Wonky Teeth and Weather

Tooth #2 --the wonky one in the middle bottom standing up straight like a soldier--is ready to go. Connor pretty much can't bite into anything at this point owing to that one flapping around and the new one right next door poking through.

Nice rainbow shining over our street this evening. Haven't seen one of those since Hawaii!!

Overheard At Dinner

C: Mom, when I was a baby and came out of your tummy where did I get my milk?
D: My boobies.
C: Ugh. That's disgustin'.
D: It wasn't disgusting.
C: Yeah, well, it was for me. My face was like this. (Screws up face into bug-eyed rictus of pain)


End of discussion

Counting Some Other Blessings

I really don't ever talk about "the rest" of my life here. That being the place and people that I share 45 hours a week with--my work life. It is a big part of my spot in Tatertown, though, and I'm feeling that its at least worth an honorable mention.

My "work-husband" (JS) and I went to a meeting this week with the primary team that we support in Collegeville, PA. They are working on a big project to document their customer segment and strategies and they graciously included us.

It sounds like gushing, I know, but I cannot say enough about the caliber and dedication of the seven other people in that room. At dinner on Wednesday night, the man who is the ranking leader of the group raised a toast and he said that it was to us as a family. And he was spot on. Our dynamic is very familial and strong. We truly love each other and truly get on each other's nerves. But we're an incredibly functional family that is communicative and we all know which direction we're rowing the boat.

Its very challenging to work outside the home while raising a family. But for me, its almost as if the other option didn't even exist. I can't imagine a life without all of these other people in it. People who inspire me, teach me, support me, challenge me, and make me a better person. This other world that I get to visit each day makes my life richer, fuller, and more balanced than it would be without it.

While I'm on this subject, I have to say that JS is a fantastic partner in what I do every day. We have worked together for so long that there's always the risk of the dynamic getting stale--but it hasn't. I use the term "work-husband" seriously. We're a team in tackling the challenges in my work world the same way that Bob and I are a team in tackling the challenges of our family world. Our work partnership just gets stronger and better every day. JS is all you would want in a business partner, but most importantly, he makes all of us laugh every day.

I am a lucky, lucky girl no matter which neighborhood of Tatertown I'm living in.

Better Than Soccer

WAY better. I think that our family experience with soccer was one of the most painful things we've explored together. Here's why:

1. The boy was way too young.

2. Daddy loves sports--but soccer? Not so much. Not one of his games.

3. The very cooperative nature of the sport is perhaps antithetical to the boy's genetic makeup.

4. Attention span was at an all time low

Baseball has so far been a joy. Daddy is the coach and that is working very well. I'm actually pleasantly surprised with how well C is accepting him a different role. This week was our fourth game and we seem to be in a groove with a good dugout system and the kids understand the field positions really well. Everyone is still struggling with when to run and throw to first base...or maybe its just struggling with where first base is...can't be sure. The team is made up of all very nice families and almost all of the dads are out there with their kids helping to coach.

After our game yesterday I felt lousy and went to bed for a few hours. It was a combination of stress (long week at work), headache, neckache, and allergies due to the fact that we've officially turned of the A/C in the house. Its a bit early for us to do that, but we need some financial recovery from the $450 a month electricity bills.

After my nap I picked up some nice steaks and wine and we grilled out on the deck which we have barely seen nor used the whole summer. We hooked up the ipod speakers and rocked out for awhile. We even convinced C to give us a dance show on the upperlevel of the deck while we sat in our chairs as the audience. If it hadn't been so dark I'd have tried to video it. It was priceless. One of the best 60 minutes I've had as a parent, honestly. He was totally into it and was even trying to break dance. He also has a special move that's all his own that involves some sort of vertical hand positioning in his sweat pants pockets. Just hysterical.

All that Chris Brown foot action wore him out and he fell asleep in my arms in the rocking chair a little while later while I sang Coldplay's "Viva La Vida" to him. Sitting there looking at him I developed my own total alternate interpretation of that song and decided that it could easily be about parenting and how we think we have things all figured out until we have kids and we realize how fragile the world is, along with our grasp on it. How they come into our lives and all of the cock-suredness dissolves. How they make us find our cores and strip away the arrogance in our relationships with them. I'm sure its not what Chris Martin et al intended, but that's the nature of art...

Happy Birthday Bubeleh!

