Seriously?

 It's barely 8am and all I want to do is just crawl back into my heated mattress pad warmed bed and pull the weighted blanket over my bedraggled head and my mascara smeared eyes... 

First off, what is it with me and electronics?  I only half joke that my magnetic personality is wreaking havoc in the world.  I know how to work the television.  I don't watch a LOT of television, but I know how to work the effing remote!  Alas, I turn on the tv to attempt to watch the weather.  Why did I do that? Who knows.  It's cold.  It might snow.  There might be wind.  Whatever, I truly knew that already - so why was I even trying to turn on the tv?  And why was the tv only working at I want to wake the dead level of volumes?  Literally.  The tv now has mute and I'M SCREAMING volume levels.  Mind you the screaming was when the remote showed it was on a volume level of ONE! Yes, one.  1. 

Fast forward to a teen on the phone when he shouldn't be (note to self adjust his downtime limits by another 15m), one grumpy pre-teen who has a paint splatter on her leggings and can't decide which shoes to wear to school when Jango comes out of the litter box with a piece of poop stuck to his butt fluff.  It's just a pebble Mom say the kids.  Ha ha ha.  So, I grab a Kleenex and try to catch the cat.  The cat is now running and leaping because the dog thinks, yay - my play toy is moving, I must chase it.  I sort of catch Jango and attempt to grab said pebble with the tissue.  Oh no, all I manage to do is smush it into his fluff and piss off the cat who's trying to get out of the way of the dog.  I pause briefly to yell at the kids to go brush their teeth.  One kid listens and heads upstairs, the other attempts to help control the dog so I can chase the cat.  I reach for the kitchen scissors thinking - screw it, sorry kitty - I'm just going to give you a wee little trim.  Dog is barking, cat is hissing, more cats come to see what the fuss is all about... I manage to snip the fluff BUTT (ha, see what I did there...) the smooshy, trimmed, poopy tush fluff is now hanging and not falling.  For Pete's Sake...I toss the scissors down and reach for another tissue.  The dog is now jumping, the kid upstairs is shouting for the other one to come brush teeth before the bus leaves them both, I'm chasing Jango with the scissors in hand AGAIN.  I've now trimmed even more fluff and I think I've gotten the majority of it... kid 2 runs upstairs and then back down about 45 seconds later.  Kid one now thinks they are the parent and wants to know why kid 2 only brushed for 30 seconds.  Dude.  If your teeth and breath stink then so be it... just grab your Chromebook (you know, the one you forgot to charge last night), some shoes - why are you putting on your OLD shoes?? Whatever, I give up... okay - shoo, go, up the street - go go go.  Why is Atticus halfway up the street without a jacket?  It's 20 maybe outside?  Insert eye roll... Oh, and I was also trying to order school lunches in the middle of all of this too because oh yeah, it's now a new month and I'm guessing the kids want to eat something at school because I sure as heck didn't get anything packed!!!  I need to wake up earlier - but that just sounds like a terrible idea.  

So now, it's 8:30.  I'm half caffeinated.  Queso is napping on the sofa.  Jango and his trimmed butt fluff is hiding, probably trying to make himself presentable.  The television is off.  My calendar just dinged.  I'm supposed to be at physical therapy in 30 minutes.  I'd better go throw on some workout clothes and brush my teeth!  Oh, and hope that work doesn't notice that I'm not logged into our big kickoff activities because I'm trying to revive a blog.  

And I should probably feed the fish.  I doubt anyone thought to feed them yesterday...

Sprinkler Woes

One of our sprinkler heads hasn't been rotating properly.  It's been on Greg's to-do list for a while -- ever since the company we had come to turn on the system and check the heads did a crappy ass job.  Ugh.  But anyway...

We ordered some new parts and Greg set off to change the head this afternoon.  He ended up digging a freaking trench trying to get to the base of the thingy.  Then water and dirt were everywhere.  Greg was using the cleaning tool from the fish tank trying to siphon (syphon?) the water out from around the thingy so we could put the new part on - and that was working about as well as you'd think.  Not at all.  So, he trudged off to Home Depot to purchase a shop vac!  I suppose on those rare occasions when something is overflowing, we'll be really really glad we own a shop vac?!?

