Another year, another ballgame

Every year around this time (Labor Day weekend), my mid-Atlantic family members go camping and incorporate a minor league baseball game into the weekend (remember last year?). This year's locale of choice was in PA, and we went to see the Bowie Baysox take on the Harrisburg Senators. They are the minor league teams for the Baltimore Orioles and Washington Nationals, so we had representation of all teams and everyone had a chance to cheer. Evan asked a million questions, but refused to direct any of them to his Uncle Tom who would have been more than happy to talk baseball to him the entire night, so I spent a considerable amount of time explaining strikeouts, foul balls, sacrifice fly, stolen bases, walks...whew. Both kids fell asleep in the car on the way home and by what can only be described as a miracle, remained asleep as Ethan and I carried them into the house and into their beds.

I hope the campers were able to get a better night's sleep on Saturday--sounded like Friday was a little rough. Some highlights from the game:

My aunt asking me to tell my uncle that the kids are thirsty and he needed to get a drink plan going. I translated that to mean my aunt needed a beer. A very large beer. I translated well.

A batter getting hit by a ball and therefore earning the right to go to first base. Someone asked why did the batter look annoyed--he got to base without even doing anything?

Evan sitting in his pizza. Sigh. We had many problems with the "sit down and eat" concept at the baseball game.

My brother was able to get a ball from one of the Baysox and gave it to Evan. Evan turned and gave it to his cousin Fiona because "she's wanted one her whole life so I really wanted to give it to her." How does such a big heart fit into such a tiny body??

And some pictures...

The Senators/Nationals fans

The College Men

Eric & Margaret
(his buddy last night...
she even got the treasured high-five/pound/bonk farewell!)

Sanderson cousins

Ethan swears he only took out the iPhone to show it to my sister...
it's NOT because he was bored at the game ;-)

A Hubby Post

My husband is demanding I write a post about him while he sits on the phone with AT&T again to get all our phones moved under the right account with the right phone numbers and the right discounts. Here is what he has dictated I write:

Hubby hubby hubby

Chubby chubby hubby

Oh crap, what are you typing?

And now the AT&T lady hung up on him.

Why I love my new job

First week: Lunch w/co-workers and bowling during work hours

Second week: Lunch paid for by co-workers, ice cream social, and we were dismissed at 1:30 PM today for the holiday weekend. And it didn't matter what time you got there (even though I was in at my normal time...but if I had shown up at like 10:00, I could still leave at 1:30)

I don't think next week hold anything exciting, but next month we have a group picnic (during work hours) and my family and I get to go to Six Flags for FREE one Saturday. And rumor has it you get tickets for another free day when you go.

And the work isn't too bad either :-) Yes, I actually do work in between all those social outings :-)

Things that make you go "hmmm..."

I was in CVS waiting for a prescription to unclog my sinuses so my ears will stop pounding and wandered around the store while they slapped a label on a box of steroids. I love steroids. They make me feel like Superwoman and who doesn't like to feel like Superwoman? They also make my mind wander. Anyway.

So I was wandering the store, killing time, and kept coming across this woman who was clearly very agitated at something. My guess is the world in general. She reminded me of a lady I used to work with who used to do a lot of huffing and sighing and absolutely nothing and was not very popular in our office. I head back to the pharmacy counter to make sure I can hear when my name is called and the woman goes storming up to one of the pharmacy guys and says "Can you please COME OUT HERE and show me where the petroleum jelly is?? And TURN THAT MUSIC DOWN!! I can hardly hear myself think in here!!" And as the nice pharmacy guy walked her over to the shelf, all I could think was 'man I hope she uses that petroleum jelly to remove whatever is stuck up her...'

Somebody save a spot for me in hell, because that's one of those thoughts that will send me there :-)

Tag, I'm it

I am so far out of routine right now, I'm hoping this will put me back on the blogging track and then I can get back on the laundry, cooking, sleeping track too ;-)

Here are the directions:
1. Link back to the person who tagged you
2. Mention the rules on your blog
3. Tell about 6 unspectacular quirks of yours
4. Tag 6 people following bloggers by linking them
5. Leave a comment on each of the tagged blogger's blogs letting them know they have been tagged.
Here are my 6 unspectacular quirks:

