Mommathon

We don't host a lot of parties, but I do know that when you are hosting a party it is a MAJOR faux pas to run out of liquor. You don't want to buy too much (liquor isn't cheap), but you don't want to run out either. Evite has solved all of the world's party problems with the "drink calculator".

I read a different author!!! However, once I was about 100 pages into this book I realized I had already read this book before. I wasn't going to stop though. I had already devoted that much time to it, so I figured I would just keep going. It is a good book and it reminds us how incredibly easy we have it. This book takes place in 1899 on a farm in Appalachia. The newly married couple have just about every possible bad thing that can happen to them take place in a year's time. It is also a good reminder of how much work we don't have to do. The book is very descriptive when it comes to going through the steps it takes just to have some chicken for dinner, for example, starting with going to the hen house to get the chicken, killing it, taking out all the feathers, scalding it, degutting it...goodness gracious!!! Not to mention all of the work of farming, canning, washing the clothes, ugh!!!

We had a fun and busy Saturday. We were lazy this morning and just hung out. The boys played video games while I made eggs and toast. We had breakfast together as a family which never happens, so that was nice. Then we got ourselves all cleaned up and went to go see Wall-E. It was a great movie for kids with a wonderful message about taking care of the earth and your body. The boys also got free Wall-E watches at the movie theater which they thought was pretty cool. We then went to the grocery store and then headed home so I could go swimming with the boys and Sean could go to the health club. After that we went to the Wizards game where the boys feasted on pizza, nachos, frozen lemonade and Dippin' Dots. The Wizards won 1-0 so the boys were happy. Now they are conked out in bed.

I read somewhere recently about someone whose grandmother, I think it was, would put their pillows in the freezer in the summertime. Well, today was the first hot day of the summer and the boys were going on and on about how hot they were after camp today. So, I told them to take their shirts off and put them in the freezer. They looked at me like a was off my rocker for about two seconds and then happily complied. About thirty minutes later we took them out and they put them back on. The super cool shirts were very refreshing and the boys were much more comfortable.

Liam got a desk for his bedroom yesterday and he said it was the best day ever. Clearly, he likes it. He was so excited that after bathtime he happily found his journal and made two new entries. One of them was about his new desk, of course.

Great movie. It is the story of a woman who immigrates to America from India with her husband shortly after they are married. The movie also focuses on their oldest child as he is growing up and how easily he is swept up in American culture without even realizing what he was leaving behind.

Okay, okay, I know I said I was going to take a break from reading her books, but this was the one that came in at the library, so I read it. I am learning that this author doesn't always like to wrap things up nice and neat at the end. Sometimes that bothers me, but it was okay with this book. It is a story of Paige and Nicholas who are from different sides of the tracks, but both have their own skeletons/issues that they bring into their relationship. The reader is left at the end not really knowing where their relationship is going.

We signed the kids up for a few weeks of daycamp this summer at their new school in hopes that they might meet a friend or two who they might recognize on the first day of school and to also just help with the transition. Today was their first day. We got there a little early so the boys had time to play on the playground before going to class. That was great. There was no Colm clinging to my leg, which I was a little worried about; off he went to play on the playground without even looking back. They also gave a glowing report when I went to pick them up. Liam has made a friend (who is a girl) who likes to play Star Wars as much as he does and Colm told me about a quilt he made with patterns. Colm also was very proud of himself because he got to take his lunch in a lunch sack like a big boy. He thought that was pretty cool. :) Huge sigh of relief from the parents.

Our neighborhood has a summer book club for kids. Today was the first time they met after having read the book Snaggle Doodles. We met at the clubhouse and the kids talked about the book for a bit. The book was about a group of kids who invent something, so the mom who runs the bookclub brought a bunch of stuff/trash and the kids worked together to make their own invention. After they were done, there was a drawing to see who got to keep it and Liam won. Once he got it home he made a few adjustments and added a bit more tape to keep everything in place. And in case you are wondering...it's a robot.

Two weeks ago the boys had Vacation Bible School. Colm loved it. This was his first year and he was so excited to do something the "big kids" get to do. Not only that, but one of his buddies was in the same class.

