Ryan-isms

Disclaimer:
I feel like my "kid-bits" are mostly Ryan focused.  It's not because I favor him, I swear!  I don't know if it's his personality or what but he is the one who usually comes up with the wise cracks or the random funny things that I need to write down.  Maybe he'll grow up to become a comedian - who knows??

Again, these are both from Ryan.  Maybe I'll sit with Aidan and Erynn and force them to come up with stuff going forward.  I kid, I kid!!

"Hey Mom?  Does Boston have a car shop?  Like where you buy a car?"

Yes.

"Can you take me there so I can buy a car with my own money and then drive it home?  Not now.  When I'm a grown up."

Sure honey.

"Okay!  Thank you!"


I needed to go upstairs to get ready for all of us to go out to dinner and I hadn't had a chance to shower yet that day.  What?  A mother of three home and not having time to get herself ready for the day?  Shocking!

"Can you guys behave yourselves while I run upstairs and take a shower?
Ryan:  Yes!  Mom can you be beautiful like you were last time??
"What does that mean exactly?"
Ryan:  Last time you went out you were the most beautiful Mom I have ever seen!!

Awwwwww.

It's Monday........and I'm okay with that!

Who ever says that?   I know, I know, you're wondering if my crack pipe is still warm.  Or even hot for that matter.  I assure you, that was not one of the activities I picked up over the weekend.  But my weekend was just SO good that I didn't even mind waking up to a Monday morning.  Le sigh. 

Friday morning I had parent/teacher conferences for Erynn.  Truthfully I expected this meeting to go off without a hitch.  Erynn is not a worry.  Not bragging, honestly, just stating a fact.  She really is easy.....come on, how many times have I been told she is just like her Mother?  HA!  But seriously, I shit you not, Mrs. Cicci told me she wishes she had a class FULL of Erynn's.  Oh my.  I thought my heart was going to burst right out of my chest.  What Mom wouldn't want to hear that about her child?!  Mrs. C said that Erynn is a joy to be around.  Very easy going, always happy, always making sure that everyone is included.  She said if there is a child who is shy or on the "outskirts" of the group Erynn is the one who gets up, goes over and brings them in to play with everyone.  She is very motherly.  Yup, that's definitely my little girl.  I am so proud of her!!  Mrs. C asked what I was thinking about Kindergarten next year and I told her I've already enrolled Erynn in the full day class.  She said that's great and that Erynn is more than ready for it - that she thinks she'll do wonderfully.  YAY!  

Next stop was Aidan's school.  I volunteered to help his teacher, Mrs. Verlicco, sort books.  Oh my - I didn't know what I was in for lol.  She had a table stacked high plus a 3-shelf bookcase.   All of them were labeled with the numeric system but needed to be sorted and filed accordingly.  Mrs. V said she didn't expect me to do them all.  Does she realize who she had in her room?  ;-)   I had expected to be there for 3 hours so I knew I was most likely going to get it done.   First - that woman is a saint.  I have NO idea how she does what she does day in and day out.  Some of the kids in her class are TOUGH!!  They are fresh, they don't listen, they interrupt, they are rude.  OMG.  I was shocked.  When I arrived the music teacher was in there and he had about 10 min left.  He said he was disappointed that he didn't get to show the kids what was in the box of instruments he'd brought because some of them couldn't pay attention and stop talking so he didn't get to go through everything he intended on doing.  Awful.  It didn't get much better.  I now know why Mrs. V said there were definitely some kids she didn't see Aidan having playdates with and thank you Mrs V for steering me clear of them.  Aidan was very excited to have me in his classroom so his attention did wander a bit but I would sternly put him right back on course.  I wasn't there to distract, I was there to help out his teacher.  Lunch time rolled around and I was still sorting.  Aidan wanted me to eat with him, Mrs. V said it was up to me.  I had a raging migraine so the last thing I was up for was heading into a cafeteria with screaming children but how could I say no?  Interesting little tidbit.....parents are not allowed to eat in the lunchroom with children.  What?!   I was pulled out of the lunchroom by the Asst Principal.  Oh my.  She brought me in to see the Principal who informed me that they have a rule - parents aren't allowed.  Um, okay.  She said 1. they don't have enough seats.......2. they don't want the student to feel singled out by having their parent eat with them.......3. they don't want the other children whose parents can't eat lunch with them to feel badly.   Now I can get down with the reasoning behind #3 but the other two?  Not so much.  However, it's not my school and I have respect so I said I completely understand I sat out in the lobby for 30 min until I could return to Mrs. V's room.   I let her know that parents weren't allowed in the lunchroom and she apologized profusely - I told her it wasn't her fault, I only wanted her to know in case this happened in the future.  I wasn't mad at all.  Aidan was really upset, he got all teary eyed and asked why I hadn't returned to the lunchroom as the Asst Principal had told him she was only "borrowing" me for a minute.  I explained briefly and told him we'd talk more later.   I stayed for another 30 min, finished up all of the sorting and went on my merry way.  My time in 2nd grade was done for the day.  :)

