Yeah- this is how we end a wonderful weekend round here.
Don’t your kids in their battery cars race you on your lawn mower? No? Must just be us.
Apr29
Category Archives: Life in General
Apr11
5 Good Things
Given that I don’t actually have anything of substance to talk about today, I’m just going to share 5 good things going on in our lives:
1. The kids and I read a new book today that made us laugh called Hattie the Bad. Hattie is a little girl who thinks being good is boring, so she decides to be bad- she put frogs in the fridge, likes to scare people and tries to sell her brother at a garage sale. Hattie is so naughty that while the kids all love her, the parents tell them they can’t play with her any more. So Hattie decides to be the best she can possibly be- only that is a little boring. None of her friends want to hang around her anymore since she’s so very good. So Hattie has to figure out what is the mix that makes her her. While I’m not entirely sure how I feel about a book that portrays a child being super good as one with no friends, the book itself was funny, beautifully illustrated and it prompted a great conversation between Scorch and me.
2. Finally, finally, our grocery store has amazing watermelon in stock. I don’t know where it was made- it could have been dipped in all sorts of crazy chemicals for all I know- but it was amazing and that makes me (and my kids!) happy.
3. I found a way to download all my old Facebook posts!! I’ve been wondering how to do this for quite some time as some of my family’s funniest moments and greatest memories are written there and I was thrilled to find out how stinking easy it was. Formatting isn’t perfect- but at least I have something.
4. Little League starts this week for Scorch. We’ve been talking about this forever so I’m beyond happy that the season is finally starting. I’m a little nervous as Scorch is on a team with 6, 7 and 8 year olds, but the Hubs is coaching along with 2 great friends and long time baseball coaches, so I’m sure we’ll be fine.
5. I’m off tomorrow and Friday for the last 2 days of the kid’s Spring Break. I have no idea what we’re doing or how we’re going to pass the time, but I’m excited for a 4 day weekend with the family!
Mar16
Good Riddence
I have never been so happy to see the end of the week.
Post-vacation blues + a horrible work week + a kid who did not adjust well to being back at school + a sick husband + reading one of the most touching books ever = me being a basket case all week long.
But- it’s Friday night. We watched Bolt (I love that movie), the kids are in bed asleep and I have what I hope will be a very funny book to start to counteract all the generally yuckiness this week. The weather is supposed to be picture perfect this weekend and things will turn around, darn it!
Hope y’ll have a great weekend too.
Feb26
Not So Common
And just like that- after our less then stellar day on Wednesday, things got better. They always do. We had great day Thursday, Friday, Saturday and today.
Thankfully, with kids like mine, great days don’t equal boring days. I mean- how boring can you days actually be when when you have to tell one of your kids (repeatedly) not to smell their sibling’s back end? Honestly, who needs to be told that once let alone multiple times?!
The stuff I have to tell my kids sometimes simply amazes me:
> No, you may not stand on the bed and try to see who can kick the other one off first.
> Nope, sorry, you’re not allowed to stand up in the bath and try to jump up and slam dunk the basketball.
> No, you can’t have chocolate chips, cinnamon rolls and a doughnut for breakfast!!!
> No, going up to your sibling and slapping them as hard as you can on the back isn’t an appropriate response to them telling you no.
> No, you can’t eat the snow off the bottom of your boot. Yes, even if it does taste good.
And on and on it goes. One day, I sincerely hope my children gain some common sense because right now, bless their hearts, they don’t have a lick of it.
Feb22
Not Our Best Day
So…today? Not a great day.
The kids were good as gold this morning. I remember sitting there patting myself on the back because they were being such angels. Since school is on break this week, they got to spend the day at their BFFs house (thankfully their BFFs are siblings the same age as my kids). I received frequent texts throughout the day telling me what great guests my kids were, how wonderfully the kids were playing, what good manner they hand and on and on.
I picked my kids up 15 minutes before the mom had a phone call she needed to take for work. Before dropping the kids off that morning, I prepped them for that- they knew when I showed up we had to hustle out of there. They agreed to it- but as most things with kids, the theory works out a lot better then the practice.
When I showed up Scorch flat out refused to leave. He sat on the playroom floor with his arms crossed and big tears rolling down his cheeks- he wanted to stay and that was that. Well, so sad for him because that wasn’t that. After coaxing him off the floor, out of the room and down the stairs we had to pause for the Bean to put on her shoes. That’s when Scorch made a break for it- he wanted to play some more. *sigh* So I got the Bean situated and out the door and then went to get Scorch. I kid you not when I tell you I had to 1) carry him out the door and 2) pry his fingers off the door jam as his sobbed and screamed that he didn’t want to go.
