Rest on Sunday? Ha!

September 30, 2012Leave a comment

Coffee, chocolate chip scone, and… sprints? Apparently that was in the cards for us today.

Maria wanted to bike to Stauf’s this morning – a welcome change from our Tim Horton’s runs. She asked if we could bike down the hill next to us and I told her that would mean she had to bike back up the hill. Surprisingly, she still wanted to do it. A very proud moment for me. And an even more incredible moment when she willed herself half way up the hill (which is steep) and then got off and walked it the rest of the way without complaining once.

We met Jon at Stauf’s and got chocolate chip scones and muffins. Mario told us how stars come from nebulous clouds – just a typical morning with our five year old son. Maria told me that she was going to be my coach and make me run on the track. So we headed to the track after breakfast and Ri timed me as I ran sprints.

“Move it lady!” she screamed at me. “Go faster!” She could definitely move straight into the army.

Mario and Jon arrived shortly after us and Mario dove right into my sprints… and push-ups. He is an animal. Maria and Jon timed us over and over.

Then Ri got into the mix and sprinted across the field to us. I am not sure what got into this girl of ours but she turned into a monster, too. She continued to sprint back and forth a few more times and then biked home. Love it!

Soon after we got home, Ri had to go to cheer leading. I was worried that she may peter out but she stayed strong belting out the cheers and kicking that leg up!

While at the game, my brother texted me about a gig he was playing at the riverfront. The kids have been wanting to see him play so I thought it would be perfect since I didn’t need to take them to a bar to see him! I told Ri to get dressed up like a rocker girl and she didn’t joke around! Blue eye shadow and all (dad was not pleased nor was I but we let it go this time!)

The kids made some quick friends with my law school friend’s kids. They all sat together waiting for Jack’s band to start. The Evan Oberla Project jammed it out.

Mario sat on the stone seat and watched the entire show getting up every once in a while to get out some dance moves and then chillin’ again in his seat. He loved it and even got a shout out from the band members who said he was by far the best dancer of the day. He was smitten!

We wrapped up the day the way I love most – with Jon’s yummy spaghetti and homemade meatballs. Heaven. Our cousin, Robert and my bro, Jack ate with us, too. What a treat, especially for M&M who idolize the both of them.

A full day for us – we will all be crawling into work and school tomorrow morning. But there is no other way to live!

Tornado hits Cincy

September 23, 2012September 23, 2012Leave a comment

I planned a trip to Cincinnati with the kids for the entire weekend because Jon was heading to England Saturday morning. However, his trip got delayed so he informed me he’d be home all weekend. Lucky dog, I thought. But he really wanted me and the kids to stick around so I compromised and took the kids to Cincy after Mario’s game on Saturday and decided we’d come back Saturday night.

Mario is doing better and better with football. I think the key is to have Jon present; he likes impressing his dad and routinely looks over to Jon after a play and gives a “thumbs up” to him. He’s been running after the other players more and even dodged another player while running with the ball for his team. I must agree with one parent who mentioned to me “he will be really good next year with this practice.”

After the game, we headed down south with our popcorn, cheese pretzels, and powerades. Oh, and with National Geographic’s Wild Kratts show. Mario has been waiting patiently for it to arrive from another library and it was worth the wait. It had the Alaskan bears that Mario asked about every time a new show came on tv. Very cool.

Our trip to Cincy was like most other day trips down there. My mom and her husband describe it as a tornado coming through the house. Pretty accurate. My Aunt Julie, who lives across the driveway in the condo complex would likely describe it the same. The kids jump out of the cars, surprise mom and Rod, play with Lou and run over to Julie’s to say hi to her and Gracie and Liz and Maggie. It’s a cousin-fest! We break out the chips and candies and play with toys and make lots of noise. We tickle Gracie and pounce on Liz and Mag and act crazy. After that gets old, we head outside and show off our bike riding and toss the bouncey ball. Within a few minutes, we are ready for the park. Gracie gets in the stroller, Maria and Mario get on their bikes and we head north to the park where cousin Laura meets up with us. She swings Maria and Grace while I play with Mario and mom walks Lou. The kids put on a show for us that I want to kick myself for not recording. Of course, Maria emcees it and Mario and Grace do funny dances and songs.

After the play, we moved onto the main playground where Maria decided to take an eight foot fall off the slide. I knew she was hurt when I picked her up and she cried incessantly. She brushes off most falls but this one hurt. We carried her to the “ambulance” (Laura’s car) and transported her back to my mom’s. The only thing that would help calm Ri’s pain was Larosa’s spaghetti and meatballs so we ordered from there. I devoured a veggie pizza, and the kids ate garlic bread, pizza and spaghetti. We had worked up an appetite.

