A Proud Wife

On Saturday, December 18, 2010, I had one of the most fun mornings of my life! Now I have had some great experiences, as a child, woman, person, wife, and a mom. This one is on the top of my list right now.

Back in October, after my girls and I ran the Half-Marathon in B'more, my super duper amazing husband gave me tons of accolades! To which I was most grateful! He then became inspired, YIKES! So he decided to run a 5 miler with myself and Kelly in December. He started running about 6 weeks before the race. The race was in Baltimore and Maureen and Wade said they would watch the kids for us. So on this particular Saturday in December, under a sunny (about 30 degree) sky in Druid Hill Park we ran together in the Celtic Solstice 5 mile race. It was so awesome, I can't even explain it. I was so proud of him! He ran the whole time without slowing or stopping, for 51.45 minutes! That's about 10 minute miles (because the course was 5.14 miles long).

By far, the best part... we came around the loop on the lake and there standing in the wind and cold were our 2 beautiful kids, Aidan and Clare. Maureen and Wade and Ellie brought them down to cheer us on. When we hit that turn (which was about .2 miles from the finish) and saw those two standing there cheering us on, words can't even describe how incredible it was! I feel like I won't ever be able to tell them how much it meant that they did that for us.

Another great day in my life!

A Silent Night

On Christmas Eve, after all the Santa madness subsided, Sean and I actually got a chance to spend (some much needed) time together. The kids went to bed and we sat on the couch with Christmas music playing and talked for awhile, in peace and quiet. Nothing serious, but a chance for us to steal a few moments alone enjoying our own Christmas moment, uninterupted. To me, that was my best Christmas gift!

Merry Christmas Sean, my original favorite person in the whole world, Love you!

This Christmas....

Santa has arrived! And boy, oh boy, we must have been good this year.

Sean and I got an iPad and it's pretty cool. Aidan got a bunch of star wars stuff, including the highly coveted AT-AT Walker. This thing is AWESOME, it's bigger than Saddie. Clare got a camera, barbie, and a fully stocked art table, needless to say, she's been painting since 7:00 this morning! All in all a great day so far.

Oh and did I mention it's snowing! YEAH! It can't get any better than this.

Who knew?

This Christmas we have been talking a lot about the true reason for the season. The kids know all about the first Christmas, the night Baby Jesus was born. They have made art projects at preschool depicting that night, sang songs and read tons of books. They know that Jesus was born in the town of Bethlehem, in a stable and placed in a manger. His Mom (Mary) and Dad (Joseph) were there, along with the Shepherds and their sheep. They know about the 3 wisemen who followed a star to find Him. Good little Catholics, aren't they!

Now, last Christmas I bought them each a little nativity scene for their rooms. (Actually, they keep them on their nightstands all year.) Just the basic little stable, Jesus in a manger, Mary and Joseph, the Shepherd, a sheep and a donkey. Today while I was dusting in Aidan's room I noticed he made two additions to his nativity scene, a little dinosaur and an army guy kneeling down with a bazooka on his shoulder. Maybe they were omitted from the historical account of Jesus' birth.... who knew?!

Sunday Surprise

Today Sean had to work so the kids and I were going to clean the house and run some errands. It was a a rainy, gloomy Sunday so I kept all the Christmas lights on all day just to have something pretty and sparkly to look at. We decided that we'd go out for pizza before we ran our errands. And to our surprise, Momo and Ellie decided to drive down here to meet us for pizza.

Now in my mind there's nothing better than eating at a pizza place and ordering a whole pie that they bring to your table on a big round silver pan with a spatula. Oh and of course, a side of fries! When we were driving there, Aidan asked, "Mom, can we get the big pizza that they bring to the table on the silver circle thing?" My response, "YES!" And it was YUMMO!!!

When we finished eating I ran into the grocery store and Momo took the kids out to her car so they could get another surprise.... pillow pets from Clairey and Uncle Matt. They were so happy that they finally got a pillow pet.

What a great day! I mean it is the Most Wonderful Time of the Year right?! What better way to spend a rainy Sunday than to fill it with surprises.

Ninja Turtles meet Strawberry Shortcake

Tonight while I was cleaning the house up after dinner, I could hear the kids come running down from Clare's room. They were talking a mile a minute about how they would play with the Strawberry Shortcake dolls. They were going to go shopping. They got all of Strawberry's clothes and shoes and got the Barbie house. They decided they needed another house for them, the Ninja Turtle Lair too. Aidan got the turtles and the battle wagon too.

They set it all up in the living room and were playing together. (It was precious!) I can overhear them from the kitchen. Aidan was loading all the turtles into the battle wagon and said, "The turtles are going to Target to buy pizza for the girls. We're going to bring it back to Strawberry's house for dinner."

They had so much fun together and I had so much fun listening to them.

Santa Stop Here

Tonight after the bath, I got Aidan and Clare dressed in their jammies and put their socks, shoes and coats on. We jumped in the car and drove over to the new neighborhood, where we anxiously awaited the arrival of Santa. The fire truck pulled in a few minutes later. They jumped out of the car and ran right over to Santa. They were so excited I wished I had a camera to capture the looks of pure joy on each of their faces. They said hello, told him their names and what they wanted for Christmas. I love that it only takes 5 minutes to make their whole day and another wonderful holiday memory for me!

Christmas in NY

This past weekend we went up to NY for our McDonough Christmas. When I was telling the kids about our trip and that they were going to give and receive some Christmas gifts they were screaming with excitement! Aidan told me on Friday morning, "So today it's Christmas Eve!" (Well i guess it kind of was.)

When we arrived Saturday morning they got a bunch of awesome gifts from Nana and Papa. That evening we headed into town for the Christmas Tree lighting and to greet Santa as he drove in on the fire truck. Then back to the house for a fun-filled night with the whole family. All in all this Christmas season started off with a BANG! I bet the rest of the month will be just as fun.

New Look

I have to give a shout out to my personal Art Director... Thanks to my super crafty, super talented, super artsy Twin Sis for the totally cool new header I have on my blog!

You ROCK Maureen!!!

The Nightmare continues

Today was the day! Aidan and I went to the NEW dentist (who I absolutely LOVE) to get his tooth pulled. The plan was to do an awake sedation and pull the tooth, measure for the spacer and on the tooth next to it, do a pulpotomy and place a stainless steel crown on it.

We got there at 8:45 to administer the meds and wait for them to kick in. He bumped the cup and spilled some of the sedative on the counter so the Dentist wasn't sure how much he'd gotten. We got in and he was a little woozy, they put on the laughing gas and gave him 2 hits of Novocaine. Even with all that, he could still feel them pull the tooth. Since that was the case, we decided to wait in the rest. He really was a champ though. I'm so proud of him!

Next stop, the Operating Room for the rest of the work. Updates to follow.

You're so vain!

Tuesday night at dinner, Clare was bouncing all over the place and would not sit still. After several reminders to sit and eat, Sean finally raised his voice and said, "CLARE knees or bum!" As he's talking she's staring in the window primping her hair and totally ignoring him! We both busted out laughing.

Isn't she only 3!

Thanksgiving

This year we hosted Thanksgiving at our house. In lieu of us travelling to NY (because it's our year) Mom and Dad and Mick traveled south instead. The Hughes' came down too. It was a cloudy, chilly November day this year, perfect Thanksgiving weather, in my opinion.

It was such a great day. Everyone just hung out, snoozed on the couch, watched football, stood around the kitchen cooking and talking, all the while the kids ran circles around the house. PERFECT! Exactly how I hoped it would be. Sean and Wade deep fried a turkey breast and we had a traditional bird as well. We laughed at dinner about old stories and old traditions we're glad have been broken. And Sean made us all say what we were thankful for.

"Have you any more?" WHAT?

Last weekend we went down to VA to Sean's cousins house to a party because he just got a huge promotion in the Marines.

We got the hotel and the kids were so excited to spend the night there. They had a pool in the hotel so they went swimming for an hour then we headed to Jeff's house for the party, which was great. They ran around all night long with all their cousins. They played the Wii, flashlight tag and watched Avatar the movie.

We got back to the hotel at 10 and all passed out. Sunday morning we had breakfast and got on the road. Clare was singing to us on the way home.

"BAA BAA BLACK SHEEP HAVE YOU ANY MORE? YES SIR, YES SIR, 3 BAGS FULL."

Me: "No, Clare it's HAVE YOU ANY WOOL?" So I explained to her why it's wool and how they shave the sheep. She continued to sing it that way.

Aidan says, "I think that song is making her crazy in the head!"

We all agreed! Ha Ha! Never a dull moment in this Healey house!

What a NIGHTMARE!

Today Aidan was supposed to have a root canal. He complained on Halloween night that his tooth hurt so we stopped the insane intake of candy, threw out the remains and called the dentist on Monday morning.

