The boys didn't mind, since they got to pilfer a few chocolate chips of their own that morning! Please note that Seth now likes to get in pictures:
I hope Chippy didn't get a stomach ache from eating all that chocolate!
Friday, December 07, 2012
A Chip Off the Old Block
On Friday morning, we caught Chippy red-handed pilfering our chocolate chips.
The boys didn't mind, since they got to pilfer a few chocolate chips of their own that morning! Please note that Seth now likes to get in pictures:
I hope Chippy didn't get a stomach ache from eating all that chocolate!
The boys didn't mind, since they got to pilfer a few chocolate chips of their own that morning! Please note that Seth now likes to get in pictures:
I hope Chippy didn't get a stomach ache from eating all that chocolate!
Thursday, December 06, 2012
That's One Swingin' Elf!
Chippy decided to fashion himself a tire swing from one of the boys' trucks. He hung it from the ceiling fan. Nice work, Chippy.
Too bad Mommy can't take a decent picture. It's the camera, I swear!
Today's Advent calendar activity was a joke: Why does Santa have three gardens? So he can hoe hoe hoe!
We needed a joke today because Seth's daycare party was tonight. Ed had to work late, so I had to drive out to Falls Church to pick up William and then head back downtown for the party. Luckily, traffic was light. I didn't have to go get William, but he really wanted to go. The boys had fun and it was nice to be able to talk to other parents and not worry about what the boys were doing every second. Watching the other parents chase toddlers, it made me happy that I have older kids. Six and four are pretty awesome ages, actually. Minus the four-year-old tantrums and the six-year-old attitude, of course. :-)
Wednesday, December 05, 2012
That's a Wrap!
Chippy's talents know no bounds!
The boys thought this was hysterical. I can't believe Chippy didn't wake the boys up, cutting and taping so much wrapping paper. I guess the boys are sounds sleepers.
Our Advent calendar activity today was to go buy our Christmas tree. After work, we did our traditional go-out-to-dinner and then get-the-tree-from-Home-Depot routine. We were pretty quick about the whole thing. I never spend too long trying to pick out a tree. Once you get it home and string up the lights and add tinsel, garlands, and ornaments, you're pretty much good to go, no matter how wonky your tree may be. Tonight, after the boys went to bed, Ed and I brought the tree inside and put it up. The top half is nice, but the bottom half is, well, wonky. Oh well. Like I said, ornaments, tinsel, yada yada yada. We'll decorate Friday night and hopefully I'll get some pictures.
For the record, Ed HATES the whole Christmas tree tradition. So I appreciate the fact that he puts up with it for me. And not only puts up with it, but actually goes with us to get the tree, ties it on the roof of our car, brings it inside, and lies awkwardly on the ground, turning the screws into the trunk. If that's not true love, I don't know what is. I'm sure there will come a year when he's willing to cough up the money for a prelit artificial tree. When he does, I won't fight him on it. He's been a really good sport all these years, so it's the least I can do. (And not having to string lights on a Christmas tree? Priceless!)
Tuesday, December 04, 2012
Let Me In!
In the middle of the night, Ed heard noises downstairs. He investigated and decided some kind of critter was trying to come into our house through the chimney, so he closed the fireplace flue. When we woke up this morning, we discovered Chippy had been locked out! Oops!
Poor Chippy. And as William exclaimed, "Daddy! He was just sick. That's not good for him!"
I tried to get a picture of the boys with Chippy, but Seth couldn't sit still, and I wasn't using the flash. Typical four year old!
Today's Advent calendar activity was a success, although it's a surprise, so I can't reveal it here. I guess things are looking up!
William also brought home a note from his teacher that explained that his class decided that collecting food for needy families at Thanksgiving was so awesome that they want to do something to help needy families for the Holidays, too. So they chose to get gifts for children at a local homeless shelter. They each chose a specific child and brought the wish list home. They also brought a list of other items that families and the shelter need. This is the second child that William is "adopting" for the holidays, and he is so eager to help. He wanted me to read him the other items that families need, and he asked if we could get some of those things, too. I wish I could get it all! And I'm so happy that William really wants to reach out and give to others. It makes me feel better about all theexcessive crap toys that William will recieve for the holidays.
Poor Chippy. And as William exclaimed, "Daddy! He was just sick. That's not good for him!"
I tried to get a picture of the boys with Chippy, but Seth couldn't sit still, and I wasn't using the flash. Typical four year old!
Today's Advent calendar activity was a success, although it's a surprise, so I can't reveal it here. I guess things are looking up!
William also brought home a note from his teacher that explained that his class decided that collecting food for needy families at Thanksgiving was so awesome that they want to do something to help needy families for the Holidays, too. So they chose to get gifts for children at a local homeless shelter. They each chose a specific child and brought the wish list home. They also brought a list of other items that families and the shelter need. This is the second child that William is "adopting" for the holidays, and he is so eager to help. He wanted me to read him the other items that families need, and he asked if we could get some of those things, too. I wish I could get it all! And I'm so happy that William really wants to reach out and give to others. It makes me feel better about all the
Monday, December 03, 2012
You Sank My Battleship!
Chippy's feeling better! Well enough to take on Ironman in a rousing game of Battleship.
As Seth noted, however, it looks like Chippy doesn't really know how to play Battleship.
As for the Advent calendar, today's activity was to take a bubble bath. Easy enough, right? Except guess who forgot to get bubble bath? I guess organization isn't my strong suit after all. Thank goodness shampoo makes decent bubbles. One of these days, I'll get this right!
As Seth noted, however, it looks like Chippy doesn't really know how to play Battleship.
As for the Advent calendar, today's activity was to take a bubble bath. Easy enough, right? Except guess who forgot to get bubble bath? I guess organization isn't my strong suit after all. Thank goodness shampoo makes decent bubbles. One of these days, I'll get this right!
Sunday, December 02, 2012
And the Hits Just Keep Coming
Today, poor Chippy was not feeling very well.
And yet, he's still got that smile on his face! What an elf.
The boys were not sure what to make of this development. William said he was faking. Seth seemed unconcerned. I think so far, Chippy has not quite lived up to expectations. LOL.
Speaking of expectations, along with the arrival of Chippy, December 1 heralded the arrival of the Advent Calendar. Chippy actually brought the boys this Imaginext Advent calendar.
Meanwhile, I also created 24 days worth of special holiday-themed activities for our own advent calendar. On day 1, the task was to write letters to Santa Claus. Late in the afternoon, I finally convinced them to sit down and make their lists. Day 2's task was to make homemade ornaments. I had some craft kits to make Christmas trees, reindeer, and a Santa face. I asked them if they wanted to make the ornaments--several times throughout the day. "No thanks!" "Not really." So while the boys played, I got out the glue and put together the Santa face. Later, I noticed that Seth had taken it upon himself to fill the Advent calendar drawers with candy, since I had neglected to do that this year. Silly me for thinking that fun activities and family togetherness would mean more than cheap candy.
I guess someone in the Hahn household had better step it up a notch! It just goes to show you that all the planning and organization in the world can amount to a hill of beans in the eyes of a four year old and a six year old. Good thing they're cute!
And yet, he's still got that smile on his face! What an elf.
The boys were not sure what to make of this development. William said he was faking. Seth seemed unconcerned. I think so far, Chippy has not quite lived up to expectations. LOL.
Speaking of expectations, along with the arrival of Chippy, December 1 heralded the arrival of the Advent Calendar. Chippy actually brought the boys this Imaginext Advent calendar.
They like it, but they've already opened four doors. They don't quite see the point of waiting for 24 days to play with all the different parts. I can sympathize. I mean, all the parts go together. You can't really play with it until all the doors are opened!Meanwhile, I also created 24 days worth of special holiday-themed activities for our own advent calendar. On day 1, the task was to write letters to Santa Claus. Late in the afternoon, I finally convinced them to sit down and make their lists. Day 2's task was to make homemade ornaments. I had some craft kits to make Christmas trees, reindeer, and a Santa face. I asked them if they wanted to make the ornaments--several times throughout the day. "No thanks!" "Not really." So while the boys played, I got out the glue and put together the Santa face. Later, I noticed that Seth had taken it upon himself to fill the Advent calendar drawers with candy, since I had neglected to do that this year. Silly me for thinking that fun activities and family togetherness would mean more than cheap candy.
I guess someone in the Hahn household had better step it up a notch! It just goes to show you that all the planning and organization in the world can amount to a hill of beans in the eyes of a four year old and a six year old. Good thing they're cute!
Saturday, December 01, 2012
Chippy Not-so-Triumphant!
So I have three drafts of posts that I started to write but never finished. That pretty much sums up my life right now. On Thursday, William came down with strep throat, again. His first bout was several weeks ago. Both times, he woke up complaining of a sore throat. He didn't have a fever, so I basically told him to suck it up and go to school. Both times, we got a call less than an hour after school started that he was running a fever. The first time, he threw up once I got him home. So I took him straight to the doctor for a culture, which came back positive. On Thursday, he didn't throw up, but Ed took him to the doc anyway, and sure enough, strep again. Fortunately, he started getting better immediately both times. So all is well, for now.
Way more exciting than strep throat, however, is the return of Chippy the Scout Elf! The boys have been eagerly anticipating Chippy's arrival and were disappointed that Chippy didn't come back right after Thanksgiving. I explained to the boys that Thanksgiving came early this year, and Chippy needed a little more time to prepare for his strenuous assignment. He made his grand entrance by taping wrapping paper in front of the boys' bedroom doors and sliding down the bannister.
The boys were not impressed. Instead of happily crashing through the paper and squealing with delight upon discovering Chippy's latest antics, as Chippy had envisioned, they simply ducked under the paper and missed Chippy entirely as they ran downstairs and searched the house for him. When they finally noticed him (after I asked, "What's on the bannister?") they looked confused. Seth asked, "What's he doing?" I guess I should be glad that the thought of sliding down the bannister hasn't even occurred to them. At any rate, hopefully Chippy won't disaapoint them over the next 24 days!
Way more exciting than strep throat, however, is the return of Chippy the Scout Elf! The boys have been eagerly anticipating Chippy's arrival and were disappointed that Chippy didn't come back right after Thanksgiving. I explained to the boys that Thanksgiving came early this year, and Chippy needed a little more time to prepare for his strenuous assignment. He made his grand entrance by taping wrapping paper in front of the boys' bedroom doors and sliding down the bannister.
