Pass the Bad Mommy Award and Happy New Year

Pass the Bad Mommy Award this way as I have been publicly chastized by another parent.

I took the kids to the "other" Air and Space Museum this morning while DH stayed home. I thought the museum would be a good place for the kids to see some great things as well as get to run around a bit. So we started by seeing the airplanes in the "airplane hangar" and Natalie spotted the simulator rides. I told her we could do those later after seeing the space hangar. So we toured through the rockets, the astronaut materials, the missiles and -- of course -- the space shuttle. Then we headed back to go to the observation tower. Natalie had not forgotten about the simulators. Nicholas, on the other hand, did not even want to be 40 feet near the things -- as in he is going bananas and is begging me to take him home. So I managed to get him to sit down and I gave Natalie money to go on the simulator ride by herself. I told her repeatedly that she would have to go on alone, and she was all set with that. She was the last one seated in the ride.

Needless to say, it didn't go well. She got off the ride first and came over to me. She seemed "okay" -- until a man came over to me (with his kids) and loudly pronounced that she "should have never gone on the simulator by herself as she didn't like it at all and that I should never have allowed her to go on alone and should not do it again". All I could say to that was "Thank you." When I told DH about this, he said that he would have used some other phrases instead. (!!!)

So, we all had a good time other than the simulator part.

And the reason for going without DH? I had been doing all the "activity planning" for when my parents were in town -- they left Thursday. On Friday we all went to see Charlotte's Web at Tysons and we had lots of fun. Yesterday I left things up to DH and he planned butkus. It was I that took them on some errands. It was I that took them bike riding -- or more accurately Natalie did the bike riding and Nicholas did the walking while I did the tricycle carrying. So I "took charge" today instead of being bored out of my mind. ;-)

One of my New Year's resolutions is to do more "fun things" with my kids. I hope to do these sort of things and take advantage of everyhting we have in the metro DC area. AT least in between dance classes and swim classes and library visits!

Happy and Healthy New Year's wishes from all of us!

Arrival day is tomorrow

Light blogging thanks to "all hands on deck" in getting ready for my parents' arrival tomorrow! We managed to get our cards mailed out (with our annual Capital Chronicles newsletter), all the gifts wrapped (or almost all the gifts), all the baking done for the Cookie Exchange, all the gift cards bought -- and delivered -- for the children's teachers, and the house clean (or somewhat clean) for Arrival Day. Even my minivan is clean! We have a rough itinerary of what we are doing and when for the next week, so DH and I are "on the same page".

All I can say is *whew*.

Natalie has been having issues with her listening ears in school. Today it was with the art teacher. Evidently "a few days ago" it was with the music teacher. In the past it has been with her Kindergarten teacher. After the holidays, I have to do some reading on how to help her with this. I really dislike the "coming down hard" on her approach, and I fear I'm slipping closer and closer there.

Happy Birthday, My Sugarplum!

3 years ago today my sugarplum came into the world.

Nicholas, you were a "hard fought for" baby. It was not exactly the easiest of pregnancies, and Daddy and I got all sorts of unexpected news from doctors along the way. We made the best decisions that we could, always putting you and your big sister first. Thankfully what the doctors were predicting was very, very wrong. Your daddy actually remembered to take pictures in the delivery room (as he totally blanked out on that when your sister was born). And the moment I saw you -- wow, my sugarplum -- it was magic! I don't know quite how to explain it, but looking into your eyes is like looking into a very old soul.

Thank you for being here, sweetheart! All my love and kisses on your 3rd birthday!
(Here are some pictures of Nicholas at age one, two, and at his 3rd birthday party at the fire department on Saturday.)

Birthday party day!

Yes, it's finally here -- Nicholas' first "really big birthday party" day!

The numbers aren't so bad for a 3rd birthday party -- 15 children for a tour of the fire station, followed up by pizza and fruit, then cake and ice cream. The children are all very excited -- they have been talking about this for weeks now. Nicholas can barely contain himself. :-) I was putting together goodie bags for the guests and he said, "My friends will love these goodies, Mommy!"

So it's off to dance class with Natalie and then I'll pick up the cake on the way to the fire station. I'll post some pics over the weekend.

No free weekends

Yes, we are back into the regular time of the year when there are literally no free weekends. As in NO free time on the weekends.

Saturday was dance class and then off to the tree farm to get our Christmas tree. DH did the chopping this year. Natalie and Nicholas enjoyed marshmallows -- not toasted, thank you -- while the tree was tied to the top of the minivan.

After getting the tree into the house, we went shopping. Tysons is such a lovely place on a weekend during the holiday season. (sure) We were smart enough to grab lunch first. After some shopping -- which we somehow managed to get through that, thank you -- we headed back home for dinner.

Sunday was "get the tree decorated quickly so we can take Christmas photos" time. Got that done -- you see the picture we settled on. We took about 30 pictures and that was the best of the lot. Then we had time for a 20 minute lunch before heading to see The Nutcracker. DH stayed home whike I took the kids. :-) After that, Nicholas fell asleep so I brought him home and took Natalie with me back to Tysons so I could get some presents for myself on sale. (Couldn't manage to pull that off on Saturday with Nicholas attached to me like glue.) Then back home for some dinner.

I had a conference to attend today so DH took care of drop off and pick up. At pick up time, Natalie didn't want to leave at 3:55 pm so DH said he would be back for her after picking up Nicholas. He grabbed dinner, went to pick up Nicholas, and made the circle back to pick up Natalie. Thanks to metro DC traffic, he pulled in to pick her up 2 hours later. Yes, he marvels at how I do dual pick-ups every day. I am a mystery. :-)

Oh -- some GREAT news! Mom & Dad are coming to be with us for Christmas! This decision just happened last week. We are ALL thrilled! Even Natalie is helping to clean the house to ready for their visit! ;-)

This week is birthday party preparation week. My sugarplum's first "big" birthday party is just a short time away!

Turkey, farms and ears

We returned yesterday from an extended Thanksgiving trip to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Yes, we celebrated Thanksgiving this year away from home and we had a great trip!

We left Wednesday afternoon -- the car was packed Wednesday morning and DH and Nicholas picked up Natalie at school and then picked me up at work at 2 pm. Thanks to the helpful directions from a colleague at work, we took the "back roads" through Maryland to get up to Pennsylvania. None of us counted on it taking us close to 2 hours to make it to Rockville, Maryland though! So DH traversed "country roads" in the dark, rainy night and we made it to Bird-in-Hand by 8:30 pm. (Yes, one stop for dinner for 45 minutes!)

For Thanksgiving, we had 11:30 am reservations at Good 'n Plenty. Good food and very kid friendly, which is a particular requirement when dining with an almost-3-year-old. After some great turkey and ham, we tried to get everyone to take a nap. Yeah, right. Well, we got one of them to sleep a little on the way to Hershey Park, where we say the lighted holiday display. Very nice and a good way to make the transition from Thanksgiving to the Christmas season.

On Friday we went to Lancaster Central Market on the search for some munchies and a lap quilt. The quilt quality was pretty poor, but the kids got some candy from the candy store. We headed to the nearby children's museum after that. They had a great time with our 90 minute visit there. Then we headed back to pick up lunch at a deli near Franklin & Marshall College so we could go back to our hotel to eat. Yummy! Thanks to the folks at Chowhound that recommended the place! After lunch, the plan was to go to Dutch Wonderland for their nighttime festival. Well, we had some issues with listening ears, so plans were scrapped in favor of a shopping trip. I got two beautiful handmade (hand-quilted) lap quilts and DH made some outlet shopping purchases. Then we headed back to the hotel for a movie in the room -- and yes, we brought plenty of DVDs with us.

Saturday we went to some train stores for shopping and then headed to Strasburg Railroad for our scheduled ride on the dining car. I took the kids around to see the railcars while DH took a rest. When I came with the kids, DH said he ran into our neighbor! Seems that our neighbor's mom lives 30 minutes from Strasburg! *cue It's a Small World music*

The kids LOVED the train ride and Nicholas almost fell asleep on the ride back to the station. So we headed back to the hotel for a nap -- Nicholas slept great but Natalie didn't nap. (No shock there.) After nap we attempted another trip to Dutch Wonderland which did work out this time. The kids had fun there, too and we ended up closing the park at 9 pm.

We came back home yesterday and I did lots of unpacking. Today I am home from work as Nicholas is having is ear tubes done -- matter of fact, he is there with DH right now as I ready to drop Natalie off to Kindergarten -- which I best get right to now. I'll post links for this quasi-trip report later on today!

Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches

This past week at work we had our annual charity drive. Each year there is a group "PB&J making" event to benefit a shelter. Well, this year the shelter had so many pick-ups to do that they literally could not get someone to pick up sandwiches from us, so we had a group caravan (two minivans and an SUV) go and drop sandwiches to them. I was part of the group.

Since it was later in the afternoon, I opted to pick up Nicholas to join me for the ride. He loves to "cross the river" near the airport to see the airplanes and the monuments near the 14th Street bridge. Along the way I told him where we were going and that we were dropping off sandwiches to people that needed food to eat.

