a little on our computer, and the content ends at around 2:10, but for some reason the video does not. And if you are waiting for a big wipeout scene, there isn't one. I was waiting also, but he never fell!

Sam on Sunday from Jackie Lockwood on Vimeo.

Here He Goes Again

Well, Crazy Flag Guy a/k/a my Dad has hung yet another politically inspired flag in front of his house. I'm not going to comment on the content of the flag, I just want to go on record that I think these flags are going to get him on some sort of CIA/Homeland Security list somewhere. My mom says she has seen people stop and take pictures. Someone actually came to the door to inquire about the previous flag, which let's just say was less than flattering to our President. Combine this with the campsite/basecamp that is set up for the boys in the backyard, and some may think that he's holed up in there writing a manifesto. I'm gonna laugh next time he tries to board a plane and gets pulled away due to "security concerns."

Ric Flair

On Thursday Grandpa got Ryan an autograph from one of his WWE heroes, Ric Flair. As most in Charlotte know, if you hang out at enough bars, you will surely run into Ric Flair, which is what happened with Grandpa. And although Grandpa did well with getting the autograph, he cracked under pressure and couldn't remember any of Ryan's favorite guys to get valuable inside info. So now Ryan has made a standing date with Grandpa for beer and chicken wings every Thursday at The Lodge until Flair shows up again. Can anyone say Stalker???

Camp Invention

This past week Sam attended Camp Invention. This is an award winning, nationally recognized summer program, and Sam's 3rd grade teacher recommended that he attend. But I pretty much realized that I did not have another Thomas Edison or Bill Gates I my hands when I saw this "invention."

The assignment was to create a superhero. I think the kids were supposed to learn how things can morph/change properties, senses, physics, etc. Well, my little genius sticks googly eyes into some green clay and comes up with the superhero of "Geico Money" and it's power is apparently "saving you money with GEICO." Now, if you don't get this, congrats to you for living a TV free life, because if you have watched any TV over the past year you have undoubtedly seen these ads.
So at the conclusion of this camp week, combined with the week that Sam spent at Ice Skating camp, we have learned the following: Don't waste any more money trying to enrich Sam's life with summer camp!

Four Wheelin'

Last weekend the boys spent some time at Scott's parent's house. They love it there, because there is a lot of land and space to ride the many toys that their Granddaddy has collected for them. Sam is partial to the four wheeler, which he takes over jumps and on trails through the woods.

Ryan, however, is not quite the daredevil that his brother is. He prefers what I lovingly refer to as the PopPop scooter. Yes, that's right, the little rascal (props to you if you got that reference) scoots around and even does tricks. But there is only so cool that you can look on this thing. Judge for yourself:

Summer So Far

So I know I've pretty much sucked at keeping up the blog these past few weeks and I am going to try to encapsulate all that we have been doing in one long post.

A few days after school let out, Scott and I were able to get away to Vegas for a few days. It was a trip that I surprised him with for his 40th birthday. We managed to cram quite a bit into our three days there including a day trip to the Hoover Dam and a helicopter ride over the Grand Canyon. That was great and worth every cent. Seeing the Grand Canyon from the air really is quite an awesome sight. I really wasn't prepared to be as impressed as I was, it is a wonder that every American really should try to see, as is Las Vegas itself. Even if you don't gamble, which we don't really. We spent two days just checking out all of the different hotels. The Hoover Dam, well, let's just say that my knowledge and appreciation of engineering wonders is slightly lacking. Scott was impressed though. Some pictures highlighting our trip are below.

Unfortunately, Father's Day was spent at the hospital with Scott getting his appendix removed. It started on Friday night, and the whole weekend has become one long blur ending in surgery on Sunday. He was released on Monday, and back to work on Tuesday morning. The doctor's orders upon his release were for him not to drive for a week, so I drove him around on Tuesday. My orders as of Tuesday night were that he was fine and released from my care. A man talking on the phone while flapping his hand in my face does not qualify as giving directions in my book. And when during a walk across the parking lot to Kinko's resulted in his looking back and asking me to keep up I realized he was probably fine. Although the day did give me a better understanding as to why Scott may say he's going to be somewhere at 10:30 and shows up at 3:00. All is well now and he is just about back to normal. No pictures of the hospital visit, although Sam and I did wish for a camera as Scott was shuffling across the floor to the bathroom in his hospital gown and pulling his IV behind him.


