How Hot in October?

Oy! Is it hot here! The last few days have raised the mercury to between 77 and 82 degrees - and it's humid. It's October for hell's sake. It's sick. I tried putting away all our spring and summer clothes in bins and storing them in the attack, but I've had to tap into them to dress Olivia and myself for this weather.

The sun was so bright and hot the babies needed sunhats and my fair haired little girl needed long sleeves so she wouldn't burn.

This night, the temperature dropped way down and it was a frigid 65, so I had to break out the long sleeves and hats for the babies.

I as waiting for a cold, rainy day to break out these new paints, but that day may never come, so I dug out an old shirt and my little artist went to work.

It was a hot and humid 80 last night and you know what comes with heat and humidity...mosquitoes. And what one has, the other must have, so...

These gorgeous summer PJ's are from her 2 uncles. They brought them back from Vietnam for her and she wears them to death. I guess it's goodbye to the feeties for now.

Olivia has been trying to perfect her bike-riding skills. Notice the short sleeve tshirt and the jeans rolled up to prevent overheating.

She is a real pro at pedaling, but has yet to master steering and braking.

NOT GOING!

Memory Walk 2007

On Wednesday, the 24th, it will be 7 years that my dad has been gone. We lost him after a long battle with Alzheimer's.

So this year, we decided to participate in the Memory Walk to raise funds for the NYC chapter of the Alzheimer's Association. Not only do they provide money for research to find a cure, but they spend a great deal of the money they raise to provide support for people living with Alzheimer's and their caregivers.

It was a beautiful crisp autumn morning and the sun was shining bright. It wasn't long before the day warmed up and it was a beautiful walk through Riverside Park and along the Hudson River.

Thankyou to my family for walking with me and helping me raise money.

Thankyou to all my friends for your generous donations.

Thankyou to my brother for your HUGE donation and support. I know you would have come if you could have. Wish you were here. Love You!

This is the Memory Wall, where people wrote messages to the loved ones they have lost to the disease. Our message was for "Big Tony".

On your mark, get set, go!The view of the river from the bridge was gorgeous.OG walked a good part of the course and she only tripped over her shirt once! We did it!

A Little Dose of Baby

A little dose of baby boy for those of you who asked, and especially for you, K.

Emma wasn't up to performing, so you can catch her another time.

Chicken Dancing

Yesterday was fun. Our niece came to visit with her little girl, baby Ava. Her son was in school, but Olivia was home and we had a chance for the babies get to know each other and for Olivia to hang with Ava.

After she left and everyone napped (sort of, but not really), we had lots of playtime. Olivia was all about her chicken and we danced and danced and danced and danced (you get the picture). Then he got tired and needed a nap, so we all had to be quiet. She shushed the babies and me about 20 times before it was all over.

Then we had a photo shoot for everyone before Mommy got home from work.Is he a handsome devil or what!!!!!! A bit of a ladies man if you ask me. He knows just when to flash the dimple.Nice nose! Can you tell that Emma only likes her orange veggies? She gags on anything green (hmmmm)And, of course, the little monkey posed for a few herself.

Uh, where did she get this pose from?

Just Having Fun

Not much going on around here, just life in the baby lane.
And I just haven't had the time nor the inclination to put it all out there in my blog, so here's the week in pictures...


Jake and Emma this morning, just hangin' out. Everytime I look at them, I'm heartened to know they will always have each other. I can't imagine life with just one. I feel blessed.
My friend's 7 year old twins came over after church on Sunday and hung out for the day. They tried really hard to convince Olivia that you do not use your hands in soccer.

But she had other ideas. While I played soccer with the kids, Cindy cleaned up the leaves. There was so much rubber mulch mixed in with the leaves, and it was pretty expensive, so we wanted to save as much of it as possible. She told the kids she would give them 1 penny for each piece of mulch they picked up. I was so impressed that my girl came up with this idea. They were kept busy and out of trouble AND they were helping us. BRILLIANT! So they gathered them in a bucket...
and 1000 pieces later, we were $10 poorer. Then I wasn't so impressed."Hey, what's that in your mouth? Is that good?"
"I can't quite put my paw on that flavor, but it sure is yummy."It's getting cold around here (so I thought...yesterday it hit 75 degrees again) and I was excited to pull out the hats.
When we went shopping for fleece feetie pj's for Jake, OG "needed" some, too. Have you seen feetie pj's in a 5T? They are Ginormous!