So we managed to get to the right place, meet up with everyone, etc., and I got the boxes unloaded out of the back of the minivan. So as I was backing out of the alley, Nicholas said, "But Mommy, I wanted to talk to everyone and tell them about how great the sandwiches are." :-)

And a quick update on Nicholas' ear tubes -- his otolaryngologist is all booked up for November 30th, so we are having one of the other docs at the practice put in his tubes on the 27th. We'll tell Nicholas about it a couple of days before.

Playing catch-up

All I can say is *whew*.

After Election Day was done, the entire week was playing catch-up. Nicholas had an in-service day on Thursday and Friday was a federal holiday so he was home with DH. We did have his second opinion consult on Friday with another otolaryngologist, who said that Nicholas needs tubes. Then Natalie had a doctor's appointment at 4 PM to have her first eye exam, and I was trying my best to NOT leave work early, and instructed DH to bring Natalie to me so we could scoot over to the doctor's office just blocks from my office.

So I find a parking place at the intersection where I instructed DH to meet me. I had a call on my cell phone that went to voice mail but there was no message. So I called DH in case it was him.

DH says, "I have a big problem."

I say, "What's that?"

"I can't find my car keys and I haven't picked up Natalie yet."

I say, "Well, I sure can't drive home and get Natalie back here in time to make the dr's appt."

So I do the speedy thing to try to pick up Natalie at school while on the phone with the eye doctor's office. There's no way I can be 20 minutes late to an appointment, especially on a Friday -- so I reschedule her appointment while I am trying to beeline to Natalie's school.

Sure -- I'm managing this motherhood thing so well, aren't I? ;-)

Saturday was dance class and Natalie's last soccer game and then a "party" at Mcdonalds. Can I just say I am so glad soccer season is over?

Sunday was church, Sunday school, and baking for a charity event at work.

Monday was back to work, lunch with a friend in town, and getting ready for Nicholas' birthday party by dropping off invitations and ordering party supplies and good bag "things". (He's having his birthday party at the Falls Church Volunteer Fire Department -- he is SO EXCITED and his friends are, too. My friend T at work had her son's birthday party there last year and the kids loved it! I know Nicholas and his friends will have so much fun!)

Tuesday was civic association meeting night. Today was Nicholas' doctor's appointment with otolaryngologist #1 and we need to call tomorrow to book his surgery. :-( Looks like it will happen on Thursday November 30.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving Luncheon at Natalie's school -- we are all going for lunch. DH will drop Nicholas off after lunch while I boogie on back to work. And of course tomorrow is Restaurant Night for Natalie's school -- at the local Chuck E. Cheese.

And Friday is Movie Night at Natalie's school to see the movie Cars.

Saturday is dance class, and a birthday party. I would really like to go to the Smithsonian to see The Polar Express in the IMAX theater, but I'm not sure if we can pull it off. It might have to wait for another time.

So if you wonder what I've been doing -- I'm just running and running and running. :-) Hire Him Now Vibes are most appreciated for DH, too -- Election Day certainly opened up "all sorts of possibilities". DH needs to get back to work for financial reasons and psychological reasons. He thrives on adult contact and he's just not getting enough right now.

Now, speaking of running...it's time to get children to bed...

Post Election Day

I served as an election officer at my home precinct in Fairfax County yesterday. I have to say that despite it being a long day, it was a lot of fun.

We had to be at the polling place at 5 am to help setup for the 6 am poll opening. I picked up my friend C at 4:50 am and off we went to the polling place at our nearby elementary school. Schools in Fairfax County were closed for Teacher Workdays -- actually parent-teacher conferences -- so our polling place was in the cafeteria.

C and I joined six other election officers at our precinct. The Chief officer had us post signs outside, in the school doorways, etc., so that we were "well marked". Then we got to choose our initial "job" -- working the poll books or working the machines. The poll books are paper poll books where one election officer looks up each prospective voter's name and address in the poll book and the other election officer keeps a tally (mark the next number off with an "X") on a poll book log sheet and gives the voter a "voter pass" card to give to the election officer working a machine. We had four Advanced Voting Solutions voting machines in our precinct and one election officer "worked" each machine.

I have to say that the process worked as smooth as silk in our precinct. We had some voters that had trouble with the ballot questions and touched the "next" button a little too quickly, but they got to the summary screen and easily "got back where they were" so they could opt to vote yes or no on a ballot question, or -- as was often the case -- skip the question altogether. Every election officer was great about being "nearby" to answer questions without violating a voter's privacy behind the "booth" -- but many asked where the curtains were when they say the machine setup!

One thing that would be a "great thing to have" at the polling place is the ability to look up where a person is registered to vote in neighboring counties. Due to being in such a large metropolitan area, we had many people who were "really" registered to vote in neighboring locations, such as Alexandria, Arlington, and even Loudoun County. I think we had less than 10 people that were "really" registered in other parts of Fairfax County but easily double that nu,ber from "other areas". It would have been great to have a machine to look up voter registration information from the surrounding communities and not just Fairfax County like we had.

We kept busy throughout the day -- to the point where none of us really got a significant break to eat a "real" lunch vs. quickly have some finger foods. But we kept covering for each other "between spurts" so we could get a quick bite, get some coffee, etc. It really was a great group of people to be with for such a long day. Not sure I'd like to work as an election officer for a primary where things were not quite as busy!

Anyway, our poll book to machine tally was off by one because we had one "walk away" who did not touch the "VOTE" button to actually submit their ballot. There was a change in the law this year where election officers CANNOT touch the "VOTE" button if the voter walks away, so we had lots of reminding to do about "don't forget to touch VOTE when you are done" to literally running after people saying "Sir, you haven't finished!" a couple of times. I was more of the nagger at the beginning of my "speech" when activating the ballot on the machine. :-)

And here's a link to our precincts results! We had 474 voters on "my" poll book (L-Z). I got home by 8:30 pm.

Halloween picture

Here's Sheriff Woody escorting Princess Aurora. It was gorgeous weather here for Halloween, so we ended up going without coats (WOOHOO!) and spent a good 1 1/2 hours trick or treating. They both had a blast and I just loved watching them!

Sleeping with The Polar Express

As you all know, Nicholas has a "thing" for The Polar Express. Yes, the book. Yes, the movie. We even have two copies of the movie as his godmother gave him a copy last year for Christmas. Well, Nicholas has recently took to sleeping with the book.

No, that's not having the book read to him before he goes to sleep.

Yes, that's sleeping with the book.

We are still trying to get him to sleep in his own bed at night. And he does go to HIS bed and sleep in HIS bed. But we still hear footsteps around 11 pm/midnight and it's a little boy making his way out of his room and into Mommy and Daddy's bedroom.

And now there's a little boy in the bed -- with The Polar Express book. So, Chris van Allsburg, please know that your book has turned into a lovie for an almost-3-year-old little boy. (Thankfully we have the hardcover edition!)

I. Need. Break.

Filling in loose ends...

Last week was madness -- we had at least 3 events running simultaneously on Wednesday night so I told DH I Cannot Do Any. Natalie ended up in bed -- asleep -- by 6:45 pm. She really needs her rest and this transition to Kindergarten -- combined with her listening ear "issues" -- I think are complicated by not enough sleep. So going with the sleep begets more sleep philosophy, we are making conscious efforts to get dinner done earlier and the kids in bed earlier.

On Friday, DH was a chaperone on Natalie's first field trip -- to a local pumpkin patch. He had a great time and I tried not to look green with envy as he was going on the field trip and I wasn't. *sigh* I'm glad that one of us got to go.

Saturday was more wackiness as Natalie had a soccer game and a birthday party scheduled simultaneously. We opted out of soccer (after her dance class) and instead went to the birthday party. She couldn't even stay for cake :-( as she had to get to her soccer team photo. Did that and then she was tired so we headed home so she could take a "cat nap". Three hours later, when she woke up, we headed out to dinner.

Sunday we went out to West Virginia to go to Camp Rim Rock's open house. It was a gorgeous day and a pretty drive -- and really, a gorgeous camp. VERY rustic accommodations. The best quote I can recall from Natalie was, as we were heading down Rt 259 -- "Mommy, where's the mall?" (!!!) The city girl may have some "issues" with the camp!

Monday was back to work and school. DH took Nicholas to the pediatric cardiologist. Nicholas ended up having an echocardiogram done. The doctor says that he has an "innocent heart murmur" and that he does not need to be seen again. I'm not sure if that means his VSD has closed up or not -- the price I pay for not going to the doctor's appointment with DH. *sigh* I just cannot keep going to all these doctor's appointments and missing work.

Next "big thing" up is the related fall festival/pre-Halloween festivities this weekend. DH is covering some with the kids and I'm covering the others.

I'll be honest -- I really think I'm on the losing end of this time/family management battle. I'm doing my best not to take any time off from work until 2007. But I honestly do not know if I'll be able to make it. I'm lucky to get 6 hours sleep a night, and my mind is racing when I try to sleep. But if I took a day off, I'd likely clean my house.

Oh, for DH to get back to work again...

