6:15 AM is too early for the harmonica. I'm just saying.

In review

Adrian & Aaron are looking at Good Guys magazine. It's a magazine completely devoted to classic cars. They are really into it. It sounds like this:
Aaron: whoa! check that out.
Adrian: Awesome.
(page turns)
Adrian: Awesome! Awesome! Awesome!
(page turns)
Adrian: Not awesome. Awesome! Awesome!
(page turns)
Adrian: Awesome!
Aaron: You don't have to say awesome after every car.
(page turns)
Adrian: hot-cha-cha!

fiona & i looked through the grocery store's sale flyer this afternoon. when we were done, she told me 'that was a good story'.

adrian: can we go to the north pole so i can give my letter to santa?
me: no, you have a birthday party to go to after school.

As predicted by my highschool biology teacher...

I am delinquent in nearly everything i do. Here are some photos from the Pirate birthday party...

Pirates demand cake!

Pirates get cake!

And my mom was here! For 4 days, which is not nearly enough time but we'll take what we can get. We cooked, we carved pumpkins, we partied, we trick-or-treated, we crammed in as much as we could AND I remembered to take pictures.

Things that are teh awesome.

1. throwing a Pirate Party for your kid's 5th birthday party, because that's what he wanted. (how awesome is it to have a kid that requests, nay demands! his friends talk & dress like pirates?)

2. having other adult-type friends who dress as pirates for the party so I am not dorky costumed mom...I am dorky costumed mom with friends! also, having adult-type friends who are handy with tools build a pirate game to occupy tiny ones.*

3. in the spirit of the season, rewatching old horror films. Bela Lugosi as Dracula is awesome, in a cheese-in-the-can kind of a way. Tonight's feature is Night of The Living Dead!

4. my mom comes for a visit tomorrow. I will be showing her off like a space-age robot.

5. Every time we mention trick-or-treat, Fiona interprets it to: chocolate milk. This has led to a number of improvisations--Fiona as an elephant, drinking chocolate milk. Fiona as a dinosaur, drinking chocolate milk. The action is always the same, but the narrative is what really makes it worthwhile.

6. K and Fuz move into their new house (woo! and congrats!)


*I am not sure if I failed to explain it properly or if they were just more interested in yanking each other around by a length of rope, but the game didn't happen as it was described to me.

New new new!

My oh my! It's always exciting to get things done around the house. Aaron thinks I'm overly ambitious, but the truth of the matter is that I am proactive and he is reactive. I'm also really good at getting him to see things my way. Aaaaah, the power of persistence. (It only took me 5 years to get a dog, after all). To that end, we got a new roof. When we bought the house, there were 3 layers of shingles up there--and the inspector said we could probably squeeze 4 years out of the existing roof. But then some guys came by and gave us an estimate, and I figured lets just do it. (DO IT NOW, screamed the little voice in my head)

We did a complete tear-off, and you know what they found under those 3 layers of shingles? Three holes in our roof. Right over Adrian's bedroom. Which may explain why his room was SO MUCH COLDER than the rest of the house last winter. One of the holes was big enough to put a basketball in. And I took pictures. So here they are, for your viewing pleasure.

Hole number one. AKA the really big one. And if you look up towards the crest of the roof, you can see hole number two.

Hole number 3. The slightly smaller one.

Thankfully, all have been repaired and we have a new roof on top of them.

It just goes to show: you never know what's under there!

Product review, 4-year-old style.

Me: Here, Adrian I got you some more tape.

Adrian: A whole roll? Can I keep it?

Me: Yes, a whole roll just for you. I know how you love the tape.

Adrian: Yes. Because it is SO handy.

Right quick...

I am about to fall asleep where I stand, but I thought I should check in first. Hello! All is well! Children are giant! Adrian will be 5 in 13 days. He is vibrating with excitement.
And a funny: I have this Aunt, she's one of my favorite people EVER, and whenever I am having a grumpy day I know that I can call her and she'll say the exact right thing to cheer me up. One of these things has evolved into a long-standing joke. If the kids are being too much of a handful, she tells me to put them in a box & send them to her via the UPS man.
So this week, Fion climbed into an empty cardboard box and I said to her: What do you think? Should we send you to Aunt Carmela?
And she thought for a moment and replied: Yes. To Aunt Gorilla, please.

