Hockey Girl and Wonder Boy

This week Abby is spending the mornings at a Field Hockey camp held at her elementary school.  I wasn't sure if she'd like it or not, especially since the temperature was over ninety degrees on Day 1.  But, I shouldn't have worried.  She loves it!

Abby normally likes to lounge in her bedroom reading after she wakes up. On days when there is nothing scheduled in the morning, she'll stumble downstairs around 8:30am looking for me to make her breakfast. On Camp Day 1, she was up and dressed (with shin guards on) at 6:50am making herself breakfast in the kitchen and reading the newspaper. Abby noted, "I just wanted to read about the weather." I thought about asking whether or not she wanted a cup of coffee, then remembered she's only 7 (and a half).

Hockey Girl

And She's off!

Wonder Boy In Action Fighting "The Bad Guys"

(Toy Saw is the Sword...Bucket is Some Kind of Protective Shield)

Book Review (Book Lament): Joy the Summer Vacation Fairy

Please rescue me from the Fairies.  Send help as soon as possible.

 
Short review (Positives):  Joy the Summer Vacation Fairy by Daisy Meadows is one of a series of 70 or so fairy books.  Abby and Caroline love these books.  They are (mercifully) short and easy chapter books with ink illustrations and are a good introduction to non-picture books.  The plots are age appropriate and, unlike Junie B. Jones, the grammar and spelling are conventional.  The two main characters are a pair of polite and helpful lasses who just happen to be friends with the fairies.

Short review (Negatives):  Mom and Dad cringe inwardly at the very mention of reading this series. The stories are repetitive, inane, and once you get started there are endless books in this series to read, yet they all seem exactly the same. Spoiler alert -- Rachel and Kirsty will be able to retrieve whatever magical object Jack Frost has stolen by outsmarting his dim-witted goblins.  I have personally read about 50 of these aloud to Abby, and now I am forced to start over the series with Caroline.  I could cry.  I know that reading time is critical for children, and I will do my fairy duty....probably every single night for the next year or so....sob.  I have limited fairy reading to two chapters per night, so that we might enjoy some of the other wonderful picture books available.

History:  This whole fairy thing is my own fault. It all started back in 2008 with a seemingly harmless book I bought from the Scholastic Book Order Form, Abigail the Breeze Fairy.  It was one of the first "chapter" books I read to Abby and I figured she would like it because: 1) the fairy shared her name, and 2) the book was about fairies.  Well, like it she did. 

Little did I realize that Abigail the Breeze Fairy was one of a series of 7 Weather Fairy books.  Then, Abby was ecstatic to learn that there is also a series of 7 Jewel Fairies and 7 Sports Fairies and 7 Pet Fairies and 7 Day Fairies and 7 Rainbow Fairies and 7 Dancing Fairies, and who knows what else. I've blocked it out except for the fact they are available at the local library.  There are also about 10 "Special" Fairy books (each of which is really 3 stories in one), including Joy the Summer Vacation Fairy.  So much fairy fun for you to read, so little time....

Your young daughter will love this series.  You probably will not.  But, this series was one of the things that got Abby hooked on reading, and for that I'm very grateful.  Abby now reads these to herself and I can read her some other classics.  I am also very grateful that my third child is a boy.  Hopefully we'll get hooked on some inane series for boys, like Pokemon or something.

We Interrupt this Blog for....

... a 48-hour power outage.  No electricity for 2 full days.  The power went out at 3:12 pm (according to the town clock) on Thursday and did not resume until 3:30-ish pm on Saturday. 

I won't lie, it was a long two days.  But, an oddly fun two days -- a strangely vacation-like two days filled with time spent with neighbors and special favors and a general "let's get through this together" attitude that does not pervade day-to-day life. 

