Gramma Lou

What do you get the Mom / Gramma who has everything for Mother's Day? An idea you swiped from some clever family on Pinterest!

While she may have preferred a 60 minute massage, we thought a personal touch would go over well this year. We were supposed to have made this project Mother's Day weekend, but if you recall, the Batter bunch was stricken with the plague. So we headed to PA this holiday weekend specifically to cover our hands in paint and make a family tree. :)

We even got Gramma in on the action (purple hand in center) - something I wasn't planning on doing but was inspired to do last minute yesterday. In case you are wondering, the Batter hands are on the left, the Burke hands are on the right, and the Graham gang is topping the tree with their fancy pastels all the way from Denver.

It looks awesome hanging in her Living Room hall and I wouldn't mind at all if any of you out there used the idea for your families as the making of / finished project really is cool.

Massage schmaschmage!

Summer is in the air!

The kids were great on the long ride home in the heat of the day. We only stopped once to pee and fill up with cheap NJ gas ($3.53) - that is unless you count me jumping out of a moving car to grab 3 hot dogs from a street cart on a corner in Manhattan.  We have been trying various ways to get to PA from our island and this journey's ride just may be the winner. We took the L.I.E. across the island to the Queens Midtown tunnel, through Manhattan to the Lincoln Tunnel, then cut across NJ on a smaller freeway. We barely hit traffic in either direction which was nice and driving through the city is always entertaining vs on boring highways around it. The only drag is you have to pay for the Lincoln Tunnel in both directions (George Washington bridge is only entering the city) but I am at a point in life where time is money and $12 is worth it!

We were home by 1:15, so I put swim suits on the kiddos and headed to the marina to cool off in the froggy sprinklers. Too bad the sprinklers weren't turned on yet!! (I will be stopping by town hall tomorrow to voice my opinion on that lapse of thought by the village for a holiday weekend!) So we played for a bit on the turtles and boat, then headed down to the boat launch area to cool our toes and hunt for shells. I actually SAT DOWN ON THE BEACH and watched the kids. They actually LISTENED when I encouraged them NOT to do this and that. Our babies are growing up. Is there "reading a book on the beach" in my future??? A Mama can only dream...

Come on slow poke, Ben!

Em searching for shells. Ben tossing rocks in the ocean.

A do over of the do over.

We had the opportunity to take a 48 hour trip to PA to visit our family for Memorial Day weekend - the weather looked like it would cooperate so we figured, why not? We stopped at Grandpa's Saturday afternoon to hang out. He had just opened his pool and although we had no bathing suits as we expected the water to be freezing (it was 82! warm!), that did not deter the bunch who stripped down to their underwear and played the early evening away.

As you can see from the pics, Emma was still timid and NEEDED a floaty of sorts as a security blanket. Ben wanted nothing to do with security and jumped in with no fear leaving off exactly where we left him last September. I definitely need to encourage his love of the water this Summer as often as possible because a swimming scholarship is just as good as a basketball one...

We are the first ones in the pool for the season!

Gaining confidence. Not clinging to the edges anymore.

I'm in da pool, ma!

Do over week

(Blogger has posted my pics all willy nilly so follow along if you can...) 

We attempted my "Do over" birthday/mother's day last Sunday. I wasn't completely healed, operating at about 85%, but it was a beautiful day so I requested we get out and MOVE as over a week of laying around was taking a toll on my self diagnosed "restless*leg*syndrome". We hit the Gnarled Hallow trail - 3 miles of paved goodness through the forest that we can pull a wagon on so when the kids get tired they can ride. Unfortunately that meant we pulled lazy Emma the ENTIRE way and Ben about 75% of the way. He walked 10% and spent the remaining 15 on top of Daddy's shoulders.

Look how skinny my handsome hubby is getting! Go JUICE FAST, go!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm a princess. I command you pull me.

 

 

 

Ben LOVES playing basketball on our neighbor's hoop. I am so grateful we live in a complex with lots of kids who share all our/their outdoor toys. Basketball is the one game I can hang out for giant chunks of time and enjoy, too, before my ADD kicks in and I need a new activity. I cannot wait until we can get some good games of Horse and 1-1 going! :)

Michael Jordon in the making.

I found this little girl passed out at 6:55pm the other night. I was wonder how the heck I was going to get her into her top bunk as she weighs in at 50 lbs and I simply cannot lift her anymore. Ben solved the problem by doing a cart wheel on the couch, misjudging his landing and headbutting her about 5 seconds after the pic was snapped. She woke in hysterics and took about 30 minutes to calm down. Thanks, Ben! (I think.)