The boys were not impressed. Instead of happily crashing through the paper and squealing with delight upon discovering Chippy's latest antics, as Chippy had envisioned, they simply ducked under the paper and missed Chippy entirely as they ran downstairs and searched the house for him. When they finally noticed him (after I asked, "What's on the bannister?") they looked confused. Seth asked, "What's he doing?" I guess I should be glad that the thought of sliding down the bannister hasn't even occurred to them. At any rate, hopefully Chippy won't disaapoint them over the next 24 days!
Monday, November 19, 2012
Testing, Testing, One, Two, Three
Hello . . . hello. Just checking to see if anyone is still out there. I can't believe I have only one measly post for the whole month of November! Good thing I didn't attempt NaBloPoMo. Geeze. You would think that I've been crazy busy or struggling to keep up or getting mad amounts of things done around our house. But no. Just been doing the usual. Working. Meal preparing. Wrangling. Reading. Chatting. Drinking. TV watching. Refereeing. Voting. Celebrating. Errand running. Shopping. Hugging. But not posting. Definitely not posting.
In my defense, work has been very busy with all of my list updating after the election. And also with our work for the upcoming inauguration. When it rains, it pours! But overall, things have been great. We've had two low-key weekends in a row, with few commitments, lots of play time, and pretty nice weather. I've accomplished my 2012 goal of reading at least 24 books. And it looks like I will probably end up reading 30 before the year is out. (That's ONE New Year's resolution accomplished, in case you're counting.) Speaking of resolutions, in true Beth fashion, I've put off the whole exercise goal until the very end of the year. But I haven't given up! After the four-mile run in May, I pretty much stopped exercising again. But after talking to a friend about focusing on weight training, I decided to make an appointment with the trainer at my gym. We met on Thursday and are meeting again tomorrow. The plan is to do 20 minutes of cardio, then lift weights twice a week. One other day, I'll do something on my own. Either a long walk or a video or maybe some kind of class. I might sign up for yoga, and in the spring I want to take tennis. So my goal for now is 3 days a week. Totally doable, right?
William and Seth are awesome, though not without their challenges. They are super excited for Christmas and can't wait until Chippy the Elf returns. They eagerly pour over toy catalogs, circling everything they want for Christmas, which amounts to just about everything on every.single.page. Santa Claus is going to have fun figuring out what it is they really want! They also have each chosen a little boy their own age from the Angel Tree at William's taekwondo studio and are trying to decide what they want to get for their "angel friends" as they call them. They are very excited about it, which makes me happy.
As Thanksgiving approaches, I have felt so much gratitude every single day for all that I have. There are so many moments that bring me so much joy. At night, while I read to the boys, while William reads to me, while Seth sits in his bed after the lights go out flipping through books, while William crawls into our bed in the wee hours of the morning to snuggle with me--these are just some of the moments. Even when I've had it up to my eyeballs with the whining and the fighting and the eye-rolling and the outbursts and the ignoring and the rudeness, I know in my heart that I am so fortunate to be experiencing all of those things with two healthy kids, in a warm house, in a nice neighborhood, with a loving husband and father and a supportive family. It's such a cliche at this time of year to be "thankful" for our lives. But it's a worthy cliche, and one worth repeating. Our friend Maria challenged a group of us to give five "gifts" in one week--whether it was to our friends, family, or complete strangers. It could be a compliment, a note, a paid coffee tab, or an actual gift--anything that might make a difference to another person. I took her up on it and it made a big difference in my week. I hope it made at least a small difference to those I "gifted." I have tried to continue giving gifts over the past few weeks. I've given a gift card to the last person in line at Starbucks. I have hugged my kids and made it a point to tell them that I love them and complimented them when they deserve it. I drove around the block a few times today until I found someone about to pay the parking meter and handed her my ticket, which still had two hours on it. I've complimented people--both strangers and people I know--and I've held my tongue with people close to me, because as LauraC noted, sometimes, not saying something is the nicest thing you can do. I feel like performing these small acts of kindness are a great way to not just feel grateful, but to be greatful. Like all new habits, it's hard to get started, hard to get to a point where the habit takes on a life of its own. But this is one habit I'm really, really working toward owning. This also all points back to an essay I posted years ago from NPR's This, I Believe series called Always Go to the Funeral. I love the whole essay, but here's what I keep coming back to:
"Always go to the funeral" means that I have to do the right thing when I really, really don't feel like it. I have to remind myself of it when I could make some small gesture, but I don't really have to and I definitely don't want to. I'm talking about those things that represent only inconvenience to me, but the world to the other guy. . . . In going to funerals, I've come to believe that while I wait to make a grand heroic gesture, I should just stick to the small inconveniences that let me share in life's inevitable, occasional calamity.
So this Thanksgiving, I'm trying really, really hard to not just talk the talk, but to walk the walk. Following through on things has always been one of my biggest challenges--one of my biggest weaknesses. So I make this pledge knowing that I will not always succeed. But also knowing that when I do succeed, it will make a difference to others, and not just myself. We would all love to make profound changes in the world, but everything that is profound starts off as just one small thing that usually snowballs. For now, I will work on that one small thing and feel grateful that I might make even a tiny difference in the world. Thanks Maria! And Happy Thanksgiving!
In my defense, work has been very busy with all of my list updating after the election. And also with our work for the upcoming inauguration. When it rains, it pours! But overall, things have been great. We've had two low-key weekends in a row, with few commitments, lots of play time, and pretty nice weather. I've accomplished my 2012 goal of reading at least 24 books. And it looks like I will probably end up reading 30 before the year is out. (That's ONE New Year's resolution accomplished, in case you're counting.) Speaking of resolutions, in true Beth fashion, I've put off the whole exercise goal until the very end of the year. But I haven't given up! After the four-mile run in May, I pretty much stopped exercising again. But after talking to a friend about focusing on weight training, I decided to make an appointment with the trainer at my gym. We met on Thursday and are meeting again tomorrow. The plan is to do 20 minutes of cardio, then lift weights twice a week. One other day, I'll do something on my own. Either a long walk or a video or maybe some kind of class. I might sign up for yoga, and in the spring I want to take tennis. So my goal for now is 3 days a week. Totally doable, right?
William and Seth are awesome, though not without their challenges. They are super excited for Christmas and can't wait until Chippy the Elf returns. They eagerly pour over toy catalogs, circling everything they want for Christmas, which amounts to just about everything on every.single.page. Santa Claus is going to have fun figuring out what it is they really want! They also have each chosen a little boy their own age from the Angel Tree at William's taekwondo studio and are trying to decide what they want to get for their "angel friends" as they call them. They are very excited about it, which makes me happy.
As Thanksgiving approaches, I have felt so much gratitude every single day for all that I have. There are so many moments that bring me so much joy. At night, while I read to the boys, while William reads to me, while Seth sits in his bed after the lights go out flipping through books, while William crawls into our bed in the wee hours of the morning to snuggle with me--these are just some of the moments. Even when I've had it up to my eyeballs with the whining and the fighting and the eye-rolling and the outbursts and the ignoring and the rudeness, I know in my heart that I am so fortunate to be experiencing all of those things with two healthy kids, in a warm house, in a nice neighborhood, with a loving husband and father and a supportive family. It's such a cliche at this time of year to be "thankful" for our lives. But it's a worthy cliche, and one worth repeating. Our friend Maria challenged a group of us to give five "gifts" in one week--whether it was to our friends, family, or complete strangers. It could be a compliment, a note, a paid coffee tab, or an actual gift--anything that might make a difference to another person. I took her up on it and it made a big difference in my week. I hope it made at least a small difference to those I "gifted." I have tried to continue giving gifts over the past few weeks. I've given a gift card to the last person in line at Starbucks. I have hugged my kids and made it a point to tell them that I love them and complimented them when they deserve it. I drove around the block a few times today until I found someone about to pay the parking meter and handed her my ticket, which still had two hours on it. I've complimented people--both strangers and people I know--and I've held my tongue with people close to me, because as LauraC noted, sometimes, not saying something is the nicest thing you can do. I feel like performing these small acts of kindness are a great way to not just feel grateful, but to be greatful. Like all new habits, it's hard to get started, hard to get to a point where the habit takes on a life of its own. But this is one habit I'm really, really working toward owning. This also all points back to an essay I posted years ago from NPR's This, I Believe series called Always Go to the Funeral. I love the whole essay, but here's what I keep coming back to:
"Always go to the funeral" means that I have to do the right thing when I really, really don't feel like it. I have to remind myself of it when I could make some small gesture, but I don't really have to and I definitely don't want to. I'm talking about those things that represent only inconvenience to me, but the world to the other guy. . . . In going to funerals, I've come to believe that while I wait to make a grand heroic gesture, I should just stick to the small inconveniences that let me share in life's inevitable, occasional calamity.
So this Thanksgiving, I'm trying really, really hard to not just talk the talk, but to walk the walk. Following through on things has always been one of my biggest challenges--one of my biggest weaknesses. So I make this pledge knowing that I will not always succeed. But also knowing that when I do succeed, it will make a difference to others, and not just myself. We would all love to make profound changes in the world, but everything that is profound starts off as just one small thing that usually snowballs. For now, I will work on that one small thing and feel grateful that I might make even a tiny difference in the world. Thanks Maria! And Happy Thanksgiving!
Sunday, November 04, 2012
Company
We had company this weekend! Heather and Ben drove up from North Carolina to spend some time at the Air and Space Museum, and we were fortunate enough to get to spend some time with them as well. William and Ben were like two peas in a pod and spent as much time as they could playing with toys and watching really bad TV shows.
Heather and I got to chat quite a bit. (I guess the kids really are getting older! I'm not used to actually getting to talk with a friend when the kids are around.) I feel like I've known her forever. And I definitely wish we lived in the same town.
Can't wait to see them again soon. Hopefully next time they come, I can be their tour guide and show them lots of cool DC stuff. This time around, they were pretty much on their own. The good thing about DC is, there will likely always be something here that hasn't been done or seen before.
After Heather and Ben left this morning, we did the usual Sunday morning laundry/grocery shopping/playing. At 2:00 p.m., William had his final tee-ball game It was chilly out there, but he had a good time, and he says he wants to play baseball in the spring. I did manage to take a few pictures.
