Christmas Eve

Another beautiful sunshiney day here in Sunny Florida. I do love Winters here. I have not at all missed the cold air from NY and if I could just discover that wormhole here on Earth that allows us to live here in Winter but continue about our daily lives in NY I would be one happy Mama. We spent the morning at the park down the street again then came home and put together our annual gingerbread house with Abuelita after lunch. This particular house's "glue" was not very sticky, and as soon as Abuelita let go of the foundation it collapsed. Oh, well. The photo op was fun and Ben pretty much ate the entire house - minus the decorations which he ever so deliberately removed (after ever so deliberately placing each one!!). Em ate the decorations and could have cared less about the cookie. Two peas in a pod, I tell ya.

Don't let go, Abudiba!

We celebrated Christmas Eve the Batter way (different from my family's traditions) with a yummy seafood dinner (cooked by Chef Daddy) and then opening ALL the family gifts (leaving gifts from Santa Claus only for Christmas day...). While Daddy cooked the late afternoon away, the kids and I watched more Veggie Tales by the light of the tree.

Mommy pic! Mommy pic!

Chef Daddy is our superhero. Abuelita loves when Daddy comes to town as she is relieved of her kitchen duties and gets to sit back and relax and entertain the kiddos while Daddy takes over the kitchen. Daddy is always happy to cook - especially when he can move around in the kitchen that is sized to fit more than one person at a time.

He cheffed up a YUMALICIOUS Italian Seafood soup. I ate at least four bowls of this goodness!!

Wanna come over??

After dinner we opened gifts. These pics are not in order and I cannot seem to be able to edit them. Ben got a wooden train that he very happily glued together then painted. Ever since starting preschool this fall he has become quite the Picasso. Love this kid.

I think I'll name it Thomas.

Em was very excited to open a present with the BRAVE doll, Merida. Abuelita had given her the movie for an early present when we arrived so the doll would be more appreciated. She-so-smart.

Mom, can I dye my hair red?

Em has also spent the past few days glued to the piano. She "plays" very well, plucking out actualy notes versus banging down of the keys. I think we will start lessons in September!! The piano she is playing has been gifted to her by Abuelita. As soon as we move out of the penthouse we will make the request for it to be sent North. :)

Sing us a song you're the Piano-Em.

The before they open the gifts pic:

CHEESE!

Daddy and Em doing the mosaic that Ben gave Em for Christmas. Hooray!

Matching chin dimples.

The kids went to bed pretty easily at around 8:30 excited to see what Santa was going to bring them when they woke. The rest of us enjoyed watching the various Christmas programs on TV until past midnight. Oh, wait, Mommy and Grandpop "tried" to enjoy the holiday programs while Daddy and Abudiba had an intense political debate for a good solid 90 minutes. Ahhhh, religion and politics - and we weren't even at a bar. :)

Sunday Florida Funday

We played the day away in the beautiful weather here in sunny Florida. We started out the day at the park down the street. Moments before this pic was taken Ben swung out too far, lost his grip and landed smack/flat on his back. It did not knock the wind out of him completely, but was a solid jolt. We snuggled a bit to calm him down. He kept saying, "I wanna snuggle with footprint blankie." (his security blanket - compared to Em at this age, when something like this would happen to her she would cry and say, "I'm done here. I wanna go home.")

Park time!

After lunch Em went last minute shopping with Daddy and Abuelita leaving Ben to hold down the fort here with me and Grandpop. We used up all the bubble mix,

Bubble time!

we played with the ducks,

Duck time!

and we raided Abuelita's shipping supplies to build all sorts of stations and tunnels, etc.

When is it NOT train time?

The kids went to bed just after 8 last night without a peep and slept past 8 this morning catching up on the must needed sleep they missed out on due to airline delays!

On the road again

We choose to give the warm weather a try this Christmas and leave the cold behind. Yahoo FL in Winter! 70s and sunny and no humidity.

The usual flight we take here generally gets us in in four hours door to door. Our usual flight was not offered and we ended up with what was supposed to be a 50 minute layover in Orlando. Yep, supposed to be. Our whole trip was delayed and ended up taking 10 hours door to door. But our kids are blessedly good travelers and they made the best of the three hour plus layover - it helps that Orlando has a shuttle train between terminals and we rode that sucker at least 10 times. :)

Gramma Lou, the headphones were a hit w Em, Ben...not so much. They did spend a lot of time coloring on the plane. Lets just say the next time someone needs to puke on that flight they will be delighted to hurl into a brightly decorated hand puppet bag.

We didn't arrive to Abuelita's house until about 1am. Ben fell asleep on the connecting flight. Em was awake until just before we pulled into the driveway. Yikes!

Our Piccasso

It was VERY windy taking off. Ben was shaking! He grabbed my hand and wouldn't let go. I wasn't complaining.

Cheeks! Cheeks! Cheeks! We love to snack on cheeks.

Our conductor and his super model in training big sister.

I lied.

Yep. I lied. I thought I was on the road to healing but I am not. I still tear up at least 10 times a day. I still hug my children for one second longer than usual. I am extra forgiving when they do not listen, do not eat, do not go to bed and stay in bed...

