Wicked

We truly enjoyed our weekend in the city with our BFFs. We had 2:00pm tickets to see Wicked on Saturday so hightailed it out of the office at noon, grabbed some slices of pizza at the Italian joint across the street, and blessedly hit no traffic on our drive into NYC. We parked, dropped our bags at the hotel which was right around the corner from the theatre (total score from hotels.com) and had a quick pee before heading to the theatre. Emma was VERY impressed with the hotel's public restrooms, "Mom, this place is fancy. They have HOT WATER from their sinks!" Not sure where that came from as we haven't traveled to a third world country in a while...

Ben hasn't been feeling well - that darn dry cough has returned and we were worried he was going to hack his way through the show. We figured if he was disturbing the audience we would tag team taking him out into the back hall. Gratefully he did GREAT! Only a few hacks here and there. It turned out the biggest thing we had to worry about was the children singing along OUT LOUD with the performers while the show was happening. We had to remind them to sing along in their HEADS!

After the show, we headed over to McHale's Irish pub for dinner. It was a delicious blast! But the coughs decided to come back and you could tell Ben was absolutely miserable - didn't even take one bite of his $13 kid's meal... We decided fresh air would do him good and enticed him with the idea of a stop at the GIANT lego store at Rockefeller Center. It worked! He walked the 20 or so minutes with a skip in his step. The dads and the sons hit the lego store while the moms and the girls went into the American Girl Store so Anna could use her gift card. Now, Emma has NEVER been one to play with dolls so every time she has asked for an AG doll I have skirted it as they cost a lot of money and the accessories are ridiculous. She begged me the entire time we were there to buy her something. I help strong reminding her we just went to Disney & Legoland & saw Wicked which adds up to more than I have spent in years on Christmas! She then reminded me that Santa Clause gave me money for the tickets - that is what he said in his letter! Stupid Santa Clause... I still held strong and we escaped the store without a purchase - but I did have to text Daddy and MAKE SURE he didn't buy Ben any Legos of WW3 would have started for sure.

From the stores we realized the kids needed a little Jesus in their hearts and popped into St Patrick's Cathedral. It's the 1st time we have been in since the reconstruction has finished and it was awe inspiring to see it without scaffolding. The kids even lit candles for the two daddy's of our friends who passed away this Fall unexpectedly (Emma's idea). It was a sweet moment.

Ben declared to the entire cathedral he was exhausted and READY TO GO BACK TO THE HOTEL, so we pit stopped here first - the tree at Rockefeller Square. It was actually SMALLER than I expected it to be - even though it was huge! (I'm not sure what I had in mind, possibly something as big as the Empire State Bldg?) Posing with our pals in front of the tree!

Daddy offered to carry Ben back to the hotel. This lasted about two minutes before he was "scared". 

We said good night to our friends and made the long cold walk across town. It actually wasn't that far, but it was butt cold which made it seem far! We checked in and went to our room and was happily surprised our window from the 22nd floor had a view of Times Square!

As tired as the kiddos were, they could not sleep. Luckily I had my trusty pack of playing cards in my backpack. We snuggled into one of the beds and played some Black Jack! (If they are going to be awake, dammit, they are going to use their mad math skills!)

After BlackJack the kiddos spent a lot of time hanging in the window spying on the city below. It really was a great view!

They finally passed out around 11. So did I until 30 minutes later when Ben had a major coughing fit that turned into choking and puked all over his pillow. I guess I should be grateful he didn't touch that $13 kid's meal because it was all liquid, no chunks! ;)

We roused this morning around 9 am and slowly got ready to head downtown to Chinatown for some Dim Sum. There was no parking - we drove around for ages and finally settled for an over priced garage. The food was outrageously amazing, only one stinker dish - a "roll" filled with sweet bean paste - gross. We filled our tummies (Ben ate one time piece of Bacon that was wrapped around a shrimp) then headed back to Long Island and the realization that Winter break is over and it's time to focus on our new goals for the year!! This truly was a great goodbye to 2015 and the perfect welcome to 2016!

Countdown fun!

