Three hours of our life are gone

And they were spent putting together these #@$% Playmobil sets. How was I not aware of the bazillion tiiiiiny little pieces that came with these? And to top it off, when the boys came downstairs this morning and found that we had put this together (did I mention it took three hours?) they were so excited. After the enthusiastic thank-yous however, the boys turned to each other and said "Want to go upstairs and play Spyro on Playstation?" and promptly ran off.

I basically had to forbid any sort of technological object to be turned on in the house and they finally played with it. And enjoyed it to boot. Who knew you could have so much fun with a toy? And you don't even have to plug it in.

A funny story

This morning we are all eating some nice fresh Scali bread which I picked up at our local Italian bakery. Every time I eat Scali bread I think of my nephew and niece.

As you know, we live in Boston. I am sure you may also be aware of the famous Boston accent although mostly when people try to "do" a Boston accent, they do a Kennedy-Boston-accent which is a totally different thing altogether. For a true Boston accent, just watch Matt Damon and Marky Mark Wahlberg in The Departed or The Depahted. (And yes, Mark Wahlberg is still always referred to as Marky Mark around these parts no matter how many Oscar movies he is in). But I digress...

My nephew and my niece are in 1st and 4th grades respectively and their teachers this year are not from the Boston area. My nephew and niece have noticed they pronounce their "r"s and say certainly words differently than their parents do. They have also taken to poking fun at their mother especially when she pronounces certain words. "Get in the cah" gets met with "Mom, it's carrrrr".

So, one day my sister-in-law asked the kids what kind of bread they wanted for their toast--American bread or Scali bread. To which they replied "It's Scarrrli bread, Mom". She was trying to explain to them that no, it really was Scali bread but they weren't having it.

So now whenever they see the bread in the house, they always ask for Scarli bread because they are sure their mother is putting her Boston accent spin on it.

The 5th annual Christmas card debacle

As all of you who are parents know, when Christmastime rolls around there is a rush to get that elusive "perfect" picture of your child(ren) to send out to friends and family who you rarely see. You want a picture of your child(ren) in all their shining glory so that said friends and family can ooh and ah over the photo for all of three seconds, place the card on their mantle (or wherever they display all their cards) and then promptly dispose of it the day after Christmas. Little do they know the pain and suffering all have endured to get that perfect picture. The threats hissed through gritted teeth, the begging and pleading for just. one. more. picture, the bribery. Oh, the bribery. (Which very rarely works by the way).

And so, for those of you who may not experience this each year, allow me to share mine with you.

It starts out nice enough.
But quickly goes downhill.
I called it quits for that day and took a few individual shots figuring I can at least make a card at one of the online photo sites using those.

I give it another try at a local gardening center. This place is always beautifully decorated and at midday during the week, there is hardly anyone there.

Unfortunately, things don't go much better there than at home.

My personal favorite reject:
And then you do get a good one. Not necessarily perfect but a pretty darn good one. And it just so happens to be the very first picture you snapped on this outing.

New camera!

I finally got my new camera yesterday. It is an early Christmas gift and I have been wanting one for at least a year. It made me a little sick to actually hit "complete purchase" when I ordered it from Amazon because I have never spent that much money on a camera. But, now that it is here, I am loving it.

The clarity! The depth! The ketchup on my son's face! It's all here.

No pictures, please

Wordless Wednesday

Are you sure you've got the right one?

With the holiday season fast approaching (or is it already here? Thanksgiving is next week!), my thoughts have turned to what to get the kids for Christmas. I can easily think of many things for Ciara and Aidan.

Ciara is 2 and big into Dora and Diego. However annoying they might be, there will most likely be one toy featuring these characters under the tree on Christmas morning. She also loves to sort things so there will be something along those lines as well.

Aidan has such an imagination, he could find entertainment with a rock and a piece of paper. Give him an action figure or two and some building blocks and he will create an amazing scenario and be entertained for at least an hour or two. And anything to do with art. He loooves his art supplies.

Now, Gavin...he's the one that is giving me trouble. When he's at home his main interests are his video game, his Leapster and the computer. I am trying to steer away from all things electronic and am racking my brain thinking of things to get him. When asked directly he'll say he wants a new video game, a new Leapster game and a scooter. Okay, the scooter is a good one but what else? Out of desperation I asked his preschool teacher what exactly he plays with at school.