Saturday was jam-packed.  Aidan had an eye doctor appt in the morning so I decided to make this a Mommy/Aidan day.  I took him to his appt where we learned that he is going to try a new treatment for his eye turning in.  The eye is working too hard to keep straight which could cause him trouble later in life so the Dr is having a prism put in the right lens.  He'll wear an eye patch for an hour a day, every day, over the next year which will train the eye to stay straight on its own without relying on the muscle to do all the work.  The prism will be intensified over the year and will hopefully do the trick.  We'll pick up his new glasses this week and begin the treatment.  Fingers crossed!  After the dr we went to B&N for Aidan to pick out a special book as a reward for getting 102 (with extra credit) on his book report!  He's been having trouble in school and is being tested for a learning disability soon so this was a HUGE accomplishment.  I am SO proud of him!  He wanted to get a book on the human skeletal system as he's been learning about it in school and we found one perfect for kids.  He also picked out one of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books.  He and I will practice his reading together - I'm hoping chapter books will be a good step for him.  He then asked if he could pick out a special book for his brother and sister.  (I love how my kids think of one another!!)  After the bookstore we went on a lunchdate where he told me that "this has been the best Mommy day EVER!"  It's the little things.  Just spending a little alone time with each kid is all that matters.  I used to do this all the time but life gets in the way.  I'm going to refocus on this again. 

After we got home Ryan's two friends came over.  Twin 7 yr old boys named Sean and Nathan.  They were coming for a sleepover - our first friend from school sleepover!  They are right in the middle of Aidan and Ryan's ages.  We went bowling with them and then took all 5 kids out to dinner.  Oh if you could have SEEN the looks we got.   Some people were even bold enough to ask if all 5 kids were ours.  Ballsy people, really ballsy.  I was tempted to say yes but I can not tell a lie.  I was just floored that people would even ask!!  The kids were all amazing and we had a really great time.  Everyone came back to the house, we all got in our pj's and we settled the boys in their beds to watch a movie.  Um, at 10:30p they were still awake!  Well, 3 out of 4........and it was AIDAN who had passed out lol.  The youngers were still awake.  They finally fell asleep but they were wide awake and ready to go at 7a.  We had pancakes and bacon for breakfast and Andrea picked the twins up at 10a because they had a birthday party to go to. 

After Sean and Nathan left I had to run some errands for work.  Yes, this is exactly what I want to do on the weekend.....on my day off.  But I didn't have much choice.  I was in charge of a bridal shower for one of my coworkers and I needed to get the cake, the decorations and the gift card......shower is this afternoon.  I decided to take advantage and make it a Mommy/Ryan day.  He was super excited.   We went to Konditor Meister first to get the cake.  He wanted to pick out a couple of things for his brother and sister so of course I let him.  (again, love that he thought of them) Then we hit the Plaza because I had to return something at Sephora.  I also promised Ryan that he could get a Diary of a Wimpy Kid book because when he saw Aidan's the day before he decided he wanted one too.  He picked his out and then we went out for our own little lunchdate.  He was so cute at the restaurant.  Our waiter's name was John so Ryan loooooved that......told him HEY!  That's my Dad's name!  lol.  We left the mall after that, hit Target and then Stop and Shop, then home.  We pulled in the driveway and Ryan said Mom, I loved today, can we do it again?  I said yes, we are going to do this a lot more - I promise.  He said YEAH!  *heart melts*

Not much more after that.  I got a TON of kid time in, John helped me out with the laundry, he and I got in cuddle/couch time AND I managed to finish up book 4, start and finish book 5 and start book 6 in a series I'm reading.  That's a kick ass weekend if I do say so myself........hence the total satisfaction I'm having this fine Monday morning!!!

