10 on Tuesday

1. I found out that one of my favorite hard ciders from back east went out of business. They were all over Boston and even on tap at the BU Pub. I always bought it in DC. It was never out West so I never got a farewell taste. Oh well. I still love Hornsby's Crisp Apple. YUMMY!
2. A note to all future taggers out there.... don't use your own name! I was talking to a neighbor who happens to be on the HOA Board. She told me that we had some kids who were writing their name all over the public areas of our development (50 houses). Easily solved since he was just writing his name. I guess there's only 1 Kyle around and he's like 8 or 9. He got a good talking to by the HOA and his parents. Seriously, if you're going to get into graffiti, shouldn't you learn lesson number 1: Don't write your own name!!!
3. Syfy is always putting out crazy made for TV movies. The titles alone crack me up. Our favorite is Mansquito from a few years ago. Right now though, they are premiering Dinocroc vs. Supergator (the follow up to Dinocroc). Andy and I make it a game to try and guess the silly name of movies after watching a couple minutes. Coming next year is the best one yet - Mega Python vs. Gatoroid (yes you read that right!). The funniest part - it pits Debbie Gibson against Tiffany. I'll be sure to let you know when it's on.
4. My kids have both developed this very distinctive cry/scream that immediately tells me that the opposite child is about to tattle. Usually I see 1 child approaching me and hear the other from another room - screech. The screech (for both kids) is ONLY heard when they are being ratted out. It actually amuses me quite a bit.
5. I know full well that berries are one of those fruits that should be purchased as organic. So for the first time, I did so. They were TERRIBLE. They tasted gross and they died within 1 day. I am so disappointed. I guess I must buy organic strawberries only from Whole Foods or something because I will not buy them from a regular old grocery store again. I could understand if strawberries were out of season but we are in the heart of strawberry season. Is this the norm with organic berries? We take many days to eat ours, with Sarah being the main consumer. I tossed over 1/2 a package of them and was at least glad that I bought them on sale and that they were about the same price as the other strawberries.
6. Andy and I are getting old and we need to exercise a lot more. That's what I've learned in the past week or so. The temperature starts hitting over 105 and we are drained. It's this unbelievable exhaustion. It makes us cranky and just want to sit on a couch in the A/C. It sucks.
7. Best New Toy Buy of the Summer Season - On sale and the kids will sit and play with it together for an hour. Sure our colors are all mixed up by now but it's great. They LOVE it. Also, it's not as much of a mess maker as I thought it would be.
8. After a month or so break from GeoTrax, Will is again obsessed. All 4 of us sat in his room over the weekend, each with a train remote, and watched them go round and round. Andy and I then decided to crash ours. Will SCREAMED. He was not happy. Note to all, if you are going to play GeoTrax with Will, be prepared to play by his rules. Hurting the trains is not an option.
9. Will and Andy went to a baseball game last week. Will informed me that his favorite part of the game was eating. That's my boy!
10. This is how summer should be - sprinklers, water slides and fun!

10 on Why not Wednesday?