Noodles one and two, signing off.

Yesterday Adrian's scout group had their ceremonial wherein the kids received the badges they had earned over the year. Adrian got 8! The ceremonial was held at Kankakee River State Park, which is about an hour from our house. On the way home, Adrian asked to get dinner from the drive-thru.
Usually I avoid the drive-thru. I don't like the culture, I don't think the food is healthy, I don't like all the trash that is a result of a meal-in-a-bag. But I was exhausted from corraling 2 kids out in the woods all day, and he had been really good so we pulled up to a McDonalds. I don't really like McDonalds either--they are like the WalMart of the food industry and I find them distasteful. I placed the order for 2 happy meals, and the voice-from-a-box asked if they were for boys or girls. (a small alarm went off, but I ignored it) I said one of each. We drive to the first window and pay, then we drive to the second window and get our bags.

Once home, I get a good look at the toys. Adrian got a hot wheels car--cool. He loves those things and 1 car can keep him busy for HOURS.
Fiona got a Barbie compact with lip gloss.
I lost my shit.

Make up is not a toy. Children don't need it (they don't need hot wheels cars either, but that's not the point I'm trying to make).
In one seemingly innocent package, McDonalds manages to deliver a load of social conditioning and a message about gender roles.
Again, I lost my shit.
And I know some of you are probably thinking "Relax, it's just a toy. It's just about having fun".
Go and ask any grown woman you know WHY she puts on make up. I will guarantee you it's not because she needs a dose of fun before she heads out the door in the morning.
Halloween make up is fun. Clown make up is fun (creepy, but fun).

But a mirrored compact with lip gloss is just setting girls up for disappointment. There are only a limited number of play scenarios that you can use that particular item in. And none of them seem to encourage girls to be proud of their bodies and their brains.
I was hoping that we had moved past the idea that girls are to be concerned with how they look, whereas boys are to be concerned with how things work.

So, that's my soapbox.
Thanks for visiting.

And now I'm back!

I went away for 4 days, to Connecticut/Maine/Connecticut to visit my brother/go to a wedding of a dear friend. It was wonderful and strange to be travelling alone. I got a lot of guff for leaving the kids behind, but I needed 4 days of not being a mom to put my head back on straight.

And then tonight, further evidence of Adrian's precociousness:

AD: Mom, is Santa real?

ME: oh god oh god think quick, don't ruin the magic yet, he'll be that kid on the playground, what am I going to--What do you think?

AD: I think he's imaginary.

ME: he can NOT have figured this out already, he's only 4 for crying out loud What does that mean?

AD: That he's like a dream.

ME: AHA! But he brings real presents.

AD: Sometimes dreams really do come true, Mom.

ME: (trying not to laugh) I guess so buddy.


Not really a lie, not really the truth. Is Santa real? I don't know. I know I perpetuate the myth because I like the idea of a jolly guy in a red suit who hands out toys to the good kids and coal to the bad ones. I'm fairly certain that's the first little step in teaching our kids the ideal of Justice. Plus it comes with the added puzzler of how does he see me all the time? And not just me, but every kid, all over the world?
So it's a lesson on justice and espionage. And who doesn't want that for Christmas?

@ the philadelphia airport. I can't help thinking that it seems weird to eat a cheesesteak in the airport. Like you're cheating, somehow.

Putting Fiona down for a nap.
Me: I love you.
Fiona: I love dinosaurs!

o hai

I just looked at the calendar and realized it was September. Ha ha. So I should probably finish the epic tale of our trip to New Jersey.
I could go on in detail, but it sounds like the kids are about to stage a World Wrestling Federation style throw-down, so I will be brief. Adrian swims! Nessa's sister-in-law, Dakota, came over for swim lessons. Fiona also swims, but I didn't get that on film (I know, major disappointment)

And the OCEAN! I love the ocean. Adrian also loves the ocean. Fiona likes the sand, but mostly she wanted to hang in the baby pool at the beach club. There's no accounting for taste, I suppose.

