Bullet point post

A great weekend! Aaron and I have come to an understanding - I try to curb my desire to plan and schedule the crap out of every weekend, and he is working on going out with the kids and playing instead of wanting to stay home and work on the house. We are working on it. This was a long weekend, and Aaron arrived home from his trip on Saturday morning. We did a lot of fun little things:

• First, I am happy to report that all was right in the world when Maggie got home to find a pool there. Both kids had a blast in it
  

• One downfall is that Cam would not put on a swim diaper nor a bathing suit. So I let him go in naked. And now he INSISTS on being naked in the pool. Which is fine at home, but what about other places? Anyone else deal with this? I'm talking about full on sobbing when I try to get a bathsuit/swim diaper on




• I went to spin class Saturday morning! I haven't been to the gym in ages, and it felt great.




• Saturday morning we went over to help plant veggies with our family. Cam and Maggie were totally into helping - it was cute
  
  
  




• I wish I had the picture of Maggie basically covered in dirt (you can see her in the picture above, she sat next to me while I planted and dumped dirt all over her legs) but my cousin's finger was on the lens




• This was all done with Aaron's cousins (this is the Aunt and Uncle that live in our same town - his Aunt considers our kids her grandkids - and they LOVE it there) is working a a project called Foodstalk - encouraging people to buy local food - check it out.




• Saturday night, we got a babysitter and went out for the longest date we ever have gone on - dinner AND a movie! We were out for 5 hours! Of course, it was with a big group of our family, but it was a blast. We saw Hangover 2 - totally worth it.




• Sunday morning we hit the local park and just played around the house. Aaron even mowed our neighbors lawn - they were away on vacation, and it was really long.




• Sunday morning we tried out a new breakfast place the next town over. It was great, and we realized that the Memorial Day parade would be starting soon. So we stayed. Cam and Maggie helped place flags at the town's veteran's memorial:

• And Cam waved his flag high!

The weekend ended with a picnic at our Aunt and Uncle's - and two super tired kids crashed when we put them to bed. And we did soon after

Friday Night Leftovers

• This morning was Maggie's 18 month check up. She is doing awesome. Which I already knew. She is almost 32 inches tall, and up to 26 pounds! So she had a big growth spurt.


• She also got shots. Which made her very mad at me.

• I'm hoping that my plan to get her a kiddie pool to play in will get me back in her good graces


• Remember the balance bike we got Cam for his birthday? He doesn't like it because "It no have pedals Momma".


• So a friend offered up her son's trike, and he is in heaven.


• Tonight, the big excitement will hopefully be Maggie in the kiddie pool and Cam pedaling around to his hearts content.


• And that is about all the plans we have for the weekend too - which is kind of cool

For more Friday Night Leftovers, visit Danifred!

On my own

Aaron is off with friends in New Mexico at a surprise party for a good friend, so I've been on my own with the kids. He'll be back for the long weekend - but I have to tell you, it's kind of no big deal anymore to have the kids alone. They are so easy. (perhaps jinxing myself?) And the weather FINALLY is glorious. So I get the kids off to daycare in the morning, and then, after work - I get them, eat a quick dinner, and then hang out outside until bedtime. It's a blast.

Speaking of dinner, I have been feeling a bit guilty about the kids food choices. I went on a tear for a while trying new things, but if I'm honest they eat only the following: eggs, waffles/pancakes, nuggets, french fries, PB & J, pasta, mac and cheese and grilled cheese sandwiches. And any type of fruit. No veggies. So I tried a couple new recipes recently - and while not all were a hit - Maggie freaking LOVES this one.

ENERGY BALLS (the 12 year old boy in me laughs at this)
1/4 cup finely grated carrots
1/4 cup rolled oats or Granola*
1/4 cup raisins
1/4 cup wheat germ
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
1 Tablespoon honey
3 Tablespoons peanut butter

Mix and roll into balls. I used granola - and such a hit. I got the recipe off this website, and I already made the meatballs (they weren't a HIT but Cam ate a few). Tonight I'm going to try the 'nugget' recipe.

Wordless Wednesday: Not Sharing

Learning new stuff - Video Tuesday!

