Mommathon

From the very beginning of parenthood I was told always keep your local poison control number in a place where you can see it. I have been doing that for 6 1/2 years and tonight it paid off. I am still not sure if I gave Liam the wrong medicine or not, but I gave him what I thought was his medicine and after he swallowed it he said it tasted funny. This is a medicine that he has been taking every day for at least two years, so he knows what it tastes like. So, naturally, I freak out and start looking at Sean's meds and realize that one of his looks very much like Liam's only it's a little bit smaller. #@&^*!!! We keep all of the kid meds on a separate shelf, but mistakes happen. So I call the pharmacy, but they want me to push 2 for this and then 4 for that and I don't have time for all that so I hang up and call poison control where I actually get a human within 30 seconds or less. I tell her the situation, the names of the meds, how old Liam is and how much he weighs. She plugs all the info into the computer and assures me that he will be fine. He could have taken 60 times what he did tonight without any adverse side effects. Now I am going to sit down and have a post-traumatic heart attack.

If your mind is in the gutter, stay there, that is where I am headed. One of the great things about the boys' school is that it has a pool which means they have swim lessons. It also means there is a locker room where they have to change into their swim trunks. Liam is learning some new things in first grade including new words for his various body parts. I am assuming this is coming from the locker room. So last night the boys are getting ready to take a bath and Liam informs Colm that he can see his nuts and balls. Colm looks around very confused as there are no nuts or balls in the bathroom while I am shooting Liam the "you better shut your trap now" look while not calling attention to myself or what Liam just said. You just never know what they are going to bring home from school.

Liam told me this morning that he loves me and wishes he could marry me. When I asked him where we would go for our honeymoon he said we could go to Great Wolf Lodge. So cute.

Last weekend we went to a party hosted by one of Sean's co-workers. It was at his house out in the country and it was absolutely beautiful. Colm loved the horses and rode them twice...one was named Chicken and the other was Oreo. He was in love with the chickens and showed me the chicken coop several times. He was amazed that there were actual eggs in the roosts waiting to be gathered. He got to feed the fish in the pond and tried to get the water to come out of the pump, but it was too hard. Where was Liam? Once he discovered the barn's loft that was the last we saw of him until it was time to go and he did not want to go. The loft was awesome..it had a basketball court up there and they had scooters up there for the kids to ride around. Colm was super-ticked that he was not allowed to go up in the loft, but there was absolutely no way I was going to let him climb up that ladder. Sorry, fella!

From October 2008

From October 2008

From October 2008

From October 2008

Does he look a little nervous? I know I was, but I was proud of him that he gathered up the courage to climb up that tall ladder.

From October 2008

All the Better to See you With by Margaret Wild is a very sweet book about a quiet little girl who is constantly outdone by her loud brothers and sisters. One day at the beach her parents stop for a moment and realize that she needs glasses...all the better to see you with. I'm not sure why Colm likes this book so much, but I have probably read it almost every day for the past ten days.

Monday-Roasted Whole Chicken, Green Beans, Roasted Potatoes
Tuesday-Migas with Bacon
Wednesday-Swiss Chard Lasagna, Italian Bread
Thursday-Baked Chicken, Leftover Roasted Potatoes, Green Beans
Friday-Salmon, Chopped Basil Salad, Breadsticks
Saturday-Penne with Pumpkin Cream Sauce, Asparagus

Yesterday at school the boys and all of the rest of the students and staff celebrated one of their custodians becoming a U.S. citizen. All of the students and teachers gathered on the stairs (picture one of those stairwells, three stories tall, that you can stand at the bottom and see all the way up filled with students three years old all the way to 8th grade) and said the Pledge of Allegiance together while one of the Montessori students held up the flag. Then they presented her with an American flag and an apple pie (very American). I get weepy just thinking about it. It is so touching and I love that they not only acknowledged that she had earned her citizenship, but they shared it with the whole school and celebrated it, too. It was awesome to listen to the boys tell me about it

This is a memoir written by an adoptee. It tells the tale of her biological mother contacting her as an adult, how that leads to her meeting her biological father and the mind games they both play with her. There is some closure for her when she searches through archives and finds out about her family history back several generations, both biological and adopted. In the end you get the feeling that she feels loved and connected to her adopted family, but also like there is something just not quite right. There are just some loose ends for her that will never get wrapped up the way she wants them to or the way they should.