He had an infection and a huge cavity and had to have a root canal. Today we went in to have the procedure done. Aidan was a little squirmy but complained the whole time that he was in pain! I knew there was something wrong because he really doesn't get too worked up about that kind of stuff. He's had several cavities filled already, and had no problem with those.

The dentist got halfway through the procedure and said, "I can't work on him anymore and said I need to refer him to a pediatric dentist." So I got the number and called. Luckily they got us in this afternoon. We got through the first appointment and he has 8 cavities and the dentist there wants him to go to the OR and get all of it done at once and pull the bad tooth. Aidan was a champ and said he "LOVES this dentist!" So we're going through with it! Sean and I just want him to not be scared of the dentist and also have good teeth as an adult!

Fashion 911

Last Saturday as we're pretty much walking out the door to Ballerina School I grab a baseball cap and throw it on. Here is the conversation I had with my 3 year old daughter:

Clare: "Why do you have that hat on Mommy?"

Me: "Because my hair is crazy Clare."

Her face now stricken with panic!

Clare: "Are you going to take it off before you bring me into my Ballerina School?"

Me: "Um, NO! My hair looks crazy right now so I need it"

Clare: "Well none of the other Mommies at my Ballerina School wear hats like that."

Me: "Well Bug, do I look like all the other Mommies in your Ballerina School?"

On that note we pretty much agreed and she ran to the door to leave.

*NOTE* The hat was a "Life is Good" hat with a pink heart on the front.... come on it is her favorite color. That should earn me some kind of brownie points!

What rhymes with Saddie and Ms. Katie?

HAITI!

That's where Sean was for 10 (actually) 11 straight days to make a documentary! Needless to say I weathered the storm sans my partner in crime. He left on a Tuesday morning at 2:45. When the kids were going to bed the night before, we talked about where Daddy was going and what he'd be doing once he got there. "He's going to Haiti," I tell them. Clare says, "That rhymes with Saddie" and Aidan says, "Yeah and Ms. Katie."

I explained to Aidan (4) and Clare (3) as much as I could that there was an earthquake (which is when the earth shakes alot - as I shook my body around the room) and that some people had no place to live now because their houses got knocked down. (But don't worry because we don't have earthquakes in MD so our house won't fall down.) Now Daddy has to go there with a group of people who collect a lot of money to help them build new houses- Catholic Relief Services. They were sad to see him go but were excited that on the day he got home was time for trick or treating.

So the first night Sean was gone we were driving home and Clare says, "How come Daddy went to Haiti to help people build houses?" Aidan responds (not missing a beat), "He didn't go to help them build houses, he went to make them a bideo so they aren't sad anymore." (of course my Mommy pride is busting out of my chest and I've got a tear in my eye- what a sweet little boy I'm thinking) and no sooner did that thought cross my mind, did he finish his comment with, "Ya whinker!" Which is Aidan's American version of the British whanker. UGH!

Well at least they were paying attention to our conversation the previous night and sort of understand the super cool thing their Dad just spent 11 days away from us doing.

WE DID IT!

A funny thing happened a little less than 5 months ago on Memorial Day weekend. We had a little cookout with the Hughes' and the Murphys. A couple of drinks in Kelly says to me, "Hey, I'm thinking about running the Half Marathon in Baltimore this fall. Want to do it with me? All you have to do is be able to run for 30 minutes straight before you start the training." Foolishly my response was, "Let me try see if I can run for 30 minutes straight first then I'll give you an answer."

Well, that Wednesday morning I got up at 5am and ran, for 30 minutes straight. So I emailed Kel and told her I'd do it. Now we just had to "get Maureen on board." Well it was actually easier than we thought! She agreed and we were off running- literally!

Our official training didn't start until the first week of August but we ran on and off all summer trying to psych ourselves up for the 10 week training schedule. Needless to say this was one of the hottest summers on record- and we trained in it. Some runs were good, some great and some terrible! Super humid, super hot does not make for good running weather- at least not for this girl. We tried to do a couple of long runs together, for support and peace of mind, we even ran a 15K a couple of weeks ago to get in the racing spirit.

Saturday, October 16, 2010 we DID it! We started around 10am by the time they got to our heat and Maureen finished in 2:15, Kel and I finished in 2:18. All in all it was pretty awesome! For the better part of the race I felt like someone was stomping on my feet and kicking me in the back. Today, my whole body HURTS! But the crowds of spectators and supporters were incredible in Baltimore. The course was very hilly and I struggled a bit from time to time but pretty much ran for the whole 2 hours and 18 minutes. It is a huge accomplishment for all 3 of us and I'm so glad we did it together!

Pool Party

Last Thursday we had a huge rainstorm. I mean torrential downpour for HOURS. The rain began overnight and by morning our sidewalk in the back was underwater and the pool was almost overflowing.

As I stood in the kitchen making a pot of coffee, staring out the window at the rain splashing in the pool I noticed something dart across the shallow end. I thought, "What the heck was that?" Saddie and I went outside to investigate. To my surprise, the local frogs and toads decided to host a pool party in my pool that morning. There was about a dozen of them swimming around in there. Well, in case you didn't know, if these guys are left to fend for themselves (with no way to get out) they will be totally bloated with water and floating on their backs in no time.

So the kids and I began our rescue efforts. Aidan was the scout, his job was to locate them and NOT scare the away before I could scoop them up with the net. Clare's job was to get the little kick boards we have and put them in the pool. In the event that we missed one, he could jump up on there and float around safely until we returned home to rescue him. We all had to make sure that Saddie didn't scare them after we got them out. All in all a total victory. We were able to remove every frog/toad from the pool and up to the grass to safety.

I did learn something from Aidan that morning. I was not aware of the difference between frogs and toads. Aidan did a lesson in his class last year about the differences. So when we pulled this big, fat, ugly one out first he told me it was a toad. He kept an eye on him the whole time and when we were packing it up to get inside he told me the toad was making a sound. When I stopped to "listen" he informed me that he makes that sound "because he's calling a girl." HA HA! When I asked his teacher from last year about it she laughed and said, "Yup, we told them that they make this sound when they want to find a girlfriend or boyfriend." Too funny! So he doesn't know his letters or numbers yet but he knows a toads mating call.

PS: Aidan asked if he could jump in the pool to swim with the frogs. I actually contemplated it for a minute but then decided against it because we were running late for work as it was!

Front Yard Party

On Sundays in the Fall we have every TV in the house tuned into FOOTBALL! So in order to keep the troops busy this weekend I pulled a few tricks out of my hat.

First, the kids and I walked down to Sam's Market for an ice cream cone. Then I pulled the cars out of the driveway so we could ride bikes out there. (Since we live on a pretty busy street we don't get to do much bike riding in our neighborhood.) While we were out there Aidan and Clare decided to climb the trees too.

It was a great Fall day as I watched the kids play around the yard and driveway and listened to Sean and his Dad yell at the Redskins!

Ballerina school

Today was Clare's first day of Ballerina School. Although she gave me a hard time before we left to go there she was very excited with the outcome of her first hour long class. We purchased her ballerina shoes and tap shoes today. (We're waiting for the tap shoes to arrive til next week.) She dressed herself in her black leotard and her pink tights and I did her pony tail. When we got there she was sized for shoes and one of the nice ladies walked her back to her class. We left her there for an hour and when we got back she was a little shy but super excited about it. Today's class, she learned how to be an ice cube, how to tip-toe around in a circle and how to sit like a butterfly. It's all coming out in pieces, as she decides when she's ready to share it, but all in all it seems like Ballerina School was the right choice for our little ballerina!

9/11

This morning as I pulled out of my driveway and down the street, I noticed that my neighbor had lined his half acre of property along the street with little American Flags. It brought tears to my eyes. I got on the internet and saw some pictures of that day 9 years ago and cried to myself (luckily my 2 precious babies were not paying attention to me).

I pray and hope that all people in the USA are as sorrowful, respectful, hopeful and remembering of what happened 9 years ago today all over this wonderful country of ours. One day I'll be brave enough to share my experience of what happened 9 years ago today to my family. In the meantime, I hope and pray that my children will never have to experience this type of hatred in their lives.

God Bless America...NOW and always!

Where's the BEEF?

We recently purchased a half a cow along with my in-laws. It's been fully butchered and is all sitting in a deep freeze in the basement at the Daycare Center. I finally got down there this afternoon to look at all the meats and it looks GREAT! They had some burgers made from the ground beef this weekend and said it was yummy. Evidently, sometimes when you butcher a cow they get anxious when going to slaughter and that can make the adrenaline stay in the muscle tissue afterwards, making the meat taste not so good. So it sounds like we lucked out. YUMMO!