Pretty bus

"Pretty bus." Yes, this is Nicholas' latest "thing". He just loves looking for a "pretty bus". The pretty bus is a WMATA compressed natural gas fueled bus -- see the photo taken by DC Metroblogger.

Let's see -- to even start to fill you in. Nicholas had a raging fever in the middle of the night on Thursday of last week, less than 24 hours after his hearing test. Of course his ears are now infected by Thursday morning, so back on another round of Omnicef. His pediatrician seems pretty set on Nicholas getting tubes. DH was quite kind in telling her that the ENT doc and I didn't really hit it off. Let's just say that I like my most despised member of the US Senate more than I liked that doc. So we have an appointment with Nicholas' cardiologist for next week and then an appointment with a second opinion ENT just after Election Day and then the appointment with The Doc I Have Disdain For the week after Election Day.

Oh, did I mention that Natalie got sick?

Yes, she got sick, too. So she missed her first day of elementary school on Friday. This was the day after I got an email from her teacher saying that Natalie has terrible trouble listening in class, etc., and she's the only one that won't pay attention, etc. Shades of familiarity with soccer and dance, anyone? How about pre-school? So we had LOTS of time to talk about that over the weekend.

Thankfully with the holiday there was no soccer. Natalie had several bouts of bloody noses over the weekend, as did Nicholas. On Sunday Natalie was tired and went to sleep at 4:30 pm. She slept straight through until 8:15 am Monday morning! She felt well enough to go to Cox Farms, so we did manage that.

Today she went back to school and apologized to her teacher. Her teacher emailed me back that Natalie had an excellent listening day. Here's hoping it stays that way!

It's October...

Can you tell that we are all running ragged? :-)

Let's see -- Nicholas went to see the "ear specialist" last week and (no shock here) the doctor recommended ear tubes. It was like DH and the doc had this neat little "pact" that involved getting Nicholas signed up for surgery immediately. I was so unbelievably peeved that I just nodded along, la-de-da-de-da, until DH asked me if I was all set. And I said "I'm absolutely opposed to surgery."

So -- Nicholas will have a hearing test this week (Wednesday) and we go back to see the ear specialist in mid-November.

Natalie went through her Worst Soccer Game Ever on Saturday -- she barely was on the right side of the field for about half the game. I gave up at that point and left with Nicholas. DH stayed to try to get her focused.

Of course this is the day after she walked into a fire extinguisher at school.

How can she walk into a fire extinguisher? By not paying attention to where she is walking and turning around -- straight into a fire extinguisher.

Let's see -- Sunday we planted some bulbs in the garden, with the hopes that the squirrels would not dig them out. We also tossed the plants from the window box and put in winter pansies. That process took a good 3 hours, with assistance from my two helpers. (And please don't say "child labor" -- Nicholas spent most of the time watering the grass and Natalie spent most of the time saying she liked placing bulbs in the "holes" that I dug out.

On my agenda? A haircut and a PTA meeting for me tomorrow and more after-hours work trying to help DH locate some job opportunities. I'm afraid that he's going to be out until well-past Election Day. But we'll get through it. We've been through FAR worse. Next month will be 24 years since we met on an election campaign. *shudder* I'm getting old!

Back to School Night

Last night was Back to School Night at Natalie's elementary school. DH and I decided that he would stay home with Natalie and Nicholas while I went to the school. He picked up Natalie to take some of the load off me.

It literally takes me 20-25 minutes to pick Nicholas up now that he is potty training with underwear. That's after making the close to 10 minute drive around 2 blocks to get to the school. Then add in the 25 minute ride to get to Natalie's school, plus another 10 minutes to get her out of there (which is usually spent keeping Nicholas away from the toys at her after care program) and then 5 minutes to get home. From leaving my office door to walking in at home, that's roughly 1 hour and 15 minutes, on a good day.

So if I need to be at Back to School Night at 6:30 pm, and somehow manage to eat something for dinner -- I need a whole lot of help and good fortune.

With DH's help, I was home by 5:55 pm. I quickly changed and eat very fast plus made Natalie's bed. (Her comforter cover was blue from The Marker Incident the previous evening, so DH washed it during the day, but he doesn't know how to make beds, never mind put on a comforter cover, so I had to do that before leaving for Back to School Night.) I left the house at 6:24 pm.

I got to Back to School Night and found a parking place. I ran into the PTA President and she told me that there was a "pile" of completed Family Directory forms in her mailbox. I'm a newbie to this PTA stuff and didn't know where the mailboxes were -- she marched me through the office and showed me the mailboxes. At this point I'm pretty thrilled with the "stack" -- yes, I have taken on the Family Directory for a school that does not have a Family Directory now, so I'm starting "at the ground floor".

I went to the cafeteria for the pre-Back-to-School-Night PTA meeting. I sorted through the Family Directory forms -- roughly 2/3 of them have email addresses! WOOHOO! Based on all the "but not everyone has an email address" talk I had heard from the PTA members, I figured we would be lucky with 10% of the folks having email addresses. And we have roughly 150 completed forms so far which did not include the forms distributed at Back to School night! I'm pretty psyched.

The PTA meeting is fast -- elect the PTA officers and approve the budget. And at 7:10 pm we're off to meet the classroom teacher. Natalie's teacher is a first-year teacher at the school but spent 10 years teaching half-day Kindergarten at another school in Fairfax County. She had a very well-run Parents Night presentation. Lots of great handouts, information, etc. But it is very short -- just 25 minutes. Then it's time to move to Session 2 -- primarily for families that have children in different classes in the school. For Session 2 I went to the front of the school and filled out my membership for PTA and wrote my check out for dues. I also spent some time talking to the principal and one of the members of the civic association board.

All in all, it was a good night. The logistics of this stuff are maddening, though. I honestly do not know how working families do this.

Little Boy Blue

Getting Nicholas to go to bed and go to sleep has become the bane to our (plural) existence over the past several weeks. I am absolutely determined to NOT have him in our bed, and thus, the battle of wills.

Tonight I let DH handle Nicholas and his bedtime. I went downstairs to the playroom to catch a DVR of The Colbert Report and Project Runway. Then I hear...

"Oh My Gawd. WHAT have YOU done?!"

Then silence.

Then a yell -- "Mommy -- you must come up here."

So I went up to see what devastation may have occured.

Nicholas had acquired one of Natalie's blue (washable) markers and had colored both of his arms -- in their entirety -- blue.

Guess who got to take a shower tonight?

H, if you are reading this, we must make plans for Aruba. Or Miami Beach. Or Key West.

Comings and goings and comings

DH had a "so long" party to go to for one of his friends on Capitol Hill, so I had "soccer duty". Or so I thought.

I left work early to go pick up Nicholas (takes 20 minutes with a potty training 2 year-old) and then drove to Natalie's elementary school to pick her up from after-care so we could go home to get her changed for soccer. DH was home (thank goodness) so he could help with getting Natalie into shin guards, cleats, etc. and get Nicholas into the potty (again) before we left the house. Natalie needed a snack before soccer so got that onto the table at 5:15 pm so she could make soccer practice at 5:30 pm.

We get out of the house at 5:20 pm, with the full knowledge that we would be late for soccer practice.

I drive down the road and turn off to what I then realize is the road to go to the school for soccer games, not soccer practice.

Turn around, get back on to the road that is loaded with commute time cars, to get to the right turn off for the road to go to the school for soccer practice.

We arrive at 5:45 pm. There are hardly any cars.

The only soccer players there are boys.

I call DH's cell phone. Voicemail.

I find the coach's cell phone number and call him.

"There is no practice today. It's back to school night so we cancelled practice."

I find this out after my 2 hour journey around northern Virginia.

I took the kids to Silver Diner for dinner.

The PTA

I went to the first PTA meeting of the year. Yes, this is not my first PTA meeting -- I have actually been attending meetings on and off for about a year. But it was the first meeting where I could introduce myself as "Mom to a Kindergartener".

It was heartening to see other Kindergarten parents at the meeting. The PTA President ran a very efficient meeting -- we were in and out in a little over an hour. But I think some of the Kindergarten parents hoped to learn a little more. Thankfully we have Back to School Night next week, and the principal (whom I truly adore -- she really is a GREAT principal!) is having a Parent Coffee the last Wednesday of September, specifically for Kindergarten parents. I already told DH he has to go with me. :-)

Dance day and soccer day

We have made it through the first week of Kindergarten. *whew*

Today is the first day of pre-ballet class for Natalie and the first day of soccer for Nicholas. Both are at the same time so DH is taking Nicholas to soccer and I'm taking Natalie to pre-ballet. Natalie is excited because not only is this pre-ballet, where the big girls gom but she will also get to see her friend M from pre-school. M goes to a different Kindergarten (she does not live in our neighborhood) so I'm guessing the girls will compare notes. :-) After pre-ballet, Natalie has to scoot to soccer because her game time (for this week and the next two weeks) are immediately after dance. So we'll definitely be late to the games, but what are you going to do? I let the coach know already, and it's all I can do. At least she'll be warmed up from dance class!