Saturday-Balsamic Chicken and Baby Spinach
Sunday-Italian Sausage Soup
Monday-Chili and Cornbread
Tuesday-BBQ Pulled Pork, Potato Salad, Fresh Fruit
Wednesday-Pasta with Homemade Meatballs
Thursday-I will be out to eat with some other moms...the boys are on their own.
Friday-Salmon Patties, Baked Beans, Fresh Fruit or Salad

This is my book club book and I would have never chosen it on my own. The first chapter or so I really liked, the next few chapters after that were enough to make me want to abandon ship. I am so glad I didn't. Even though I didn't understand those chapters at the time, I stuck with the book and they totally made sense as the book went along. It goes back and forth in time which made it a little confusing at times, but again, as the book goes along it all comes together. Good read.

Once upon a time I said I would NEVER EVER be a substitute teacher EVER again!!! Well, never say never. I have decided that being a sub is my best bet as far as being able to balance a family and having some sort of income, no matter how measly. I signed up today to be a sub at the boys' school. I said I would work three days a week, that leaves me two other days to volunteer at the school and to do the stuff I need to do. It is a small school, so I really doubt I will be working three days a week, but you never know, especially once cold season kicks in. Anyhow, I am sure there will be days when I am reminded why I said I would never be a sub again, but as long as those days only come every once in a GREAT while, I am sure I will survive. And who knows, maybe this will lead to a permanent position at some point.

Liam is so cute. He asked me last night why everyone wants Obama to win. I told him why I thought a lot of people like Obama. He then told me that he had read that McCain's points are down and then told me he wants to vote for McCain. That is so Liam. He has always marched to his own drummer or however that saying goes. He sees what "everyone else" is doing and then does something else. He is his own person and I love that about him. :)

We went to Kaleidoscope today. I haven't been there since I was a little girl and I had a picture in my head as to what it would look like. It doesn't look the same at all! Oh, and we had so much fun! I love it because the kids can just make whatever they want. There is no direction. They are just free to create! There were two things I remembered making at Kaleidoscope from when I was a child. One was the candles. I loved it because you could pick out what color you wanted your candle to be and then you could dip it in the hot stuff and out came your brand new candle. My other favorite thing was the puzzle maker. You would color a picture on this cardboard stuff and then an adult would put it in this puzzle cutting machine and, voila, you would have your very own puzzle. Guess what?! They still have the puzzle maker!

Liam creating

From October 2008

Sunday-Pork Machaca-Serve with fresh cilantro, salsa and add a can of beans to the crockpot.
Monday-Sloppy Joes, Corn
Tuesday-Hot Italian Sausage, Peppers, add a can of Italian diced tomatoes, Fresh Italian Bread
Wednesday-Bruschetta Chicken, Salad
Thursday-Salmon, Salad, Corn Bread Sticks
Friday-Balsamic Chicken with Baby Spinach

It was going to happen sooner or later. Liam had his first semi-major bike crash today. No broken bones or anything like that, but he landed on his face. He looks like someone punched him right in the cheekbone. He also got caught in the inner elbow by the handlebars, I think; he has a weird-shaped bruise there, too. I took pictures of the poor guy, but they don't do his injury justice. I will have to try again tomorrow.

Our school had their annual fall festival this weekend. It is one of the major fundraisers of the year, so it is a pretty big deal. The weather was perfect and the boys had a blast.

Liam went straight for this jumping contraption.

From October 2008

Fishing for prizes

From October 2008

Trying to win a real fish...so glad they lost.

From October 2008

From October 2008

From October 2008

Colm loves any book that has the Berenstein Bears in it; we just happen to be reading this one at the moment.

