We are getting these girly, gymnastics-related activities out of the way early. I have patiently waited 18 months and finally soccer sign-ups begin next week. Worth noting, I wouldn't feel so bad making that comment if she didn't routinely meltdown the last 10 minutes of every class. Guess she has a limit to running wild and having full permission to climb and jump on everything.
Click here for more pictures from Tumbling Class.
If October wasn’t busy enough and already filled with great traditions – Hocking Hills, the Toddler Halloween Party, Andy's Weekend with the Pager, Pumpkin Patches and Pumpkin Carvings, Football, Fall Shopping and Fall Cleaning – I have to add another annual event to my list. This past weekend, Laura helped my recruit some runners (and partiers) for the 2008 Run Like Hell Race to support the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. The course winded through the streets around Xavier, and never in all my days of driving over to their campus from UC did I think I would be running down Victory Parkway with a sombrero, fake moustache and maraca in hand. But we can’t wait to do it again next year!
Click here to see more pictures from Run Like Hell.
So I guess this is the first glance at Alex’s Halloween costume. In the end, we were able to compromise, although I might have taken advantage of his age in doing so. But I felt great about buying a Gandalf the Great robe and hat, he felt even better bragging to his friends at the Toddler Halloween Party about being a nice witch. As for Avery, she looked more like Yoda or an alter boy without the head piece. Let’s hope we can get the hair buns on her for at least one Princess Leia photo.
Click here to see more pictures from the Toddler Halloween Party.
I am not sure what is worse … his overall obsession with garbage or his obsessive behavior to line the cans up in a row?Not that we are complaining, as there is now one less chore for the adults in the house. However, we still need to convince the eager boy that the garbage cans do not need to be put out on Sunday night for a Wednesday morning pick up. We may be getting a call from the HOA.
I had to go against my strong beliefs just three months after Avery was born when a server at Bravo’s first asked me, “how old is your little boy”? Little boy! Was it because Avery was wearing dark brown pants and a blue shirt? Did she not notice they were capri's with a bow at the ankle or the tiny ruffles around her neckline? At that point, I broke down and bought pink. But this past week, I conceded again. This time by going against my most hated fashion blunder: inter-matching all the various shades of pink as if it they were truly one universal color (like black). Yes, Avery fell victim to cotton candy shoes, fuchsia socks, magenta sleeves and a multi-stripe jacket, that included shocking, thulian, ultra and rose. Ouch!
I can’t even remember which parenting book or advice column first suggested that a great way to deal with feisty or defiant behavior is to tell your child directly and honestly how that makes you feel. So that means, while the little one is throwing a fit or yelling in your face, you calmly get down on one knee, make the Supernanny eye contact and say “that hurts my feelings.” Well, since we are always looking for new and improved ways to manage our Dr. Jeckle and Mr. Hyde toddler, we quickly adopted the strategy. But what the article forgot to mention is how much three year olds like to mimic or adopt your behavior, and now this super-sneaky parenting trick is coming back to haunt us.
Typical phrases now coming out of Alex’s mouth include:
- That hurts my feelings to wear a jacket.
- That hurts my feelings to take a bath.
- That hurts my feelings to pick out only one pumpkin.
- That hurts my feelings to share with my sister.
I realize that according to Oprah being a “sensitive male” is all the rage, but I think we have created an emotionally (and linguistically) confused monster.
Has it been that long since I bought nice underwear (aka. not from Target) that I didn’t know I needed to inspect both sides before they got wrapped in pink tissue paper and placed in my shopping bag? The other day I got home to find that three of the five pairs all had Victoria’s Secret written across the back … college style and in glitter.
I am guessing this must be some type of payback for actually taking two kids in the store with me, as one of them emptied a storage drawer – bra by bra, G-string by G-string – while I was busy helping the other clean up a bag of spilled M&Ms next to the winter line of camisoles. I guess there is a reason I usually shop online.
No matter the lodging, really the best part of Hocking Hills is always the time we get to spend with our friends.
I have to admit, this was the first time in four years I wasn’t pregnant or nursing, so it was WAY more enjoyable for me. But overall, as the kids are getting older and more independent, we are finally able to relax with a drink by the late night fire. I am not saying we are totally there yet – as many times I still had to stop mid-sentence to pull my kids away from hot coals, off the porch railing or out of a cactus (don’t even ask!), but there is a light at the end of the tunnel and I think maybe next year I will be able to sit down (in a chair) for at least five minutes and finish a conversation with someone in my age bracket.
October means our annual weekend in Hocking Hills, and this year our simple friends and family camping trip stepped it up a notch. We added an extra night and upgraded to a million dollar lodge. Forget the old days of cramming 8 people in a 4 person A-frame cabin (that was obviously pre-kids and when hours of beer pong altered our judgment), because we were just spoiled and we can’t ever look back.
The owners of the Mesa Vista Lodge, which we declared our new HH residence through 2028, were amazing and offered more hospitality than any other vacation home I have ever rented. And if I could rack up points with them and enjoy cocktails on a private floor next to my platinum level suite, then I would say they topped our good friends at the Marriott. But until then, we will still take advantage of all their on-site amenities and extras, such as seven bedrooms, four baths, gourmet kitchen, 2000 sq foot wrap around porch (Ok, I am estimating on that but it was huge!), the “stone hedge” firepot, ping pong, corn hole, foosball, karaoke, 100 acres of hiking trails and their on-site “haunted forest” complete with spider webs, ghosts and strobe lights. What else do you need when you are camping?
