Days of Grace: My Birthday

1. Another year of my existence. I am having a good time with it, thanks.
2. Spending breakfast time with Nicholas. He was the first one up. He offered me a couple presents - then told me it's toys he doesn't use anymore. Such a giver.
3. People treating me to meals and snacks. Lunch with my BFF. We went to a place near work and had tomato-avocado-garden burgers...and fries. Yum. Splurge on fries on your birthday, totally worth the badness. Later we went with another friend over to Starbucks. Caramel macchiato and splitting a slice of lemon pound cake. Yum, again.
4. Adrian made a valiant effort with the laundry during the day. It's not all done, but a good size dent was made and you can't complain about that.
5. Spending the evening with the best boys in the whole wide world.
   

It's My Birthday

My sister Morgan sent me this card. Hilarious.
I've always enjoyed the fact that I share my birthday with Earth Day. But really, my birthday is way more important. This whole Earth thing, it's not a big deal. We just live here.

Flashback

Thanks Facebook! People who have old photos of you can post them. I'm going to date this one back to Labor Day 1999 - Emerald Isle. And just a small hurricane named Dennis was in town that weekend. Oh, and after the hurricane moved inland this guy went with a friend to see the Allman Brothers and sit through said hurricane...again.
Can you tell that I knew I was going to marry that boy one day? There's a little sparkle in our eyes. ;)

18 Months

Travis is now 18 months and thinks he is hot stuff. I remember him barely able to sit up a year ago. Where does the time go? He is growing up so fast it's scary. He added new words to his vocabulary recently. He clearly says cat and then meow. He say "Nih" for Nicholas. His requests for more food are coupled with pointing to the spot on his plate that needs a refill - he still eats an amazing amount of food and likes most things we serve. And he copies anything his brother does, often with less grace. The 18 month check up is scheduled for Monday, so we'll have the statistical proof on just how big he really is despite what's in his mind.

Deep Thoughts

On the way home today we saw an ambulance with sirens blaring trying to get through an intersection. (I am amazed at the number of people who fail to yield - but whatever.) I explain to Nicholas that it must have a big emergency to respond to. He said, "that makes my heart feel bad."

Can't you just eat that up? He comes up with some interestingly deep comments.

Also, not to be outdone, Travis had chicken dance Elmo in the car (I let him take it to school to torture the teachers). He pushed the button at least 50 times. Elmo kept dancing and singing. And every time Travis just giggled. He was so pleased that he was pushing the button all by himself. Or has serious short term memory problems and was so amazed that Elmo could sing and dance ("That is so funny!" 20 seconds later, what's this button? push the button. "That is so funny!").

Either way, it made me think about enjoying doing the same thing over and over as if it was the first time - even it is as lame/annoying as chicken dance Elmo.

Running and Running

Some days when I'm out for a run I want to feel like Forrest Gump. Just running and running. I can picture myself going forever. And then there's a hill. My plans of being away from home for countless minutes are dashed.
Tonight I made it 37:21 without stopping. Since I know the distance to the local park, I was at a sub-10 minute mile. I'm feeling pretty good about the races I have scheduled in the next couple months. More than likely, I will not make a complete fool of myself.
I didn't take water with me. My current water pack is annoying me recently. The other day I left it by someone's mailbox and circled back for it later.
For whatever reason I have always been more of an evening fitness person. How can I have energy at the end of a long day? I try to run in the mornings but I just don't have the endurance that early. And almost all races are held at the crack of dawn to beat the heat. I did find one evening race. It's sexist overtones are making me feel too old to sign up. It's called Skirt Chasers 5K. Every runner gets a running skirt (it's all the rage in some circuits, but the chafing doesn't sound fun). And the women get a 5 minute head start so the guys can watch. Seriously. The race is followed by a fashion show and happy hour - because it's hosted by a local Irish pub.
On a related note, I am going to lose a toe nail soon. It's the one next to the big toe. It split years ago from kickboxing and never grew back right. Guess it's time to start it from scratch. I'll post pictures as it progresses. For now it's just a pretty shade of charcoal.

Here is a picture I had to take. It was cracking me up all day. Nicholas wearing a homemade tie dye (a birthday gift from a friend), corduroys, and sandals. And an authentic hemp necklace purchased in the lot of The Dead show. He loves it.

Days of Grace: Easter

1. Staying at my mom's house. It's very cool to see how some things haven't changed at all. But then how so many things have changed a lot. I can still count on finding plenty of soda and frozen pizza. But some of the kitchen drawers and their contents are different.
   
