Latest Additions

Our family acquired two new members this weekend - a dog and a cat named Bloomby and Gree-Gree respectively. Bloomby is a large brown dog and Gree-Gree is small red cat or at least that is what I am told since both are invisible. The strays seem to have followed Greyson home on Friday and taken up residence in our house. Greyson tells me they are both shy and like to sleep in his suitcase. When we go outside to play they enjoy sitting in the back of my car (which has Guinness and Cooper's dog bed) and watching. I personally think they are a tad lazy. I don't know how long they will be around but if you are in the neighborhood come on over and meet them. They are friendly and I promise won't bite.

Ahoy There....

Cindy and I have been friends longer than I care to remember (because remembering reminds me how old I am). She has known me pretty much since I was old enough to start having skeletons in my closet and probably knows almost all of them (some even Raif doesn't know). She and I have had millions of juvenile escapades together and she even introduced me to my future husband. And while we constantly e-mail, Facebook and call we actually haven't laid eyes on each other in about 5 years and what is worse we had never met each others kids. So when Raif earned 4 free airline tickets (the one benefit of his work travels) I knew that we had to venture north to Annapolis and visit Cindy and the fam.

Admittedly, I was a bit nervous about the trip. Cindy lives on a boat and our plan was to take it out for an overnight sail on the Chesapeake. The kids, especially Greyson, have never been boat fans. The couple times we have taken them out on Nini and Dede's boat in the Bahamas they have been less than enthusiastic. My fears were heightened even further when we arrived at the marina and pulled a screaming child onto the docks of the marina where we were going to be staying. I think the entire bay could hear Greyson screaming "I want to go back in the car!!!" But after a couple minutes on the boat, including him finding a cave (one of the sleeping berths) he warmed up quite nicely. Unfortuantely, the boat we were suppose to be staying on, generously donated by one of Raif's friends at the sailing school, had no working A/C and the boat was about 90 degrees so thankfully Cindy came to the rescue and we ended up staying on her boat the entire time we were there. By the end of the weekend, the kids earned their sea legs and I think had a pretty good time sailing. It worked out really well because at times when the kids were not interested in sailing they could come inside and play with all of Zach's (Cindy's 4 year old boy) toys. The trip highlights for the kids were Zach's guinea pig named Mooky and flushing the head (aka toilet for you landlubbers). To flush a boat toilet you have to pump a handle up and down for some reason I will never understand they loved it. Sometimes I think they just went potty to work the handle.
(Quinn working the grinder)
(Zach and Greyson on watch)
(The fam enjoying the day and Raif wonders why he is sunburned)

Sunday afternoon after our voyage, we had dinner with another one of my oldest friends - Robert and his wife and twin daughters.
(Cindy, Robert and I (and my little photo-hog))

Monday we decided we were too close to real culture to pass it up and hauled everyone into DC proper to take in the Natural Science Smithsonian. Then it was off to Baltimore to head back home. The whole family was exhausted.
(Zach was so sweet and held Quinn's hand all around DC)

The trip did end on a bit of a sour note. Literally as we walked in the house Monday night Quinn puked all over the floor. Thankfully, she saved it for home not the car or worse yet the plane. She stayed home from school Tuesday and pretty much slept all day.

All in all, a great trip and hopefully it won't be another 5 years until we do it again.

And grandparents don't worry - there are TONS more pictures - Raif just has to upload them to his account and as soon as he does we will let you know. Hopefully these will tide you over until then.

The First Two Weeks

Quinn has survived her first two weeks of school and not surprisingly is doing really well. She was so excited the first day - that is until she realized that I wasn't staying with her - then the waterworks came on but only briefly and she was fine the rest of the day. By the third day, her cries had dissipated to sad little whimper as I left "Mommy, you are going to pick me up, right?"

Her teachers say that she has adjusted remarkably well. Usually, I am told, the first week most children are very quiet - not mine - she, even on her first day, piped up and answered all her teacher's questions and gave her opinion on everything. For those who know Quinn, this shouldn't surprise you. She seems to be enjoying school a lot and even has a boyfriend. Finn and Quinn were instantly drawn together because they were highly amused that their names rhymed and from what I am told are inseparable now.

I spoke very briefly to one of her teachers yesterday who told me that she has never met a child as young as Quinn that can articulate her feelings and complex thoughts like she does. I told her she hasn't seen anything yet. I am so proud of her for doing so well in school and impressing everyone. Yeah Quinn!!