Labor Day

Yesterday we had the Murphy's and Hughes' over for the final hoorah at Club Healey for the summer! Crabs, body painting, ice cream pie, swimming and tons of laughs!

Canning

This summer I learned how to CAN! It's something I've wanted to learn to do for a couple of years now. For my birthday this year Toni gave me a canning kit and Patra gave me a case of the jars. You see, I have trouble finding a store bought tomato sauce that I really like so I end up buying canned tomatoes and making my own sauce. A couple of years ago Sean and I made the "Sopranos Sunday Gravy" from a Sopranos cookbook we borrowed from our friend Jen. Let me tell you it was DELICIOUS! After we made it I thought that I'd love to have jars of that sauce in my pantry. And now I can!

Toni is the one who gave me the lesson on how to can tomatoes. She got a whole crate of tomatoes from the farm we belong to. One Saturday morning, Clare and I went down to her house and got to work. First we had to wash the tomatoes, then bake them in the oven til the skins start to split, and then peel the skins off. At that point we cooked some down on the stove top and some of the others we just canned right out of the oven. Then, put them in boiling water for like 40 minutes and the tops seal. Ta Da! Jars full of yummy tomatoes ready to be made into delicious sauces over the winter.

It seems like a bit of a lost art to me. As we were canning, Toni and I were talking about how people used to do this all the time and how much they would have had to can in order to make it through the winter months. Amazing! We are so spoiled with the technology and conveniences we have available to us.

We're not out of the woods yet!

Yesterday, our lil Saddie girl had her surgery. The stone (calcium deposit) was removed successfully and she was a champ! She came out of the anesthesia well and Sean picked her up at 4:00, only to be told a laundry list of instructions before he left.

Apparently, the surgery was the easy part! For the next 14 days Saddie has to stay in a crate unless she's "closely monitored in a small confined space". She has to be leash walked for "elimination" and she got a whole bunch of pills to take between. She can't walk up or down stairs, can't run and can't get too excited otherwise she runs the risk of tearing the stitches in her bladder which would result in urine leaking into her body and eventually.. well, I'm not ready to talk about what could happen then!

So, it's a darn good thing Sean and I decided that we were good with 2 (human) kids because we've got to care for our first (dog) baby as if she were brand new again! It's going to be a long road to recovery but I know my girl will be just fine! She's getting more attention now than she's had for the last 5 years- and I'm sure she's LOVIN IT!

Sweet Saddie Dog

Currently there are a lot of things going on in our lives... kids starting new classes, Sean getting busier at work, Me getting busier at work, house on the market, and now my first baby is sick!

About 2 weeks ago I noticed that Saddie was peeing much more often than normal. I mean this is a dog who has a full bowl of water all the time because she drinks exclusively from the toilet. She's had several accidents in the house over the last few months (pee), but we just thought it was because we weren't taking her out enough later at night. Well, I finally (sorry ole girl) got around to calling the vet and Sean took her in last Tuesday. They did a culture and found a UTI. No biggie, just a long dose of antibiotics and she's cured. Well then they called me to say they want to send the culture out to the lab to be sure the meds they gave her are the right kind, but that will be another expense. "Are you in position to do that right now?" Well lady, this dog has been by my side when both my babies came home, no matter how moody I've been pregnant or post, and for all the stuff in between. Not to mention she's only 7 years old and she's got a heart murmur. So YES I'll make myself in a position to be able to afford that right now.

She seemed to be doing fine on the meds, until Saturday when Maureen was here and noticed blood in Saddie's urine when she was peeing in the yard. I called the vet back on Monday and they said bring her in Tuesday for an x-ray. Sean took her in and they found a rather large stone in her bladder. It's basically a calcium deposit that cannot be broken down with a simple diet change. MY POOR BABY! I had no idea, she seems totally herself. She's going in on Wednesday for surgery to have the stone removed. Man, I guess the stresses of being a Mom just keep coming!

4 going on 14

Last weekend Aidan had a birthday party for one of his best friends. He and this particular friend have been planning and plotting for months to have a playdate/sleepover/sneak out party. So when his Dad called and said they were having a birthday party and Aidan was invited I couldn't say no. That afternoon, literally 10 minutes before we were leaving, I checked my email for their address and found a new email from the boy's dad. It was an invite for Aidan to sleepover that night. Sean and I briefly talked about it, so I packed his bag and sleeping bag just in case. On the way there I talked to Aidan about it and he came to the conclusion that since I couldn't spend the night too that he wasn't ready yet. I just left it at that. Once we got to the party I barely saw Aidan. Lucky for me this boys parents are super cool, otherwise I would have been itchin to get out of there. About 2 hours after we got there I went in to check on him and he says to me, "I thought you said you were going to only stay for a couple of minutes?" (OUCH!) To that his friend replied, "Oh, I know Aidan you're spending the night tonight." Aidan quickly says, "Yeah, I'm spending the night." Oh Really?! I'm thinking. I ask if he's sure and he tells me YES! So I go talk to the Mom and she's cool with it. I tell her they can call me all night if need be. Well, as the title of the post says.... 4 going on 14! Our boy passed out, slept ALL night on his face and didn't even need to wear a pull up to bed. I, on the other hand, woke up every 1-2 hours after a dream about him. I don't think I'm going to make it through the real teen years! Sean and I were super proud of our big boy though!

"first" day of "school"

Although Aidan and Clare have not yet hit kindergarten they both had a big "first" day at "school" on Tuesday. You see, they both have been in the same preschool/daycare class for 1 1/2 - 2 years so Tuesday when the public schools went back they moved up to the next class in daycare. Now Aidan is a "BEAR" (4-5 year old class) and Clare is a "TIGER" (3-4 year old class). I was so proud of them for how well they adjusted, Clare much better than Aidan. (He's kind of a creature of habit.) I had to recruit Ms. Marilyn, who cared for him as an infant, to peel his butt out of my car. She was able to get him out of the car and down to the bus stop to Nana and his new teacher. From there I met him with a couple of his friends and once he got up to the classroom and discovered the legos and star wars guys he was SOLD! Clare.... well she just jumped right in! (That's my girl.)

On the way home last night, I asked both of them what they liked best about their new classes. Clare told me she loves to play in housekeeping in her new class and Aidan said his favorite part was that he only had to eat the beef and broccoli for lunch which he liked and got to be excused before he tried his potato. As you can see, it doesn't take much to make them happy.

Super Aunt saves the Storm Troopers

While in NY a few weeks ago, Aidan went over Kerry's house - one of his favorite places in the world. While he was there, his oldest cousin Mike was kind enough to give him a few Star Wars figures. That evening he began asking me when he could go back to Aunt Kerry's to get his storm troopers. I was completely clueless as to what he was talking about. Since our plan was to leave very early Monday morning, I told him we'd call Aunt Kerry and ask her to mail them to us. I called at like 6:45am and Tim answered, he too knew nothing about this transaction that took place the night before and Kerry was at the gym. About 10 minutes later as we sat in the gas station parking lot Kerry called me and said she'd bring the "guys" right up to us. Luckily for Aidan we were still in Amityville, although I'm not so sure she wouldn't have driven halfway across LI to get to him. Needless to say, Aidan got his storm troopers and Kerry gets to keep her title as Super Aunt. Mission accomplished!

A kiss, a squeeze and a chomp goodnight

The other night I was laying in Clare's bed with her at bedtime. We read a Barbie book and then began to say our goodnights:

Me: "Okay Bug, it's time to go to sleep. Give Mama a kiss." ~kiss~

Clare: ~ kiss ~ "Okay Mama, good night."

Clare: "Now a big squeeze!"

Me: ~ big squeeze ~

Clare: "Even MORE!" ~ big squeeze ~

Me: ~ bigger squeeze ~ "Even More!" ~ BIGGER SQUEEZE~

Then she lays on top of me and tells me I'm trapped and I can't leave her because she's got me. So we give each other a few eskimo kisses and I get up from the bed. As I lean over her bed to give her one more kiss I pulled my face back and pretended to chomp her with my teeth. Which backfired completely because she began to laugh hysterically just moments before I was expecting her to go to sleep. Good job Mommy!

America's favorite past time

Well folks, we are officially NATS fans in this house! We are all about DC! We've LOVED the Redskins - through thick and thin - and so we'll love the Nationals the same. Actually when I say we, I mean Sean. He's the avid sports fan in the house. (We are about to embark on anther year of fantasy football in a week or so...oui va) So almost every night, because evidently baseball teams don't get much of a break in-season, we have the Nationals game (deafeningly loud) on tv in the living room. He's happy when they win and pissed when they don't.