Overall, it was a really great weekend. Made even better by the return to standard time. I may be one of the few people who actually dislikes daylight savings time. I do appreciate getting an extra hour of daylight in the spring and summer, but losing that hour in the spring is the WORST. Getting that hour back--even with darkness falling at 5:30 p.m.--is awesome. An extra hour is like manna from heaven. And now when I wake up, the sun will be rising! I hate waking up to blackness. (I realize as the days get shorter, I'll eventually have to wake up to darkness again, but for now, I'll take it!) So I'm off to take full advantage of my extra hour by immersing myself in a book. Or maybe watching Revenge. Or maybe just going to sleep.
Heather and I got to chat quite a bit. (I guess the kids really are getting older! I'm not used to actually getting to talk with a friend when the kids are around.) I feel like I've known her forever. And I definitely wish we lived in the same town.
Can't wait to see them again soon. Hopefully next time they come, I can be their tour guide and show them lots of cool DC stuff. This time around, they were pretty much on their own. The good thing about DC is, there will likely always be something here that hasn't been done or seen before.
After Heather and Ben left this morning, we did the usual Sunday morning laundry/grocery shopping/playing. At 2:00 p.m., William had his final tee-ball game It was chilly out there, but he had a good time, and he says he wants to play baseball in the spring. I did manage to take a few pictures.
Overall, it was a really great weekend. Made even better by the return to standard time. I may be one of the few people who actually dislikes daylight savings time. I do appreciate getting an extra hour of daylight in the spring and summer, but losing that hour in the spring is the WORST. Getting that hour back--even with darkness falling at 5:30 p.m.--is awesome. An extra hour is like manna from heaven. And now when I wake up, the sun will be rising! I hate waking up to blackness. (I realize as the days get shorter, I'll eventually have to wake up to darkness again, but for now, I'll take it!) So I'm off to take full advantage of my extra hour by immersing myself in a book. Or maybe watching Revenge. Or maybe just going to sleep.
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Blessed
We were extremely fortunate to have suffered virtually no damage from Hurricane Sandy. Just two days of near-constant rain and a lot of wind. But we never lost power, no trees or limbs fell near our house, and the Halloween costume even arrived on Tuesday! With two extra days at home, we did some cookie-baking (and eating), lots of game-playing (Seth is a bad loser, in case you were wondering), a little cleaning (pulled out the fridge and dusted it down and mopped the floor underneath), lots of laundry, and LOTS of TV-watching. Plus, I read a book. So I can not complain one bit.
The weather should be great tonight for trick-or-treating. (Cold, but clear.) Seth's costume is mostly ready. As I mentioned, William's costume arrived, but I'm not sure that he's going to wear it. Our neighbors (Jack and Charlie) are dressing up as the Ghostbusters, so William decided to be Slimer (you know--the green ghost?).
The costume is really cool--it's inflatable and comes with a battery-powered fan that blows it up. But I don't think it's very comfortable, and the mask is a bit claustrophobic for William. I might cut out the face and paint William's face green. Or he might forgo the hood altogether and I'll just paint his face green. I'm not sure that anyone will know who he is if we do that, but I'm not sure that he really cares. And that's the important part. LOL. I long ago realized that I don't have to be a perfectionist or impress anyone other than my kids. If they're happy, that's all that matters.
Meanwhile, November is here, daylight savings time ends this weekend, election day is upon us, and the "holidays" will pretty much officially begin in the world of retail. I have two months left to work on my 2012 goals. Guess I better get to work!
The weather should be great tonight for trick-or-treating. (Cold, but clear.) Seth's costume is mostly ready. As I mentioned, William's costume arrived, but I'm not sure that he's going to wear it. Our neighbors (Jack and Charlie) are dressing up as the Ghostbusters, so William decided to be Slimer (you know--the green ghost?).The costume is really cool--it's inflatable and comes with a battery-powered fan that blows it up. But I don't think it's very comfortable, and the mask is a bit claustrophobic for William. I might cut out the face and paint William's face green. Or he might forgo the hood altogether and I'll just paint his face green. I'm not sure that anyone will know who he is if we do that, but I'm not sure that he really cares. And that's the important part. LOL. I long ago realized that I don't have to be a perfectionist or impress anyone other than my kids. If they're happy, that's all that matters.
Meanwhile, November is here, daylight savings time ends this weekend, election day is upon us, and the "holidays" will pretty much officially begin in the world of retail. I have two months left to work on my 2012 goals. Guess I better get to work!
Monday, October 29, 2012
Hurricaine's a'Coming!
We're home, hunkered down, waiting for the storm. School is closed. My work is closed. Unfortunately, Ed had to go in. But he works nearby so hopefully it's not a big deal. I'm letting the kids gorge on TV with the assumption that we will, at some point, lose power. Our neighborhood has tons of old trees, so it's only a matter of time. We've got water, flashlights, and batteries. I couldn't find any D batteries, so hopefully, the one backup set I have will be enough. This area goes completely CRAZY when it comes to storm prep. By Friday night, the shelves of Target and Safeway were cleaned out of bottled water and batteries. I think by Saturday, all generators were gone. There were lines at gas stations. Still, I guess it's good that people are taking it seriously.
I hope that Halloween won't be ruined, but seeing as how William's costume is supposed to arrive in the mail today, and I haven't even put together Seth's costume, it won't be the end of the world if it doesn't happen on Wednesday. William is going to be Slimer from Ghost Busters and Seth wants to be a Conehead Zombie (from Plants vs. Zombies) covered in spiders. I have the cone for his head, and I have jeans and a red tie. I don't have a brown blazer, or spiders (have no idea where the spiders came from, but I aim to please!) but I'm sure we can make do somehow. I might try to make a dash to the costume store today if it's open for some face makeup. I want to hit up the library, too, because of course, the books that I requested last week are available TODAY.
The last few weeks have been pretty good. We've been to a few pumpkin patches, a truck touch, some birthday parties, and a community Halloween festival complete with haunted house, carnival games, a Reptiles Alive show, and lots of candy. We've raked leaves and jumped in the piles, and generally enjoyed great fall weather. William's reading continues to improve (although I finally figured out that I've actually been having him read books that are a little bit above his level) and he seems to still enjoy school. We'll learn more at his parent-teacher conference next week.
So that's our update! I'm off to take a shower while we still have hot water. Hope everyone in the Northeast stays safe!
The last few weeks have been pretty good. We've been to a few pumpkin patches, a truck touch, some birthday parties, and a community Halloween festival complete with haunted house, carnival games, a Reptiles Alive show, and lots of candy. We've raked leaves and jumped in the piles, and generally enjoyed great fall weather. William's reading continues to improve (although I finally figured out that I've actually been having him read books that are a little bit above his level) and he seems to still enjoy school. We'll learn more at his parent-teacher conference next week.
So that's our update! I'm off to take a shower while we still have hot water. Hope everyone in the Northeast stays safe!
Monday, October 15, 2012
The Digital Age
I just got an email from my brother-in-law letting me know he's in town. I emailed him back to suggest dinner tomorrow night or the next night. I then texted my babysitter to see if she or her sister or her brother would be available either night. She and her sister are available! So I texted my BIL to see what night worked best for him. He answered, I texted back the sitter, and now our plans are made! And we did it all without uttering a single word. I guess many arguments could be made for whether or not that's a good thing or a bad thing or will be the eventual downfall of society. All I know is that for someone who hates using the phone as much as I do, it's a Godsend!
Ironically, as much as I abhor the phone, I'm very late to and not very savvy with digital media in general. I don't update my Facebook page very often. And I've quit following Twitter altogether. And I still hunt-and-peck when I text, rather than double-thumbing it like the rest of the world. And yet I blog. Blogging, however, is passive. You can read it, or not read it. There are no expectations. With Twitter, and FB, and even the telephone, there are expectations. And it's constant. I can't keep up! I guess email is like that, too. But I'm much more comfortable communicating via email than any other media, really. I wonder what all of that says about me? Loads, I'm sure.
Regardless, it just makes me wonder about how the boys will be communicating when they grow up. And it also makes me wonder why I don't have an unlimited texting plan. And now I'm off to read my ebook on my Kindle!
Ironically, as much as I abhor the phone, I'm very late to and not very savvy with digital media in general. I don't update my Facebook page very often. And I've quit following Twitter altogether. And I still hunt-and-peck when I text, rather than double-thumbing it like the rest of the world. And yet I blog. Blogging, however, is passive. You can read it, or not read it. There are no expectations. With Twitter, and FB, and even the telephone, there are expectations. And it's constant. I can't keep up! I guess email is like that, too. But I'm much more comfortable communicating via email than any other media, really. I wonder what all of that says about me? Loads, I'm sure.
Regardless, it just makes me wonder about how the boys will be communicating when they grow up. And it also makes me wonder why I don't have an unlimited texting plan. And now I'm off to read my ebook on my Kindle!
Tuesday, October 09, 2012
Politics on the Playground
On the way home from school today, we had the following exchange:
Man--I didn't really think 1st graders would start getting political. Thank God I didn't have kids during the Monica Lewinsky scandal!
William: "Mom, who's going to be our president?"
Me: "Well, President Obama wants to be the president for four more years, but Mitt Romney wants to be president, too. The election is in one month."
William: "Well, if Romney is our next president, he's going to get rid of Sesame World."
Me: "Do you mean Sesame Street?"
William: "Yeah, Sesame Street."
Me: "Did you talk about that at school today?"
William: "We were talking about it during after care."This just cracks me up on so many levels. I tried to explain to William that Sesame Street receives public funding, and that people feel differently about how the government should spend money. I'm not sure how much of it actually got through to him. I've told him who I'm voting for, but I've also tried to emphasize that we respect other people no matter who they want to vote for. And that just because we support one candidate, it doesn't mean we think the other candidate is "bad."
Seth: "Will Womney get wid of Disney World, too?"
Man--I didn't really think 1st graders would start getting political. Thank God I didn't have kids during the Monica Lewinsky scandal!
Monday, October 08, 2012
A Birthday Surprise
For the Columbus Day weekend, the boys and Ed and I traveled to Florida to surprise my mom for her 70th birthday. (I didn't blog about the plan ahead of time just in case my mom read my blog.) All of my siblings were there, too--the first time we've all been together in 7 years. (For those that don't know, I have two older sisters and two older brothers.) My mom was definitely surprised. We all came together in bits and pieces, so she didn't realize that we had actually planned it all until William and Seth and Ed and I showed up on Saturday afternoon. Although it was a very brief visit, we all really enjoyed it--especially William and Seth!
