Soccer

Seth played soccer this fall and he loved it. He was really into it, and toward the end of the season, he even understood the concept of working with his teammates to get the ball down the field toward their goal. (Of course, understanding the concept and executing the concept are two different things. LOL) Saturday was his last game and the weather was gorgeous! I finally remembered to bring the camera and to actually use it.

A little pep talk for his teammates:

Here he's talking strategy:

Taking the ball down field:

Showing off his team picture and medal after the game:

There's a tree at the soccer field that Seth loves to climb. After the games, he sits on a branch while he eats his snack and drinks his juice. Ed's parents came to the last game, and Ed's dad talked about how he loved to climb trees as a kid. (I guess Seth comes by it honestly.) He just couldn't resist climbing this one, too, so Ed decided to get in on the action:

Seth wants to play soccer again in the spring, so I guess we'll be juggling between baseball and soccer again. (And Taekwondo!) Good stuff!

And now for what I'm grateful for today. It's really tough to choose just one thing, but as I stared out my kitchen window this morning while getting ready for work, I couldn't help but feel grateful for this view:

The tree is at its peak colors and the weather has been so gorgeous the past few days and I love our porch. It all made me feel very happy!

I'll Take What I Can Get

I got my extra hour today in the form of groggily watching the clock turn from 5-something a.m. to 6-while listening to three 7-year-old boys go downstairs to watch TV and argue over whose turn it was to pick a show, while also listening to our cat meow every 3 seconds while clawing the side of the bed--MY side of the bed. Good stuff.

I really can't complain, though. We had a great weekend, topped by a fantastic visit with Heather and Ben. Following her day's adventure with Ben in DC (while I ran from Taekwondo to a soccer game to lunch with the in-laws to a birthday party), we took the boys (plus a friend of William's who also came over for a sleepover) to McDonald's Playland and then set them up with Home Alone 2 (that's Lost in New York). They all slept in William's room, but didn't fall asleep until close to 11:00 p.m. At one point, as Heather and I chatted in the playroom (we actually got some awesome one-on-one time to hang out!) we heard all 3 of them trying to quietly come downstairs. We asked what they were doing, and apparently, they were coming up with a plan of how to come downstairs as early as possible in the morning without waking us up. They even drew a map:

Their plan, however, failed miserably.

But, that's to be expected, I guess, when you're talking 7-year-old boys. After a birthday party from 12-2 today, William was WIPED OUT. I found him asleep on the couch in the living room around 4:00 p.m. So that is what I'm most grateful today--that his tired little body fell asleep. He was a little grumpy when he woke up, but we had a good family dinner, had lots of time to read before bed, and both boys were asleep at 8:00 p.m. It would have been nicer (for both of us) if William had gotten that bit of sleep on the front end of the day. But I'll take what I can get. And

Tired But Happy

Today was a full day that started with the kids waking up before the sun came up. I was SO mad at them. We have to drag them out of bed at 7 a.m. on weekday mornings, with them kicking and screaming and putting up such a fuss. And then, on SATURDAY morning, when we can all sleep in, they're up before the sun. And not only up before the sun, they're waking ME up before the sun. I was seriously bent. At 6:00 a.m., I told them in my meanest Mommy voice that on Sunday morning, they were not to make a SINGLE peep until it was 7:00 a.m. And then Seth said, "I don't even know what that means, Mom." Oh yeah--he hasn't learned how to tell time yet.

So then I went back in my room, only to have Ed tell me that my clock was an hour early (have no idea how that happened--I didn't set it that way), and it was actually 7:00. I basically lit into my kids for waking up at 7:00, which is actually when I want them to wake up. Oops.

So this brings me to what I'm grateful for today--an extra hour tomorrow, to do with whatever I want. I realize, of course, that my kids will probably wake up at 5:00 a.m. But I will be okay with that. I always say that I wish the day were longer, so here's my one chance to get what I ask for.

I'm also grateful for cupcakes.

NaBloPoMo--Gratitude

Yep--I'm going to attempt to participate in NaBloPoMo. (National Blog Posting Month) Hoping it will kick-start me back into the habit of blogging in the evenings. I'm off to a not-so-great start, seeing as how it's 11:30 on Friday night, November 1, and I still haven't posted. But I have a good excuse! Heather is here, visiting with us so she and Ben can take advantage of some of DC's awesome free museums.

And I'm posting now, and that counts, right? And since I know I won't feel like posting something every single day, I've decided to participate in the November Gratitude project and post something I'm thankful for every day of November.

So, I'm grateful for Internet friends who have turned into real-life friends!

Happy Halloween!

When Halloween falls on a weeknight, I absolutely CAN NOT get my shit together. It is always a mad dash to get the kids home and fed and get costumes on them and get out the door. I never end up eating dinner, the kids are halfway dressed when the first trick-or-treaters ring our doorbell, I'm running around like a chicken with my head cut off trying to finish up last-minute costume details that I inevitably put off 'till the very.last.minute. Such was the scene tonight and ergo, no pictures of my kids in their Halloween costumes.

But this is what they dressed up as:

Seth:

William:

Well, for all you know, that could be William. So we'll just leave it at that. 

I did, however, get some (very grainy) pictures of the pumpkin we carved last night, and the other pumpkin I carved after the boys went to bed. (Between the two batches of sugar cookies I rolled out and baked for William's class party, and before I hemmed William's costume, twice, on account of the first time I safety-pinned the outside instead of the inside. But I digress.) Well, I actually pretty much drew the face and carved both the pumpkins, but Seth picked out the faces. The boys wanted to help, but, yeah. That was gonna take way too much time and we have a schedule, people. Maybe next year. 