It's really starting to make me have to pay attention to it because it's the only thing on most of the time. And I'm not really the kind of girl who likes to admit that she likes sports. Truth be told, I actually like that Sean's into baseball because I do feel a stroke of nostalgia when I hear the bat crack against the ball, the little silly songs/cheers the fans do in the stadium and the same old announcer voice calling the plays. It reminds me of listening to games on the radio in an uncles garages, my fathers car, or at backyard bbqs growing up.

But I mean, come on does baseball have to overlap football? Come on people, can't a girl catch a break around here??? Ha ha!

a first DATE

Lately it seems that whenever Sean and I each take one kid on our weekend "adventures" it's boys against girls. On Saturday, Clare and I went to starbucks then headed down to Toni's house to do some canning - will post that soon. As much fun as I have with Clare, it seems like I don't really get much alone time with Aidan.

So when we got home that afternoon, I asked Aidan if he'd go on a date with me on Sunday after mass. To which he quickly agreed and began making his plans. Every once in a while that night he come over to me and tell me another detail of our "date" on Sunday. "So it's my special day with you and I can make the plans right?"

Sunday morning he's sitting there watching tv and says to me, "Hey Mom, how can we go on a date when we're not even in love?" Ha ha! This kid is hilarious!

After mass, we dropped of Sean and Clare and headed out. First stop, K-mart to spend all his "allowance" money on a couple of storm troopers- cause now it's all about star wars. Second stop, Squisito for a slice and a soda. He walks up to the counter, unbuttons the pocket of his shirt, looks at me and then the pizza guy and says, "I got this Mom," as he pulls a $10 bill out. (Sean gave him the money and told him to do that... it was priceless) We sat and talked and hung out. It was great! Then I had to drag him to the grocery store where he shook me down for a few things.

The day was super great but the best part, the thing that still makes my heart smile, was when we walked out of Safeway and he turns to me and says, "Hey Mom, it was great having a date with you today."

Summerland

This past weekend we went to the best place on earth, in my humble opinion, Amityville, NY. The kids and I drove up on Friday morning and Sean flew up on Saturday. (The reason for this trip was to take my Mom and Dad out to dinner for their 60th birthdays.)

Once we arrived there Friday morning, we basically dropped off our bags and headed to Unqua... the Yacht club they belong to. The kids love this place for 3 reasons: cousins, diving board and snack bar (aka: ice cream). It's awesome at Unqua! I spent much of my childhood there, the first swim meet I ever won was there and the first job I ever had was there as I lifeguard. Most importantly, Sean and I had our wedding reception there. And now our kids are totally in love with this place. They fall right into place there, they find new friends and forget who their parents are pretty quickly. That night we had happy hour, pizza and a dance party at Papa and Nana's house then finished off the night at the tiki bar next door at Wayne and Karen's house.

Saturday morning, Clare went birthday shopping with Nana at Target. Aidan hung out with Matty, Emma, Maeve, Luke and Colum, Momo, Uncle Mickey and Aunt Jenny at the house while I took Ellie with me to the airport to pick up Sean. (At least one of the kids likes me...lol) When we got back from the airport Sean went to OTB with Mike and we all hung out at the house. We swam in the canal and played in the yard all afternoon. All us adults went to dinner at this great Italian restaurant in town and Aidan, Clare and Ellie stayed with my cuz Mary. We had a blast at dinner! It was so much fun to all be out together with no kids... the last time we did this was at a wedding in 2004! Sad but true!

Sunday we all piled on Tim's boat and he did shuttle runs back and forth to Gilgo beach! It was such a gorgeous day at the beach the kids were swimming and building sand castles all day!

All in all, another incredibly awesome summer weekend in Amityville! I wonder if it would be as much fun if we lived there... wait I used to live there and it was that much fun!!!!

Our own little summerland!

Battle Royale

So one day last week, we are driving to work and Aidan pinches Clare in the backseat. Clare (of course) cries and tattles on him. To which I (the mature mother) respond, "Aidan if you pinch her again, I'm going to pinch you back and believe me I can pinch much harder than you can." Aidan, being the little back- talker he's growing up to be, says, "Oh yeah, well when we get to school, I'll meet you on the playground, cause we're gonna battle."

Me bewildered by this comment (and laughing so hard I want to pee my pants) think to myself, "Have I just been challenged to a Battle Royale by my 4 YEAR OLD SON?" ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!

I got boobies!!!!

Saturday night Clare was in the bath and I was picking at my face or something stupid in the bathroom. I glance over and she's puffing out her chest. I ask, "Hey, whatcha doin?" She responds, "Look Mom, I got big boobies! See!" She's obsessed with boobies and has been for awhile. I figure between the Healey blood and the McDonough blood the girls got a 50/50 chance of gettin a decent set of her own. Although, she's a bit on the petite side right now so hopefully if she does get them they won't be too big!

The 3 Amigos

Aidan, Clare and I picked up Ellie from school early on friday and took her out to lunch. It was so much fun to see her school and friends. She was so excited to see us when we walked in. We went to the diner for lunch then back to Ellie's house to play.

hot dog, hot dog, hot diggity dog

Here's a picture of Aidan with the Hot Dog Man, outside the little store on the way to the house in Deep Creek.

Summers Best 2 weeks

Well, really summers best 1 week...while we are on vacation at Deep Creek, my beloved Saddie dog is living the life of luxury at her own personal doggie hotel. As we speak she's probably curled up in her own bed with a full tummy of yummo treats provided by her surogate parents... Maureen and Wade, along side her bff/cousin Magoo! I know Ellie girl is petting her frequently and loving her often, as she feasts her eyes and mouth on a variety of deliously peanut butter covered treats and human food! Saddie is totally going to SNUB me when I get home, but it's well deserved!!!!

BAT update

So the exterminator came out the the mountain house today. Do you know that we not only have ONE BAT but we have a small COLONY (20 or so) of them living in this house. Evidently, there was a pile of their "droppings" under the bed in this portion on the house which is up in the loft area. He said we should keep the kids out of the loft because of disease! YIKES!!! Good thing this place rocks but it's super cheap to rent for a week so I don't feel too slighted and at least they are not in the whole house!

Birthday Princess

Sunday, July 11, 2010 Clare Marie Healey turned 3! She had a princess party at the mountain house, we went to Art in the Park at Deep Creek State Park, swam in the lake, opened up a bunch of presents and had a pink circle cake. All day (except for when she had on her tutu bathing suit) she wore a big puffy polka dot birthday dress with a crown and everyone in the park commented on the "princess being there."

Here are some things about Clare:

I call her "Buggy" because I used to call her my little doodle bug when she was a tiny baby. At night now when I lay in bed with her she says, "Okay, tonight you can be Buggy and I'll be Mommy."

When Clare came home from the hospital she wore a flowered onsie with ruffles on the butt. And she still loves girly things.

She loves to sing and dance and dress like a princess everyday.

She told me the other day in the car (as she was playing with a littlest pet shop peacock) "look Mommy, she can fwap her wings or she can fwap her butt."

She "hides" from me under the covers, behind the curtains and just by covering her eyes.

To me, she is the most beautiful little girl I've ever seen. She's got blond tips on her eye lashes.

She never stops talking, EVER... I've even heard her talk in her sleep.

Crazy Coaster and Catfish Hunter

Saturday morning we got up early, packed a lunch cooler and headed up to Wisp to check things out. It's really beautiful up here, great big clouds in the bright blue sky, cool breezes and NO humidity! When we got to the top of the mountain we found this really cool man-made whitewater rafting park. Of course Aidan was dying to get in the boat and head down the rapids, and so was Sean. We went inside to check it out, you have to be 50 lbs- Aidan is 53 lbs and the price is $75. When Sean asked how long it was they told us 2 hours....WHAT!? Well, we knew Aidan wouldn't last that long so we went walked around the "river" once and headed back to the car. We had a little tailgate lunch before heading back down the mountain.

We found this little adventure sport place that had a rock climbing wall, zip lines, dune buggy type things to rent and this crazy "roller coaster." It was an alpine slide/roller coaster that you control and steer. Sean road with Aidan and I rode with Clare. It's a totally open coaster just this little sled with a brake. It pulls you up to the top like a conveyor belt and then you tug your seat belts and go flying down this metal track in the open air. I was a super nervous wimp so poor Clare got the raw end of the stick. She kept saying, "Why aren't we going as fast as Daddy and Aidan?" My reply, "Um, cause Mommy is a wimp!" All in all it was a fun ride. Maybe next time Clare can ride with Daddy.

When we got back to the house we went down to the dock and the kids were jumping off and swimming. This Mom and her twin boys came out to the dock next to ours, Aidan asked Sean if he could go over and play with them. He swam over and climbed up on their dock and that was it. He was over there for 15 minutes of so before I went over to say hello. He totally ignored me when I got there-surprise, surprise. They were running around in the marsh with this little net and a bucket catching crayfish and baby catfish. They would just whip the net into the mud and come up with a baby catfish inside. It was so cool to see him running around and making friends on his own without us. It was a proud Parent moment for both Sean and I.

