Lost & Found

Lost

Blue-eyed blonde with angelic smile and cheeks that you just want to eat. Loves to do things himself and give long-lasting hugs and snuggles. Master at doing puzzles and singing 'Happy Birthday' to anyone within earshot.

Found

Red-faced little devil with what seem to be permanent tear streaks down his unhappy face and a curled up lip. Refuses to wear pajamas (and a diaper) at bedtime and does not like blankets/pillowcases on his bed. Breaks through closet locks and scales furniture when he should be sleeping.


Please let me know if you have what I lost and want what I found!!

The Man Plan - Dismantled

I swear I had nothing to do with this. At no point during my summary of 'The Man Plan' did I suggest my husband should NOT take Evan skiing with his co-workers. I was simply laying out all of the likely scenarios so if he came home and whined about being tired or Evan whining or having to miss a key play in the Eagles game, I could shut down the whining with a simple point to the blog. I was not objecting to having almost 2 days to myself with Eric who, when in the situation of an 'only child' is quite delightful to have around.

Hubby and Evan decided not to go skiing. Ethan blamed it on me to avoid commentary from his co-workers. I hope they read this blog ;-)

Co-workers decided not to go after finding out the cost of this simple overnight adventure was going to be a tiny bit more than they expected. Apparently the ski lesson for the kids did not include the lift ticket, which seems a little unfair, but oh well. Probably hasn't been the greatest ski season so far, and everyone needs to make a living.

So we'll ALL be home this weekend. Guess I better get going on the laundry to make sure all the Eagles gear is clean ;-)

The Man Plan

My husband and 2 of his co-workers have decided it would be fun to take all the kids skiing...guys and kids only. Three men and four children, ages 5-7 (I think). Three of the children are girls.

They want to take them to a ski resort four hours away, so the brilliant plan was to leave the night before, spend the night, throw the kids in a half-day lesson while the men get some time on the slopes, pile everyone back in the car, and come home. One of the guys has an SUV big enough to hold everyone + gear, so seems simple enough, right?

Heh.

They decided this weekend would be the good weekend to go...leave Sunday and come back Monday. The day before Inauguration Day, when 4 million other people are going to be swooping down on the DC metro area.

Also? Since football playoffs are on Sunday, they have also decided it would make the most sense to leave earlier on Sunday, get everyone settled in before football, and essentially lock the kids in one room with movies while the guys watch football in the other room.

Here's my summary:

"So you're going to drive 4 hours with 4 kids to cram 7 of you into a 2 bedroom house, and then expect those kids to behave somewhat reasonably while you guys watch football all afternoon on a television that probably does NOT have Tivo. And while you guys stay up until midnight, you're going to want the kids to go to bed at a reasonable hour so they will not be tired and cranky when you dump them off on the ski slopes with a total stranger for 4 hours the next morning while you attempt to snowboard for the first time in at least 8 years. Then you're going to have to instantly provide food (and I mean INSTANTLY) for these starving tired children before shoving them all back into the car and driving another 4 hours back home, assuming you don't get stuck in traffic as you get closer to our house."

Apparently the other wives are just happy to be getting rid of their husbands and some kids for 2 days, and have not brought up any of these points. Maybe I should just do the same?

What amuses me more is that we are thinking of taking the kids to Great Wolf Lodge for a couple of days over (Evan's) spring break and Ethan looked at me as though I was a crazy woman when I suggested we rent one of the rooms that just has a separate sleeping area for the kids as opposed to one of the 2 bedroom suites.

We don't need no stinkin' beds!

Apparently Eric has decided he no longer likes his race car bed...the other day I had to wait for him to wake up from his nap because he was sleeping in front of his door.

Tonight, I just went to check on him and was unable to open the door because '**something** was blocking it. After gently shoving it open and squeezing myself through the opening, here's what I found:



I'm wondering if I should just give up on the bed or if he's trying to tell me he's ready for a 'real' bed?

If I blog it, it will come

I keep thinking of things to blog, but then when I get to a blog-friendly computer, my mind goes blank. So maybe if I post something and hit 'publish', I will suddenly remember what I wanted to blog and it won't be the middle of the night.

Otherwise, the best I have is that Evan and I went to the dentist today and I had no cavities, but he had one. Apparently 'craisins' have the same evil quality as fruit snacks. Oops. And my five year old boy? Already has his six-year-old molars. And another loose tooth.

Eric...the good, the bad, and the ugly

Eric is quite a kid...I'm not sure if there's a single word that can capture his personality, probably because over the course of a day it seems like he has more than one personality. This past week or so has been particularly rough, and I blame the irregular routine of daycare being closed, staying up late, and spending more time than usual lounging in pajamas and watching Disney channel on TV. We went through consecutive nights of being sent to bed without stories because of hitting (he was doing the hitting, just to be clear), followed by more nights of him refusing to keep his pajamas and diaper on. I think Ethan was a little worried about taking Evan swimming last night, because many of the previous nights I have not been able to handle Eric by myself and had to send him in for a couple of rounds.

But, strangely enough, when it was just the two of us, my blue-eyed angel re-appeared and all was well in the world. We read stories, I only had to put his pajamas on him one time--I did have to put him back in bed several times, but there was no fighting. The storm has passed!

Tonight, I picked Eric up and he was getting a diaper change, which led to a conversation about if he wanted to go to preschool, he was going to have to start using the potty. He spent the entire car ride home saying "I go to pee-school and go on the potty" which I thought was pretty funny. I'll have to tell his teachers the new requirement is that he needs to wear big boy underwear before he can go to 'pee-school.'

Manipulation

My children are beyond exhausted from staying up way way way to late last night, and are resisting going to sleep tonight. On the umpteenth trip into Evan's room, I told him his dad and I were planning to take him to breakfast tomorrow morning as a special treat, but if he didn't go to sleep we weren't going to go (Eric has daycare, so just the three of us).

Evan told me he forgot to give me something. The 'something' was a giant hug, with both arms wrapped tightly around my neck while he whispered "I love you Mommy" in my ear.

He owns me.