Growing Up Way Too Fast

Olivia went to the pumpkin patch yesterday with her class. It was pouring outside, so I had to find her rain boots from last year and prayed they would still fit. She was so excited to wear them, but when I finally located the little buggers, I noticed something that had escaped me for the last year that she has been wearing them - they were different sizes. Olivia stuffed her left foot into the smaller boot and she was off. Thankfully she was not in pain form her toes being squished, as I knew they were. She grabbed her beloved lunchbox and we were off. She was so excited to carry her lunchbox.

On the way home, we stopped at the store to buy a pair that fit, as we are expecting a lot of rain this week. These are the cutie patootie boots she picked out. Yes, I made sure both boots are the same size. On the way home from the store, she fell asleep in the minivan, clutching her lunchbox tight.

My babies are growing up - they are starting to hold their bottles by themselves, with a little prodding from Mama (thank goodness!) You'll notice Emma takes the entire nipple in her mouth - not the dainty flower she appears to be.

Jake and Emma wrestled a little yesterday and kept grabbing this little thingie from each other. I guess it was a preview of things to come.

Today we met a friend of mine at the Par.ty Gym and OG and Mikey played for a couple hours. I finally go a picture of me with the 2 babies. Jake took the opportunity to spew all over himself and me immediately before the 1st picture. Nice aim!

OG fell asleep on the way home and continued her nap for another hour. When she got up, she decided it was time to learn to write her letters. Here she is practicing. This makes me feel like she is growing up way too fast. (sniff sniff).

One More Reason to Call It Marriage

Anyone Else?

I've Found Myself

"I'm not gay radical or anything. I'm just your basic lesbian soccer mom."

Life Goes On

Though it's only been a week, it seems like a lifetime since we returned from our 1st vacation without the kids. Life must go on. And on it goes.

Olivia insists on getting out of bed every night and tries to convince us that she should sleep downstairs on the couch since Aunt Karen was here. Yup - that's what they did every night - slumber party in the living room. She also told on Aunt Karen abut a few other things. I fear I have a little tattle tale in the house. Better than keeping secrets, though. The nice thing about it is that she also tells on herself. She comes running when she does something wrong and tells me immediately. She cracks me up.

Which brings me to some funny stuff she does lately. She will just walk up to me, or anyone she feels comfortable with, and say "You're cracking me up!" I respond with, "You're crackin' me up!"

OG - "No, you're crackin' me up!"
Me - "No, you're crackin' me up!"
And on and on and on. FUN!

She stands in front of the mirror experimenting with different emotions and the associated faces. She yells at her reflection, "No, don't do that. You're going in a timeout" and makes several different angry faces, trying to determine which looks best with her eyes and hair.

She tells herself how pretty and smart she is and then makes a really cheezy smile and turns and tilts her head slightly to the side while looking at herself out of the corner of her eye.

She sings constantly, the words change, but the tune is always the same and I'm hoping the theme of the songs is not foreshadowing for some kind of personality disorder.
Example:
I like chicken, I don't like chicken. I had chicken today, no I didn't because I don't like chicken, I like chicken.
Get my drift?

The last thing she says every single night after her elaborate bedtime routine and after being tucked in, putting Cel.ine on, and blowing a kiss is..."turn the light off, OK?"
I have no idea why this started. We ALWAYS turn the hall light out. I think one night we forgot. BIG MISTAKE! Because ever since that night a few weeks ago, she HAS to tell us to do so. She is definitely on her way to "the couch".

Maaaaaahhhhhhh-mee, Maaaaaaahhhhhmeee.
Yes, Olivia?
Ummmmmmmmmmm. Why is there dirt on the ground?
Get it? She wants to talk to us, so she calls our name, all slow and sweet. Once we answer her, she needs a few seconds to think of something to say. She comes up with some real zingers.

The scene: Dining room table
Characters: Mommy, Mama, Olivia, Jake, Emma, The Owl.
What? An owl? Yes, an owl. But only Olivia can see it.
Right in the middle of dinner one night, she looked out the window and shouted sternly, "Go away Ow-ul. Don't get my food!"
She would not continue to eat unless Cindy and I also told the owl to go away and not to get her food. So we did - and now we do - almost every night. But only at the dining room table.