Nini and Dede Come To Visit

Raif's parents came for a little over a week. We took them strawberry picking and to the zoo and did lots of other fun things. As always the kids had fun with their grandparents and are already asking when they are coming back.

Strawberry Picking

As promised - pictures from our strawberry picking adventures.

Murphy's Law

When your daughter asks for a second big cup of yogurt in the morning there will be a 3 car pile up on the highway so that it takes an extra 45 minutes to get to school (and the bathroom).

First Day of School

A Manual Labor Mother's Day

As always, my family treated me like a queen for Mother's Day.

Today was the first day since I can remember that we didn't have rain so Raif and I scrambled around like chickens with our heads cut off trying to get all of our outside work done before more rain comes tomorrow. I therefore spent the morning on the lawn tractor, with the kids helping me steer mowing the grass. After that we all went out to the strawberry fields south of Nashville to pick some strawberries together. Yum. Then home for a well deserved nap with my canine children curled up with me.

I was then treated to my favorite dinner - lobster and my favorite dessert - strawberry fondue - with strawberries that my children picked for me. I also got a gift certificate for a day at the spa with which both kids in school I now might be able to enjoy sometime this year!!

It was an amazing day. Thank you to Raif, Greyson, Quinn, Guinness and Cooper: the best family ever!

(I will post strawberry pics sometime soon but didn't want to pester Raif to get them uploaded when he worked so hard today to make my day perfect)

Crystal Ball

I saw a glimpse into my son's teenage years this morning....

Greyson: "Hey Mommy and Quinn come here."
He then drags us into the closet and shuts the door and then looks around and says "Shh be quiet" then gets this devilish grin on his face...
"Hey guys, want to try something fun....."

Am I That Crazy???

OK, I know that most of you are saying "Hell yes" at the moment but actually hear me out before you call me crazy.

I realize that I parent a little out of the mainstream - mainly because the kids don't watch TV - though admittedly Greyson seems to catch more hockey on TV than I would like. But other than that I thought I was pretty typical - but with every passing day I feel like I am just more out of step with what passes for the norm these days.

This morning Quinn and I headed to Target. Warm weather appears to be here to stay and I thought I would get a couple of new outdoor toy items for the kids. Last weekend they had the best time with our neighbor's hoola hoop and it just wouldn't be summer without bubbles to blow. My list, I thought, was pretty simple - hula hoop and bubbles. Apparently not. All I wanted was a plain hula hoop - I didn't want it to flash, or make sounds or have a TV character that my children have no idea who it is on it. I didn't want tacky day-glo or anything obnoxious on it. I just wanted a plain old hula-hoop. If Target is any indication of the hula-hoop population out there then no one makes a plain old hula-hoop anymore. They all have to do something whether it be sing, or flash or shoot fireballs out (OK I am exaggerating there a tad). Is all that really necessary??? My kids had a blast with the plain old hula-hoop that our neighbor Becca has - which obviously Nancy bought a long time ago. I think that all that additional stuff is not only unneccesary but sort of takes away from the purpose of it. I settled for the least obnxious day-glo colors I could find and the one which contained water which I found the least offensive of all the options they had.

Next came the bubbles. There was an entire aisle of every kind of bubbles you could imagine. Unfortunately, all of them were battery powered and required no input from the kid with the exception of using one finger to turn it on. When I was a kid I had the best time with the great big wands running through our yard and making huge bubbles all by myself or sitting with a small wand and blowing a bubble and trying diligently to get it to land on the wand again without breaking. I never just sat there passively watching a machine do all the work. After combing through the aisle I finally found ONE package that was just a plain old wand with bubbles. In a whole entire aisle I found ONE that wasn't battery operated.

So am I crazy?? Am I just too old fashioned and way out there for my and my children's good?? Is what I am looking for, in terms of toys for my kids, that ridiculous?? I am looking for honest opinions - even if they are that I am crazier that a shithouse rat.

A Mouth Like A Sewer....I Think

Over the last two days I have noticed something new when Quinn and I are having a disagreement. When I tell her No or that she can't do something - she has started to mutter under her breath at me. She also does it to Greyson when he takes a toy or won't give her something she wants. She gives you this death stare and says "Pur Pur" very softly. When I ask what she is saying she says "I didn't say anything Mommy." I turn around and she will do it again. She only says it when she is mad and only when your back is turned. I am pretty much convinced that she has invented her own curse word and is basically cussing me out. Admittedly, I am at a loss as to what to do about it. Since I don't know the real meaning for sure I don't feel like I can punish her for it so I am just trying to ignore it. Am I the only one that has a two year old inventing curse words?? Someday I will appreciate my strong willed daughter, right?? She so inherited this from her father.