Fun times at the Badens.

On the upside, the sprinklers are now all working and hopefully the reseeding of our lawn will take hold this time!

Knock Knock.

Funny how feeling emotional makes me want to spew everything on paper.  Or virtual paper as the case may be.

Ugh.  Some things that aren't shareable are really getting under my skin at the moment and we're working on a resolution.  Hopefully it's water under the bridge soon and not even worth a mention.

In school news, the kids have begun the 2018-2019 school year.  This is Atticus's last year in elementary school which I can hardly believe!  How is it possible I'm the parent of a 10 year old?  I mean - wow, time flies when you're adulting.

We've begun the process of getting Atticus evaluated at school to see if there are other things we can do to help his learning.  He's a smart kid, but has difficulties getting this thoughts and knowledge out of his head.  I say he's more of a slow cooker kind of kid.  Things go in -- and they just need to stew about for a while before he's ready to discuss or give you an answer.  Nothing wrong with that, it's just how his brain works.  So, we're looking at different solutions and options that may help him learn to manage his expectations.

Atticus has also decided that he'd like to play the trumpet!  Oy!  He was playing the baritone in NY, but that wasn't an option here - so I'm currently researching where to rent/buy a trumpet.  Music class for him will be on Monday mornings at 7:30AM.  Oooof.  Although I suppose this will help prepare us for the 6:30AM bus once he's up in the middle school.

Wren was not thrilled with her teach assignment for 3rd grade.  From what I hear, the parents love her and the kids not so much.  She's strict.  Personally, I'm okay with that.  It's good for the kids to have guidelines and rules and structure!

Since Wren has also been complaining of being bored at school for the past year, we've opted to enroll her in a local after school program called Russian School of Math.  She claims to not enjoy math, but she's good at it and this will ensure that for at least 2 hours a week, she's not "bored" and "not learning anything".  The results from the students as they age is impressive.  Is it weird that I wish I'd had Russian Math as a kid?  I mean, I took math classes for easy A's at the University of Texas!  Math is awesome.

The after school programs are also starting back up with a vengeance.  Track, gymnastics, ninja classes, Hebrew School, chess -- and we're just getting started.  :)

Here's to another trip around the sun...

Here's to consistency and knowing that we're not changing schools...

Where's My Timeturner?

I know I say this often - but holy moly, life is moving at the speed of light right now!

Let's see what's going on right now...

Organizing the upcoming author visit for grades 3-5 this Friday!
Arranging the pack and load of the storage unit.
Arranging the pack and load of the house.
Drafting a letter to the current landlord to see if he's okay with the proposal of subletting.
Purging.
Organizing.
Figuring out upcoming track schedules.
Looking for new sports teams in MA.
Looking for a new orthodontist.
Looking for a new oncology team to monitor me.
Purging.  (Did I say that yet?)

G'ahhhhhhhhhh....

Apple Picking For The Win

On a whim, after seeing some photos from friends - I decided to take the kids apple picking.  I mean, who doesn't need 15 pounds of apples?  There are so many amazing farms within 30-45 minutes of our house, it seemed silly not to go.

The plan had us headed to Harvest Moon Orchard.  I knew the traffic would be a bit crazy, so we took the prior exit and used Waze to wiggle over.  And well, after following a line of cars, we ended up at Outhouse Orchard!  Eh - that worked out well too.

 

The map of the day said that we'd be picking Macintosh and Idared varieties.

The kids were smarter than me and both wore baseball caps for the day!  

He dropped the one he had been eating!

The highlight of the afternoon was using the 10 foot long apple picking stick!

Hayride?  Sure!  We were able to see more of the orchards this way.

Singing cowboy, Orville Davis was along for the hayrides.

I just did a quick google on Mr. Davis and it seems he's done a right plenty in his time here on earth.  Here's an article on him in the New York Times.

Now it's Monday morning and I'm staring at a huge bag of apples.  The kids each took an apple in for snack today and they each brought one for their teachers as well.  I've also spent about an hour peeling apples and tossed them into the crockpot with some sugar and cinnamon to simmer for the day.  Hopefully we'll all be having applesauce for dessert.  Tomorrow, I'll branch into apple cakes and apple muffins...