Now I'm off to eat remove the peanut-contaminated chocolate from William's loot. It's a terrible job, but someone has to do it. Poor kid. No Snickers, no Reeses Peanutbutter Cups, no Twix bars, no Kit-Kats. I guess it's a good thing he doesn't know what he's missing!

Happy Halloween!

Vacation's Over

Thankfully, the saner heads in the Senate prevailed and I went back to work today. A few more days would have been nice, but I can hardly complain. A surprise 2 and 1/2 week vacation is a gift and I feel pretty good. Of course I keep thinking of things I should have done while I was off. But I got some things done and I spent a lot of QT with the boys and I got lots of me time. And now I'm ready to buckle down and get back into the swing of the old routine.

My boss said it was fine to take a long lunch to be the mystery reader at William's school tomorrow. I did have to cancel the shift I had planned to spend helping set up the school's book fair, but such is life. I signed up to work an evening shift instead. Not a big deal. The kids even got to ride the bus home today and they will again tomorrow because Ed has today and tomorrow off from work. We are both disappointed that our time off didn't coincide (we had great plans for an all-day date today), but we each got time to ourselves, which we both need, too.

Now that I have had this time off, it's given me a really good opportunity to think about priorities, to think about how I want my days to go, about what parts of my schedule stress me out, and about what parts of my schedule I can handle better. When you're in the weeds, it's kind of hard to do anything but plod through. With perspective, you can feel like you have a better grip on things. Of course, this time next week, I'll probably feel like I'm drowning all over again. But right now, I'm optimistic. And that's enough.

Girls' Weekend 2013

A long, long, long time ago--back in June 2013--I had my annual Girls' Weekend trip. My three best friends from high school and I have gotten together one weekend every year since 2002. We've all been friends since middle school, and two of the girls were in elementary school together. Each year of middle and high school brought us together and sometimes pushed us apart. We stayed in touch during college and somehow, we all managed to get closer after college--when we each started carving out our own paths in life and figuring out who we are and making mistakes and forging ahead.

I can't imagine how I would have gotten through my 20s, and then my 30s, without these women. We didn't live in the same cities and we didn't talk to each every day, or even every week or every month. We all took very different paths. But then again, not so different. And still--these are the women who have my back. Who do not judge. But will not hold back. These are the women I admire most, whose opinions matter the most to me. Even though we live in a high-tech world that makes it so easy to stay connected, the hustle and bustle of life with kids and husbands and work makes it a challenge to really stay connected with each other. This is why our one weekend a year is so, so important. We pick up right where we left off the year before--although sometimes, we're all lucky enough to see each others at other times during the year. As we get older, the weekends we spend together change. Some years we are more subdued. We certainly eat less junk food than we used to. We don't stay up quite as late. But I love to think about what our future weekends together will be like. What new adventures will we plan? What problems will we solve? How will I be inspired to be a better person?

Because no matter where we go or what we do or what we talk about or what we don't talk about, I am always inspired by these three women. They are amazing people and I am so lucky to have them in my life.

Girls' Weekend 2012
Girls' Weekend 2011
Girls' Weekend 2010
Girls' Weekend 2009
Girls' Weekend 2008

A Few Observations

• Maybe this is just me, and maybe I shouldn't be admitting this, but as a WOHM, I lived for the long weekends. As a SAHM, however, I kind of couldn't wait for the week to start and the boys to go back to school and Ed to go back to work. Someone's getting used to being home!
• I much, much, much prefer to do all my laundry at once on the weekend, rather than in drivels throughout the week. 
• I can't remember what was on my to-do list at work when I left. Guess I'm gonna have some acclimating to do when I get back to work.
• I am loving our fall baseball team. What a great group of kids! And parents, too. We only have two games left, and while I'm looking forward to a less hectic schedule, I will miss it. 
• It's super easy to watch time slip away as you "research" things on the Web, catch up on TV shows, and *ahem* blog.
• Seven hours does not feel as long as it sounds.
• Next weekend, Seth has a soccer game at 8:30, which seems kind of early, but I'm happy because I will get to see both Seth's soccer game and William's baseball game. 
• Although I want the government shutdown to end, it would be nice if it didn't end this week. I signed up to be the Mystery Reader in William's school this Friday and it would be awesome if I could actually do it.
• It's hard to get the smell of burnt toast out of your house.
• Making a bed can make you feel like you've actually accomplished something. 

Off to make some beds!

Fall Camping

When I was growing up, my favorite time of the year to go camping was the fall. The nights are crisp enough to want to gather by the camp fire, the mosquitoes and gnats have disappeared, and the leaves are gorgeous if you time it just right. With that in mind, I hope to always plan at least one fall camping trip with the boys, and a few weekends ago, we got our chance. After our spring camping trip, however, when Ed and I pretty much got no sleep and felt like we did a lot of setting up and breaking down for just one night, we decided to do things a little differently. We found a rustic cabin.

In order to find an available cabin with just a few weeks notice, I had to be open to locations. I found one at a Maryland state park less than two hours away. It was near the Eastern Shore, so not in the mountains, where we prefer to camp, but there was a fishing area, and trails. And we were only going for one night, so we booked it.