Lakeside Paradise....

We arrived in Swanton, Md, a little town on Deep Creek Lake Friday night. We drove up here in the suburban, trailing a boat (Pat and Mary's) in the pouring rain. Needless to say, I was a little bit freaked out. We have never trailed a boat before, much less one that doesn't belong to us. At one point Sean must have been feeling really comfortable because he was changing lanes in the middle of a down pour, surrounded by tractor trailers, like he was driving a stinkin Mini Cooper! We arrived at the house with literally 8 minutes of day light left, which gave us just enough time to park the boat in the driveway.

We unloaded the car and started to get the house in order. Now this house is HUGE and there are 3 different areas to it so we had to make sure all the doors were accessible and the ac units were turned on. Sean went into the rec room to turn on the lights and check things out, we heard him running back into the kitchen a minute later. He says, "There's a BAT in there!" He had gotten the lights turned on and noticed something fly by him. At first he thought it was a bird but he realized quickly it was a BAT! Needless to say we just shut the door off and stayed away! We figured we could get Connor and Ian to catch it when they got here on Sunday. Fast forward to today (Monday) when the exterminator arrives and tells us that BATS are protected through DNR from March thru September (because they eat like a pound of bugs a night) and he cannot handle it without getting clearance from them. But we are welcome to hang sheets up around the room to guide him to the doorway. Well HELLO Mr. Home Paramount man but this room has 30 foot high ceilings... so good luck with that!

It's kind of funny cause the kids just don't seem to care anymore. They're playing hide and seek in there and video games. Every once in awhile one of them must remember the BAT is in there because the hunt ensues all over again. It literally looks like a little black spot on the ceiling, just hanging there... EWWW!

Finally some pics

Well I still don't have a digital camera but I have discovered that my cell phone takes decent pics. Here are a few recent shots. They are both getting so big. Aidan's tough look with his new goggles and Clare's new gold "princess" dress. We are all having a great time together this summer!

What's IN for Summer 2010?

I was going to do an In and Out list, but in an effort to keep things positive here I eliminated the OUT part. Plus with Aidan and Clare nothing is ever really completeley OUT.

So here's a list of what's IN for Summer 2010:

sandals
ice cream cones with tons of sprinkles

silly bands

goggles

swimming on their own without life jackets

the sand box

dresses for Clare- "shorts are for boys only"

CARS (from the movie)

tea parties
barbies

lincoln logs- we have a whole cowboy village
"not cooked" hot dogs (on the grill he means)

4th of July Weekend

Here are some highlights:

We spent most of the weekend away from home.

Friday: Dinner at the Cooks house, yummy lasagna, the Brookmans showed up, the kids danced like crazy on the deck and there were some pretty cool fireworks Jeff got from PA.

Saturday: Selby Beach for some fun in the sun. Kids swam forever in the bay. We built sand castles, played on the playground, ate sandy hot dogs, and saw tons of awesome fireworks all around us as our 4 families were the last ones on the beach at 10:30 that night. The kids raced up and down the beach a hundred times and the dads raced to the swim platform and back, all in the dark. (that was the last event of the night- Sean won though!)

Sunday: We went down to Pat and Mary's house for a family fun day. The kids swam all day again and loved the diving rock! Aidan went on the boat and went tubing with Sean. We had tons of delicious food, I mean TONS. If you can grill it, it was on the table there. And it was all YUMMO! Right down to the fancy cake Mary made with the American Flag made out of fruit on top.

Monday: Totally exhausted! Only left the house to take Aidan to Night Time Peds to find out he's got strep throat AGAIN! Ugh! Well at least he likes a party too much to give into the pain!

Next stop... Deep Creek Lake! We leave Friday!

10 days and counting

I heard on the radio this morning that yesterday was the 10th day straight of the latest heat wave. It's been 90+ degrees for the last 10 days. Sunday it was officially 100 degrees. Rumor has it that it's supposed to end on Wednesday which will give us a dozen days straight! It really makes you appreciate your air conditioning!

*For the record, I'm NOT complaining, just reporting. I love summer and after 4 feet of snow this past winter, I'm not whining about a few 90 degree days!*

Bug Eye

I have a pretty decent memory of many, many good times in my life. I also have a very vivid memory of some physical pains I've experienced in my life as well. I specifically remember the growing pains Maureen and I would get growing up. My knees would ache from the inside out. It still makes me quiver to think about it. I can remember the feeling in my chest of being totally waterlogged most of the summer. And I can remember, like yesterday, how my eyes would BURN from the chlorine in the pool at swim team practice in the beginning of the season. I think my eyes adjusted over time to the burn so I didn't have the burn all summer.

Well, this past weekend we spent about 30 hours in the pool. Aidan and Clare are now both swimming on their own which is so much fun to see. They are so brave and determined! We are so proud of them. By Saturday evening at 7:00, Aidan's eyes started to burn that all too familiar burn. He was in so much pain and I could feel the pain with him through my memory. We used to put milk in our eyes to stop the burn. We tried that, with Sean holding him down and me dropping the milk in. (He does weigh like 52 pounds now.) He basically laid on our bed after that and I had to rock him to sleep because his eyes hurt so much he couldn't even open them.

Sunday we took a lot of breaks from the pool, because of the chlorine and because it was so hot. Today we went to target and got some super cool goggles! Now we can swim all summer without experiencing that pain again, thanks to the bug eyes!

Busytown

That's where we live these days! I have been slackin big time on bloggin so I'm going to attempt to catch up on all our summer fun we've had in the last week or so.

This weekend was super busy! We finished up all the little things around the house and slapped a FOR SALE sign in the front yard! YUP that's right, we're moving AGAIN! Well that's if we can ever sell this house in this market. We are moving closer to my work so Aidan can begin school in CC in 2011. We don't want to have to switch him to a different school so now is the time to start the process. Hopefully we'll be moved in by the time he starts in over a year. UGH! This has actually been a positive thing so far though. We have cleared out a bunch of crap we don't need or use. The house have never looked better- of course. Isn't that always the way it goes, you get the house exactly the way you want, finish up all the little projects and then sell it to someone else. We were officially on the market last Saturday and had 2 showings on Tuesday so maybe we did something right. Let's just hope the heatwave + delicious pool = a sale!

Clare went to her first friend from school birthday party on Saturday and had a blast in the princess bouncy castle. She also decided tonight that she would jump in the pool (naked) to see if she could swim. (She did tell me first so I could catch her if she sunk.) And let me tell you, these Healey kids are naturals. They aren't afraid and they can keep themselves moving. She jumped right in and went totally under, quickly realizing she had to make it back up to the surface, her little surprised face popped back up and she started kickin and moving her arms. I was thoroughly impressed. Aidan is totally life jacket free now and lovin it! He's a little fish, we have to drag him out of the pool every night. Let's hope the next house has either a pool in the yard or we get a membership to one!

We had our first crabs of the 2010 season on Saturday and boy o' boy were they TASTY! Yummo! Big and heavy! The only problem with eating crabs now is that we have to share with the kids! HA HA!

Father's Day was fun we had the Healey clan and the Hughes crew over for a cookout. Lots of swimming and eating... my kind of sunday. Clare made Sean a shirt with a little poem on the front and her foot prints on the back. When he came downstairs with it on Sunday morning she nearly had a heart attack she was so excited he was wearing it. It was too cute. Aidan painted a little pot and planted a seed in it - which I proceeded to knock over on the seat in my car. Oops!
We made Sean a book all about him. When I asked the kids what Daddy's favorite drink was, Aidan answered BEER and Clare answered COFFEE. (Man, they don't know him at all.)

All in all a great summer to date! Lots coming up: Weekend with the Smiths and Walshes, 4th of July, Clare's 3rd Birthday at the "Mountain House" - it's during our vacation at Deep Creek, birthday dinner for my Mom and Dad's 60th in NY.... FUN FUN FUN!

The Fish and The Dancing Queen

This weekend was a fun one!

Friday night Sean and I were both BEAT! The kids and I got home around 5:30 and as soon as we walked in the door they were in their bathing suits and jumping in the pool. We were enjoying happy hour poolside and Aidan asked if he could take off his lifejacket and swim. So we agreed and he was swimming back and forth in the shallow end, then decided he wanted to try the deep end. He jumped in and swam all the way to the shallow end. It was AWESOME! Sean and I were cheering, clapping and jumping up and down. We called both sets of grandparents to brag and smiled all night with pride. He's growing up so much, every day it seems like he surprises me with something new he can do or knows.