We left bright and early on Saturday morning for a flight to Jacksonville with a plane change in Atlanta. When we boarded the first plane, the flight attendants gave the boys wings and asked if they wanted to see the cockpit. I thought they would just peek in and wave to the pilots. But the pilots actually got out of their seats and let the boys sit down and play with controls. Seriously! We were all dumbstruck. Needless to say, the boys LOVED it.
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It was a good thing we had that experience, though, because once we got to our row of seats in the VERY back of the plane, William gleefully jumped into the window seat only to lift the shade and realize the plane's engine was completely blocking the window. Such a bummer. But the boys handled it well and luckily, it was a short flight. We had better seats on the second leg, from Atlanta to Jacksonville, but Seth claimed the window seat for that flight. William was a good sport. As it turned out, we had the exact same situation on the ride home, so at least it worked out evenly for the boys. They each got to look out a window once.
While we were in Jacksonville, the boys had a blast jumping on my sister's trampoline,annoying playing with their teenage cousins, playing Wii, eating whatever they wanted, staying up late, and watching TV in bed. The cousins (Katie and Melanie--my sister's daughters) were SO patient and sweet with the boys. They really put up with a LOT. On Saturday night, we had an oyster roast with frogmore stew for my mom (just our family--we kept it low-key) and we finished up the last of everything for lunch on Sunday. It was all very low stress (maybe not for my sister who hosted--Thanks Rose!) and a lot of fun. I hope my mom enjoyed it as much as we did. We said our goodbyes on Sunday night and got the boys to the hotel for a good night's sleep before our 4:30 a.m. wake-up call on Monday morning. The boys did great for the trip home. Seth fell asleep on the second leg of the flight home and I even got to finish a book on the plane. If this whole trip taught me nothing else, it is that life is DEFINITELY easier as the boys get older. Maybe not psycologically, but definitely logistically!
The boys can't wait to go back and visit everyone. Hopefully it won't be another 7 years before we all get together again! We did get a close family friend to take pictures of mom with the grandkids and a picture of our whole family together. Hopefully they turned out okay. Seth and William were not very cooperative, so I don't have high hopes. But I'll post 'em when we get 'em!
We left bright and early on Saturday morning for a flight to Jacksonville with a plane change in Atlanta. When we boarded the first plane, the flight attendants gave the boys wings and asked if they wanted to see the cockpit. I thought they would just peek in and wave to the pilots. But the pilots actually got out of their seats and let the boys sit down and play with controls. Seriously! We were all dumbstruck. Needless to say, the boys LOVED it.
.JPG)
It was a good thing we had that experience, though, because once we got to our row of seats in the VERY back of the plane, William gleefully jumped into the window seat only to lift the shade and realize the plane's engine was completely blocking the window. Such a bummer. But the boys handled it well and luckily, it was a short flight. We had better seats on the second leg, from Atlanta to Jacksonville, but Seth claimed the window seat for that flight. William was a good sport. As it turned out, we had the exact same situation on the ride home, so at least it worked out evenly for the boys. They each got to look out a window once.
While we were in Jacksonville, the boys had a blast jumping on my sister's trampoline,
The boys can't wait to go back and visit everyone. Hopefully it won't be another 7 years before we all get together again! We did get a close family friend to take pictures of mom with the grandkids and a picture of our whole family together. Hopefully they turned out okay. Seth and William were not very cooperative, so I don't have high hopes. But I'll post 'em when we get 'em!
Monday, October 01, 2012
Fall is Here--Mega Update
Wow--I can't believe it's October already. I know it's a cliche, but September flew right by me. We've been lucky enough to enjoy some absolutely gorgeous fall weather, though, so for that, I'm thankful. William has been in first grade for almost one month now, and things seem to be going well so far. The homework is manageable and his reading has improved so much in the last month. The other night, as he read to me, I started to point under each word as he read it, but he informed me that "first graders read with their eyes, not their fingers." Well excuse me! LOL.
Our back to school night is this Thursday, so I'm very eager to hear from William's teacher and to see how things are going so far. I still worry about his ability to focus and follow directions and stay on task. He's impatient and rushes through schoolwork--especially when it comes to subjects that don't interest him a whole lot. But he takes pride in his work when he does well, and doesn't like it when he's not prepared, so I think those things bode well for him. His class is studying each of the 50 states and each night, he brings home a simple work sheet on a state and he's supposed to look up a fact about that state that he can share in school the next day. One night, we didn't do it (he resisted and I decided not to push it) and in the morning, he was upset that we didn't have time to do it before school. I really, really want to get into the habit of making HIM responsible for his work and I think that was a good lesson for him.
Meanwhile, William has been taking tee-ball this fall and it has been such a good experience so far. It's a "clinic" rather than a competitive team, so practice is once a week and it runs for 8 weeks. So far, we've had practices that run through hitting (off the tee), fielding, and throwing/catching. The group was divided into 3 "teams" and for the final 3 weeks, the teams will scrimmage against each other. William is not the most athletically gifted kid in the world (he gets that from his mom, I'm afraid), so I was a little worried about what it would do to his confidence. But luckily in the clinic, there's a wide range of ability among the kids, so he doesn't stand out as the worst kid on the field. While he's definitely aware of his skill level, he also notices how he improves the more he works on it, so I think (I hope) that he's learning a lot of great life lessons. And most important, he thinks it's fun. I'm so, so thankful that we have this option of a clinic.
So that's the scoop on William these days. As for Seth, he's growing up right before my eyes. (As all kids do, I guess.) On Saturday night, he joined William at the Taekwondo studio's Ninja Night Out. From 5:30 to 9:00, the kids play Super Mega Dodge Ball, eat pizza, watch a movie, and play more games. In the past, Seth has never been up for attending (he could start attending when he turned 4), but this weekend, he said he wanted to do it. William seemed very excited to have him attend, too, and he promised to watch out for Seth. We dropped them off and picked them up at 9:00 and Seth was happy as a lark, informing us that he "only did one bad thing"! (Which meant, an instructor only had to speak to him once, when he was playing a little too rough with William. LOL) I asked them which movie they watched and they didn't know what it was. William said, "Something about a deer." "Bambi?" I asked. Yep--it was Bambi. Then later, when Ed asked what they watched, Seth said, "Bamboo!" Too funny.
On Sunday, we went to the Taekwondo annual picnic and the boys got their faces painted. Seth went off to play on the monkey bars after his face was done and a woman asked, "What are you? A tiger?" And Seth said, "No, I'm a human!" Love that kid.
We have not signed him up for any activities since his soccer clinic a year ago. He has said repeatedly that he doesn't want to take any lessons, so we're not pushing it. He is starting to show some interest in Taekwondo so we'll see where that leads. Maybe he'll want to play soccer in the spring.
Plans for October are under way. The fall pumpkin festival is coming up. We might try to go camping, if the weather allows (and we think the boys are up for it). There's a fall truck touch at the end of the month that I'm sure the boys will want to attend. And of course, there's Halloween. As of today, William wants to be a bat again and Seth wants to be a ghost.
As for me, I'm still trying to get back on that exercise bandwagon. My tombstone should have a picture of me chasing that bandwagon etched on it--since that is pretty much the story of my life. I'm also looking to have a closet consult. A "professional" stylist will help me weed out my closet, put together outfits, and then help me make a list of pieces I will buy over time to create a wardrobe I actually like. Still trying to figure out if this is something I can afford, but I feel like I desperately need the assistance! Speaking of desperately needing assistance, decorating our house is another place where I haven't made much progress. We did finally get the study and the boys' rooms painted (did I ever mention this?) so that has been a huge improvement. I have ideas about the hall, living room, and dining room, too. We found a painter that we really like, so we will probably wait until next spring to paint those spaces. (He's painting the outside trim right now, so we have to take the hit to the pocketbook a little at a time.) Baby steps, people. I have been reading quite a bit, and am now part of a book group made up of a bunch of great moms in my neighborhood. It's so nice to have made that connection with a fun group of women. I'm also volunteering in William's school once a month, helping with art class or the computer lab, or with class parties. All good things. Life is good. I know October will fly by as quickly as September did, so it's helpful to write it all down. It helps me take stock of our lives and how we really are managing to do fun things, to make memories, to live in the moments. September was a busy month--starting first grade and tee-ball, going to book festivals and food festivals and picnics, our first high school football game, hanging out at the mall, and lots of time playing outside and inside with neighbors. Hopefully October will be more of the same!
Our back to school night is this Thursday, so I'm very eager to hear from William's teacher and to see how things are going so far. I still worry about his ability to focus and follow directions and stay on task. He's impatient and rushes through schoolwork--especially when it comes to subjects that don't interest him a whole lot. But he takes pride in his work when he does well, and doesn't like it when he's not prepared, so I think those things bode well for him. His class is studying each of the 50 states and each night, he brings home a simple work sheet on a state and he's supposed to look up a fact about that state that he can share in school the next day. One night, we didn't do it (he resisted and I decided not to push it) and in the morning, he was upset that we didn't have time to do it before school. I really, really want to get into the habit of making HIM responsible for his work and I think that was a good lesson for him.
Meanwhile, William has been taking tee-ball this fall and it has been such a good experience so far. It's a "clinic" rather than a competitive team, so practice is once a week and it runs for 8 weeks. So far, we've had practices that run through hitting (off the tee), fielding, and throwing/catching. The group was divided into 3 "teams" and for the final 3 weeks, the teams will scrimmage against each other. William is not the most athletically gifted kid in the world (he gets that from his mom, I'm afraid), so I was a little worried about what it would do to his confidence. But luckily in the clinic, there's a wide range of ability among the kids, so he doesn't stand out as the worst kid on the field. While he's definitely aware of his skill level, he also notices how he improves the more he works on it, so I think (I hope) that he's learning a lot of great life lessons. And most important, he thinks it's fun. I'm so, so thankful that we have this option of a clinic.