Staying in a cabin was a game changer. We didn't have to pitch a tent. Or break it down the next day. The cabin had electricity--and even AC or heat, if we needed it. (We didn't.) There were bunk beds for the boys and a full-size bed for Ed and me. It was perfect! We fished by the water, walked around on the trails, came back and built a campfire, roasted hot dogs and marshmallows for s'mores, and went to bed once it got dark. The next morning we built a fire and made breakfast, played on the playground, walked around the trails some more, and then headed home. I can't wait to book a cabin at a better campsite for the spring--and maybe I'll even go ahead and book a cabin now for next fall. I'm sold!

Ruff Readers

In trying to adjust to my new stay-at-home status, I've found that it's much easier to adjust our after-school activities when needed. Baseball practice was cancelled on Monday because of rain, so it was rescheduled for Wednesday. Wednesday is normally Taekwondo day, but we can also go on Tuesday. So when the boys got off the bus yesterday, I told them we were heading straight for Taekwondo.

Well, it might be easier for ME to adjust our schedule, but for the boys, not so much. They both immediately dissolved into tears and fits. I'm used to this with Seth, but when William starts crying? I better listen. Fortunately, William can also go to TKD on Thursday, so I gave them the option of going on Thursday instead, to which they both readily agreed. I still wanted to get them out of the house, however, because the cleaning lady was there (I know--tough life, right?) So we went to McDonald's to get ice cream cones (although Seth ended up eating a cheeseburger and a 4-piece chicken nuggets and an ice cream cone and William ate chicken nuggets and an ice cream cone. So much for dinner--boys are HUNGRY after school!) and then I took them to the library to check out a program I'd been meaning to sign them up for.

Ruff Readers is a program that brings therapy dogs to the library and kids can sign up to read to the dogs. They come to the library once a month, but they're usually there from 5 to 6, a time that doesn't work for us when I'm working. So I've never signed the boys up for it. Yesterday, however, when we got to the library, someone had cancelled his appointment at the last minute, so William got to read to one of the dogs! He chose a big German Shepherd and read for 20 minutes. Seth sat next to the dog, too, and got to feed the dog treats. William LOVED it and read beautifully. Be still my heart! This morning, he woke up, got dressed, and then brought a book downstairs to read to Clark (our cat). Clark even cooperated for a little while (thank goodness). I've been waiting for William . to turn that corner with reading--to really want to read. I mean, he loves books, loves to be read to, loves checking books out from the library, and loves to learn new things. He's on grade level with his reading. I wouldn't say he's struggling. But he is rarely self-motivated to read on his own. I've tried all different kinds of books--picture books, graphic novels and comics, non-fiction, magazines, chapter books. I've tried books on CD that he can read along with. (He never reads along--he just looks at the pictures.) I've tried poetry and joke books and the Book of World Records. He's interested in all of them. But not in reading them. So, if reading to dogs can possibly help motivate him to read, then I am all over it!

You can bet that once I'm back to work, I'll be adding a monthly appointment with Ruff Readers to our calendar and I will find a way to get William there.

Week Two of the SAHM Gig

I wish I could say that I'm rocking this stay at home mom gig, but I'm totally not. I feel like I'm spinning my wheels. All the crap that I manage to squeeze into weekends and nights gets dragged out during the week when I'm home. Instead of cleaning up the kitchen once, at night, I feel like I clean it five times a day. (How the heck do I manage to make such a mess all day?) Instead of pounding out the laundry in one day, I'm doing a load of laundry every freakin' time I turn around. Wash. Dry. Fold. Repeat. Ad nauseum. I know, I know. Cry me a river, right? I will say that it's a bit less stressful, not having to cram everything into small windows of time. But I do better when my time is tightly managed.

When I go back to work, I don't want to look back and think about all the time I wasted not getting anything done. But on the other hand, I don't want to look back and regret that I didn't take advantage of this time to relax. I'm trying to be a little bit selfish and do things just for me--read, go through recipes, browse the Internet, catch up on TV shows. But boy--is it easy to let a whole day go by with little to show for it.

I have a list of errands to run today--dry cleaners, pharmacy, Post Office, Goodwill. And the cleaning lady is coming, so I need to make sure everything is picked up. (See--if I was working, I would have had all of this done last night!) I might take the boys bowling when they get out of school. Or maybe to the batting cages. It's nice to have options. And time. I keep hearing this voice in my head saying, "Enjoy it while it lasts! Enjoy it while it lasts!" So that's what I'm trying to do. You know--the same way you're supposed to enjoy your kids while their young? Yeah--like that. LOL. Maybe I'll get the hang of this in another week or two. Probably just when they end the stand-off and I return to work. :-)

The Wedding

Sometime last year, Ed's cousin asked William and Seth to be ring bearers in her wedding. They had no idea what it meant, but eagerly agreed. Ed and I were honored, but also apprehensive. This would be a formal wedding. With tuxes. Meaning, the boys would have to wear tuxes. Mind you, William still will not wear anything with buttons. No pants with button fly, no collar shirts or button-downs, not even elastic-waist pants or shorts with cargo pockets with buttons. At this point, he won't even wear khaki-style pants or shorts with elastic waists. It's even hard to get him to wear a plain or striped t-shirt. He only likes polyester sports pants and shorts (a child after my 70s-loving mother's heart) and graphic t-shirts. So you can imagine our concern.

But we talked it up with the boys, told them how they would get to wear awesome tuxedo "costumes" with shoes and vests and ties and everything. We took them to get measured. The store didn't have anything for them to try on, so we had to wait for the tuxes to come in. When they did, I took both boys, by myself, and struggled to get them into their get-ups properly. I needed a lot of help from the store clerks, who were not all that eager to help me. I guess they didn't realize the sooner they helped us, the sooner we would leave. I managed to take a few pictures while they were getting fitted.