1. I am a chapstick fanatic. Anyone who spends more than 7 minutes with me in person knows this. It's a genetic thing, and that's the excuse I'm sticking with.
2. Tomatoes give me gas. I thought it was cheese, but recent studies have led me to believe it's tomatoes. And that totally stinks because I'm Italian and love all things tomatoes.
3. I sleep better when I watch TV before I go to bed. It's the primary reason for keeping old episodes of "Two and a Half Men" on Tivo.
4. I'm a Pepsi drinker. My new office has free Coke products. Initially, I was bummed, but I soon realized that was a good thing because if they had Pepsi, I would drink Pepsi ALL DAY LONG. And when I drink too much caffeine (read: 2 Pepsi's), I turn into a strung out shaky disaster of a woman.
5. I have an iPhone. As of about 3 hours ago. My mother and husband are wonderful people.
6. Okay. Last one. And you can tell I'm struggling here. I own a red wallet. I'm normally a black accessory person, but for some reason I like the girlie-colored wallets. I even had a pink one at one point.

That's all I got folks...maybe another blog tomorrow unless I get inspired to plug in the cameras and put up some more pictures of the boys!

Second child syndrome? Says who?!?

I admit, in the early years, you will find many less pictures of Eric than we had of Evan. One day I had actually convinced myself that I must have lost a folder of pictures because I must have more than 10 pictures of Eric when he was a day old, right? Ha!

But I think we're making up for lost time, because these days I seem to have way more pictures of Eric than Evan. Maybe it's because when Evan sees a camera he puts the biggest fakest looking grin on his face. Maybe it's because Eric is at the age that he is just full of smiles and laughs. Or maybe it's the fact that I now keep a 'real' camera in my purse at all times instead of just relying on the camera phone.

Our car ride home yesterday...

Picture pages

Ethan and Eric on the slides
(I swear it took me 4 tries to type the right combination of names)

I'm still debating if this shows Evan in a heavenly or hellish light...

Kids can get comfortable in the strangest ways...

One of our weekend visitors, waiting for mom and dad to finish the card game...

she's going to be a lot of fun when she gets to college!

Alone time

I am alone, at least for a few minutes. Probably the first time in 48 hours and kind of necessary. I assume my husband needs his alone time too, since he's down playing some silly game on his iPhone. This weekend was draft weekend, and while I really have no knowledge of what a cult does, I'm pretty sure this comes close. A group of men gather in our basement and pick their fantasy football teams for the season. Children must stay out of the way for as much of the event as possible. Do not come downstairs unless someone is dying or you are stocking food/beverages.

Okay, really it's not that bad. Especially since this year they just ordered pizza for lunch instead of the whole pre-draft cookout which resulted in me cleaning up a huge mess and having to eat leftover hot dogs for the next week. But there were a lot of people in our house...the draft guys (7, I think), plus 1 wife, 1 wife + 2 children, and 2 more children. And the wife + 2 children stayed the whole weekend and 4 kids in the house was enough to warrant a nice long nap this afternoon (thankfully my children agreed with that plan). But we did put the kids to bed early last night and the 4 adults stayed up playing a favorite college card game that involves some heavy duty drinking and had a great time and this morning wasn't too painful for most of us.

So I'm going to go enjoy some alone time. Probably with my TV.

Who knew?

Certainly not me...well, except #6 and #9, but I always forget :-) And I think I could wrap myself in dryer sheets and the mosquitoes would still get me!

http://mygoodcents.net/2008/08/23/did-you-know/

I am so not ready for this.

Sometimes it's good when things come together...whether it's a carefully laid plan or just a whimsical thought in your head, when it comes together, you have a feeling of fulfillment and satisfaction.

There are other times when things coming together leave you with a twisted feeling in your gut, and even though you know deep down that it's good, at the moment it feels wrong wrong WRONG.

I've known Evan is going to kindergarten in the fall. We've known for a year that he should, even though the county we live in says he is too young (by 7 days). His brain, his personality, his loving heart are not meant to be held back 358 days. The decision was really made back in April, when he got his acceptance letter to a private school and I had to sniff back the tears while singing happy birthday to Eric because really, who is prepared for an acceptance letter for a 4 yo?? We passed the point of no return when we removed him from the daycare he adored to put him in a summer camp that I had to bribe him to go to. I have purchased the obligatory khakis/polos and the stupid #2 'fat' pencils. You think I would be ready for this, wouldn't you?

