Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Forget Spring, Hello Summer!


Apparently Chicagoland has forgotten a very important piece of information that most of us learn in preschool... the seasons go Fall - Winter - SPRING - Summer... How on earth have we gone from temperatures in the 40s/low 50s to 90?!  I actually like the mid to high 60s, thank you very much!

Thankfully my kids don't seem to care about the missing season.  They are quite content to dive into summer and all summertime activities.  I am pretty sure my daughter will be living in bathing suits the next few months except when clothing is not optional! Tonight, after dinner, Jordan declared it "water play day at our house!" and we filled up the kiddie pool and water table.  The sandbox got opened, bubbles were played with, and daddy got the fire going for (MINT!!) s'mores.  It is definitely summertime!

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Where Oh Where Has Spring Gone?

I know it rains in spring.  I accept that fact.  But today is May 26th and it is raining for the third day in a row, and the temperature is not supposed to get higher than 49F.  That is just WRONG. Memorial Day weekends are supposed to have people in shorts, grilling, and playing outside.  And here I am hiding the kids and myself inside as if we will turn into icicles if we step out of the house!

Not that I had grand plans for the weekend.  Holidays in this household are a bit jaded... they mean my husband will be working long hours every day.  No holiday weekend for us (if we are lucky we will get a few hours with him!).  So it is not like it matters if we are housebound, but I would at least like the OPTION of taking my kids outside without hearing whining about getting wet.

I am sure I will find things for the kids to do this weekend; childrens museum, husband's concert, crafts... but I would prefer to choose those things because we WANT to, not because those are the ONLY activities we can do.  I would like parks, Six Flags, walks, etc to be an option!  So, please Mother Nature, return spring to Chicagoland... all of us mothers would REALLY appreciate it, especially yours truly!

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

What He's Been Waiting For!


Since the new year started, my husband has been counting down the days until Six Flags opened.  Seriously, counting EACH DAY.  So, when the park opened and he had to WORK every day it was open, he was pretty upset.  Yesterday we could FINALLY go!!!

I measured the kids before we left.  Jordan is 41 inches, which means that she can still ride all the rides she went on last year, but is 1 inch too short for a few new rides.  Ben measured in at 35.75 inches.  With shoes, he is 36 inches, JUST tall enough to go on some bigger, real people rides (not those lame little kid rides... I mean, fun little kid rides....). 

I do believe that my 2 year old is now a roller coaster JUNKIE!  He LOVED all the new rides we went on.  And although I was scared to death that my baby was too little for such fast or spinning rides, he did have fun.  There were only two rides I will NOT let him go on again until he is a little bigger.  I swore I saw him nearly pass out!  Of course, being the new junkie that he is, as soon as his head stopped rolling and he could stand, he said "AGAIN! AGAIN!!"  But the roller coasters.... those were the biggest hit with him.  Thankfully we went on a weekday, at the beginning of the season, with chance of rain, so there weren't a lot of people there and we could re-ride without getting back in line a few times per ride.  If the park hadn't closed at 6pm we probably would have stayed longer!

I think this year's Six Flags experience for us will be an awesome one.  We can go on rides as a family, instead of one of the adults being left behind with Ben while the other takes Jordan on the big rides.  It's crazy.  Time is going way too fast.  My children are growing into these amazing, fun, thrill seekers!!


Thankfully we can still find horsies on carousels fun so that mommy's tummy can recuperate!


Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Dear Movie Producers/Directors/To Whom It May Concern

The past two nights my husband and I watched Avatar.  Yes, TWO nights.  We got about halfway through it Monday night, and decided we had to go to bed.  It was 9:30pm.  We resumed last night and again, finished around 9:30 and headed up to bed.

Maybe we are lightweights... but maybe, just maybe, that movie was too dang long!  Don't get me wrong, I liked it.  But I probably would have liked it more had I been able to watch it in a theater. 

Why couldn't I watch it in a theater, you might be asking me.  Well, since my husband and I are the only two people on this planet who can put our son to bed, that means we cannot leave our house any earlier than 7:30pm. Which also means we are shooting for an 8:30 movie.  If we go to an 8:30 movie that is THREE hours long, we won't be leaving the movie theater until 11:45 (giving 15 minutes for previews).  Then drive home, then feed cats, clean up, go to bed.  That means, probably going to bed past 12:30am.  Our kids wake up at 6.  By my calculations, that is not a lot of sleep. 

Hollywood needs to have a time limit for movies.  2 hours tops, in my opinion (maybe 2.5 for exceptional movies).  As much as I dislike the 7th Harry Potter book being put into two movies, at least then less is lost from the books but I don't have to be in the theater ALL freakin night!  I am willing to pay the price of waiting a year to see the two movies. 

