Snow, snow go away!

Over the course of the last 6 months Andrew's work travel has been nonexistent. This is a drastic change from the past 7 years where his trips have been a part of our routine. We thought he was done with traveling, and I can't say that either of us were sad about it. However after the new year Andrew found out he was assigned to another committee, and here we are again. The good news is that the travel will be much lighter- only about 4 trips a year. At this point a trip every so often is no big deal. Except when the day of his departure is the same day they are calling for massive amounts of snow at home. 

In true D.C. fashion, the 8-12" of snow we were originally predicted to get only turned out to be 3-4". Of course anything over 1" warrants school closures, so the kids had a day off. The downer was that it was 4 inches of extremely wet and heavy snow and our resident snow shoveler was enjoying an extra day in Paris. Score for him, not so much for us. 

The kids, of course, were in heaven. After a snow deprived winter, it was fun to see them reveling in the snow and running in and out of the house all day long. Since the snow was icy, it made for great sledding, and the highlight of the day came when we went to our neighbor's house to sled. Watching everyone go down the hill with the biggest smiles on their faces made me realize that at that moment, there was no where else in the world that I would rather be.

Ok kids, you win

Hearing my freshly minted teen slip up and call me "mommy" instead of "mom" makes my heart constrict to the point where I think it might burst.

I honest to goodness think I am becoming softer and more sentimental with age. Last week after hearing Rose play in her crib for two hours (TWO HOURS when she was supposed to be napping!), I realized it was a lost cause and decided to go get her. I think in my previous mom years I would have been upset with the turn of events and tried for another two hours to get her down. Instead I pulled her out and we snuggled and played. Yup, defiantly turning soft. 

 Or maybe Andrew is just starting to rub off on me more...he has always been a softy. 

Random Moments

Lice, Round 2. About a year ago Afton brought lice to our home, and I learned first hand just how horrible it really is.  In fact, while cleaning her head I kept muttering, "This is the WORST" over, and over,  and over. At one point Afton quietly asked, "Is having lice worse than someone dying?" Well, no. No it's not. That question certainly put things into perspective. Fast forward to now, and Afton has it once again! Horray for little girls who like to share hair accessories! The good news is that we caught it really early and miraculously no one else in our home got it either. Since I'm an old hand at dealing with lice now, I was also a lot more calm about it. I also have to say that the 45+ minutes I spend each day cleaning and checking her hair each day has allowed for some sweet bonding moments.

However in the future I hope we can do the bonding minus the lice.
















Spring Takeover. The weather here has been insane. Don't get me wrong, I love the warm temps, but the lack of winter weather has been odd. The kids are LOVING it though, and I'm trying to not think about what this means for our summer. I have a feeling it will be a scorcher.
















Valentines Day. This year's Valentines Day was a doozy. From the moment I woke up, until I went to bed, I was in nonstop "mom mode". On top of my typical daily routine, there were 3 class parties (one I was helping with) and a middle school carpool. Somewhere in between I managed to grab a bite at Taco Bell and give Andrew a quick kiss before racing off to cub scouts. How romantic.

Keepsakes.  I was sorting through the kids papers the other day and I came upon some extremely sweet "Odes" from Luke. One is more me, and one is for Sam. Both made me a little teary. 

Girl Play

The other day I overheard Afton reading a book to Clara in the playroom. Except she wasn't speaking the words, she was singing them. I couldn't stop laughing. I can tell you that in all of my years of parenting Sam and Luke, I've never heard them do such a thing. It is so much fun seeing how differently these sisters interact with one another. 

Our resident 5 year old has also become obsessed with giving "makeovers". I'm not sure where she gets this since she has a mother who owns about two items of makeup and spends 5 minutes on her hair. What little makeup I do own usually ends up in Clara's possession by mid-morning. It is cute to see her give her sisters makeovers though....but not so cute when she tries to give them to her friends. After two bouts of head-lice in a one year period, I'm a strong proponent of not sharing brushes!

And while my two eldest can certainly keep up with the boys as well, this little pipsqueak is 100% ALL GIRL. She walks on her tippy toes, is rarely found without a doll, constantly sings Disney theme songs, and has recently discovered her love of playing dress up. 

Playing Hooky

Years ago when Sam was in kindergarten I decided to keep him home from school so we could go to the zoo. It was a gloriously beautiful day and it just seemed like a wasted opportunity for us not to be outside. Everyone had a great time, until the end when Sam realized that he was missing math and started to cry. It was kind of a buzz kill. 