And then today his official school shirts arrived. Two polo shirts in a shade of maroon that will look awesome on him with the logo/crest embroidered over his heart.

I am so not ready for this.

But there's more.

To add to the clutching to my stomach wondering if my burrito is going to come back up sensation, when I told Eric's teacher that we were going to rid ourselves of the pacifier, their response was "oh good--by the way he's moving to the next room right after Labor Day."

WHAT?!?!? My 'baby', my sweet little guy who despite the fact that Evan can work the word 'underwear' into any conversation has only started saying it just today is going to move out of the cuddly sing-sing safety of Miss Kay's room and into the 'time to start potty training' boot camp of the toddler class? When did this happen?

I am so not ready for this.

Okay, in fairness, I really do love the Toddler teachers just as much as his current teachers. I know they have to be a little more strict because of the age of the kids they are dealing with and Eric will certainly give them a run for their money with his stubbornness and temper.

Working our way out of the 9th circle of hell

To top of my previous whining post, we decided this weekend would be the weekend to wean Eric off the pacifier. And by wean, I mean it 'disappeared' shortly before bedtime because with Eric you really just have to rip off the band-aid. His daycare teachers tried easing into it, telling him that big boys don't need pacis and now that he was getting to be a big boy...blah blah blah. But, as I'm sure some of you have determined without me saying it, I don't like to do things the soft and fuzzy way (most of the time). So when he asked for his 'blue suckie,' I just shrugged and told him it was all gone.

Long story short, Eric took NO naps this weekend, and averaged about 2 less hours of sleep each night on Friday and Saturday. He usually takes a 2 hour nap, so by the time Sunday night rolled around, he had lost about 8 hours of sleep. Yikes. Last night went better, so we left him at the mercy of our daycare angels to see what he would do for them.

"When he asked for it, I offered him a baby doll instead and he said ok."

Followed by a 2 hour nap. I love Kay and Kendra.

So far so good tonight, although I did have to concede to let him sleep with Brewsky (stuffed dog, not a beverage), Monkey, Mr. Bear, Boo, Puppy, and Mule.

So maybe I personally am not soft and fuzzy, I do let my kids sleep with soft and fuzzy things. Lots and lots of soft and fuzzy things.

MIA

Amazing how a lady of leisure can find no time for blogging, huh? Evan stayed home through Thursday and Eric threatened a day at home on Friday, but ultimately I had the day to myself to run my tail off and get things done. And run I did. I can't even remember where all I went but I'm sure our debit card could tell the story pretty easily.

Saturday I was knocked down for the count with some sort of 24 hr-ish bug that gave me a hellish headache that is still hurting behind my eyeballs and random outbreaks of hives. So I've been in an Aleve-Benadryl coma for most of the weekend and came out of it in time to start my new job today, which basically consisted of 8 hours of paperwork and lectures on benefits, ethics, and other fun stuff.

I am wiped out.

But waaaay happier than I was a week ago at my old job. Kind of ironic, they sent me a letter in the mail today reminding me of my obligation NOT to solicit employees to my new company for 12 months. I found it very amusing because, as I was leaving, people were asking me to let them know about potential openings. So I guess technically that's not soliciting??

Is it too late to go back to bed and re-start the day?

Today is the first day of my brief period of unemployment. I had PLANS for today. Goodwill, Humane Society, Lowe's, Wal-mart, Sears, dry cleaners...I wanted to get it all out of the way today so I could spend another day this week getting beautified (mani, pedi, haircut at least) and have enough time to get an oil change on my truck.

Apparently, someone did not approve of this plan and had a need to change it.

This weekend, Evan was complaining of water in his ear. Monday he was pulling at one ear, running a fever, and was pretty unhappy. Ethan took him to the CVS Minute Clinic on Tuesday morning and confirmed a case of swimmer's ear. Not too much of a shock, since the kid spends 2 hours a day in the pool and most of that time he has his head underwater. Fever was enough to keep him home, but after spiking pretty good last night, he woke up fever-free this morning and happy as can be, so thought the worst was behind us.

I dragged Evan along on some errands this morning, we stopped for lunch at Noodles & Co, he protested a nap, and we ran a few more errands when I noticed his skin was hot again. CRAP. Came home, called the doctor, suggested we come in, blah blah blah, he has strep throat and has to stay home one more day. So home we will be.