When It Rains...

You would think that people actually liked us the way they are flocking to our door. Our friends Dean, Steph, Maya and Lucy made the trek this past weekend up to Nashville. Dean tried to play it off as he had some 'conference' to speak at Thursday night but we all know it was just an excuse to come visit!! Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate and we pretty much spent the weekend watching the rain come down from inside our little abode. But the rain doesn't matter when you have good friends and good beer to enjoy.

Hopefully the dreary weekend will convince them to stay in Atlanta instead of moving to the rain-soaked city of Seattle!!

We Have a Dry Fuzzy Caterpillar

There have been two big events that have transpired over the last week that I feel need announcing - both involving my little Quincess. The first being that as of one week ago I have declared Quinn potty-trained (knock on wood). Since last Saturday she has been in big girl underwear full-time (naps excluded) even on trips away from home (which for those of you who have had a newly potty trained child and even those of you who haven't probably realize what a nerve-wracking experience that is). She has had only one accident which was my fault. She asked for help on the potty I wanted to finish sauteeing the onions - it was only for a minute. I ended with a gallon of pee right next to the potty. I can't tell everyone how thrilled I am not to have to leave Costco every time I go with a vast quantity of diapers with me. Yeah Quinn!!

The other really big news around the house is that as of May 11 (day after Mother's Day), Quinn will be starting school at Susan Gray (if you haven't guessed by now in the Fuzzy Caterpillar room). We had originally planned for her to start in the fall at the start of a new school year. However, there is a child who goes to Susan Gray who summers in Italy (must be nice - though his family is Italian which is why they go, but I digress) and therefore his spot in Fuzzy Caterpillars is available. The administrators asked us if we wanted it and we jumped on the opportunity. Quinn is so excited to start school and be like her big brother. When you ask her about it she is all smiles and puffs out her chest and tells you how she is going to be a Fuzzy Caterpillar.

For me though, I will admit there are a lot of mixed emotions. I think the experience will be great for Quinn. She hasn't gotten a lot of interaction with children her own age outside of Greyson and our occasional houseguest so I think this will be wonderful for her burgeoning social skills. I am 100% glad she is going and I think it will be great for her.

My issue of course (as it always seems to be) is with me. Starting May 11th I don't know exactly what I am going to do with myself from 9 to 2 every day. As most people know, I had never thought of myself as a stay at home Mom. When I initially got pregnant we had planned to put the kids in daycare and I would continue my career, fate however, had a different plan. I never really had the choice to stay home; it was what I had to do to take care of Greyson's health and development. Now don't get me wrong - it was absolutely the right decision and I don't regret one moment of the time I have gotten with him or Quinn for that matter. Still, it was a really tough transition for someone who had enjoyed the work environment and its challenges and I found it hard to get that same stimulation from the day to day grind of staying home.

I sort of feel that I am at that crossroads again. I thought about going back to work but there are so many obstacles in my way. First with Raif traveling for his job I need to find a job where I can take the kids to school, pick them up, be able to take off on school holidays, dr appointments and sick days. There aren't a lot of those jobs out there. But the even bigger question for me is would I be happy with one of those jobs? The type of job that would challenge me and engage me isn't the type of job that I could do 20 hours a week or more to the point I could do it but no one offers that job at 20 hours a week. So where does that leave me - a bottom rung accounting job that wouldn't challenge me would probably bore me to tears and frustrate the hell out of me. The other option would be to put the kids in after-school program and work full time. But, while I love Susan Gray to death and know that they are doing a great job with the kids there are some things that a school can't teach and there are some particular things that I think need to be taught that are outside of the mainstream curriculum. I don't think I would be able to instill the values and such in my kids working full time.

So where does that leave me? I know that my staying at home will be great for the family. Hopefully there will be no more 'family time' at Costco or the grocery store and I will be able to get more done around the house during the day leaving more time for us to go on more adventures with the kids and (gasp) spend a little more quality time with my husband. So I am looking forward to that aspect of it. I am also looking forward to getting some projects done around the house that I never seem to have time for. Anyone who has been to the house recently knows that it looks as if we still have two babies if the pictures on the walls are any indication. And don't even get me started on the mess that is our basement. But after I tackle those projects - what next? Perhaps what my mother says is true - those daytime hours will fly by faster than I think and I will be able to keep myself busy. Only time will tell I suppose - but if anyone has any ideas to keep me sane around here - let me know!