This is a weed that has popped up on the side of our house. I swear, it grows a foot or two every freakin' day. It is so big now that I can't even pull it out. I am beginning to think that someone in this house traded something for some magic beans and I am listening for the holler of "Fe Fi Fo Fum." Considering that we now have to pay a rather large deductible for Scott's surgery and I still don't have the backsplash done to complete my kitchen makeover, I sure could use a goose laying some golden eggs.

The rest of our days have been filled with the usual summer activities, swimming, Carowinds, and hanging with friends. Next week Sam has an ice skating camp and later in July he will be going to a science camp, but that is about all that we have planned as far as "scheduled" activities. We are kickin it old school this summer, just hangin out and enjoying every day.


Does anything say summer like a boy and a dog. Not his dog, mind you, but a dog. This is Coco, one of Ryan's favorite friends.

And we can't leave out Sam, entering the pool as only Sam can!!

My First Pie Day

In honor of the last day of school, I finally got to join the boys and my parents for pie day. Good company and good pie, who could ask for a better beginning to the summer!

D Day

I was supposed to post a picture of Crazy Flag Guy's latest creation today in honor of D Day. But the memory card wasn't in my camera when I took the picture, so stay tuned. Sorry Dad!

25 Random Facts

There was this thing going around on Facebook a while back where you list 25 random facts about you. Since not much has been happening around here lately, I decided to go ahead and post my list on the blog, as well. Most of the people that read my blog are not Facebook people. Now as you are reading, keep in mind that I actually leaned toward the "random" part when making my list. Some people had things like "I married my soulmate," "spending time with my children is my favorite activity" and "I make no decisions without praying first" WHATEVER. This was supposed to be fun and RANDOM! My randomness lead to comments like "you are a freak" and "you need anti anxiety meds."

So here are the "25 Random Facts about Me"

1. I am the 2nd of four children and none of us are very much alike
2. I had never been off of the East Coast until I was 26.
3. I am obsessed with the TV show "Lost"
4. Sam was born premature, but has always been the biggest kid in his class
5. I love all cheesy reality television (Rock of Love Bus, anyone?)
6. I would love to run The Amazing Race, but I have no desire to be on TV
7. I have never been stung by a bee
8. I can't stand hypocrites, especially when it comes to religion
9. I think I am very open minded, and believe "To Each His Own"
10. I have a weird fascination with prison movies, The Shawshank Redemption is my favorite movie.
11. I love Jon Bon Jovi
12. I have very weird hang ups when it comes to hotels. For example, the room door must always open to an interior hallway, never an outside corridor (for some reason this does not apply to Island Resorts). My hotel hangups could be a list of 25 things on its own, and yet another reason why I wouldn't do well on The Amazing Race.
13. I can't stand being touched by a shower curtain.
14. I never step on the drain in a shower.
15. If my fork touches tin foil, I can no longer eat with that fork.
16. Scott never formally proposed to me. We just sort of reached a mutual decision. I have not let him forget this for 13+ years.
17. My house was a foreclosure and I never saw the inside before we purchased it.
18. I have to sleep with a sound machine which simulates the sound of riding in an airplane. Yet riding in an actual airplane would never put me to sleep because I can't sleep in public.
19. I have only had one new car.
20. Scott and I have very opposing political views and constantly cross out the others vote.
21. I don't like Halloween, which stems from a "mugging" incident in Buffalo in 1978
22. My mom and I went skydiving together
23. I was "accidentaly"born at home with no one there but my Mom and Uncle John.
24. Scott and I have no joint accounts for daily use and have never had an argument about money.
25. I hated swimming with dolphins

Happy Birthday Scott

Happy Birthday, Dad!!! We Love you!!

Love,

Sam & Ryan

The Mother's Day Cake

This is the sentiment that my Dad chose to convey atop the camo style Mother's Day ice cream cake. If you can't read it, it says "Grambo, her mission is never over". This is a reference to Ryan's favorite scene in the first Rambo movie. If you watched Ryan's film clip you already know this, and if you didn't, than shame shame shame on you!!!

