When I Was Your Age

Ok, let's talk friends. If my parents thought we were acting even a tiny bit spoiled this is what we got, the ol' line. 'When I was your age, we didn't have buses. We walked to and from school. In the rain or shine. Uphill (both ways). With no shoes.'

So here I am, thinking the same thing. Except mine goes something like this:

'When I was your age, we didn't have to be at a different field EVERY SINGLE night. Our play time was NOT scheduled. We came home and PLAYED outside, until either the street lights came on or my mom rang the dinner bell. We road (banana seat) bikes for HOURS. Played in the next neighborhood~without our parents worrying (or insisting on going with us). We went to our friends house to watch cable or play Atari. We couldn't afford such luxuries. There was no such thing as juice boxes, 100 calorie packs, and cell phones. We had to WAIT UNTIL WE GOT HOME to tell someone something or to call them. We didn't even have call waiting or an answering machine when I was really little. There were no remote controls. My older sister used to bully me into turning the channel-so she could watch Mash. We didn't get to choose our clothes or demand the ones with the label. We wore hand-me-downs and patched the knees in our pants if they ripped. We didn't know what pedicures were. We were not constantly entertained with Nintendo DS's, car tvs, ipods. We played the license plate game or I Spy when we were in the car. We had to write out all our homework or type it on a TYPEWRITER. There were no computers. All our toys didn't make sounds or talk. We used our imaginations for that stuff. We didn't come home with a trophy unless we actually won something. (In my house) we went to church-even on holy days and vacations. We said please and thank you, every time, or else. Gimmie, gimmie, never got. In our day, it was simple. You don't know what you are missing.'

Got Cheese?

Cherub 3 has learned how to whine. He can also turn it on and off in a heartbeat. I was really hoping that he would just skip this phase altogether-being cherub 3 and all. He is almost 6 and it hadn't kicked in yet so you can see how I was optimistic. Today, it was over his waytoosmall Patriots shirt. No, you can't wear it to school with your belly hanging out! This put him into a tizzy filled with whining and Iwantmyshirt tears. Blech.

He needs some cheese to go with his whine. Ughh!

Ticks & Taxi

It starts as your normal sleepover. Middle & baby nephew were sleeping over last night. We had a ball. Played outside, inside & ordered pizza for dinner. They put on a play and concert and soon got ready for bed.

That is when cherub 2 said his head hurt. I checked the spot and found a tick. I started the de-ticking process but I COULDN'T GET IT ALL OUT! Since the tweezers are still in the land of lost things from our move, removing a stubborn tick with my hands, tissues and nail clippers was NOT working.

So...

Because hubby was still on a plane and my closest neighbor is away, I called my sister's house to see if they could help. (I know, I know, I already felt stupid asking for help, don't rub it in.) BIL drove over, put on his CAPE and came to the rescue with his tweezers. After completion of operation de-ticking, BIL de-caped, said goodnight to my nephews, I thanked him and he went home.

So...

That obviously made bedtime a little delayed making the cherubs were pretty tired. I sang the cherub's 2, 3 and baby nephew to sleep, then tucked in cherub 1 and middle nephew.

Then...

Middle nephew came downstairs in tears. He couldn't sleep. (Probably all our bug discussing from earlier was freaking him out on top of being overtired.) So, I gently wiped his tears and coaxed him back upstairs. He moved into the room with all the boys. Worked? Nope. In tears, he came down again. I gently wiped his tears and coaxed him back upstairs. We tried books, then a DS (hey, I was desperate), and called BIL. I was hoping if he said goodnight over the phone, he would be able to fall asleep. We called BIL back again. He tried, but middle nephew wanted to go home.

So...

BIL put his cape back on, drove back here, again, to taxi middle nephew home. When they were leaving I joked that I would call him back in 30 minutes or so. That way he could come back AGAIN and maybe just hang out that time.

I tried to give Big Sis and BIL a nice night by taking the kids. In the end...notsomuch.

Plus...

I feel itchy. I feel like the ticks are everywhere!