Breathing is Overrated

I'm going to keep repeating this mantra until my cold/allergies/sinus infection goes on it's merry way out of my head.  For the love of goodness - how many cups of hot tea can one drink in a day?  How much Vick's is needed to get a decent night's sleep?  Oy vey!  Granted, in the grand scope of world problems -- I am on the minor nuisance since of issues.  But yet, I grow weary of not breathing.  It's bloody annoying.

Also slightly annoying... the fact that it was 75 degrees yesterday in NYC and today the high is 53.  Normally - not a problem.  But guess what?  (Chicken butt) Today is Halloween and my daughter wants to be a ballerina riding a unicorn.  She's going to look like Elsa in Frozen with icicles hanging off her if I can't convince her to cover up in her ballet tutu!  

Speaking of dressing up - it's 1pm and I probably should go look for my costume before the little people arrive home.

Full Speed Ahead Captain!

We're off and running.  All the clubs and after school things mentioned earlier are going, going, and going!  Swimming isn't our favorite activity yet -- but at least I'm feeling more confident that should our kids find themselves suddenly in the water, they can swim to the edge and get out without panic.

Tailwind Track Club has been amazing.  I've said for the past 7 years that Atticus's favorite thing in the world was running.  While I for the life of me don't understand that passion - I'm going to support him and let him run like Forrest Gump until he can't run anymore!  This however is difficult too because it requires dragging a sassy six year old to track practise at 7pm -- in the rain, in the snow, in the whatever may come...

Tae kwon do is also going really well.  I love that both kids are enjoying it and that we've been able to recruit a few school friends to join too!  It's a great group of instructors and they do wonders with the kids.

As for Greg and I (or would it be me?) - we're hanging in there.  I'm volunteering at the school library, I'm on the science committee which is planning for our STEM nights, I'm involved in a few other PTA events.... Greg is working like crazy.   I'm hoping life slows down for him a bit!

My mom underwent knee replacement surgery earlier this week and I feel terrible that I'm so far away.   After her fall earlier this summer, the break in her tibial plateau just wasn't healing and a recent MRI revealed that there was too much damage to the ligaments and tendons.  Booooo.  So, while I wouldn't wish knee surgery on my enemy - I'm truly hopeful that this is the end of a long road and recovery for her!

Don't Tell Me It's Mid September!

So, there's actually been quite a bit going on lately I've just been too swamped to keep track of it all for you!  How about I start with current events and work my way backwards a bit?

Kid are in school.  Halle-freaking-lujah for getting back into routines!  Since school only takes us through 6.5 hours of the day, I thought it would be great fun to make myself nuts and sign the kids up for a bunch of activities!  The current breakdown looks like this: swim lessons 1x a week (only 7 more to go).  Taekwondo 2x a week for both kids - naturally since they're different levels, they go at different times.  Track 2x a week for Thing 1 -- at a high school that's about 15-20 minutes drive from here.  Ballet for Thing 2 only 1x a week for now, but I'm sure she'd go more often if time allowed!  And then Hebrew School for both of them on the weekends too just because we have so much free time.  I'm not exactly sure how we're going to squeeze in track meets around the current schedule, but we'll see!!

All these activities of course are just for the kids... I've also taken on quite a few responsibilities in the PTA at school.  I'm volunteering weekly at the library.  I'm organizing the Class Photo Day for the school, I'm co-chairing the STEM Committee to bring tinkering nights and other science and technology things to school and I'm one of the class moms for W's classroom.  Phew.

School... kids are settling in.  A few minor bumps the first week, but we're adjusting.  I'm happy to report that similar to the meme floating around FB I'm super proud of my daughter for being the one to sit with the new kid at school and make friends.  She was so nervous for the first day to not have her bestie with her, but she made two new friends from the first day!  Bonus, one of them lives a few doors down the road.

We finished off summer 2016 with a trip to Texas to see my folks.  The kids wanted to visit the water park in the neighborhood every day and I'm happy to report we did visit 10 out of the 11 days we were there.  Not too bad!  Hopefully, it makes the upcoming swim lessons a bit easier knowing they're slightly more comfortable in the water!