Flash forward to today. It was an unusually warm winter day with record highs. It would have been a sin to stay indoors. So I did what needed to be done and rounded up my kids early. Luke and Afton were ecstatic when I surprised them at school. Holy cow you would have thought we were headed to Disney World. Sam on the other hand was so perplexed and when I explained why I was pulling him out early he proceeded to give me a lecture! A lecture! "Mom! I was in the middle of a work flow and making a lot of progress!" I really don't know where he gets it from. 

A quick pit stop at Dunkin' Donuts made all thoughts of school disappear and we had the best time basking in the 70 degree weather. No regrets. 

While out today I also came to the realization that I am entering a new phase in motherhood. For 13 years I've either been pregnant or had a baby/young toddler to handle (often I was dealing with both). With Rosie becoming more and more independent and no more pregnancy plans, I'm realizing how much fun it is to explore and play with the kids. I've enjoyed most of the motherhood phases, but I think this is really going to be a lot of fun.

DC Car Show

Once thing I really miss about having little boys are the play phases they go through. Balls, trucks, dinosaurs, outer space....we went through them all and I mourned when they outgrew each one. The cool thing I'm learning now though, is that boys never really outgrow these phases at all! Lately all my boys talk about is cars, and I just know their younger Lightening-McQueen-lovin-selves are cheering on the inside!

When the boys got wind of the Washington DC auto show they begged to go. With nothing else to do on a cold January morning we decided to all head downtown and check it out. It was actually pretty cool, and after watching hundreds of men (Andrew included) get really excited over these cars, I'm realizing this is likely a lifelong passion.

What you don't see in the above picture is the elderly gentleman impatiently waiting for my kids to get out so he could have a turn at the wheel. Nope, not a phase at all.

Pierced Ears

She's been asking for months, saved up her own money to do it, picked a date and wrote it in on the calendar. Really, she gave us no choice. And in typical Afton form, she didn't even flinch when they busted out that piercing gun.

This also brought back memories of when I got my own ears pierces. Except I forged a note giving my mom's permission, headed to the Cape May Mall, and did it behind my mom's back. What a bad daughter I was! Sorry mom!!!

Hi!

We possibly have the most social toddler on the planet. This child makes it her special mission to say "hi" to anyone within a 10 foot radius. It's a blaring "hi" that demands your attention, and as the youngest of 5, believe me, she knows how to get your attention.  It's a "hi" that says "Look at me! Love me! Do I have your attention? I will now dazzle you with a smile!"

This little routine is cute to all... except for the poor soul who gets stuck behind us in the grocery store line.  That person is subjected to 5-10 straight minutes of "Hi!", "Hi!", "HI!", "HI!!!!!!!!!" It's actually comical watching the reactions of those people. It goes from "Oh what a cute baby!" to "Ok, how much longer to I have to keep saying hi to this child!" pretty fast. I usually jump in after a minute and tell them that they are just going to have to ignore her.

It's also uncomfortable for me who, in true North Eastern form, doesn't like to engage with strangers in public. Last week Rosie and I were grocery shopping and she started up the "hi routine" with an elderly gentleman. I was busy picking out produce, so I quickly glanced in his direction, gave him a split second smile, and went back to my business. As he walked by he stopped me and said, "What a friendly daughter you have! She must take after her father".

I'm still insisting he was referring to her looks.

13 Isn't So Bad

A couple of days ago, right at 5:00 pm, we were in pure chaos mode at our house. I was scrambling to get dinner started, helping certain kids with their homework, repeatedly refocusing Afton on her piano,  fighting off Clara from getting yet another snack right before dinner, and dealing with a clinging toddler who was latched to my leg and showing no signs of letting go. To top it all off, we were on a super tight timeframe because I had to be ready to throw on my scout uniform and rush off to cub scouts with Luke the moment we finished dinner (I'm going on two years as a den leader).

Nerves frayed and my body full of stress, I stopped dead in my tracks, threw back my head and "said" (at the top of my lungs), "You kids are all so difficult!"

Sam, who for once was calmly sitting on the couch turned to me and said, "Not me! Having a 13 year old isn't so bad, right?" That comment made me laugh so hard that the entire situation became diffused.

No, having a 13 year old isn't so bad.

We're navigating uncharted water raising a teen, and it feels like a big deal. At times I feel completely clueless. No one warned us that boys have hormones that can turn them into emotional basketcases. Then there is the thought that we only have about 5 more years at home with Sam which keeps replaying in my mind. I know from experience just how fast those years go and when I think about it, I kind of want to cry. Between school and church activities, Sam is gone more and more these days. Its like we are being prepped for things to come. But also, will 5 years be enough to time to teach him all the things he needs to know before he ventures out into the world?