Well, for starters, I guess we now need to drop that word (camping) when describing this trip or else Alex will be greatly disappointed the first time we throw a tent on our back and pitch it two miles from a parking lot with no DVR, gourmet scrambled eggs or fresh linens.
Click here for more photos from Hocking Hills 2008.
I know … I have become what I have despised the most. And Andy is just plain embarrassed that I actually bought them. But after hearing him rant for four hours one night about how the “un-informed” voter’s vote counts the same as his, then I thought we need to walk the talk and do something about it. So my simple solution was to search through over 1,500 kids Barack Obama t-shirts on Cafépress, and dress them up as political billboards over the next five weeks. If someone is not going to read Obama’s five-point policy paper on providing affordable, accessible health care for all Americans, then maybe they can at least look at my kids and think – that’s cute, I will vote for him. So please forgive me in advance for stooping so low and putting my kid’s likeability on the line to make a difference in this swing state. But believe me, it is safe to say that others have cast their ballot in the past using even more disturbing logic.
So does this mean after “yes we can” chants and Obama Girl clothing, Alex and Avery are now destined to vote party lines out of genetics, cultural up-bringing or just plain habit? Hopefully not, as we are sincere in calling ourselves Independents with a few (ok several) liberal biases on social issues. And our intent is to stick with our two-point parenting plan that will encourage them to explore their own interests and develop their own beliefs over time ... but for now, can’t they just help mommy out in ’08?
From Alex’s first day of school to the category one hurricane that hit the tri-state (and the week without power that followed) to Allie’s October birthday being celebrated in September, this past month literally blew by.
As for the storm, we survived with just a small amount of roof damage, but a big story to remember. It felt good to have a few peaceful nights with no TV, no internet and no kitchen to clean up after a hot cooked meal. And we thanked the higher powers for Panera’s free wi-fi, our neighbor’s generator and cold milk, Shooter’s tasty carry-out and an old-fashion land-line phone that kept us connected to the outside (and continuously moving) world.
Click here for more pictures from September.
We are getting these girly, gymnastics-related activities out of the way early. I have patiently waited 18 months and finally soccer sign-ups begin next week. Worth noting, I wouldn't feel so bad making that comment if she didn't routinely meltdown the last 10 minutes of every class. Guess she has a limit to running wild and having full permission to climb and jump on everything.
If October wasn’t busy enough and already filled with great traditions – Hocking Hills, the Toddler Halloween Party, Andy's Weekend with the Pager, Pumpkin Patches and Pumpkin Carvings, Football, Fall Shopping and Fall Cleaning – I have to add another annual event to my list. This past weekend, Laura helped my recruit some runners (and partiers) for the 2008 Run Like Hell Race to support the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. 
So I guess this is the first glance at Alex’s Halloween costume. In the end, we were able to compromise, although I might have taken advantage of his age in doing so. But I felt great about buying a Gandalf the Great robe and hat, he felt even better bragging to his friends at the Toddler Halloween Party about being a nice witch. 
I am not sure what is worse … his overall obsession with garbage or his obsessive behavior to line the cans up in a row?
I had to go against my strong beliefs just three months after Avery was born when a server at Bravo’s first asked me, “how old is your little boy”? Little boy! Was it because Avery was wearing dark brown pants and a blue shirt? Did she not notice they were capri's with a bow at the ankle or the tiny ruffles around her neckline? At that point, I broke down and bought pink. 
I can’t even remember which parenting book or advice column first suggested that a great way to deal with feisty or defiant behavior is to tell your child directly and honestly how that makes you feel. So that means, while the little one is throwing a fit or yelling in your face, you calmly get down on one knee, make the Supernanny eye contact and say “that hurts my feelings.” Well, since we are always looking for new and improved ways to manage our Dr. Jeckle and Mr. Hyde toddler, we quickly adopted the strategy. But what the article forgot to mention is how much three year olds like to mimic or adopt your behavior, and now this super-sneaky parenting trick is coming back to haunt us.
Has it been that long since I bought nice underwear (aka. not from Target) that I didn’t know I needed to inspect both sides before they got wrapped in pink tissue paper and placed in my shopping bag? The other day I got home to find that three of the five pairs all had Victoria’s Secret written across the back … college style and in glitter.
No matter the lodging, really the best part of Hocking Hills is always the time we get to spend with our friends.
October means our annual weekend in Hocking Hills, and this year our simple friends and family camping trip stepped it up a notch. We added an extra night and upgraded to a million dollar lodge. Forget the old days of cramming 8 people in a 4 person A-frame cabin (that was obviously pre-kids and when hours of beer pong altered our judgment), because we were just spoiled and we can’t ever look back.
I know … I have become what I have despised the most. And Andy is just plain embarrassed that I actually bought them. But after hearing him rant for four hours one night about how the “un-informed” voter’s vote counts the same as his, then I thought we need to walk the talk and do something about it. So my simple solution was to search through over 1,500 kids Barack Obama t-shirts on Cafépress, and dress them up as political billboards over the next five weeks. 
From Alex’s first day of school to the category one hurricane that hit the tri-state (and the week without power that followed) to Allie’s October birthday being celebrated in September, this past month literally blew by.