Full Circle

Help. I am drowning in 9 yr old sassyness. Cherub 1 has two friends over (who are adorable and sweet). Unfortunately, cherub 1 is in total show off mode. That is otherwise known as the torture.your.younger.brothers.to.show.off.mode. I just gave her the "I will bring your friends home right now" line.

I am FRUSTRATED and I have come full circle. I officially sound like my mother.

Scary.

Oil & Water

Oil & water. They don't mix. That is cherub 1 & 2. It doesn't matter what they play together...they start to fight. This morning-Pixie Sticks. I taught them the 'do over' rule in case they started to disagree on if someone moved a stick or not. That didn't help onelittlebit.

Pixie Sticks turned brawl.
Mommy took it away.
The end.
Sigh.

M.O.T.H.E.R.H.O.O.D.

Magical moments trump frustrating ones
Only a little bit of sanity left
Three kids makes me totally outnumbered
Have eyes in the back of my head
Every day prepare for a new adventure
Riddled with guilt over everything
Heart grows bigger everyday
Old and gray from tantrums & lack of sleep
Over the moon in love with my cherubs
Doth knows no greater responsibility

Ecotarium Excitement

Today we went to the Ecotarium with RLF, J & her girls. So much fun. We made wind, thunder, looked at (creepy) little pond creatures, saw an adorable polar bear, rode the train, and lots of other cool stuff! Here are a few moments captured:


Cherub 2: Our little scientist in the making. He stayed at all the little stations just a tad longer than the others. He loves to figure out how things work and check out all the details. Reminds me so much of hubby.


Cherub 1: Popped in and out of all the stations. She had a ball with the girls and literally blended right into the landscape! Peek-a-boo.


Cherub 3: Kept running ahead (and giving me a little heart attack). No worries mom, I was just abducted by aliens.


Cherub 2&3 with RLF, A waiting for the train to come!

it's an UPHILL climb

Literally. My personal trainer has me doing stairs this week. Ouch. After going up and down three times my legs start to burn. Not in a good way. By the 5th time up I am slightly winded. Sure, I can do this (not).

So, how many times can you do your stairs without feeling winded? Go ahead, try, then let me know.

The Yes Gal

I love school vacation for three reasons. The obvious reason, I get to spend time with my kids! Second, I am happy for them. They are free to roam the world without a schedule. They play, play, play and play some more. I love listening to them giggle and play creatively with their friends. There is nothing in this world sweeter than a child's giggle.

The third reason I love school vacation is purely selfish. I love being the "good guy", a.k.a., the yes gal. I get to take a break from the nos that make me a mean mom. I don't have to say no to more play time because we have to do homework. I can say yes to sleepovers, playdates, and more impromptu adventures. I can even say yes to staying up late! We are all having way more fun because it is vacation!

Being the yes gal is way.way.way better than being the no gal.

Casanova

Cherub 2's teacher (who I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE) shared this picture with me today. She has it as her screen saver at school. Cherub 2~ one of her three little casanovas.

(Cherub 2 is on the far right...goofing it up with his buddies.)

Ask him how his morning went?

To read this post, you must know two things; one, not much at all razzles hubby in life and two, he is just getting over the flu and was still feeling feverish this morning.

Set the Scene:
I remind him that his tire is low.
He drives to gas station.
Fills tire with air.
Fills car with gas.
Fills himself with coffee.
Drives to work.

At 10:30am the phone rang. Now remember, nothing much razzles him out of his Cape Cod casual ways.

H: Hi. What are you doing right now?
(Hearing his panic, I thought my Dad had another heart attack.)
Me: What is wrong?
H: What are you doing?
Me: What does it matter! Honey, what is wrong?
H: Where are you?
Me: At home, why?
H: (Pauses.)
Me: Just tell me. What is wrong?
(Now I am freaking out on the inside.)
H: (Full fledge diarrhea of the mouth. All this came out in onebigbreath.) Well, you know how I don't feel that good? Well I got air, gas and coffee this morning. When I got to work I realized I didn't have my gas cap and then I couldn't remember taking the gas pump out of my car. OMG, I think I left it in my car and drove off. I tried to call the gas station and NO ONE WILL ANSWER. What if someone GOT HURT!? Can you drive over there right now?