And, so, to celebrate the return of the air conditioning and the garbage disposal and the washing machine and the dishwasher and all the other electric appliances that make our lives easier, we went to see fireworks with the same neighbors that we played with for the past two days.  It was great!  The stuff childhood memories are made from.  No photos because we were too busy ooo-ing and ahhh-ing.  We stayed up WAAAAY past our bedtime and tomorrow we'll likely pay for this fun with short tempers and whining but who cares.  It's only 78 degrees inside the house right now and I don't have to worry about the condiments anymore!

I am now going to sleep in without the sound of chainsaws, electric generators, and wood chippers.   Sweet, quiet bliss....zzzzzz............

The Magic of Summer Vacation

1) Staying up late with the neighbors (8:30pm!!) to catch lightening bugs

(I didn't want to break the spell by getting closer)

2) Where anyone can become a superhero and/or wear pajamas any time:

Ben with his "superhero muscles" (a.k.a. triangular foam blocks)

3) When all the scheduled activities are replaced by lots (and lots!) of free time

The Ballet Recital was the last scheduled event.

Vines Vines Vines

There's nothing quite like strenuous yard work to pull you out of a funk.  So, in order to drag myself out of mine, I decided it was time to start tackling the numerous and varied vines that have invaded our yard.  I already spent hours (and hours and hours) pulling or digging out most of the volunteer saplings that surrounded the perimeter of the yard.  I have to admit that I was pretty impressed by all the different species of trees that were present -- at least two kinds of maples, sassafras, various oaks, and even an American beech. 

However, I was even more impressed by all the different invasive vines that were strangling the various trees and shrubs in our yard -- particularly given the size of our yard and the number of vines present on it once we really started looking for them.

Here's a little photo tutorial on significant chuck of the invasive vines types that grow in southeastern Pennsylvania.  We had some "nice" specimens of them all.  I think we knocked things back, but we'll have to be vigilant for the next few years.  (Photos were mostly copied from Invasive.org, which is the Center for Invasive Species and Ecosystem Health.) 

1) Virginia Creeper (5 leaves, but otherwise grows exactly like poison ivy; it even has furry vines)

2) Oriental Bittersweet - makes bright red berries in fall

3) Poison Ivy (My personal favorite!)

4) Japanese Honeysuckle

5) Kudzu (This one is a big problem....you know when you drive on the highway and see acres of trees covered with the same kind of vine?  That's usually kudzu.  Definitely not good for a yard.)

6) Crown vetch

7) Bishop's Weed or Goutweed - This one isn't really a vine, but a noxious ground cover.  We're not even close to having it under control, but we're working on keeping out of the front bed, as a start.  Apparently, if we wanted to rid ourselves of it completely, we'd have to remove the top 24" of soil from the entire surface of our yard (and perimeters of our neighbor's yard).  If you see any of this plant in your yards, you should aggressively and immediately work to remove it.  It is resistant to all types of contact chemical weedkillers due to its deep roots, so you have to manually pull it out, making sure to dig out all its roots completely.

8) Wild Grape - If you have this one in your yard and want to get rid of it, please note that you really have to dig out the root.  This vine will quickly re-sprout from any stump or other root piece left in place.

Scratch Two Items Off the List

I probably shouldn't type when I am this mad and disappointed.  But, I am going to anyway.  You should probably skip reading the rest of this post.  I will be ranting.

We (Caroline, Ben and I) attempted to go to the First Grade Awards Celebration this afternoon, followed by the first grade party.  We had to leave.  Unfortunately, Ben picked today to be completely incapable of sitting still or being quiet (probably the 5:20am wakeup time kicking in).  I don't mean little shuffles or tiny boy noises, I mean literally crawling all over the classroom floor and screaming "NOOOOOOOOOOO"  at 100 decibels (<--- not an exaggeration) anytime I tried to talk/touch/move/quiet or him. with the other 20+  parents watching.

Since this movement and noise would have been the backdrop for the first graders trying to read their little stories to the audience, suffice to say, we spent the first 30 minutes of the party in the hallway. Someone came out to get me so I heard Abby's story (the second time she attempted to read it) and then Ben screamed again and we slunk out and came home. It made me feel slightly better than another parent had to slink out too with their small child, but not that much better.  I would have liked to stay with well-behaved children. 