Manic Monday

Remember that song from the 80's, Manic Monday, by The Bangles. I sometimes sing that song to Ryan on Monday mornings to get him going, since he hates Mondays. Over the last few weeks we have worked on revising the words so that they fit his life. Here's what we have come up with:

Seven o'clock already
I was just in the middle of a dream
I was slammin Randy Orton
in a big Wrestlemania ring

But I can't be late
cause then I guess I won't pass first grade
these are the days
when you wish your bed was already made

It's just another manic Monday
I wish it was Sunday
cause that's my fun day
my I don't have to run day
It's just another manic Monday

Have to ride my bike today,
got to get to school by eight
and if I had an airplane
I still think I might be late

Cause it take me so long
just to figure out what I'm gonna wear
then I have to brush my teeth
and try to get a brush through my hair

It's just another manic Monday
I wish it was Sunday
cause that's my fun day
my I don't have to run day
It's just another manic Monday

Of all of the nights, why did my brother
have to pick last night to get loud
doesn't it matter that I have to get my sleep
or I will be a grouch

Mom yells up
in her meanest voice
Knock it off, boys,
and stop making noise

It's just another manic Monday
I wish it was Sunday
cause that's my fun day
my I don't have to run day
It's just another manic Monday

Happenings

Actually, nothing much has been happening around here, which is why I haven't posted in a while. But here is a quick update:

Last Sunday was Mother's Day, and we spent the day with our Mothers. Novel idea, I know. We ate lunch at Scott's parents, and dinner with my parents. My Dad ordered quite an original Mother's Day ice cream cake, which I was supposed to post a picture of on the blog. But I can't locate my camera, I think I may have left it at his house. I won't try to describe it, I'll wait until I can put words with picture. Let's just say that in typical Separ fashion, there were no pink flowers and sappy sentiment.

On the Saturday before Mother's day, Ryan spent the night at my parents house, and the story goes that he did not sleep at all. He and his cousin, Trace, spent the entire night watching WWE videos. He lost Trace to sleep sometime in the wee hours of the morning, but Ryan insists he did not sleep at all. I suspect there may have been some dozing that he is unaware of, but since I have been dealing with a sleep deprived monster all week, there was not much. That is some quality child care!!! But the price was right, so really, what can you do!

Sam was forced by his father to participate in a karate tournament that Saturday. You'll notice that I have not posted a picture of him with trophies and ribbons, and this has nothing to do with the missing camera. I suspect the tournament became something of a battle of the wills between father and son. The father saying "you WILL participate in this tournament" and the son saying "Okay, but I WILL not try very hard." And he didn't.

This week begins our first experience with End of Grade testing (EOG's). I'm not too worried, as Sam has always been an excellent student, and performs quite well on standardized tests. Talk to me in two years when it is Ryan's turn, and it should be a different story. I always rather enjoyed standardized tests as a child, and think that Sam maybe inherited this abnormality.

Now I would like to share a story that my sister, Staci, shared with me this week. I have been giggling ever since. Last week, Staci sent her husband, Donnie, to pick up Trace and a neighbor boy from school. Apparently not wanting to go through the car pool line or walk up to retrieve the boys, Don thought the teacher should just let the boys come to him. The teacher did not allow this, and somewhere in the course of events, Donnie stated to the boys that they should go to school the next day and tell this teacher to "pull her head out of her ass" and well, they did. Actually it was the kid next door that relayed the message. I guess he was raised in a "respectful" household and didn't quite get it, and was simply relaying the message as asked. Well, the following day Staci got an earful from the teacher on respect, language, etc.. Can anyone say "white-trash"?

So that is how we have been Livin Lockwood for the past week!

Ryan's movie

As most of you are aware, Ryan has had a fascination with Rambo for most of the past year. Well, he bought himself a little video camera with his birthday money, and has been filming scenes to make his own version of Rambo. It has taken me about a month, but I have finally figure out how to edit enough of the video to make a sort of trailer for his little movie. Just in time for him to loose interest in Rambo (see previous post). Anyway, please click on the Ryan Rocks link in the sidebar to view his movie trailer. And he always loves comments!

Babe Ryan

My little Ryan has this way about him wherein he develops an interest in a subject, and than said interest becomes all consuming. Ryan's interests have made me an expert in the areas of Superman and The Justice League, the Titanic, and much to my dismay, WWE Wrestling. His latest discovery is Babe Ruth and the New York Yankees (much to his Mets fan grandfather's dismay). This started out simple enough. We watched the movie The Sandlot, and it went from there. Here is a picture of Ryan in his new Yankees shirt that my Aunt sent him.

Thanks Aunt Ginny!!