And Eric has a runny nose and cough. Really hoping that one's just the weather change/allergies. Keep your fingers crossed.

When I grow up...

I remember in elementary school--maybe first or second grade--instead of the usual ho-hum school pictures, they took them in the theme of "what do you want to be when you grow up?" The choices were very limited--doctor, nurse, fireman, etc.--and I ended up with a big question mark behind my head. Do I look like someone who could be limited by choices, especially at the ripe old age of 7??

I love observing my kids and wondering what they will be when they grow up and if I can predict that now. I doubt my parents had any idea I would be what I am and that I would have the confidence (nerve) to tell people off when I need to, albeit in a politically correct manner.

I wonder if Evan will be some sort of sports commentator, since he talks a mile a minute, narrating constantly, and sometimes answering his own question within the question--"Mommy why does the school bus turn on its orange blinker to let other cars know when it's waiting to turn into my school?" Umm...how do you answer that one??

On an afternoon at the beach, I can see where Eric could become a bossy boss (and how quickly I turn into a subservient employee) and Evan will go around critiquing other people's work.

This weekend Eric was 'walking' some of his animals, so maybe he'll be a vet or dog walker or even the next dog whisperer?


And then today he announces to me "Mommy? I Batman!" I have no idea how a backwards hat and Diego sunglasses turn him into Batman, but as long as the chair was the highest thing he was trying to fly off of (and by fly, I mean sliding feet first), I'm not going to tell him :-)


So there you have it...a range of talents and passions and many many years until I see what they turn into...

School supplies

Can I just say how much I am dreading the shopping for school supplies adventure? I have been to Target twice this week to pick up regular household stuff and the store is overrun with parents (mostly moms) and kids picking out their backpacks, supplies, and clothing. It looks like hell on earth for all parties involved. I am not looking forward to this.

Evan has to wear a uniform, and most of that shopping I have already done online...except I have to exchange the shirts for the right size and just have not gotten my butt to the store to do it. And clearly I should have done it because, at this point, they will probably be out of the size that I need. But that really wasn't so bad...polo shirts, khakis, couple of sweaters.

But the school supplies? 8 #2 primary (fat) pencils? Seriously? 3 boxes of Ziploc sandwich bags? Really? And the complex of whether or not to buy store brand or 'name' brand...kids seem to be a little more vicious nowadays and I sure don't want to be the 'cheap' parent who doesn't buy my child the Crayola brand of washable markers (primary colors, unscented, slim and regular), but on the other hand I wouldn't normally buy the name brand when the generic is sitting right next to it for 1/2 the price...

And 12--TWELVE--large glue sticks? Is this going to be a side dish at lunch or something?? And the 'boxes' and 'containers' of Ziploc bags and tissues and wipes...are they asking for multiple normal size boxes? So in reality I could send in one giant box of sanitizing wipes instead of the 4 on this supply list?

And '2 tissue boxes'...is this empty boxes? Or boxes of tissues? Because the list for some of the grades says 'boxes of tissues' but then a couple of them say 'tissue boxes.'

My head hurts. I need a mommy mentor.

And good morning to you too!

This morning kicked off around 5 AM, to the sounds of Evan crying in his room. I stumbled in to see what was going on (assuming his nightlight had turned off) and he tells me he has just had a very bad dream. That there was a lady with a gun and she shot him 3 times and an arrow went into his leg and hit his bone and hurt very badly. Cripes. I'm used to Evan having night terrors, but I don't think I'm quite ready for the nightmares yet!! I reminded him of the good dream he had a few days earlier (dolphins swimming and he got to touch one on the tail) and snuggled in bed with him until he fell back asleep.

Then I had to fight with Eric about shoes, something I never thought I would have to do with a boy. Although, to give him credit, he was protesting the socks with his sandals which I am also not a fan of, but daycare insists that children must wear socks. So I had to wrestle him out of the house like an alligator while Evan is still tearing up about his bad dream and we get to daycare to find a child wearing crocs with--you guessed it--no socks. Argh. Luckily he decided to play with a boy who was dressed according to the rules and I was able to point out how Ryan was wearing socks and shoes like a big boy and it all ended well.

And the road I normally take to work after dropping Evan off is closed for a MONTH, and the alternate way is crappy. But camp is over in 2 weeks, so at least I only have to deal with it for that long.