So, at this very moment, I'm missing the slide show of her first grade year, the teacher talk about her "special talent", and also the little party afterwards.  I yelled at Ben, probably too harshly, and told him to go take a nap.  And he did.

Why does this matter?  Well, as much as I thoroughly enjoy housework and diapers, there are just not that many special moments to look forward to on a typical day. I really do try to find the joy and humor of parenting on a daily basis, and often I am successful.  But sometimes I am not.  Today, I just wanted to enjoy the few special minutes to hear her teacher say something nice about Abby and to just take a few minutes to appreciate how much she has grown over the past year and how special she is -- from her teacher's perspective. Then, I would get back to the laundry and dishes and cleaning and diapers and other tedious and mindless ****.

But, I missed it.  I feel like there is this ever-growing list of things that we've had to skip or are just too difficult to do because of the kids. I do really, really love them, of course, but it's like we've been in this limbo for 7.5 years now.  I'd really like to eat out at a restaurant with the family and not have it be messy, loud, and/or embarrassing.  I'd like to be able to get to a museum, pool, other other kid-friendly location and not have it be a toddler chase.  Or, I'd like to do something simple, like enjoy a school event for 45 minutes and actual be able to stay in the classroom and hear the teacher. 

From the other parents of three kids, supposedly there is a light at the end of this tunnel, and we'll be able to go places and do things and enjoy each other's company in a public setting at some point, maybe by next summer they say.  When Ben is 4.  That's the "breakthrough" year.  Unfortunately, that's a whole other year of waiting (hiding?) at the house.

Hot Cup of Joe

Ah, Thursday, June 17th.  The second to last day of the end-of-school frenzy season.  There are four main events lined up on the schedule today, fortunately all in a nice sequence rather than overlapping times at different locations.  While it will be busy, it is at least physically possible.

To kick start the day, I decided to microwave myself a nice cup of coffee.  I picked out my favorite Burpee 125th Anniversary mug, popped it in the microwave for 1:15.  Pulled it out, and took a big sip of.....

AIR?

Oh yes.  I forgot to actually pour the coffee into the mug before microwaving it.

Good one.

Scott has been traveling for the last couple of days, which means everyone is a little off here.  Ben has shifted his morning wake-up time back to 5:20am. Apparently, I'm out of practice functioning with reduced sleep. 

On tap for today: 1) First Grade Writing and Awards Celebration-1:30pm; 2) First Grade End-of-Year Party-2:30pm; 3) Caroline and Abby's Ballet Dress Rehearsal (oh...and I guess I should sew that one strap back on before that...)-5pm; and 4) Planning Commission Meeting-7:30pm.

Better start stitching!

Karaoke Attempt #1

This weekend I tried karaoke for the first time, which is something I had always wanted to have the courage to do.  I had envisioned this would occur at some smoky bar where no one was listening and I would absolutely kill whatever vocally challenging song I had selected (you know, sing it in public as well as it goes in the shower).  Then, some unseen music executive would try to book me for recording deal, but I would have to regretfully decline, citing family obligations.  Of course, this scenario requires that I could actually sing well in public. 

Instead of the bar scenario, my actual first attempt at karaoke occurred at my in-law's 40th wedding anniversary picnic that we through for them over the weekend (karaoke in midday, no smoke, audience paying attention). Of the hundreds of song choices, I picked "Vogue" by Madonna because Caroline and Abby love that song from seeing it on Glee (Scott and I have been recording Glee for the kids and watching some of the production numbers since Caroline likes to sing and dance so much).  Caroline loves (loves!) the "Vogue" song on Glee so I thought she'd sing it with me, which she did a little of the chorus but of course she can't read yet, so I was alone on the verses.  I turned around when finished and everyone was just staring at me, mouths agape. The older generation didn't know the song and I think my generation was wondering why on earth I picked Madonna.  You could hear the crickets chirping...at least it's how it felt to me.