I have read so many amazing stories this week of heroism. Of teachers who threw themselves into the line of fire in attempts to save their students. I have read eulogies from parents who are burying their 6 year old children.

Today was a very special day.

I dropped Ben off at preschool early and rushed to Em's classroom holiday celebration. They had a class / parent sing along, then we chowed on some yummy cookies (thanks, Daddy!) and then made a fun reindeer craft. It was one hour of goodness in which I got the honor as a class room parent to present Mrs. Shannon - Em's teacher, the gift from our class. This woman is incredible. She has a gigantic heart. She relates to each and every kid in the classroom on the level that they need. She challenges them, she accepts them, she encourages - praises - and recognizes their every effort. We are blessed to have her as Em's teacher and knowing the events that took place in Sandy Hook last week, it took every ounce of discipline I had to not start bawling while presenting this woman our holiday token of gratitude. Mrs Shannon, if you ever stumble across my online journal and read this post, Thank you once again for all that you do...

Em whispered to me, "Mom, you gotta get a picture with me and Mrs Shannon."

From Em's party I made a mad dash to Ben's preschool for his Holiday party.  The 3 year olds sang three songs for the parents - the first of which Ben sang loud and proud.  The 2nd and 3rd - not so much, he stood there and picked his nose eyeballing the gingerbread houses he knew he was going to get to decorate after the whole singing crap was over. 

Decorate the house and then eat the left overs! That's how I roll when no veggies are involved!

The only vegetables Ben will consume...

Every year our ownership of holiday movies grows as we receive gifts from so many family members. Every year my kids latch onto one movie in particular and we end up watching it over and over and over. This year is was Frosty Returns - the dumbest movie in the history of movies, but my kids love it and John Goodman plays Frosty so at least I can close my eyes and be entertained by his voice (he is an accomplished musician).

Recently though we stumbled across a four pack of dvds that we were given by someone - Veggie Tales. The kiddos are hooked. Ben asks every night after his bath, "Mom, can we watch Veggie Tomatoes?"(One of the lead vegetable characters is a tomato.) It cracks me up. The shows are rather ridiculous in my old lady opinion but they all have a nice message... so Veggie Tomatoes, it is!

My mental sanity is slowly healing after the horrors of last Friday. Today I was all - hurricane Sandy, Sandy hook - what's up with Sandy this year? May she rest in peace and may 2013 bring us all happy healthy times...

I did bawl my eyes out for 1 minute and 57 seconds today watching the artists from that tv show The Voice sing my favorite song ever "Hallelujah" and dedicating it to the 27 new angels watching over us. If you haven't seen it, find it on my FB and make a point of watching it. You, too, will cry, but it will be a good hearty heaving cathartic cry which I think I really needed to put me on the road to healing.

Speaking of crying and vegetables, Ben only ate a waffle with peanut butter, half a pancake, some cheerios and some omega 3 soy crackers today - probably for a total of 400 calories. How is this kid 42 pounds and a powerhouse?

It's beginning to look a lot like...

We had our yearly Christmas "party" with our best pals last night. We exchanged gifts, made cookies, decorated a gingerbread house - then promptly gave it a skylight by removing one section of the roof so we could divide it into four and EAT IT! Good times, good times.

PRESENTS!

Our yearly Gingerbread house with our pals...

I woke up this morning knowing that Em would be demanding the "craft of the day" or Craft del dia - as we call it here in the penthouse. I've seen the Sharpie craft on Pinter*st a few times and decided to give it a whirl. We hit up the Dollar Store and bought the very LAST white plate and mug on the shelf - it was meant to be! We came home and started decorating them with our beloved Sharpies, then baked them for 35 minutes at 300˚ and - Wala! A decorative serving plate for cookies, etc., and another mug for me - personalized by Emma. It has "I love you!" written all over it and she drew a pic of our family. Totally totally awesome.

Sharpie ART!

sick sick sick

I can't even begin to count how many times today I simply had to stop and take a deep breath and try (mostly not succeed) to keep the tears at bay.

That school in CT was in a quaint sleepy little town just like our sweet village. The fact that the Kindergarteners took the brunt of it and Emma is in Kindergarten surely does not help.

Our elementary has good security, I believe. All exterior doors are locked except the main one into the office. You cannot even get into the preK / K wing of the school without being buzzed in by a secretary. Our students are constantly being reminded to not open doors for anyone - everyone MUST enter through the main office doors.

We just received an email from our superintendent expressing his sincere belief that our school is a safe zone but expressing how we all need to be on guard at all times and to not complain when you may have to walk just a little further to access the main door or wait in line a little longer while the secretaries ask to see your i.d., etc.

It is just so very sad. Emma and Ben of the future reading this, we love you so very very much and will absolutely do our very best to keep you and all of your friends safe from harm.

Weekend roundup.

Ben's ear pain has magically disappeared without the use of antibiotics. Hoo-ray!

