Another Funny

Another short story....I was having the "don't talk to strangers" talk with Gunner. I tried one other time and I don't think he got it, so everytime we read "Berenstein Bears Don't Talk to Strangers" book I try to elaborate and have THE talk.

This time, I think I am getting somewhere, because when I ask him "if a stranger asks you to come with them somewhere what should you say?" and he says "I say NO...because I am very, very mad at the stranger" ...OK, not perfect, but he is getting there. So I am reading him the "rules" at the end of the story, and one of them is something like "your body is your own, nobody should be touching you in your private parts".

So I say "remember we talked about your private parts, what are they?".
Gunner says "like my bathroom?".
"Um, no, but you do want privacy in the bathroom. Your private parts are your pee-pee (I know, I should be using the penis word....sue me)"
So he reaches down his pants, grabbing himself and says "I should not, not, ever, pee on any strangers."

How do you not laugh during such moments? So he might talk to strangers, but at least he won't pee on them....apparently back to the drawing board on this conversation!

It's starting already...

Quick story...I was dropping Gunner off from preschool today and he was picking his seat at the the little tables. This is how the scene played out...

"Michael, I am going to sit next to you" (his favorite friend at school)
"OK, Gunner"
I say "Goodbye peanut, have a fun day"
Michael says w/ a chuckle "You are a PEANUT?!"
Gunner says "NO, I am a big boy, NOT a peanut!"
I say "Um, OK, sorry...have a fun day...big boy!"

It has officially begun....I have started to embarrass him in front of his friends...what happened to bedtime a few nights ago where he told me I was his "superhero". Apparently only in the privacy of our home where no one else can see or hear me! This cracked me up & I had to share it!

Easter Egg Hunt (yes, I am late)

I realized I never posted the pictures from our church Easter Egg Hunt, which I made them schedule the last weekend in March so that I wouldn't miss it when I went to Corpus (it is handy to be co-chair of the Childrens Committee!). So here they are...better late than never.

Hudson would not participate in any of the activities, all he wanted to do was bolt towards the closest door and try to escape into the parking lot. As you can see, this was the most fun ever for HIM. Unfortunately, Lenny or I had to take turns all morning chasing him (making it all the more fun for HIM). We finally settled on letting him run in and out of a fire door into a vestibule...he did this for at least 1/2 hour.

Here is Gunner getting his face painted by the "christian clown". He was really excited to be Spiderman, but then looked upset while she was painting his face and right afterwards. What I did not know was that a teenage girl in front of him said "oh you want to be scary!". Well, this upset him like you would not believe, he was near tears "Mom, I DON'T WANT to be SCARY, I don't like it, I don't want to be Spiderman". Needless to say, I could have strangled that girl!

Here I enlisted the "Easter Bunny" a.k.a. our good natured youth director to try and convince him he was NOT scary! I finally was able to convince him, after coaching about 30 random people at the egg hunt to tell him how great and NOT scary he looked, that the face paint was cool. Why are events that are supposed to be no-brainer fun never that easy!!

He can not stop talking long enough to get a good picture, here he is asking me repeatedly when the egg hunt will start.

Having a lot of fun finding eggs (outside was muddy, so we had to do the hunt indoors), I actually caught him smiling...thank goodness!

So by the end, everyone was exhausted, Gunner had been up for his soccer team pictures early and Hudson and I had arrived early for set-up, so it was a long and eventful morning. We all know what that means...someone is going to end up in tears.

They served pizza after the egg hunt, so I got all the kids fed, my husband fed etc. and finally got myself a slice of pizza (after not having any breakfast), which I sat down on the floor (out of the way, next to a wall) while I poured my drink. I turn back around to see Gunner backing up onto my pizza, so I exclaim "Gunner, watch out, don't step on my pizza!" in a loud voice, and, once he HAD stepped on my Pizza "Gunner, you have to watch where you are going, you stepped on my pizza!". He immediately broke into floods of hysterical tears, and when Lenny and Alicia tried to calm him down he said "Mommy yelled at me and hurt my feelings"....nice, making my child cry at a church sponsered egg hunt...almost like making them cry at the "happiest place on earth". Again, I ask, why can't a seemingly no-brainer fun event ever be easy with small children!!

Anyway, overall, it was fun, but next year I will (1) eat something in advance & (2) have Gunner get the Easter Bunny face paint!

Easter

We had a lovely Easter, but hectic. We had barely cleaned up from Gunner's party when I had to fill the Easter baskets and give the house a quick once-over in preparation for having my family over the next day for a Easter lunch.