Saturday we went to Molly Murphy's baptism. It was during 4:30 mass and there was a great party afterwards. So all day we're explaining to the kids that first we go to mass, then we go to the party ~because when you're Irish Catholic, the best parties are the ones that follow a mass! The kids were decent in mass (in fact a woman stopped us outside of church to say the kids were well behaved- I wonder where she sat in proximity to our seats?) After mass, it was off to the party, which was great! We had such a fun night! The kids ran around outside, ate a million mini cupcakes, Clare made 56 pictures with bingo markers and Aidan was the monster who chased the older kids around the yard. Once it got dark (and late) the music got louder and we all started dancing on the deck. Clare asked Kelly for a girl song around 11:15 and danced on the deck until we dragged her out of there a little after midnight. It was so cute, she was bustin' a move in her little dress and red sparkly shoes! Lady Gaga was on constant repeat for a good 20 minutes!

I thank God everyday that our kids have such great senses of humor and honestly know how to enjoy the best things in life! Sean and I are 2 lucky people.

Let the fresh veggies begin..

This year Toni and I joined a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) Farm. We bought a share together and each week we go and pick up the veggies. Today was the first pick up day. The kids and I went after work. On the way there, Aidan asked me if it was the same farm where we went down the sand road and met the "really nice lady" and I picked out veggies. We joined 2 years ago for the fall harvest and he still remembers when we picked up then!

Today we got romaine, mixed Asian greens, pac choy, arugula and radishes. Tonight we sauteed the mixed Asian greens in teriyaki, garlic and olive oil and ate it with a yummy teriyaki steak! Delicious. The only rule (for Sean) to joining the farm is that we have to use all the veggies each week. So I guess we'll be trying out some new recipes!

Check it off the LIST

Well I don't exactly have a bucket list, number 1 because I'm too young and number 2 because I can barely plan my weekends much less where I want to go/see before I die. With that being said, I got an email sometime back in the winter that my cuz Mary wanted all of us to go out to Vegas for her 30th birthday in May.

My initial reaction was... HELL YEAH! I mean come on, who in their right mind would NOT want to go to Vegas at least once in their life, much less accompanied by some of my fav crazies! Well it all came to fruition this past weekend and let me just say it was (insert curse word) AWESOME! VIVA LAS VEGAS!!!! I would definately go back there again if approached by the right group of people, but for now I'm saying I can check that off my list of places to go in life.

It's the most insane place I've ever been. The people were as completely outrageous as I'd heard and it was well worth seeing first hand. I loved everything from the devil with his butt hanging out in platforms on the street, to the architecture to the crazy hoochies everywhere.

My sister Maureen (who I used "borrowed" the idea to start my own blog) listed the things she learned in Vegas... and believe me it was hilarious! Here are some of my highlights:

I had my first beer at 12:30pm on Friday and didn't stop til I bumped into a lady at the pool and asked Maureen to walk me up the room at around 5:30pm. Slept from then til 12 when I woke up to eat my tacos and then pass out again til 2:30 am when I woke up for the day.

At 2:30 am Maureen, Jenny and I went to the casino with Mary for her last hoorah as a 29 year old. She went to bed and we went over to NY, NY casino and walked around, went to CVS on the strip at 3:30 in the morning and then went back to the room where we got Mom. Went to starbucks and got her a coffee, met some brits from "Mansfield" in the hallway, where my Mom gave out one special "proper mum cuddle" (insert a really good british accent)... can't do it justice writing it.. but a pants wettingly hilarious meeting!

Got breakfast in "Paris", went to the pool and out to dinner at Caesar's Palace, saw the fountain show at Bellagio and gambled the slots. Pretty much stayed up for 24 hours Saturday. Went to bed, got up and had breakfast in "NY, NY and then got on a plane and came home.

I had a stomach ache til Monday from all the laughing I did.... Maureen flooded the bathroom from the shower, we had a pair of dirty guys underwear hanging from the bathroom door when we checked into our hotel, stayed in a hotel where lions live, peed my pants- literally, met spiderman, batman, slayed Darth Vader with a Light Saber, hit Superman over the head with an inflatable hammer, saw Edward ScissorHands (all on the strip), was brought to tears by the fountain show at the Bellagio, lost $60 playing slots and saw more hoochies in one place than I have in a long, long time! On the flight there saw the Rocky Mountains and Grand Canyon from the plane! Got to celebrate my Rock Star cousin Mary's 30th birthday in Fabulous Las Vegas, Nevada!

All in all, an unbelievable trip! Loved every second of it!

New phone...finally

I got a new phone last week. My last new phone was purchased almost exactly 3 years ago when I was pregnant with Clare and Aidan was only about 15 months old. I (shamefully) used to give Aidan my cell phone to play with while in the grocery store or other places where I needed to keep him busy. Well after many months of him chewing and slobbering all over it, if finally crapped out. So I got a new phone. Well after 3 years and 2 dunks in the toilet I got another new phone. This time the only criteria was a texting phone. So Sean (my hero) went to the Verizon store last week (mostly because he needed a new phone) and got me a new one. And I totally LOVE it!!! Sadly enough, at this rate I've had more new cars in the last 3 years than new phones... I think the current car and phone I have are gonna have to last me for a LONG time!!!!

Disclaimer

Now, I'm sure I've mentioned once or twice that I absolutely loathe laundry! It is the bain of my existence. Unfortunately, our 4 wardrobes alone could clothe half of this town, so I can get away with not doing laundry every day or even every other day. I tend to let it pile up until it almost swallows Saddie whole and then I get started on the task.

Yesterday we had a couple of friends come over for an early happy hour. When everyone left around 8:00 I decided I should just throw a quick load of laundry in to get ahead this week.
Insert Disclaimer: You know how some medications and alcohol say on them don't operate heavy machinery under the influence, well that should be posted on my washing machine!

You see, we have an older house so some things are a little complicated. For instance, the pump connected to the wash basin sink that sits next to the washing machine, where the water from the wash drains. Well Aidan had a bathing suit in the laundry pile that I decided to wash but it was worn at the beach the other day so it had sand in the pocket. So I just dumped the pocket out in the wash basin. NO, NO, NO! BIG mistake!

Little did I know when I went down to put the load in the dryer I'd come to find out that the pump didn't work with this load and the wash basin was full and would NOT drain. Uh-OH! So I call up for Sean and he thought I said, "The Basement is full of water" but I said, "the basin is full of water".

Long story short, I made a big no-no when I poured that sand in the sink. It clogged the pump, burned it out so it stopped working and Sean spent 7 hours today fixing it. Which I might add he is very good at and very well versed since it's like the 5th kind of pump he's had to replace in the last 6 years. He took the whole thing apart, had to break up the pebbles with a hammer and a screwdriver and put it back together and guess what???? It works! I don't know whether to be happy or sad. On one hand I'm happy because now I can do laundry, but on the other hand I'm bummed because now I can do laundry!

Quite a performance

Saturday was absolutely B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L here. We had bright blue skies with big puffy white clouds and a warm sun shining! I spent most of the early morning cleaning in the house and then when Sean was finished mowing the lawn we all headed outside for some good ole fun in the sun.

Sean was doing yard work, the kids were running around in the sprinkler and I was tending to our bountiful veggie garden- well bountiful is a stretch but it's coming along nicely. Sean decided to make a run to the dump and the grocery store, so it was just the kids and I. Clare wanted to have a pic-a-nic with her tea set and towel. Aidan was onboard with the picnic so he ran inside to get some strawberries and blueberries for our snack with tea. We sat on the towel and sipped our dirty, grass-filled, "tea" and ate our berries.

During our feast, Aidan decided he needed to put on a "show" for us girls as we ate. So he grabbed his Ninja Turtle staff (Donatello's weapon of choice) and began to "sing" his rock and roll song while he performed his ninja moves with the staff. His songs consisted of lines like, "If you don't listen to your Mom and Dad, then you won't get to play with your toys" and "Then you have to smack the water, and you keep smacking the water" as he slapped the staff in the baby pool. Then Clare needed a turn performing. She got her princess dress and did her little song and dance across the yard. She would hum this little tune and Sean swears she sang "the circle of life" as she held her hands up in a circle around her head.

It was PRICELESS!!!! They both took turns, Aidan yelled at Sean for laughing at Clare, they clapped for each other and helped each other. I could not have thought of a better way to spend the day with my 3 favorite people!

Daily Routines

It's taken some time now but we are finally in a pretty good routine in the mornings. I wake up early (and God willing- exercise) and the kids wake up around 6:30-7:00. Pretty much as soon as they wake up, I get them dressed for the day. Then I get in the shower and get myself ready then pack my lunch, drinks and snacks for them in the car. They just kind of hang out in the morning. Get their drinks/snacks on their own and hang out watching tv and playing with their toys. About 20 minutes before we leave I warn them, "We're brushing teeth and getting shoes on in 5 minutes."