After Larosa’s, we hit the outdoors again for some cheer leading lessons from Ri who may be the world’s strictest coach ever. She showed me a cheer and then I tried it. She looked at me with sheer disgust. “Oh, Mary, that was not good….” So much for a gentle touch! Meanwhile, Mario and Laura threw the ball up on the carport roof and watched it bounce down. Mario thought it was the coolest activity ever but he could not get it up to the roof like Laura. It would bounce under the carport and over the small fence behind the cars and we’d spend ten minutes looking for it acting like it was lost treasure when we found it! Mario finally bounced it up to the roof and his smile was as wide as it was long when he turned to me. “I did it,Mom!”

Laura took off for Oktoberfest and we headed inside for baths. The water looked like the Olentangy when the bath ended. The kids both wore goggles and laid parallel to one another to see who could hold their breath the longest. What a sight to behold. Two white round butts in the air attached to two tanned still bodies trying to beat each other in under water breath holding. Mom and I stood over them in awe and joy. They’d come a long way since the nights of bottles and binkies and crying at 2 am.

We ended the night with ice cream and the Dog Whisperer. Maria sat mesmerized by the show while Mario concentrated on making letters with marbles. We looked down and he had spelled “Rex.” He is a Ben Ten fanatic.
We dragged ourselves out to the car, got situated with a movie, and started our journey back home to Jon.

The tornado struck Cincy again but the destruction was well worth it, as always.

Weekend getaway

August 21, 2012August 21, 2012Leave a comment

We packed the Volvo full of blankets and pillows and sleeping bags and Red Bulls and chips and chocolate.

All to head two hours east to my folks’ farm.

We had to take the Volvo due to weird sounds coming from Jon’s Yukon. You would have thought the world ended according to Ri who complained about how squeezed she felt in the Volvo. We would expect nothing less from her, however, since she always talks about her first car being a mammoth SUV. My girl likes her space just like her dad.

We arrived at the farm and within five minutes of exiting the car, Mario begged to play badminton. The boy loves this game and could literally spend all afternoon playing it. He looks like a pro out there with his shirt off, hair tussled and tanned body. Maria went straight in the house to help cook and position herself for any sampling of extra food.

We celebrated dad’s and Jorge’s birthdays with cherry pie and cupcakes. Maria snagged a gift for Peepaw from her treasure chest at school. It was a huge pair of clay lips. She wrapped them in a Victoria’s Secret box. Dad was clearly surprised at the box and the lips! Maria explained that the lips were a paper weight to hold down his poems after he wrote them. What a doll.

Dad retired in June after working 40+ years to support his family. He plans on writing in his spare time which Maria overheard during one of our conversations. The girl has my desire to think through presents to the nth degree and make sure they have a purpose. I love it!

We sang the traditional happy birthday song to the boys and watched them make their wishes.

After the celebration, we worked off dessert with a family badminton game. Mario made sure it stayed competitive and Maria made sure we kept it light-hearted! After an hour and a half of competition, Mario, Jon and Peepaw stacked wood to make a fire. Ri and I got the materials to make s’mores and before we knew it we were sitting in front of a blazing fire eating marshmallows and s’mores and telling stories about when Sarah was little. Maria loves listening to stories about the past (especially when she’s able to eat marshmallows!). Mario played with the fire the entire time intrigued by the heat and flames.

Maria enjoyed seeing her horses and got to perform obstacles while riding Taz. She amazes me on the horse. She is so calm and in control, and she knows so much about them already. I love watching her brush them and kiss their noses.

We headed to Mario’s and Vicki’s house on Sunday after gobbling up Sarah’s sweet potato hash for breakfast. We had not been to their house in months and Vicki cooked so many magnificent things, as always! Meatballs, spaghetti, tomato salad, homemade bread, steak, and zucchini bread for dessert! Jon and I could not move for a half hour. When I did finally move, I bounced on the trampoline with Maria. God help me. I can’t believe all that food stayed down!

Ri and I had a blast on the trampoline – we laughed so hard at each other bouncing everywhere. At one point she crawled over to me, laid on me, gave me a huge smooch and whispered “I love seeing you laugh mommy!” My baby girl. Mario and Ri had a good time, too, while Jon and I sat with Mario and Vicki on the porch and chatted. The weather was perfect.

We arrived back at our house in time for Ri and I to take a quick bike ride to Giant Eagle to get food for school and work. We even got sample sheet cake from the bakery ( two pieces each!). Life is good.

No Seat Belts!

August 12, 2012August 12, 2012Leave a comment

We woke up craving Giant Eagle donuts. Their bakery is getting better and better and it’s become harder to resist the variety of sugary love in the cases. I figure the stroller rode or bike ride to get to Giant Eagle makes up for the calories consumed (maybe if we biked back and forth twenty times over…).