I actually woke up at 7:00 a.m. to find Lenny just walking in the door after attending the outdoor sunrise service at church (48 degrees and 6:15 in the morning...no thank you!). He had decided to go early so that he could start the lunch while the boys and I were in church / Sunday school.

The boys got up, ate a quick breakfast and got their first look at their Easter Baskets, and promptly started raiding the other one's basket. This is Gunner with some bunny glasses that were in Hudson's basket.

Hudson is not sure what to make of the it all...

We had a really nice time at church. My friend Alicia and her sister-in-law Tracy brought the girls to church / Sunday School and I was glad we had the opportunity to really remember what Easter is all about. Unfortunately only 1/2 my kids showed up for my Sunday School class, but I was so impressed that my (only) 2 girls had been given new bibles in their Easter baskets and assigned different cripture verses of the Easter story to look up and study that day. Their Mom was going to discuss the verses with them at the end of the day. I thought this was a lovely tradition that I plan on doing when the boys are old enough. I also loved that Gunner's Sunday School teacher took the preschool class to put flowers on the cross...it was a very sweet sight to see.

We arrived home from church to find all preparations for Easter lunch finished! This is why I think I have the best husband in the world....all I had to do was put the zucchini in the steamer that day!

This is Hudson wrestling with Daddy after church...

This is me trying to get a picture with my boys...Gunner would not get in the picture with Hudson and Hudson wanted off my lap so that he could wrestle some more with Daddy...

Back to playing with his trure love...Daddy (at some point shouldn't the person that labored to bring that baby into the world be his favorite?! I really try not to be at all jealous of their bond, but sometimes I am just a LITTLE bit.)

Then I remember that Daddy cheerfully deals with the fact that I am someone else's favorite...I can't get Gunner off my lap (not that I want to!)...I can't believe what a handsome BOY he is, I forget until I see pics that he isn't my baby anymore...

My nephew Jon helps Hudson blow some bubbles they brought him.

He is getting the hang of it...

Aunt Ann (my sister) and Uncle Eric bring Gunner his birthday gift, a remote controlled fire and rescue boat. They decide to take it out to the lake and try it out....

Gunner did very well, and only got it stuck in some vines once...thank goodness for our canoe paddles!Notice the big kid that decided to drive the boat...I can practically hear Gunner "Daddy, it's MY turn"

My sister, her husband and two of their kids, Jon and Liesl. Their 3rd son is living in Florida and spent Easter with his spouse's family and his two little ones (still can't believe my nephews and niece are old enough to have a family of their own!!).

So that was my Easter, so hectic I don't have pics of my parents, who were also there or one single pic of both of us with both boys...maybe next year!

Stand by me

I have been meaning to do this entry for months, I have been thinking a lot lately about girlfriends and the role they play in my life these days. While my hubby is my best friend, there are things he just DOES NOT get...specifically that he isn't supposed to solve every problem I bring to him in the most efficient way possible. So when I don't want solutions, but I want acceptance of the fact that I screwed up without asking someone to fix it; when I need to vent about a thoughtless comment; when I need to feel accepted despite my MANY shortcomings; where do I go and who do I turn to? My girlfriends of course!

I am not always an easy friend to have, I say what I am thinking, sometimes without thinking about consequence...I have never been one for "sugarcoating"; but at least you know that you will always get the truth, as I see it anyways! When I lived in NYC, I was not only direct, but I had an edge that could cut glass. This served me well up there, but you need someone that you can trust and who sees past the bravado, I was lucky to have found my dear friend Brenda to do that.

She was my 1st friend (we met 3 days after I packed up my stuff and moved into my 1st big-girl apartment) in NY and the one who I still keep in touch with the most. Our friendship has seen ups and downs, but I know if I need to call someone that she will always be at the other end of that phone to listen...assuming she isn't at one of her parties, charity events or gazillion dates! No matter how long since I have last seen her, we fall into an old rhythm and we always have FUN! She is the only one who remembers pitchers of shots at Baileys in Queens, or accidentally going clubbing at Webster Hall on lesbian night, or partying at the Boardy Barn in the Hamptons...she could tell you every heart break I ever had and every success and failure during my time in the big city! We have lived in, not one, but two basements in Queens together, we have had to hitch a ride home in the back of a newspaper truck on New Years Eve, we have traveled to Europe and the Caribbean together...I could go on, but I don't have a blog long enough to cover 17 years worth of our escapades...and some of it is not fit for public consumption anyway! I am so thankful to have someone who knows the transformation my life has gone through and who has stuck by me all the while! So thank you...hope the next 17 years is just as interesting!