2. My sister Lorre bringing her daughters over to hang out/babysit. The boys loved it. And Nicholas was kind enough to share his dyed eggs and "Horton Hears a Who".
3. Adrian and I went to see The Dead in Greensboro. It was the first show of the tour. We noticed the cars in the parking lot are nicer and have fewer stickers. There were old hippies and young hippies all mingling about. And that smell...you never forget that smell.
4. Coming home to find the cats have not destroyed the new furniture while we were gone.
5. Cleaning out the refrigerator and freezer. How in the world did I still have condiments from 2005? And obviously I never love a salad dressing enough to use it all up - or I don't enough salads.
   

Baskets and Eggs

How did the Easter Bunny know I wanted a mouth guard?


A rubber duckie that lights up, cool.


The more experienced hunter finds the most eggs.


Carvel ice cream cake...yummm.

Thanks Officer

I will need to create a label for "dumb things i've done" after today.

I had just left daycare with the boys. Driving behind a UPS delivery truck through a road work zone. The truck swerved, and I didn't have enough time or room. I went over the traffic cone. Much to my dismay I did not see it in my rearview mirror. Curses, curses, curses - silently of course.

I need to get off the road safely somewhere. I continue a little further just in case it comes loose on its own. I turn onto the on ramp because I need to get on that interstate anyway. The on ramp has a good size shoulder. Put my flashers on. Get out. Peek under the car. Sure enough - there's the blasted traffic cone hanging on to my rear axle. More curses.

Hah. As my karma turns around (probably for not saying bad words loud enough for my kids to hear) a police car is making a traffic stop right ahead of me. I call Adrian just in case the officer is not a nice man. Being doubtful of this town's police he starts heading my way just in case.

After the police officer takes his sweet time writing up that ticket, he puts his cruiser in reverse. Yeah! I explained the UPS truck and the cone I couldn't avoid. He makes an attempt to dislodge the cone. Gets back up and with a very determined expression, he asked me to pull forward a little without hitting his cruiser (because I wouldn't have seen the car with flashing lights?). I do as he says. He rolls around in on ramp shoulder gravel and dirt. At one point I even lost sight of him under the car. He gets the cone free! And tosses it over in the grass - just as Adrian pulls up! Classic.

We give him as many thank you's as we can. The officer does a completely illegal u-turn over the median and back down the ramp he went. And we head home.

What a lot of fun that was! I am so glad my car wasn't damaged by the cone. And that a nice officer risked getting his uniform dirty. And didn't come up with some crazy traffic violation to charge me with.

It Happened Here

Travis decided to help me out after his morning nap was done. I entered his room and found him only wearing a shirt. Weird considering he was fully dressed when I put him down a few hours earlier. He had removed his pants. And his poopy diaper. Thank goodness the diaper was right side up. And he had not made attempts to sit down or finger paint. (Oh, I've heard the stories of budding artists and I do not want the experience.) If he had been wearing a onesie, the feat would have been more impressive. Kids sure keep you on your toes. You never know what surprises lie behind closed doors.

On another impressive note, Nicholas finally figured out pedaling a bike. He has been trying for years, seriously, to get the concept to work for his feet. Adrian was beside himself with joy that he got to be the first to witness it. And Nicholas was so pleased he ran and told the next door neighbor.

After a couple of years of planning we committed to buying new furniture for the family room. We had to consider style, size, color, fabric, and more importantly detatched cushions - we like to build forts, okay? The couch and loveseat are far past their prime. That's not stopping a friend from taking them off our hands for free. Very glad about that. The new couch, chair and a half, and ottoman are being delivered on Friday. I can't wait. Sitting, or falling between the cushions really, to watch TV and knowing that comfort is just a few days away. Yeah! And we will be armed with squirt guns. Maggie and Grayson won't know what hit them. We'll have four marksmen armed and ready if they even begin to confuse the new furniture with scratching posts.

Yeah, That Was Me

I wanted to salute the parents and all of their parenting styles at the playground today. At least we were out there on a totally gorgeous spring day. (Some of the real me is coming out in this post. No sense in hiding my sarcasm and cynicism all of the time, right?)

I saw parents sitting at picnic tables with their super size fast food cups. Nothing wrong with that. Maybe the fast food was a special treat to aid in the out-of-the-house festivities. I don't really know you, so I can't make a fair judgment on your family's general habits. I'm just so glad you're getting your kids out to a playground for exercise. It is very important for our youth to get exercise and free play. Seriously. Good job.