So that's the scoop on William these days. As for Seth, he's growing up right before my eyes. (As all kids do, I guess.) On Saturday night, he joined William at the Taekwondo studio's Ninja Night Out. From 5:30 to 9:00, the kids play Super Mega Dodge Ball, eat pizza, watch a movie, and play more games. In the past, Seth has never been up for attending (he could start attending when he turned 4), but this weekend, he said he wanted to do it. William seemed very excited to have him attend, too, and he promised to watch out for Seth. We dropped them off and picked them up at 9:00 and Seth was happy as a lark, informing us that he "only did one bad thing"! (Which meant, an instructor only had to speak to him once, when he was playing a little too rough with William. LOL) I asked them which movie they watched and they didn't know what it was. William said, "Something about a deer." "Bambi?" I asked. Yep--it was Bambi. Then later, when Ed asked what they watched, Seth said, "Bamboo!" Too funny.
On Sunday, we went to the Taekwondo annual picnic and the boys got their faces painted. Seth went off to play on the monkey bars after his face was done and a woman asked, "What are you? A tiger?" And Seth said, "No, I'm a human!" Love that kid.
We have not signed him up for any activities since his soccer clinic a year ago. He has said repeatedly that he doesn't want to take any lessons, so we're not pushing it. He is starting to show some interest in Taekwondo so we'll see where that leads. Maybe he'll want to play soccer in the spring.
Plans for October are under way. The fall pumpkin festival is coming up. We might try to go camping, if the weather allows (and we think the boys are up for it). There's a fall truck touch at the end of the month that I'm sure the boys will want to attend. And of course, there's Halloween. As of today, William wants to be a bat again and Seth wants to be a ghost.
As for me, I'm still trying to get back on that exercise bandwagon. My tombstone should have a picture of me chasing that bandwagon etched on it--since that is pretty much the story of my life. I'm also looking to have a closet consult. A "professional" stylist will help me weed out my closet, put together outfits, and then help me make a list of pieces I will buy over time to create a wardrobe I actually like. Still trying to figure out if this is something I can afford, but I feel like I desperately need the assistance! Speaking of desperately needing assistance, decorating our house is another place where I haven't made much progress. We did finally get the study and the boys' rooms painted (did I ever mention this?) so that has been a huge improvement. I have ideas about the hall, living room, and dining room, too. We found a painter that we really like, so we will probably wait until next spring to paint those spaces. (He's painting the outside trim right now, so we have to take the hit to the pocketbook a little at a time.) Baby steps, people. I have been reading quite a bit, and am now part of a book group made up of a bunch of great moms in my neighborhood. It's so nice to have made that connection with a fun group of women. I'm also volunteering in William's school once a month, helping with art class or the computer lab, or with class parties. All good things. Life is good. I know October will fly by as quickly as September did, so it's helpful to write it all down. It helps me take stock of our lives and how we really are managing to do fun things, to make memories, to live in the moments. September was a busy month--starting first grade and tee-ball, going to book festivals and food festivals and picnics, our first high school football game, hanging out at the mall, and lots of time playing outside and inside with neighbors. Hopefully October will be more of the same!
Monday, September 24, 2012
National Book Festival
It didn't start off too well, though. I hit traffic driving into DC, and then I couldn't park where I was expecting to park. I found a spot close to my office, but then we had to make the long walk to the festival. I was trying to get there by 1:40 p.m. because I wanted to hear the book talk by Mary Pope Osborne, the author of the Magic Tree House books. I thought the boys would enjoy it. We hustled and got to festival and found the tent. It was packed, but I managed to
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| Mary Pope Osborne in the black and white tunic |
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| T. C. Boyle, author of Tortilla Curtain and many more! |
So we bailed. My next goal was to get T. C. Boyle to sign a book for a friend of mine, so we headed toward the complete opposite side of the festival (I don't even know how many blocks, but it seemed like a LOT) where the authors were signing books. William wanted to go to the activities tent. Seth wanted to go to PBS Kids tent. I wanted to at least make an effort to get the autograph, so we stopped for ice cream and got in line for the book signing. It was a beautiful day, but we were in the blazing sun, and it got pretty hot. The kids sprawled in the grass in my shadow and ate their ice cream. I started talking to the woman in front of us. People around us commented on how well behaved the boys were. They started getting antsy. But then the line started moving. Oh my goodness! It looked like I might actually get the signature! The boys held it together, they handed T. C. Boyle the book when it was our turn, and he signed it! Mission accomplished!
After that, I told the boys we could do whatever they wanted for however long they wanted.
We went to the states tent and got a stamp for every.single.state on William's map. We went to the tent with Scholastic books and did crafts and watched an eStoria book.
We rode the Carousel on the Mall and waited in a RIDICULOUSLY slow line for what we thought would be Gatorade, which they were out of, and then maybe Sprite, which they had but they were out of ice so it was luke warm, but in the end, turned out to be water. I added more ice cream for good measure. Then we visited the PBS kids tent and then the Target tent and then we finally headed back to our car at around 5:30 p.m. The crazy part was that the boys walked the entire way back to our car WITHOUT WHINING. Epic, people. Simply epic. Seth even commented on the fact that he wasn't even asking me to hold him.
Here's proof of their good moods on the walk to the car:
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| Seth enjoyed a cherry italian ice that stained his face for the rest of the day! |
On Sunday, William had his 3rd tee-ball practice. He's enjoying it and already getting better. Here are two photos I snapped.
I'm so glad I enrolled him in this fall clinic. It's been a really good experience so far.
So that was our weekend. Lots of fun, but I'm still exhausted!
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Public Parenting
We had a great weekend, highlighted by fantastic, early fall weather. We did the usual taekwondo, grocery shopping, t-ball practice (which William loves, btw). I got laundry done. Ed painted the railing of our 2nd-floor deck. We took the boys to our city's "Taste of" festival. The boys played outside with neighbors.
Which brings me to the subject of today's post: public parenting. Who doesn't hate having to parent in public? (And by parenting, I really mean disciplining, I guess.) We spent lots of time with our neighbors this weekend, and Seth (and William, too, to a lesser degree) provided me with plenty of opportunities to show off my stellar parenting skills. We did things like "swim" in our neighbor's jacuzzi, dig a big hole in another neighbor's yard, and "share" (or rather, not share) construction toys with neighborhood kids, during which I have to admit I uttered more than my fair share of "Stop it!," "Quit . . .!" "One . . . two . . . ," "Share," "Take turns," and other such weak parenting commands. It seems my children have perfected the art of tuning me out and challenging me in front of other parents.
Of course, I should be saying that my parenting in public is just the same as it is in private. Because, you know, I'm so consistent, *ahem,* and firm, and I know *ahem . . . ahem* how to set firm boundaries. But as you know, I keep it real in Working it Out, and the truth is, while I make every attempt to be firm and calm when disciplining my kids in front of other people (because, of course, I want other people to think that I'm awesome at this whole Mommy gig), on the inside I am DYING of shame and I'm second-guessing myself and I am looking for the least confrontational way to get out of the whole mess. All in all, I didn't do too badly this weekend, but in the end, it comes down to feeling judged--judged that you have a kid who would act this way--and feeling like a bad parent--because you have a kid who would act this way. Even though I KNOW that sometimes, it has NOTHING to do with parenting. Still.
Last week, I went to pick Seth up at school and I was waiting for him to clean up his mess, which he was attempting to refuse to do. His teacher laughed and said, "Seth, please don't make me go into teacher mode in front of your mom." And I laughed and said, "Seth, please don't make me parent in front of your teacher." I love, love, love my kids. LOVE them. But here's my dirty little secret: I HATE parenting.
Which brings me to the subject of today's post: public parenting. Who doesn't hate having to parent in public? (And by parenting, I really mean disciplining, I guess.) We spent lots of time with our neighbors this weekend, and Seth (and William, too, to a lesser degree) provided me with plenty of opportunities to show off my stellar parenting skills. We did things like "swim" in our neighbor's jacuzzi, dig a big hole in another neighbor's yard, and "share" (or rather, not share) construction toys with neighborhood kids, during which I have to admit I uttered more than my fair share of "Stop it!," "Quit . . .!" "One . . . two . . . ," "Share," "Take turns," and other such weak parenting commands. It seems my children have perfected the art of tuning me out and challenging me in front of other parents.
Of course, I should be saying that my parenting in public is just the same as it is in private. Because, you know, I'm so consistent, *ahem,* and firm, and I know *ahem . . . ahem* how to set firm boundaries. But as you know, I keep it real in Working it Out, and the truth is, while I make every attempt to be firm and calm when disciplining my kids in front of other people (because, of course, I want other people to think that I'm awesome at this whole Mommy gig), on the inside I am DYING of shame and I'm second-guessing myself and I am looking for the least confrontational way to get out of the whole mess. All in all, I didn't do too badly this weekend, but in the end, it comes down to feeling judged--judged that you have a kid who would act this way--and feeling like a bad parent--because you have a kid who would act this way. Even though I KNOW that sometimes, it has NOTHING to do with parenting. Still.
Last week, I went to pick Seth up at school and I was waiting for him to clean up his mess, which he was attempting to refuse to do. His teacher laughed and said, "Seth, please don't make me go into teacher mode in front of your mom." And I laughed and said, "Seth, please don't make me parent in front of your teacher." I love, love, love my kids. LOVE them. But here's my dirty little secret: I HATE parenting.
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Story Time
Lately, on our commute to and from work, Seth has been asking me to make up stories. Sometimes I tell a story, and then he tells a story. Sometimes we go back and forth, adding to the same story. I remember doing this exact same thing with William when he was Seth's age. And while it's lovely and gives us some great QT and no doubt further's Seth cognitive and creative and whatever-else development, HOLY MOLY IT'S EXHAUSTING.
Seriously people, I'm tired in the morning and I'm trying to clear my brain from the a.m. scramble and getting to work exhausted is just not a great way to start the day. And of course, by the end of the day I'm fried and I just want a few quiet moments to regroup before I start the evening scramble. But instead, I'm telling stories about talking animals who have to work together to solve problems and little boys who build really cool vehicles that can take them wherever they want to go and kids who find an abandoned construction site and work together to finish the building and mommies who want to stab themselves in the eyeball because they CAN'T GET A MOMENT'S PEACE . . . no wait, not that last one. Just got a bit carried away.