Tomorrow we have a playdate with friends from her pre-school class. The weather is supposed to be beautiful, so I'm glad the kids will have a chnace to see each other and play outside, too. It should be fun.

Kindergarten Day has arrived!

It's pretty early in the morning right now. The dining room table is set for breakfast. Lunches have been made. Bags are packed -- backpack for Natalie with about half the school supplies (the rest will be brought in tomorrow), and tote bag for Nicholas. Natalie has already picked out her clothes for today -- although she might change her mind on an outfit once she sees how hard it is raining today. I'm glad we picked up rain boots this weekend!

She was in bed at 8:15 pm but I know she did not fall asleep until after 10 pm. She was simply too excited to sleep. Hopefully she'll wake up at 7 am like she "normally" does.

DH is going to pick her up from school age child care about an hour after she arrives, just so she gets to see what it's like there. I think soccer practice will be cancelled due to the weather. That works out for the best, anyway -- it's too much to expect on the first day of Kindergarten.

I'll post more later...

9/10/06: ETA: Here's Natalie with her backpack plus fully packed lunchbox:


And here she is getting a hug from her brother before we head out into the pouring rain to head to school:

Here comes Kindergarten

Yes, the week has finally come -- it's time to start Kindergarten!

We all went to Open House at our elementary school on Thursday. Natalie learned about her teacher (Mrs. D) and assistant (Mrs. W) and then got to meet them. Mrs. D is new to the elementary school and she is teamed up with one of the veteran IAs -- I have heard nothing but absolutely glowing reports about her, so I'm thrilled. Natalie is a little scared and a little excited. She saw all the "big kids" at the Open House and that worried her a little, but once she got into the classroom, she was great. She will also attend school age child care (SACC) at the school, and she got to see the classrooms and the teachers there, too.

We walked to the school today so Natalie and Nicholas could play on the playground. She's pretty excited even today.

9/10/06 ETA: Here are a few pictures from Open House:

First one is Natalie in her classroom. Her teacher asked her to find her name at the table and draw a picture of herself.



And here is Natalie admiring her finished picture -- it's actualy a picture of her and her best friend from pre-school J. (J doesn't live in our school district so Natalie is particularly missing her right now.)



Nicholas just couldn't wait for all the "visiting the classroom stuff" to be done so he could visit the playground:

Back from vacation

Yes, we are back from vacation. One day early.

We left on Wednesday after Natalie's 5 year-old doctor's appointment. She did great at the appointment (43 1/2" tall, 42 pounds) and had three shots :-( which she (understandably) did not like at all. Then we headed north. It took us 2 hours to get to Baltimore. :-( So we pulled in to my parents' house at 3:15 am Thursday morning.

Thursday we went to the Whaling Museum and to Seamen's Bethel. Apparently some sort of "police incident" occured either Wednesday or Thursday as the volunteers were talking about it and lots of police cruisers/officers were right outside the Whaling Museum. Thankfully we saw nothing else about it.

I have to say that I am glad that we no longer live in New Bedford. The city has taken a dramatic downturn.

Later that afternoon we celebrated DH's mom's birthday (age 21 -- because Kenny Curtis says that all moms are 21 years old) at Uncle D's house.

On Friday the weather was quite rainy and we decided to go on the Cape Cod Railroad -- what a great time we had! Really, it was far better than I expected and the two Thomas fans in our household really loved it. HIGHLY recommended!

On Saturday was The Wedding -- so we got the kids all cleaned up and lookng nice for that. Nicholas managed to walk 20 feet down the aisle before running to me. :-) Natalie did great, though -- she was the "leader" and had great listening ears.

Sunday we spent a good part of the day at Uncle D's house and then went out to dinner to celebrate my mother's 21st (ahem!) birthday.

On Monday we left Massachusetts at 6:15 am -- we did a stopover in Philadelphia so we could visit the Please Touch Museum, our favorite museum anywhere. Thanks to traffic and a requisite stop to Campo's Deli for a cheesesteak, we decided to visit the museum on Tuesday morning. This was a great idea as we spent close to 3 hours at the museum instead of their suggested" allow" time of 90 minutes.

So we got back home to Virginia yesterday around 4 p.m., which let us get the car unpacked in time for Natalie's soccer practice at 5:30 pm.

Oh, the one day early part? DH has a 2nd interview for a job this afternoon. "Hire Him" vibes are most appreciated.

Will post pictures soon -- we're off to the dr's for Natalie to get a TB test and then we are off to Train Day at a local toy store.

9/10/2006 ETA: Here's the one picture from H's wedding where Natalie is not frowning and Nicholas is actually in the picture:

Police helicopters

Yes, the fascination of the weekend was police helicopters.

We went to the local police station open house on Saturday and the "coolest" thing, per Natalie and Nicholas, was the police helicopter. They got to see inside and -- while we were waiting in line for a pony ride -- they got to see it take off, with siren blaring. "Very very cool", said Nicholas.

We spent three hours at the open house. Compared to last year's open house (where we spent a short time AND had an injury on the moon bouce) it was amazing. Both kids had a ball. Thank you, Fairfax County Police Department!

Graduation party

Today we had a party for all the soon-to-be-Kindergarteners at Natalie's pre-school. Natalie had a great time. I left early so I could pick up Nicholas and get out of there. This week has been "challenging" and I was just tired and bordering on a migraine.

So it's done. How bad is it that I went to my daughter's graduation party and all I feel is that it's great to have something checked off the To Do list?

I need a vacation. And some sleep. And a day of nothing to do with no watches and clocks to live by.

*sigh*

Getting ready for Kindergarten

We are slowly but surely getting ready for Kindergarten.

We have all the school supplies. The school supply lists for the school say that it is expected to last half the year. So we bought more than double of everything -- just in case. (And how a Kindergartener can go though 18 glue sticks in half a year is beyond me!)

We have two backpacks -- because Mom wasn't happy with the size of the "junior backpack" recommended by the online retailers, especially when other parents said the backpacks have to hold all the "winter gear" inside. So now we have two monogrammed lime green backpacks -- one junior size and one regular size. And a lunch box to match.

We have clothes. Oh, do we have clothes! All have been "approved" by Natalie. And none look "trashy". (Have you SEEN some of the clothes they have for FIVE year olds? Sheesh!)

We have four pairs of shoes -- one pair of dress shoes, one pair of tennis shoes, and two pair of "every day" shoes.

We have been to the dentist. Great teeth, no cavities, and Natalie did a great job at the cleaning appointment. And so did Nicholas, since he went at the same time for his first dentist visit. He even had his teeth flossed!

Next up is the "good-bye to pre-school" party on Friday. I'm helping with that. Natalie's official last day in Tuesday, one week from today.

Then next week is the five-year-old check-up at the doctor (and shots! :-( ) and getting the form filled out for school.

I can't believe she is going to Kindergarten!

Happy 5th Birthday, my angel!

Happy birthday Natalie!

5 years ago today you turned my entire world upside down. Thank you for being here, my angel!

We survived the 5th birthday party

Yes, we survived! 20 children and 20 adults in the heat at Lake Accotink.

I managed to get there early enough (10:15 am) to get a "close" parking spot and got most everything setup by myself while watching two children. In the meantime, DH picked up the balloon order and the cake. The pizzas arrived on time (12:15 pm) , the candles would not light with the matches (or the slight breeze) but we sang Happy Birthday anyway. Then it was time for some miniature golf and a ride on the carousel. The kids loved the pinata (a pull-type pinata -- no "whacking" Curious George!) and I tossed a lot of candy around for the little ones who don't like the "squish effect" of kids diving for candy from the pinata. At 2 pm it was time for our boat ride on Lake Accotink, where Natalie got to drive the boat! It was really hot (95+ degrees) so we shortened the boat ride to 30 minutes and head back to our picnic spot (under tents) to give out goody bags and say "thanks for coming".

DH and I cleaned up quickly and we were all home by 3:45 pm. Nicholas fell asleep on the (short) ride home and napped until 5:15 pm. Natalie had no nap and was a wreck by the early evening -- she was SO tired and just outright wired.

As she said early on in the party, "No more outside birthday parties for me!"

9/10/06 ETA: Proof that Nicholas got into the cake early on in the party:

Wisdom at bed time

Natalie hurt her toe as we left preschool today. Her teacher did a great job of washing it off, bandaging it up, etc., but Natalie thought a medivac was in order ;-) yet we managed to get home okay. So I spent some time cuddling with her tonight before she drfited off to sleep.

She is very excited about her birthday party, and there are so many changes happening so soon, especially with Kindergarten. So we are talking about her birthday party, and naming all the children that will be coming , and then talking about Kindergarten a bit.

She says, "But I will be so far away from you, not close to you like I am now."

And I say, "Yes, I will be at my office. But you will be near E (neighborhood friend) and Miss S (neighbor that teaches at the school) and many other people that you haven't even met yet. And you'll have a library at school, and art class, and music class, and gym, and a cafeteria..."

She says, "I just have so many questions and so much to talk about. I can't sleep with so many questions."

And I say, "That's because you are so smart."

And she says, "I know I'm smart. But if I wasn't so smart I could sleep."