Usually, this is a source of contention so I have to follow up the 5 minute warning with a 3, then 2 minute warning. So this morning I make the announcement, and I hear Aidan from the playroom call out, "YEAH, YEAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH!" As I chuckle to Sean walking past him I grab the empty plastic strawberry container and smack Aidan on the head with it as I walk out to the recycle bin, and say, "YEAH, YEAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH YOURSELF!"

That Little PUNK! It looks like my works cut out for me with not only Clare but Aidan too!!!

Unseasonably COLD

Well, almost EXACTLY a month ago, I was posting that we were at Selby beach enjoying an unseasonably HOT day! NOW I'm whining because it's 25 degrees below normal. Ironically enough, 3 months ago this day we were all (in MD anyway) crying the blues because we'd just finished our second dumping of 2+ feet of snow! So, I guess what my advice to myself is... get over it! We are never satisfied with the weather. It's like people with curly hair want straight and visa versa!

I'm still gonna complain though because we planted a veggie garden already and I'm a little worried about the 40 degree weather tonight. Guess we'll wait and see. Hey, I'm happy about the rain though, one less day I have to drag the hose all over my yard!

Papa WHAT?

Today we passed by Papa John's pizza and Aidan says, "Hey look, there's a pizza store. It's Papa John's. I wanna go there." So Clare responds, "I'm going to Nana Johns." Well at least they know their grandparents names! Ha ha!

bittersweet

They say you don't know a good thing until it's gone. Well in this case it was a great thing and I knew it then and I know it now. I am sad to admit that I (well all my siblings and cousins alike) am left now at the ripe ole age of 35 without any grandparents left in this world. I am certain that they are basking in the glory of Gods wonder up above. But for me down here on earth I find myself from time to time at a loss.

I only knew (personally) 3 out of 4 of my grandparents. My mom's Dad passed when I was only a small baby. I had the gift of getting to know and enjoy both of my grandmothers (Grandma Hartley- Virginia- and Mongie) and my dad's Dad- Pamps. And what a gift that was. I think of them and all my fond memories daily and accept that I can only rely on my memories now. I tell my children and husband of them and their lives and the impact it had on my childhood/young adulthood/family.

There are however, those rare times when I shed a tear, more for myself than them, that they are no longer here with me. Today was one of them. My dad's Dad- Pamps- passed when I was only 5, yet I still have some very vivid memories of my times spent with him. I know alot about him from stories I've been told over the years too. He was an amazing man. My dad tells us, and I remember some of this, that because of his line of work and love for aviation, he could look up in the sky at any plane and tell you what it's make and model was. I remember being in their backyard and him pointing up at the sky as a plane flew over and telling us what it was.

We live in one of the many flight paths to BWI Airport. Tonight, as we were sitting outside, a plane flew over and Aidan said to me, "I really like that plane. What kind of plane is that?" And as I looked up to the sky I realized, I know exactly who could tell you the answer to that! But instead I said, "I'm not sure Aidan. I'll have to find out for you." And silently shed a tear, more for myself- out of selfishness than anything. I know it was more for myself though. I wished my grandpa was here to put my son on his lap and say, "Well Aidan, that's a ..... plane and it was built in .... and flown by..... because I know he would never leave Pamp's side if he were around today.

Lucky for me, Aidan has not 1 but 2 grandpas' that he both admires and adores! I guess I should say, Lucky for him!

The first day of the rest of my life!!!!

Well, well, well, this HAS been a great birthday!

I was greeted this morning by my other look alike who said, "Good Morning Mommy. Happy Birthday."

I had chocolate frosted brownies, not 1 but 2 bags of cheese balls (one of my favs), a bag of tortilla chips, salsa, cheese dip, vanilla cake with white icing, little debbies fudge cookies, a chocolate molten cake, chinese food for lunch, buffalo chicken sammy for dins and TONS of birthday wishes!

All in all, a GREAT way to kick off the next 35!

My family and friends ROCK! I'm one lucky gal.

Now, if I remember correctly, when I was little I used to think that I would look like Barbie when I turned 35. Because that's how old (in my mind) my barbies were when I used to play. So I'm gonna give it the full year to see when the transformation begins!!!!

Here's to big birthday wishes! Thanks to all my favs for making it a memorable one!!!! Can't wait to get to NY in a couple of days to see my Mama, Pops and twinny to make it official!!!

35 or Bust

Wednesday, April 28, 2010 I turn (along with my fabulous twin sis) 35! I know some would be afraid of this but I'm super duper psyched!!!! As my twin says the first 35 were GREAT so I know the next 35 will be too!!!

sparkly barn

On our way home we pass this really cute house that sits on 15 acres and there's a horse barn on the property that you can see from the road. It stands out in farm country because the owners painted a huge pink heart on the metal roof of the barn.

Today when we were passing by I noticed that inside it looked like there were a hundred twinkle lights sparkling from inside the barn. Aidan says from the backseat, "Hey Mom, why is the heart farm sparkling?"

I couldn't believe he saw it too!

Happiness

Happiness is a scary word for some! They have all these perameters that come along with it, good or bad. Now recently, I've been a little frustrated and burnt out, so happiness was not at the top of my list. I've also experienced some major tragedies (with families from work) lately. The type of things that put life into perspective. I'm not saying I was depressed or anything but I've had a lot of stuff going on.

Over the last 2 weeks or so I've come the realization that I AM HAPPY! Happiness is simply defined by this: When we are all home around the same time and the day is just beginning to cool down but we're still out back hanging out. The kids playing in the dirt, running laps around the pool and digging in the sandbox. When we are all together, either doing our own thing or playing soccor, racing, etc. I am the happiest I could ever be!

So in other words, THANKS, Sean, Aidan and Clare! I LOVE you all!!!

The King and Queen

Last night Sean and I sat down in the kids playroom with them and both kids climbed on my lap. "Tell us a story Mommy!" Aidan says. (Now for over a year I've been "telling stories" about super heroes and princesses in the car) "Okay, I'll tell you a story about a King and Queen." I respond. Aidan says, "And I'm the Knight!" and Clare says, "And I'm the princess."

Here is the story:

Once upon a time there was a beautiful, wonderful Queen named Erin. One day she was walking through the forest and when she came upon an opening there stood a handsome King Sean waiting there. Aidan intervenes, "And the king had a wot of BEER." HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

So Queen Erin and King Sean (who had a wot of beer) fell in love. In their kingdom there was a Knight named Aidan and a Princess named Clare. Princess Clare decided one day that she wanted to become a mermaid so King Sean waved his magic wand and made her a giant pool to swim around in. Aidan says, "And they need a beach." So Queen Erin waved her magic wand and made a beach at the poolside. So the King and Queen looked at their new pool and beach and decided to have a beach party. They summoned Sir Aidan to gather all the knights in the kingdom to get all the beer in the kingdom for the party. And they had a beach party!
~The End~

So today the kids classes went down the dirt road/trial behind the center to clean up trash for Earth Day! Now we've taught them to recycle and turn off lights when they aren't in the room but this was a big group effort so I thought it was a super cool lesson! Aidan comes back and tells me that he did most of the clean up. When I ask what he cleaned up, he says, "a wot of beer bottles and a beer box". Jokingly, I say, "How do you know what beer boxes and bottles look like?" He quickly responds, "Cause we have them at home!" DUH Mom!!!!

Well at least they know who their parents are!!!!!

Church Lessons

This weekend I took the kids to mass by myself because Sean worked until late on Saturday night. We went to 8:00 mass since that seems to work the best for us - not too crowded.

Before we even got there I had to do some solid convincing with Aidan. "I don't need to go to church, it's stupid." So I tell him, "I know you don't think you need to go to church but we all need to go to church because that's how we get to know God and Jesus. We are going to church!" Clare, on the other had, just got a new nightgown with the Disney princesses on it and was trying to convince me that she can wear it to church. I told her, "NO way you don't wear pjs to church!" She replied, "But I want to show it to God." Ha ha! She got me there, so we met in the middle and she wore the nightgown under her dress! We then packed up some crayons, coloring books and a couple of guys in our "church bags" and headed out the door at 7:40.

We actually got there with about 8 minutes to spare before mass began. Most of the seats in the back of church are filled or have people in them. I try to get a single row with as few/if not any people in it, that way there's less distractions. That being said, we had to sit in the 2nd row from the front.

We took our seats and the music began. So far so good! They both found these little pieces of paper in the pew that had some sort of questionnaire on it and began to draw with those little golf pencils. Well, by the time the first reading was over they both got ants in their pants. Aidan turns to me during the reading (which I can hardly pay attention to because I'm too busy telling them to both shut their mouths!) and says, "So how does God protect the earth? Does he wear armour?" (they had just read that God protects all the earth) and I say, "Well God doesn't need armour Aidan he's way stronger than that!" "OH!" he says.