Our kiddos are loving reading the blog books of all their antics when they were little so I am going to try much harder to keep this journal going. So, HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

My pal arranged for 5 super FUN families to meet up for Rock'n Bowl from 5:30-8pm. (Then sadly she came down with the flu and had to stay home while we partied!) It was such a blast. We piled the kids into a few lanes, the adults into the other two lanes and enjoyed the "competition". Ben rocked the kid ramp and was an absolute physics stud using the bumper and angles to score big.

Emma has graduated to the traditional bowling stance and only had a few "lofts".

Sadly, I seem to have lost my super bowling skills. I haven't scored this poorly since I was a kid! Yes, I'm the B with 52 whole points...

Afterwards, we went over to the Potter family residence to continue the fun. Only one window was broken (and not by my kids!) and we made some great memories. The kids played "Man Hunt" all night - basically hide and seek, but with two seekers working as a team. The Moms & Dads hung out in the "carriage house" all night - it didn't have heat and I was freezing. My solution? Grab Ben's coat as he was playing inside the main house where it was warm and toasty. Don't I look like I belong on the cover of Vogue with the new Winter look for 2016?

We wanted to be home before the real ball drop to avoid the crazies on the road, so we did the King Julian 2016 netflix drop at 11 with the kids. If you haven't seen it, it's 3 wonderful minutes of fooling your kids and getting them into bed earlier. Except that by the time we got home, they were wired and able to tell time - so we watched the ball drop together at midnight. And by together, I mean Daddy, me and Emma because Ben was bawling in his room because he doesn't like change and wasn't ready to say goodbye to 2015!!! I do love our sensitive little man...

Vacation all I ever wanted...

Sing it! I need a vacation from this vacation.

Yesterday I had a dentist appointment at 10am. The kids had to come along with me as CPS looks down on leaving kids of this age home alone. They sat quietly in the lobby of the office while I was getting a cleaning. Yes, you read that correctly - they SAT QUIETLY in the lobby... Even the dentist commented on how good the children are. Not quite sure how we accomplished that but I rewarded their efforts with a lunch out with Daddy at Pasta Pasta where we had a gift card to burn. This is Emma behaving at the restaurant:

No sass here!

I needed to catch up on my office accounting so the kiddos may or may not have played on the ps4 for a solid two hours after lunch... is what it is!

We have been letting them stay up late this week knowing we are dance partying on New Year's Eve at our pals house and knowing we are saying in the city this weekend and I want them to be able to stay up late without getting cranky. That means they are sleeping in later (nice) and will possibly backfire on me next Monday when they go back to school. ;)

Both kids were up about 8:45 and dove into their crafts from Santa without a peep, didn't even ask for breakfast! Ben is building a Solar System model and Emma is making jewelry with clay and charms. Good fun!

Adorable, right?

363 days til Christmas

I'm not much into religion but I am one of the most Spiritual people you will encounter. This paper by Ben made me smile today when I finally decided 5 days later to empty backpacks...

Simon has no doubt been the winning present of the Season. $500 PS4 vs $24 Simon. Go figure. ;)

I love the rare occasion I wake up before this delightful creature. He is the world's most peaceful little man. #miniGandhi

Ben received a Science Box-o-tricks from Santa Clause. Guess who could care less and who reigns Science Supreme?  #miniMarieCurie

Technology rocked my Christmas world, too! This device is life changing! It even goes around rounded corners without flinching! Such suction! From carpet to hard wood without flinching!

Daddy rocked his gift as ChefDaddy tonight - a 16 inch cast iron skillet (no handle so it fits into our TINY oven)!!! I pretty much licked the pan clean...

I'm not sure what Santa was thinking, but he got Emma hair chalk for Christmas. Super cool. Super...ummm...pain in the butt?? She loves it... the pillow cases, not so much!

A rare PS4 moment. Honestly, they have no idea what they are doing. Daddy is in the basement building homemade shelves for Emma's room. They are begging me to teach them how to PS4 but I truly have NO IDEA or any desire to learn... Thank God the kids go bak to school tomorrow!!!

Oh, wait. Crap.

Happy Christmas 2015

Me happy. Woke up in my own home to 60 degree temps. Have enjoyed GOOD kids (mostly) all day...