Anyway, he and I have been reading an autobiography of Babe, and finding out all kinds of neat information. Now, understand that Ryan has absolutely no interest in going out and joining a team. He's not much of a joiner, says he just plays "sandlot ball". He has been playing and practicing a lot, but only for the purpose of creating scenes in the imaginary world in which he spends so much of his time. He did, however, tell me the other night, upon being told it was bedtime, that he wanted to be like the Babe and "stay up all night and run the streets". I was happy to report to him that although he did not come from a long line of baseball greats, he did have certain family members that were world champs in the art of staying up all night and running the streets!

We Have the Flu

DO NOT BE ALARMED!!! We don't have the Mexican Swine Flu, but the kids seem to have a very bad case of the North Carolina Whine Flu. We're not sure, but the source appears to be homework, and the condition seems to be aggrevated by not enough sleep. Strangly enough, even though the kids are the ones that exhibit the symptoms (which include speaking in a drawn out, nasally manner, a lot of foot stomping and rolling around, and in certain instances, a complete lack of respect), it is the parents that suffer the most severe effects. In an ironic twist, drinking lots of WINE seems offer some relief. We hear that the symptoms may ease up in about six weeks, coinciding with school being out for summer. Word is that this strain of flu has spread rapidly through my neighborhood. Anyone, Darnell, Anyone???

We Are Our Mothers

Yesterday I had one of those moments when you realize that you are turning into your mother. In this particular case it had to do with homework. When I was in school, us kids avoided letting my mother see our homework at any cost. Showing it to her usually resulted in the homework assignment taking much longer than it should have. And once my mom went back to college, forget about it. If you dared to let her read anything that you wrote, she would tear it apart, yelling words at you like "thesis statement". You'd be like "Chill out, Mom, it's a 7th grade book report, not a dissertation to get my PH.D". Anyway, yesterday I go in Sam's room to check on his homework progress, and he immediately starts going into this whining roll around his floor, making statements like "I'm never going to get to play outside again." Now keep in mind that Sam's homework is done weekly and due on Friday, so on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, there is a lot of playing outside, which results in this conniption fit (see, I even sound like my mom) on Thursdays. On this particular Thursday, Sam had to take a practice spelling test, in CURSIVE (gasp) and finish some math word problems. This is the perfect storm of homework around here. So this led to Sam going on a 10 minute rant about how since there are now computers he doesn't need to know cursive or spelling, since he can spell check. As for math, HELLO!!! has anyone ever heard of a calculator??? Why do you need to memorize multiplication facts!!! As I was listening to his rant, I began to think to myself, something seems familiar...but I just can't put my finger on what it is.....

Simple Pleasures

NBC Nightly News starting doing this segment a while back where they highlight something positive. It is their way of airing a bright spot amongst all of the bad news they have been delivering of late. It got me thinking of some simple things that can instantly brighten my day. Here are five of my "simple pleasures":

1. Hearing my kids really laugh wholeheartedly about something silly. This will be my only mushy one, I swear.

2. Spontaneously stopping to get ice cream at Cold Stone Creamery, or as Ryan calls it "Stone Cold". He is convinced the wrestler owns it.

3. Getting a fountain soft drink that has crunchy ice, or as my family says "the good ice". If you don't know what I mean, it is the kind of ice that Sonic uses in their drinks and slush's. Awesome.

4. If it is Tuesday or a Wednesday, knowing that a new episode of Rescue Me or Lost will be on that night.

5. Going to bed on freshly cleaned sheets. I would clean my sheets everyday if I had the time. And they must be freshly cleaned, not just different sheets out of the linen closet. There is a difference.

Riverbanks Zoo

On Thursday, Ryan and I went down to Riverbanks Zoo in Columbia for the 1st grade field trip. The is the biggest event of the year, and all of the kids look forward to it. I think that one of the biggest thrills was getting to ride in the big buses that were chartered for the trip. First graders are endlessly fascinated by the fact that there was a toilet on the bus. If they hadn't had explicit instructions that the bathroom was only for extreme emergencies, I am sure the entire ride would have been one trip down the aisle after another. The group that I was in charge of had Ryan and three other boys. The highlights of a day at the zoo to a group of 7 year old boys are elephant poop, red baboon butts, and climbing on, over, around, and through everything that they saw (as you can see from the pictures). We had a great day, and I came home with a much greater appreciation for my well behaved son (but let's keep that to ourselves!)☺♥

Easter at the Generals

So I've been looking at all of the pretty pictures that my friends have posted on their blogs and on Facebook, and everyone looks so lovely in their Easter best. Here is what my children chose to wear to their Grandparents on Sunday.