1. We tried a new version of scrambled eggs - Paula Deen's. Try them, trust me. I cut the recipe in 1/2 and it was still YUMMY!
2. Will came into our bedroom the other morning whining about how "Sarah didn't do something" So I asked what didn't she do. His answer: She didn't make sense. Nothing like starting your day off with a laugh.
3. When we go on trips (big or small), I like to start early with my packing lists and piles. It seems to have rubbed off on Sarah. She started her list of "Movies to take to Gammy's House" last Saturday. I have repeatedly told her we're not leaving for a couple weeks. She doesn't care. Now she has Will thinking we're leaving any day now. Next week, with no summer activities planned, should be interesting. Who thinks we'll be packed and ready to go by Wednesday???
4. Our sprinkler/watering system is on the fritz. We replaced the solenoids but now have to buy a new timer to go with it. So... for the past MANY weeks, I have been doing it all by hand. This involves watering the front plants with a hose and manually turning on any sprinklers in the backyard. The problem now is that, since we replaced those pieces, the sprinkler controls are not behaving. They all come on at once. I actually have to turn the main backyard water control on and off to use them. It's an adventure.
5. Took Sarah to a 3-D movie (Shrek Forever After), a first for us both, not counting anything at Disneyland. It was better than I thought but so not worth the extra money. It didn't add to the movie. I think it's a bit ridiculous that all these movies are going 3-D. You should really only do that if it improves the movie - like maybe Avatar.
6. This coming week, we are going to try Parsnip muffins. I have never, ever made anything with a parsnip or even tasted a parsnip. I was watching Alton Brown and it looked so interesting that I figured it might be a new tasty breakfast or snack for the kids. I'll let you know how they are.
7. I've been working this past week. Working, without pay because I am part owner (silent wife partner) of a business that needs to fix its website so it can grow. Andy and I sat down to look at the pages over the past week to determine the best flow of the site. Then I worked on some language to update the pages. It's been interesting to say the least. This is what I did WAY back when. It seems like ages and ages ago. I have forgotten a lot but some stuff did come back to me and it was a bit fun to get back in the thick of things again. We have a phone conference this morning with the other 2 partners about what we did. We'll see what they think. I'm willing to help but Andy is trying to get me in charge of the whole website thing. I don't know that I want that. We'll just have to see I guess.
8. Father's Day was lovely. We spent it at my sister-in-law's house in her pool and eating BBQ chicken. It pretty much convinced Andy to start our gym membership up as soon as we return from CA. It's in the budget to start and the kids could use a pool. Sarah took about 10 minutes to get back into things and then was having a blast. The rest of the day, the kids were so exhausted that they watched a movie and went to bed. This was great since I gave Andy the entire afternoon/night off. I even got a big thanks from him and it was so much easier than usual because the kids were soooooooooooo tired. To top it off, I had a lovely chat with my own Dad.
9. I broke our edger. :( Or rather, I think our old extension cord broke it. The plug on it is fried. So.... I have to get a new one. In other good news, the new part for our lawn mower arrived yesterday. Time to get that fixed so I can mow this weekend. OK, maybe that's not such good news but it's better news than having to buy a whole new lawn mower!
10. I've been pretty good so far this summer conserving my gas, with some help from Andy but this week is going to kill me. The kids have conflicting classes (my own fault!) so I am doing 3 round trips to schools most days. It's nuts! The driving doesn't bother me as much as watching my gas gauge drop. UGH!!! I suppose next week's inactivity will make up for it but still....

Just Because...

No reason at all for this....

Who could have imagined that bald head would one day have so much hair on it?! So little and so cute. It seems ages ago. (3 months and almost 2 1/2)

