Didn't see that one coming

Evan has re-started soccer, and playing with a slightly older group of kids than he did in the fall. Since his birthday is right on the cutoff, we put him with the younger crowd (5-6) in the fall, but he seemed like he would be able to handle himself with the older kids (6-7) for the spring. It seems like a good move so far. Coach is great, parents are nice, and there's always a few kids that are...interesting.

I was watching practice today and see one of the boys spitting on the ground. It looked like spitting from where I was standing, at least. Then one of the coaches yells to him "Cover one side of your nose and blow out the other!" Yeah, he was teaching the kid how to blow his nose without getting a tissue/napkin/etc. Now I don't have a problem with that, but still...wasn't prepared to see it on the soccer field from a kid that age. Can't wait to see what we learn at next week's practice :-)

Going green, staying green

I never thought asking people to STOP sending me things would be so difficult. And since it's almost Earth Day, it seemed like a good time to blog about it.

We canceled our Sunday paper subscription. I don't need the temptation to buy stuff in the stores, and you can read all the articles online, so why bother? I called the paper over a month ago, and was told April 4 would be my last delivery. Two weeks later, I am STILL getting the paper.

I had a sonogram done FIFTEEN MONTHS ago, and am still getting notices from the hospital about it. The kicker? They owe me money. $25. I have called them the past 3 times I received the "bill" to tell them to please stop sending me the notice and to just go ahead and keep the $25 because at this point they have spent more than that sending me these paper notices.

Does everyone else get catalogs all at the same time? I swear we don't get any for a couple of months, and then I get 8 in the same week. This past round, I called all the companies and asked to be removed from their mailing list. The only one who kept me on the phone longer than necessary was LL Bean, but I assured them I would still come spend a small fortune when my next child needs a backpack, since they have such a great return policy when my kids destruct their indestructible products. Now it just remains to be seen if I keep getting catalogs from places that I buy something from MAYBE once a year (usually Christmas).

Jesus eats mac & cheese

Bet you didn't know that one!

Friday night dinner was fish fillets and macaroni & cheese, as we try and follow the no-meat-on-Fridays protocol during Lent. As I put the food on the table, Eric started his series of questions:

Eric: What are we having?
Mom: Fish, and macaroni and cheese
Eric: Fish? Why we having fish?
Mom: Because it's Friday.
Eric: Friday? Why we having fish on Friday?
Mom: Because it's Friday during Lent and that's what we do
Eric: Why?
Mom: Because that's what Jesus ate.
Eric: And macaroni and cheese?

And I answered yes, thinking that if Jesus had the option, he too would be eating macaroni and cheese on Fridays during Lent.

Please stop talking to me.

We have an extremely chatty hygienist at our dentist's office...how does that happen? I mean, you're at the dentist with all sorts of torture devices being stuck in your mouth, and you have this (very nice) woman who is talking and talking and talking, and she keeps stopping what she's doing to either make a point, or because she expects me to respond. I've actually told her that I am in a hurry, but that seems to go over her head and she continues to tell me about how she swears she saw me at her gym the other day but she didn't want to come up to the person in the gym because what if it wasn't me and do I work out and where?

Really? When I'm at the dentist, my goal is to pretend that I am somewhere else and to get out of the vinyl chair as quickly as humanly possible. It can be 6 degrees outside, and I will come out of the chair looking like I have just spent an hour in a sauna, that's how stressed out I get about going to the dentist. I've never had a 'bad' dentist experience, and our dentist is really awesome, but I don't like him enough to want to hang out in his office for hours at a time and get my teeth and gums poked at with a pointy thing.

Name Change

I'm tired of the 'Zoom Zoom', especially since the zoom-zoom Mazda has been replaced by the 'Swagger Wagon' Toyota. But seeing as how this is not a car blog, I don't think Swagger Wagon would be a good fit of a title. So hang in there, and I'll be back with something much more original in no time.

All about Evan

Note: After 26 inches of snow and 4 days off of school, with the knowledge that 10-20 more inches and 2 more days (at least) are coming, we've started to get a little punchy. My humor may not actually be funny to anyone but me anymore.