(I then took my first breath realizing my Dad was fine. Yes, then I felt slightly panicked hubby may have drove off by accident with the pump in his car taking out innocent gas go-ers by causing a bad explosion or something.)

Me: Honey, call again. I am sure it is ok. Call me b-
H: (Interrupts me.) OMG, I will the Dunkin Donuts in the gas station. I'll do that.

(Click.) (Wait, wait, wait.) Next call:

Me: Did you reach anybody?
H: (Again, all in onebigbreath.) Yes, the Mobile is now a Gulf, that is why they didn't answer. They have the cap because someone found it and turned it in.
Me: Who cares about the dumb cap. Is everybody ok.
H: Yes. I asked if everything was ok and told him I may have drove off with the hose. He said everything was fine. Thank God. I was afraid I had hurt somebody.
Me: Maybe you should come home and go to bed. I think you might still be feverish.

I called him at 2:30pm just to make sure he was ok and didn't have any other major almost catastrophes. Clearly, he needs sleep and maybe a good antibiotic?

Takin' a Break

Dear World,

I have to take a break. I don't know how you all stay awake all day. Usually I do but today, notsomuch. See, I worked very hard at Kindergarten today. I did math today. I learned to read words like eight, nine, and ten today. I also played outside in the fresh air at recess. While waiting for my soup to cook at lunchtime, I was frustrated that my craft wasn't working so I crumbled it up and disappeared upstairs to have myself a good old fashioned tantrum. To be honest, I didn't last long. This is how mommy found me. All snuggled up.

Love,
Too pooped to woop, cherub 3

~because I said so~

Why is it that kids can push our buttons to the point where we feel like our heads might explode. Cherub 1 is better and is going to school today. I asked her to get in the shower (at least 5 times). She fought me, on and on, and on and on. Finally, exasperated, I rose my voice, and told her to "move it!" and get in the shower.

My mother used to say jump and I jumped, very high. What is wrong with this generation of kids that clearly feels like it is their right to question everything their parents ask them to do.

How about next time she questions me about going in the shower, I say this, "because I said so". Just like my mother did. There was no room for discussion. No debate. Nothing.

Resisting Temptation

Sick Hubby. Then sick cherub 1. Now sick cherub 2. Not only are cherub 3 and I hiding, but we are stir crazy. Once spring hits everyone wants to be in outside so somehow when we are having a 'sick day' and we're stuck inside, the day seems long. It was boring for cherub 3 and a little challenging for me.

Why? For me it means I am in the kitchen too much, making magic toast, getting drinks, soup, etc. So today, I struggled. But.I.Resisted.The.Bad.Habits. I did not grab handfuls of food (fine, junk food) because I was stir crazy. That was the old me.

I
stopped
and
asked
myself
first-
am I hungry?

And now? I am heading to the treadmill to watch American Idol while I exercise.

Who's the crazy lady talking to her ankle?

I have taken to talking to my ankle. I know, it is crazy. The thing is, my ankle has been getting a work out. See, now I have two PT's. A physical therapist for my ankle injury and a personal trainer for my total body makeover. The first PT is training my ankle. The second is training me.

Back to the talking thing.

So with strengthening & balancing workouts coupled with cardio workouts, my ankle is a.little.mad.at.me. So, I keep whispering things like, "you can do it ankle, keep on going, turn to the right, stretch, here's the ice you are begging for".

No, it doesn't answer me back. (I talk to my ankle, I don't hear voices. I am not that crazy. Yet.)

Hopefully, in time, my answer will come with a.great.long.run!

A New Start

I have officially made the choice-to live healthier, be there for my kids, live longer. Got myself a personal trainer. I am going on Monday to start the process, get on a 12 week plan. A plan to change my life. Forever. My personal trainer is my friend. However, she told me...I will learn to hate her. Hmmm.