This weekend, Maggie started saying things that make sense. Like 'outside!' and 'shirt'. Gotta love that girl, she goes from 0-60. I was slowly waking up while Aaron was getting her out of the bed, and I could hear the cutest exchange. Aaron had opened up the curtains and was looking outside with Maggie:

A: Look at all the pretty flowers outside, Maggie.
M: Out SIDE!
A: Laughing - That's right Maggie! Outside!
M: Out SIDE! Out SIDE! YEAH!

And she is just so god damn cute when she talks - it kills you. She would walk over to me - look up and say 'Shirt?' as she tried to take her shirt off. And when I said No - the look. She has this killer look that will serve her well in life, trust me. I've GOT to get a picture of it.

Here she is this morning. She now can get into her carseat all by herself, and she is VERY proud of herself. But today, she sat in the middle, and wouldn't get out.






Now Cam. His big excitement this weekend was figuring out how to pedal a bike. I have been trying to teach him - but I've found it's kind of a hard skill to teach. So I'd stopped trying - I knew he'd figure it out soon enough. We went to a party where there was a tennis court, and when I wasn't looking, hopped on someone else's trike and figured it out!

Tattoos

Well. We did it. I went on Friday, and Aaron went on Saturday. We both have pretty awesome tattoos.

Here is mine (on the inside of my right calf)

A take-off from Tertia's with more color and a cherry blossom.

And Aaron's is also awesome.

The kids are totally fascinated with them. And I just love love love both.

Anniversary

On May 22nd, we are celebrating our 7th wedding anniversary. 7 years seems so long, but so short all at the same. I feel like I've know Aaron my whole life, when we actually met in June of 2001.

We don't usually exchange gifts. We either go out to dinner or make something nice at home. But I've been pushing for a pandora bracelet for a while now, and I think he finally got the hint (as in he asked me today what size I would need). So I think I'll get all romantic and get him this:

Hahahahahhaa. Teasing. I saw this over at Rants From Mommyland and it totally cracked me up.

Teacher's gifts

I've been quilting with a group of friends for about 7 year now. Most of them have children, and I've seen them sew like crazy ladies for end of the year teacher gifts. And I thought they were a bit crazy.

And now, I'm doing the same thing. Cam is more than a little bit excited to move up to the pre-school room, and although he doesn't officially make the transition until July - he has been spending quiet a lot of time there. Here are the fireman pillowcases I told you about last week:

I brought them to daycare during naptime, and I think they were a hit. Although the look on one of the teacher's face was that she was expecting more. Sigh. Sometimes you can't win.

We love the music man

We had a super fun weekend, again. I have an awesome idea for my tattoo - and I'll wait to show you all until it's on. And permanent.

Let me share a heart-melting moment with Cam and Ed the Music Man.

Ed: Did we all tell our Mommy's that we loved them on Mother's day?
Cam: (stands up right in front of Ed) I LOVE MY MOMMY!
Ed: Great.
Cam: I LOVE MOMMY! (points at me)
Ed: Chuckles, and says - ok, who wants to learn a new song?
Cam: MEME!

Then they learn Skinny marinky dinky dink Skinny marinky doo, I love you. Skinny marinky dinky dink, Skinny marinky do - I love you!

And he ran around and sang me that song all day.

Damn it I love these kids.

Friday Night Leftovers

• This afternoon, Aaron and I are going for a consult on our family tattoos. Aaron is still sticking with the footprints. I'm undecided.


• I kind of want to do something like Tertia


• But then I like the idea of Cherry Blossoms. Like Nora's tree. I keep thinking about it - because you know what - those flowers blossom for about a week.


• Nora was with us for 6 days. When I made that connection, it freaked me out a little. Makes that tree even more perfect.


• We've got a low key weekend planned but it's funny how excited Cam is about it. We try to not tell him about stuff in advance (I learned my lesson with the whole Easter bunny thing) but his best friend's dad told him Weds that we are going together to see the Music Man on Saturday morning. Every morning he asks - We go Music Man Now?


• So. Saturday we go to the Music Man. I'll try to take a video


• And Sunday, we are going to see the Olivia movie with Cam's 'girlfriend'. My friend who lives 3 houses away has a daughter that is a week older than Cam.


• I'm starting the couch to 5K program on Monday. There will be a LOT of jiggling.

Wordless Wednesday

She had this smile all day. Love my mom.