:-)

Summer madness

And people say summer is the time to relax...

We are readying for Natalie's birthday party, and, of course, this is the last of the "big parties" as she'll be in Kindergarten in September so we will "downsize" the party next year as we won't invite "the entire class". This year's party will be big but not huge, and we are having it at a local park and NOT at our house ("rain rain go away").

DH is still in the job market but he's been busy taking care of things around the house. He's also been handling many of the birthday party planning duties, which are indeed time consuming.

DH's mom is finally out of the nursing home (after many, many months) and staying with DH's brother. Not sure how that is really going as I have not seen things first-hand. We'll know more when we visit in August.

And speaking of visits in August, we literally have "places to be and people to see" for every day of our upcoming week-long stay in Massachusetts. I guess we can look at it and say at least no one will be bored!


That's about all I have time to post about -- and yes, I still have the unfinished Disney trip reports to finish. AFTER the birthday party. :-)

No, I haven't fallen off the Earth...

I'm still here and sorely needing some time to hide and write.

I haven't finished my trip report from Disney, and then Father's Day weekend we all went to Strasburg, Pennsylvania for A Day Out With Thomas. So I want to write about that, too. And then last weekend was Natalie's "parent observation day" at dance class, and I want to write about that, too.

Then, I've been helping My Better Half job hunt, and I would LOVE to vent a little about that, but I can't, because "the world is small and is round", to quote the late Joe Moakley. So I'll leave that stuff aside. Suffice it to say that everyone knows what payback is...

DH has been home catching up on the infamous Honey, Do list -- and I sent him an addition to the existing list in Excel format. Then, of course, it rained. And rained. And rained. So after dealing with the broken shut off valves for the sink in his bathroom (yes, the "master bathroom" that is the size of a teeny closet and all his cooties so I won't even go in there) which resulted in us having to replace a sink and a faucet and a vanity -- he now has an insurance claim to deal with for our water logged wall-to-wall in our downstairs playroom. And that was AFTER dealing with the accident to my mini-van -- no, it was not my fault that someone backed into me while I was exiting my parking garage at work!

So, he's been busy. And he's been doing laundry. And decluttering.

And job hunting.

As for me -- work is busy, life is busy, and I adore my children.

Our civic association testified before the County Planning Commission last week. I drafted the statement and -- and yes, I think I did a pretty good job with it. Just trying to keep the "public policy" side of me alive.

And I almost forgot -- I got to see my dear friends Katherine and Jessica two weeks ago! We had a study group when we were all Ph.D. students and I just loved them. Very hard working and the most loving and caring people you'd ever meet. No one would have guessed that I would be one of the folks that didn't "go the distance". But they got to meet Natalie and Nicholas and everyone understands why I did what I did.

So why don't I cut myself some slack already?

Karen, meet your own worst enemy. ;-)


Anyway, I'm going to try to fill in all the holes that I mentioned, a little at a time. But there are other things taking over my time. Like sleep. And DH's job hunting. And World Cup (GO PORTUGAL). And summertime with children.

ZZZZzzzzzzzz....

We're back....

We're back and I'm trying to catch up.

We did a whirlwind tour of Walt Disney World. We flew to Orlando on May 25 and got back late on Thursday but then there was unpacking to do, dance class to get to, a soccer game to get to, a birthday party to get to, etc.

I have the start of a trip report up on the DISBoards. I have managed to transfer some of the pictures. One of my favorites is this one -- it's of a family of ducks that we watched throughout the resort. Made life with two little ones look so easy compared to handling seven babies!

Like mother, like son

Nicholas has a cold.

I took him to the pediatrician yesterday morning because the night prior was a very restkess night for him. I instantly thought ear infection, especially because he went for his ear check on Friday and the dr. saw fluid in his ears.

Well, as of yesterday morning, he still had fluid in there but no infection. The doctor saud I could give him Dimetapp if I wanted to, as that would help sedate him a tiny bit.

I got The Call at 3 pm that his fever was over 100. So I stayed home from work today with the kids. I got out the Dimetapp.

You would think I gave him a espresso drink.

Note to self -- no Dimetapp for Nicholas. :-)

And a special HAPPY BIRTHDAY wish to my brother Bob. He's celebrating his -- um, let's do the math -- 57th -- um, I mean 35th -- birthday today. *hee hee hee*

Robocalls

A little bit of a rant...

Yesterday afternoon I called our home answering machine to see if we had any messages and was a little shocked when I heard we had 13 new messages. This was even more shocking because I had called to check the answering machine at lunchtime and there were no new messages at 1 pm.

So I began to scroll through the new messages:

"This is delegate so-and-so and I'm calling to urge your support of James Webb for Senate on Tuesday, June 13..."

"This is Harris Miller, candidate for Senate, and I need your support on Tuesday, June 13..."

"Hi, my name is so-and-so and I am asking for your support of Harris Miller on Tuesday, June 13th..."

etc.

Thirteen of these messages. All of these left on our home answering machine, sometime between 1 pm and 5 pm on Wednesday, May 17. And the election is WHEN?

*sigh*

And yes, we will be voting in the primary on Tuesday, June 13th. But I probably should not say we are undecided on who we will be voting for. Then they'll leave more messages!

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day a day early. :-)

Today we have run into one of those "scheduling conflicts" where a soccer game is at the same time as a dance class. Natalie chose dance class today. Of course I hear the rain on our roof right now, so perhaps it is a moot point as the game may be rained out.

Nicholas received his first invitation to a friend's birthday party -- J is turning 3 next month. Nicholas was absolutely thrilled that this invitation was for HIM and NOT for Natalie. He's finally going to something that does not involve his big sister, and he seems pretty excited about it.

The newest fascination for him is Little Einsteins. His sister likes the show and we record it to watch later, but now Nicholas talks about the "rocket ship" all the time. Hearing the two of them singing the theme song is just SO much fun!

Still a little hectic around here so I'm sorry for the light posting. The madness will get better, I'm sure.

And on an entertainment front -- have you seen the Evolution of Dance video? Absolutely classic! VERY much worth the 6 minutes to view.

Schedule madness

Over the weekend we went to Natalie's soccer game, skipped dance class because she was too tired from soccer, I went to the elementary school social/fundraiser -- yes, the school that she has not even started at yet -- went to our new church, made it to soccer team photos in time, played on the playground with the soccer team, went to our first playdate with the preschool class, and went grocery shopping. And somehow managed to get 7 loads of laundry done.

Of course the house is still a disaster with toys strewn in just about every room.

I read a post on the DC Urban Moms listserv today about selling one's house and moving to an apartment because the monthly expenses were too much to bear. I wonder if we were in a smaller house if things would be easier to manage. Or do the layers of strewn about toys just get thicker? See Elizabeth's post about the subject.

Light posting

Sorry for the light posting. Some stuff (which I can't post about) has hit the household and we're doing our best to deal with it. I'm so fortunate to have two wonderful children. They help keep me sane. In spite of the myriad of toys strewn about the living room.

Happy 15th Wedding Anniversary

DH and I celebrated 15 years of wedded bliss on Thursday (the 27th). We attempted to go out to dinner, but Nicholas was loaded for bear, so our dinner at Silverado was -- well, it was abbreviated. So we'll celebrate instead during our upcoming trip to Walt Disney World.

Natalie did play soccer on Saturday as well as go to dance class. Sunday we went to the American Dance Institute to their Open House and to meet Angela Ballerina. Both Natalie and Nicholas took a "ballet class" where they learned five ballet positions. They both had fun. Natalie loved seeing Angelina Ballerina. Nicholas saw Angelina Ballerina and then prompt got down on all fours to "be a puppy" and barked at her.

And we got a call today that he won the door prize of the Angelina On Stage book!

Anyway, if you are in the Rockville, MD, area, near Congressional Plaza, please check out their dance school. Natalie goes to Arlington Center for Dance and we are very happy there, but I was pretty impressed with the facilities and the students at American Dance Institute.


Finally -- DH brought Natalie to Kindergarten registration today. I REALLY wanted to go, but our annual "big event" at work was today and I could not go to the registration. Yes, I'm bummed and I was thinking about Natalie ALL DAY today. Shows me that I should plan on taking the day off when Natalie starts Kindergarten this fall. :-)

Stop the Mommy Wars petition

MomsRising has a petition up to sign:

"We are calling for a ceasefire in the so-called "Mommy Wars." All moms are in the same boat. We all need better family-friendly policies. It's time to focus on real problems in need of real solutions."

MomsRising is partnered with Mothers Ought to Have Equal Rights (MOTHERS).

Pass it on.

The cows were in the meadow, eating buttercups

...ashes, ashes, we all stand UP!

Well, not really. Natalie went to soccer practice and spent at least 75% of her time picking buttercups "for my Mommy for her birthday". And all I could do was watch her across the field.

I think her soccer career is over, at least for this year. Photo Day is May 6 and the league has registration for the Fall season at the same time. I asked Natalie if she wanted to do soccer or dance in the Fall. Without question it was dance.