The upside to growing up is that we get to see this kid develop his personality, and man is he funny. Last week the boys were watching some Star War's cartoon while I was cooking dinner, and they kept talking about "The Empire".  At that point I innocently asked, "So is 'The Empire' good or bad?". Wrong question. Sam whipped his head to me, pressed pause, and said in a tone of pure disbelief, "Excuse me? What did you just ask? Let's go back to 1979 and give you a little history lesson." The ability to pull suck geeky trivia definitely comes from his father, who has been grooming him for years.

Aside from Star Wars, here are some of Sam's current loves:

• Sweets.  Particularly swedish fish.
• Camping. Camping is definitely his jam. 
• Hiking. Again with the outdoors. 
• Basketball with friends. Also baseball, cross county and swimming. 
• Waking up early. 6 am everyday, this kid is ready to take on the world. 
• You Tube. I'm not sure what it is about videos of people building legos or obnoxious musical parodies, but Sam could waste hours and hours on here. 
• The Nightly News. We have yet to determine if Sam genuinely wants to know what is going on in the world, or if this is just a ploy to watch more TV. Either way, the kid insists on watching it every night. 
• Lego. While I was able to convince him to ask for something other than lego for Christmas this year, it still ranks as one of his top loves. No complaints, lego has provided this kid with millions of hours of creative play. 
• Girls. I recently overheard a conversation where Sam told a friend that he sometimes daydreams about kissing girls. 

Ahhhhh! We are so not ready for this. 

January 2004 

January 2017

Love you my boy!

2016 in Review

Click on the link for 2016.

2016 Family Video

Trust Issues

Ever since last Christmas Afton has been seriously questioning Santa Clause. She is 6 years old! Of course he is real! I absolutely refuse to give in on this. To quote my friend, "If you want to receive, you gotta believe!" She can send me her therapy bill someday.

The problem is that I know deep down Afton does not believe in Santa, and me insisting that he is real has created some real trust issues between us. She is now questioning everything I tell her. So when we recently took a trip to Williamsburg and I brought up Pocahontas, Afton got all bent out of shape insisting that Pocahontas was only a Disney princess and that she wasn't real. For an entire afternoon I tried to convince her otherwise, but Afton wouldn't budge. As luck would have it, we came across a statue of Pocahontas herself, and after reading the blurb, Afton FINALLY believed me that Pocahontas truly existed. Based on the look on her face and how she snuggled up to this statue, you would have thought she met Pocahontas herself. 

I'm chalking it up as Christmas miracle given by good old Saint Nick himself. 

Update: 2 years later and Afton is a true believer of Santa! It seems we have put the skeptical years of kindergarten behind us. 

2015 in Review

After years of serious neglect I am giving this blog some much needed attention. I will not kid myself into thinking that I will actually catch up on all that I missed. Instead I'm starting where we are and simply posting a couple of videos highlighting the last couple of years. Click on the link below to view the video. We loved you 2015!

2015 Family Video

Patapsco State Park Camping

I love camping. I really, truly do. But I do have some rules when it comes to camping. Actually there is just one rule I have followed over the years: I don't camp with babies. Nope. I can't think of anything worse then getting up in the middle of the night, in a tent, to nurse a baby. Well yes I can- being in the middle of a campground and trying to get your screaming baby to sleep in the middle of the night. 

Over the weekend I added another rule to my list: I don't camp while pregnant. We did this in Europe when I was pregnant with Clara and I vowed never again. Seems like I forgot. My discomfort, however, was my family's gain. Seeing the smiling, smoores smeared faces of those kids almost made sleeping on the ground while 7 months pregnant worth it. Almost. 

And the fall would not be complete without a stop a the apple farm!

Indian Summer

Summer is stretching on this year, and I'm taking that as a special gift just for me! The nice thing is that the humidity and heat have decreased some, so our Saturday outings have been perfect. Below are some pictures of some excursion including Roosevelt Island, Baltimore and the National Aquarium, and of course my favorite, The National Book Festival. This year was extra cool as the boys were able to listen to and later meet one of their favorite authors- Jeffery Brown. 

Another highlight was going to the local Ukrainian Festival with one of my best friends from college and her family. They recently moved to the DC area, and it was so awesome to see her after all these years!