We had a relaxing weekend - the calm before the storm, surely. The few things that stand out are: Daddy took the kids to Walmart Saturday evening to grab a few things. I got to be at home ALL BY MYSELF for about an hour - another Christmas miracle. Upon their return, I gave the kids baths. Emma, who is just like me when it comes to giving gifts - could not contain herself with her secret knowledge that they found a white dress at Walmart that they wanted to give me for Christmas. Lucky me!! Hahaha. But it was really adorable, she was all "you can't tell Dad I'm telling you this" - it is 90% the reason I usually don't shop until the 24th! 90% I cannot keep a secret and 10% I don't have the space to hide/stash the gift.

This morning I woke up with a sweet tooth. I googled a simple sugar cookie recipe and then cut the ingredients in half knowing we wouldn't actually eat the cookies - the fun is in the making of them and then the decorating of them. I pretty much hate cooked cookies. Yes, you read that right. In all honesty that should read, "I pretty much hate cooked desserts." You see, I love to make the desserts, then EAT THE BATTER RAW / lick the spoon / lick the bowl vs eat the finished product. Yep. So do you. Admit it. You are safe here.

This morning the kids and I made sugar cookies, a 24 cookie recipe that yielded just 12 cookies because I ate approximately 12 cookies raw. Don't judge me and don't be concerned for my health - raw egg and all - the way I see it is, "I am one good stomach flu away from my ideal weight." (The Devil Wears Prada) - or as I like to think of it, "I am one good food poisoning away from my ideal weight." The pre-cooked recipe was delicious!! After cooking, they were hard and gross, Emma and Daddy wanted nothing to do with them, but Ben ate them!! Go figure. To make visual matters worse, I picked up a can of frosting that said "Holiday Vanilla" which to me means WHITE frosting that I can color to my hearts desire. Nope, it was puke green (see below) and when I added red food coloring to it, it turned purple... Not the most attractive cookies, but we had good fun making and decorating them!! (Hey, Henry's mom. Want some cookies???)

Do you see what I see?

The best part of the above picture is in the bottom left corner. YEP. Daddy succumbed to a late night infomercial and bought us a Nutribullet. WE LOVE IT and are giving our beloved juicer away. Get one, dear readers. Your life depends on it. FOR REAL.

The next blurry pic is of me walking out the door to the office Saturday morning. Ben made me a necklace of tinkertoys and was ecstatic that I was actually going to wear it to work.

Ben is a jeweler!

We felt the need for some good NY pizza for lunch today and ended up at Little Joe's. We usually order it and take it home to chow, but Ben and Emma get a huge kick out of staying at the pizzeria and eating at the tables so we decided to eat there today. Yum. Yum. Yum. Is all I can say. I had two slices because I am a pig (and I ONLY had 12 sugar cookies for breakfast) - an eggplant slice and a Gramma slice - square piece with sauce, a slice of mozz, roasted red peppers, with a drizzle of pesto on top. OOOOOhhh, so delicious. Emma ordered a mushroom slice and Ben, of course, had a plain slice.

Don't rush me!

Ear Week at preschool and in the home.

Ben's preschool learned all about "ears" this week. Ben took the lesson to the next level...

Ben and I were out the door early enough to hit the bank, Walmart, and BJs before his 11:30 "library school." When we pulled into the bank parking lot he announced, "Mom, my ear hurts."

Hmmmmmm.

We took care of our bank chore, me observing his behavior a little more closely. He was still as playful as ever, didn't feel warm, but was *slightly* whiny. We hopped in the car for 3 minutes for our drive to Walmart. I kept glancing at him in the rear view mirror and I could tell his ear was definitely bothering him. By the time we left Walmart he was whinier even after running into a good pal of his. I needed a BJs quick run for fresh goods and couldn't really skip it (besides it shares a parking lot w Walmart) so I figured I'd see how he does there and then make a decision about a doctor visit...

While waiting in line at BJs he wanted he to hold him and snuggle him - not his usual m.o. when we are out and about. Something was definitely up.

I called the pediatrician from the car but she couldn't see him until 4:30 (it was 11:30). So, I made the decision to take him to Stat Health which is one of those urgent care places. Now let me tell you about Stat Health. I have lived here on the island for 2 1/2 years now and still haven't chosen a G.P. because I love this clinic so much! You walk in without an appointment, sign in and wait your turn. I've been there on crazy busy days and still only waited 45 min max. A Doctor you have never met before comes in and checks you out, diagnoses you and sends you on your way with what you need. It's that simple.

Ben was not at all thrilled about the prospect of seeing the doctor - but the kid was a champion when the dude walked in the door and let the doc check out his nooks and crannies. His ear was indeed red, but the doctor thought it may be viral as he is getting over a cold. He prescribed Motrin for pain and gave me a script, but told me not to fill it until Sunday just in case it cleared itself on it's own.

In and out in 20 minutes.

I do love our pediatrician when it comes to well visits, but when it comes to sick kids (and parents) I demand immediate gratification and this health care center gives it to me!