Happy Birthday

Yesterday was my birthday. For my birthday Nicholas sang Happy Birthday to me at 6:15 am. Natalie then told me that she only loves me on my birthday (and she later clarified herself that she loves me on every day that someone has a birthday).

Later in the morning we went to the local garden center to pick out some plants and buy some mulch. While both children were napping, I planted four butterfly bushes and laid down 29 bags of mulch. I need at least another 20 bags of mulch to finish the yard. Thank goodness we have a wheelbarrow or my back would be toast this morning!

But we did go out to dinner and had cupcakes (with Ben & Jerry's) at home.

Movie meme

Following on Elizabeth's post, which is following a movie meme from The Republic of Heaven. The list is Ebert's 101 Movies You Must See Before You Die. Bold the ones you've seen.

"2001: A Space Odyssey" (1968) Stanley Kubrick
"The 400 Blows" (1959) Francois Truffaut
"8 1/2" (1963) Federico Fellini
"Aguirre, the Wrath of God" (1972) Werner Herzog
"Alien" (1979) Ridley Scott.
"All About Eve" (1950) Joseph L. Mankiewicz
"Annie Hall" (1977) Woody Allen
"Bambi" (1942) Disney
"Battleship Potemkin" (1925) Sergei Eisenstein
"The Best Years of Our Lives" (1946) William Wyler
"The Big Red One" (1980) Samuel Fuller
"The Bicycle Thief" (1949) Vittorio De Sica
"The Big Sleep" (1946) Howard Hawks
"Blade Runner" (1982) Ridley Scott
"Blowup" (1966) Michelangelo Antonioni
"Blue Velvet" (1986) David Lynch
"Bonnie and Clyde"(1967) Arthur Penn
"Breathless" (1959) Jean-Luc Godard
"Bringing Up Baby" (1938) Howard Hawks
"Carrie" (1975) Brian DePalma
"Casablanca"(1942) Michael Curtiz
"Un Chien Andalou" (1928) Luis Bunuel & Salvador Dali
"Children of Paradise"/ "Les Enfants du Paradis" (1945) Marcel Carne
"Chinatown"(1974) Roman Polanski
"Citizen Kane" (1941) Orson Welles
"A Clockwork Orange"(1971) Stanley Kubrick
"The Crying Game" (1992) Neil Jordan
"The Day the Earth Stood Still" (1951) Robert Wise
"Days of Heaven" (1978) Terence Malick
"Dirty Harry" (1971) Don Siegel
"The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie" (1972) Luis Bunuel
"Do the Right Thing" (1989) Spike Lee
"La Dolce Vita" (1960) Federico Fellini
"Double Indemnity" (1944) Billy Wilder
"Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying andLove the Bomb" (1964) Stanley Kubrick
"Duck Soup" (1933) Leo McCarey
"E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial" (1982) StevenSpielberg
"Easy Rider" (1969) Dennis Hopper
"The Empire Strikes Back" (1980) Irvin Kershner
"The Exorcist" (1973) William Friedkin
"Fargo"(1995) Joel & Ethan Coen
"Fight Club" (1999) David Fincher
"Frankenstein" (1931) James Whale
"The General" (1927) Buster Keaton & Clyde Bruckman
"The Godfather," "The Godfather, PartII" (1972, 1974) Francis Ford Coppola
"Gone With the Wind" (1939) Victor Fleming
"GoodFellas" (1990) Martin Scorsese
"The Graduate" (1967) Mike Nichols
"Halloween" (1978) John Carpenter
"A Hard Day's Night" (1964) Richard Lester
"Intolerance" (1916) D.W. Griffith
"It's A Gift" (1934) Norman Z. McLeod
"It's a Wonderful Life" (1946) Frank Capra
"Jaws" (1975) Steven Spielberg
"The Lady Eve" (1941) PrestonSturges
"Lawrence of Arabia" (1962) David Lean
"M" (1931) Fritz Lang
"Mad Max 2" / "The Road Warrior" (1981) George Miller
"The Maltese Falcon" (1941) John Huston
"The Manchurian Candidate" (1962) JohnFrankenheimer
"Metropolis" (1926) Fritz Lang
"Modern Times" (1936) Charles Chaplin
"Monty Python and the Holy Grail" (1975) Terry Jones & Terry Gilliam
"Nashville"(1975) Robert Altman
"The Night of the Hunter" (1955) Charles Laughton
"Night of the Living Dead" (1968) George Romero
"North by Northwest" (1959) Alfred Hitchcock
"Nosferatu" (1922) F.W. Murnau
"On the Waterfront" (1954) Elia Kazan
"Once Upon a Time in the West" (1968) Sergio Leone
"Out of the Past" (1947) Jacques Tournier
"Persona" (1966) Ingmar Bergman
"Pink Flamingos" (1972) John Waters
"Psycho" (1960) Alfred Hitchcock
"Pulp Fiction" (1994) Quentin Tarantino
"Rashomon" (1950) Akira Kurosawa
"Rear Window" (1954) Alfred Hitchcock
"Rebel Without a Cause" (1955) Nicholas Ray
"Red River" (1948) Howard Hawks
"Repulsion" (1965) Roman Polanski
"Rules of the Game" (1939) Jean Renoir
"Scarface" (1932) Howard Hawks
"The Scarlet Empress" (1934) Josef von Sternberg
"Schindler's List" (1993) Steven Spielberg
"The Searchers" (1956) John Ford
"The Seven Samurai" (1954) Akira Kurosawa
"Singin' in the Rain" (1952) Stanley Donen &Gene Kelly
"Some Like It Hot" (1959) Billy Wilder
"A Star Is Born" (1954) George Cukor
"A Streetcar Named Desire" (1951) Elia Kazan
"Sunset Boulevard" (1950) Billy Wilder
"Taxi Driver" (1976) Martin Scorsese
"The Third Man" (1949) Carol Reed
"Tokyo Story" (1953) Yasujiro Ozu
"Touch of Evil" (1958) Orson Welles
"The Treasure of the Sierra Madre" (1948) John Huston
"Trouble in Paradise" (1932) Ernst Lubitsch
"Vertigo" (1958) Alfred Hitchcock
"West Side Story" (1961) Jerome Robbins/Robert Wise
"The Wild Bunch" (1969) Sam Peckinpah
"The Wizard of Oz" (1939) Victor Fleming

Have to wonder where Brazil is on this list, but hey, it's Roger Ebert. :-)

Mommy Wars

I posted about Leslie Morgan Steiner's blog last month. No, I have not had a chance to read her book yet, but came across a review at The New Republic. They just made a magazine sale. :-)

And no, Night 2 did not work well. We'll see how this weekend goes. I may be moving to the guest room come Sunday.

Sleep in the Big Boy Bed, Night 1

I have a confession to make. Our son Nicholas has been co-sleeping with us. Yes, he's 2 years 4 months old -- but who is counting? -- and he has not made it out of our bed yet.

Things are changing tonight.

DH is asleep next to him right now -- DH on the floor, Nicholas in his Big Boy Bed -- and let's hope that Nicholas stays put in his bed for a while. I doubt he'll make it through the night, but at least he has started there.

This is DH's doing as I said MANY months ago that Nicholas had to move out, but DH has been the resistant one.

So we are trying it tonight. And I don't have to do jack. (Snoopy dancing)

Belated Happy Easter!

Yikes, it's been absolutely hectic here!

Saturday was the neighborhood Egg Hunt. It went really well and we had a great time. About 25 children showed up and they all had fun. It was glorious weather here -- perfectly clear blue sky, and quite warm. Note to self -- fill the eggs with something other than Hershey Kisses next year. ;-)

Sunday was Easter (of course) and Natalie woke at 6:15 am (*yawn*) to announce that she saw candy all over the living room floor and eggs all over the front yawn. Nicholas got up 45 minutes later, and off they went with candy and eggs and toys. Natalie and I left the house at 9 am to go to Mass and we got there with two minutes to spare. The priest invited all the children and any parents to sit behind the altar in order to make room for adults to sit in the pews. Good thing Nicholas wasn't there!

After Mass was over, we headed back home and took some "all dressed up" pictures. I could only manage candids with Nicholas because he did not want to take pictures. Oh well -- at least he kept his sweater vest on.

Belated Happy Easter!

Soccer practice, take two

Natalie actually stayed on the field this week!

There was soccer practice tonight despite this being Spring Break week here in Virginia. Practice was very good as there were four children and two coaches (the coach and the asst. coach). I think it was the best practice that Natalie has ever had - not that she has had that many practices! Nicholas kept me running all over -- I have to come up with some fun ways to occupy his time while we watch Natalie at soccer.

I'm the new coordinator for the family directory at our elementary school -- yes, the elementary school that Natalie starts at in September. Nothing like getting involved with the PTA too early!

The weather here is just beautiful. Now to take some time to attack my Chia Pet-like weeds in the lawn!

Visit to the Easter Bunny

We visited the Easter Bunny today while we were shopping at the Fair Oaks Mall.