LOVES LOVES LOVES this swing.

actual conversation:

"Emma, please drink your milk."
"NO!"
"Emma, please drink your milk."
"I'm not thirsty."
"You just asked me for milk. Now drink it."
"I just told you I am not thirsty. And I am not happy."
"Why are you not happy?"
"Because it is raining."
"It's not raining now."
"But it's cloudy and I am only happy when it is sunny."
"Well, I am not happy when you don't drink your milk."
"Well, I am MORE not happy when..."
"When what?"
"When it takes me forever to..."
"Yes, I am listening. When it takes you forever to what?"
"When it takes me forever to... to... to...(she's thinking hard here) to...ride an airplane."

iPad love

Ben wakes up earlier and earlier every day. Today it was 5:05am - bright eyed and bushy tailed. Sometimes - like when he wakes up past 6:30, I am able to stay awake with him and get things done - other times, like today, we hand the kid a sippy cup full of milk and the iPad and crawl back in bed.

Our awesome parenting this morning? We finally got out of bed at 8am and BEN WAS STILL PLAYING WITH THE IPAD! Three fulls hours of technology to start his day. Now, before you judge us harshly let me tell you this. Ben knows all the planets in the solar system. He knows every shape out there - including hendecagons and dodecagons. He can tell the time. He knows Phonics. He recognizes capital letters and small letters. He knows his numbers. He is an accomplished singer knowing ALL the lyrics to all the Thomas the Train songs and all the awesome Kidstv123 songs.

He does not know all this stuff from playing with blocks and puzzles with us. He learned it all wielding his magic on the iPad. Look at his face in the picture - it also brings him so much joy. (Besides - 3 hours straight is rare...it is usually just 2. OI!)

Singing the Solar System song!

Busy Month

May is always a busy month for us. Aunt Miki, Grandpa, Mommy, and Grandpop all have birthdays. Throw in Mothers day and there is someone to make a homemade card for every week.

We headed to PA last weekend to PARTY! Grandpa's birthday party was Friday night.

He is actually 64. OOPS! Silly Mommy.

I LOVE this pic. Ben cracks me up!

At this point Emma was perfectly healthy, Benny was pretty much over his cold, and I was chain-blowing my nose, but no fever and I didn't feel too bad besides a sore nose...

Then came Saturday - MY BIRTHDAY. I woke up les miserables. And it lasted the entire day. My birthday party was a challenge. I spent a good deal of it on the couch sleeping.

Totally faking happiness here. I was wicked sick with a nasty fever.

Emma had a blast playing water guns and water balloons with her cousin, Frank the ENTIRE day. He did such an amazing job entertaining her and she is completely enamored with him. Seriously, she was glued to his side.

Em madly in love with Frankie.

It was such a beautiful day!! Blue skies, warm temps. Definitely need a do over this weekend.

Ben was super cute. At about 3:00 he requested his blankie, wandered down the hall to his cousin Leah's room, crawled into her bed on his own and took a two hour nap rocking the pink sheets.

Our sweet little manly man.

At 7:00pm as we were leaving Emma said, "My throat hurts." Greeeeeaaaaaattt. We got back to Grandma's, I max dosed on Nyquil and slept for 13 hours. Grandma went into Nurse Mode and cared for the newly sick Em. Sunday morning - Mother's Day - we all met up at a restaurant for brunch. We were in and out within an hour as Em was a catatomic zombie. We piled into the minivan and drove 4 hours straight back to Port Jefferson to Daddy's waiting arms (no pit stops for pee! Compared to the 5 pit stops on the way to PA!!). I don't remember much of the next 48 hours except for spiking fevers and whines of sickness from both Emma and me...

Thankfully, I am feeling 90% better. Em, not so much. We hit the doctor yesterday - no strep throat, ears looked fine, no explanation for the fever. She sent us home with a "gotta let her body fight it". This morning she woke up complaining her ears hurt. We are on our way back to see if infection formed overnight. I almost hope YES, so we can get a script and be done with it. Poor kiddo.

(I will leave out the part here where I didn't believe her ears were hurting her at first because I truly thought she was lying and simply didn't want to go to school... OI!)

UPDATE: yep, ear infection. both ears. Amoxicilian it is, oh, and a steroid for her cough/bark.

Black Plague 2012

Ben's fever turned into a sizable cold for him, which turned into a full blown influenza for me and Emma. Achy muscles, no appetite, fevers... All the fun stuff!

Ben is now fine. I am definitely on the mend (I can tell because I started cleaning again - haha, the OCD in me could only stand the clutter while I was down for the count). Em is in the thick of it now, no school today or ballet - boo hoo hoo! Hopefully she can beat it tonight with a decent night's sleep. Fingers crossed. Daddy seems to have dodged the bullet. Fingers crossed there, too. Please?

Lots to tell about our weekend in PA. Pics to post, too. But that will have to wait for a day or two.