10 on Tuesday

1. We introduced Sarah to slap bands. She loves them. We got her a set of 8 that you can decorate from Toys R Us.
2. Andy and I sat around our fire pit Saturday night. It was so pleasant! Temps in the low 70's that evening.
3. Andy, Sarah and I recreated some of the bruschetta choices from Postino's over the weekend. It was a lot of fun. We made smoked salmon with pesto, salami with pesto, brie, apple and fig spread and a couple others. Sarah took huge bites of each one and even created her own. Go figure - hers turned out to be one of the best - strawberry jam, brie, salami and prosciutto. The girl now loves brie and prosciutto so maybe this wasn't such a good idea.
4. Food around here the past couple weeks has been mostly scrounging in the fridge, pantry and freezer. Cooking in the summer just stinks. It's hot out so salads would be great but the kids won't eat them.
5. On that note, I think I have a rotation of only a few meals that both kids will eat. Will has his staples and I'm so sick of it. The boy hates trying new things.
6. As many of you know, Sarah's teeth are falling out like mad - 4 out and 2 or 3 loose. Well, now we can add 6 year old molars to that list. Her first permanent molar is on it's way in. Sarah informed us last night at dinner that she had a flap of skin by her tooth in the back. Eeeeeew! The dentist warned me about these but her teeth seem to be moving on fast forward!
7. Note to parents, never purchase a wood step stool that is used often in any color but black or natural wood. We have a yellow painted duck one in the kids' bathroom. It is impossible to keep clean. Feet are dirty and it just sticks to the stool. I can wipe it and wipe it and all I get is a bit of the yellow and a little bit of dirt. Ugh! Soon enough it will just be dirty and not even yellow anymore.
8. I took Will to his first movie in a movie theater last week. It was an early one just for families. He did OK but does not want to return. He got M&M's which kept him quiet for all of 10 minutes. After that he talked a little bit and then tried to get comfy on my lap (he wasn't heavy enough for the fold up chair!) and then told me he was a little scared. The movie didn't scare him but the theater did. Half way through the movie he passed out on me. It was pretty funny and cute and sweaty! Sarah thoroughly enjoyed herself with popcorn, fruit punch and Shrek the 3rd. She's very excited now for the 4th Shrek movie and Toy Story 3.
9. We've been playing Monopoly Jr a lot the past few weeks. I must recommend it. Will gets a little bit bored but as long as we move fast, he's happy to throw the die like crazy and count loudly while we move his piece. Sarah just likes making the fireworks go off when someone lands on the Pay $2 to watch a fireworks show.
10. And.... not much else happening around here!

Blogger Award: Honest Scrap

AGES ago, my dear friend Colleen nominated me and some others for the honest scrap blog award. You are supposed to write 10 honest things about yourself down. Here's mine. I decided to just write and figured it works out to 10 somehow!

It's summer and I am in a great mood. Why you ask??? Because, my 2 little ones are in summer school for the next several hours and they LOVE it. And because I am meeting my husband for lunch for JUST 2. Sorry Will, no lunch date for you this time! And because I am feeling independent. Music and entertainment can do that to you. I feel that tom boy side of me coming out and I love it. I feel kind of like it has been dozing for a bit. It's a great feeling. I am still girlie, girlie, girlie when it comes to many things but others - not so much.

What is this tom boy side you ask - it's the one that tells me to buck the system... ok well just certain parts of it, like Entertainment Weekly telling me that Katy Perry's California Gurls is the song of the summer and that I should be listening to Lady Gaga. They're not bad but I've already decided that Somewhere in the Between is my song this summer. (The tom boy inside says HELL YEAH!) Take that masses. I will blast my song in the car when the kids are not there. I will be that crazy person in front of you bobbing her head along with the music and 2 empty car seats!

The system also tells me to watch Sex and the City because every woman does. I've watched a couple episodes and enjoyed them but I don't seek it out. I did rent the first movie through Netflix but I must admit that it's been sitting around the house for a week now. I just haven't gotten in the mood to watch it. I feel I should see it and maybe I should see the 2nd movie but I just can't get myself going to do so. Instead, I insist on watching Roswell - a 3 season Sci Fi type show that I only caught a few episodes of way back when, but now am watching straight through. LOVE IT! (Again tom boy and dork inside screaming with joy!) I admit that I sat down with my husband last night to watch Dr. Horrible's Sing- along Blog and cracked up. I love Joss Whedon - that's probably more dork than tom boy but oh well! I love that my husband is equally into these things. Roswell is really just me, I can't pull him into that one.

Anyways, these things all make me feel a bit independent and remind me of being in college and just after and doing my own thing. I am so lucky to have a husband who gets all of this and either nods and smiles or gladly sits to listen or watch. I love that I can make some obscure joke related to all these things and that he gets it and makes one back. It's a good match.