Here are the kids getting their wings for the flight down to Texas!

Two pictures of the amazing community pool and splash park!

Of course there were some fun games at Bubbe and Pops' house!  Here's our first attempt at Pie Face!

There was even a lost tooth!  A baby tooth, don't worry!  It took much convincing on my part, but Wren finally pulled it out herself!  

Friendships.

Over the years, I've had really good luck making friends.  That's pretty impressive considering the amount of times I've moved recently... but sometimes, you land in a spot where it's just hard.

New York does not seem to be my state.

Sometimes, everything just clicks.  Perhaps because everything was just seamless in London, living here seems so much more difficult.  I miss having friends close by that I could just call on for no reason.  We could knock on their door just because we were walking by -- no other reason.  Our house was the same... there was as good a chance as not that some of us would meet up for a cup of tea, an impromptu play in the park, or just and old fashioned play date on the weekend.   San Francisco was like that.  Dallas/Austin was like that and London definitely so.

I don't have that here and I miss it.  I don't think I realized how much I missed it until I read this in an article yesterday.

I want to go to the grocery store with you. I want to see where your kids go to school and see them run and hug you when you pick them up in the afternoon. I want to sit with you in your kitchen, and cook with you at your stove. I want to sit in your living room and chat and have tea, and I want to walk out your front door and see what scene greets you every day. I want to see where you work, and what sits atop your office desk. I even want to know what your spring coat looks like, for goodness’ sake. Because I want to soak in your everyday, so I can tuck it away for the next time we talk. I need pictures in my head, and to know the sum of your days, because I miss you, old friend.

So today, I'm missing old friends.  Here's to seeing you soon...

Oh hi... I remember you!

It's been a while.  I know.  But, the school year is coming to a close and I'm feeling inspired.  Let's get back to blogging, shall we?  I fell into the FaceBook trap.  Posting too many half hearted attempts there and ignoring the blog.

I'm back.  At least in theory.

At this exact moment - I have to go pack a picnic before I go pick up the kids.  It's a lovely sunny afternoon and we're headed over to the bandstand with our school friends after pick up for a picnic in the park.  Bring on the blankets, frisbee, maybe some water balloons???

xx.

April, Are You Kidding Me?

Let's see if I can even come up with a short list of all the things going on in the Baden house right now...

In no particular order (I know - I'm normally at least somewhat organized, but this is sort of stream of consciousness writing...)

We've been living it up at Danneel Park.  There is a new swingset and some new climby things for the younger crowd that has become a big weekend hit.

I brought back a pair of Crocs for the kids from my last trip to Dallas and both Wren and Atticus are over the moon.  :) Wren got some aqua blue t-strap/Mary Jane types with a Minnie Mouse jibbitz thingy and Atticus is rocking some lemon yellow crocs with a bright red Mater. err -- we're calling it Mater, but I think it's actually Red, the fire engine.

We dyed "Easter" eggs in the backyard a week ago.  Atticus had fun, Wren wasn't all that interested.

Atticus graduated from OT.  He's now age level for all his gross and fine motor skills.  We still have a few things to work on - alternating feet going down stairs and working on some sensory obstacles, but overall, he's made great progress with Miss Trenice.  He's going to be very sad not to work with her anymore, but he's already asked if we could stop by to say hi and bring her cupcakes.  What a good kid, eh?

We've decided to wait until next fall (2013) for Atticus to enroll in preschool.  The whole process is so trying and "trying" to work the system from New Orleans just makes everything that much more complicated!  So, once we have a start date for Greg, we'll worry about finding a place to live and arranging daycare for the kids.  Then... once we're up in the NYC area, I'll start all over again with the open houses, applications, blah blah blah.  I'm still holding out hope that he can attend Rodeph next year.  In my heart, that just felt like the right spot for Atticus.  We'll see.

I've been traveling to Dallas quite a bit for work lately.  On the upside, I've seen my family more than I would have otherwise.  On the downside, it's been stressful for the kids and Greg.  This past week however, my trip coincided with the start of Passover.  Nicole and her family were up for the weekend and we had fun night hosted by Jessica and James.  Nothing like a a bottle of wine per person to kick start a holiday weekend.  Brad did a great job touching on the high points in the Haggadah (you know -- the wine, the singing and the eating!).