Teacher: Well, he is always asking me to take down the pirate ship to play with.
Me: Really?? We have one at home he barely touches.
Teacher: Oh, and that helicopter. He loves that!
Me: Gavin? The helicopter? (neither of the boys have ever been the things-that-go type of kid)
Teacher: And the art supplies. He likes to sit at the desk and draw and cut with scissors.
Me: Really? Gavin? Are you sure you're not thinking of Aidan.
Teacher: (Starting to think I am a tad bit crazy now) Yes, those are the top three things he likes to do.

Now, the thing that gets me is we have ALL these things at home. The helicopter sits gathering dust on the shelf. Aidan plays with the pirate ship and whenever I try to encourage Gavin to he says no. And any time I have tried to do an art activity at home, he participate for all of 5 minutes and then announces "I'm all done with this".

I suppose playing with things at home and at school are different. At school, you have 8 other kids to play with. Maybe that somehow makes it more exciting than playing at home with your brother who has been your constant companion for the last 4+ years.

The voice of reason. From a 4 year old.

Gavin has only asked for about 3 things for Christmas. One of these being a scooter. My husband was trying to convince Gavin that maybe it might be better to wait until his summer birthday for the scooter. Getting a scooter in the winter and not being able to ride it until the spring might be a little bit of a downer.

But then I had a great idea. I said "Well, if Santa brings you a scooter maybe you could use it in the (long, uncarpeted) upstairs hallway*." I may as well have suggested he ride it on the highway during rush hour.

He turned to me with an incredulous look on his face and said "No. No I could not do that. I might fall down the stairs."

"That's right, Gavin" said my husband nodding proudly at his son for rejecting his mother's dangerous suggestion.

Thank goodness one of us has some common sense.

*Of course I would be supervising to make sure no one fell down the treacherous stairs. I'm not that stupid.

I hope they are always this close

Wordless Wednesday

A very pitiful Shrek

Perhaps ogres don't like lollipops?

Boo!

Wordless Wednesday

The boy can dance...

Yesterday we went to a Halloween parade. I didn't know such a thing existed but Sean's friend invited us to his mom's house where the town has been having this parade for 53 years. This was the first parade for the kids and they *loved* it! They sat and watched the whole thing for about 90 minutes. Of course it didn't hurt that they threw candy into the crowd and the kids all scrambled to get it. They had a blast. Aidan in particular loved the marching bands as evidenced by my short little clip here. That boy has got some rhythm!
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It's the Great Pumpkin!

Wordless Wednesday

Sabotage

Gavin is not into picture taking lately. If I try to get a photo of the three of them, he makes a face or won't look at me or sticks his tongue out. In general, he does anything he can not to be cooperative.

In this first picture, Gavin is holding a spider in front of his face. I have about five pictures like this. When he finally removes it, he replaces it with a puss face.

This one's going to be trouble when he hits adolescence. I can feel it.

A Pet Peeve

We were at the park this morning and there appeared to be some sort of mom's group there as well. The mothers were all sitting at one of the picnic tables, coffee in hand, muffins laid out on the table having a good chat. The kids--I'd say ranging in age from about 18 months to 3 or so--were doing what kids do and running amok on the play structures. Now, I am all for moms getting together and talking about kid and non-kid things. You need that adult interaction and that "thank goodness I am not alone" feeling.

But please, for the love of Pete, pay attention to your kids. Do not ignore them and pretend that someone else is watching out for them.

I swear, at least three children almost got smashed while running in front of the swing I was pushing Ciara in. If I hadn't grabbed Ciara mid-swing, the kid (s) would have been really hurt. And none of the moms even looked up. Then there were city workers there building a new sandbox and shelter and the kids, of course, were watching all the action and going in and under the 'Caution' tape they had put around the area. The guys were being good sports about it but again, none of the moms came over to tell their child to be careful or to leave the men alone, etc.

The last thing that really got on my nerves is that there was a girl about 3 or maybe 4 who was sitting on a swing and wanted a push to get going. Now, the swings are across the playground from where the picnic tables are. I was standing near the tables pushing Ciara in the toddler swing and I could hear this girl shouting "Mommy, could you push me please?.....Mommy!....MOMMY!!!!" for at least 10 minutes. Now, if I could hear the girl then the mother could also. Not one mother even stopped talking or acknowledged the girl in any way. I was so tempted to butt in and say "Does that little girl belong to any of you? Because she wants some help." I don't know how anyone can just tune out their kids like that. Even if I am in a conversation with someone, I always am aware of where my kids are. If I hear any kids yelling for their mom, I always look to make sure it is not mine .