More on Jack Bauer

We have DVR in our house and I faithfully record 24 each week for DH, who has seen I think 2 hours of "the day". He asks me to explain to him the plot for this day/season and I can never sum it up well. So, if you are confused by the plotline, go check out DC Media Girl's post and the excellent comment by Anonymous Reader Guy -- sums it up all in one concise paragraph.

Ear checks

I took Nicholas to the pediatrician yesterday for an "ear check". This "ear check" visit was requested by our pediatrician back in December when we took Nicholas in for his 2 year well-visit. He (yet again) had fluid in his ears, so she asked that if by some "miracle of miracles" (my phrasing, not hers) we were not in to see her over the winter for a cold or something, that we should come in around early to mid-April to have an ear check.

So we did. And of course he had fluid in his ears. But it was clear and his eardrums were pink, which apparently means it is "fresher".

We go back in another month for an ear check. HOPEFULLY his ears will be clear then.

Soccer practice -- involves walking off the field?!

Sometimes I turn to Daddy to step in on parenting dilemmas.

I picked up Natalie for soccer practice and was thrilled to hear that she had "excellent listening ears" all day. I thought that this would bode well for soccer practice, combined with her excitement about Saturday's game, and the pictures she was showing her friends, etc. Got her all dressed in many layers, got her shin guards on, the long socks, the cleats -- and she was showing her friends her "soccer outfit", and she seemed very excited to be going to practice.

We get to practice a little early (5 minutes) and we sat on the bleachers waiting for her coach. At practice I have to amuse Nicholas -- not an easy thing to do. Coach shows up and Natalie heads out with her team. About 10 minutes into the practice, Nicholas is tired of sitting and asks to "walk around". So I take him for a walk away from the field. We start to head up some stairs, and I see Natalie following us, calling "Mommy, I want to go to the playground" -- a good 50 yards away from her coach, team, and practice field! So Nicholas and I turn around to go back down the stairs, and I tell Natalie to go back to her team. She says, "I want to go home." I tell her that she cannot go home, that she has to stay at practice, that she just can't walk off the field like that, and she says she doesn't want to play soccer.

Now I am admittedly starting to see red. I send DH an email saying that she just walked off the practice field. By now we are near her practice field, and I send her back on to the field. She stands there and won't go back to her team. So I tell her we are going home and she can tell her coach that she is quitting soccer. She refuses to move.

I tell her we are going home and we head towards the car and I tell her I really don't like that she is a quitter. She says she is not a quitter and she wants to go back to soccer.

We turn back around to head towards practice and she manages to get back on the field. 10 minutes of hardly participating, and then she says she needs to go potty.

Like there is a bathroom next to the field. (!)

So off we go again -- back to the car -- and I told her she could wear one of Nicholas' diapers to do her thing. I did not think that this would go over well, and no, it did not.

We managed to get her back on the field again. She is standing around looking at her teammates practice.

I am seeing red again so I call DH on the phone and tell him to talk to her.

We went round and round with her for about 10 minutes. No, you can't go to the game on Saturday if you don't go to practice today. No, it is not fair to your teammates if you just walk off the field. No, you can't just walk away from your coach. Etc., etc.

She gets back on the field again and this time she practices. A little. For about 15 minutes total.

I didn't know what to do at this point so I tried the "positive reinforcement" approach and took her and her brother out to dinner at their favorite restaurant, Silverado. I told Natalie that we were going out to dinner to celebrate that she was not a quitter and she went back to practice and listened to her coach. I have no idea if this was the "right" thing to do, but I was running out of ideas. And we discussed at dinner that she would NOT walk off the field and she would NOT walk away from her coach and she would NOT let her teammates down.

Heaven knows if all of this will make any sort of an impression.

Spring Soccer - week 1

The day we all have been waiting for -- the First Soccer Game!

Here are pictures from today.

We are in the Braddock Road Youth Club Soccer league, and, believe it or not, there are 12 teams in the Under 5 (U5) division. Each team plays a "no scoring" game each Saturday, where the teams are divided up so that there are two games of 3 on 3 going on at the same time. This was the children get lots of time touching/kicking the ball, and there is not a lot of "bench warmng".

Natalie got hit in the nose by a soccer ball BUT SHE WAS A TROOPER and took a short break, got some water, and went back into the game.

The trick is to get the children to score into the right goal, and to keep them on the field -- after a while they don't see the lines and just keep going after the ball!

The coaches and assistants do a tremendous job with the kids. I am VERY impressed with the league and how everyone is there for the kids.

We ALL had a blast today!

Uniform night

We went to "uniform night" to pick up Natalie's soccer uniform. Two shirts (royal blue and silver/gray), two pairs of socks, and a pair of black shorts -- size XS. There were only two other "packages" there in size XS , so I'm glad we got there rather early (6:15 pm) as otherwise she might have been without a uniform. (That just would not do for her! :-) )

And about churches -- I sent out an email to a couple of email lists that I am on -- I asked about family-friendly churches:

I am looking for a toddler/pre-schooler friendly church community in
northern Virginia. I really do not know what denomination, but I'm
guessing it would be along the more "liberal" side of things (i.e.,
our beliefs center on evolution vs. creationism; we are supporters of
social justice). I'm looking for church communities that people really
LOVE and are family-centric.

Well, that was a good thing to do! It seems that there are many families in a similar predicament, and many of the families are either Catholic or former Catholics. So, for all those that emailed me -- thank you! And here's the list of most-often-recommended family-friendly churches in the northern Virginia/DC area (listed in order of "number of mentions" by email):

1. Our Lady Queen of Peace, Arlington VA
2. Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington, Arlington VA
   
3. St. Aloysius Church, Washington DC
4. Holy Trinity Catholic Church, Washington DC
5. St. Francis of Assissi, Triangle VA (about 30 miles south of Washington DC near Quantico)
6. Falls Church Presbyterian Church, Falls Church VA
7. St. Peters Episcopal Church, Arlington VA
8. St. Alban's Episcopal Church, Annandale VA
   

Also, two Intentional Eucharistic Communities were recommended -- these communities do not meet at a formal "church":

1. NOVA Intentional Eucharistic Community, meets at Kenmore Middle School, Arlington VA on Sundays at 10:15 am during the school year
2. PAX Community, McLean VA

I think we are going to give Our Lady Queen of Peace a try. Just have to see which has a good "fit".

Totally fed up

Based on where I live, my ordered-to-be-there parish is St. Michael's Church. If it is possible to despise a church I do. There is no "family friendliness" about the place. As the mom of a 4 year-old and a 2 year-old, I cannot take my children to Mass there because there is no place to take the children when one or more of them "fusses". I have been known to drive to Alexandria to attend Mass at Blessed Sacrament that has more of a family-friendly setup re: Mass. But I have enrolled and paid for my 4 year-old to attend CCD on Sunday mornings.

Now this (see below) is in the Bulletin at St. Michael's.

I am taking this opportunity as your Pastor to write to you, my parishioners, about a recent event that has happened in our Diocese. On March 25th, our Bishop gave permission for the use of girls and women to serve Mass in the parishes of the Diocese. When the Holy See allowed girls and women to serve Mass in 1994, it also reminded the bishops and priests of the Church through the world of the noble tradition of having boys serve at the altar. Our Holy Father of blessed memory, Pope John Paul II (in his Holy Thursday letter to priests in 2004), even remarked how altar boys "“represent a kind of garden"” of priestly "“vocations,"” and that their service at the altar can be an invaluable experience of education in our Christian faith that becomes a sort of "“preseminary."” Here at St. Michael'’s we have been blessed over the years with many young men who served at the altar and have been ordained as priests, including Deacon Phillip Cozzi, the latest of the many of our parish'’s "“priests sons"” who will offer his first Mass of Thanksgiving here in June.

Because of the noble tradition already set in place here at St. Michael'’s, and the many vocations to the priesthood that have been fostered through this practice, we will continue to allow only boys to serve at the altar. In doing this, I ask all parishioners to pray for an increase of vocations to the priesthood, and that the Lord of the harvest will shape and form those men He calls to follow Him in the Sacrament of the Holy Orders to be priests after His own Sacred Heart. St. Michael the Archangel, pray for us!

I am so unbelievably mad that I'm ready to just leave the Catholic church altogether. NEVER have I seen such an attitude!!!!!!! This is so VERY FAR from what I experienced while growing up/living in Massachusetts!

I have already posted to the DC Urban Moms list begging for advice on what church I might be able to join. The overall consensus there was to drive to DC and join a parish there. IS THIS MY ONLY OPTION??? I am so very, very upset. I am hanging on to my Catholic upbringing with a slenderest of threads now, and I'm so tempted to toss it all away and go to the Unitarian Church (or something like that) starting this weekend.

After dinner sweet talk

I just snuck upstairs to our loft bedroom -- where the "office"/guest room is -- and I'm listening to/overhearing DH talk with the children downstairs. Both children -- one at a time -- requested "cuddles with Daddy". Nicholas said, "I would like cuddles, please -- I'll lie on your arm" and Natalie said, "Make room for me, please." So the three of them are all snuggled together on the floor.

Listening to the love of those sweet little voices -- it's magical!