Hi! Mortification? So nice to see you again.
I set him down on the porch and the wild animal who replaced my son screamed at me “I hate you!” loud enough for the whole entire neighborhood to hear. So- I did what any rational parent would do. I sat my kid down in the drizzle in the muddy grass and made him sit there in time out on our friends wet lawn while I got the Bean in the car. I didn’t know if I was going to laugh or cry at that point, so I just ignored him while I collected myself.
Unfortunately after that fun, we didn’t have time to go home. We had a bunch of errands to run that included a stop at the library. Thankfully Scorch pulled himself together by the time we arrived there because the Bean decided to assert herself. Some how, over night, the Bean lost her ability to whisper. So everything- everything- in the library was said as loudly as possible. If I asked her to lower the volume, she cranked it up a notch. Thank goodness we were in the Children’s room and her volume wasn’t out of place, but the defiance just about killed me.
Between the scene at our friends house, the errands in between and our 45 minute stop at the library, I had already sweated through my t-shirt. But we weren’t done- oh no. We still had to go to Ash Wednesday Mass at the local college.
Due to the Hub’s work schedule, I was flying solo at this mass, something I try to avoid like mad. But it was this mass or not being able to go at all, so I sucked it up. I figured since it was a college campus, mass wouldn’t be crowded. Yeah- wrong. There was no parking, so by the time we found a spot we were running late. We hiked it in the pouring rain to the chapel and realized after we got there that I forgot the kid’s backpack with all their church toys (coloring books, crayons, snacks, etc). I had nothing in my purse besides my wallet, tissues and empty gum wrappers- and I had to make all that entertaining enough to last us an hour.
So that’s how I sweated through my sweater all while playing RockPaperSissors with Scorch and having thumb wars with the Bean for 60+ minutes. Thankfully most college kids think little kids are cute and don’t seem to mind having their pews kicked, hair accidentally pulled and potty words sung out loud during Communion.
Tomorrow has got to be easier, right?!
Feb7
Slice of Life: School Pickup
There is really no point to this post- it’s just a slice of our life. I just needed to get words on paper again after a small break and this if the first thing that came out….
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Like clockwork, I’m at the kid’s school at 3 pm every day to pick them up and bring them home.
The routine is always the same. I stop in the Bean’s classroom first as she’s the most likely to freak out if I’m late. I check in, say hello and see if she wants to come with me to get her big brother in his classroom. Some days she’s simply too busy to bother me with me and other days she clings to my like like a monkey who hasn’t seen her mommy in days.
Our walk to Scorch’s classroom can be fun- she can be skipping or hopping and chattering away about all the great things she did that day. Or she could wrap herself around my neck and not say a word as we walk the halls. Being a 3 year old in school full time is exhausting. If she’s quiet and tired I try to joke her out of it with tickles and funny stories. Some days it works and other days I just make her mad. We frequently run into some of the older kids in the school who seem to think the Bean is their personal baby doll come to life- they dote on her and love her up all while she ignores them and plays shy. I’m told she talks to these girls during the day, but when I’m around she’s mute regardless of her mood.
When we arrive to Scorch’s classroom, I say hello to his teacher and peek my head in his room to tell it’s time to go. The boy is always talking when I see him- always animated and smiling and laughing. He won’t leave until his conversation is finished and he’s said all his goodbyes. It’s impossible to hurry him along, so most of the time I stand there and watch my little ray of joy dance around with his friends.
On our walk back through the school to our car, Scorch can’t bother to walk with us. He’s too busy high-fiving the 6th graders and saying hello to everyone he sees. I really don’t think the boy has ever met a stranger and the Bean’s teacher calls Scorch the Mayor of the school because he knows everyone. I admit to getting frustrated with the dwaddling and talking when I’m trying to herd my kids out the door- I have to go to work, get a move on! Keep up!- but part of me is so happy to see Scorch blossom and love school so much.
Once we finally- slowly- get to our car, it’s another adventure as the Bean comes alive. Is she going to be bubbly and sweet and happy or is keeping it together all day in school finally going to prove to be too much? There have been time she’s screamed and cried so loud in the parking lot as I’m trying to buckle her in her seat, I’ve honestly thought other parent was going to send a teacher out to investigate. If she’s raging, that may last the whole 9 minute car ride home. Or it can be over in the blink of an eye. You just never know- I guess that’s what makes every day an adventure.