William seemed to take it okay at the fitting. Seth kept jumping up and down and saying the pants were itchy. The day of the wedding arrived and the boys were actually excited. They had met the flower girls a few weeks prior and had really hit it off with them. The girls were the exact same ages as the boys and they had fun running around during the rehearsal. So the boys were actually asking about the girls and when they would see them. We got them into their tuxes (with pajama bottoms on Seth underneath his pants) and they didn't complain at all. They loved their shiny shoes. They liked getting all dressed up! And oh my goodness--they looked so cute!!! The tuxes were brown (which wouldn't have been our first choice), but it didn't matter. They were still so handsome!

Once it was time to start, I left the boys with the wedding party and the organizer, and Ed and I took our seats. The boys did so well. They walked out with the wedding party. They stood there while the bride walked down the aisle. Then they sat down with us once the father of the bride took his seat. After the ceremony they walked out with the flower girls. Sooo cute! Then they went with the wedding party to take pictures. Ed and I stayed back, figuring the kids would be better behaved without us there. I have yet to see the pictures, but I hope they're good! In typical Beth style, I had remembered to bring my big camera, except I had forgotten to put in the battery. So I had no camera at all. (Left my cell phone in my car. Grrrr.) But Ed's sister took some pictures, too. Just look at my handsome men!

The bride is a horse fanatic, so the boys carried rings tied to horseshoes

With the father of the bride--Ed's uncle

 We were so proud of them! They had a great time at the reception. There was a kids' table with a huge centerpiece made of lollipops. Brilliant! And each kid got a goody bag with all kinds of awesome stuff--stickers, crayons, activity books, glow bracelets, and more candy. They didn't want to leave! It was a great experience and I hope this means I can now get William to dress up more often!

*Cough* *Cough* *Ah-choo!*

Please excuse the dust as I brush this thing off and try to get her going again. Hello, everyone! Where have you all been? Ha ha.

Today, this blog post is brought to you by our wonderful government, which has deemed me non-essential, which frees up a wee bit of my time. For what it's worth, I would be embarrassed if my job was considered essential. But I'm sure we can all agree, no matter where we fall on the political spectrum, that this situation is ridiculous, terrible, indefensible, and unconscionable.

That said, I have a few days off. Woo-hoo! I can't say that I'm not nervous about having more than a few days off, but I'm one of the lucky ones who doesn't have to worry about the financial hit we're taking. (At least not in the short term.) Ed is not furloughed and we have savings and we live (for the most part) beneath our means. My thoughts are with those workers who are not so fortunate.

So, like I was saying, where have you guys been? I've been around, "working it out" so to speak. I guess I have a lot of catching up to do, but if I try to think about allll the catching up I need to do, I get overwhelmed. So I'll do some general updating today, and then I may go back to fill in some details. Or maybe I won't.

First things first--Summer! We had a fabulous summer. William went to a bunch of different summer camps, which seemed to work out well for him. They were mostly all run by our community center, so the location and the before- and after-care were all consistent. I think it was good to switch things up each week so that he didn't get bored. Seth, meanwhile, finished up the summer at his daycare center, where he has attended since he was 12 weeks old. Leaving there was bittersweet, but he was ready. We had a few fabulous vacations. The boys and I went to Florida and to North Carolina. I had my annual girls' weekend with my 3 best friends and it was as wonderful as it always is. At the end of the summer we went to an all-exclusive resort in Mexico--just Ed, William, Seth, and me. The boys LOVED it. Ed and I liked it okay.

Which brings us to Kindergarten! And 2nd grade! William has a fantastic teacher and LOVES 2nd grade. He comes home every day chattering away about his day and what he learned and who he played with. This is definitely a new phenomenon. He gets a homework packet on Monday of each week, which is due Friday. And he has to read for 20 minutes each night. It is still like pulling teeth to get him to read and do his homework. But he doesn't seem to be struggling with anything, so that's good.

Seth's adjustment, meanwhile, has been a little bit more challenging. Which is to be expected, but I actually wasn't expecting it. I thought he would LOVE kindergarten. But it's only okay for him so far. I don't know much about his teacher, but I don't think she's the problem. I think he's just adjusting to not being able to do what he wants to do all the time. This morning, he actually hid in the bushes when the school bus arrived, and I practically had to drag him out and put him on the bus. I don't think the bus driver was amused. *Sigh* I'm hoping things will get better for him. We have his school's open house next Thursday, so I'll get a chance to talk to his teacher for a minute then. And we have parent-teacher conferences the first week of November. Hopefully things will improve. I wouldn't say he's unhappy (although he was unhappy this morning), but he's not as cheerful as I hoped he would be.

 On the bright side, Seth is playing soccer this fall and he loves it! And he's really good. He talks a little trash, though, to the other team, which we're working on. But he's very focused on defense and pretty much has his head in the game the whole time. William, meanwhile, decided to play fall baseball. And guess who got asked to coach about 20 minutes after submitting his registration? That's right--me. I'm coaching baseball! Not t-ball, mind you. Baseball. I insisted that I needed to co-coach, though. That I couldn't do it all myself, mostly because I can't pitch, and this level is coach-pitch. So I got paired with another dad and it is working out beautifully. I do all the communication and keep track of the line-up and the fielding positions. The other coach runs the practices. And our team is awesome! I'm really having fun with it, and William seems to be enjoying it, too. He doesn't really love practice (which makes me nuts), but he's improving and he really likes the games. The kids on our team all go to a different school, so that's actually a good thing for William.