Pot luck dinner

Friday we went to the pot luck dinner and family music night -- here are two quick pics (unedited) trying to give you a sense of the fun we had. Here's Nicholas sneaking some water to drink and here's Natalie with DH having fun with the table decorations.

Schedules

I admit that I'm somewhat of a geek when it comes to "technology stuff". Add that trait to my tendency to plan and, well, I end up using electronic calendars a lot. As in a whole lot.

I think I may have crossed the proverbial line now as I'm scheduling appointments in my electronic calendar -- and adding DH to the schedule list, too.

It probably sounds very weird -- but with all that we have going on, it's the only way to anticipate what is coming up for "the next few days".

Between dance class and soccer and swim class and the civic association and the PTA and the parents group at pre-school and community things -- life "after work" is downright dizzying! And that doesn't include other "family things" like birthdays and weddings and such.

Sorry, DH -- more email appointments are soon to come!

Diocese of Arlington changes policy on altar girls

The Diocese of Arlington has awakened to Vatican II -- um, I mean changed its policy on altar girls. Well, it can't be said that the Diocese doesn't take their time in deliberating.

As Call to Action of Northern Virginia suggests, read the policy statement on the Diocesan web site for specifics:

"...Since 1994, our diocese has permitted girls and women to serve at the altar in several settings: university and college campuses, convents, nursing homes, retreat houses, hospitals, and home Masses. In desiring to make available those legitimate options endorsed by our Church, I am expanding our previous permission to include our parish and high school communities.

Some parishes have actively requested the liberty to allow female altar servers; others have not. The Church’s permission in this arena, accordingly, allows for a legitimate diversity of options. The decision to allow female altar servers lies at the discretion of the local pastor, in consultation with his parochial vicar(s), deacon(s), and parish pastoral council.

The Church – which has allowed the use of female servers for over a decade – has stated that girls and women, like their male counterparts, are allowed this opportunity to serve at the altar and thereby deepen their faith, an experience which can facilitate a young woman’s discernment of the Lord’s call to religious life or a young man’s discernment of the Lord’s call to the priesthood or religious life."

As DH said to me, time to shake the apple tree a bit at our mandated-based-on-real-estate "parish church".

Dare I post this -- feeling better!

Yes, the Scourge appears to have left the house.

Natalie has been feeling great since Sunday with no signs of pneumonia or whatever was in her. She took her last dose of Zithromax on Monday and (*knock on wood*) has been normal, as normal can be with seasonal allergies.

I have been battling The Fevers: Version III since last week but FINALLY feel better today. I also got a couple of hours of work done at 1 AM, so most everyone would say that I'm much more normal now.

Natalie's first soccer practice was cancelled yesterday. Evidently the county decided to close all the fields for some unknown reason, so her first soccer practice will be next Tuesday instead. It was pretty cold out anyway, so it's probably for the best.

Have to share a True Story from my dad -- he's been working on getting rid of cable TV where he lives (Massachusetts) to switch to satellite. He had to switch internet providers first, and he waited until the satellite people could come by to get the install done today. I get this message in my inbox:

Direct tv CANNOT BE PUT IN BECAUSE OF THE TREES. Going back to all comcast.They will be here on April 6 to do that. Still on verizon till then. I spent 45 minutes with comcast to get all this all going.They will call verizon onthis. WHAT AMESS TO DO.

Nice customer service on the satellite provider's part, don't you think???

On that happy note -- check out today's Washington Post article on the supposed joys of buying a "bundle" of services from telecommunications providers.

Another visit to the Pediatrician

Yes, another visit to the pediatrician today -- another (great!) doctor in the practice. (Have I mentioned that I love our pediatric practice? If you are in northern Virginia and want a great pediatric practice, drop me a note and I'll tell you all about them.) We went to the pediatrician after Natalie had a 103 (!) fever. Of course I was not in the office but on the way to a meeting on Capitol Hill, and DH could not go pick her up because today is The Final Day for Appropriations (and he worked until some insane hour last night trying to get everything done), and my friend at my office who is my backup was at a dental appointment -- so I recruited another friend in my office who is a single guy, no "kids experience", etc. -- and he was AWESOME! I owe him so big.

Anyway...

The doctor checked her over. She has an ear infection now (as compared to Tuesday) but the doctor said that was not the cause of her fever. He listened to her heart several times and said that her heart rate is very fast for "just a fever". Based on her heart rate and her look (no arabesques) that he is concerned about pneumonia. However, she has no difficulty breathing.

She is starting on Zithromax today for her ear infection. DH will be home with her tomorrow. She's watching Cinderella right now and enjoying a fudgsicle.

She is such a trooper.

The Pediatrician

Yes, we visited the Pediatrician. I made the call first thing in the morning and got an appointment for 1 P.M. Of course I got a call around 11:15 A.M. from the preschool teacher that her temp was already at 100. (!)

So we saw the doctor at 1 P.M. The doctor asked Natalie how she was, and, as she did her best Angelina Ballerina-like arabesques in the exam room, she said "I'm good". Both the doctor and one of the Inova Fairfax residents smiled at her -- and I think the resident was holding back some giggles.

Short version: ears, nose, throat, chest are all fine. Doctor's recommendation: if she is her normal self (doing ballet moves) and she has a fever, don't give her anything (Tylenol, Motrin). If she has a fever and is lethargic, then call and have her seen by one of the doctors.

And yes, keep her on Claritin if she has a history of seasonal allergies, as the allergy season will be 2 months + this year thanks to the early "bloom" of the trees.

The doctor asked if anyone else in the household is now sick. I said, "No, we are all doing great." Silly woman I am -- talk about tempting the fates. Yes, I think I've got it now, too. (cough cough hack hack)

Home Today

I'm home with my daughter today.

Yesterday afternoon her temperature shot up like a rocket -- easily over 102 -- and I gave her some Motrin to bring her temp down. She pleaded to go see Curious George and her temp was down, so I brought her and Nicholas to the movies. After the movie, we all went home and her temp seemed to be going back up again, so I did the "alternate with Tylenol" approach that her pediatrician had told me to do ever since she had a febrile seizure as a baby. Well, her temp continued to rise. Even DH (who got home at 7:30 P.M. from working all day on a Sunday) agreed that she was HOT. So we opted to get her into a bath, and she was so very uncomfortable. Alternated with Motrin a bit later, and her temp continued to climb. She was well over 103 and I didn't bother taking her temp because I knew it was really high. I had her sleep with me so I could watch over her. It was 73 degrees in the house thanks to the warm weather on the East Coast yesterday, and she had winter pajamas with a comforter pulled up to her nose and she was shivering.

I seriously thought we were going to have a trip to the ER last night.

This morning she was up at 6:30 A.M. and she was her chipper self! She said "I feel much better, but my sniffling is still there and my cough is there, too." Seasonal allergies I think, but I'm not sure.

I have a call in to the pediatrician about the allergies. I'm just glad she is BETTER. I was pretty worried last night.

Sleeping angels

It's 2 PM and both children are sleeping. I sneak peeks into their rooms every so often -- they are so beautiful!

DH is working today -- yes, Sunday -- as this week is his appropriations deadline week and he has some huge number of letters to get onto some huge number of forms. I called to check in on him about a half hour ago -- he had about a third of them done, and that's from working on them since 10 A.M. today.

The kids and I went to swim class. Somehow I managed to get all three of us changed into swim gear and get Natalie off to her class with the right teacher and get Nicholas and I off to the other class. Who needs DH, right??? ;-)

We came home for lunch and I told them the only way we could go see Curious George at the movies is if they napped. So far, so good -- of course it's only been an hour.

I haven't spoken with my parents yet this weekend -- they went to the New England Spring Flower Show in Boston yesterday and today they are at a band (US Army Band? US Marine Corps Band? Not sure) concert this afternoon. I want to know what the flower show was like, particularly on opening day.

Yesterday we tried to go kits flying in the afternoon but we had pretty variable winds. Maybe we'll try again later today, if the thunderstorms stay away.

DH said he would be home by 6 P.M. so we could all have dinner and we could get baths done. We've got dueling priorities for Sunday night TV now with The Sopranos back for this season. Thank goodness for DVR!

Breakfast with Buzz Lightyear -- another year

My son has a fixation on Buzz Lightyear. Yes, the Tim Allen-voiced character from Toy Story/Toy Story2. Nicholas is so cute about it -- "To Finny and Yond." (Translation: To Infinity and Beyond -- and what in the world is that supposed to mean, anyways? Pixar? Disney? Anyone?)

Well, we -- um, I -- have been planting myself over at the DisBoards to get on the latest rumor mill about a BOYS character meal at Disney-MGM Studios in Florida, knowing that a casting call went out for "Sarge", for this new character meal. All sorts of rumors started, including who would be part of the meal (Breakfast and Beyond was the name, including Buzz and Woody), when it might be possible to make reservations (ADRs) for this meal. Then February 28 came and went, as did March 1 -- and no ADRs and no official word from Disney.

The latest rumor is that there has been a delay in the meal and now it will not be until sometime in June -- after our trip to Disney. :-( I'm so bummed. Still holding out a little hope, but definitely not counting on it any more.