Sadly, they also wore these same outfits to Scott's parents house on Saturday. I know, I know, but what are you gonna do? I was slightly insulted when I found out that my Mom and Sister had a bet going as to how long my children had been in their camo's. In my defense, it was spring break. Now that school is back in they are properly scrubbed, shampooed, and smelling springtime fresh.

Ryan's Rambo obsession has also led to the following nicknames for some family members:
Mombo - Me
Sambo - Sam
Grambo - my mom
Elbow - cousin Lilly
Snorebo - Uncle Mike
Moebo - the cat

They are a strange troop, but you just gotta love 'em.

Grayson Rose

I ordered a "Grayson" rosebush today. This is a new rose being brought over from France by Ashdown Roses in SC. It is named Grayson in honor of the baby that a local radio personality lost back in October. 40% of the profits go the The March of Dimes. So if your looking to plant some new rose bushes this fall, check out this link:

http://www.ashdownroses.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=2800

It looks like it will be a beautiful bush, and you help a good cause at the same time. While your there, click the link to check out the Matt and Ramona radio show. They are hysterical, and make the work day and ride home so much more enjoyable.

What's in a Name - Part 2

So I apparently insulted some family members by inadvertently leaving them out of my previous post. So I am hereby amending "What's In A Name" to include the following:

1. My sister, Stephanie, probably has the best example that I could have given to Ryan a/k/a Bub, but it completely slipped my mind. She has been called Nee or Nee Nee by our family since she was a child. The kids even call her Aunt Nee Nee. Once I was telling Sam something about "Stephanie" and didn't realize I was totally confusing him until he said to me in a very exasperated tone "I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHO YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT."

2. In one of the most bizarre stories I've ever heard, my Father-in-law, Peeps (yes, you did read that correctly, it is Peeps, like the Easter marshmallow things), told us that he was actually named Henry at birth, and sometime in his first year his mother decided to rename him Peeps, and went down and had it legally changed. This was apparently in honor of an Uncle whose last name was Peeps. I'm thinking that even the Uncle was like "What the Hell"?

What's In A Name

"What's in a name. A rose by any other would still smell as sweet." Didn't Shakespeare say something like that. Well, Ryan would tend to take issue with ol' William on that point. Ryan is one of those unfortunate children that has been saddled with a family nickname from birth. It started off cute enough. Sam couldn't say brother, he said bubba, which turned into Bub, blah, blah, blah. So here we are seven years later, and Ryan is still Bub, and would prefer that he never be called that again. I tried to explain to him that he comes from a family in which that is easier said than done. The neighborhood kids overhear Sam say it so much that we pass kids we don't even really know and they are like "Hi BOB." Ryan just sighs and shakes his head. I recently received a friend request on Facebook from a name I didn't recognize. Curiosity got the best of me, and when I accepted and went to her page it explained that she went by Missy in high school, but has since started using her middle name of Tamera. I was really amazed that someone was able to just decide to go by another name and that can actually work. Don't know what her family calls her, though. I once worked with these two lawyers that were brothers, and one was named William, never Will or Bill, always William. His brother told me that he was called Bill up until college, when he announced that he was now going to go by William, and he refused to acknowledge you if you referred to him as anything else. I thought to myself that they must come from very civilized and polite families, because that kind of stuff would never fly with my family. If I ever announced "I would now like to be known as Jacqueline" my family would be like "Get over yourself, JACK." I have male cousins that are now grown men in their 40's and because they have the same name as their father, they will forever be "Big (insert name) and Little (insert name), for example, we have a Big Lenny and Little Lenny, and a Big Gene and Little Gene. Doesn't matter how old you are, you are either the Big or the Little. In Jersey, we must not be quite as original as they are down here in the South, where there are plenty of Jrs., Trips and Treys. Just Big and Little. In my own family, my father is Mike (unless you go really old school on him and he's Mick or Mickey) but mostly Mike. That leaves my brother as Mikey (when he's not being called Dumb Ass, that is). Anyway, Mikey would prefer to be Mike, but oh no, not an option. This has led to Staci calling him Mikey Mike. See what I mean. This is what happens when you try to mess with the name thing around here. I have pointed all this out to Ryan, and told him that even though Sam is just Sam, Lilly is "the Lil" and Trace is, well, a good ol' Southern boy (see Trip and Trey explanation above) who will forever have to explain to teachers what his name is, but Ryan still wanted to whine about it, so then I told him as any good Separ would...Get Over It!!!!