William is also continuing to do Taekwondo, which is making our schedule a bit crowded. We have baseball practice on Monday, TKD on Wednesday, soccer practice on Thursday, TKD on Friday, and a baseball game and soccer game on Saturday. BUT this will only last 'till Nov. 2. And then things should calm down. It has been a bit of a struggle to get used to our new schedule. I'm trying to get out the door earlier in the mornings so that I can leave work earlier and shuttle the kids to practices. But the kids have decided they would now like to sleep past 7:00 a.m. on weekday mornings (unlike years past when they bounded out of bed at 6:15 and got all in my business while I was getting ready for work), so it's hard to get them up and get them fed before I leave for work.  I definitely took for grated the morning time that I got to spend with them in years past.

My commute is also taking a lot longer without Seth in the car. I can't take the HOV lanes now, and it makes a bigger difference than I thought it would. Such is life. Adjustment, adjustment, adjustment. I have a feeling that my future is going to be full of adjustments. It's weird having elementary-aged kids now. But weird in a good way.

For now, however, I'm trying to take advantage of being a stay-at-home mom. So far, so good. I had lunch with Seth on Tuesday. I went grocery shopping during the day. I detailed my car. My laundry is done. Beds are made. The kitchen is clean. I even cleaned all my drains with baking soda, vinegar, and boiling water. (Thanks, Pinterest.) Yesterday, I took the boys to a fun playground after school. Today I'm going to a funeral. (Ed's mom's cousin died.) I've also made dinner every night--and I'm not talking sandwiches, fruit & cheese plates, or quickly heated chicken nuggets.  And I'm updating my blog. Good stuff! (Well, except the funeral, but I'm glad I can pay my respects.) We'll see how long it goes on, and how much more "adjusting" we'll have to do. In the meantime, I'm off to find my bon-bons!

Super Summer Weekend

We're leaving on Thursday afternoon for our trip to Florida and I'm just trying to figure out all the logistics and think about what I need to pack. We'll have some beach time, some time with friends, time with family, and maybe even a trip to the zoo. Unfortunately, it looks like Ed won't be coming with us. We thought he might be able to meet us in NC but it doesn't look like that's a go. Next year we'll time the trip for a little bit later so that we can hang out with my sister and her kids and Ed will be able to go.

In the meantime, the boys and I are looking forward to it. This past weekend the boys got lots of pool time and I got a chance to hang with Heather V not once but twice! On Friday night we met up for a quick bite to eat on a lovely summer evening. On Saturday night, while the boys attended Ninja Night Out at the Taekwondo studio and Ed saw World War Z, Heather and I ate al fresco again and then I took her on what can only be described as a classically Beth monument tour.

We started at the new Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial and then the plan was to show her the FDR Memorial, which she hadn't seen. My stellar navigational skillz took us around the entire Tidal Basin only to realize after we had walked through that the FDR Memorial was directly next to the MLK Memorial in the other direction. D'Oh! It was quite a walk, but at least the Super Moon was out to light up our way. And it was awesome to spend so much time gabbing with Heather kid-free. So for that, I'm not sorry! LOL.

On Sunday we went to Ed's aunt and uncle's farm, where the boys swam all afternoon and William actually drove the tractor. We're talking foot pedals, gear shift, steering wheel and all!  (Aunt Diane is a brave woman!) The weather was hot and humid, but breezy in the shade--perfect for swimming. In fact, the whole weekend was fabulous--one of those awesome summer weekends that just sort of happens to come together. Great weather, great friends, great activities. I hope there are more of those to come!

I'm In the Weeds!

When it comes to this blog, I am definitely in the weeds. I just cannot get back into the habit of blogging. But I really don't want to stop blogging. I love looking back on my life and I love the blogging community and I'm not ready to give it up.

So I will keep on keepin' on and hope the inspiration bug bites again. In the meantime, it's summer!!! So far, so good. William is attending our community center's "Summer Fun" camp this week and seems to be enjoying it. They play in the park, have arts and crafts, go swimming, and on Wednesday, they went on a field trip to the DC zoo. Next week, he has a Harry Potter camp in the a.m. (science camp--they make potions and edible wands and play Quidditch) and then a Can You Dig It camp in the afternoon (excavating dinosaur fossils and putting together a skeleton). I hope he likes those, too. At the end of the week, we're leaving for Florida and North Carolina for a week. I'm in denial that it's actually only a week away, but NOT in denial that my annual Girls' Weekend with my high school friends starts the week off. Woo-hoo! (You can see my accounts of my 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, and 2008.) We've been getting together once a year since 2002, but I wasn't blogging back then. Boy do I wish I had been!

My big news for this week is that my office is now Tweeting! The Senate Historical Office has a Twitter account, and I am the person Tweeting. Follow us at @SenateHistory (https://twitter.com/SenateHistory). I'm Tweeting all manner of interesting tidbits of Senate History. Our Tweets are meant to showcase all of the information that we have on our website--tons and tons of information that is becoming difficult to manage and to organize. So not only will Twitter help people learn about Senate History and what our office has to offer, but we also hope it will help give us some direction on how better to present our information. I have been consumed with all things Twitter this week. It has been fun, but a lot of work. I am slowly learning how to pace myself and to manage my time. 'Cause we all know that Twitter can be a HUGE time suck!!! Still, this is a great professional opportunity for me--a way to get a little more recognition and visibility at work. So what are you waiting for? Go follow us!