Soooooo,

Do you remember that train table Ben has so desperately wanted for two years that we finally caved in and purchased from Craigslist, I mean asked Santa Clause for and he dropped it by early? Remember how Ben played obsessively with it for 3 days straight? Well, now he could hardly be bothered with the table itself - but he plays with the various pieces that came with the table (bridge, sheds, tunnels, mountains, hills, etc) all over the house just as he used to (and still does) with his old tracks. It turns out it wasn't so much the TABLE he wanted but the GOODIES that he always played with ON THE TABLE. I could probably sell the table and keep the goods and he wouldn't even notice! (See pic below)

But I won't ditch the table just yet. Our play dates love it and Emma gets a lot of enjoyment out if it - believe it or not - designing new tracks and making up fun stories. It cracks me that I didn't figure this out before purchasing the table. I really should have understood his request. Whenever we went to a store that sold the goodies, he would always request one - but they are like $25 bucks a pop, so I was like, NOPE. Needless to say, we absolutely feel we got an incredible bargain with the fancy table and all the goods for $75.

Mr.Conductor on the FLOOR!

Girl Talk

I go into the office every Wednesday evening after dinner to teach a class. Emma often sits on the toilet and watches me apply make up and we chat about this and that. Tonight's conversation went exactly like this.

"What's that?"
"It's called mascara."
"Why are you putting it on your eyes?"
"Well, I use it to make my eye lashes look longer. You and Benny have nice thick long eye lashes like Daddy, so you don't need to use it."

I then grabbed my electric toothbrush and brushed my teeth. Mid - brushing Em asked, "Why do you have an electric toothbrush?"
"Because I like the way it cleans my teeth."
She contemplates that while I finish brushing.
"Would you like an electric toothbrush, too?" I ask.
"Yes."
"Okay, maybe you can ask Santa for one." (I am thinking stocking stuffer...)
"But I already saw Santa."
"Well, maybe you can write him a letter?"
"Hmmm, how do you spell 'Dear'?"
"D. E. A. R. Maybe your can write something like, 'Dear Santa. I would like for you to give me an electric toothbrush for Christmas instead of a dollhouse.'"
Without hesitation and with a great amount of teenage sass, she simply replied, "Ah, NO."

Saturday goodness

It was a grey misty bone chilling day on the island today. Instead of walking around the village for the Dickens Festival freezing our fingers off, Em and I decided to hit up the local ballet school's matinee Nutcracker while Daddy and Ben stayed home and did boy stuff - you know, watching college football. The ballet school brings in 3 professional dancers for the major roles and I gotta tell ya, at first I was all - why would you hired professional dancers, give the local talent a chance to shine! After seeing the performance I must admit they professionals were AMAZING to watch and I believe really elevated the desire of the local gals to push themselves to practice harder resulting in extraordinary performances across the board. It was a two hour show with a 20 minute intermission. Em got a little wiggly here and there, but mostly enjoyed watching the show. It certainly did not hurt that one of her school's Kindergarten teachers (not hers) that she adores played the toy maker in the first act. He was a joy to watch and reminded me again just how lucky we are that (most of) our teachers are so committed to the local community. Em asked lots of good questions throughout the performance like, "Why are they dancing in dust?" (Fog in the dream scenes.) "How do they make the dust?" (With a fog machine.)

The Nutcracker!

Last night Ben would not eat dinner. Surprise! Daddy was intent on him eating just one piece of tortellini (which if you recall was ALL HE WOULD EAT about a year ago) or he would lose train table privileges. "I don't like it! It's yucky!" He said over and over through heaving sobs. At his wits end, Daddy starting breaking down the elaborate track that I built the other day and putting it away in the train table drawers. Benjamin starting shaking! He was so sad and upset. (Mommy was a little shaky and sad, too - it took me forever to built that dang setup!) When he finally calmed down, he ate some raisins and went to bed semi relaxed. He was up at 6:22 this morning and tiptoed into our room so as not to wake Daddy and whispered to me sweetly, "Mom, can I built a new track on the train table?" Yes, buddy, you can. And he did!! That kid recreated a sizable chunk of the track from memory all by himself before any of us got our lazy bums out of bed. Stud.

Rebuilding complete!

12 square foot

Here in the Penthouse our floor space is limited/coveted. Daddy and I have been "discussing" (and by discussing I mean Daddy suggests and I veto) toys to purge and toys to keep as the holiday are among us. I finally agreed to a mini purge and bagged up the little people zoo and airplane... (Small, very small victory for Daddy.)

From the time Benjamin could speak sounds "trains" have been in his daily vocabulary. We truly thought he would grow out of it by now and move on to Spiderman and Batman like all his pals, but NOPE, Thomas and friends it is! For 24 M.O.N.T.H.S. now he has been asking for a train table. We have always said no because we simply do not have the space for it. We have purchased / been given awesome tracks that we have built all over the penthouse and have had a blast playing with them yet STILL Ben goes wild and crazy whenever he goes to a library / book store / playdate that houses a train TABLE. 