Anyway, some Evanisms that have made me smile and laugh in the past few days:

1. He stands during the National Anthem. I would give Carrie Underwood some of the credit for getting him to drop his pizza and stand in awe, but he started standing with his hand over his heart when Queen Latifah sang 'America the Beautiful.' And while Queen Latifah did a better job singing than Carrie Underwood, I think Carrie wins in the looks department. Especially because of the shoes she wore while singing last night, according to my husband.

2. While at the grocery store today, where we re-stocked for Snowmageddon Part 2 (or could we consider this a trilogy, starting in December?), Evan got hit on by a girl. I'm sure 'got hit on' is a grammatical train wreck, but I have no better way to say it. We were walking along, and these 2 girls walked past us...the one turns to her friend/sister and says "hey I know that boy from my school" and then says to Evan "hey dude!" My jaw about hit the floor, and he just giggled as we headed to the bread aisle (which looked like it had just been re-stocked)

3. Evan decided he wanted to read to me tonight...his book of choice? "Defenders" which is about animals and how they defend themselves. Not exactly soothing bedtime stories, but you take what you can get. One of the pages was titled "Beat It" and before the thought could fully process in my head, he turns to me and says, "you know, like the Michael Jackson song." Ok, while I am a fan, and I realize his music was overplayed for a few weeks after he died, I would not have thought he would know who MJ is. Mystery solved, his friend Gavin has told him about Michael Jackson's music. Interesting to find out what first graders talk about on an average day....

Snowpocalypse 2010

Eric & Evan, sitting on the plowed snow
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Estimating we have about 'half an Eric' of snow
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Evan, on top of the plowed snow...

the bottom of the picture is ground level

Why I have the best husband ever

1. He bought milk on the way home. Two gallons. I don't even want to know how much he had to pay for it.

2. Even though snow is coming down at an alarming rate, he still made steaks on the grill happen tonight...I couldn't use this on my photoblog because it would break my no-editing rule (had to fix the red eye) even though the steam coming off the grill is really cool looking, but here is my ode to hubby on this snowy night:

Bring on the snow!

I feel eerily prepared for this weekend's snowstorm, which is strange. I keep thinking I should be stocking up on supplies for the weekend, but then realized I have everything. Ok, maybe we could use another gallon of milk, but we can always use another gallon of milk for the cereal monsters. When Emmett starts drinking milk, I think it will be cheaper to just buy a cow.

Groceries--check. Although I'm going to have to re-evaluate the menu for this weekend, because I don't see my husband grilling steaks on Friday night if we get the snow we're supposed to get. But I can probably push that meal to Sunday, so not a big deal.

Movies--check. I have been stockpiling 'new' movies from www.swapadvd.com and the kids have Little Big League, Free Willy, and Dennis the Mennace. Ethan and I have Hitch, and Liar Liar (which we have seen dozens of times, but are still good go-to movies for a snowy night in).

Salt--un-check. We have very little ice melting sat to sprinkle, BUT our homeowners association found a plowing company that also shovels/salts our sidewalks for an extremely reasonable price, so I'm not too worried.

Activities--check. Evan and Eric recently discovered the joy of building forts out of furniture/blankets, which provides HOURS of entertainment. It's awesome. Evan was home with me yesterday because of the snow and he spent most of the day snuggled in his fort drawing and playing video games. The rest of it he spent putting stickers on a huge piece of paper, which is also a quality time-waster. We also got a bunch of games for Christmas, and there's a few that haven't been played yet.

What are your snowy weekend plans?

Let's hope he never gets lost

Me: Eric, what's your phone number?

Eric: Mommy! I don't have a phone!

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Me: Eric, what's your address?

Eric: I don't wear a dress

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Me: Say 'Vienna, Virginia'

Eric: something unintelligible

Me: Vienna

Eric: Vienna

Me: Virginia

Eric: Virginia

Me: Vienna, Virginia

Eric: That's what I said!

In case I need a good blackmail story

I walked past Eric in the bathroom earlier tonight and he was--ahem--'shaking.' He sees me walk past and says:

"Look Mommy, I'm shaking over the potty! Dancin' and shakin' and movin/ to the music!"