She will eat anything if we sing "If you're happy and you know it, eat your (insert food here)." It's amazing what a little singing can do.

And the #1 reason Olivia makes me LMAO is...

The other night, Olivia passed wind at dinner. I asked, "Did you fluff?" We have always called it fluffing and I'm not sure why, because we call everything else by it's proper biologic term. I just can' say "fart" or "pass wind/gas" to a 3 year old. However, Olivia continues to call it farting and we have no idea where she heard it and we can't get her to stop.
"Yes, I did. Ekshkyooz me."
"You're excused."
"It came out of my gina (rhymes with China)."
I can think of nothing to say. Cindy and I are laughing our asses off. Olivia joins in. Dinner ends.

Cindy starts blogging about her Mom and I put Olivia to bed.
Bedtime goes off without a hitch. But she is up 10 minutes after I shut the door. I hear little feet tiptoeing down the stairs. She emerges from the stairway into the den. "I wanna give Mommy a kiss goodnight".
"You already did".
"But she's sad and needs another one."
"OK, but right back to bed".
"OK".
Hugs Cindy and I put her back down. "Shut the light, OK?"
"Yes, Olivia, I will".
5 minutes pass - footsteps on the stairs, little face peeking around the corner.
"I want a family hug".
"OK".
We go into Cindy's office and do a family hug, including Max, and I take her back to bed.
"Now Olivia, if you get out of bed again and come downstairs, (me thinking fast) you'll be in trouble." WTF! Where did that come from and what does it mean? At this point, I really don't care. She agrees and I exit.
"Shut the light off, Mommy, OK?"
"OK, Olivia. Goodnight."
5 minutes later...footsteps in the hallway, bathroom door opens. I go up - she is on the toilet.
"I have to make peepee".
I can't get mad for this (and she knows it), so I'm stuck eating my words about getting in trouble. I obviously put the fear of God in her with my stern warning about getting up again. (NOT!)
"When you're done, make sure you wash your hands and go back to bed."
"OK".
I went downstairs.
5 minutes pass.
Footsteps on the stairs, but no little face peeking around the corner. So I go up the stairs and see her sitting there, pants around her ankles.
O - In a sing-songy voice, "My gina hurts."
Me - "Why?"
O - "Ummmm, cuz my gina hurts."
Me - "How does it hurt?" (now I'm thinking something must be seriously wrong with me because this is a really stupid question that even I couldn't answer if I were her.)
O - "Ummmm, cuz my gina hurts."
Me - "What happened?"
O - "Ummmmm, cuz my gina hurts cuz I've been farting too much."
Again, I have nothing to say. I put her back to bed and say goodnight through the tears of laughter that I cannot control.

Cindy and I went to a dinner party at our friends and nobody who was there has kids and loves ours, so everyone else held them and Cindy and i got to hold each other for a change.
Just like a man...eat and sleep.
Olivia thought Max would be a good babysitter, so she gave him a chance to watch "Lil' Baby".
Olivia and Jake watching Happy Feet. Yup, those are my thighs. Sorry, OG!

Cindy's Letter to Mom

October 8, 2007

Hello Mother...Happy Birthday.

I've been thinking about you alot. You would have been 80 years old today. Correction...you should have been 80 years old today. All the kids and grand kids and great grand kids should have come to your house this weekend and celebrated you. Celebrated your life, your spirit, all the love you have given us and all the love you still had to give. We each would have given you one of the simple gifts you had on your list of "things you want" for your Birthday; new towels for the kitchen, a new bottle of Jean Nate', perhaps a new egg timer. One that's loud so you could hear it better. These were the things you'd ask for. And you would be as excited to get these gifts as you would a diamond ring. And that's what made you even more special to us. It wasn't the gift that was important, it was just having us all around so you could look at us. Once in awhile we'd surprise you and actually get you a diamond bracelet, or a new TV...after all, how many kitchen towels does one woman need.