Although Caroline was a little shaky on her first song (Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer), she then became completely at home on the microphone for the rest of the afternoon. 

Performing Song #8 or so

More importantly, this weekend's anniversary festivities went well.  I was in charge of the picnic planning and food purchasing.  Although I felt relatively calm on the outside, apparently my subconscious was not as at ease because I dreamed about endlessly packing and unpacking bags on Sunday night after the event was over.  I had planned for several contingencies, so when the original grill plan fell through, I just happened to have an extra charcoal grill (and charcoal, matches, and charcoal tower) as a backup.  Normally I don't happen to have an extra grill in the minivan, but Trish cracked me up when she called me Mary Poppins with my magic bag.  Maybe I should have sung "My Favorite Things" or "A Spoonful of Sugar" instead of "Vogue"?  Then, at least I could have had some kind of dream sequence with Dick Van Dyke.

Just Singing in the Rain

Bridging

On Thursday, Abby "bridged" from Daisy Girl Scouts to Brownie Girl Scouts and received her new brownie uniform.  She was pretty excited about the whole experience (and also about the brownies at the reception), which made me happy since I was in charge of organizing and running the event for two Daisy troops. I wanted the ceremony to be short and fun, but still a little meaningful. Not to dwell too much on the brownies at the reception, but they were some seriously good brownies.  One of the other moms made them -- you take a box of brownie mix and cook it following the directions on the box for half of the time.  Then, pull the pan out of the oven, crumble 6 graham crackers, 1.5 cups of mini marshmallows, and some Hershey bars onto the top of the brownies, and pop them back into the oven for 15 minutes.  Holy Moley.  Smores on top of brownies.  Definitely something worth remembering.  As was the ceremony, of course, I hope.  Grandma and Pops graciously babysat Ben and Caroline so I didn't have any extra helpers at the Bridging Event or Awards Ceremony afterwards.

I find that volunteering always seems like a good idea until the actual week of the event hits, and then all the extra errands and work send me a little too close to the edge. Running errands with Ben is just plain exasperating with all the touching and escape attempts.  Caroline and Abby are able to walk around stores with me now without needing to handle and/or request all the merchandise, but we're just not there with Ben yet.  So, what should be a five minute stop to Staples to pick up blue posterboard for a pond turns into at least 15 minutes of me saying "No".  And, why does EVERY STORE have to put candy at the checkout? Just to torture the moms?  Lollipops and chocolate at Staples?  Entire candy display and full selection of dried meat products at Kinko's?  No thanks! Just office products, please?!

A less celebrated but still noteworthy transition event this week:  our little robins fledged their nest!  Although I initially thought there was only one little robin, there were actually three babies, who had their heads peeking out of the nest all week.  It seemed like things were getting pretty tight in the nest, and sure enough, they took off yesterday.  Unfortunately, we didn't get to watch the first attempt at flying -- but I happened to catch one of the babies (see the juvenile plumage) standing on the edge of the nest.  I can't help but wonder what kind of things go through its little bird brain before it tests its wings for the first time.  Do birds get scared?  Have self doubt? Or just trust their instinct?  Based on the length of time it was standing on the edge, it seemed to me that it was thinking about something...

Getting Read to Take the Plunge

Competitive Cuddling

We have a new sport at our house:  COMPETITIVE CUDDLING.

I believe I previously wrote about the gentle and sweet way Ben used to wake me up in the morning (Morning Conversation with Ben).  Unfortunately, as wake up times have shifted backward with the earlier sunrise, Ben's loving nuzzles have been replaced with an all out battle between Competitor A (Ben) and Competitor B (Caroline) vying to obtain the most physical affection from me during the allotted "cuddling" period from wake up time until 6:30am. If arm space isn't enough, the competitors battle over blanket share, i.e., the game within the game:  BLANKET TUG-O-WAR. 