Happy New Year! AKA: Let's make resolutions we may or may not keep!

This year I decided to do it different.  I wanted to be realistic.  I'm not all gung ho about NY resolutions.  That's just not me.  But I like thinking of things I'd like to do/change/try.  That's fair. 

So here's what I came up with for 2013...in no particular order:

1.  Build our savings back up. John being out of work for so long completely cleaned ours out.  It's to be expected, that's why you have a savings account.  To help you out in the bad times.  But now it's time to rebuild.  So that's exactly what I plan on doing.  I've begun working on this and it's going pretty well already.  I'm going to keep it up and get us back on track!

2.  Do the "52 Week Money Challenge."  Gotta love Pinterest.  For every week of the year you deposit that amount into savings.  At the end of 52 weeks you'll have $1,378.  Um, what?!  How easy is that?  I'm opening an account here at work so it's not money I'll have ready access to.  I won't be tempted and it can be a rainy day fund or emergency fund.  The money I deposit isn't a huge amount of money but it will add up to be a decent amount.

3.  Get back into date nights once a month. We started this last year and it totally fizzled out.  It's so easy to fall into the same old routine of not getting a sitter or letting this slip because it's easier to just hang out on the couch.  We become compliant and don't put the effort into ourselves anymore.  Well, no more.  We've already got one coming up in a few weeks and I can't wait. 

4.  No more drama, no more bullshit.  Seriously.  I'm too old for this shit.  At this point in my life I am trying to learn that we are all who we are.  People are going to love me or leave me.  We aren't all going to get along and THAT IS OKAY.  We aren't all meant to.  Different strokes as they say.  That being said, I don't have to put up with the crap that comes along with it either.  So, I'm not going to.  It doesn't have to be a big to do and, in fact, it shouldn't be.  I just can't do drama anymore because it takes away from who *I* am and I will no longer allow this to happen.

5. Keep losing weight!!  Amen, please and thank you.  2012 was finally a turning point for me in my never ending weight loss journey.  30+ lbs and counting!  This year I plan to continue that journey.  I do need to add on toning as well. It isn't just about the number, it's about getting into shape.  I bought my first pair of SKINNY jeans this year and dare I say I don't look half bad in them?  My BIG goal here is to NOT buy the "skirted" Mommy swimsuit for summer.  I'd love to not have to hide behind that this year. 

6.  More camping this summer.  Our family camping weekends mean so much and we have so much fun - I just want to get more of them on the calendar this year.  I love making these memories with our kids.  Doesn't have to be exclusively trips at Normandy Farms, this just happens to be our favorite campground.  I'm happy to try new places this year, I just want to go more often!

7.  More beach trips.  Last year was the first year we actually made an effort to get to the beach on a monthly basis and the kids LOVED it.  I am going to make sure we do it again this year.  At least once a month I plan to spend the day at the beach and hopefully with friends like we did last year.  It's a great day trip and so inexpensive.  We all have fun walking the beach, collecting shells, building sand castles.  FUN!

8.  Diva Dash in September.  This one is huge for me.  I've never done anything like it but I committed to my friend that I'd do it and once I say I'll do something, I do it.  I'm excited and nervous at the same time.   I think it will be hysterical and I can't wait to say I completed one!  I know for some experienced people the Diva Dash might not be a big deal but to me it's a BIG deal and I can't wait!  Bring on a new challenge!!!

That is a fairly decent list, in my opinion.  Varied and totally realistic for me.  Happy 2013!

Behind you say? Me? No!!!!

You should really be used to it by now! Honestly people, do you not know me at all??  If you do you can totally hear my tone here.........

I can't count how many times I've woken up and said I really need to update my blog today, holy crap I am so far behind!  Good intentions and all of that......so my question now.......do I lay it all out here in one ridiculously huge post or break it all up?  Or do I just try to keep it short and sweet?   Let's go for the short and sweet, shall we?