Sam on LeBron

A few weeks ago Sam finished up his first season playing basketball. He fell in love with the game(and in his last game scored 12 points and had 10 rebounds - proud Mom moment), and now he plays some version of it everyday (real or X-Box). Well, he watched a 60 Minutes interview with LeBron James on Sunday and was really impressed with LeBron's story. The next day he was telling me about all of the things that LeBron had accomplished and he said "He is REALLY good, Mom, he could probably play for the Globetrotters." Something about the innocence of that statement made me smile.

More From Crazy Flag Guy

Here is the latest offering from Crazy Flag Guy a/k/a my Dad. I think that this is one of his own creations, but I'm not entirely sure of that. It appears he would like the world to understand that he thinks Bailouts Blow!



The preceeding expressed opinions were not necessarily the opinions of Livin' Lockwood or the Lockwood Family, but then again, they could be!

Simile Sam

This is a picture of Sam's latest school project. He had to make a self portrait describing himself in similes. We came up with the following for "I Am Sam"






I am as smart as a computer (hence the computer head)
I swim like a fish (Fish body)
I grow like a weed
I eat like a horse (that is a horse at stomach level)
I sleep like a log.
I run as fast as a bullet train (those are pictures of bullet trains at his feet)

Some of the rejected ideas were:

I whine like a baby when I lose at video games.
My room is a messy as a landfill.
I am as lazy as a lizard in the sun when it is time to do my homework.

Basketball and Birthdays

On Saturday we took the kids to see the Harlem Globetrotters, which was a lot of fun. I never saw them as a kid, but I imagine their act hasn't changed much. Still very goofy and silly, and appealing to a 7 and 9 year old boys sense of humor. We also got the added bonus of a walking tour of Uptown Charlotte, since we had to park in the free parking lot 10 blocks away from the arena.

On Sunday Ryan turned 7 years old.....and I don't have a dog, thank you Jesus!!! That cake was from Cold Stone Creamery, and I tell you, it is so worth the extra few dollars to get a cake that everyone eats. There was not a speck left, and when we used to get just regular birthday cake, no adults wanted any, and the kids just ate the icing. We would end up with half a cake left, which we usually threw out. Not with an ice cream cake...Michael even dared to take a nap during the party, and awoke to find no cake saved for him. That's what he gets for sleeping one off during his nephews birthday.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!

Top o' the mornin' to ya!!!
Ahhh St. Patrick's Day - the day for all us fair skinned, freckle faced people to celebrate. We need to celebrate our paleness, because we are going to spend the next six months explaining why we don't have a tan. I find that stating "I have skin cancer" seems to shut people up, with the added bonus of humiliating them.

I don't know if this is a southern thing, but my children enjoy St. Patrick's Day, because it often involves Leprechauns sneaking into their classrooms and messing things up. Things like knocking chairs over, or spilling the trash can. And they leave candy coins for the kids. I don't remember anything like this at all when I was in school. You just wore green. That was the extent of the holiday. And on a few occasions, I think my mom made corn beef and cabbage. Isn't that a special treat!!!I'll always remember picking up Sam from preschool and he asked me if leprechauns were real. I said no, and he burst into tears because he had this whole story to tell. I felt terrible, but someone needs to let a Mom in on these things.

Dodged that Bullet

So as many of you are aware, Ryan and I had an agreement that we would resume our talk about getting a dog when he turned 7. Well, his 7th birthday is next week, so I broached the subject with him yesterday and his response to me was "I don't think that I am ready for the responsibility yet, so I'll let you know at another time."
WOO HOO......I LOVE THIS KID!!!! He's going to stick with his Webkinz pets for now, and I am dog free for the foreseeable future.

Hey Hey Hey...A Snow Day

After waiting semi-patiently through the day of rain yesterday, the snow the kids had been waiting for finally arrived around 6:00 last night. They were bouncing off the walls so we sent them out to play in the dark, and then bright and early this morning we headed out for sledding, snow ball fights, and snowman building. The sledding was a little tough due to the lack of a proper sledding hill, but we did out best. By lunch there was mostly slush, and I felt like I was walking through hot springs in Iceland with all of the steam coming off of the roads. Now we are snuggled in, drinking hot cocoa and watching Rambo for the 1,827,000 time. It sure was fun while it lasted!