"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!