And, I GET A DO OVER on my Birthday / Mother's Day weekend.

Burn baby burn

I got a feverish kid. This has been him all morning. (See pic) He's not cranky, just lethargic and refuses medication. Surprise, surprise.  He did not sleep well. I did not sleep well. Em and Daddy slept just fine. (I am slightly jealous.)  We will see if the fever breaks this evening before deciding whether a trip to the pediatrician is in order. Fingers crossed it's just a 24 hour thing...

I slept like doggy doo doo.

ha ha's for the day

What an interesting day... Is that giant moon from last Saturday still lingering about?

Let me back track: We've been able to get outside and enjoy some sunshine between the clouds the past few afternoons. Yesterday I witnessed a classic Ben scenario-of-awesomeness with our favorite building 5  mate Henry's Mom.

Picture the scene: Ben was in classic theatrical pose - one hand inside his pants hanging out with his favorite friend while singing at the top of his lungs the theme song from Peep and the Big Wide World. After the song was done we all applauded loudly and offered tons of praise at his singing prowess. Henry's Mom even went so far as to say, "Ben, that was awesome! High five!" Ben - in his awesomeness - removed his hand from his pants and offered it to Henry's Mom in high five goodness. Henry's Mom, not missing a beat, decided to pat Ben on the head instead. :)

THEN, today - Daddy's busy schedule and my busy schedule left a 45 minute window of childcare need - Henry's Mom to the rescue!! I adore this gal so much not because she was taking advantage of a break in the clouds and running all the kids around outside, but because as I was pulling into a parking spot I read her lips talking to Benjamin and saw her hand gestures which basically said / read, "Ben, hands up!" Ben immediately removed his hand from his goods and ran over to join the other kiddos. It's not every pal who is confident enough in their skills to tell their friend's child "hands up" when warranted! :)

The second best part of the whole 45 minutes of childcare need was this: I came home and BOTH OF MY CHILDREN REACTED UNHAPPILY. Once Emma realized I was home way sooner than she was expecting, she burst into tears because she was having too much fun with Henry and Ella (who H's Mom was also happily hanging out with). She was distraught thinking I was going to make her be done with the crew and retreat to the Penthouse! Ben, too, upon spotting me sooner than expected said, "Mom! Get in Dad's car! Go to office!" (Daddy and I had swapped cars for the day.) And, by the way, he said that at least 3 times in 30 seconds.

This all leads me to believe that my children are bored with me. Emma is definitely ready for all day Kindergarden and Benny is ready for some pre-school. My work here is done!

Okay, so maybe not done because this is how the evening turned out:  I went back into the field tonight to help a family, Daddy happily stayed home to be Mr. Mom.  At about 6:45 I received a text that said, "FYI, Milk makes the back of Emma's teeth hurt. She wants it to stay morning all day. She really hates Tuesday. She is never going to get what she wants. Cry snort cry." He then described her tantrum on the living room floor as Ben relaxed watching our favorite KidsTV123 on youtube. (AWESOME kids songs/videos for all you parents out there - our kiddos love love love the relaxing music and sing the educational songs all day long!). 

Let me translate: Emma is not a fan of milk. Because she eats a tons of dairy in the form of cheese and cottage cheese I only ask she drinks a glass at lunch and at dinner. Dinner is the battle. The "I wish is was morning all day" is a super smartness reference to the fact that she gets to drink juice for breakfast!

Sleeeeeeeep

Every once in a while one of the babes has insomnia which means Mommy doesn't get to sleep either. Yesterday that babe was Ben. Lack of Mommy sleep results in a lethargic Mommy, especially in the kitchen. Ben woke at 3 am Saturday morning to pee. After flushing I said to him, "Back to bed kiddo, it's still night night time." He raced back to bed and snuggled in, I turned on the turtle constellation nightlight that lasts for 45 minutes before auto kicking off and I moseyed back to bed.

But sleep did not come. To me or Ben. 45 minutes later I heard his bedroom door open, "Mom! The turtle turned off!" he shouted. I got out of bed and went into his room, turned the turtle back on, snuggled him in once again, and said, "Go to sleep, buddy, it's still night night time."

10 minutes later I hear his door open again, "Mom! Can you find Annie and Clarabel?" "Benjamin, it's 4:00 in the morning, you do not need your trains." "Please, Mom?? Can you find 'em?? Can you find Annie and Clarabel??" his voice getting more and more desperate.  Not wanting him to wake Sleeping Beauty, I gave in to his requests, found his beloved coaches, got him back into bed, reset the stupid turtle that really should have a plug in feature so the auto timer does not feel the need to conserve batteries and shut off after 45 minutes and crawled into his bunk with him to ensure he stays quietly in bed and falls back to sleep.

NOPE.