We decided to take the COTA bus downtown after breakfast. Jon drove us a few blocks up the street to the bus stop (yeah, kinda defeats the sustainability argument for taking the bus, but hey, we saved five miles of gas going downtown!), and we waited patiently for the No. 5 to arrive. After a mere seven repetitive questions of “when will the bus get here?”, it arrived! The kids jumped onto the bus steps and dashed to the back. I paid $2 and joined them. Mario’s first response:

“There are no seat belts!”

He was charged. Maria enjoyed the thrill on Mario’s face with me since she had already experienced COTA with me a couple of years ago. I explained to them that a lot of people rode COTA during the week to get to their jobs, and that people read while on the bus or think about their day ahead. M&M soaked it in and asked questions galore. It was heartwarming.

Our trip lasted a mere 27 minutes and we exited at Bicentennial Park. I have been taking M&M down to this park for years. It doesn’t have any swings or a playground. It just has bronze statutes of mythological creatures and cement blocks to hop on and off of as you go from one statute to the next. But the kids have always loved to read about the creatures and climb on them.

They also have loved to jump from one block to the next. Mario had such trouble the last two years trying to jump from one particular block to another that was situated just a bit farther away than the others. This year he flew right onto it. II told him the story about how it used to be hard for him and he said “Mom, look” while he acted like he was scared to jump. I smiled at him and he responded “I’m getting bigger, mom.” Yep, you are bud.

We headed to the Santa Maria next. They had tours going on so we got three tickets and joined the rest of the group. It’s always interesting to see who the guide is for the tour. Last time it was a very boisterous young girl who had wavy brown hair and thick glasses and loved getting the kids roused up with stories from Columbus’ time. This time we had a scholarly-looking lad with white tube socks and loafers. He was maybe 17. He loved espousing his knowledge and hearing questions from the audience. He answered all of Mario’s questions with a slight chuckle before each response. A 17 year old in a 50 year old body. He was good though and we learned about what they ate on the ship (hard bread they softened with water and animals they housed on the ship), what games they played (ring toss and checkers), and how they killed rats on the ship (not too humanitarian). We skipped out of the tour a bit early to head to Dirty Franks with dad. Maggie and Laura were supposed to meet us but showed up late and there was no seating for them. They decided to meet us back at the house. When they walked out, Maria started crying. “I want them to stay, mom. I want to be with them.” I ran out with her to try to stop them. We were successful – Maria jumped into Maggie’s arms and fled away with them. Meanwhile, Mario ate two hot dogs with Jon and me. Two! He has to be going through a growing spurt.

We met the girls back at the house and sat around and talked to them about Australia and life in general for two hours. I miss that girl cousin time so very much. Ri hung with us for an hour and then crashed on the floor. Mario knew it was his opportunity to play computer and he took full advantage of it.

A low-key Sunday with a splattering of COTA bus trips, ship trivia, hot dogs and girl talk. What should we have in store for tonight? I see Graeter’s as a perfect end to the day….

Vacationing with sand dunes and Michigan cherries

July 27, 2012July 27, 20121 Comment

We just arrived home from our 6 day, 5 night trip to Traverse City, Michigan. All of us packed in the truck with lots of snacks, water, movies, and “when will we be there” questions. We stayed at the Grand Traverse Resort and Spa, which I found on-line after researching furiously two weeks ago when we decided we’d go on a vacation last week. Nothing like waiting until the last-minute. The website for the Resort promised to be loads of fun for the family with two indoor pools and two outdoor pools, a private beach, and two queen size beds (a must after trying to fit the four of us in two full-size beds in Florida – we have become too accustomed to a king size bed and we have to deal with two sleep thrashers). Jon and I debated staying in a cabin on the lake like I used to when I was a kid but we worried about Mario complaining that he was cold in the lake and us being plain out of luck for the week.

We figured we’d have the best of both worlds like we did in Florida – we could go to the beach and the pool. And we were hoping that Mario might like the lake more than the ocean since he hated the salt water in the ocean. When we got to the Resort, the kids were ready to explode. Seven hours in the car (with a pit stop at Cabella’s to check out the stuffed animals – Maria and Mario reacted appropriately to the stuffed skunk) and they were ready to let out some energy. We immediately headed to the indoor pool, which did not disappoint the kids. It had an enclosed slide and a rope climb where the kids could step on four plastic animals floating in the water and hold on to the rope above to try to cross to the other side. Maria loved them both. She slid down the slide with no fear while I had a mini-heart attack on my first slide down because it was so narrow and dark. On the rope climb, she used her brute strength to grip onto the ropes above her and move her legs from animal to animal. When she fell, she laughed and tried again until she made it. Mario was too scared to try the slide so he stayed with the rope. But he was too short to reach the rope so he just jumped from animal to animal sometimes with his chest hitting the side of the animal when he jumped. It didn’t bother him because he was too determined to reach the other side.