But this year there was no gathering at the old homestead. No celebration, no gifts. Just an overwhelming sense of loss, sadness, emptiness. Your first Birthday not spent here with us. I miss you terribly Mother. People say to me that you are still there with me. That you see everything I do. I do hope that is true but it doesn't feel like enough. I miss your hugs, I miss your smiling eyes. I miss telling you about work, or the kids, or things we are doing in the house. You were always so excited for me and Elyse. You were always so encouraging and happy for us. I miss the smell of your house when you were there. I miss coming to see you and just standing in the doorway of the den and watching you read your book because you didn't hear me come in. I miss taking you to shows in NY, there are so many new things out that I know you would have loved. I just miss everything about you. I'm sad that my children won't grow up with you in their lives. Olivia talks about you still, but I'm not sure what she really remembers. In her prayers each night, she thanks Jesus for you; that makes me happy. But I wish that Olivia, Jake and Emma could have known you more. I'll try to pass on to them what I've learned from you.

I found your autobiography that you wrote when you were a senior in high school. You wrote of your ancestors, your youth, your school years, hobbies, pets, etc. The last chapter is your "Philosophy of Life" you wrote:

"Life can be as pleasant or as unpleasant as one cares to make it. Everything depends on the individual; whether one looks on the bright side and tries to make the best of things he has, or whether one is always sulky and only thinks of the unpleasant things, are usually shown in his facial expression.

Love and happiness are in my mind the two most important things in life. Due to the present conditions my future is a little uncertain but I plan to be a nurse for a while and then marry and raise a family. Money is one of the less important things in my philosophy. Of course a certain amount is needed but I feel if there is love and happiness in the family, money is only a minor detail".

I can say without question you lived your philosophy. Your cheerful outlook, happy eyes and love for family were true to course. You raised a beautiful family and we are all so grateful to have had you for a mother. My Birthday gift to you this year Mother, is to continue your legacy and live out your philosophy in my own life to the best of my ability. Times have changed a bit, but the basics remain the same. By the way, in case you don't remember...you got an "A" on that project.

Happy Birthday Mother...and many more.

Your Loving Daughter,

Cindy

Proud Mama

We brought Olivia back her first souvenir from a vacation. It's a t-shirt with markers that she can color. Then it can be washed and she can color it over and over and over. She was so excited and couldn't wait to get started on it when she woke up yesterday morning.

So she sat at her little table and she colored for almost a half hour without coming up for air. This is a LONG time for Olivia to sit with one activity. As she sat there, I heard her spelling out her name - very slowly. I thought it was odd, but then realized there was a space for her name under the picture. How did she know that?

When she showed it to me, I almost cried. It is the very first time she had ever even come close to coloring inside the lines. I know a lot of kids color inside the lines a lot younger, but I am so proud of her. And she made an attempt at writing her name, which I had NO idea she knew how to spell. At first, I was baffled by the letters, then I realized that she had written it backwards and upside down. Strange...interesting. What could THAT mean? I guess we'll find out soon enough if that's something to be concerned about.

In the meantime, here's the Masterpiece...

Happy Honey-versary

*****UPDATED*****
Due to the piggy nature of my blogger friends, all pix of questionable appropriateness have been removed. (-;

We went to Puerto Rico for a vacation, which also coincided with our 5th anniversary. The mood of the trip was reminiscent of our Honeymoon, so I have decided to call this our Honey-versary.

So we're back, and I'm so sad. But I am so happy to see my babes, and I can't even believe how much I missed them, so much that we decided to go away twice a year from now on (hehe). It was such a boost for our relationship to be alone together with no responsibilities. We seem to have been refreshed. The memories of this trip will definitely last me at least another week or 2. After that, I will have to start planning the next trip so we have something to look forward to after the new year rolls around.

I realized after I downloaded the pix, that we didn't take that many and there were several of us "posing" for the camera after we'd had a few. Good, clean fun.

We got kicked out on Wednesday night by Cindy's sister as soon as she got to the house. I had arranged for a hotel room near the airport and Cindy knew nothing about it, so I spent the day getting the remainder of the packing done for both of us - with 3 crazy kids in the house.

The car service was late, the driver got lost, I was so nasty to him because he kept insisting he knew where he was going, but didn't even know the name of the hotel we were going to. 1 hour later, we arrived - after 10:30. Room wasn't ready. What?!!!!! Had a drink, something to eat. Finally got a room. It was a handicapped room, so no tub, just a shower that sprayed onto the bathroom floor. Whatever. Slept. Woke. Got ready. Waited for airport shuttle. Waiting, waiting, waiting. Uhhhhhh, do I have to hurt somebody? Because I am NOT missing this plane!