What else, what else. Oh yeah--summer bucket list! Again this summer, I'm not doing an "official" summer bucket list. Our summer schedule is a lot like our regular school-year schedule, so there's not a whole lot of time to check off a big list of things. BUT, we are taking advantage of our town's summer concerts in the park series. Tonight was the first performance and the weather was perfect! The boys played with a big gaggle of boys. They played baseball and built some kind of fort and played some kind of game that involved sticks-as-guns and protect-the-fort. You know, typical boy stuff. I relaxed and drank wine and chatted it up with a group of cool moms while Ed chatted it up with our next-door neighbor. Have I mentioned how much I LOVE having kids who are old enough to play on their own? All I have to do is keep vague, visual track of the boys. It's AWESOME!

There are other things we want to do--go to the beach (we'll get to do that in Florida), go swimming (if it ever warms up enough to get into the big pool!), go visit Ed's aunt and uncle on their horse farm (maybe on Sunday), participate in the library's summer reading program, go to the library's Wednesday night performances, go to another minor league baseball game, attend a military band performance at the Capitol one night, go to the Baltimore Aquarium or the Baltimore Science Museum. If we do any one of those things, great. If we do none of them, no big deal. I'm working on keeping the bar low and enjoying the mundane of everyday life. The big things are easy to enjoy. It's the little things that you have to look for sometimes.

School's Out!

We have had a busy couple of weeks, but the most important of all--school's out! Today was William's last day.

I got his picture:

Here's the funny thing, though. His last day was actually 6/14/2013. Anyone know how to fix that in Photoshop? LOL. That's pretty much the story of my life. (Never mind!)

Anyway, let's compare that to his first day of first grade:

And let's check him out on the last day of Kindergarten:

I have lots more catching up to do, but that will have to suffice for now. William gets the day off tomorrow, but summer day camp starts Monday. On to new adventures!

May Wrap-Up

May flew by so, so quickly. We are in the home stretch towards summer vacation (2 more weeks) and even though our summer schedule is pretty much the same as our school-year schedule, I'm looking forward to the slightly less hectic pace. I'm working on vacation plans for the week of the 4th; really, really looking forward to my girls' weekend at the end of June; really, really, really looking forward to our family vacation in Mexico at the end of the summer (all-inclusive resort near Puerto Aventuras), and hoping to make the most of the pool and the beach and all the other opportunities summer has to offer.

One of my summer wish list items for the past 3 summers has been to grow tomatoes or other vegetables. This spring, I finally got on that and bought and planted a cherry tomato plant and a pepper plant. The tomato has grown like gangbusters (it really needs a bigger pot) and the pepper is doing great, too. So far, I have been hand-picking insects and bugs off of the plants. I don't want to use pesticides, so I need to research some "safe" repellants. (And order some lady bugs, and maybe a praying mantis? Can you order a praying mantis? LOL) But we seem to be okay for now. We have about 6 tomatoes growing, and lots of flowers blooming.

We're also growing a Venus's fly-trap, and that looks great, too. I'm feeling pretty proud of my mad green-thumb skillz. (Of course, it's been a very wet, cool spring, so it probably has nothing to do with me. The hard part is yet to come!) And the boys, especially Seth, love watching their plants grow. Seth has decided he wants to sell the tomatoes for $1 each when we pick 'em. Go for it, buddy!

Finally, I need to recap our Memorial Day weekend. We were busy, visiting friends, getting haircuts, and joining in our city festivities. On Sunday, we celebrated Ed's cousin's baby's first birthday. After the birthday boy dug into his cake, he started breaking out in hives around his mouth and on his arms and legs. His parents asked me about my experience with William and his allergic reaction to peanuts. I told them that I gave William Benadryl, so someone went out to buy some. When they got back, I offered to squirt it into his mouth, although Ed's cousin was pretty skeptical that the baby would swallow the medicine. I sort of laughed at him in that "let an expert do the job" kind of way. (The universe will always find a way to knock you down a few notches when you start to think you know everything. LOL) As his mom held the baby, I squirted the Benadryl in his mouth, (aiming at the back of his throat) which he promptly spit back out (all over his mother) and then he proceeded to throw up all over his mother. It was awesome. Thankfully, the mom laughed hysterically, the baby was fine (felt great after a bath and opening some presents!), and they didn't hold me personally responsible.

On Monday, we woke up at our usual time and at the last minute, decided to take part in our city's 3K fun run. We made it to the starting line on time and started running. At first, Seth was not happy about how many people were there, but then he started running and I had a hard time catching up with him. Ed got lost in the crowd, as well, so I was trying to keep my eye on both boys by myself. We ran for about half a mile and then ran-walked another half mile, and then William found a friend and started walking, and Seth decided he was done. So I carried Seth the last .8 miles of the race while William happily chatted it up with his friend.

Later that afternoon we walked back to the "town center" for the festival and then marched in the town parade--William with his Taekwondo studio and Seth and me with the baseball league. Thankfully the weather was awesome--sunny but not too hot. And while I was tired and sore, it was a very happy tired and sore. Can't beat that!

To Hell with Time and Dead Fish

I am stressed and tired, and while I had intended to write a post about how sometimes, I just have to say "to hell with time" and stop trying to cram in the regular routine each and every school night, instead, I need to vent about dead fish. And screaming kids. And a messy house.

So today, the boys had their well doctor visits--5 year for Seth and 7 year for William. They are both great, but Seth had to get two shots. He hates shots. And now the entire building 3-story building knows this. I heard our nurse say to another, "We've got a screamer--I need some help." Fortunately, she was experienced and quick. It took Seth a little while to calm down. Our 3:00 appointment finally ended at 4:30 and I agreed to stop and get ice cream on the way home. (I think I needed the ice cream more than Seth did.)