After the pool, we hit the Traverse City strip to find some dinner. I got my wish come true when we spotted a Ponderosa along the road. Jon must truly love me because he stopped. We have not eaten at a Ponderosa for years – and for good reason. Jon got deathly ill when we went to a buffet during law school and he has refused them ever since that time. But he saw the stars in my eyes when I saw the sign, and agreed to it. His face was hilarious while we ate. He looked like he was in true pain. But he took a few bites and hung in there with me while I danced around the buffet bar with Ri oohhing and ahhing over all of the selections (of course my girl loved it!).

The next four days were a welcome departure from “reality.” The reality of work and deadlines and library book returns. Our first destination was the Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive. It took me back to my trips as a kid – absolutely gorgeous. The kids loved the last stop – a view of Lake Michigan and a steep sand dune. They immediately began running down the dune, which drops suddenly straight down to Lake Michigan. I told them to go about an eighth of the way down and if they could easily get back up, they could go all the way down. It took us 20 minutes to climb back up. They were spent and had no desire to head all the way down after that climb up. We hit another dune on our way to Platte River – the dune I remember climbing as a kid. Maria got about 20 feet up the dune and said “forget it.” Her feet hurt from the hot sand and she was tired from the preceding climb. Mario saw me head up the hill and did not want to give up. But when I wouldn’t hold him any longer, he asked if we could just climb a little further and then run down together. I agreed (as much as I wanted to climb the whole thing!) and we ran down together holding hands and laughing.

We drove to the Platte River and played all day long in its warm waters while occasionally dipping our toes in the cold waters of Lake Michigan. Platte River was everything I remembered. Clear and calm and warm. And it contained the most gorgeous rocks. I could have planted myself in the shallow water all day long and looked at rocks. Maria practically did that. She knows how much I love them and every chance she gets to find good ones for me, she takes it. This time was no different. She dove under water incessantly until she found just the right rocks for me. Then she’d walk them over to me and describe why each one was special. She is a dear. Mario fought off the current in the river for a long time but then he finally decided to join Maria in finding rocks for me. He would approach me with one or two and make it a production: “Mom, I found this rock for you and I think you will love it. Close your eyes.” And then I would look at him and express my love for it and he would smile in pride and say “wasn’t that a cool rock, mom?!”

Another day, we took a boat ride on the Bay. The water was choppy but Jon did an excellent job not capsizing us. Our daredevil girl begged Jon to go faster. She loved the thrill of bouncing up and down in the water and the sprays of water in her face. She did not want me to hold on to her when she sat up front. Mario and I meanwhile, were ready for the boat to go back to the dock after a half of an hour. He did fine at first but the poor guy started to turn green towards the end. Nevertheless, he continued to sport a smile through it and have a good time. He did not want to ruin everyone’s fun. We rented a water trampoline and slide afterwards, and that was a lot of fun. Our daredevil Maria loved sliding down the slide head first. She would beg Jon and I to get the slide more wet so it would go faster. If you swam under the trampoline, you could stand above the water and breathe. The kids loved swimming under it and waiting for Jon to scare them when he quickly swam under and grabbed at their legs. We joked that we paid $60 for the kids to play under the trampoline.

In the evening, we were able to watch the sun set from our hotel room. One evening, the sun was brilliantly red and I told Maria and Mario that if we held hands and made a wish before the sun set, it would come true. We all stood together holding hands and making our wishes. When we finished, the sun was almost set. All of a sudden, the kids realized dad was not in on our wish-fest and they yelled “DAD, you have to make a wish, too. HURRY!” Jon, who had been in the bathroom, ran out, grabbed our hands, and we all made a wish again. Then we continued to hold hands and stand in awe as the sun disappeared from the horizon. What a great way to end the evening.

The last day of the trip was overcast so we drove to some fishing towns and watched mama river otters feeding raw fish to their babies on the shore. The kids scored a couple more stuffed animals from a fishing trinket store and got to slide down an old metal slide liked I used to slide down as a kid. We ended our driving adventure in Glen Arbor for some yummy cherry pie. I could eat that pie every day and night. On our way back to the hotel, we stopped at putt-putt golf for one last putt-putt game – we had already played three games earlier in the trip. I had won two of them, Jon had slammed me on one of them and we had this one to determine the champion. And we ended up in a tie. Maria, our anti-competitive girl, was very happy.

We played some ping-pong, too in the indoor pool area. It took Jon and I back to our honeymoon in Alaska where we played ping-pong along the Kenai River. We had some good volleys back and forth and again, tied winning one game each. Maria and Mario weren’t too bad at volleying. Mario liked to hit the ball high up in the air for everyone to admire and Maria liked to avoid any hit that would attract attention – complete opposites they are. This vacation definitely reinforced their different demeanors.