Nessa taught Adrian all about the intricacies of sandcastle building & decorating.

School again, school again!

The little ones finally rolled out of bed at 8:30 (once again proving the rule that on days when you need them up and at 'em, they will not oblige).
Breakfast was homemade zucchini muffins (which Adrian loves) and vanilla yogurt. Adrian ate the muffins, Fiona ate the yogurt. Then I loaded them into the car to drop Fiona off at a friend's house, drove the 3 blocks back in the rain, and Adrian & I walked to school.
We saw familiar faces from last year--every sentence ending with an exclamation point--and new faces, hiding behind parents, with worried, furrowed brows. I encouraged Adrian to talk with the new boys in his class--later I explained to him that having a friendly face makes new things less scary sometimes. He's a natural ambassador, and was happy to make connections and chat up strangers his own size. It's those moments when you are so proud of the little people that they are. And yes, I spent most of the morning fighting back tears. Partially, it was watching Adrian dive right in and get comfy and then partially it was thinking of 2 little boys we know who will be starting this school year without their mother.
They are 5 and 7 and they live several states away. And every time I think of those boys, I get a lump in my throat and I just want to reach out and hold them close. To let them know that they are loved, and that so many people are holding them in their hearts.

It's the first day of school

And both the kids are still snoozing away.

When they wake, there will be homemade muffins.

And a cheerful mom! (A cup of coffee in the quiet does a body good.)

Buzz buzz

Hello and sorry for the hiatus.
Back to vacation recap!
One of the many things that is cool about Camp Ness is her amazing gardens. The other cool thing is that she has her own beehives. 2 of them. This is really cool to me, but to a 4 year old it is AWESOME.
What else could we do but suit him up? And take him out to meet the bees...

Nessa smokes the hive...

Pulls off some burr comb (which is what i think that's called, but fully welcoming any corrections here)...

And there stands my first-born...inches away from TWO HIVES full of busy, busy bees.

And lastly, our beloved Nessa, with a frame o' bees. The upper left corner is capped because it is full of honey. I know this because Nessa made me stick my finger into it, break the cap & taste some honey. While all of those bees were ON THE FRAME doing their bee thing.

(Anyone who knows me well will realize that this is a big deal. Prior to my lessons in bees I would have been doing the nervous dance, and not standing there with a camera trying to get pictures. Thanks for the new knowledge, Nessa!)

So now Adrian is agitating for his own hives....

On the Farm

Nessa took us to the Farm, where the kids saw dogs, cats, goats, cows, a sicilian donkey and horses! Lots of horses.
We visited them in the barn, and then...

Pudgy took Adrian on a ride! This is Silver, who also volunteers at a summer camp for disabled kids. It was a bareback ride. He's now a self-descibed "fan of horses".
Fiona watched the whole thing, and then declared that she too wanted to ride onna horse.

Or as she said "Oney do it. Oney ride a horse"

I love how fearless Fiona can be.

Huge Dogs! (Or vacation at Nessa's, Part 1)

Hello!
We have returned, slightly tanned, from our 2 week stay at Camp Newfie. The kids loved the dogs, the dogs loved the kids. And our own pooch looks like a pocket dog in comparison. Nanook, in front, and Pooka in back. You'll note that Pooka is taller than Adrian.

Adrian learned a few important facts about dogs while we were there. 1) Dogs respond to your tone of voice 2) You cannot be the boss if you are acting like a brat.

Fiona, Nessa, Adrian walking to see the horses on the farm.

This is Silver. There is an exciting horse story to be told, but Adrian is currently saying:

Mom! Mom! Watch! I can stand on one leg! Watch me! look! Look!

So I will have to fill you in later.

We are home safe and happy to be back.

(Happy to leave, happy to come home. That's how it's supposed to go, yes?)

I saw Cyndi Lauper in concert last night.
she stood on my chair.
my actual chair.
it was awesome.