All in all they weren't HORRIBLE in mass but they certainly weren't ANGELS either! I'm realizing lately that I need a whole lot of God in my life so like it or not those two are gonna get used to it! And maybe by the time Aidan receives first Holy Communion he'll be able to sit still for an hour in mass!

60 never looked so GOOD!

Today is my Mom's 60th birthday! Here's hoping what they say is true, that you age like you parents do. I gotta tell ya, if I look like my Mom does at 60 when I'm 50 I'll be super psyched! She came down over the weekend for Ellie's birthday party and was rockin her animal print shirt with her capris and her cute haircut!

We called her on our way home this afternoon and the kids were yelling, "Happy Birthday Nana!" Now they want to know when we're going to her birthday party? HA HA!

Love ya, Mama!

Summer in April

Today we got off work early and Sean was home getting ready for his travel days coming up. When we got home we decided to go to the beach! We got there and the kids went straight into the water! WHAT?! 3 years ago when I was prego with Clare and Maureen was about to burst with Bel it SNOWED on Easter Sunday 2 days before Bel was born! Now 2 days after Easter 2010 it is 90+ degrees and we went swimming in the Selby Bay today! LOVE IT!!!!!!

A couple of things about Clare

Here's an update on Clare the last week or so....

Tonight Sean went out for a bit and when he got home he made some of our Irish version of Guacamole. Clare helped him make it and then he stood and she sat on the counter and they talked and shared a bowl of guac and chips together. And of course Clare gabbed to him the whole time!

Clare is Ms. Independent! She wants to everything on her own, brush hair, get dressed, climb on the toilet! Great news though... she is POTTY TRAINED! Thanks in NO part to her parents but entirely to her teachers at school!

Clare has an eternal "boo-boo" and is always in need of a band-aid.

She is totally hilarious in the morning when we lay in her bed and talk before the sun rises!

A couple of things about Aidan

A brief update of the last few week or so....

He's been sleeping in his sleeping bag on the floor in his room every night (all night) since last Tuesday. Of course he's got to have his blankie and all his little buddies and super hero books surrounding him! The little buddies consist of: duckie and froggie, Sean's pooh bear from when he was little, a brown monkey puppet, a black gorilla, a brown fuzzy bear and a dinosaur.

His allergies are TERRIBLE this week! Runny nose!!!!

Last week he began to zip his own jacket with NO help! He was very proud of this one! Came home and told me and Sean how he did it.

Tonight we were talking about our "party" tomorrow (the Hughes' and Henzy's are coming over) and I was telling Clare that Momo and Uncle Wade and Bel were coming- "and Bud Bud" she added. And that Mike, Emma, Patrick and Matt Matt were coming with Uncle Tim and Aunt Kerry. I told them that their dogs, Sophie and Casey were coming too. Aidan rolls over to face me and says, " That means this many dogs will be here." As he was holding up 4 fingers... Way to go AIDAN!!! I do believe that was your first addition problem!

Lately he constantly asks me How and Why things happen. How do you make mud? I don't know Aidan how do you think? He then proceeds to explain the entire process to me.

What kind of NANA?

Aidan and Clare have 2 Nana's, a Papa and a Pop-Pop. Now Papa and Pop-Pop sound very similar to them, so to they think both sets of grandparents have the same names. At some point not too long ago I was having a conversation with Clare about "Nana coming over." To which she answered, "What kind of Nana?" "Um what do you mean what kind of Nana?" Clare says, "Nana Toni or the Nana at New York?"

Now, Aidan distinquishes his grandparents based on where they live. Nana and Pop-Pop (Healey) live at the beach and Nana and Papa (McDonough) live at New York. He used to call it New Nork which was way cute but now he says it the correct way.

So yesterday morning Maun, Wade and Ellie came to pick up Magoo and she said to the kids, "Have fun at your Nana and Pop-Pop's tonight." Aidan says, "Do you know our Nana?" Maureen says, "Yeah I know your Nana." Aidan says, "Our Nana, she's Toni. She lives at the beach. We have another Nana that doesn't have a name." Maureen and I look at each other and laugh, "What do you mean she doesn't have a name?" He says, "The one at New York is just Nana!" Maureen turns to me and says, "Yeah, I guess he's right no one calls her anything but Nana." Even Papa and all the other Dads call her Nana.

Sleeping In

That is what I'm supposed to be doing right now, SLEEPING IN! It's 8:20 am on Sunday. We went out to dinner to spend our superbowl winnings last night. Aidan and Clare aren't even home! They spent the night at Nana and Pop-Pop's house and I have been up since 7:30! I mean it's still nice to be up and not have to move from the couch every 3 minutes to get something for someone, but still!

Here's the real problem, Sean is still sleeping hardcore and that means I'm going to have to wait for himto wake up before we go out to breakfast! Oh well, I guess I'll just sit back and enjoy the silence!

Justice Always Prevails

I get a call at work on Thursday morning shortly before 9am, it's Sean.

He says, "Hey so there was no traffic this morning and I got here like an hour early so I decided to drive a couple of blocks over to grab a quick breakfast sandwich. When I come out I GOT BOOTED!"

Me: (hysterically laughing) "Well we've only been getting a letter in the mail every month from the District of Columbia."

Sean: "Well they caught me. Can you believe they booted me for only $300!"

Me: "Um yeah, it's been over a year since you got those tickets. DOY!"

Sean: "So I called Paul to ask him what to do, since this has happened to him too, and he said call the number on the back of the card and they will come within 2 hours and remove the boot. So now I am humping my gear 4 blocks to the job because I can't move my suburban yet!"

Hey, at least he can laugh about it! I would not have been as lighthearted as Sean was had this happened to me first thing in the morning. So later that night as he's retelling me the story he says, "Yeah and I thought I ran over a traffic cone or something because all I could see was the orange from the boot when I first walked out." LMAO

The "Good" Smell

Last week I got an email, one of those chain kind of getting to know you things. This one was my type though, short and sweet. You had to answer 5 questions with four answers. For example, four things you watch on tv.

Now I'm a pretty decisive person on the spot, but if I really start to think about something I realize I may have answered a different way, given more time. One of the "questions" really intrigued me, name 4 of your favorite smells.

Well, I answered sawdust, my kids when they are sleeping, fresh cut grass and white musk for the following reasons:

1.sawdust: reminds me of my dad
2.my kids sleeping: something about their breath and blankies combined that I love
3.cut grass: reminds me of being a kid
4.white musk: reminds me of my mom

I then got back a couple of peoples responses and when I read them thought, "Oh yeah, that's a good one too!"

Like these:

the earth after it rains in the summer (Kerry)

the "good" smell - a fireplace in the winter or fall (Maureen)

chlorine (Lisa)

Then I was lying in bed that morning at 4:30 not able to fall back asleep and thought of some more and then talked to Maun that morning and came up with this list:



a new box of crayons
playdough
a brand new baby
Sean's pillow
my nursery school
crocuses
tulips
coppertone sunscreen- not the coconut one
chlorine
a new car
when it's about to snow
a car heating up in the winter
pampers newborn diapers
Aunt Claire and Uncle Matt's house
the Maskiells house
the attic at Bennett Place in the summer
boat engine fumes
salt water
carvel
onions and olive oil sauteing in a pan
Christmas trees
wet leaves
honeysuckle in bloom
pizza boxes
plain chapstick
shalimar perfume
bbq chicken on the grill
kids paints
sausage & peppers

Sooooo... what are your favorite smells?????

Where the Wild Things Are?

The movie is out On Demand and I've been so excited to watch it with Aidan. I've been telling him all week we can watch it this weekend. So last night when Maureen and Bel and Lisa, Lil and Grady were over Aidan decided he wanted to watch it.

Although I was excited to see it, I had some concerns how it would be done. The book is very simple and when read to a child in a certain way the Wild Things aren't quite so scary. I knew it might be a little bit much because of the length. Well, I was RIGHT! It begins with Max running around his house in costume, he then gets into an argument with his mother and runs away. That's when the movie starts to get really dark, I mean literally. The screen is very dark. While I thought the Wild Things were cute they were a little intimidating to Aidan. The first time they surrounded Max to "eat him up" Aidan was out!

I explained to him several times that it was only a movie and it doesn't really happen and it's pretend. He seemed okay last night, but tonight while we were sitting on the couch watching tv he asked me several times if we could NOT watch that movie again. Then kept asking me questions about why Max went to the place Where the Wild Things Are?

Oh Man! I think Mommy really messed up this time!

Sorry Buddy!!!