Mario: When we were at the market, Mario asked a woman at the checkout line if she could grab a 5 hour energy drink for him to give to his mom. She looked at him suspiciously. I walked by when he asked her a second time and she looked over at me. I whispered to her that he was just trying to get the 5 hour drink for me. He heard me and went ballistic. “Mom! I wanted to surprise you with one of those! Now you ruined it!” He cried and pulled his body away from me when I tried to hold him. I had to kneel next to him and tell him how awesome he was for thinking of me before he talked to me again.

He gets so upset when things do not go his way, and holds a serious grudge. He seems to get angry in two instances: 1. he doesn’t get something he wants, be it the computer or a toy or 2. he wants to do something for you and you “ruin it” by finding out about it early or not reacting happily enough. I was telling Patty that he has two modes lately: super-duper sweet and endearing or angry and pouty. Lucky for us, his super-duper sweet and endearing side trumps the angry and pouty. At the hotel in Michigan, he bought two chocolate hearts to eat for a late-night snack. As he opened one up, he walked over to me and said “mom, this reminds me of you.” He pointed down to the red aluminum foil to an indentation of a heart. Yeah, those little moments make up for the other ones. And the other ones are fierce but short. If you tickle him or tease him, he typically turns off his grudge and laughs and gives you a hug. It’s pretty simple with him – he craves attention and recognition. We constantly get questions from him about who we love more – him or Ria. Or who we think is cuter – him or Ria. When Maria does something and we laugh, he tries to do something funnier. I think it’s his age but I also think it is who he is. He loves to entertain people and make them laugh. He also has no qualms about approaching people. When we were at the outdoor pool, he walked up to a couple in the hot tub and asked how the water felt. He told them his name and where he was from and how old he would be in September. All this without them even asking! When we went to the lake, he walked up to a boy who looked about his age and said “do you want to play with me?” He is not scared to take a chance on getting a “no” response. Complete opposite of our girl.

Maria: And then there is Ri. She would never approach someone and ask them to play with her, and during this trip, she actually steered far clear from anyone that approached her to play with her. Two little girls jumped in the pool and tried to talk to her and Maria swam over to me and told me that she did not want to play with them. Then she told the girls the same. My girl likes her space. But if she sees girls that look like they may be fun to play with, she will stand to the side and wait to see if they ask her to play. She did that with girls on the rope climb, and they eventually asked her to play and she really enjoyed her time with them.

Maria is a total daredevil and a lover of life. She is self-deprecating and real. And she cares about how people feel. When we went to putt-putt, Mario would shoot a hole in one and Maria, who is not the best at putt-putt, would say “I’m certainly not going to get a hole-in-one; I might get a hole-in-six!” When we rented the water trampoline, Maria walked up the ladder, jumped high on the trampoline, and slid down head first without hesitation. When we went out to eat, she ordered BIG and loved to head back to the hotel candy shop for late night sundaes. She took care of her little brother during the trip. When Mario got upset because he wanted to play on my phone, Maria pled his case for him arguing that he had not played with it for the entire trip and he had been a good boy all day long. She treated Mario like her baby – ordering his food (when he let her), letting him go first in line, letting him push the buttons in the elevator, and giving him more superballs then she got.

Vacations are a necessary component to our lives. It gave Jon and I a chance to breathe and let go of all of the deadlines and worries we have with our jobs. We were able to concentrate fully and completely on ourselves and the kids for 7 days. We know Maria and Mario up and down and side to side but this vacation reinforced in us how wonderfully diverse they both are and how many incredible qualities they both exhibit. And I believe the trip reinforced for M&M how much Jon and I love them and want them to experience great things. On the ride home, we stopped at a rest stop to go to the bathroom. We all hopped back in the car to continue our trip and I looked back at the kids to make sure they had their seat belts on. Then I looked over at Jon as he pulled out onto the highway. I closed my eyes and gave thanks for the time alone with them. When I opened my eyes, Jon verbalized my thoughts saying “I had a great time with you guys on this trip. I love you.” The kids responded “Love you, too” as they watched the final episode of Scooby Doo.

Music on the lawn and laughter in the air

June 13, 2012June 13, 2012Leave a comment

The soul is healed by being with children.~English Proverb

I walked in the back door last night and M&M darted through the kitchen to see me. A day full of irritations and squabbles at work evaporated into the evening air as I rolled around on the living room floor tickling them. Just hearing their loud, raucous laughter made the entire day worthwhile.

Jon cooked for the third day in a row! We were treated like royalty eating seasoned grilled pork, corn on the cob and beans. I am loving Jon’s cooking revival – both for the delicious food and for the family time together at the table.