Jan17
Winter Wonderland
I’ve lived in roughly the same area of the North East for 30 out of my 33 years on this planet. You’d think in all that time, I’d get use to winter. That I’d embrace the cold and the snow and learn to love it.
You’d be wrong.
But this winter has been a bit freaky- it snowed 3 separate times from October through December. Most years, it snows every single day (or close to it) during that time frame. Now, I’m not complaining really- but it is odd and a bit unsettling when weather is that different then how it normally is.
Heavy snow weighing down the branches
For that reason alone, I was relieved (not happy, mind you, but relieved) when we got socked this past week with a winter storm. And even I, hater of all things cold, had to admit that there is something absolutely breath taking about the first major storm of the year.
The trees that border my back yard.
The kids were thrilled to see the snow- they have been waiting for months to use the new sleds they got. Too bad the snow wasn’t quite good enough to sleigh ride in- they had to settle for walking around our property instead.
On our walkabout
A good chunk of the snow is melted already and what’s left is brown and dingy- but it was gorgeous while it lasted! Let’s just hope we don’t see too much more of it.
Jan2
Back to Life…
8 Christmas celebrations.
1 New Year’s Eve Party.
6 movies (5 rentals, 1 in the theater).
7 days of sleeping in past 8 am.
2 sick kids
Countless gifts.
8 books read.
2 nights that the kids actually got into bed within an hour of their bedtime.
More laughter, loves and enjoyment then I can count.
And that, my friends, was our past 10 days in a nutshell. The Bean was sick on the 22nd and 23rd, but thankfully rallied by Christmas Eve so we could have a fantastic night with my family. Christmas Day was spent at home for the first time ever in the 13 years the Hubs and I have been together. Family came to us and we had a wonderful afternoon watching the kids play. The rest of the week was a blur of parties and dinners and family and friends- just like the holidays should be. Our only break came mid week when Scorch got sick- thankfully with a much milder version of the stomach bug the Bean had. On the days he was sick, no one got out of their PJs- old ones were simply traded for clean ones after showers .
The Hubs and I both had last week off from work – so we had 10 days at home together where neither of us had to work for the first time since our maternity/paternity leave when Scorch was born. I kept looking at him all week saying how nice it was just to have this time together- clearly we’d make very good lazy rich people. The kids, bless their hearts, finally learned how to sleep in past 6 am, so most mornings we weren’t out of bed until 8 am which is such a luxury.
All in all, these past 10 days were absolutely, incredible wonderful.
I hope you and yours had a blessed holiday season! 2012 is going to be a great year- I can feel it!
Dec22
Holiday Cheer from the Sick House
Today I got the dreaded call. As soon as I saw the school’s name pop up on the caller ID, I knew that one my kids were either hurt or sick. Honestly, I was hoping for hurt this close to the holidays. But nope, it’s a sick kid who puked in the cafeteria. Poor Bean.
I’ve documented a time or two my fear and loathing for all things vomit, but I thought I had done a good job keeping my anxiety to myself. Not so much. When leaving school, Scorch refused to walk within a 5 feet of the Bean and he flat out refused to get in the car on the same side as her because sick people “creep” him out and he didn’t want to get puked on. I think it’s safe to say that I may have scarred my kid out of a career in medicine.
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We all spent Scorch’s 1st Christmas sick with a stomach bug. I got it the night of the 24th, Scorch the night of the 25th and the Hubs the morning of the 26th. I’m really hoping that this year isn’t a repeat of that because that, frankly, was miserable. There is nothing fun about having to cut your 6 month olds clothes off him because he’s crapped all the way up to his neck due to a stomach bug when you’re sick too. Oh well- at least the kids are old enough to hit bucket now.
Dec20
My Christmas Wish(es)
Here is what I’m really wishing for tonight:
> That my kids remember the fun we had playing Rock, Paper, Scissors in the car and laughing hysterically when we all selected the same thing three times in a row.
> I hoping they don’t remember that we started to play after 15 minutes of complete silence in the car because we all lost our minds at Target this evening (Scorch after being punished for hitting his sister in the face with my phone, the Bean after running away and me after the Bean blew raspberries in my face when I got down to her level to talk to her about her bad behavior). Yeah- we were that family today and it was awful.
> That Scorch isn’t too disappointed that the one gift he now suddenly wants above all others isn’t under the tree this year.
> That the kids remember how much fun we had making cookies for the school’s bake off last night.
Wickedly Crazy Awesome Life 