I was also able to spend some time with Nicole which was a welcomed treat.  I really miss living close to friends.  Not to say I haven't met some great people all across the states with our moves, but there's something about just hanging out and laughing with your best friend that's good for the soul.  I feel soooo much better.  (With the exception of a sore nose from where Nic tried to help me while I was falling off some crazy platform shoes and she managed to whack me in the nose with the shoe she was holding!!)

Wren is entering the tantrum phase.  If you tell her no, she will full force throw herself on the floor, wailing and scooting and kicking and thrashing for approximately 2-3 minutes.  She will then sit up, grab her woobie, let out a big sigh and come to sit in my lap.  I try not to laugh, but it's kinda funny.

We've instituted a behavior chart for Atticus and so far it's working wonders.  If he can stay in his room and play quietly in the morning without waking Wren or the parents, he gets to color in a gold star on his chart.  Once he fills in all the stars, we'll go pick out a prize.  I'm thinking he'll get a quarter and get to pick out something from the vending "machines" at the entrance to WalMart.

Oh... and I've also posted a ton of pictures up to Picasa.  Finally.  Let me know if you need the links.

Death

I revert back to my original stance -- this weekend just sucks.  I learned today that a friend of mine lost her Grandmother this morning.  I know it's a blessing in itself to be out of college with living grandparents - but I really wish we could celebrate Thanksgiving by giving Thanks, not by attending funerals.

Just when I was getting over the news from my friend, I received two messages from my friends and neighbors back in Perrysburg.  Our next door neighbor, John, lost his fight with a rare and aggressive form of bone cancer this afternoon.  He was 39.  He has three amazing kids - 16,14 and 11.  I'm reeling from the news.  He was diagnosed sometime this spring.  It hasn't been long.  Atticus had so much fun over at their house this past summer.  He shouted good morning across the fence to John and Michelle daily and was always asking if he could come to the pool or bounce on the trampoline with their youngest daughter.  It's heart breaking...

So - even as my kids are acting up and being total pain in the tushes -- I'm going to go give them and my husband a big hug and kiss and be thankful for each day I have here.

Life in the Big Easy

We're slowly settling in... and I'm making much more of an effort to meet folks here (at least compared to life in Ohio). I had lunch with a friend of friend (a very nice lawyer who's invited us over to his parent's house for the break fast after Yom Kippur). I've met with the woman who's in charge of newcomers to the Federation, Jody. She's great -- and she has a 3 year old son named Billy. And she has a ton of friend all of whom have 3 year old boys. Woot. I met a bunch of them out at Danneel Park yesterday morning. What a fantastic park. Both kids had a blast - and Atticus even learned how to pee on a tree. I know, right? Oy. At least boys have the option of peeing on a tree! It was a pretty funny sight to see half a dozen three year old boys all circled around a big tree going pee.

This morning was at Tot Social at the Uptown JCC. Wow. Note to self, call again tomorrow to see if there's any room available for the kids. The outside play area alone would make it worth switching daycares! I spoke with a few new Moms and Dads while Atticus and Wren made friends and played. It seems the Jewish community is full of three year old boys! :-)

After a morning of playing, I picked up Greg and we thought we'd try out the restaurant around the corner from us, Lucky Ladle. We arrived about 10 minutes before noon -- but when we went inside we were told that they were actually closing for the day! They'd been so busy that morning that they'd run out of food! Are you kidding me??? So, since we were still hungry - we went to the place next door, Jackson. While the food was quite tasty - the place was practically empty and it still took almost 40 minutes to get two plates of scrambled eggs for the kids, some french toast for me and a crepe for Greg. For some unknown reason - we just do NOT have good luck with restaurant service! Honestly - the table of 4 that came in well after us (at least 15 to 20 minutes) after were served first, and had already paid their tab and packed up before we could even contemplate asking for the check. Sigh.

Now... I'm ever so patiently waiting for the littles to fall asleep. Once that happens - I'm going to catch a few zzzzz's too!