And the moms in frumpy clothes who climb all up in the fort and playground equipment. I'm sure you had good intentions to include yourself in their playtime and getting some activity for yourself while doing it. But at the same time kids should be allowed to create their own games and explore. And on occasion fall down because you're not hovering less than a foot away from them. It's good for them. And you could probably use the break to sit on the bench and take a breath.

I was a little jealous of the active wear moms whose kids ran off to play and they got to gab uninterrupted for an extended period of time. Awesome concept to find a friend with kids that will play together without assistance. I'm going to get myself more of those, but probably when my kids are old enough that they don't eat sand or mulch.

My son only knew birthday girl at the party and doesn't really care to make temporary friends at a playground. Some kids can make friends for an hour to play with, he's just not one of them. So that was me in my trouser jeans, embroidered peasant top, sunglasses, drinking an iced Starbucks coffee while pacing the perimeter of the equipment so I knew where my child was most of the time. He gave me a tour of the passageways inside the fort and showed me where he locked up the Joker. I did talk to the birthday child's parents and grandmother when the opportunities arose. Don't hate me for looking put together, having enough time to stop for coffee before a scheduled event, allowing a reasonable distance for my child to play independently, and neither of us making temporary friends. I had a great time. And maybe I did deserve the sunburn around the neckline of my new shirt.

I love that parents come in all shapes and styles and that their techniques can vary as well. We were all out today for hopefully the same reasons: kids, outdoors, playing...and maybe burning off some of their energy too.

Worn Out

Nicholas went with Adrian to the first day of Little Stix, he is officially old enough to participate this year. Travis and I went by the field later to watch. It was fun to watch the little boys learning lacrosse with sticks as big as they are.

The pollen is starting up here and everything has a nice coating of gold powder. Nicholas is unfortunately allergic. He gets hit now and mid-summer, poor guy. Zyrtec worked last summer, but it didn't seem to do much today for him. He was ready to go home at the end of the session. Travis on the other hand wanted to keep running around chasing balls and hanging out with the coaches. So we swapped kids.

After lunch, I took Nicholas to a birthday party at a local park. He was so excited to give Sophia her Snuggie. I think she liked it but as any 4 year old does, they move on to the next gift quickly. Her parents and grandmother loved it. :)

By this point Nicholas had enough outdoor pollen fun and was ready to go home. He lounged at home while I snuck out to Target to do Easter bunny shopping. Nothing extravagant, mostly candy. Easter weekend will be at my mom's and should be a lot of fun. I can't wait, almost a mini-vacation.

After dinner he watched his usual pre-bedtime shows on Noggin. At some point he fell asleep on the couch. I scooped him up and placed him in his bed. He opened his eyes when I set him down. I asked, "Do you want to change into pajamas or go back to sleep?" His response, "Go back to school." And then he closed his eyes. I pulled the covers over him and turned on the night light. So there you have it, he's wiped out and sleeping in his clothes - probably dreaming about school or something.

A Snuggie To Call Her Own

(my headless model didn't want people to see him wearing a pink Snuggie)

I have a friend who is a little obsessed with infomercials. His daughter gave Nicholas a Shamwow for his birthday. I asked what Sophia would like for her birthday. Well, duh. Obviously she wants a Snuggie, but they don't come in a kid's size. Me being crafty, yet naive, offered to make her one. I had left over fleece from the monsters I made at Christmas. Surely I could figure this out. I cut out pieces of fleece based off of Nicholas's fireman raincoat. Really, the Snuggie is like a hospital gown - you know, open in the back to show off your hindend. I realized I didn't have enough to get decent sleeves. And what little girl doesn't like faux fur - which I also had on hand. (My co-workers found my excess fleece and faux fur highly amusing when I told them.)

I watched the infomercial a few times because really, you can't avoid it. The grown up ones are really loose. Adrian believes the kid size should not be so loose because it's a fire hazard. I can totally picture a child in their Snuggie watching TV or reading a book with their free reading light - and the house suddenly ablaze. Could they stop, drop, and roll efficiently in their Snuggie?

And at the last minute I decided the Snuggie concept could use an upgrade. Why doesn't it have a pocket? Like for holding snacks, remote controls, cordless phones. Such a useful concept! So I made one, faux fur lined, of course. And some left over polka dot fabric to tie all the colors together.

Side note - Sophia received one of my girl monsters for Christmas. Made with pink fleece and the polka dot fabric. They are going to coordinate! So perfect you'd think I had planned it from the beginning - but I didn't. Just got lucky.

Another side note - there are free patterns on the internet to make your own Snuggie. I am still naive in my sewing that I forget to look there before venturing into my projects. Next time, I will be sure to Google before I start cutting.