Best Tooth Puller Ever

Thank goodness the fear of pulling teeth is not genetic. He'll be just fine ripping the rest out of his mouth.

It's just like labor pain

Ah, the emergency room. I have visited very few times in my life - thankfully - and our children (hear me knocking on wood LOUDLY) have escaped the repeated visits that often come with childhood accidents.

Hubby...well...he's an ER master. Sprained ankle. Pneumonia. Asthma attack. Kidney stone.

He's a do-it-yourself kind of ER guy, too. He often drives himself. Doesn't feel the need for anyone to be by his side while he's waiting. Always seems to feel like a million bucks right after he's checked in and the pain meds kick in - but who doesn't?

This morning at 4:30 a.m. while he was apologizing for waking me up, he announced he was in incredible pain and was driving to the ER. My thought was: pain + driving = bad idea.  I offered repeatedly to call for an ambulance but he said no. Having two children sleeping soundly doesn't exactly lend itself to offering to drive him there - although the hospital is less than a mile away so even a drive and dump at the door would have had me missing for less than 5 mins (NO, I would NEVER leave my children alone! On purpose, that is...)

As he described his ailments I thought, kidney stones or appendicitis. And after walking him to the door to wish him luck on his drive to the ER, I quietly did a search online and, once again, earned my WebMD medical degree.

I lay awake waiting for the call that he arrived safely...or that he was being sent home...or admitted....any call at all. And sure enough that came a little after 5 a.m. There was an IV, pain meds and he was just going to wait for the Dr. I rolled over after we hung up and pretended I went back to sleep - didn't happen. The WebMD site had me second guessing my diagnosis so I tossed and turned.

By the time I was able to get to the hospital after dropping the kids off at school and touching base with the awesome support network we have there, they were whisking him away for a cat scan. Sure enough it was a  kidney stone that would now float around in his bladder until it decided to come out. The kinda hot nice male nurse explained what was going on and offered his brilliant analogy so I could better understand the situation....

"When the stone is passing through your kidney, it is similar to labor pains."

I was going to offer up, "Well then hubby has 39 more hours of kidney stones to go, because I was in labor for 42 hours with my first child...."

But then I quickly decided it really wasn't about me, now was it...so I nodded and bit my tongue...for once. The nice thing about this ER visit is our hospital just unveiled like a 10 trillion dollar ER renovation (ok, not 10 trillion dollars) so we got to check it out. Very nice. Just missing Diet Coke in the vending machine - so I'll be taking that up with the staff next time we visit.  Which I'm hoping won't be until at least 2014.

Everyone take your place...

The first full day back to school is exciting....for the dog.

You see, he and I have had this amazing routine for years now - it started in 2007 when I started working from home - I wait for the kids to leave the house (I'll admit - I don't do mornings so hubby is the one rushing the kids around and out the door) and then I saunter downstairs and head over to his dog crate in my office, all covered with his dark sheet so he isn't disturbed by the sunlight, and let him out.

He runs to the back door ready to chase a squirrel and do his duty and then back inside for his breakfast and some conversation.  It usually sounds like this:

"Hey Bubba (although his name is Coach). Good morning. You hungry?"

He never responds.

I'll grab a quick bite, turn on the radio, sometimes rarely shower and turn on the computer to check the day's events.  He curls up right behind or next to my office chair and away we go. Routine. For hours. There are conference calls, trips to the fridge for Diet Coke refills, barking at the UPS or Postal trucks (him, not me) and lots and lots of email.

This past school year things changed a little -  there was bus duty thrown into the mix at 2:10 p.m. That usually involved barking on his behalf as I left the house to walk down the end of our street. This year, there will be trips to the school as the bus ride home is off the list.  I'm sure that will evoke the same barking that the bus exit did.

So you see, for years now at the start of the school year there is this return of "normal" for the dog. This celebration dance I'm doing right now is not for me...it's totally for him. I'm so happy his routine is back! He's not getting any younger, ya know.

Growing up in a flash

Matching outfits this year! Bring on 1st and 3rd grade. We can handle it.