Now, I should probably be flattered that my two little ones are fighting for my affection.  However, I am not.  First of all, contrary to any indication I've given otherwise, I enjoy sleeping.  Second, Competitive Cuddling is painful. Third, Blanket Tug-of-War is chilling. Although I am willing and able to cuddle one child per side, Ben and Caroline still want to control the much-coveted chest area of my body.  In order to do this, it requires knees and elbows to their competitors to maintain dominance.  No thought is given to any potential collateral damage.  In addition, I've never been a fan of the "waft" maneuver, which is when you lift and lower the blanket in a swift manner, depleting the covers (and mom's patience) of their warm reserves. Note, if you are ever engaged in a blanket tug-of-war, this is an effective technique.

The cuddling battles also apparently require shrill screaming.  "Nooooooooo!"  "Beeeeeeeen!"  "Aroooooooliiiiiiiine!"  I don't think the rest of us are really up for this type of competition.  I know I'd rather not be up for it..... Fortunately, Abby is practically in a coma in her own bed, or there would really be some problems.

I realize there are only a few ways to resolve this problem.  The easiest is for me to just get out of bed and skip the "cuddling" period.  I am trying not to do this because I really do not want to start every summer day at 6am. That is a LOT of summer vacation per day!  My current technique is to remind the children over and over just how hungry they are, and how much daddy misses them at breakfast. If successful, Competitive Cuddling is replaced by the Breakfast Battles --- but Scott will have to fill you in on that some other time.

Recipe: Company-Worthy Summer Tortellini Salad

Do you ever happen to make a dinner that completely satisfies what you're craving at that particular moment?  That doesn't happen to me very often since I usually do all the meal planning and food shopping on Saturdays and by the time the middle of the week rolls around, I'm in the mood for something completely different (like going out to a restaurant and/or having someone else cook).  But -- last night it happened.  Pasta salad bliss.  You should try this recipe the next time you're craving pasta salad.  Or just go ahead and make it tonight. 

 Summer Tortellini Salad

Summer Tortellini Salad

(Adapted from Wegmans "Menu" Summer 2010 Issue)

Ingredients:

1 package cheese tortellini

1 sweet red pepper, thinly sliced

1/2 to 1 red onion, thinly sliced

1 small bunch asparagus, cut into 1 inch pieces and tips intact

1 zucchini, diced

fresh mozzarella balls or slices (to taste)

3T pine nuts, toasted lightly

1 package grape tomatoes

6 oz (+/-) of jarred pesto or homemade pesto, if you're feeling really ambitious

basil leaves (to taste), sliced

2T olive oil or basting oil

salt

pepper

1) Preheat oven to 450F.  Line cookie sheet with foil.  Slice red pepper, asparagus, and onion.  Arrange on cookie sheet with 1T oil.  Lightly salt and pepper. 

2) Roast veggie combo for 10-12 minutes; stir and roast for another 10-12 minutes.

3) While the veggies are roasting, prepare tortellini according to package directions.

4) While tortellini is cooking, dice the zucchini.

5) Set first veggie combo into big bowl. Roast the zucchini with 1T of oil on same cookie sheet for 5-7 minutes.

6) Lightly toast pine nuts (I use the toaster oven for this -- 3 minutes is enough). These burn fast, so watch this step closely.

7) Drain tortellini and combine with veggies.  Add the tomatoes, zucchini, pine nuts, and pesto sauce all to same big bowl.  Stir and chill the salad if you can wait that long.  Add the mozzarella and enjoy! 

Flashbacks

1) First waaaaay back - This weekend featured our town's Memorial Day parade.  Although we have attended the parade for the last eight years, we were eagerly anticipating this year's event since the parade now route runs in front of our house.  How cool is that?  Just walk outside and watch the veterans, bands, historical uniforms, fire trucks, scouting organizations, Shriner go-carts, and oil trucks (??) go by!  Let's hear it for oil??!  Also, let's hear it for deep rig drilling!    

Small town parades are lots of fun. Although we didn't attend the cake walk afterwards, the kids did a pretty thorough job of collecting all the candy thrown their way during the parade.  Since we're really trying to limit food dye intake with Caroline, I was focused mainly on monitoring her snacks.  Let me just say that Ben is much more adept at unwrapping candies than I previously thought. 