Our after dinner treat landed us at Music on the Lawn at the library. Latin creole music and cupcakes and a cool breeze… it doesn’t get any better. Mario gathered up his change Jon has given him this weekend and placed it tightly in his pocket. He had more than enough to get two cupcakes. When we told him this, he approached Maria, tapped her side, and announced “Ria, I am going to treat you to a cupcake!” Maria turned to him and squeezed her arms around him: “thank you little buddy!” He smiled with pride. Sure enough, as soon as we pulled up to the library, Mario ran to the cupcake table and ordered two of them. He beamed as he took out his change and handed it to the boy scout.

After eating the cupcakes in five seconds flat, Maria went to the parking lot across the street and rode her bike with her girlfriends. Mario and I went to dance to the music. I sat on the lawn while Mario stood amongst the other kids jumping around the lawn and waving his arms. I love the complete lack of concern and inhibition in him. He just moves to his own beat. He decided the band was so good that he needed to tip them. After the lead singer came down to sing to the kids, Mario tapped his back side and put a dime in his hand. The singer chuckled and thanked him kindly. Mario beamed again.

We headed over to Maria’s friend’s house and sat with them for a bit after the show. The kids ate popcorn and played on our phones while we chatted about work and exercise and the gardening. On the way home, Maria slowed down her bike so Mario and I could catch up in the stroller.

“Hi, little buddy!” she remarked to Mario.
“Hi Ri!” he replied.
They both smiled at each other and then Maria biked ahead toward the house while Mario and I searched for squirrels in the yards.

Memorial Day memories

May 29, 2012May 30, 20122 Comments

We spent Memorial Day without Jon but with his family. We met up with Patty and Joe at their new condo and Patrick, Carrie, Alana, and Gio joined up with us, too. The condo is perfect for family get togethers – it has a downstairs set up for the kids and big windows that allow you to see to the pond out back (and therefore relax in the AC while the kids play in the sun). Patty is very happy with the move, which makes it even more wonderful to visit. She already has it feeling like home, and the kids run around like they’ve been there for years.

We started the day off with a swim at the country club next to the condo. As Patty and I said together, they better be ready for this family! The pool was really deep – the lowest end was 4 feet – but it was great fun for the kids. Everyone can swim but Gio and they had a baby pool. Maria and Mario jumped off the diving board a lot – Maria did the mid-air splits and Mario did the cannonball.

I was exhausted to the point of not even wanting to move but being with the kids and having some wind hit us (at least it wasn’t 95 degrees) made me perk up. Patty had all of her new neighbors walking up and talking to her and Joe – she is already a social butterfly around the grounds! They enjoyed watching M&M jump off the diving board.

We stayed a good three hours before heading back to the condo. I appreciated the swimming after I looked at the food we were eating for dinner. Delicious steak, baked beans, and potato salad. Home made and all! I just ate and ate and just when I couldn’t eat any more, I ate cookies for dessert. Pure heaven.

The boys fished after dinner (Uncle Patrick caught a blue gill) and drank lemonade on the bank. What a good life. Maria and Alana played dress-up and sang BTR songs.

Mario and I took off at 7 or so. Maria got to stay with Grandma and Grandpa since she is out of school. She was so excited. Mario was mighty mad. But he was so tired from swimming like a fish that he soon got over it and snoozed in the back the entire ride home.

When I pulled up to the house at 8, I gently took him out of his seat and carried him to the bed. I laid him down softly with a smile on my face thinking about having a couple of hours of peace before bed. But as I moved away from the bed, he popped up and smiled “I was faking mom!”

Yeah, alone time was not in the cards for me this holiday weekend, but I wouldn’t have changed a thing.

The joys of nature, good food and family

May 7, 2012Leave a comment

The farm delivered good times this past weekend. Maria, her cousin and her friend drove out with me on Saturday afternoon. We jammed it out to Now 41 and Justin Bieber during the ride. Everytime I tried to sing with them, Maria would yell “Moooom, please don’t!” Even though she did not want me to sing, she did want me pump my arm up and down when we passed truck drivers along the way. She remembers me telling her my story of doing that as a kid and truck drivers honking away at me and my girlfriends when we were on long trips with our parents. They tried to do it from the back seat but the windows are tinted. I pulled through for them and pumped my arm (and showed a little leg) and got a few honks for them!

When we pulled up the drive to the farm, Maria began explaining the entire set-up to her friends. “There is my pee-paw in the garden and there is Rosie’s dog-run and the chickens are up in their house and the cabin is in the back and….” SHe is definitely at home out at the farm. The girls jumped out of the truck and bee-lined to Rosie. Maria and Alana love to play with Rosie. They throw her toy, play chase, love on her, and exhaust her. Janira, Maria’s school friend, was much more hesitant to get in the gated area with them. She stood back and watched. I think the whole farm scene overwhelmed her – she is a true city girl. However, she did get up her nerve to go into the chicken coop with the girls. And much to her amazement, she retrieved a chicken egg. All three girls retrieved one, and came running back to the house with eggs in their hands. They were different colors, mostly peach and grey-blue. Maria described to Grandma Meg how they found the eggs by digging under the hay (she knows all of the tricks of the farm, too).