Monday evening was the last straw. I chaired a PTA fundraiser at the local Barnes and Noble and because Daddy was out in the field helping a family I brought the kiddies with me to the store for 3 hours. Wanna know what Emma did for 3 hours while I "worked" the event? She did the crafts, sang the songs, listened to the stories being read, and played the bingo games, etc... Wanna know what Ben did FOR THREE HOURS? Played with the train table in the children's section AND could not have been happier.

Needless to say, Daddy and I hit up Craigslist after putting the kids to bed Monday evening and found a killer table plus tons of trains and tracks and bridges and tunnels, etc for a whopping $75. We STALKED the craigslist posting person until she returned my call today and I rushed with my cash to her home to retrieve the table for Ben for Christmas.

NOW, we don't have any storage in the Penthouse so we needed to devise a plan to give him the table from Santa NOW, and not wait until Christmas.

Here is where the Academy Awards steps in. We decided that Daddy should disguise his voice and "call" Ben on the phone and let him know how proud his parents are of him for being such a good boy this year. Also, Santa is aware the kids will be in FL for Christmas and it would be too hard to bring a train table home on an airplane...

My cell rang around 10am this morning, I looked at the caller ID and exclaimed to Ben, "BEN! LOOK!! SANTA CLAUS IS CALLING!!!!" He got all giggly and cutesy and snuggley and we answered the phone. Daddy, from the other side of the penthouse in his BESTEST Santa voice praised Ben for being a good boy and told him that because he would be in FL for Christmas... blah blah blah, if he would like, his Mommy could take him today to pick up his present from a lady who was holding it for Santa in Islip.

Ben was flip flopping and giggly and sssoooooooooo happy jumping all over the couch and thanked Santa and promised he would continue to be a good boy, etc.

(Daddy wins the Oscar for best Voice Over. Mama wins for best Actress in a Fake phone call from Santa!)

Ben and I picked up the table this afternoon and brought it home. He giggled the entire time!! (Those of you who have spent time with Ben know his giggles can cure all that ails you...) We borrowed Henry's Mommy's muscles to help Mommy get the table up the stairs because there was NO WAY Ben was waiting until Daddy got home after bedtime to play with the table.

The set up he wanted on the table was quite elaborate. He did not help me build it AT ALL. Instead giggled and directed me what to do. When it was finally complete, I said, "Do you want me to play with you?" and he replied, "No, Mom, you go relax on the couch."

WHY THE HECK DID I WAIT TWO YEARS TO BUY HIM THIS GIFT FROM...THE TRAIN GODS???

He got in about 30 minutes of play before I had to get Em from the bus. When she walked in the door she was all, "What the...?" They played together sweetly for about 15 seconds, then WW3 broke out because it sunk in that Santa gave Benny an early gift but NOT HER.

We had written her a special note from Santa explaining the situation but she could have cared less ignoring all the continue to be a good girl / you will get an even SPECIALER gift on the 25th, etc. The next 60 minutes was a blur of time outs and yelling and throwing coaches and busting up tracks that took me forever to build... Lots of tears on both kids parts, and one or two on mine, but I am happy to report they are now sleeping soundly and I am "relaxing on the couch" blogging.

I truly believe this table will be a positive addition to the penthouse. I lost 12 precious square feet - but the giggles from the boy echo in my mind and the smile on his Chiclet teethed face will forever be burnt into my brain and I will be happy...

Plus who doesn't love it when the needy son tells you to relax on the couch so  he can play on his own???

Santa Parade

Our little Village hosts the local "Santa Parade" every year the Saturday after Thanksgiving. It was only 42˚ this year, but the sun was shining and we ran into so many of our best friends and had a blast. It was enough of a good time to inspire us to go out and purchase an actual tree this year even though we will be in Florida for the holiday. The kids "helped" decorate it - well Emma helped - when Ben came across the snow globes all helping stopped and he has literally not put them down for four days now, even sleeps with the little one!! We love the finished product - love it even more that it sits on our dining room table and we eat by the lights of the tree, its so relaxing and Benjamin actually sits quietly while he (doesn't) eat instead of whining the whole time that "I don't like it."

The CREW.

Santa is coming!!

The finished product.

Ben hoarding the snow globes.

"Good Helper" lives on!

Gobble gobble

We had a lovely - semi relaxing - Thanksgiving. Daddy did the bulk of the main course fixings, Gramma Lou made the desserts, and I was in charge of the steamed green beans and crock pot butternut squash. My cooking took a total of about 10 minutes of my time - just how I like it, Daddy spent a larger chunk of time on his part - but the outcome was well worth it - that was possibly the juiciest turkey we have ever eaten! Hooray for beer brine! (See bottom pic.)

We hit up the local YMCA on Wednesday for their open swim to get the kiddos out of the house. (See pic.) I am happy to report that neither kid has regressed in the water and they had a blast with their cousins, Leah and Frank.

At Em's school pow wow Monday, she Native American Indian named herself, "Good helper." She proved her namesake in the kitchen helping Gramma make an apple pie (see pic) and some cookies for our feast. She was actually very well behaved the entire time we were away. The minute we crossed the threshold into the penthouse though, three days worth of good behavior melted into her usual pile of goo...

Pool time!

"Good Helper" Emma, indeed.

