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