One year ago today we moved into our new house. I do not plan to put myself through that kind of hell again any time soon. I hate moving. Really, I do. If I learned anything from that move it is that hiring movers was THE BEST decision we made throughout the whole ordeal. They were worth EVERY EVERY penny. Our house really looks like people live here now, too. When we first moved in it was perfect-no dents, no scratches, no fingerprints on the walls. I can't say that now. Happy anniversary, house. This is the only picture I have of us in the process of moving. It is a picture of the kitchen in our previous house which is clearly in limbo.

From Meadowridge House

I went, I saw, I ate. Really, it was a very good time and the hostess did an awesome job decorating for the occasion. Each table had a different theme with the placecards, napkins, table decor, etc. but in a very adult way as opposed to a preschool Halloween party way. There was a fall-themed table, a bat table, a pumpkin table, a ghost table, etc. There was SO MUCH food-it was like Thanksgiving! There were two different types of lasagna, three different salads, two different types of risotto, a tortellini dish, roasted potatoes with olive oil and italian seasonings, carrots with mint, flourless peanut butter chocolate chip cookies and lemon meringue pie. There were also various wines, Halloween brew/punch and some yummy tea. Oh, and there were three different appetizers. One was my bruschetta which was quite yummy if I do say so myself. (The secret is the fire-roasted tomatoes.) Am I glad I went? You bet. I had a nice time talking with my neighbors and I got to eat some great food.

I have some mixed feelings about going to gourmet today. Gourmet is a group of ladies in my neighborhood that meets once a month for a very nice lunch. When I say nice, I mean nice...linens, china, the works. There is a theme each month and then you are assigned an appetizer, beverage, main dish, dessert or salad, etc. and then you pick what you are going to make that goes with the theme. I have never been to gourmet before and am not a "regular" but signed up to be a sub so as to not seem totally non-social. Also, if you are a regular you have to host all of these ladies at your house at some point and, quite frankly, I don't know where I would put 24 people for a sit-down luncheon. I just feel weird about all of us whiling away the afternoon sipping beverages and eating off of china while our husbands are working their tails off at work. It just seems so stereotypical JOCO housewife. Ugh! It is very organized, too. There is one mom who always has all the preschool and under kids at her house. Everyone chips in to pay for the babysitter and, voila, you have a kid-free afternoon. Which, I assume, is part the appeal. I am sure it will be lovely and the food will be great, but I am still going to feel a pang of guilt knowing my husband is at work enduring meetings and eating his brownbag lunch while I am eating a super yummy Italian feast. I have got my bruscetta fixings all ready, now I just need to make it. I'll let you know how the party goes.

What lingo are you tired of hearing this election season? I'll start:

Maverick

Liam went through a few stages as a preschooler that were annoying, but bearable. There was the nose picking stage and the hands-down-the-pants stage. Again, annoying at times, kinda funny at times, but bearable. Colm is going through a potty talk stage that is driving me NUTS! Seriously nuts. I know it is being fueled by all the little boys at school, too. (I am not blaming the other boys, I am just saying it is a whole lot more fun for preschoolers to talk about poop when there are others laughing along with them. ) We went to a birthday party last weekend and at one point all of these little boys were in stitches because they were coming up with all these poop things to say while they were eating their cake. Oh, so funny. I think this poop stage is particularly annoying, too, because it is driving Liam crazy so they fight about it. Mom, Colm said there is poop on my head. Mom, Colm said I smell like poop....and on and on. You get the idea and the more Liam complains the more Colm keeps it up. This, too, shall pass.

Be a part of the research that learns how to stop breast cancer.  This is a new way of looking at eradicating breast cancer.  The focus is on studying healthy women so doctors can learn how to prevent breast cancer from ever forming.  Dr. Susan Love, along with Avon, is looking for an army of healthy women to help researchers reach their goal.  You sign up and if you meet certain criteria you may be contacted for a blood sample, a urine sample, a tissue sample, etc.  It sounds like a pretty easy way to make a HUGE difference.