Good work, Daddy!

Benisms

We made it to PA to celebrate turkey day in great time yesterday. The kids were awesome on the 3.5 hour drive and we needed no extra pit stops other than our usual half way stop in NJ to fill up on cheap gas ($3.55 compared to 3.99 in NY) and pee.

The kids came into the ladies room with me while Daddy was gassing up the car. When we entered the restroom immediately on the right was one of those koala care fold down changing tables. If you recall for the first three years of Ben's life he would scream bloody murder every single time I laid him on one to change his diaper. I am 99% sure he rolled off of one in an alternate universe and sustained major injury. Well, he hasn't had to lay on one for 11 months now because he is fully potty trained - so you can imagine my surprise/humor when we walked into the restroom yesterday and he stopped dead in his tracks, pointed to the changing table and said, "I don't wanna lay on that!" I assured him he was now a big boy and didn't have to ever again. The relief on his face was heartwarming!

We played the evening away at Grandpa's house, then about 7:00 said our good nights and headed to Gramma Lou's casa. The kids got their second wind upon seeing Gramma and were up until about 9:30. We put them to bed in Gramma's room. Ben fussed that he wanted to go home and sleep in his bed for a bit. We gave him the choice to sleep with Emma or sleep in the basement where the spare rooms are. He cutely said, "I wanna stay with Emma."

We were hoping the late bed time would translate into sleeping in. Nope. Up at 6:00 on the dot, little turkey.

At home we sleep with white noise machines. I bring them with us when we travel. I forgot this trip and this is what I learned: Ben talks in his sleep! When I went to bed we grabbed a sleeping Ben and brought him into the basement w us. All night long I heard him chattering. At one point he was talking and giggling and I was sure he was wide awake. Nope again.

Gramma got up and was out of the house to work by the time Ben was up this morning. At 10:30am he asked me with all sincerity, "When's Gramma gonna wake up?" He wanted to play with her and thought she was sleeping in!!

Mama down

Ben has caught the first real cold of the season. He is sneezing up a storm and hacking like crazy. He refuses medicine but will let me rub Vicks on his feet at night ("Hee hee hee, it tickles, Mama!"). He has been kind enough to share it with me - my nose has been running all day and my throat is scratchy. I think I'm going to hit the hay early tonight and try to sleep this one off as this upcoming week is BUSY.

The kids and I went to Daddy's childhood best friend's baby blessing yesterday. It was at the Old Field Club over by the beach - it was a gorgeous day and we had tons of fun. The DJ was basically instructed to "keep the kids busy and happy" giving us parents plenty of time to relax and socialize - that is unless you have a Ben who has zero desire to play musical chairs and the such. Thank goodness I allowed him to bring a train and his new troublesome truck (Thanks, Henry!) because he loaded and unload that thing with all kinds of goodies and played the afternoon away solo.

I wanted to go the bank in port Friday before Ben's library class but it is still closed. They had a lot of flooding and I guess they are still drying out. So, we went to the next best place, Dunkin Donuts next door and Ben had a treat while Mommy splurged on a coffee. He ate every last morsel of that dang donut, too - tis a shame they don't puree spinach and hide it in the cake. COME ON!! They would triple their business because Moms would not feel so bad about going there often!

While Mama was feeling out of it this morning, Emma painted a birthday picture for Aunt Lisa. Why is it so hard to get the girl to smile normally?

The last picture was our home by 8:23am this morning. Hurricane Ben.

She really did have a good time. This pic makes her look bored!

Why you always gotta take a pic of me, Ma?

Our homemade card.

...before she dumped the paint on the carpet...

Who needs Santa?

I wanna be a caveman

Emma has Phys Ed three days a week. On those days, she is required to wear sneakers. She only has one pair of sneakers so when the time comes for her to get her coat and shoes on and get out to the bus, there is no drama because there is no choice.

On Wed and Fri she has art and music. She is still required to wear shoes, just not sneakers.

Two days a week at 8:32am I go red in the face and usually start hollering like a lunatic because Emma cannot ever seem to choose which pair of shoes she wants to wear. Can you guess what days those are?

The problem is not that she is Imelda Marcos and has too many pairs to choose from, the problem is on any given day the pair of shoes she wore recently "hurt" her in some new way even though they were fine 12 hours ago.

I don't disbelieve she is growing and she is definitely in need of larger sized shoes, the challenge I have is simply the fact that she is stalling. Trust me, by 8:20 every morning I try very hard to get her started on the 'choose your shoes' process. It takes her THAT LONG. I want to foster independence in the kid, but I am about to donate all her shoes leaving her barefooted.

Rant over. You may now return to your regularly scheduled blog reading.