Now on the couch wondering if 7:30pm is too early to go to bed....?

Daddy woke up first and scored sunris pics!!!

Before they tore into the gifts!!

Santa got us WICKED tickets!!!!

We are HAPPY!

Can you tell? Science project!!

Hungry? Standing rib roast. Yummmmm. 

Playing outside. 60 degrees. We LOVE you!

Simon is a total winner!!!

Don't Mess with my Boy

Do you ever wonder why I volunteer so much of my time to the PTA? Days like today will help you understand.

Because of my PTA executive role the past four years, I have become close to our school principal. I am confident that any request I make of him that is reasonable, will be granted. I am also - especially after today - confident that this man has my back...

Ben's sweet teacher has been out for the past two days with a horrible sinus infection. Think steroids, antibiotics, nebulizer badness. The class has had a sub who I have never heard of - mostly because I never get any DETAILS from my kiddos about their day at school (lesson here: MOM, ask MORE questions daily!) - but also because I didn't recognize her name as one of the "regulars".

Last night as I was cleaning out backpacks, I noticed Ben hadn't touched his snack. As you know, the kid is not much of an eater, so while I queried him on it, I didn't delve into why he didn't even touch it (verses only eat a couple of bites...). He simply offered up, "It's because of Sean!" Sadly I dismissed that as a Benism when indeed it was a cry for help. (Mother of the year?)

This morning while setting up for the the PTA's teacher & staff appreciation luncheon, I received a phone call from the parent of another boy in the class that we have had frequent play dates with. The mom said her son came home from school yesterday saying he was sad because his friend, Ben, was being bullied (mama bear starting to growl...) and ultimately got in trouble with the substitute teacher over a "misbehavior" that was NOT AT ALL Ben's fault but the fault of the bully which resulted in the Sub punishing Ben by NOT LETTING HIM EAT SNACK. (Mama bear claws being sharpened on a rock...)

I emailed his teacher thinking she would get the email Monday upon her return, but she was checking her email from home and was absolutely HORRIFIED that Ben was not allowed his snack and said she would confront the bullying situation Monday when she returned.

Our amazeballs (yes, amazeballs) principal somehow got wind of what happened (our school guidance counselor's kid is in Ben's class - that's helpful!!!) and confronted the sub. She tried to bullsh*t him saying she wouldn't let Ben have his snack (rainbow goldfish) because it wasn't peanut / treenut free and there is a kid with a deadly allergy in his class. Obviously the sub did not know who's kid she messed with (PTA mob boss) and our principal shut her down and made it very clear you CANNOT deny a child food!

Long story longer, this sub will never be welcomed back to our school. (I could sue. I won't.) The principal pulled Ben aside at recess and had a good talk with him letting Ben know that if he EVER feels he is being treated unfairly, Ben can go to the principal and talk. Ben's teacher is now aware to keep her eye on bully boy and to never EVER get sick again. ;)

Here's where is gets fun and mama bear relaxed... Both kiddos had play dates after school so I didn't have to cook a nutritious dinner (!) and daddy brought home Chinese food. Ben, who had already eaten dinner at his pal's house, wanted a fortune cookie. The picture below was his fortune! OUR PRINCIPAL WILL MAKE SURE OF THIS! :)

What's a telephone?

I got the dreaded call for the 2nd time this week from the school nurse. Ben was back in her office, this time with a deep gnarley cough that was disrupting the class. They are not allowed to administer meds anymore and I was 30 minutes away at the office. I asked the nurse what she could do and she said they can give him water, let him relax, then send him back to class. I agreed that was a great solution. She asked me if I wanted to talk to Ben. I said, "Sure!"

There was a long pause as she handed the phone to him before he spoke and I could hear her instructing him on HOW TO USE A PHONE. 

You see, we haven't had a home phone line in over 8 years. My kids have never used a landline. They only know cell phones and then we use them on speaker so they don't have to hold them up to their ears!

Ben truly had no clue how to use the landline. Afterwards I explained that to the nurse and she (at about age 70) got a good laugh as she had never encountered a kid who didn't know how to use a phone. #firstworldproblems

Flying high

Once again my babies-no-more amazed me with their stellar travel skills. These kids were total studs on the drive to JFK, shuttle bus from parking to airport, thru the long lines of TSA, boarding the plane and the 5 1/2 hour flight. No complaints - all goodness! 