I know, get to the good stuff, right? OK, OK!

We gGot to Puerto Rico and into the hotel by 1PM. Beautiful day. So excited. we had some lunch while we waited for our room, then went up and napped. Got up, went to dinner. Here comes the good stuff.

We decided on Puerto Rico's only Country Western restaurant, located on the roof of our hotel. It was hot and sticky, but so what?

Cindy had a Strawberry Margarita on steroids...

before...after...
I rode the bull...Then the guy who controls the bull came over with a cart full of fresh ingredients and made the best homemade guacamole we ever had right in front of our eyes. YUMMY!

Then we headed down to the Gold Bar (which is GORGEOUS!) in the lobby for a digestif and looked for a couch to plant ourselves on for some good ole people watching. There was an event there that night, as usual, and the cast of characters was highly amusing. Women in the most horrendously tacky outfits, the shortest skirts I've ever seen and enough makeup and hairspray to choke the bull I rode in on. What Fun! After an hour or so of that, we headed upstairs to watch the premier of ER. I know, I know! But we were beat and needed our rest before tackling our 1st full day of vacation.

I got up around 7:30, and if you read my prior blog, you know what I did. I woke Cindy at 9 and we got coffee, chatted and headed off to get massages.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!

It was a little cloudy Friday, but we headed to the pool anyway. Met a few people, including 1 couple from our town. This, combined with the pounding rain now falling on our heads as we sat at the swim up bar was more than enough to send us running into the casino. We decided on $20 each at the slots. I left with $27.50 and Cindy left with nothing. We watched 2 guys at the blackjack table for 10 minutes before we joined in. Then we lost $60 in as many seconds. Oh well. Naptime.

A couple hours later, we woke, showered and headed down to pick a restaurant for dinner. We chose Italian. What a great meal. The 2 couples flanking us were also celebrating anniversaries and we made quick friends of the couple on the right. After dinner, it was over to the Gold bar for drinks and to find a couch in the lobby for peoplewatching. I guess it's our favorite after dinner activity. We threw back a couple and headed upstairs. But tonight, it was well after 11 o'clock (11:15).

Saturday. We woke to the most beautiful sunrise. It was 8:30 and already burning hot outside. So we put on our suits, got coffee and headed out to the Encanto Pool for sun and Rumrunners with 151, it's a really strong rum. If you've never had one, you are missing out. As we sat at the swim up bar for lunch, a group of young guys across the bar bought us a round. Are you kidding me? They couldn't be any older than in their early 30's. Nonetheless, we accepted and drank up. I gave an obligatory nod of thanks and introduced myself a few minutes later when I had to return to my chair for something. Then we proceeded to ignore them the rest of the day because we just couldn't handle talking to them for more than 30 seconds and really just wanted to be left alone. A group of other young ladies (I use the term loosely) found them soon after and they were happy to buy them drinks for the rest of the day. Can you say "Beer Goggles?" PHEEEW! We're off the hook.

I'd write more, but this is really all we did until 4 when we went inside and napped before dinner.

This (Sept 29th) was our actual 5th anniversary and Cindy made a reservation at The Pa.lm, which is also in the hotel. Are you getting the drift? We never left the hotel. We went down at 7 and had a drink at the bar. The maitre d' came to seat us and we were escorted to a quiet booth where a bottle of champagne and a dozen red roses were waiting for me. We sat, looked in each other's eyes and when the server neglected to give us menus, I knew what was next. My wife had pre-ordered our meal. Of course she did.

Lobster bisque

Shrimp cocktail

A 5 lb lobster, split and cracked for us by the staff

A filet mignon cooked to perfection

Pardon me while I wipe the drool from my keyboard.

Every single server in the restaurant walked by our table a least 1 time to check us out, and most of them stopped, briefly, to wish us a happy anniversary. It was all very sweet.

My beautiful bouquet...

After dinner...you guessed it! Off to the Gold Bar for an after dinner drink and people watching.

We sat and talked and looked into each other's eyes and up other women's dresses (hehe). We chatted with our new friends, drank some more, then off to bed.

Sunday...

Got up, packed, coffee, pool, rumrunners. Back to the room to change and off to the airport. SIGH!

Here's our favorite bar - it has stools in the water and a waterfall nearby to refresh yourself.