Welcome to Geektown, population 1

My hubby is away on business for a few days. Evan keeps telling people he's on vacation and I'm having a hard time correcting him...two nights with a bed to yourself and being able to eat out on someone else's tab? I might call that a vacation. Then again, it is only 2 nights and he's on the opposite coast and flying very late and very early, which is why I can muster up the energy to say it's not really vacation.

But enough about him, let's get back to me. Because lets face it, that's what this blog is about!! So how am I spending my night of 'freedom' (as free as one can get with 2 kids in the house)?

1. Replacing light bulbs.
2. Putting things back into the bathrooms.
   
3. Trying to figure out where to put all our cell phones/laptops/keys/etc.
4. Burning the living crap out of myself in the process of #2. I am typing with a wet paper towel wrapped around the giant patch of white skin that has formed on my knuckle after brushing my finger against my once-favorite under-cabinet lights. I don't like them quite as much now that I have this horribly painful burn on my finger.
   
5. And finally...re-arranging my kitchen cabinets. Stop panicking hubby, the only thing that moved was the tupperware!!

So there you have it. I'm not sure what the cool kids do on their free nights, but us geeks? We like to re-arrange kitchen cabinets.

Ok, this was a really pitiful post, but I'm just trying to keep my mind off my burnt finger. So have some mercy on me.

Shades of tan and a sales pitch

Anyone with eyes can tell that Evan has a lot of my features, some good, some bad. Eric has not inherited many (if any) visually noticeable traits, but there's no question where he gets his short fuse and long temper.

We discovered this summer that Evan has my ability to tan. I keep looking at him and realizing why my relatives used to call me 'Pocahontas' after spending a summer in Florida, because he could be Pocahontas' son.

Eric, amazingly enough, looks like he has hardly spent any time in the sun. True, he has not spent every afternoon swimming outside at camp, but the kid has had his fair share of sun on the weekends and this past week. But this is what they look like:


And now I must do a sales pitch. Because the only difference between my children when they go outside is that Eric wears the Arbonne Baby Care Sunscreen and Evan wears 'regular' stuff. Both are SPF 30, but for whatever reason, Arbonne is not letting the sun through to my child's skin. In fact, it works so well that I had to stop using it because MY skin wasn't getting any darker. Seriously, I originally bought the Arbonne stuff because Eric had such horrible skin issues, but the soap/lotion/oil/etc. did not do anything for him except make him smell like lemon Pledge. Lever 2000, Eucerin, and Aquaphor have become staples in our house. But I think I may need to stock up on the sunscreen for my fair-haired child...so if you're an Arbonne dealer and want my business next summer...

The tanning duo (after I quit using the Arbonne, of course)...and Evan still has a better tan!

One beach, two beach

My husband has taken the kids to the pool by himself and left me in an empty house. This is normally a good thing, except I feel like a pile of achy poo because of a sinus infection. Still, it is a quiet house.

Our vacation was a 2-beach adventure joined together by a ride on a ferry boat and a loooooong drive down the MD/VA eastern shore. And adventurous it was.

Beach stop #1 was in Ocean City, NJ (aka 'the shore') for a visit with Ethan's parents. Water was a tiny bit cold for my liking, but it didn't stop the boys from doing some serious wave jumping.

Apparently the water was a little cold for Eric too.

Also did some sandcastle building and Eric shows promise for being a supervisor.
"Build more Mommy!"
So I did. 10 times. Every day.
I think Evan may go into quality control.

Evan built his own HUGE sandcastle, with a little assistance from a beach ball.

Video time

A couple of videos from our beach trip...

Eric made up a very entertaining game we called 'Mommy Toes'...he was so entertained by it, I almost didn't mind burying my own toes in the sand over and over. And over.

Evan kept himself amused while Ethan did some shopping in an upscale clothing shop...you can probably hear that Eric is NOT amused about being stuck in his stroller to keep his little hands off of some very expensive items.

Return to bloggytown

We have returned from our vacation...a beach-filled week that was as exhausting as it was fun. We did cut things a day short because, well, it was just time to come home. Our bathrooms are very nearly complete and I am still in awe of the fact that our contractor did as much as he did without us being here (although I did leave a very detailed to-do list).

Anyway, more blogs and plenty of pictures to come. First I have to explain to Evan for the umpteenth time this week that he does need to change his underwear every day. The kid takes vacation seriously!