2 FREAKING TURTLE RESETS LATER I gave up, allowed Ben to go play in the living room with the ipad and I crawled back into my bed. It was 5:45 at this point and knowing my alarm was set for 7:00 my brain would not let me sleep. I went into the office Saturday morning like I usually am very excited to do not very excited. This Mama is challenged to function on just 3 1/2 hours of sleep. Running on nothing but fumes I somehow whipped out my best training ever - there is something to be said for delirium - picked up the kids at 12:30 and hit the Wendy's drive through for lunch at Emma's request (she always seems to know when I am weakest and likely to give in to fast food!).

Em got her Wendy's usual, a Junior Bacon Cheeseburger, and Ben requested his usual, a 5 piece chicken nuggets. I was so tired by that time that I actually ordered myself a junior bacon cheeseburger for the first time in over a year and ate it up in about 5 seconds loving every minute of it and not feeling guilty at all! It gave me the energy I needed to drive the 7 minutes safely home - Ben didn't fare so well. 2 nuggets down and he was zonked. I carried him up the steps to the penthouse where he slept until 4:30 when I sent Daddy in to rouse him so we could go out for dinner. (Daddy also knows when I am weak and likely to give in to spending money going out for dinner...)

So my kitchen went unused for lunch and dinner, but I still ran the dishwasher last night even though it only had sippy cups in it. I WAS TIRED, OK? (Actually I put stuff in it to fill it that could always use a wash - the dog bowl, the stove burner grates, the juicer parts that I usually wash by hand because they take up too much space in the dishwasher...)

This morning we fared slightly better... Ben didn't fall asleep until well after 8:00 last night but he slept until 5:30. Which means Mommy, too, was awake and able to give you all some Sunday morning reading. Ben the Rooster.

Candyland

This is the game I remember playing most in my youth. I made sure when we bought one for Emma that we got the classic version (even though the modern versions have cool features). We played tonight and it took ages to finish a game because we kept drawing cards that sent us way back. We went through the deck of cards almost twice before I pulled out the win! I am pleased to report Em took the defeat with grace and style and had patience throughout the long race. When the game was finished she suggested we play again, this time not using the cards and just racing so that she could win. :)

Pic of the day

We often walk into the living room to find Ben upside down in the corner of the comfy couch. He loves to watch his shows on tv this way and it cracks us up. If anyone feels like donating to the young Olympiads fund (3 y.o. group) Ben would gladly take your sponsorship. The kid is a nut for all things sommersaulty, not to mention balance beamy, and anything tumbly to be honest!!!

Still raining out...

It is official. Both of my children now know how to use the DVD player - I'm talking: change the TV input, load the movie, press play, bypass fast play - all the jazz to get to the root menu.  I am sitting here doing office work from my bed and all of the sudden I realize the movie we got from the library has been my soundtrack for the last 10 minutes. When I inquired how that happened without my permission, Emma replied, "Benny did it!"

Listening to the sounds of the Rain

When posting pics to the blog from my phone, sometimes I cannot figure out how to insert text that I want to write to accompany the pictures. SO, scroll down and look at the pictures of Ben and his puzzles and then scroll back up and read what I am going to post.

Do it... I'm WAITING!

Awesome. First of all, how cute is this kid. Looks EXACTLY like his Daddy when his Daddy was this age. Turns out I am madly in love with his Daddy even after all these years (only 6 years - can you believe it?? I cannot remember a time in my life when he wasn't around!) - so no wonder twin boy look alike kid rules my heart.

We had the best morning (AFTER the part where he tantrummed inconsolably for 20 minutes because I made him wear the grey rain jacket verses his beloved yellow jacket when we drove big sister to preK. He was so ridiculously upset and defiant, that i couldn't remove him from the minivan while I walked her to the door of the school 25 feet away and was forced to leave him screaming at the top of his lungs for all the parents to hear in the van with the side door open... le sigh...), upon returning home he decided today was "puzzle day" and he had such a blast putting together his 4 pack of Thomas puzzles all by himself.  I simply sat on the couch with him and watched him build (from the center outwards!!) each puzzle. Whenever he came to the last piece of each puzzle he announced triumphantly, "I DID IT!" It was awesome, and we celebrated each win with a super happy dance and snuggle session - my most certain favorite way to spend a rainy morning.

This afternoon I was out and about helping a family save some $, and it was Mr Mom to the rescue. I came home at 5:00 to a yummy cooked dinner, children already bathed, and a laundry basket filled with wet muddy clothes... Seems as though Daddy let the kids play in the rainy muddy aftermath of this morning's "weather". Go Daddy! :)

Rainy morning

Puzzle 1 of 4 in the set. So proud of himself!!

I LOVE LOVE LOVE that he builds a puzzle from the center outwards!