I had also told William that we could stop at Pet Smart on the way home to finally get fish for his aquarium. We've been "cycling" the aquarium for 2 weeks, so he's been very anxious to get fish. He decided on 4 neon tetras and a ghost shrimp. We brought them home but before we even got the bag upstairs, two of the tetras were dead. We acclimated the two that were left and the ghost shrimp, and the boys went outside to play. We came back in and put the two alive fish and the shrimp in the tank and then headed out to Pet Smart to replace the two dead fish. We stopped at McDonald's on the way home and got home around 7:30. We let the new bag of fish float on the tank and noticed that another tetra was now dead, as well as the shrimp  WTF? After the boys ate we headed upstairs, skipped bath, put on PJs, and saw that two more of the fish did not look well. By the time reading was done, we had 6 dead tetras and a shrimp. William was upset and stressed out and I feel really bad. We had the water tested on Sunday and it tested fine. The woman at Pet Smart said it should be fine for the fish.

I did some Googling, and it could be the water temp is too cold. It could be that we didn't acclimate them long enough. I was supposed to incrementally put water from the aquarium into the bag before putting the fish into the tank. Apparently, neon tetras are a bit "fussy" so maybe we should consider something else. Poor William. It's so hard when expectations are dashed.

So now I'm researching neon tetras and aquarium cycling and acclimation, instead of cleaning up downstairs (Ed is playing hockey tonight--otherwise, he'd be doing the cleaning) or reading, or taking a shower to wash this stinkin' day off of me.

Getting back to the whole the-hell-with-time thing, it can be really stressful to get everything done each night that we need to get done and still get the boys to bed by 8:30 p.m. (I'd really like to have lights out at 8:00 p.m., but it just hasn't been possible. And even 8:30 is sometimes pushing it.) When  we get home, I want them to have time to play. I want them to get outside time, to play with neighbors, to chill out and have time to do whatever THEY want to do. And yet, William has homework to do, and he has to read for 15 minutes and I have to make dinner and they have to eat and they have to clean up toys (if they even got a chance to play with toys) and they have to take a bath and brush their teeth. And of course they want me to read to them and I WANT to read to them. It's too much! I'm looking forward to summer, where we'll at least have no more homework to have to worry about. But I still want William to read every night. I still want to get him to write every day. And I want to work on sight words with Seth. And we're still not going to get home until 6:00 p.m. every day.

When school starts in the fall, Ed and I are hoping to hire a babysitter for 3 days a week, and we'll enroll the boys in the aftercare program the other 2 days. William will be moving to the 2nd-5th elementary school, and they have designated homework time during the aftercare, so that should help. I'm also hoping having a babysitter will help with after school activities and play dates. But still, it's only going to get worse--harder to juggle--as the boys get older and get more homework and projects and are required to read for longer periods and want to participate in more activities. So I better stop whining and we better just come up with ways to deal with it.

In the meantime, as we all agree, it's okay to have days where we eat ice cream, and McDonald's, and go to Pet Smart twice, and skip baths even though we're sweaty and dirty, and don't go to sleep 'till 9:00 and leave the messy house for tomorrow (or for the husband who will be cranky when he arrives home late to said messy house--but to hell with him, too! LOL).

Hopefully, my next post will be a lot more cheerful than this one. (Remind me to tell you about Memorial Day Weekend--the fun run! The parade! Making Ed's cousin's baby barf!) If not, you'll forgive me, right?

Birthday Party and Mother's Day Recap

A boring post title for what was definitely an UN-boring weekend. We had William's birthday party on Saturday, in the late-afternoon, at an indoor swim place. It was so much fun! As usual, my mom was a HUGE help and I don't know how I'll every manage a birthday party without her. We ended up with 18 kids, and after swimming for 2 hours, the kids changed out of the their swimsuits and we had pizza and cupcakes and then they got to play on the playground 'till it was time to go home. I ended up swimming with the kids almost the whole time--mostly because Seth wanted to swim in the areas that were over his head. It was super fun, though. Unfortunately, as per usual, I got no pictures of the party. My camera broke right before the party, and my mom had hers, but the flash wasn't working. And my iPhone battery died. D'Oh! But since I never take pictures anyway, I guess it doesn't really matter.

I did manage to take a picture of the leftover cupcakes, the day after the party. We had a shark theme, so we made shark cupcakes. These are looking a little haggard, but you get the idea:

William's actual birthday was Monday, and I did manage to get a picture of him in his new Minecraft shirt (a gift from Seth):

And Seth and I went to his school for lunch and shared ice cream sandwiches with friends. Here are Seth and William with one of William's good buddies:

Ed and I went back and forth for a while about what we wanted to give William for his birthday and we finally decided that we would give him an aquarium. He was THRILLED when he opened it. He kept hugging and thanking us. We went to the pet store on Monday after school and bought the decorations for the tank--gravel, plants, a pirate ship and a rock formation. We set it all up later that day, and we'll pick out the fish this weekend. It may end up being a lot of hassle, but I think it will be totally worth it.