I am a little nervous to share with her my *ahem* B.I.G. measurements. She told me to "let it go, let it go". I also have to take a 'before' picture. Again she told me to "let it go, let it go". I told her I could take the picture under one condition, I was wearing a t-shirt. No, biggest loser, take a picture in your sports bra for me. Thankyouverymuch.

So, diet changes. Ok.
Excercise. Bring it on.
Cut down on beer/wine. Ummm?

I already found my area of weakness and I haven't even started.

Are you Robbable?

I know that this is going to sounds stupid but what makes a crook? Why does someone one day just decide, gee, I think I will steal something. I was watching the news (my first mistake) because I needed a distraction from my job applications. Why do some people give themselves the right to steal?

Hubby wanted a big, obnoxious wide screen tv for a really long time. But. He.did.not.steal.one. He waited until there came a time that the money didn't have to go to this or that and finally BOUGHT one. Imagine that.

See, this is why I don't watch the news. Stealing. Murder. Bad stuff. Stuff that when I hear about it, it makes me stress a little. There was a break-in in my town last night. That freaks me out. Although, I am pretty sure the robbers will skip my house though because first, they know there is no money here. Nada. Zilch. Second, it is a certainty that they would probably trip on a pile of toys, jackets, sports equipment, or clothes (basically insert pile of something here) as soon as they walked in. The callosal noise of this trip would give them away. Lastly, our watch dog (sleeping, actually) will definitely scare them away. Not. Actually, she would just be one more thing to trip the robbers because she is so deaf now she wouldn't get out of the way if they were walking in.

So, off goes the news. Next time I need a break from my applications, I will find something else to do.

Are you twitching?

Who else is starting to watch people's faces to see if they are lying? The new show LIE TO ME is a pretty cool, solve the mystery type of show where this guy tries to figure out if people are lying in police investigations, etc. Did they flinch, squint their eyes, look to the left, twitch their lip. Etc.

In real life, one of my friends actually twitches her lip if she is fibbing or lying. It is obvious, she can't hide it. Even if she tries. We always tease her and tell her she is doing that lip thing. She can't lie, even if it is the smallest thing (do you want Chinese food tonight, did you kiss him in high school, are you mad at her?) No lying. We catch her every time!

Pay it Forward

I went to the store to run a quick errand today and their was an older woman wondering the parking lot, clearly lost. I watched a bunch of people look at her, watch her and keep on going. I carefully approached her, another woman joined me, to see if we could help. She, near tears, explained that she couldn't remember where she parked.

I found her car for her, the other woman drove her to it, but we both feared that she wouldn't be alright to find her way home. She admitted that she recently had recovered from a stroke. She insisted she was fine...and went on her way. Scary, how the mind works, and then doesn't work. I know someday it could be me (feels like me already sometimes-wink).

Life is short. Pay it forward.

X Marks the Spot

Cherub 2 loves school. He pays attention, he works hard, he engages in each lesson. However, cherub 2 is having a little (fine ALOT) of trouble zipping it at school. In other words, he is disrupting the teacher and the class. Cracking jokes, talking out of turn, talking, talking, talking. Period. Daily, he comes home with an index card and receives a smiley face for a good day, an X for each "blurt out blaster" he gets. Basically whenever he "blurts" out of turn. X makes a notsogood day. When he has received an X, we have grounded him at home. It worked for a couple of days. Now today, X again.

X stands for Xtra frustrated. X stands for Xtra disappointed. X stands for Xtra outta ideas to get him to understand....STOP TALKING.

There is a First for Everything...Updated!

My Dad is Mr. Safety, Mr. On-Time. He is always early. Never procrastinates. He never lets his gas go under a 1/2 tank. Ever. He'll tell you, you never know when you will get lost or hit 2 hours of non-stop traffic. He always reminds us to watch out for the black ice and wet leaves when driving (or running). These pieces of advice always have kept us and our friends safer.