Hmmmm

Take a good look at this pillow case and come on an adventure with me. Let's go back in time - 3 years to be precise. Abuelita gave Emma a Princess Bedding set for Christmas 3 years ago. I believe it was purchased from Macy's and cost way more than I thought necessary for a two year old girl. This sheet set has been on the girl's bed for three years now. It has been washed countless times is HOT HOT water. It has yet to "pill" up and is still in excellent (soft) condition. The colors have not faded. It continues to be the best gift ever. As you can see from the pillow case, Emma suffers from bloody noses here and there in the middle of the night. Often I have had no idea this occurred until I go to wash the pillow case. The blood is set in and will not come out - yet Em refuses to let me throw out the case. She is convinced that without it on her pillow every night she will have bad dreams. (I have to schedule my laundry around whether the case will dry by bedtime!) Ben has cheap sheets bought this summer on his bed. They are already deteriorating and will need to be replaced soon. I have learned if I am going to buy sheets, you really do get what you pay for.

The bottom pic is Ben on his way to school this morning. I can't handle how delicious he is on a daily basis. I LOVE THIS AGE. Today he wanted to wear my baseball cap to school and it had to be on backwards - our little rapper.

"I love my Mom, my Mom is cool, but now it's time for having fun at school."

back to normal

It's always hard to keep up with writing this time of year. I'm sure the visit from Sandy didn't help. We are pretty much back to normal. I am no longer paranoid at every wind gust that we will lose power. Benjamin is the only one needing therapy at this point - he still says at least 5 times a day, "Hey, Mom! The frig has power!" or "Mom, look! The baffroom has power!" or in the afternoon when all the lights are off and the tv is not on, he will pause, "Mom? Do we have power?"

The gas shortage seems to be over, too, or at least people are no longer hoarding gas and the lines have been eliminated. That was a stressful two weeks, let me tell ya.

What have we been doing? Emma had her last soccer for the season last Saturday. Indoor lacrosse starts up in Feb or so. I was thinking to sign her up for basketball at the church nearby but it is a three month season - not sure if she is up for it. She has been requesting to go back to ballet - not so much for the dance, but four of her good friends are in the class. I'd love to get her back in but the time is so inconvenient. Boo.

Emma has been to three "Bounce House" birthday parties this month. She has already asked me if we can have her party next Summer at a bouncy place. Oi.

Ben continues to excel in school. He has turned into a arts and crafts maniac often coming home with two crafts of the day instead of just one. (I am guessing because big sister is not there to push him out of the way and demand that SHE DO IT and not him...) So very glad both kiddos are well rounded in their love of music, art and physical education!

3:15, nap time for me! Ben usually lets me close my eyes for about 3 minutes. Power nap in deed.

Pic post

Our life in the Penthouse:

With my beloved Eastern Standard Time in full force, our schedule has shifted a bit around the penthouse. The sun is setting by the time Emma gets off the bus at 4:00 and due to the fact that she barely eats anything for breakfast and then talks too much at lunch to finish her food in the allotted time, she is ravenous and we end up eating dinner by 4:30-5:00 - talk about an early bird special!

Yesterday while I was making dinner the kids entertained themselves with a game of Thomas tennis. (If only you could see the surface of my beloved dining room table - it is in serious need of a resurfacing, but what's the point, really... Maybe when Ben goes off to college?) They used our giant candle (which got some serious use the past two weeks!) as the net and Ben's Thomas that they basically just threw at each other across the table. And I let them do it (good parenting, eh?) because they were having so much FUN.

What can we learn from this picture?
1) The crooked pictures on the walls might lead one to believe Hurricane Sandy came through our house made of bricks.
2) Emma is sitting in Ben's booster chair that he doesn't really need but I refuse to get rid of because I can "lock" him at the table when he is being difficult - which is each and every single dinner occasion.
3) The dog under the table continues to drive me batty. He has separation anxiety when we are not home and trashes the place.
4) Emma made the crown she is wearing on a playdate the other day and has worn it consistently since I picked her up.
5) The rocking chair in the corner doesn't get any use. Seriously, I haven't used it since I nursed Emma. (Look closely! The nursing stool stills takes its place a the foot of the rocker.) I don't know why I can't seem to let it go. It is a beautiful oldschool wooden rocker - maybe when we move into a larger space with a library in it, I'll gravitate back to it.
6) The ledge of the window is our "catchall" space - keys, wallets, change, biz cards, pens, etc. It drives me crazy to see clutter there, yet I still seem to be the major offender of the clutter!
7) The window art on the bottom right of the window was meant for our neighbors. We made it for Henry and Jane about three weeks ago. Their door is about a 21 second walk from ours... Maybe we can get them to the kids by Christmas.
8) The Chinese Lantern reflecting in the window is probably the best 6.99 I have ever spent. It gives off the perfect about of light lightly muted from the paper covering. Ahhhh, the little things.

Table tennis, anyone?

11 Days

11 days of indoor camping thanks to Hurricane Sandy.

Here is what a typical day looked like:
Ben up with the Sun, Emma up not long afterwards.
Ben immediately demanding pancakes for breakfast with peanut butter on top and a happy face drawn into the peanut butter. Emma would occasionally eat breakfast but more often not - she is just like her Daddy and doesn't like to eat right away. Guess who Ben takes after?
They are dressed and ready to take on the day by 7:15... what the heck are we going to do for the next 12 hours with no power?