The summer that got away

As my daughter would say, "Holy Cheese and Crackers! Is it really the end of August?" (kudos to Hannah Montana for that lovely phrase, I believe)

How can this summer wrapping up already? How can my little minions be heading into first and third grade? How can my shorts from last summer STILL not fit (ok, I know the answer to that one)?

I'm sitting in amazement that the 500 blog posts that have been floating through my head have never made it online. Part of the problem is that my blog is not connected to my "work" login so anytime I want to post I have to log out of my email, calendar and overall current being and log back in as my previous being...which is way too complicated for my lifestyle these days.

I will say that we survived our first summer together - the kids and I. Every previous year they have been in full time daycare and even last year when I found myself unemployed we had already pre-paid for summer session so I sent them along.  This year, we spent at least 5 out of 7 days together (I wanted to keep them in the program at least 2 days so I can keep a slot when school starts up - Mama is trying to get a business going!) and we all came out of it alive.

Of course there were tears, shouting, crying, pouting, stomping,  and screaming - but can you blame me? I mean a Mom has to release some tension every now and then. 

But kidding aside, we didn't do half the things I imagined we'd do but we squeezed in some pool time with the neighbors, a trip to NH then to Six Flags New England then to PA, time with friends we don't see enough like Liz, Julie, Jocelyn and Christina - and sadly not as many trips to the beach as I would have liked.

Overall I'd say I scored a 7 on the scale of "Keeping the Kids Entertained" - Hey it was my first time as a summer Mom! But I will leave you with this:

Zero trips to the ER or doctor.
One son who mastered the scooter and riding a two wheeler.
One daughter who can swim in the deep end of a pool and rode in some waves at the beach.
One Mom who is on her way to self employment - full time.

Bravo summer of 2011.

Everything costs more these days - even paper towels

While on a mission with the kids to find an umbrella stand on Tornado Wednesday - something that proved to be more difficult than I thought - our adventure took us to BJ's Wholesale Club in the late afternoon.

Amidst all the running around from Target to Walmart to Home Depot and then BJ's I managed to consume 32 oz of Diet Coke easily.

God-willing, we were able to find a nice 50 lb steel umbrella stand at BJ's, roll it up and into a shopping cart, check out without any "extras" in our possession and head straight for the rest room where I corralled the kids in and made a dash to a stall.

Upon exiting with a renewed sense of relief to wash my hands I noticed my daughter was standing with her hands dripping wet from the sink and mumbling, "I don't like those dryers".  The jet engine dryers that blow the skin on your hands in various directions are not her favorite.  I waved my hands under the automatic faucet at the right angle to finally get the thing going when I hear her exclaim, "I did not know they had paper towels here!"  I glanced over at the steel holder on the wall at the precise moment she screeched, "WHOA!  They charge 25c for paper towels here.  Why would they charge 25c? I can't believe anyone would charge for paper towels!! Look Alex, 25c for paper towels."

For what seemed like eternity she "Whoa'd" and "Wow'd" about the 25c paper towel holder so much that my son was now fascinated at the steel contraption hanging on the wall that clearly did not dispense paper towels.

With a quick and feverish motion I waved my hands and shouted "Let's go. We don't want anyone stealing our umbrella stand from our cart out side.  Let's move. Step away from the box. It's not paper towels - carry on."

That last observation should have been kept inside my head because as we were exiting the bathroom the conversation continued with "What do you mean it wasn't paper towels? What was in there? What costs 25c? Tell me. What was in there for 25c?"

"Can I buy you guys an icee while we're here?"

Colored, sugar infused ice will distract them every time.

So, parents - when is the right time to discuss the expandable, tube shaped paper towels on a string with my daughter? I'm frankly not prepared to do go there yet with an 8 year old!!

How do you like them...errr...strawberries?

I failed as a home gardener - mainly because I hate weeding and also I didn't enjoy all the bugs that accompany vegetable plants. Last summer I was amazed by some perennial tomatoes that regrew after a fairly mild winter of '09 (that was kind of cool). However, in the summer of '10 I gave up on beans, lettuce, asparagus and herbs and was happy with the tomatoes and a few strawberries that sprouted up out of a strawberry pot we bought - that was about this size:

After the 6 feet of snow melted in our back yard, I noticed something happening in the "garden"...and I'm not sure what to do about it...