Ooooh, it just gets on my nerves when people don't pay attention to their children!

Adore

Wordless Wednesday

Catch!

Wordless Wednesday

Silly Faces

...and a Princess Pirate.

This is supposed to be fun, darn it!

I love to cook. I have been looking forward to the boys being a bit older so we can start to cook together and make warm fuzzy memories of baking cookies on a lazy afternoon. I have images of measuring and mixing and sharing laughter-filled stories. Sounds nice, doesn't it? So today I thought I'd bake fall lollipop cookies with the boys while Ciara napped. I found a recipe on another blog I read accompanied by a picture of cutely decorated cookies on a stick. It looked easy enough.

So here is how the story went in real life:

Ciara woke up while we were mixing the batter.
I went up to get her and came back downstairs to find more flour on the floor than went into the dough in the first place. And the kitchen is empty.
Called the boys back after I swept up flour so we can get on with making the cookies.
I now have three of them bickering about whose turn it was to roll the cookies in the colored sugar.
(Ashamed to say) I lose my patience and tell them if they can't all take turns I am making the cookies. By myself.
I almost burn myself and toss the cookies (ha ha) while stepping over one of the bickering children who has thrown himself on the floor.
I answer the question "Can I have a cookie now?" 25 million times before the cookies are actually cool enough to eat.
Cookies are finally cooled, each child takes one and runs away to watch Spongebob.
Guess who cleans up?
And the cookies looked much better than they actually tasted.
The End

My Hero

Wordless Wednesday

Favorite Halloween Reads

I love Halloween! It is my favorite time of the year. We have already been reading Halloween stories at bedtime for a couple of weeks. Here are a few of the most requested around here.



This is a book I discovered while teaching. It is a counting book, counting up to ten and then back down again. It has black and white pictures that are kind of spooky but before it gets too spooky, there is a touch of comic relief from 10 mischievous mice.






Another counting book. This one counts backwards from 10. Cute pictures and rhyming text.








Five little pumpkins sitting on a gate... This popular rhyme is now a board book. This book is great for toddlers. It has very simple illustrations and one line of text on each page.





This is a new one for us this year. I saw it on Amazon and it got good reviews. It is about a skeleton who can't seem to get rid of his pesky hiccups (hic, hic, hic) until his friend ghost (hic, hic, hic) helps him out. I like that this book is about a skeleton and a ghost but is not scary in the least. My boys love this one!







This is another book I discovered during my teaching days. It has a catchy rhyming rhythm that can't help but be chanted when read aloud. The kids always love this one and by the second reading are always chiming in with the chorus. "Shake, shake, shake dem bones now. Shake, shake, shake dem bones now...."

Happy Halloween reading!!

What in tarnation?!

This will be one of those posts that people without children might be bored by. Or even people with children that are not mine. LOL

Anyhow, the boys are at that age (4) where their expressive language and vocabulary is taking off. It is really cute to hear one of them say when asked if they painted at school that day, "I sure did!" Or in response to asking if they want a Spongebob waffle for breakfast, one of them shoots back "Well of course I do!". When this happens I always think to myself where they get this stuff. Of course, it is from listening to all the conversations around them and how adults are speaking with them now that they aren't "babies" anymore. I know that I use more sarcasm with them now that they understand the difference of me being serious vs. joking with them.

Another thing which is funny to experience is there burdgeoning understanding of how the world works. For instance, I picked them up from school the other day and their teacher happened to be getting into her car as I buckled my crew into ours. "I wonder where she is going?" asked Gavin. I mentioned that maybe she was going home. He sort of huffed and said "Teachers don't go home". If he was a little older he probably would have added a two syllable "Duh" to the end of that sentence.

And just this morning, while Aidan was looking for a toy in the toybox and pulled out a pair of underwear he exclaimed "What in tarnation?!".

That one we can credit to good ol' Spongebob.

Random thoughts for the day

Why is it that the kids on the Moon Sand commercial are able to keep all that moon sand in the little blowup sandbox? Yet my kids seem to think that little sandbox is simply for storing the moon sand not actually play with it in there.

And washable markers...they are really only washable to a certain extent. Then your child is stuck with a light blue arm for a few days. Coincidentally one of those days will be the day they have a doctor's appointment. And you will have to work into the conversation with the doctor how those markers really aren't all that washable even after several baths just so he will not think you haven't bathed your child in a while.

That's all for today...