My morning

Each morning, I wait until Maggie or Cam wakes up until I get out of bed. Or until after 7 AM - because the rule is that no one gets taken out of bed until at least 7 AM. I don't set an alarm, because someone is always making noise by 7:30 at the latest. And, even if they did sleep crazy late, most of the people I work with don't get in until 9. Usually, Cam wakes up and sings whatever song is in his head until I come get him. If I take too long, he assumes I'm taking a shower, and yells MAMA!? IN SHOWA!?!

Maggie sometimes wakes up first, and I grab her and let her run around while I get ready. She loves exploring our bedroom. But. In general, I wake up, get dressed, get Cam dressed, and then we go into Maggie's room. While I'm dressing Maggie (which is like trying to dress a weasel on crack) Cam usually explores her room, reading books, looking out the window... whatever.

Now that he is in a big boy bed, we've taken out a stool that we used to leave in his room. And - perhaps everyone remembers the great toy purge of two weeks ago? I found some huge floor pillows taking up way too much space in a closet, and decided on putting them in Maggie's room. Now, while I'm dressing Maggie, Cam climbs up on the stool, sings the ABC song (he has to sing the whole thing, and then he goes 1-2-3!), and then jumps off the stool onto the pillows. Laughs hysterically and then does it again and again. This morning, I wanted to video him singing the ABC song - because I'm sure this happens to all of you too - once he knows I'm taping, he either clams up or runs over and yells 'Wanna see ME!'.

Here is what I got:

It's a total fluke I got this on camera - because (after placing MANY more pillows) he never did this again. But seriously. SERIOUSLY.

Mother's Day

Aaron sent me an email a few weeks back, and asked if I wanted to go to the Red Sox on Mother's Day. Honestly, no. I didn't. But I knew my mother would want to - and she was ecstatic about it.

I'm sure it's the same in other cities,but when you go into the Boston for a Red Sox game, you need to gird your loins. Parking is at least $20, a beer inside the park is $8, and traffic SUCKS. And I'm not even an obsessive fan.

But MAN! Did we have fun!
Mom met me at 10, played with the kids for a little bit, and we headed off to the city.No traffic. Got near Fenway, and I pulled into a parking lot - and they said $45. HELL NO. Pulled out? And what was right there? A free, on street parking spot. Didn't even have to feed the meter - it was a Sunday!!!!

We had a nice lunch at a pub, got into the park right for the beginning of the game, and just had a wonderful time. The people sitting next to us were VERY sweet, and turned out there her brother is the Fire Chief in our little town - what are the odds?

We got home right as the kids were finishing up dinner - mom got to see Cameron's BIG BOY BED* and then she headed home. We all went outside and planted flowers under Nora's tree - which look beautiful, and was a total non-event. We told Cam that this was Nora's tree, and that Nora was his sister. He paused. said Norwa? And then turned away and said - I have shovel! Wanna dig! So that was a lot of stressing for nothing.

* Cam has had a big boy bed in his room forever because I had visions of him climbing out of his crib since he is so tall. He never attempted once (which I think is because he is still is in a sleep sack). It takes up a lot of room, and he really had finally started to show signs of being ready for it. On Friday night, we put him in it - and it took Aaron a little bit to leave him - but he napped in it fine the next day. So Aaron took out the crib on Sunday! And he is SO proud of himself. 'I seep in BIG BOY BED!' he tells anyone he sees.

Friday Night Leftovers

• I need a really good cry. A full out, sob. Every time I start to cry, I manage to 'pull myself together' and stop. But I feel like if I could just have a real cry - I would feel better



• Work is annoying this week



• I saw Fast Five twice this week. Dwayne Johnson and Vin Diesel. Yum yum yum.



• I also need a real vacation. A real, carefree span of time where I can just have fun. Not hear any whining or crying, get drunk, have crazy hotel sex, get a massage, dress in a fun outfit and have a wonderful dinner.



• On the same theme - this weekend is Mother's Day. Aaron got me tickets to the Red Sox. I'm taking my mother - who loves the red Sox with a white hot passion. She is crazy excited. It's exactly what she wants to do.



• Me? I want to sleep in, get breakfast in bed and relax. Not drive into Boston.



• Oh, and a Pandora bracelet. I want one of those too.



• I am so very, very happy that it's Friday.

Go see Danifred for more Friday Night leftovers.