2) Moving up to the 1980s - Caroline gave me a chuckle this morning when she came into my room and said, "Mom turn around, I want to do something on your back."  I warily obliged, and then she started doing a little rhyme that I remember from my childhood.

Treasure hunt, treasure hunt.

X marks the spot.  

Three lines down and a question mark.

A pinch and a squeeze.

A tropical breeze.

Now you've got the shiveries!

Anyone else remember this one? Abby was doing Miss Mary Mack with me the other day too.  It's like strolling down memory lane over here. 

3) On a random note, I thought the grandparents would get a kick out of this last comment.  Today at lunch, completely out of the blue, Caroline said the following, "Mom, did you know that when Grandma gets mad at Pops she calls him Jim?  Also, did you know that when Grandma gets mad at Grandad she calls him Peter?"  The Jim and Peter parts were spoken in dramatic hushed whispers.  Although I mentioned that these are their first names and appropriate for common usage, she remains unconvinced.

Happy Birthday to Ben!

Three years ago today we were given the precious gift of a baby boy.  Our family would not be complete without his daily antics, sound effects, and giant smiles.  As Ben emphatically stated this morning, "I'm not a baby anymore. I'm Spiderman."  We love you, buddy!

"Big" Ben

"Little" Ben

Baby Ben

Parental Surprises

 Look who I caught taking a peek today: 

Baby Robin

In contrast to the peaceful innocence of the little robin, I will grudgingly admit that I have been stewing over some parenting criticism I received from a friend. I'm not quite sure that she was aware of the implications of her comments, but they certainly took me by surprise. Since it took me a while to absorb the full meaning of the conversation, I didn't respond at the time, which is certainly better in the long run. However, I'm having a hard time letting this go....which I really, really need to do!

So, after going to the gym this morning and stewing over things for an entire bike ride and run, I decided to take a step back and try not to think about it anymore.  (We'll see how that goes since this isn't one of my strengths...)

So, here are today's summary thoughts on parenting:  I am far, far from perfect. My children are even farther from perfect, particularly during the hours of 3:30pm until dinnertime.  Every single child has different needs. Parents have different points of emphasis on issues, and in the long run each of us can only try our best. Sometimes you can't even quite give it your best since you've spent the last 14 hours just trying to keep it together and you're just plain worn out.

Speaking in sports terms, parenting really is much more like a marathon race than a sprint. So, pace yourself, and only fight the daily battles that are the most important. Maybe even try not to make it a battle, but more like a lesson since parents are (hopefully) more like teachers than army commanders.  Right now, we're working on kindness here.  And manners.  And patience.  And using our words.  Based on how things are going, this is going to take a while. 

And, for Ben, I guess we'll add staying clothed...since he just walked in with his shirt off, diaper showing, and wielding a toy hammer. Time to get back to parenting. 

Wonder Boy to the Rescue

While I was filling the baby pool yesterday, I asked the kids to go upstairs and put on their bathing suits, fully expecting Ben to call me to come help after a few minutes.  Instead, Ben wandered outside about 10 minutes later wearing a swimming diaper with some superhero underwear on top of the diaper (of course!).  He also had on his yellow rain boots to complete the outfit, which was quite a sight.  I think we might need to get him a 'good guy' cape for his birthday to really complete the look.

 
Ben has been surprising us regularly with outfit changes of late.  Over the weekend we went to an elemenary school to play on the equipment (Abby and Caroline like to make the rounds of all the various playgrounds in the area).  Scott and I decided to give a game of kickball a try with the kids since we found a playground ball.  In the span of 10 seconds that  it took me to retrieve Caroline's kick, I turned back around and Ben had whipped off his shirt, declaring "Boys don't wear shirts to play basketball!"  Neither Scott nor I could figure out where he had heard or seen that, but this was only the first of many times that Ben has deemed a shirt unnecessary.  At least he's leaving his pants on.....for now....