Although seeing Lord Of The Rings in theater was AWESOME, I didn't have kids then.  So it wasn't such a big deal.  Now that I am a mom, sadly I can only watch those long movies at home, which totally looses the cool effect.  Avatar was kinda lame on my tv and no movie theater popcorn and candy!

So please do me, and many moms out there a favor, movie makers... and make your movies shorter!

Thanks.

Rant over now!



Sunday, May 15, 2011

365 Project - Day 136


Kids playing (extreme) ring around the rosie. At least they are playing together! There was lots of falling down and crashing into each other.

Saturday, May 14, 2011

365 Project - Days 112-135

Day 112:
She had better not pee on that CLEAN laundry!

Day 113:
Lots of blue train track


Day 114:
Thomas Live

Day 115:
Camera fail... Ben had spilled juice on it without us realizing, and so the shutter wasn't opening properly.

Day 116:

Day 117:
The watering hole

Day 118:
Yarrrr

Day 119:
Anyone want to buy this??

Day 120:

Day 121:
Touch a truck event. Jordan said "i'm going to turn off the brake!"

Day 122:

Day 123:

Day 124:
Still needs some practice...

Day 125:

Day 126:
Cinco Di Mayo - Made Mexican Lasagna

Day 127:
Preschool Mother's Day presentation

Day 128:
My Mother's Day present from my mommy... Cake Ball Maker! YUM!

129:
Happy Mother's Day! Shame Ben was too busy looking at Penguins (and sorry this one was on the other Mother's Day post... didn't take many photos that day)

Day 130:

Day 131:

Day 132:

Day 133:
Got a membership to the Kohl's Children's Museum again

Day 134:
Watching the thunderstorm

Day 135:
Playing Thomas on the Wii with daddy

Post Mother's Day Thoughts




I never thought I would be one of those moms who wanted to spend Mother's Day away from their children. What is the point in that? Isn't this holiday about family? However, this year I asked to spend the night away from the family. That's right... every mother's dream. One night, uninterrupted sleep, and no responsibility in the morning!

Let me back up a little. We had a lovely day. We headed up to the Racine, WI zoo. I love that zoo. It is small but fun. We don't need to bring a stroller because it is just the right size for both of our children to walk around the zoo a few times and not be too tired. The train ride is cheap ($2 per person, Ben was free). We packed our own healthy lunch. It just so happened that it was also the lion cubs' first birthday so the zoo had big cakes and we all got a slice! Perfect morning.

Did our normal naps in the afternoon, hung out a bit at home, visited a new restaurant for dinner... Chinese buffet. I should have known better... DIET FAIL! BUT... SO TASTY! There was food there the kids liked, reasonably priced (and again, Ben was free!). It was super good, not shady like the ones back home in Pittsburgh!

After that... I left. I had some treats, a book, my tooth brush and pjs. I was ready to be by myself. The novelty wore off sometime around an hour after the kids bedtime. Although I was grateful to skip out on the stress of getting my stubborn children to bed, I was lonely and bored without my husband. I enjoyed watching certain shows I can not normally watch because we don't get most cable channels (Army Wives, 16 and Pregnant, and TONS of Law and Order Criminal Intent). But I couldn't fall asleep in that bed by myself, too lonely. No kitties taking up my side of the bed, no husband snoring.

But I have to say, it was all worth it to wake up on my OWN in the morning. I slept till 7:15... sadly in our household, that is sleeping in. Gotta love before 6am risers! And I didn't have kids barging in first thing in the morning with demands, hitting me in the face with toys, and the sounds of unhappy tortured kitties. I wasn't in charge of breakfast or getting the kids out the door in time for Preschool.

Will I ever do that again? Probably not. A few hours of tv and 15 minutes of peace in the morning was not worth missing out on morning snuggles with my boy, kisses and pats on the back at bedtime with my daughter.

This was an exercise in remembering how much I love my children. They fight, they hit, they kick, they scream, they demand, they jump... but they snuggle and love. They are funny and clever, energetic and entertaining. I love them with all of my heart. I have realized that I need to take more time to step back from bad or frustrating situations and remember how much I love them and that they are still SO young and really do not mean to be naughty, they are just reacting to a situation how 2 year olds and 4 year olds react.

I need to remember that each moment of the day, whether it is pleasant or not, is a moment that only my children can give me. And without them, I would still be behind a computer at a desk, spending 8-9 hours a day bored and lonely. They fill my life in a way no other human being could possibly satisfy. Thank you, my children, for making me a MOM.