The sea and me

Wordless Wednesday

The cutest little girl in a hospital gown

Ciara had surgery for a blocked tear duct last Thursday. The eye is still a little runny but the doctor said to give it a week. We shall see.

Now, I am not usually one to extol the cuteness of my children but isn't she so adorable in her little hospital gown?

And here is another photo with a mark over her eye lest the surgeon forget why she was there.

Fall?

Yesterday we took the kids to one of our favorite fall activities: apple picking. Well, we actually don't pick the apples per se. I think the kids are a little young still but hopefully next year.
Anyway, every year we visit an apple orchard to get some cider and apples, have a hayride, pet some goats and consume large amounts of cider donuts and apple crisp. Autumn is my very favorite season and I look forward to it all year.

Except when it is 82 degrees outside at the end of September. Global warming anyone?

So despite feeling most unFallish (yes, I am aware that probably isn't a word), the kids had a blast jumping on a maze of hay bales, eating cider donuts and picking out a few pumpkins .

And a gourd for Gavin.

Jump!

Wordless Wednesday

All roads lead to Stride Rite

All three of my kiddos have wide feet. I have no idea where they got them from as neither my husband nor I have them. This makes for expensive shoe shopping and basically we are limited to one place. Stride Rite. The cadillac of shoes for children. The average pair of shoes or sneakers there run around $54. I don't like paying that much for my shoes never mind shoes that will most likely be trudged through the nearest mud puddle 20 minutes after wearing them for the first time. Not to mention the fact that said shoes will most likely need to be replaced within a few months due to the rapid foot growth of small children.

My mother always makes the same remark after she finds out how much the kids' new shoes cost. "Well, you wouldn't see your (notoriously frugal) sister-in-law spending that amount on her kids' shoes". Well, her kids don't have wide gargantuan feet either.

Just to appease my mother, I have done countless searches on the internet to find out who else might possibly carry wide widths in children's shoes. I have typed in every possible combination of "toddler", "shoes", "wide widths", and "discount". I do get dozens of hits for online shoe stores who claim to carry wide widths for children. At a discount no less. I excitedly click on the link and discover.....they are Stride Rite shoes.

Offered at a 20% discount.

But factor in shipping and I might as well just go to the damn store and buy them myself. Seriously, there has got to be another brand of not-so-expensive wide width children's shoes. I will make this my highest priority.

Until I find them I guess I will have to just shell out the cash and stick my fingers in my ears to drown out my mother's comments.

Sunlight on water

I took these two photos in the late afternoon sun at the beach. My very favorite time of day.

More interesting light photos at Crazy Hip Blog Mamas

School is now in session

My Wordless Wednesday post was actually a photo from last year--their first day of school ever. Here is a picture from this year's first day.And then of course Ciara, who must do every single thing her brothers do, jumped in.
So, this year was so much more relaxed and anticlimactic than last year. Last year there was a big unknown of what 'preschool' was and all that it entailed. This year they knew what to expect and were chomping at the bit to get back. Sean and I hung around for a bit just in case but the boys really paid us no mind once they were at the table and playing Mr. Potatohead with their friends.
After their drop-off it was time to take Ciara to her Creative Movement class which I was so looking forward to. It is fun to do an activity like this with only one child to focus on. I never had that with the boys and it is such a different experience. No double stroller to lug out of the car, unbuckle and then buckle two kids in, make my way to the door and hope that the stroller fits through. Nope. Just unbuckled Ciara, grabbed my bag and was int he door in 30 seconds.
The class was not as good as I expected. First off the teacher didn't even introduce herself and secondly she didn't ask the kids any of their names. As a former teacher, I think that is such an important part of any type of class. But, all Ciara really cared about was running around the room with the 'twirling ribbons' so I guess it's all good.

That time of year...

Wordless Wednesday

I bought my son a Barbie

Ok, so it is not a Barbie. I was just going for shock value there. What it is is a Corbin Bleu doll. You know, Corbin Bleu? From High School Musical fame? You don't? Just where have you been living?
Anyway, we were at the store and we passed by the huge display of High School Musical merchandise and my 4 year old son just had to have the Corbin Bleu doll. Oh excuse me, action figure. The Corbin Bleu action figure as he calls it.Now, the movie is most definitely not geared for 4 year olds but Disney does put snippets of the music from the movie on during prime preschool viewing hours. Very smart. Aidan loves to dance and whenever the songs came on he just bops away. I must admit the tunes are quite catchy.

So there you go. Aidan's first "Barbie". LOL