Today he stopped by with Mom to visit and was in MAJOR disbelief as hubby told him that his inspection sticker had expired in February-2 months ago! This never happens in Dad's world. Ever. He laughed, turned red and put it immediately on his list of to-do's for tomorrow. It's ok Dad, we've all done FAR WORSE.

UPDATE/Monday: Mom just called me laughing because when they got home from our house yesterday they found her sticker was expired as well! I told her to tell Dad to watch out because he was starting to make ME look organized (truly, being less organized than me would rattle him).

Rules?

Over RLF's house last night we were all swapping stories over drinks. The usual. One of our friends (side note-the NICEST person) told us she gave her hubby rules before they got engaged. She said he couldn't chew tobacco and had to graduate from college. My mouth dropped. Who new you could make rules!

What would your rules be?

Mine would be that 1)chivalry should not die and 2)a little romance should hang around in a marriage every once in a while-even if there are three kids floatin around.

What was the last romantic thing your hubby did for you?

Seriously, friends, I am easy to please. I consider helping me in with the groceries romantic!

Whopper of All Jokes

Sigh. One of my favorite days has come and gone. April Fool's Day. This year, the whopper of jokes was played on hubby. By me. Here goes...

April Fool's Eve
Hubby came home late and was grumping at me over something. I decided since I was tired and already frustrated that he wasn't able to come home for dinner on the week that he wasn't traveling, I would rather spend the night reading in bed than listening to him pick a fight and then fight with him over nothing. So that is what I did.

The plotting begins.

April Fool's Morning
I woke up, got the kids ready, got their stuff ready, fed them, got myself ready. Almost off to the bus and work.

Hubby woke up, got himself ready, off to work.

(Hmmm.) Time to put my master plan to work.

April Fool's Mid-Morning
I arrived at work and the April Fool's Day jokes and stories were flying. At my first break, I emailed hubby to tell him that I was pregnant. In the emailed I explained that I would have told him the night before in person but he was late and CRANKY so there it is. The news...laid right out on email. He FREAKED. He freaked so much that he didn't ask me if it was a joke...at first.

April Fool's A Tiny Bit Later
Hubby's co-worker asked him what was wrong and he told him the news. Co-worker asked if it could be a joke b/c of the day. Hubby emailed me:

H:Is this a joke?
Me:No joke my friend.

Co-worker: Well?
H: (Totally lied to co-worker.) Yup, it's a joke. INSIDE, FREAKING OUT.

April Fool's High Noon
Hubby has emailed me twice, called me twice. I wrote back that I was teaching a class and couldn't talk. I would call him later. Co-worker asked him to go out for lunch. He said no. He couldn't eat. Too upset.

April Fool's Mid Afternoon
Hubby canceled one of his meetings. Too stressed to handle that issue at the time. Tries to reach me by email. No luck.

April Fool's Evening
Hubby came home at 5:30pm. Unheard of on the scale that is our life. He came in and walked right up to me. I (in the most evil manner) managed to put tears in my eyes.
H:Is this real?
Me: Yes.
H:Seriously?
Me: Yes.
H:Well, we aren't ready for this. We can't do this. You are going back to work. The kids are old. You told me you don't feel healthy for this. The doctor said it isn't safe.

On and on and on and on.

April Fool's A Tad Bit Later
H: Let's go outside and play baseball. (Forehead sweating.)

I called RLF, Kris, and discussed the ways I should tell him since it was definitely time to tell him. He was losing it.

Me: Hubby, do you want a beer? (Crack open a beer and hold out to him.)
H:It is going to take more than a beer to fix this!
Me: (Crack open a second beer and hold it up in the "cheers" stance.)
H:What are you DOING?
Me: What? I thought you would like to cheers the fact that we aren't pregnant?
H: WHAT?
H: Hides face, wipes eyes FURIOUSLY. Still denies to THIS DAY that he cried from frustration, happiness, RELIEF.

I know, I was pure evil. But it was SO fun.

April Fool's Day-The Morning After
H: You REALLY should not have done that. It wasn't NICE.

Happy April Fool's Day. Next year I might have to watch my back. :o)