Let's see.  Erynn turned 5 and Aidan turned 8.   We had a joint birthday party for all of our friends and then we had family parties for them on their actual birthday as this has become our new tradition.   MUCH easier than having the joint family/friend party because it just gets out of control with the amount of people.  The friend party was pretty damn cool if I do say myself.  The theme was Winter Wonderland.  I did a candy bar, a hot chocolate bar, it was all blue and white - the kids loved it!  

Family night was easy and low key.  Aside from Mike and Brandon it is, of course, John's family because who else do I have from my side? 

Christmas Eve was wonderful.  We continued with another tradition......can you tell I love me some traditions?  Since I don't really have much family....aside from my brother, of course, we are very close but even things there are shifting because now he has in laws and such that he has to consider......traditions are huge with me.  I want to build them with my kids in the hopes that they will continue them.  I want them to look back on their childhood like I look back on mine and remember good / fun times.  Anyway, every Christmas Eve we go out with Stephanie, Butch and their kids for Chinese food and then we usually go to see Christmas lights in some neighborhood somewhere.  Love love love this!!  This year it was all new.  Newly opened Chinese food restaurant (not good, do not reco to anyone) and new neighborhood for lights.  This place was AMAZING.  This one house completely goes all out - I've never seen anything like it.  Of course this year was the last year for this house but it was amazing and I'm so glad we got to see it.  Too bad they are all done.

Christmas was a good time.  VERY laid back.  It was just us all day and then Dad came over for dinner.  Mike and Brandon came over for dessert.  Christmas morning was completely overboard.  We say EVERY year it's not going to be.  Then when we put the presents out it's like what in the hell happened?!?!   This year I had everything wrapped a full WEEK ahead of time - I had bragging rights man!  I was very impressed with myself because you KNOW John doesn't help with the wrapping.  I even posted on Facebook.  Then I get a little response back from Dad saying what about the stuff at my house little girl?!   Um, what the what?!?!   Whatchoo talkin' bout Willis??   Yeah.  Dad had apparently done a wee bit of shopping on his own.  Mother of pearl it looked like every toy store on the Northeast coast had thrown up in our family room by the time we were done putting out the presents.  So much for scaling back this year.  But, of course the kids loved it and what can I do about what he buys.   After Chrismas I did make them go through their existing toys and they were SO good.  They donated almost everything they already had to kids without toys to make room for the new ones.  Love my babies.  It took me 2 days to set the house right again and get everything back the way it should be but I had the time because I was on vacation so it all worked out.

NYE was good.  We had our traditional NYE party - this is our 8th year!  I was floored when John told me that, I had no idea we'd thrown this party for so many years.  I have to say I love the tradition of it (again with tradition lol).  I love the friends, old and new, that come.  I love that the kids stay up and run around together.  It's a great time.  It's not about my birthday but it's still a fantastic night.  I did make it potluck this year after MUCH hounding from my brother and Susan.  They finally convinced me that I shouldn't be prepping food and things all day long because it IS my birthday and they are right.  So this year I made that change.  I think I'll continue that because it worked out well and nobody seemed to mind.  We did have a bunch of people end up not making it.  The flu / sickies hit HARD this year.  People are still getting sick.  Susan got my birthday cake like she does every year.  LOVE that girl.   John dropped the ball on the rest........like he does every year.  I sat down and had yet another talk with him about the way it makes me feel.  Not sure if it did any good, I guess I'll have to wait and see what happens next year.  Maybe this should be a separate post?  I might do that because I need to get the vent out somewhere. 

One of my favorite pictures from NYE is a group shot of me, two friends and all of our kids.  Me, Lisa and Stephanie all grew up together.  We've known each other since the summer between 6th and 7th grade....so I was 11 years old.  I consider them family.  Lisa's Mom posted a picture of the three of us on Facebook a week or two before so we wanted to get a picture of us now.  Quite the difference but I love that we're still friends and that our kids are growing up together as friends.  Best feeling ever.

Before...........circa late 80's or early 90's.  (laugh away people, laugh away)

Aaaaaaaaaaand now.   Quite the difference, huh??