On Mother's Day, William woke me up at 6:30 a.m. to give me the gifts he made for me at school. He had managed to hide them from me all week, and even tried to play it cool by saying they hadn't actually made anything for the moms at school. But in fact, he had written a book for me! Here are a few pages:

I'm so touched and I know it took a lot of effort on his part to put it all together. I was especially impressed with the handwriting on the first page. I can't wait to show this book to William's future wife one day! The rest of Mother's Day was lovely, with breakfast out, and then dinner at our house with my mom and Ed's parents and his sister and brother-in-law. So really, I couldn't have asked for a better weekend. I hope all of you moms who are reading this--all of you who inspire me and support me and laugh with me and lift me up--felt just as blessed as I did.

Happy 7th Birthday William!

Dear William,

Happy birthday to the most amazing 7 year old I know. I am blown away by the kid that you've become this year--blown away by the fact that I am now a mom to a big kid! Your 7th year has been full of changes and new challenges and lots of fun. You finished up kindergarten, went to several new summer camps and learned to swim, traveled to Florida (twice) and North Carolina, stayed at the beach, started 1st grade, slept over at Charlie's and Peyton's, performed in your school musical, spent lots of time riding your bike, grew 3 inches, and learned to play Minecraft. You still found time to snuggle with your mom and let her read Harry Potter and lots of other books to you. For that, I'm very grateful!

At age 7, you love to play video games--mostly Minecraft and your DS games. You love your school, your teacher (Ms. Lightbourne), your friends, and most of the time, you even love your brother. You love to ride your bike (especially when Jack and Charlie ride with you), and you love to swim. You even asked me when you could take more swim lessons. Finally! You still take Taekwondo (you've gotten really good!) and you're playing t-ball this year. You still love to draw and get very focused when you're drawing pictures and making up stories. You are so imaginative and interesting and so much fun to be around.

Daddy and I are so proud of you--of how hard you try in school, of what a good friend and brother you are, of how thoughtful and caring you are, and how inquisitive and curious you are. You are quick to laugh and love to be silly. You adjust easily to new situations and are not afraid to try new things. And you love to learn new things. I hope you will always keep your open mind and loving heart.

Now that you are 7, I can no longer deny that you are your own, very unique person. You are so independent now, and so capable and so ready for new responsibilities and new challenges. Daddy and I love you so much and we will do our best to help you continue to grow and learn and be the best person you can be. It's really hard for us to figure out when to hold on and when to let go, so cut us some slack if we don't always get it right. Just know that no matter what, we will always love you and we are always here when you need us. We hope your 8th year of life will be just as fun and interesting and happy--full of new things to learn, new adventures to discover, new friends, new interests, and new skills. We hope you've had a wonderful birthday, and that you feel treasured and loved and valued and safe--today and always. Thanks for being such a great kid. We can't wait to see what the next year brings. Happy birthday William! We love you.

Camping, FTW

This past weekend, we took the boys camping at a nearby campground. Some of you may remember our last attempt at camping 3 years ago. That time, it did not turn out well. This time, however, it was a hit!

Our camping consists of car camping, so we pack our car with everything but the kitchen sink. We had to borrow a 4-person tent from a friend, and I bought an air mattress so Ed and I would be more comfortable. But we already have all of the other supplies we need--sleeping bags, camp chairs, camp table, propane lantern, propane stove, water pot, utensils, charcoal, lighters, matches, kindling, etc., etc. The campsite we chose is on a bay off the Potomac River. You could walk to the water and rent a kayak or canoe. Our plan was to set up camp and then go kayaking for an hour. But when we got there, it was way too windy to kayak. A few brave people were out in the water, but they were going nowhere, And one couple even got tossed into the water by the wind. When the boys heard that, they quickly agreed that we would have to try kayaking another day.

Instead, they played on the two playgrounds and we took a short hike through the woods.

Back at our campsite, Ed got our campfire going and the boys raced back and forth between our campsite and the playground, which was practically right across from our campsite. Score!

Seth quickly met the family at the campsite next to ours. They happened to have a daughter the same age as Seth (Aleena), and the two of them became fast friends. After we ate dinner (hot dogs cooked over the campfire), Aleena's father and brother played Monkey in the Middle with Seth and William for a solid hour while Ed and I sat back and relaxed. Why yes! We'd love for complete strangers to entertain our kids, thank you! Once we started roasting marshmallows for s'mores, Seth declared that Aleena's campfire was much better than ours, and he took the bag of marshmallows and his roasting stick to their campsite. I'm surprised he didn't ask them if he could sleep in their pop-up! (He probably did and I'm just not aware of it. LOL.) BTW--this time around, the boys enjoyed the s'mores quite a bit more than the last time.

When it was finally time to go to sleep, we walked across the path to the bathrooms (no roughing it for us--we like bathrooms with electricity and hot water) to wash up and brush teeth. Once in the tent, we read books and William fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. It didn't take Seth long to fall asleep, either, and Ed and I hung out by the fire and enjoyed the peace for a little bit longer. William slept like a log the entire night. Seth woke up once with leg pains, but fell back asleep after I rubbed his legs for a little while. Ed, and I, however, did not sleep at all. It got pretty chilly (although the boys did not seem to notice), and I was feeling the full effects of a sinus infection. The air mattress was comfortable enough, but we just couldn't get settled. I think we both finally dozed off just before dawn. So that part of the trip sucked.

It was worth it, however. The boys woke up excited and we made bacon, eggs, and pancakes for breakfast. While the boys played on the playground (with Aleena and her brother and father again), we packed up our campsite (why does it take twice as long to pack than it does to unpack?). We got back to our house around 11:00 a.m. And then I had to turn around and head back to the campsite because William had left his jacket on the playground. D'oh!

I made it back in time for our annual spring block party, where we rented this for the kids on our street:

I'd say it was pretty much a perfect weekend for the kids!