When I got married and left NYC, I knew I would be moving around, I didn't know how taxing that can be or how lonely. However, I don't generally sit around feeling sorry for myself, so I threw myself into finding activities to do, wherever I ended up. I only expected to find a shopping buddy or a short term distraction. Instead, I have made friends that I couldn't ever imagine! My friend Jessica the first time I lived in Va. Bch....the only person I know who would sit outside in drizzling rain to watch a free Cyndy Lauper concert with me...was was my 1st non-New York friend and we are still in touch despite being across the country and hardly ever getting the chance to speak. When we do we could talk for hours! That friendship made me less hesitant about the decision to move away from my former life and more courageous about making new friends.

Then comes my Whidbey Island Moms. First I met Leah and her son Ethan at a breastfeeding support group, oddly enough we discovered we had both grown up in/ around Columbia, MD...although she was, eh-hem, a few years behind me. Then I met Amber, Tracy, Lynn, Stephanie and Holley. We shared two things in common when we met, all being the 1st time Moms of boys and all signing up for "Mommy & me" swim lessons at the local recreation center. I think it was Tracy and Amber who first suggested a playgroup, and that quickly became a weekly date that I looked forward to. I knew these women were special then, but I was only given about 6 months to get to know them. I knew I wanted to keep in touch, but it probably would have trickled off if it wasn't for Leah, Amber, Holley and Tracy starting their blogs. A new medium for Mommy support was found and I became addicted.

Addicted to hearing about these compassionate, bold, loving women's stories regarding the trials and tribulations of being a stay-at-home Mom. I think we all were more honest then we might have been in person about what we have gone through during the last 2 years because we could write it down...and even when I was a little afraid of being judged about an entry, I was met with supportive and loving comments and a lot of commiseration which boosted my confidence and often gave me ideas for not making the same mistakes again. We celebrate each others joys and failures and never judge harshly....where can you find a group of women who will do that?

I was so fortunate to get to spend more time getting to know these amazing women in person when we planned a girls weekend in Corpus Christi (where Steph and Lynn are stationed now). I was a little worried, because while I left the group after 6 months, the rest of them forged a face-to-face bond over 2 years. I was afraid of feeling left out, of not being liked as much in person and without my kids. However, their kind words and advice have meant so much to me I couldn't just sit at home and let the opportunity pass me by!

What did I learn? Lynn is a wonderful listener, someone who will listen to my doubts with real understanding because she just gets it. Amber is, well, she is Amber, sweet, totally not judgemental, an excellent role model as a wife, mom and human being on this planet...AND our cheerful designated driver. Holley is the one who makes me laugh, who is a force of nature that practically glows when she walks in the room, and totally honest. Tracy is the dedicated Mom I wish I could be most days, compassionate, and a wonderful example of how to really live your values as a Christian and connect with her kids and ours. Steph is the one who listens to what everyone has to say and then comes out with the poignant and / or funny remark we wish we had thought of, and she knows how to be a great hostess (stocking condo w/ all the right stuff, hosting a BBQ and going out with us girls ON her poor hubby's b-day). Unfortunately Leah could not be there, but I was lucky to get more face time with her while in Whidbey and can't wait for her to move here to Va. Beach next year. She is kind, understanding and doesn't mind sharing her difficult moments regardless of what anyone might think. Well, I told you, aren't I blessed!!!

As if all of those women aren't enough friends for a lifetime, I moved to Virginia again and found a friendship that I can't imagine ever living without...I have to pay homage to my "go-to" girl, Alicia. I don't know how we started talking every day, sometimes multiple times a day, or how she became the person I know I can call for any reason, at the last minute, to help me out of any conceivable jam (i.e. I microwaved my keys and couldn't start the car to pick up Gunner from school; I had a staph infection the week I brought Hudson home from the hospital and needed moral support in the emergency room...for 2 + hours; I need someone to watch both kids while we move, or I pick someone up from the airport or have a doctors appt....I could go on). I think the reason I moved into that house on Guam Street was just so I could meet and become her friend. Actually the only thing I miss about that house is being even closer to her, but one street away isn't SO bad!

Our husbands are thankful we have each other, because now we don't complain to them, we just pick up the phone and vent...it doesn't matter about what...could be that we want to murder our kids that day, or some lady at the beach said something mean, or another Mother at the preschool did something we didn't like...no matter how trivial, I can call her and I can count on no judgment and total honesty. Lenny makes fun of me on the rare day I don't speak to her "Are you sure you can survive, you haven't talked to Alicia today!"