We had lots of playdates at friend's houses who had power to charge our phones/iPad and dvd player and to wash clothes and raid their ice. There was a lot of iPad app play. We burned through the entire box of arts and craft supplies - maybe Santa can find it in his heart to replenish the goods. We watched Frosty the Snowman and Frosty Returns at least 20 times in 11 days - they are only 22 minutes each, the perfect length for a dvd player that is losing its ability to hold a solid charge. We ate a lot of soup, and mac and cheese. On Daddy's solo parenting days I heard there was a lot of Wendy's consumed and pizza... We made daily trips to the supermarket for fresh meat that needed to be cooked immediately as we had no way to keep it really cold. We showered by candlelight. We peed in the dark. We did not blow dry our hair (and vain Mommy had to go curly for more days than she wanted...). We were in bed by 6:30-7:00 every night because our circadian rhythms kicked in with no power stimulus to keep us up past daylight. WE ACTUALLY PLAYED WITH TOYS - like really played with them, and got along doing it.

Did you notice I am writing this post using the pas tense?? THAT'S BECAUSE THE POWER IS BACK ON! We've had it for 90 minutes now and I am feeling pretty good about our chances of keeping it.

Wanna hear something FUNNY? The power clicked back on at 5:59pm. All the lights were turned off in the house and the only reason I knew it turned back on is because the microwave beeped and the light inside the refrigerator that I have had propped open for over a week now so it wouldn't get nasty and smelly and moldy on the inside turned on. The funny part is I selfishly did not admit to the kids the power was back on!!! I wanted them to go to bed at 6:30 just ONE LAST TIME. I really needed them to go to bed. I did. I'm tired, friends. I needed me time. I am actually typing this by candlelight just in case one of them wanders out into the living room...

I am sure I am forgetting wacky wild and wonderful things that happened this past week and I will try to journal them as they pop into my head - oh, yeah, like the 3 inches of snow that got dumped on us last night with wicked winds that knocked out 7 newly fixed transformers on our street again. We heard them popping - sounded like gunshots and we could see the sparks flying. Scary.

But we are alive. We are healthy. We have milk in the frig (not much more, we had to toss the majority after 4 days). Daddy was able to drive into work today for the first time in 11 days because he scored a full tank of gas (all the stories are TRUE of people waiting 2-3-4-5 hours in line for gas!!). We now have heat and for the first time in days my bones are no longer cold. I cannot imagine how the families on the south shore are doing - the ones who were flooded out and still staying in shelters. I will take losing power any day to flood waters rising in my basement and sweeping my car away. We are blessed to be surrounded by friends with open doors and bags of ice and washing machines and working outlets to charge our electronic goodies. I'd like to send a personal thank you to Steve Job's team who invented the iPhone - it kept me in 3G touch with all my family and friends across the country - also thank you to Mark Zuckerberg for stealing the Harvard twins idea for Facebook and going mainstream with it - I may have snapped if it weren't for all the encouragement of my friends around the world via FB.

Halloween dud

We still don't have power. To be honest, it's not horrible. The kids are doing an extraordinary job entertaining each other. School has been called off every day and my guess tomorrow will be cancelled too. The big suck is lack of refrigeration. The ice blocks we made in preparation of the hurricane have finally melted and we are on to store bought ice which melts so much quicker. We have stove top gas so we can eat hot food. We blessedly have hot water and shower by candlelight.

We did not get to trick or treat. Downed trees and power lines are still everywhere and going door to door did not seem like a good idea to daddy and I. We did join up with a solid group of folks who were stir crazy enough to dress up the kids and hit the port for an impromptu parade after lunch. The kids got dressed up - daddy had to force Ben into his pirate costume. He sure was super cute though!! (Thanks, Abuelita!!)

No love for Sandy

The past 24 hours have been a little intense. We are grateful for our house made of bricks. We are grateful for gas cooking - we have been able to make hot meals. And we are grateful for hot water - it's fun to shower by candlelight (although I cannot blow dry my hair and, lets just say, I'll be wearing hats until the power returns.)

The wind was wicked. All we heard all night until about 2:30am or so were trees cracking and transformers popping. Our good friends had a massive tree fall on their garage and another family we love had a tree fall on their electrical main line sending surges thru the home. The dons quickly shut down the power main eliminating what the fire dept said would have resulted in the house burning to the ground. Thank God for quick thinkers.

The island looks like a hurricane hit. For real. It's scary to drive the streets for fear of dangling trees coming down in the left over winds and live wires snapping about. We will bunker up for a few days and pray for electricity.

And for JFK to reopen so mama can make it to LA on Thursday for a funeral and a baby shower. Talk about the circle of life.

Ben's 1st Field Trip

The 3s went on their first field trip to Windy Acres farm on Thursday. Ben had a blast playing with his pals. The tractor ride out to the pumpkin patch was snuggley fun - but the picking of the pumpkin didn't interest Ben a whole lot. He wanted to get back to the playground and play!

This is the same place Em went when she was 3. It seems like just a few weeks ago - can't believe two years have flown by!

The Boy and his Cookie.

I guess you will have to do.

Come aboard, Mateys!

Look out below!