It seems my little strawberry pot spawned some friends and now I have a strawberry garden.  Who says I can't grow my own food????  Anyone need jam?  I suspect that will be my next "do-it-yourself" project. Lord help me.

Healthy fighting habits

After 18 years together my husband and I rarely fight.  We disagree about a lot of things but we don't fight. 

We had enough drama and fighting early on in our relationship to fill us up so since we've been married (11 years in August) we've been pretty cool.  Until the other day. When my hormones and motherly instincts got the best of me and I blew up.  And perhaps some profanities flew out of my mouth.  And I may have slammed a door on my way out of the house.  And I'm sure there was a noise that resembled GRRRRAAAARRRRGGH that came out of my mouth.

But given it was T-Ball night I gathered myself together, came back in the house and pushed on with our night.

And then the questions came out of Abby's mouth at the game:  "Why were you and Daddy fighting? Why were you so mad at him?"

And then it hit me. She's NEVER seen us fight - at least that I can recall. We argue but neither of us has ever left the house to cool off - or shown any real aggression towards each other.  And frankly, I'm realizing that could be a bad thing.

We aren't perfect - to say the least. We don't always get along. We are sometimes warm, sometimes cold towards each other.  But at the end of the day, we lead by example and I wonder what example we've set by not fighting at time or two?  Marriage is work - say "Hell Ya" if you know what I'm talking about.  And while I've raised my voice with the kids on couple several occasions, I rarely do it with my husband.

I'm contemplating if I should start throwing some objects across the kitchen?  Or slam more doors? Perhaps call him Poo-poo face more? And while I make light of it, I do wonder if we sometimes hold back for the sake of our kids and if that is the best choice. What do you think? Ever toss a vase across a room like in the movies?  I think I may go invest in some boxing gloves....you know....for the sake of the kids.

High aspirations

My children only want the best. Kraft mac n' cheese.  Nestle chocolate milk. Third place.

What?

Field Day is Friday for the kid's school, and since Abby snagged a 1st place ribbon in Kindergarten and a 2nd place ribbon in 1st grade she is desperate to win a 3rd place ribbon this year.  You know...to make the set complete.

And, you'll be happy to learn that my son has already decided on his life's occupation. He proudly exclaimed today:


"Mommy. When I get bigger, I'm going to be a guy with gloves and a big trash bag and I'm going to walk around picking up all the trash on the ground."

So while most would think my kids are setting rather low standards, I argue the opposite. I think my daughter has learned that life is not all about winning or coming in first but completing the job...and her brother truly understands the environmental ignorance and its affect on his generation.

Our family would be proud of 3rd place trash collectors....what do your kids aspire to be?  A first place surgeon? They clearly don't get it.

Thou shall not have religion

If you and I sat at a bar 15 years ago and you asked me "So, when you have children do you think you'll raise them Catholic?" I would have laughed so hard the walls would have shook. No CCD for my kids. Religion shmaligion - in fact I believed the Bible was written by a bunch of stoned and drunk men telling stories around the hearth.  That could still be true.

However, if you ask my daughter today why she is excited for tomorrow she will tell you two reasons:

1. It's the Kentucky Derby
2. It's her First Communion day

Our decision to put our children in Catholic school had little to do with being Catholic. But what has emerged out of this situation is a new appreciation for faith, trust, respect, love and a bit of routine. It feels good to learn about tradition and ritual and to see my children glow when they talk about a universal love that is bigger than just the four of us and our extended family.  I'm learning more about faith then I ever imagined - in fact, it's really as if I'm going to Catholic school too and it's fascinating both historically and religiously.

And while I may not be the world's best Catholic, I appreciate and understand their love for their school, teachers and church.  And tomorrow, when my little girl is all dressed in white and smiling proudly with her friends, I'll be confident again we made the right choice. Then we'll be rushing home so she can see the horses race.  She is, after all, just an 8 year old girl with a love of animals.