Anyway. really in truly, it's awesome that I have this alone time with Seth. Next year, he'll be going to kindergarten, and I'll be away from him for at least 10 hours a day. So for now, no matter how much peace in the car I crave, no matter how much my throat aches and my brain coils from 35 minutes of sustained talking and forced creativity, no matter how much I cringe when Seth says, "Let's tell stories!" I will not wish these days away. Because I know, with every fiber of my being, that when they're gone, I will want them back. It's the worst paradox of parenthood--wanting time to pass, and then wishing you had it all back.
Seriously people, I'm tired in the morning and I'm trying to clear my brain from the a.m. scramble and getting to work exhausted is just not a great way to start the day. And of course, by the end of the day I'm fried and I just want a few quiet moments to regroup before I start the evening scramble. But instead, I'm telling stories about talking animals who have to work together to solve problems and little boys who build really cool vehicles that can take them wherever they want to go and kids who find an abandoned construction site and work together to finish the building and mommies who want to stab themselves in the eyeball because they CAN'T GET A MOMENT'S PEACE . . . no wait, not that last one. Just got a bit carried away.
Anyway. really in truly, it's awesome that I have this alone time with Seth. Next year, he'll be going to kindergarten, and I'll be away from him for at least 10 hours a day. So for now, no matter how much peace in the car I crave, no matter how much my throat aches and my brain coils from 35 minutes of sustained talking and forced creativity, no matter how much I cringe when Seth says, "Let's tell stories!" I will not wish these days away. Because I know, with every fiber of my being, that when they're gone, I will want them back. It's the worst paradox of parenthood--wanting time to pass, and then wishing you had it all back.
Sunday, September 09, 2012
Power Outages and Crazy $#@ Malls and Ear Infections
The title pretty much sums up our weekend. Saturday afternoon, a huge storm blew threw our neighborhood. We lost power around 4 p.m. We knew it was bad because an entire utility pole had been knocked down. So we packed up and headed to the mall.
Now, the mall closest to our house is crazy town. It is Christmas-crowded ALL THE TIME. Seriously. And if you enjoy people watching, it's the place to go. Every manner of person goes there. Every ethnicity you can imgaine, every age, every color, every style. It's madness. And the biggest madness of all is the kiddie play area. It is truly Hell on Earth. And my kids LOVE it. It is not for the faint of heart. It is pure, complete, unadulterated chaos. Kids of all sizes run around like banshees, jumping off of climby things, climbing onto climby things, knocking each other down, tripping, crashing, screeching.
Before we let the kids play there, we made them walk the length of the mall, and we didn't give them anything to eat (even though they were whining about how hungry they were) because we needed some leverage to get them the hell out of there when we couldn't take it any more. Even so, it still took a good bit ofthreatening chasing cajoling to get them to leave so we could go eat. We ate at the TGIFridays (we're so cheap!) and then went to Barnes & Noble, where I read multiple stories to the boys. We finally got home around 9:30, to a still-dark house. The boys were excited to use the flashlights and camping lanterns (battery-powered). We got their teeth brushed and pajamas on and they both slept in William's room with a lantern on. What a day!
Meanwhile, Seth has been complaining off and on about his ear hurting--at least for the last several days. I've also noticed he's been sneezing a lot and sniffling quite a bit. So today (Sunday) we went to the Minute Clinic to get his ears checked out. And sure enough, the poor guy has a raging double ear-infection. It hasn't slowed him down one bit, though. I forced him to take a nap in the afternoon while Ed took William to t-ball practice (William is taking a t-ball clinic this fall), and in the meantime, our power came back on (yay!). But then went out again two hours later. (Boo.) But then came on again about an hour and a half after that.
So the upshot is, we ordered pizza for dinner, and at 9:35 on Sunday night, I'm trying to finish up the laundry, and I sent Ed to the grocery store (which I NEVER do because he NEVER gets the right stuff). Oh well. I guess things could be much, much worse. In June, while we were in Florida, a Derecho came through our town and our house lost power for 5 days. We managed to miss that whole debacle (and I even paid our cleaning woman extra to clean out our fridge and freezer before we came back in town), so this was practically a cake-walk. And now, I have to admit, I'm actually not too sad to see Monday morning fast approaching. :-)
Now, the mall closest to our house is crazy town. It is Christmas-crowded ALL THE TIME. Seriously. And if you enjoy people watching, it's the place to go. Every manner of person goes there. Every ethnicity you can imgaine, every age, every color, every style. It's madness. And the biggest madness of all is the kiddie play area. It is truly Hell on Earth. And my kids LOVE it. It is not for the faint of heart. It is pure, complete, unadulterated chaos. Kids of all sizes run around like banshees, jumping off of climby things, climbing onto climby things, knocking each other down, tripping, crashing, screeching.
Before we let the kids play there, we made them walk the length of the mall, and we didn't give them anything to eat (even though they were whining about how hungry they were) because we needed some leverage to get them the hell out of there when we couldn't take it any more. Even so, it still took a good bit of
Meanwhile, Seth has been complaining off and on about his ear hurting--at least for the last several days. I've also noticed he's been sneezing a lot and sniffling quite a bit. So today (Sunday) we went to the Minute Clinic to get his ears checked out. And sure enough, the poor guy has a raging double ear-infection. It hasn't slowed him down one bit, though. I forced him to take a nap in the afternoon while Ed took William to t-ball practice (William is taking a t-ball clinic this fall), and in the meantime, our power came back on (yay!). But then went out again two hours later. (Boo.) But then came on again about an hour and a half after that.
So the upshot is, we ordered pizza for dinner, and at 9:35 on Sunday night, I'm trying to finish up the laundry, and I sent Ed to the grocery store (which I NEVER do because he NEVER gets the right stuff). Oh well. I guess things could be much, much worse. In June, while we were in Florida, a Derecho came through our town and our house lost power for 5 days. We managed to miss that whole debacle (and I even paid our cleaning woman extra to clean out our fridge and freezer before we came back in town), so this was practically a cake-walk. And now, I have to admit, I'm actually not too sad to see Monday morning fast approaching. :-)
Wednesday, September 05, 2012
Five Things
William picked out five things to share with his classmates to help them get to know him better. Here's what he chose:
1. A poster of a great white shark, because he really likes sharks.
2. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (the book we're reading right now) because he really loves Harry Potter.
3. A trophy from his Taekwondo tournament, because he's been taking taekwondo for 2 years and he really likes it.
4. A rubber snake, because he really likes snakes and reptiles.
5. A picture of his family--and not just our immediate family, but his whole, extended family on his dad's side: grandparents, great-grandparents, aunts, uncles, great-aunts, great-uncles, and cousins. (He wanted a picture that also included my side of the family, but I only have one picture, from our wedding day, which didn't include him or Seth, and he didn't want to give up another item, so we decided to just go with the one picture. LOL)
I think those were all pretty good choices. I might have Seth do this same exercise, because it's a great way to capture who the boys are, right now. As for me, I've been racking my brain trying to figure otu what five things I would choose for my bag. A picture of Ed and the boys, for sure. A picture of the Capitol, to represent my job and my interest in political history. A bookmark, to represent my love of reading. Maybe a copy of Cooks Illustrated magazine, because I enjoy cooking. (And I also love magazines.) And my blog book, to represent my blog--and my life!
So what five things would you pick?
1. A poster of a great white shark, because he really likes sharks.
2. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (the book we're reading right now) because he really loves Harry Potter.
3. A trophy from his Taekwondo tournament, because he's been taking taekwondo for 2 years and he really likes it.
4. A rubber snake, because he really likes snakes and reptiles.
5. A picture of his family--and not just our immediate family, but his whole, extended family on his dad's side: grandparents, great-grandparents, aunts, uncles, great-aunts, great-uncles, and cousins. (He wanted a picture that also included my side of the family, but I only have one picture, from our wedding day, which didn't include him or Seth, and he didn't want to give up another item, so we decided to just go with the one picture. LOL)
I think those were all pretty good choices. I might have Seth do this same exercise, because it's a great way to capture who the boys are, right now. As for me, I've been racking my brain trying to figure otu what five things I would choose for my bag. A picture of Ed and the boys, for sure. A picture of the Capitol, to represent my job and my interest in political history. A bookmark, to represent my love of reading. Maybe a copy of Cooks Illustrated magazine, because I enjoy cooking. (And I also love magazines.) And my blog book, to represent my blog--and my life!
So what five things would you pick?
Tuesday, September 04, 2012
First Day of First Grade
Today was William's first day of first grade! He took the bus to school and then went to after care. He was pretty excited when he woke up this morning. He had crawled into our bed last night and when he woke up, he got out of bed pretty quickly, and I wasn't sure where he had gone. I thought he might have gone downstairs to watch TV, so I got up to remind him that we don't watch TV on school mornings. Instead, I found him sitting quietly on the love seat in his bedroom, just thinking. So cute!
I also remembered to take a few pictures:
Here he is holding last year's first-day picture:
I like how Seth is smiling so serenely in these pictures. Not his usual MO, I assure you.
Anyway, when I picked William up, he seemed happy and said his first day of school was awesome. Hopefully, that's true! On Thursday, he gets to bring five items to school (that will fit inside a paper bag) to help his friends get to know him. We started talking about what he's going to bring tonight. Should be interesting!
I also remembered to take a few pictures:
Here he is holding last year's first-day picture:
I like how Seth is smiling so serenely in these pictures. Not his usual MO, I assure you.
Anyway, when I picked William up, he seemed happy and said his first day of school was awesome. Hopefully, that's true! On Thursday, he gets to bring five items to school (that will fit inside a paper bag) to help his friends get to know him. We started talking about what he's going to bring tonight. Should be interesting!
Monday, September 03, 2012
Oh, Right--I Have a Blog!
Well, hello there. Allow me to reintroduce myself. I'm Beth, my husband is Ed, and we have two boys--William, age 6, about to start first grade, and Seth, age 4, in pre-k this year. I don't really know why I decided to take pretty much the entire month of August off from blogging. But I guess the mind does what the mind needs. And now I'm back! (Well, that's yet to be seen, I guess. Seeing as how I didn't exactly plan this last hiatus!) Anyway, on this Back-to-School Eve, I guess I should reflect on our summer, and give a brief update about what we've been doing.
Ed's sister and two of her three boys came to visit in late July, and the boys loved seeing their cousins. They spent an awesome day at Ed's uncle's farm, swimming, riding horses, and the ATV and Gator.