To top off my good mood, I'm feeling like a good parent. As any mom knows, there are plenty of days when, regardless of the truth of it, you truly feel like a horrible mother. Summer is usually the death of happy mom. There is little time off and our summer oven-like heat keeps us all inside. It's a recipe for disaster. Maybe it's the summer school or maybe it's just the slower pace but it's been good so far at our house. The kids have been behaving. I've been more patient. We've spent more time doing things together. I've pulled out new things to play with and old things they haven't seen in ages. Daddy's been home early in the afternoons and takes part in our evenings. He helps them make dinner which they LOVE. Sarah made us delicious club sandwiches last night practically all by herself. It was just lovely. Hooray for family and hooray for Moms.

Anyways..... that is my honest scrap/ramble. Enjoy and happy summer!

10 on Tuesday plus 12 hours or so...

1. I randomly started making up stories for Will - usually in the car. They all center on our main character Joe the Triceratops. I've made up about 3 or 4 for him and he keeps asking me to "read" them again. He has me repeat certain parts. Then he tells Daddy all about it. It's so cute but he doesn't seem to understand that it's not a book. I'm not sure what I've gotten myself into but if anyone has more story ideas for a Triceratops and his friend (Joe 2), let me know!
2. Will is at that age where I have started to ask him what he wants to be when he gets bigger. He says this: Zuma. Zuma is the pink dolphin in the picture below from the movie Barbie in a Mermaid Tale. The influence of having a big sister. That's my boy.
3. My "vase" from Mother's Day. The plant in it died already but I LOVE this. I love the pattern and the color. I'm thinking a whole room around this not so expensive little thing - ok maybe the little 1/2 bathroom or something.
4. After a miserable morning last Saturday, I sent the kids to their rooms - well sort of. I really just sent them upstairs to play with full permission to hang out together. That is exactly what they did, for over a half an hour. I heard no screaming or fighting. When I went up to get them, I found Sarah on Will's bed reading to him and Will playing with some stuffed animal while he listened. So cute. They've been really good about this so far. I'm sure it will revert to the opposite in a few weeks or something. I hope not, but you never know.
5. With the kids getting bigger and wanting friends to come over and play, I'm seriously thinking of getting another booster seat. It's just so easy to move from car to car.
6. Andy took Sarah out to run an errand over the weekend. This was one of those trips when being able to read was not necessarily a good thing. She would now like to check out The Candy Store, which they drove by not too far from our house. Let's just say that it's an adult "candy" store (read strip club). OOOOPS!!!
7. A friend has decided she's going to start reading some classics this summer. Not re-reading but reading those books that everyone talks about and reads in school that she missed somehow. I know how she feels but more in the re-reading sense. I do sometimes wonder if I would still hate Tess of the d'Urbervilles as much now as I did in high school. I, on the other hand, am thinking I need to re-read some sort-of classics that I loved and still know I love them but haven't read in ages - like John Irving's A Prayer for Owen Meany and Joseph Heller's Catch 22. The downside is that many of these books are VERY long. So, I may have to think about that a little bit more.
8. I had a lovely girls night in at a neighbors house over the weekend. 6 ladies all in walking distance makes me reconsider moving closer into town, not that we are necessarily out of town!
9. My kids like scary stuff. They love it when Andy scares them. They shout "Do it again!" They love scary books. Will also loves dinosaurs, so Andy decided to put on Jurassic Park for them while I was out for a short bit. I was not thrilled with that. I asked if they had already seen the toilet seen where the T-Rex eats the lawyer off the toilet and he said that was their favorite part after he explained that it was all pretend and machines. Yup, those are my kids. I did however turn off the movie when we arrived at the part where the Velociraptors were hunting the kids in the kitchen. Will is a bit scared of Velociraptors. I also told Andy that I would not be leaving my bed that night. No one woke up and neither kid has mentioned the movie since then.
10. Had to include this - He was playing hide n seek with Sarah at his great grandparents house. We had donuts over there and most of the donut crumbs ended up on the back of his shorts. The shorts came off and the shoes went on to play. I love summer! Who cares if the shorts are off?! It's plenty warm enough.