Soon

I know I don't talk much about Nora here. Not because I don't think about her, or wonder what she would be like, or that I don't miss her... but because I'm a wimp. Every time I have some downtime to think about it, I become overwhelmingly sad that I lost a baby. Watching Jen navigate through her loss of Luke makes me proud of her. She is SO strong. She got jewelry with Luke's footprint and initial. She got a picture taken of his name in the sand. I want to do those things. I do. Aaron and I still want those tattoos we talked about months ago. But I just can't bring myself to do it. It's too painful, too raw. And sometimes I feel like I'm not honoring Nora enough because I can't do it.

But I'm somehow able to talk about her tree. And the idea that we would, each year, go out as a family and plant some flowers at the base of her tree would be the opening to talk about Nora to the kids. Let her name be in their vocabulary, and let them know that they had a sister, but she isn't here anymore. And that we miss her very much and still love her.

I'm thinking that within the next few weekends, we are going to plant those flowers. I know it's going to be hard. Cameron is of this age where he gets things. And repeats things over and over again. So I have this fear that he'll be walking around saying - I have a sister Nora. We miss her (or whatever) over and over and it will just kill me. But they need to know about her and I need to do this.

It'll be hard, but I will.

The beach

So, this weekend was the annual trip to Ferry Beach, and this one was a little tough. Suzanne didn't make it to my house until 7:30 PM Friday night, and it's an almost 2 hour drive to where we were staying. We had a plan to get the kids totally ready for bed, and hope they slept in the car. Well. No chance of that happening! I like to call Suzanne the kid's Beloved, and they were both just so excited to see her that they were chattering away to her and singing songs and laughing the whole car ride. Better than crying, I guess.

Which is what happened when we got to the house we were staying at. Now, the Beloved Suzanne was chopped liver and they only wanted Mommy - who needed to unpack the car. Major meltdown. Cam wouldn't sleep in the tent, Maggie was hysterical... good times. I finally convinced Cam to sleep in the king sized bed with me, and Maggie passed out in the pack-n-play. But sleeping with Cam was awful. He was pretty much up all night - even managed to fall off the bed.

We got in the car on Saturday morning to finish the drive to Ferry Beach, and all went well. Everyone was super excited about the beach, and we had a great time playing. Problem was, in a few hours, Cam only wanted MAMA because he was tired. And whiny. Sigh.

What was the most fun was watching Maggie play in the sand. This was the first time she's been at the beach and old enough to really play. She loved it.

There was a very minimal nap time and more misery in the afternoon. I also brought loads of beach toys and ride on toys for my kids - and all the other children there used them.... and left them EVERYWHERE. I was SO tired by the lack of sleep and burned out from the incessant whining that I was ready to snap. Walking all around in the soft sand recovering toys was almost the straw that broke the camel's back. By the end, I was wondering if the fun at the beach was worth the stress.

I think it was. Cam loved playing with the 'big kids' on the beach - and everyone there was so nice to my kids. There were kites and sand castles to smash and drumming and even a little stream to play in. We headed back to the place we were staying for bedtime, and had a repeat of the meltdown from Friday night, but this time both Cam and Maggie slept really well.

In the morning, we went out for breakfast at a fun place, and then to a different beach - where the most fun was had climbing on rocks.

Beautiful weather, great time with our buddy Suzanne (or Sue ANNE as the kids calls her) - but I was happy to be home in our own bed. With Aaron, who is a suitable substitute to Mommy when babies are cranky.

Fun!

Maggie loves to draw. And paint. But every time I give her a crayon, chalk or marker, she eats it. Sometimes, I have given her water and brushes to 'paint' the chalkboard wall - which is a lot of fun... but kills Aaron because all the water on the wall and the floor is obviously NOT good for it.

I must admit, that some days, when I'm home alone with the kids - I let them go hog wild with the water and dry it all up before Aaron get home. They love this SO much.

This weekend, I decided to try Sidewalk Chalk Paint. We had just gotten home from the weekend at the beach. No one was napping, and the weather was beautiful. Couldn't have been a bigger success. Maggie sat there for over an hour playing with the paint - loving spreading it around when wet - and watching the fun design appear when it dried. AND it totally came off the driveway AND the kids easily. And I didn't care when she sucked it off the paint brush - no harm in eating cornstarch and water, I figure.

Sidewalk Chalk Paint:

Materials:

• 1/4 cup cornstarch



• 1/4 cup cold water



• 6-8 drops food coloring

Directions:

1. Mix cornstarch and cold water together



2. Add food coloring and stir



3. Repeat process to make different colors



4. Take paint outside and enjoy painting on blacktop