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Later in August, we made our road trip to Charlotte, NC, to see my mom, brother, and Ed's sister and her family again. The boys loved it and both drives (there and back) were uneventful. Road trips are definitely getting easier as the boys get older! While we were in Charlotte, we visited their kids' museum (Discovery Place).
This last week of summer, Ed stayed home with William and the two of them went camping overnight in Maryland. They went hiking and fishing, and William almost caught a fish. William had a blast, and I can't wait for the four of us to go camping together.
Overall, it's been a really good summer. I didn't have any big plans or summer to-do list to knock out, but we still managed to do most of the things I wanted to do. We went to the beach. We visited family. William learned to swim. We went to the pool a lot. We went kayaking. We went to concerts in the park. And Friday night movies in the park. The boys rode bikes and played outside, a lot. And inside a lot. We went to museums. William read books, counted money, reviewed sight words, and even dabbled in a few of the workbooks I ordered at the beginning of the summer.
As for my year-to-date goals . . . wait a minute, goals? What goals? Ha ha ha. Actually, a friend of mine (Jen of the Funny Noses) always sees the beginning of the school year as the time to regroup, set new goals, renew commitments. I totally get that now. I'm feeling that same familiar urge to get organized, to focus on myself, to be a better me. I'm not going to bite off more than I can chew, but in the past few months, age 40 has hit me pretty hard and I haven't really been happy with myself. So it's time to dig deep, shed my baggage, and pick up the pace. I've never been good at changing. Inertia feels so much more comfortable. But that's no excuse for not trying. So, here I go again. Here's hoping that first grade is awesome, that pre-k continues to rock, and that the year I was 40 turns out to be the beginning of the best years of my life!
Ed's sister and two of her three boys came to visit in late July, and the boys loved seeing their cousins. They spent an awesome day at Ed's uncle's farm, swimming, riding horses, and the ATV and Gator.
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Later in August, we made our road trip to Charlotte, NC, to see my mom, brother, and Ed's sister and her family again. The boys loved it and both drives (there and back) were uneventful. Road trips are definitely getting easier as the boys get older! While we were in Charlotte, we visited their kids' museum (Discovery Place).
This last week of summer, Ed stayed home with William and the two of them went camping overnight in Maryland. They went hiking and fishing, and William almost caught a fish. William had a blast, and I can't wait for the four of us to go camping together.
Overall, it's been a really good summer. I didn't have any big plans or summer to-do list to knock out, but we still managed to do most of the things I wanted to do. We went to the beach. We visited family. William learned to swim. We went to the pool a lot. We went kayaking. We went to concerts in the park. And Friday night movies in the park. The boys rode bikes and played outside, a lot. And inside a lot. We went to museums. William read books, counted money, reviewed sight words, and even dabbled in a few of the workbooks I ordered at the beginning of the summer.
As for my year-to-date goals . . . wait a minute, goals? What goals? Ha ha ha. Actually, a friend of mine (Jen of the Funny Noses) always sees the beginning of the school year as the time to regroup, set new goals, renew commitments. I totally get that now. I'm feeling that same familiar urge to get organized, to focus on myself, to be a better me. I'm not going to bite off more than I can chew, but in the past few months, age 40 has hit me pretty hard and I haven't really been happy with myself. So it's time to dig deep, shed my baggage, and pick up the pace. I've never been good at changing. Inertia feels so much more comfortable. But that's no excuse for not trying. So, here I go again. Here's hoping that first grade is awesome, that pre-k continues to rock, and that the year I was 40 turns out to be the beginning of the best years of my life!
Tuesday, August 07, 2012
The Tooth Fairy--D'oh!
William lost his first tooth yesterday! It's been loose for so long that I actually forgot he had a loose tooth. His two permanent bottom teeth have grown in already, behind the baby teeth. His dentist said this is pretty common and not to worry about it--especially since one of the baby teeth was loose. I didn't expect it to take 3 months to fall out, though!
At any rate, at dinner, William took a bite of something and then spit something out. I was about to reprimand him when he shouted, "My tooth!" I washed it off and put it inside a ziplock bag (it's the best I could do people!) and William put it under his pillow.
We did the usual bedtime routine, I kissed the boys goodnight, started my usual nighttime routine, and (can you see where this is going?) promptly forgot about the tooth under the pillow.
Cue to 6:15 a.m. when William wakes me up and sadly says, "Mom, the tooth fairy didn't come." OH CRAP. I am the worst mom ever!!! I told him it's okay, she can't always get to everyone's tooth during the night. I assured him that she would come. He climbed into our bed and I frantically tried to figure out how the tooth fairy would manage to get something under his pillow. Fortunately, William wanted something to drink, so I went downstairs, got him a drink, and miraculously, the tooth fairy managed to slip a golden dollar under his pillow while he was in our bedroom. When Seth woke up, he convinced William to look under his pillow again (God bless Seth!), and William was thrilled that the tooth fairy hadn't forgotten him after all.
Dude, I'd forget my freakin' head if it wasn't attached! I guess all's well that ends well, even if I did manage to kill a childhood rite of passage--the thrill of waking up to find something under your pillow. Thank goodness there are 19 teeth to go! :-)
At any rate, at dinner, William took a bite of something and then spit something out. I was about to reprimand him when he shouted, "My tooth!" I washed it off and put it inside a ziplock bag (it's the best I could do people!) and William put it under his pillow.
We did the usual bedtime routine, I kissed the boys goodnight, started my usual nighttime routine, and (can you see where this is going?) promptly forgot about the tooth under the pillow.
Cue to 6:15 a.m. when William wakes me up and sadly says, "Mom, the tooth fairy didn't come." OH CRAP. I am the worst mom ever!!! I told him it's okay, she can't always get to everyone's tooth during the night. I assured him that she would come. He climbed into our bed and I frantically tried to figure out how the tooth fairy would manage to get something under his pillow. Fortunately, William wanted something to drink, so I went downstairs, got him a drink, and miraculously, the tooth fairy managed to slip a golden dollar under his pillow while he was in our bedroom. When Seth woke up, he convinced William to look under his pillow again (God bless Seth!), and William was thrilled that the tooth fairy hadn't forgotten him after all.
Dude, I'd forget my freakin' head if it wasn't attached! I guess all's well that ends well, even if I did manage to kill a childhood rite of passage--the thrill of waking up to find something under your pillow. Thank goodness there are 19 teeth to go! :-)
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Fashion Statement
Yesterday, when I went to pick Seth up from school, he made me close my eyes as he retrieved the "surprise" from his cubby that he had made for me earlier in the day. My "surprise" was a bead necklace on a piece of string. He was so proud and happy to present it to me, and he wanted me to wear it today. So I am!
Don't you think it goes well with the gold chains? He was actually a bit perturbed that I was combining his necklace with the gold, but I prefer the layered look. :-) You gotta love gifts from the heart! (And yes--I'm wearing a cowl-neck sweater to work in sultry July. Our office building is freezing most of the time.)
Don't you think it goes well with the gold chains? He was actually a bit perturbed that I was combining his necklace with the gold, but I prefer the layered look. :-) You gotta love gifts from the heart! (And yes--I'm wearing a cowl-neck sweater to work in sultry July. Our office building is freezing most of the time.)
Monday, July 23, 2012
Five Down, Six to Go
This week marks the half-way point of our summer. We still have six full weeks, which makes me very happy! I never made a "Summer Fun" list this year, but I didn't need to. I realized that since I still work full time all summer, and since we pretty much completely stick to our school-year routine, there isn't much chance of us "wasting away" our summer. In fact, more than anything, I've wanted to avoid over-scheduling ourselves and running ourselves ragged. I've wanted to make sure the boys have as much free time as they want on the weekends--time where they get to pick what they want to do. And surprise, surprise. Mostly they want to hang out at home and play. So that's what a lot of weekend time has looked like.
This past weekend, it rained all day on Saturday (such a nice break from the heat wave we'd been having!), and the boys made a fort and played together all morning (after William went to Taekwondo while Seth and I went to the grocery store). I ran an errand in the afternoon, and while I was gone, Ed sent the boys to their room because they weren't cleaning up when he told them to, and they both promptly fell asleep. I came home to a quiet house, so I put on a sweatshirt and sat on the porch and read my book for an hour and a half. It was lovely! A perfect, rainy summer day.
Don't get me wrong, though. We have participated in plenty of activities. On Wednesday nights, our library features different performers (magician, bubble ladies, Mad Science, puppet shows, etc.) and the boys have chosen to attend all of them so far, except for the puppet show. On Thursday nights, our town has free concerts in the park, and we've attended every one that we've been in town for. I LOVE the concerts in the park. It has such a small-town, old-timey feel. Looking around, you'll see people of every age--older people in their lawn chairs, middle-aged people with amazing picnic spreads, parents wrangling children, children EVERYWHERE, running around playing on the playground, chasing each other, banding together and roaming the park. It makes me so, so happy that we moved into this community.
Other summer highlights so far include our vacation to the beach for a week, kayaking, and William learning to swim (YAY!!!), I also took the boys on a day-trip to Luray Caverns and met an out-of-town friend there. She's another friend I met on the Internet (part of the May '06 moms) and her parents live in Culpepper, VA, so when she told me they were planning a visit (they live in Utah) and wanted to see the caverns, it was a great opportunity to see her and her family. Plus, Luray Caverns is really cool! She posted pictures on Facebook, so you'll have to check them out there. (Once again, Seth was verging on obnoxious in his quest NOT to get photographed.)
William and I have also been reading Harry Potter. We finally finished the first book, and then I let William watch the movie. He loved it! First he asked why they left so much out of the movie. Which is awesome because it means he remembered the book and was processing the story. Second, he turned to me with a huge grin on his face, eyes dancing, and exclaimed, "This is awesome!" Now we're reading the second one, but I'm not sure if we'll move on to the third one yet. I think it's a little too scary and mature for him. Maybe we'll save Harry Potter for the summers.
I'm sure the next six weeks will fly by, as the weekends are just about filled up already. The boys' cousins are coming into town this weekend, so Seth and William are excited to see them and hang out. We have plans to go blueberry picking and to swim on Ed's Uncle's farm. The boys are also excited to see their new second cousin--baby Joshua! He's already 8 weeks old and we haven't seen him yet. I love that the boys get excited about new family members. The rest of our weekends will be filled with birthday parties and pool time--lots of pool time. And I think I'll take the boys to Charlotte to visit my mom and Ed's sister the second-to-last week of summer. I was planning a stay-cation that week. But it's a good chance to visit family. After that, there's one week of summer left, and Ed is planning on staying home with William that week.