Good Grief

So I've been a bit busy lately - and not necessarily in the most positive sense. Atticus is a challenging three year old. I know three as a general rule is a tempermental age -- but I think we've got it worse than most. I've got a list of questions growing for our next pediatrician visit -- or possibly for the therapy folks down in NOLA. It's been a rough couple of weeks. Let's hope the remainder of the move and the settling into the new house goes smoothly... goodness knows we could use it. On the upside - the kids are still healthy. :)

The next few days will be filled with DMV visits, running last minute errands, attempting to see Texas friends, attempting to squash in some work -- and then driving 9 hours with 2 toddlers. Delightful, eh?

I did get some great photos and video today while the Great Bubbe was over here -- one day I'll get everything uploaded and links sent out. :)

Case of the Mondays

- Sick kid (now Wren's caught the cold).
- Atticus awoke to wet sheets, and wet wooby and wet pajamas.
- Atticus then managed to go through 3 pair of underwear and 3 pair of shorts before we made it to daycare.
- Forgot to sign up for dinner from the school and it looks like we'll be eating some random combination of things in the freezer tonight. (Which needs to happen anyways I guess!)
- Car needs oil change and a few other minor things looked at and the closest dealer is in Ann Arbor, MI and they can't see me until this coming Friday. (Cutting it a wee bit close, I know...)
- Freaking router at home needs to be reset a dozen times for no known reason
- Sick kids don't eat or nap well

There is so much to get done.... OY!

Zoo FAIL

So originally I was going to meet a friend at the Toledo Zoo last weekend. But, she wasn't feeling well on Saturday and we were going to the air show in Dayton on Sunday. So.... the weather was supposed to be nice today so this morning I sent a quick text over to Mary and she said sure... see you there at 10. Well, Greg thought he'd better come since I'd have a tough time navigating animals and two kids. Nice thought, it's ALWAYS easier with one more adult! I pulled up the zoo website and purchased tickets and a parking pass online. I had the option to pick up the tickets at Will Call or print them at home. Normally, I would have just printed - but it said it could take up to 2 hours for the email to arrive. Ummmm, no thanks. So I chose will call. By the time we were all loaded up and out the door, I knew we'd miss Mary and Callahan -- but we'd give it a shot to see if we could find each other. We arrived at the zoo, made it to the parking lot, gathered our supplies and headed in.

The ticket line was fairly long, but I saw some booths that said Advanced Tickets or something along those lines. We headed that way and got in line. There was a woman standing by the gate to get in and she said, if you already have your tickets, I can let you in here. I went to show her the printout receipt and she tells me,"Oh -- you need to go to Guest Services to pick up your tickets." UGH - are you kidding me? I told Greg to stay there with Atticus and Wren and I headed over to Guest Services. I was number three in line. Doesn't sound too daunting except the person at the window apparently had a million and one issues! She was having a party there at 3, but the people were arriving at different times, and where would they leave the gifts and where did they catch the train and could some people do x while others did y, and what about if they had membership passes and what about BLAH BLAH BLAH. Seriously, it was ridiculous. Made even more so by the fact that will call tickets were being held at Guest Services! Oy. So - finally got the tickets, went back to the boys and got into the park. (Learned later that the woman at the gate was supposed to have given each of the kids a FREE Fisher Price toy -- but we never got those!!!) I was trying to read the map while slathering on sunscreen and texting with Mary to see where she was at this point. So - I turned the wrong way towards Africa instead of African Safari (or vice versa). G'ah.... turned back around and headed towards the new baby elephant, Lucas. The place was crowded, we didn't even get to see the baby and we never found Mary! We continued on, but it was so hot that 99% of the animals were hiding. Seriously. I think we saw 4 animals. We attempted to seek refuge in the Aquarium - but it was wicked crowded in there too - and my kids were getting restless. We tried to see what was offered at the Fisher Price special setup thingy - but there was a long line there too, so we kept walking. We ended up playing at the playground for a while before saying - two peas in a bucket! We packed up and headed to the car. It just wasn't meant to be.

And I'm still peeved we didn't get our free Fisher Price toy!