Our kids play perfectly together and my kids ADORE her; she has all of the same Mom values I do; she can drink margaritas with the best of them; I can cry and it doesn't faze her, and I can be irrational and she listens. In addition to just plain loving her, I am in awe of how she raises those two girls with a husband who is gone 1/2 of every single year (a Seal with the most elite team in the Navy)...and he is generally wherever the action is! So imagine doing it all on your own while knowing that it is probably your husband who is handling the current situation everyone is watching on the news. To make it more incredible, when he is away, she is more concerned with how she can help other people out than asking for help. She is a rock and I am proud to call her my friend.

Ok, there are wonderful women who aren't in here (Robin & Eve from my time in NY, Gina who I met when I met Lenny, and more..but they don't read this, so they won't know, and I really have to get back to actually watching my poor kids), but these are the key players in my life right now and I just wanted to say THANKS....aren't I one lucky girl to have so many wonderful women in my life? So, to those of you reading this, I may not say it enough, but you are the best!!!!

Gunner's 4th Birthday - Dinosaur Adventure Party

The day had finally arrived for Gunner's 4th B-day "Dinosaur Adventure" party...he was excited about it for weeks and kept asking "Is today my birthday party?". They kept calling for rain, but, as if God answered my prayers, it was sunny and warm until about an hour after the party; when clouds rolled in and the temperature dropped, it was really uncanny.

He got an early gift of T-rex crocs (which I notice are on the wrong feet in this picture...typical) and triceratops sunglasses, so he was outfitted and ready to go for his dinosaur party.

The kids were welcomed to the party by our large inflatable T-rex whose footprints marked the way (drawn by Daddy).

Their first stop was the "Palaeontologist's Headquarters" (yes I spelled it wrong on every sign, but I was slap happy by the time I got to making the signs, and most 4 year olds are lucky they can spell cat....thank god Mikie wasn't there, he would probably have corrected all my signs..ha, ha). The kids decorated bags with dino stickers, stamps and markers, so they would have something to collect everything they "found" in.

The Palaeontologist's headquarters...

Had to have streamers, they always love running through them...



Ms Alicia and Marley decorate her bag.

These "decorations" are the dinosaurs that Gunner sleeps with, he kept taking them down and saying "these aren't decorations Mommy, these are for sleeping!". I finally convinced him they wanted to come to the party.

Gunner is ready to go in his "dinosaur hunter" hat with his dinosaur magnifying glass, which I could barely pry out of his hands all morning.

After the kids made their bags, we split everyone into teams to go through all the different activities. This was my husband's idea (big surprise, organization is his middle name) and it worked really well. Lenny took the 1st group for their canoe ride, looking for some of the animals that lived during the time of the dinosaurs around the lake (frogs, turtles etc.).

Gunner and Michael "meatball" (Gunner's nickname for him at school...only because the 2 words start with the same letter. It was actually quite helpful since he had two friends at the party named Michael.) are the first to get a ride.

Marley and Mclayne get to go on their canoe ride...they were asking when they could go as soon as they got outside...but they did a good job of waiting patiently, even if they didn't look too happy about it!

Finally they are off, and looking much happier....

Lenny would pull up to our neighbor's dock, after taking them on the ride, and my friend Tracy would lead them through a gate and behind some bushes to the "Dinosaur Nesting Ground", where they searched for eggs, which were replenished, also by Tracy, once each group was done (I love Oriental Trading Company, they had eggs with tiny little dinosaurs already inside)

Tracy leads the girls through my neighbors yard to get to the dino eggs...

Little dinosaurs marked the way to the dino nest (also my husband's idea, I think he was getting into the whole thing...not that he would probably admit it!)

The "dinosaur nest"...a big pile of rocks that we had removed from some old flower beds months ago....never know when something will come in handy! You can't see the eggs in this picture, but they were stuck in between rocks and at the base of the surrounding trees.

Gunner going through the bushes to find the dinosaur nest...he looks like he is a little afraid he might actually find a dinosaur!

After they found some eggs they went to the "Excavation site" to look for dinosaur bones and geodes buried in our sandbox.

Brushes to brush them off, and the watering can was supposed to be for rinsing them, but I forgot to put water in it..ooops!

This was one activity that Hudson could join in on...he loves his sandbox! He followed everyone around and inspected all activities, but since he isn't old enough to sit in the canoe (without trying to throw himself overboard that is), we let him just wander around and do what he wanted....mostly digging or playing with the inflatable dinosaurs. Notice he is missing his curls..boo hoo.

Gunner and Michael find a T-rex skeleton....

His other friend Michael and Parker take their turn at excavating some bones...

Lena looking very stylin' before brushing off some dinosaur bones...