Next, we headed to the creek below the house. Meg and I walked with them enjoying a few minutes together to talk about the latest going-ons in our lives. Meg and I don’t get to talk as much as we used to pre-kids because she lives two hours away and the kids are always with me when we see each other. I value even the small moments in time that we can catch up. The water in the creek flowed at a manageable level for the girls to walk around in their water shoes. Maria and Alana took off again, and Janira was a trooper trying to keep up. We walked to the swimming hole; a pool of water less than waist-high where the girls could jump around and splash. It looked like a little bit of paradise with the sun shining through the trees onto the water; the green plants and wildflowers lining the edge of the bank, the birds flying from one bush to the other, and the smell of nature. My dad talked about making a cleaner path to the swimming hole and setting up stones near the hole for adults to talk while the kids played. Retirement is hitting him soon, and he is already scoping out projects to keep him busy!

The kids were soaked after the swimming hole. We took them to the house and dried them off. When they moved to the table, they found sweet surprises from Grandma Meg. First, goodie bags with headbands and snap bracelets and crayons and pens. Second, a homemade Nature Journal complete with a twig fastener and activities inside. Leave it to my Meg-pie – she has a perfect combo of teacher, conservationist and nature guru. It had educational yet fun activities in it like discovering a tree and finding certain colors pasted onto a sheet of the journal (when we were walking in the woods and saw yellow bark, Janira yelled out “I found our yellow!”). She also had pages to detail the day, including writing one thing in nature that made you have a happier day (Meg gave them an example of a butterfly landing on her leg). They stood around the table soaking up her words. What an awesome influence for Maria Grace and her friends. These girls certainly walked away from the weekend with a greater appreciation for nature. They also got so excited over finding a caterpillar (which Meg looked up in her guide-book with Maria completely intrigued), a toad, and a woodpecker.

I helped my dad later in the afternoon following a sumptuous meal of spaghetti and meatballs, garlic bread and corn on the cob. We loaded up all of the slate from the barn to store next to the chicken house (the barn needs to be refurbished due to its age and the fact that it could topple over any second). Nothing better than some good, hard labor (when you are not forced to do it, heh?!). My body was rather shaky and exhausted after moving the slate and picking up a few giant rocks, but it was a good exhausted – one where you feel you’ve actually done something useful with this machine that is our body. I enjoyed time with my pops, too. When we rode on the forklift to get the rocks, there was a moment he looked back at me to make sure I was on securely. I felt like a kid again hanging out my dad. I wanted to tell him how much it meant to me to share that moment with him but it seemed a rather strange comment to make when we were both dripping in sweat and riding a forklift down a gravel hill. So I kept it to myself but I believe he knew just from the sheer fact of being my dad, and having an intuition for those things.

We returned to cake and ice cream – yummy. Meg and I laughed at our sweet Maria as she sat in her chair eating the icing off her cake. All was quiet and she chimed in “Ahh, I am enjoying this cake.” A perfect summation of what we were all thinking. We finished the night with Matilda – an absolutely adorable movie with Danny Devito and Rhea Perlman. It was super moon night, and it shined into the house so brightly that I felt like I was being interrogated at times. But it was gorgeous in the clear black night out in the country.

We woke on Sunday and rode horses. The girls all did a fab job with Meg and dad helping them. The horses were in great moods and caused no distress. After the girls rode, we had some killer pancakes made by dad. He uses a regular whole wheat mix but adds a bit of brown sugar to it and it makes them to die for. They have this crispness around the edges and a melt in your mouth taste. Sometimes he makes them with nuts and blueberries, which sounds amazing. After pancakes, the girls took a tractor ride around the pasture and gathered a few more eggs from the chicken brood. The bickering began around that time with little slights setting them off (Maria yelled at Alana for talking about dogs because it made Maria miss Cy; Alana yelled back; Maria yelled at Janira for “bragging” and Janira cried that she was not trying to brag but Maria always thought she was and it’s not fair…). Hence, it was a good time to leave so Meg and dad would not be subjected to it and I could ignore it from the long way off in the front of the truck.