Daddy woke Ben up at 6am, and Ben squeeled, "It's Sunday!!!!" He had been waiting forever for the day to come. We got in the car and headed down the road and he asked, "Can we listen to some pop music??" (Never has he referred to the radio as pop music - hahaha!!)

We landed at LAX and headed north for a quick pit stop at the Hollywood sign, "I can't wait to tell all my friends I saw it!!!!" Then a visit with Uncle Raul & Aunt Laurie at Auntie Cole's house. It was their 1st time meeting Rylan and they all played so well together. 

We headed South to our hotel in San Clemente around 6. The kids were starting to get cranky - factor in the time change and they had been awake since 3am. Ben crashed immediately and was up at 4am Monday. Emma wasn't far behind him. So we got some bagels and headed to the San Clemente Beach and let them splash around for a bit before heading to LEGOLAND. 

Pillow no more

And Hello again. We need to talk about my pillow. It goes deeper than pillows really, as my crackpot mom therapist thinks... I don't really like change. Transitions are tough - but I AM getting better...

But back to my pillow. Years ago mom bought our entire family new pillows from the home shopping network. The dude selling them swore they were God's next greatest gift to human kind and even reduced the price drastically if you purchased more than three. SCORE!

We all used those pillows for a year or so. Then Mom got suckered in (but not really) by the BJs dude impulse selling bampoo pillows two pack.  Mom LOVES her bamboo pillow, Dad hated it. So he impulse bought the "my pillow" and really loves it. Emma inherited the bamboo pillow, but I still used the good ole HSN pillow. 

To make a long story longer... I get bloody noses every once in a while. My HSN pillow was getting pretty stained. Three nights ago I had a killer bloody nose and mom THREW INTO THE TRASH MY HSN PILLOW because she said it could not be saved. (She LIED! What really happened was I got a bloody nose at 4am. I woke her up. She told me to relax in her bed spot while she grabbed a towel to clean me up. While wiping off my face, I FELL BACK TO SLEEP, leaving mom with no other place to sleep but my bed. 

You still with me?

Mom then TRIED to sleep in my bed but my old HSN pillow is flat as a pancake and covered in blood so she decided WITHOUT ASKING ME to trash it and kindly, so she thought, bought me a new pillow. Cool, right?

NO! I don't like change!!!! Remember??

For the past two days I have gotten off the bus SAD. Mom worries there is a bully bugging me or something. Really, I just MISS my flat bloody old HSN pillow. 

Once mom figured that out, she looked for a solution. She realized she may still have an outcast HSN pillow on the spare bed. I raced up the stairs to find it. SHE WAS RIGHT!!! I am so happy. Even though the new pillow she bought was AWESOME, it doesn't matter, I don't. Like. Change. 

Wanna see how said I was? 

Sunset

We had one of those beyond gorgeous - in the middle of dinner - what the heck is going on outside with the sky moments last week. Turns out the Sunset was reminding us that Mother Earth is thriving!  The purples and pinks and oranges were mind blowing. 

I snapped this great shot which my God/fearing pal manipulated. Giggle. 

You think this is about SUSHI???

Name that movie!!

Hey, look at my finger! No, it's not a boo-boo. They are tiny fish eggs and I ate them up when I was out for sushi with my family. I am trying to get better at trying new foods. Mom and Dad were very proud of me. I ate a ton of Sasimi Fry Chicken, too. I must be feeling better. I had a gnarly chest cold w cough all weekend. Mom boiled up some fresh oregano for 5 minutes, removed the oregano, added honey and let the tea cool. Dad then spent 30 minutes forcing me to drink it. It actually tastes good, I was just being a toad. The next day my cough was gone!! Nature's medicine truly is best. I should listen to Mom more often. 

Split!

Look at me! I can almost do a full split!! My friend, Anna, and I practice all the time. We are amazing at karate. Strong and confident and focused. I need to work on that mindset in my own home still. But I am only 8...