Airplanes and Helicopters

When Greg was growing up, he recalls going to the Dayton Air Show with his Dad. The tradition continued this weekend. We packed up the car and made the 2 hour trek south to Dayton to attend the air show. It's quite the production. $10 to park and $20 for each adult ticket for admission! But despite the heat - I know Atticus had a grand ole time!

Here are a few pictures from our day trip. Click on the collage to make it bigger.

Memorial Day 2011

I just may faint. Today it's sunny at 90 degrees with a light breeze. For that, I'd like to thank the men and women of the armed forces who are looking down today on everyone and sending love to the friends and families gathered at BBQs around the country!

We've had a great day thus far... (after the rocky night with Wren waking TWICE - I'm kind of over the whole "teething" thing). A little before 8 am, Atticus and I went downstairs to bake cinnamon rolls while Wren and Greg were still asleep. Atti helped me grease the pan and into the oven went the rolls. We changed diaper and got into clothes with no fuss and I asked him to play quietly with his cars while I came upstairs to check on Wren. Found her awake and quietly babbling - no screaming! Atti then proceeded to amaze me by sharing toys and being incredibly patient with Wren while we waited for the oven to ding. Then... everyone sat down and shared fruit, yogurt, milk and cinnamon rolls. Amazing, eh?

The sun was shining so I grabbed some sunscreen and a hat for Atti and the two of us went to the driveway to practice riding the bicycle. We said hi to our neighbors and they invited Atticus over for a dip in their pool. Atticus was quite excited. He changed into his new swimsuit and rashguard top and we went next door. He wanted to "swim like a fishy" (complete with hand motions for demonstration). He made it in to the second step, but that was as brave as he got. However.. he had a grand ole time sitting on the edge with his feet in the water, throwing the balls into the pool, carrying around the pool "noodle" from one end to the other... It was incredibly kind of our neighbors to allow him to play! Oh, and they fed him too because even though we'd just finished breakfast - he still needed some more crackers, cheese and Twizzlers!

When it was time to come back to our house for lunch and nap, we found that Greg had put together Atticus's birthday present from Bubbe and Pops -- the new Radio Flyer Tricycle! We had to pry him off to get him to eat lunch! Needless to say, I'm not sure what we'll be doing after nap - the park to feed the ducks, riding the tricycle, or going next door to the pool!

Ok, I'm off to do something productive around the house. Not sure what - but the list is long and I need to start somewhere!

Coffee

We didn't even have two hours... but it was a great night to sit out on the patio of Starbucks and drink a latte and chat with my best friend. Life is more complicated once you start factoring in kids. Glad we were able to sneak off for a bit.

The Flight to Dallas

Pardon the expression - but it was sheer Hell. Oh my goodness. Both of my children screamed for the majority of the 3 hour flight. It was awful. When the jet turned on the runway to begin taxiing for take-off, Atticus got upset because it was quite loud. Then -- the plane is in the air, and he refused to look out the windown, he just had a death grip from my left shoulder to my left elbow and kept trying to bury his head in my body. (Mind you at this exact time, I'm also attempting to nurse Wren to help with her ears...) As the plane gains altitude, Atti tells me that his ears hurt. He has his wooby, he has juice... neither is working. Wren isn't doing all that great either. I thought certainly she'd fall asleep -- we had to wake her early and here it was smack dab in the middle of her nap schedule. Nope. I'm attempting to bounce Wren, nurse her, move her from one leg to the other all with only my right arm because Atticus won't let go of my left arm. I tried bribing him with breakfast. I tried bribing him with M&Ms. I tried the new stickers in his Elmo backpack.... just about the time he was sort of calming down we hit a small bout of turbulence that sent him over the edge again. Oh, and add to this that I'm still shifting Wren around and the guy in front of me apparently was peeved and he threw his chair backwards clocking Wren in the head with the tray! I was speechless! (I know, hard to imagine...) Seriously -- it's pretty obvious that I was trying everything in my power to get the kids to calm down. Sigh... Atticus is doing well with his words and his vocabulary. He kept telling me that he didn't like the airplane and that he wanted to get off NOW. He wasn't so happy with having to stay strapped into his chair. Poor guy. On the upside - I didn't have to take either kiddo to the bathroom on the plane and the gate crew took my stroller out of the bag and reassembled it for me when I got off the plane. :)