If you have a boy that is over the age of four and they have any interest at all in swinging lightsabers or fighting (that was a joke, all boys that age fit that description) you NEED to send them to Jedi Camp. I will admit that I was a little worried that it was going to be mayhem and it would just be a bunch of little boys bopping each other on the heads with their lightsabers. It was not-at all. Last night we went to their performance. They have been working all week on choreographing and practicing their two battle scenes and they did it!! One of the scenes had about seven kids in it and the other had three. They got up on stage and performed their battle scenes without a glitch. Their teacher has a degree in stage battle arts (or something like that) from the University of Hawaii. He taught them defense moves and offense moves and when you put them all together you have a battle scene. See for yourself.

I love to watch Jon and Kate Plus Eight, but if she talks about organic food one more time....Ugh....She acts like her kids are going to spontaneously combust if they eat something that isn't organic. They had a handful of M and M's at their aunt's house and she got all pissy about it. Lighten up...if someone is willing to watch all of your kids for the afternoon I think you can relax a little on your eating rules and regs. Honestly, I think she keeps bringing it up so that some organic food company will sponsor them. Have you ever noticed how much camera time their Juicy Juice bottles get? Two words...product placement.


Another food-related story that made me snicker to myself. There is a mom at Colm's preschool that was yammering on and on about how she doesn't let her kids eat this, that or the other and how they always bring their own snacks to school not because they have food allergies but because she doesn't let her kids eat what they serve for snacks at the school and how the kids are totally fine with that because they understand that they don't eat certain things, yada, yada, yada. So, flash forward a week or so and the mom, preschool teacher and the child are all standing outside the classroom while the mom scolds her daughter for eating the snack they had served at school the previous day. They had eaten chocolate covered raisins that they had fashioned into ants because they were studying insects. It's not like they had served them DIng-Dongs and there was a reason behind the snack choice. I just had to snicker to myself because clearly the child does want to eat what the other children are eating at least part of the time and she has started to flex her four-year old muscles to show that she can make her own choices and she will when her eagle-eyed mother isn't there making the choices for her. Again, as mothers, we pick our battles. This mom has chosen to fight this one, but I still thought it was a little bit funny.

I am not a big garage saler, as a matter of fact, I never go to garage sales, except one. I try to go to our church's garage sale each year to try and find the boys a winter coat. I can't stand to pay full price for a winter coat that they will outgrow practically before the winter is even over. So, today I went and I got Colm a winter coat, a turtleneck, two pairs of shorts and a book and I got both of the boys a pair of snowpants for a grand total of $9.75. Not bad.

It cracks me up how much Colm loves to watch the movie Mary Poppins. Does he seem like the Mary Poppins type to you?

Liam came up with the idea this week that we should have Father's Day Olympics. He came up with the list of events, we got medals for the "winners" of each event and I made an Olympic banner. It didn't quite go as planned since the weather was not cooperating though. We had to move it to the basement and change some of the events, but it was still a good time.


Long Jump


Archery


Fencing


Happy Father's Day

Last week Liam went to Chinese Culture Camp. It was great. They learned how to write using Chinese characters, learned to say a few things in Chinese, made and ate some Chinese foods, put on a Chinese opera complete with masks they had made and learned about Chinese art and some symbolism that is used in Chinese paintings. They also watched some movies about China, did some mapwork and made a dragon which I never did get to see. Oh well, here are some pics they sent.

Liam had his first sleepover last night. The boys (including Colm) had so much fun and are ready to do another one ASAP.

Playing the new Indiana Jones Lego game that we got especially for the big sleepover.


Playing Battleground


The mess they made of Liam's room while playing Star Wars


Wii bowling


Midnight Snack-literally


Time they finally went to bed.

I think Liam is getting in spy mode for Spy Camp in a few weeks. This is currently posted on his door.

If you know me, you know I love a bargain, especially when it comes to my kids' clothes. Well, today we a good day, my friends. I bought Liam seven pairs of pants and a T-shirt and Colm got a turtleneck for (drumroll, please) $34.31 at The Children's Place. One was a pair of dress pants for church, three pair were uniform pants for next year, two pair were uniform pants for the year after that (hey, they were only $3.99) and the last pair were everyday pants for next year. I love that store!