And then, First Grade! Ack--let's not get ahead of ourselves. Happy summer!
This past weekend, it rained all day on Saturday (such a nice break from the heat wave we'd been having!), and the boys made a fort and played together all morning (after William went to Taekwondo while Seth and I went to the grocery store). I ran an errand in the afternoon, and while I was gone, Ed sent the boys to their room because they weren't cleaning up when he told them to, and they both promptly fell asleep. I came home to a quiet house, so I put on a sweatshirt and sat on the porch and read my book for an hour and a half. It was lovely! A perfect, rainy summer day.
Don't get me wrong, though. We have participated in plenty of activities. On Wednesday nights, our library features different performers (magician, bubble ladies, Mad Science, puppet shows, etc.) and the boys have chosen to attend all of them so far, except for the puppet show. On Thursday nights, our town has free concerts in the park, and we've attended every one that we've been in town for. I LOVE the concerts in the park. It has such a small-town, old-timey feel. Looking around, you'll see people of every age--older people in their lawn chairs, middle-aged people with amazing picnic spreads, parents wrangling children, children EVERYWHERE, running around playing on the playground, chasing each other, banding together and roaming the park. It makes me so, so happy that we moved into this community.
Other summer highlights so far include our vacation to the beach for a week, kayaking, and William learning to swim (YAY!!!), I also took the boys on a day-trip to Luray Caverns and met an out-of-town friend there. She's another friend I met on the Internet (part of the May '06 moms) and her parents live in Culpepper, VA, so when she told me they were planning a visit (they live in Utah) and wanted to see the caverns, it was a great opportunity to see her and her family. Plus, Luray Caverns is really cool! She posted pictures on Facebook, so you'll have to check them out there. (Once again, Seth was verging on obnoxious in his quest NOT to get photographed.)
William and I have also been reading Harry Potter. We finally finished the first book, and then I let William watch the movie. He loved it! First he asked why they left so much out of the movie. Which is awesome because it means he remembered the book and was processing the story. Second, he turned to me with a huge grin on his face, eyes dancing, and exclaimed, "This is awesome!" Now we're reading the second one, but I'm not sure if we'll move on to the third one yet. I think it's a little too scary and mature for him. Maybe we'll save Harry Potter for the summers.
I'm sure the next six weeks will fly by, as the weekends are just about filled up already. The boys' cousins are coming into town this weekend, so Seth and William are excited to see them and hang out. We have plans to go blueberry picking and to swim on Ed's Uncle's farm. The boys are also excited to see their new second cousin--baby Joshua! He's already 8 weeks old and we haven't seen him yet. I love that the boys get excited about new family members. The rest of our weekends will be filled with birthday parties and pool time--lots of pool time. And I think I'll take the boys to Charlotte to visit my mom and Ed's sister the second-to-last week of summer. I was planning a stay-cation that week. But it's a good chance to visit family. After that, there's one week of summer left, and Ed is planning on staying home with William that week.
And then, First Grade! Ack--let's not get ahead of ourselves. Happy summer!
Monday, July 16, 2012
Catching Up--At the Beach!
I don't know when and if I'll ever get back into the blogging groove. But I know I want to keep blogging, at least for now. So when you can't make it . . . fake it!
So I owe a post about our week-long beach vacation. It was fantastic! The boys loved the beach and the weather was great and we got to spend lots of time with my dearest friends and their kids. The boys pushed the limits a few times during the week, but we dealt with it and enjoyed our time together anyway.
Sending William to two weeks of swim lessons right before our trip really paid off. He's doing great in the water now. He still needs to build up his confidence, but he's so much more comfortable in the water now. Every day at low tide, there was a great tidal pool where the kids swam and played and caught tiny fish. One day, we found a baby stingray in the tidal pool. We also saw dolphins or porpoises a few times, and the Sunday of my girls' weekend, I saw a whale. Crazy! (We think it was a right whale.)
The only down side of the beach trip was that low tide didn't occur until about 2 p.m. every day. So that meant that the best time to play on the beach was during the hottest part of the day. But we survived. And we all acquired pretty decent suntans, despite the tubs of sunscreen we slathered on. The other good thing about being in the hot sun all day was that the boys were dead tired by the end of the day. Getting them to sleep was no problem, and they even slept in most mornings. (Sleeping in for them means they wake up between 7 and 8 a.m., instead of between 6 and 7 a.m.)
On the last day of our trip, we went kayaking in park near the beach. The park is on the ocean, but there's a freshwater lake in the park, too. We didn't go out for very long, but the boys loved it.
On the 4th of July, the local city did not have a fireworks show, but there were people up and down the beach setting off fireworks, which we enjoyed from the balcony of the 10th-floor condo where we stayed. And we also lits lots of sparklers.
Of course, true to form, the boys' very different personalities shined through on vacation. Just as I predicted, William loved the beach,
while Seth loved the pool.
No fear here!
And true to form, the boys were not cooperative when it came to pictures of the two of them together. But I guess forced smiles are better than no pictures at all.
All in all, the beach was awesome and we can't wait to go back.
So I owe a post about our week-long beach vacation. It was fantastic! The boys loved the beach and the weather was great and we got to spend lots of time with my dearest friends and their kids. The boys pushed the limits a few times during the week, but we dealt with it and enjoyed our time together anyway.
Sending William to two weeks of swim lessons right before our trip really paid off. He's doing great in the water now. He still needs to build up his confidence, but he's so much more comfortable in the water now. Every day at low tide, there was a great tidal pool where the kids swam and played and caught tiny fish. One day, we found a baby stingray in the tidal pool. We also saw dolphins or porpoises a few times, and the Sunday of my girls' weekend, I saw a whale. Crazy! (We think it was a right whale.)
The only down side of the beach trip was that low tide didn't occur until about 2 p.m. every day. So that meant that the best time to play on the beach was during the hottest part of the day. But we survived. And we all acquired pretty decent suntans, despite the tubs of sunscreen we slathered on. The other good thing about being in the hot sun all day was that the boys were dead tired by the end of the day. Getting them to sleep was no problem, and they even slept in most mornings. (Sleeping in for them means they wake up between 7 and 8 a.m., instead of between 6 and 7 a.m.)
On the last day of our trip, we went kayaking in park near the beach. The park is on the ocean, but there's a freshwater lake in the park, too. We didn't go out for very long, but the boys loved it.
On the 4th of July, the local city did not have a fireworks show, but there were people up and down the beach setting off fireworks, which we enjoyed from the balcony of the 10th-floor condo where we stayed. And we also lits lots of sparklers.
Of course, true to form, the boys' very different personalities shined through on vacation. Just as I predicted, William loved the beach,
while Seth loved the pool.
No fear here!
And true to form, the boys were not cooperative when it came to pictures of the two of them together. But I guess forced smiles are better than no pictures at all.
All in all, the beach was awesome and we can't wait to go back.
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Girls' Weekend 2012
This year's Girls' Weekend was awesome as usual. (You can check out my posts on GW 2011, GW 2010, GW 2009, and GW 2008.) My three best friends never cease to amaze me with who they are and what they've accomplished. I feel so incredibly lucky to have them as friends--to have their support, their unconditional love, their guidance, their laughter. These three women have known me in every single phase of my life, and they like me anyway. I always leave Girls' Weekend feeling inspired and refreshed, ready to be a better wife, a better mom, a better friend. The four of us together would merge into the perfect woman. Maybe that's why we've all hung onto each other for so long.
This year we celebrated our 40th birthdays, and ME treated us all to massages on Saturday afternoon. For an hour and a half, we were pampered from head to toe, and it was absolutely lovely.
On Sunday, we repeated our bike-riding/kayaking adventure (unfortunately, no pictures!) but oh-my-goodness it was so much harder this year. The bike ride was torture. I don't know if it was because we were riding into a headwind or if the sand was softer or maybe it was because we're all 40 now, but ouch! When we finally arrived and started to put our kayaks in the ocean, we saw a shark. Seriously! It wasn't very big, but it was enough to convince TF to trade in her paddle board for a kayak. After watching the surf for 10 more minutes, we decided to venture out. I'm glad we did. After kayaking, we continued the tradition of stopping in the club for a drink before the long bike ride home. A mango banana daquiri made the ride home much more enjoyable!
Fortunately for me, Girls' Weekend blended seamlessly into our family vacation. ME was there the whole week with her kids, and we got to see lots of MJ and her daughter, too. Unfortunately, TF is currently campaigning for probate judge in Georgia so we didn't get to spend extra time with her, but hopefully we'll make up for it in future years. (And hopefully she'll win her election!) I think it's pretty cool to that we can all hang out as families now. Our kids play together and they know how important these women are to me. It's the stuff of fiction, but lucky for me, it's my life! I miss everyone already and can't wait for Girls' Weekend 2013!
This year we celebrated our 40th birthdays, and ME treated us all to massages on Saturday afternoon. For an hour and a half, we were pampered from head to toe, and it was absolutely lovely.
On Sunday, we repeated our bike-riding/kayaking adventure (unfortunately, no pictures!) but oh-my-goodness it was so much harder this year. The bike ride was torture. I don't know if it was because we were riding into a headwind or if the sand was softer or maybe it was because we're all 40 now, but ouch! When we finally arrived and started to put our kayaks in the ocean, we saw a shark. Seriously! It wasn't very big, but it was enough to convince TF to trade in her paddle board for a kayak. After watching the surf for 10 more minutes, we decided to venture out. I'm glad we did. After kayaking, we continued the tradition of stopping in the club for a drink before the long bike ride home. A mango banana daquiri made the ride home much more enjoyable!
Fortunately for me, Girls' Weekend blended seamlessly into our family vacation. ME was there the whole week with her kids, and we got to see lots of MJ and her daughter, too. Unfortunately, TF is currently campaigning for probate judge in Georgia so we didn't get to spend extra time with her, but hopefully we'll make up for it in future years. (And hopefully she'll win her election!) I think it's pretty cool to that we can all hang out as families now. Our kids play together and they know how important these women are to me. It's the stuff of fiction, but lucky for me, it's my life! I miss everyone already and can't wait for Girls' Weekend 2013!
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