My youthful, handsome, handful of a hubby had a peaceful birthday today. He did what he loves to do, played golf with his best buddy, Rick. When he came home we shared a Maggie Moo Cotton Candy birthday cake. Connor was so excited for his daddy and loved singing to him and giving him a big birthday hug and kiss. Everyone had fun and enjoyed their green poop today!

Happy Birthday, Schmoopie. The boy and I love you very much.

Sickness and Swings

The weekend started out badly. While I was away this week, Connor was struggling with some bug. Then, on Friday night we went to see Star Wars' "The Clone Wars" and the child was drenched with sweat. Skipped T-ball on Saturday morning and went to the pediatrician instead. She says there is just a funky virus going around. So, Connor and Bob had to miss the party at the Lopresti's last night. Today, he seemed okay so we went to the Baird Boys' 6th birthday party which was fun. Ate dinner at Whole Foods and picked up the week's supply of Icelandic yogurt which I now have Bob addicted to.

Wetlands Preserve

Connor and I have been frequenting the wetlands preserve nearby. Its a cool place for critters. Today we saw the biggest turtle we've ever seen there and a pretty big fish (by that, I mean 8 or 9 inches) with rainbow colors swimming near the overspill dam. He was pretty but I was too slow with the camera. There is a long boardwalk that circles the wetlands and a pier that goes out into the center. We've discovered that fish and turtles alike enjoy stale wheatbread!

Today, we're off to find gray baseball pants for the first T-ball game tomorrow. Wish us luck. Everywhere seems pretty wiped out. Plus, my beloved offspring has decided that he "hates stores". That's gonna be a problem. I'm just sayin'.

All Volcanoes, All The Time

Check out the first video at the top of the page here for a brief video clip from our first day of Kindergarten morning. Apparently, a key component of the curriculum is the study of lava cones.

Connor and Layla starting K-garten together...they've been in the same classroom since they were babies! And yes, that grafitti over his right shoulder says "Connor". I have no idea who could have done that....

Connor and Miss Andrea. She looks great now, doesn't she? Wait until the end of the school year!

What is so magical about the supplies? Its a great thing, isn't it?

The Party's Over

This is what we think about the summer being over. What a bummer!!

NJ Stinks!!

That's what people from NJ want you to think so that you'll stay the hell out. I'm just helping them out by perpetuating the myth...but...not really. Connor and I had a great weekend--the weather was SPECTACULAR. There is so much to do there, it is hard to choose. On Friday we spent some time at Aunt Marilyn's pool. On Saturday we hit the tiny municipal beach that was my "little kid" beach on the Toms River (which isn't really a river, its an inlet of the bay). The cedar tinged water was a little off-putting for Connor, so there was no swimming, but lots of fun on the beach itself. And we were the only people there other than an old lady who really should try some sun block now and then.

Check out that sky!!

There was alot of sand being relo'd by the Tonka.

The beach had some really interesting pink rocks.

And many ducks, as evidenced by this footprint next to Connor's.



Saturday night we hit the Seaside Heights Funtown Pier and Connor did his first solo go-kart race. He's a really good driver...I was shocked!


And the girls got to ride the Log Flume with their cousin. Mom and my sister were a little freaked out "There's no belts?" "There's no latches?" Um, no. They're almost 4 years-old. They're scared shitless. They will not climb out. FYI--THEY LOVED IT.



On Sunday morning we high-tailed it to Six Flags Great Adventure Safari Park. Its a drive through zoo, basically. Very fun and great to do with Aunt Marilyn because she's a rider, not a walker! The highpoint of the safari was the 9 foot tall elk with 4 foot wide racks walking in between our cars. Freaky! No picture because I was busy collecting myself.

On Sunday afternoon Connor and I hit the beach over at the ocean. We wasted about an hour trying to get into Island Beach State Park only to find that it was at capacity, so we did what we should have done in the first place which was just go to "my regular" beach at F St. in Seaside Park. Honestly, the weather, the water, the company--everything was just right. It was easily one of my Top 10 Beach Days in my life. I did not want to leave--I actually got misty when we were packing up. Hawaii was so long ago and there were no beach days in-between. I was angry with myself that we hadn't gone to the ocean every day over the weekend. Spilt milk, or spilt seawater, I guess. Connor got to really break in his birthday present---a real Morey Boogie Board. He morphed it into a body skim board and had a blast. Seriously, the child had to have flung himself on his belly 150 times in 4 hours. And yes, that turquoise blue sea you're looking at is one hour north of Atlantic City.