It is funny the things that can spark a memory. I made meatloaf tonight. I think I have made meatloaf maybe four times in my adult life, but every time I make it I think of my grandma. I spent a lot of time with my grandma when I was little and one of the memories I have of her house is making meatloaf. She would put everything in and then she would let me mix everything together by mushing it all up with my hands. The feeling of the cold hamburger and slimy eggs sticking to my fingers and even the shloopy goopy sound it makes reminds me of my grandma and her harvest gold kitchen.

I am not a big gadget person, but I LOVE my new Garmin GPS. The thing that I love about it that none of the others have had is that it tells me the price of gas at all of the gas stations closest to my house and then I can pick the cheapest one. I love it!!! Who are the geniuses that come up with this stuff??!!! ;)

My Boys




We spent a lot of time in the ball area. Colm spent his time gathering balls to feed to the ball sucker and Liam spent his time trying to shoot people.




One the way home Colm insisted he wasn't tired. Two minutes later....

I think we have about one more year of Camp Snoopy left. The boys are getting bigger. They are tall enough to ride more rides now and they want to ride more rides. We rode The Flying Dutchman three times, The Scrambler twice and the favorite ride of the day was, of course, The Viking Voyage. There was a roller coaster (The Boomerang) that Colm really wanted to ride, but he wasn't tall enough. Seeing how these boys grow like weeds, I see a lot of roller coaster rides in my very near future.

The boys had their first swim lesson last night. They did awesome!!! It is hard to believe that Liam used to be afraid of the water or that he ever cried at swim lessons. He was actually swimming!!! I was so proud of him!!! Not to mention that Miss Allison, their teacher, is awesome and she has a prize bucket that they can choose a prize from when they are done with their lesson. The boys are taking individual lessons this year from a college student in our neighborhood. I think it is working out much better than the group lessons we have done in the past. They get more actual swimming time and she lets them go down the slide a couple of times at the end. :)

Yesterday I was talking with the boys about the upcoming election, Republicans and Democrats, the candidates, etc. Liam wanted to know who had run for President in the past and so I told him about Al Gore and George W. Liam then said, "Al Gore always makes me think of celery."

Interesting, I don't think anyone reminds me of celery or any other vegetable for that matter.

The theme this week is "Mom, I'm Bored". Janelle got me started reading Rocks in My Dryer and I knew that I would eventually have some wisdom to share. So, here it is. The childrens' scrapbooks can provide, at the minimum, an hour of entertainment. They both have one for each year they have been alive and they LOVE to look at them and talk about what they remember. It's fun and free!!!!

I stayed up until 1 o'clock this morning so I could finish this book. I am paying for it now, but I am glad I did. I know I have been reading too many Picoult books lately. I am going to take a break from her for a while and try someone new. This was a good book though. It's definitely a page turner.

The boys and a neighbor friend decided today would be a good day to have a lemonade stand. We set it up in our driveway since we have a lot of construction workers around our house who we thought might need an ice cold drink. Boy, were we right. The boys made over $12!!!! They are saving up to buy the new Indiana Jones Lego game for their PS3, Wii or whatever they plan on playing it on.

Making the sign that lasted two seconds because the wind kept ripping it and then Liam accidentally spilled almost an entire pitcher of lemonade on it.


Excited about selling lemonade


Getting kind of tired of selling lemonade


Too hot to sell lemonade


We got a treat from the ice cream lady, she bought some lemonade from us

I had my interview and it went well. She asked me to formally apply so I guess that is a good sign. I would be teaching preschool twice a week from 9-11:30. That's a pretty good gig as far as hours and still having some flexibility go. I know someone who already teaches there and she loves it. However, I just didn't walk away from the interview excited. That's not a good sign. Usually I am excited about the prospect of a new job after leaving an interview. I have another opportunity that I need to explore that is closer to the boys' school. My gut tells me to wait until after the boys start school, figure out what that schedule/routine is going to look like and then go job hunting. We'll see.