The next activity was a volcano that I made from a kit at Michaels, the box said something like "GIGANTIC Volcano". In case you can't tell, it was certainly not "GIGANTIC", more like seriously miniature; but it did work well enough to impress a group of 4 year-olds, so I was happy with it. Next time I would make a big dirt pile in the yard with a shot glass and do the baking soda, vinegar and food color (they liked that the lava was orange..they kept saying "OOOO, YUCK...do it again!"), a lot less work and just as impressive! This pic is before all the moss I set up around the volcano blew away in the gusty winds!

I poured in the club soda and then the kids put in the tablets that came with the kit until it bubbled out of the top, really no more exciting than a soda that you shake up, but all the kids thought it was really cool.

The cutest palaeontologist I know...

Since the volcano went quickly, I also had the dino tent and tunnel set up with a bowl of mini dinos inside. The kids had to crawl in and pick one up with a dinosaur "grabber" and then come out and put them, one at a time, in their bags; until it was time for the next activity. We had probably a couple hundred little plastic dinosaurs to use up, because I kept picking them up at the exchange and the dollar store whenever I found them cheap. I really didn't need a favor after all the stuff from the activities...as a matter of fact when I gave the girls a favor on top of all the trinkets they had collected, I thought Alicia might strangle me for adding more junk to the collection in her toy room...SORRY...I didn't realize how much stuff I had accumulated for the kids while planning the party! Anyway, retrieving the dinos from the tent was also my husbands idea, and they had fun doing it...I tried not to notice that the dino tent looked like it was humping the dinosaur tunnel.

Getting some more dino figures for his bag...

Hudson walked away with a dinosaur "grabber" and carried it around for most of the day....he has a thing about carrying around long, stick like objects. I hid one piece of a toy that he kept carrying around for days, knocking things over every time he turned around; and when he couldn't find another toy to act as his "carrying stick" he actually pulled a side rail off my spice rack and started carrying that around. The "grabber" is a much preferred option!

Gunner taking his usual "quiet moment" away from the crowd to try out his grabber...Alicia captured some really great shots...I would not have had a minute to take any pics of the party without her!

Back to fun with his guests...blowing off some steam after the activities, while Mommy was getting lunch ready for everyone. This picture made me so happy, because he looked like he was having so much fun, which is what it is all about really!

The kids attack "Mr. Lenny" with their dinosaur grabbers.

I didn't take any pics of the food because the kids were so hungry that they were actually asking to be fed, so we just threw everything on plates and served them up. I had food for "Carnivores - no biting please", which included chicken nuggets shaped like dinos and "Herbivore food" such as veggies and fruit w/ humus or ranch dressing, sweet potato rice balls, broccoli salad, spinach pizza and some cheese cubes, along with a couple sinful items like juice boxes and Smart Food cheese puffs. Then it was time for the cake...the masterpiece my friend Tracy created from a magazine recipe that Alicia found...Gunner said "look, it's a T-rex!".

Looking a little concerned by the size of the flame...

He loves when people sing "Happy Birthday" to him...

Ready to blow all 4 of those candles out....

Stealing my "decoration" again for a little impromptu cuddle...

How many kids does it take to break open a pinata? First Gunner tries...

Michael tries...he is even a "professionally trained" t-ball player...no luck..


Parker gives it a shot....no go...

Mclayne, Marley and Lena give it a wack and even Hudson gives it a couple tries (I won't bore you with all the pics)

Then everyone tries a second time, not so much as a crack, so Mommy moves it against a pole so they all can hit it again... repeatedly. Parker (after encouraging him to hit it like I kill a spider, repeatedly and viciously) got a leg off and a couple trinkets out, but this thing just wouldn't die...

So Mommy to the rescue, I tore a hole in it's bottom and finally the booty fell out! This is typical Gunner, he hates pushing his way into a group...this is why it has taken him a while to get used to soccer and why he never gets anything from a pinata at parties...the other kids clearly don't suffer from that personality trait! It was like a feeding frenzy, they didn't wait til I was done, so toys were raining down on their heads

Marley, Mclayne and Lena stayed for the opening of presents...Gunner actually would hand them the gifts to open for him because he doesn't like tearing into the giftwrap (he has a lot of funny little habits doesn't he?)...just like a man, ha ha!

So, that was our party...Gunner was a little overwhelmed by the time we got to the presents...he wasn't sure which one to look at first, but it seemed like all the kids had a great time and I know all of us adults loved watching them have a great time. So much for my vow not to go too crazy over a kid's birthday party again, this is actually my most "elaborate"...I admit, it was fun to see the hard work turn out to be a fun experience for Gunner and his friends. Now I only have 5 months to come up with something for Hudson's party!!!