To be fair, I was the one who taught him what I thought were the lyrics to "Play That Funky Music" but I am now finding out the actual lyrics are:

"dancin' and singin' and movin' to the groovin'"

In any case, it's a good story to have when he starts datin' :-)

A teenager in the making

My dad, brother, Evan, Eric, and I went to the train show yesterday. The trip started with lunch at Noodles & Company, always a favorite. After lunch, the train show, and the chaotic ride home with 2 over tired children, I asked them what their favorite part of the day was:

Eric: Trains! The big choo-choo trains!

Evan: Eating lunch at the noodle place!

Me: No, what was your favorite part of the train show?

Evan: Eating popcorn!

Me: Okay, besides eating, what was your favorite part:

Evan: Buying a train t-shirt!

At least they looked like they were having fun (yes, my father always talks when someone is trying to take his picture and my brother wears shorts even when it is cold and raining outside).

WWF goes to pre-school

When picking Eric up from pre-school today, one of the teachers needed to talk to me. I actually had the idea they wanted to talk to me because of how wonderful Eric has been doing lately.

Wrong.

Today, my sweet, mellow, mild-mannered (post ear tube) little boy decided to regress. BIG TIME.

He hit--not one, not two, but THREE--of his 'friends' today. And the first one he hit in the face with a (toy) train track. Luckily the victim was okay and didn't require stitches or anything. The other two hits were minus any toys.

So, on the way home, Eric and I are talking (I"m curious if he will tell me about what happened). I ask him about his day and what he did and his friends, and he answers everything all happy cheery with no mention of turning pre-school into a cage match. I ask him about hitting his friends and he admits to it. When I asked him why:

"Because that's what Eric's do"

Seriously, how can I rationalize with a three year old when he starts talking about himself in the third person? Let's just hope today was a one-time deal.

Atypical, but not surprising

The icemaker on the refrigerator seemed to be jammed this weekend. After waiting a full minute, and listening to the ice build up in the door, a Happy Meal toy came flying out of the ice dispenser, followed by about a gallon of ice cubes.

I took Evan and Eric for haircuts...on the drive home, I thanked them for being so good and patient. Eric replied "Oh sure Mommy, not a problem."

There was more, but I've already forgotten...this is why I need to blog!

Killing time

I'm not sure I like that title...could be taken the wrong way. I'm not going on some sort of murder spree, just to clarify. Emmett is happily sleeping in the backseat after being diagnosed with a double ear infection (one ear was so bad the nurse actually jumped back after looking in his ear), so I don't really want to take him inside and wake him up and the weather is SO gorgeous, I figured I'd sit in the van with him and play on the computer.

On a scale of 1 to 10, how bad was that run on sentence?

Other than the nasty ear infections, life is pretty good in our house. The working full time/having three kids thing is working out pretty well, which kind of surprises me. Ethan is probably ready to enlist me in the armed forces to become sort of drill sargent, but I know he would never say that ;-) I am getting my work job done, I pick up all 3 kids (most days), dinner has been on the table at a reasonable hour every night, and everyone has what they are supposed to have for lunch the next day.

How, you ask, have I managed to accomplish this amazing feat day after day? Planning people, lots and lots of planning.

I'm trying to put a picture of my menu plan for January here, but it's just not working. In any case, I have a month worth of meals lined up, with all the major ingredients stocked in my fridge, and I have actually been following this plan! I'm so impressed. Tell me you're impressed.

Naptime is coming to an end, so that's all for today's rambling. Happy long weekend!

Oh wait, here's the list of meals...best I can do under the circumstances:

• Sun Jan 3 Chicken Pot Pie
• Mon Jan 4 Spaghetti & Meatballs
• Tue Jan 5 Crockpot Beef Stew
• Wed Jan 6 Black-Eyed Pea Tacos
• Thu Jan 7 Flounder w/Lemony Bread Crumb Topping
• Sat Jan 9 Crockpot Blue Cheese & Steak
• Mon Jan 11 Spinach/Onion Quesadillas
• Tue Jan 12 Soup & Sandwiches
• Wed Jan 13 Greek Penne Pasta
• Thu Jan 14 Crockpot Maple Ham
• Fri Jan 15 Eggs & Bacon
• Mon Jan 18 Baked Ziti
• Tue Jan 19 Hot Dog Creole
• Wed Jan 20 Bowtie Alfredo w/Broccoli
• Thu Jan 21 Crockpot Philly Cheesesteaks
• Fri Jan 22 Salmon w/Chili-Lime Spice Rub
• Sat Jan 23 Chicken Diablo
• Sun Jan 24 Tomato & Wild Rice Soup
• Mon Jan 25 Chicken BBQ Sandwiches
• Tue Jan 26 Mediterranean Chicken
• Wed Jan 27 Chicken Nuggets w/Mac & Cheese
• Thu Jan 28 Crockpot Orange Chicken
• Fri Jan 29 Sausage & Egg Casserole
• Sun Jan 31 Baked Macaroni & Cheese
• Mon Feb 1 Fried Rice w/Shrimp
• Tue Feb 2 Potato & Goat Cheese Spanish Tortilla
• Wed Feb 3 Chicken Quesadillas
• Thu Feb 4 Crockpot Margarita Chicken

P.S. I love the Crockpot Lady, in case you couldn't tell :-)

Eric 2.0

Eric got ear tubes a few weeks ago (I find myself wanting to say he had ear tubes installed, but that just doesn't sound right), after suffering through 7 ear infections in as many months, or some miserable number. The doctors assured us it would be a good thing. Friends told us the surgery was a walk in the park and he would be back to his normal self by the time he got home from the surgery.

They lied to us. They were all WRONG.

The surgery was a great thing. Eric is a completely different person. The ear tubes propelled him from being a grumpy toddler into a happy, social little boy who talks so much I think he might be talking more than Evan. He greets me in the morning with a hug and a "good morning Mommy" and constantly comes up to me wanting a hug and kiss, and to tell me that he loves me. He asks questions (lots and lots and LOTS of questions) and tells stories and puts on "shows" for his family and his classmates using puppets and stuffed animals.

In a word? He is CUTE! Ok, he was always cute, but now he is a happy cute. See for yourself:

Why do they have to grow up?

Evan goes to before and after school care at his elementary school...the kids are all different ages, and we've noticed some differences (for better and worse) in behavior because of this. It is what it is, he isn't going to be an angelic 5 year old forever, right?

I dropped him off yesterday morning and walked him in like I normally do. He ran towards the coat area, and very briefly paused to look back at me before putting his coat away and giving me a wave. Something was off, but he seemed okay, so off to work I went.

This morning, while I was pouring cereal, Evan gave me a big hug and whispered "Bye Mom" in my ear, even though I was going to be taking him to school in a few minutes. Then it hit me--maybe he doesn't want to hug me in front of all the older kids?

Seems like just yesterday I couldn't get out of the door without the requisite high five/pound/bonk combo. :-(

2010: A new year, new decade, and maybe something else

So after a whopping 42 blog entries is all of 2009, here we are again. It's the time of year where we vow to start over, do things better, try something new, etc. And who am I to think that I am above that? So here we go...the blog-worthy resolutions for 2010:

1. Eat better. While I am doing very well post-Emmett, the past month or so our family has been eating like crap, and since I do almost all of the shopping and a lot of the food prep, I can change this. The meals for January have been planned out, and we had an all-family trip to the grocery store today, so I'm off to a good start (I hope).
2. Blog more. I don't do scrapbooks or memory books, so I really need to blog so that when I'm old and senile I will remember all the memorable things that currently fill my brain. Like when Emmett got his first tooth during the 'Winter Wallop' of 2009, and his 2nd tooth just 10 days later. And even the fact that we had such a thing as a 'Winter Wallop' that dumped roughly 20 inches of snow into our neighborhood and canceled school for the entire week before Christmas.
3. Take more pictures, and be happy with them. Don't snap the shutter just to hurry up and get another picture, but enjoy and savor the moment. Thanks to the inspiration of these nice folks, I am starting my own 'Photography Project365' this year...if you're interested in keeping up (and hassling me if I fall behind--which I have no doubt that I will), then check out my Absolutely No Smiling blog. And remind me to tell you why I decided to call it that!
   

So there you have it...the resolutions I'm willing to share to the few devoted friends and family members that are brushing away the cobwebs to see that I still have a blog. Thank you for being here :-)