We pulled out of the drive, and I felt so happy. You know those moments you get every once in a while where the entire world looks peachy-keen and life has circled around to right where you want it? I had it. Right in the palm of my hand. And then Maria threw a marker past Alana so she couldn’t use it and Alana screamed at Maria and Janira cried her head hurt, and I was back in reality. I had promised that we would stop at McDonald’s Playland on the way back home. Why did I do that? This McDonald’s Playland was the grossest one I have ever seen. The tables were dirty; the kids were loud and obnoxious, and the parents were even worse. One parent was yelling at her son to get down from the slide. When he refused she yelled “That’s it, Tiger, I am going to whoop on your ass with my belt in front of everyone.” I was ready to rescue the kid if she did it in front of me but she refrained. Eye-opening to see other walks of life. I pride myself on appreciating diversity but the folks in that McDonald’s tested me.

When we finally got home, we got to start the party all over again with Jon’s family. Patty had kept Giovanni and Mario all weekend up at her condo, and I am sure was ready to bring them down to our house to say good riddance! It took her over ten hours to make potato salad because she had to keep running after them. What a woman. I was being a little pissy from being tired when the rest of the clan arrived. The kids went down in the basement to dance to “I’m Sexy and I Know it” and Jon grilled hamburgers and brats and peppers. The meal was delicious, and I shook off my irritable mood and had a good time (it was probably the realization that I would get another whole sheet cake to eat (I had already had two others for Maria’s b-day earlier in the week)).

Everyone left around 8:30. Jon and I dropped on the couch. The kids fell pretty quickly, too. Maria’s b-day weekend brought lots of good times but I was glad to be on my couch with my hubby staring off into space. Although, loading up slate would be a close second.

Easter extravaganza

April 9, 2012April 9, 20123 Comments

The Easter Bunny is way too prevalent on Easter weekend. The kids participated in three easter egg hunts and got two baskets of goodies. Our tummies are rolling in chocolate and sweet tarts.

The first hunt was in Grandview on Saturday morning. They host it at the local park for kids up to 10 years old. Ri’s been going since she was a baby and Mario, too. It used to have a lot more eggs and a lot fewer people but this year it seemed like there was a ton of folks and a lot fewer eggs. They make up for the fewer eggs with giant packs of Oreos, animal crackers, and Rice Krispy treats. The kids line up at 10 am and by 10:01, the hunt is long over. The kids walk away with packs of Oreos and rice crispy treats and no eggs. We have our stock of treats for the next month. Why do it if this is why we end up with every year? I love my traditions and this is one that I have known since I was little. My grandmas both hid eggs for me at Easter and I loved hunting them down. I loved opening up the plastic eggs even if all I found was a jelly bean. So, my love has been passed down to M&M and they seem to love it, too.

We headed out to my parents’ farm on Saturday morning with Jon’s parents. Patty sat in the very back between Maria and Mario because they fount over who got to sit next to her. She resolved the fight by squeezing herself in between them in the third row seat. Of course, anyone else would be smooshed but she fits right in the small space with her tiny self! Mario cozied up to her as they watched Kenny the Shark (an awesome Discovery Channel find for $1.50 at CVS). Maria helped her put in her earring and tutored her on the features of her iPhone. She kept us all laughing with her commentary, which sounds like it’s out of the mouth of a fifty year old rather than a six-year-old. At one point, Patty asked Maria if she would get the $5 egg at my cousin’s house (each year one egg has a $5 bill in it). Maria said that she would let her cousin get the $5 egg because her cousin was having some rough times and needed it more than she did. God love her old empathetic soul.

The farm provided an awesome time with the wildflowers blooming and the trails awaiting our footsteps. Nothing better than eating a humongous meal of ham, potato salad, macaroni and cheese casserole, and butter ball rolls and then taking a hike through the woods. You start out feeling like you can’t move but by the end of the trek, you can actually take a breath without having to unbutton your pants. And within ten minutes of the hike, you can eat more! Rock-n-roll!

The kids rode the horses – Maria has got the strong thighs for it. She looks like a natural on Taz with those thighs and good posture. Mario looks like a little jockey all tiny and delicate compared to the regal horse. We even found the first toad of the year! Mario and Maria tried to grab it for me but it sensed trouble and hopped in a pipe.

My little bro and I got to hang out a bit, too, which is always a treat. He is twenty-three and trying to get his band more noticed and on the scene. He has been contemplating Toronto and Chicago but has recently decided on sticking with Columbus because Columbus has a decent music scene and it is a heck of a lot cheaper. It’s fascinating to talk to him about his music – it is all so innate in him and he rattles off descriptions of playing notes and feeling the music that I could never experience. His band, Alpine Ghost, kicks out some funky, alternative rock, and I would buy all his CDs in a heartbeat.

On Sunday morning, we woke to two little kids begging to see if the Easter Bunny came to our house. I acted like I was hitting the bathroom and hid eggs outside. They came down to baskets full of jump ropes and silly putty and candy. They scoured through the baskets excited to see all their presents and ready to move onto the eggs outside. That Easter egg hunt only lasted a minute longer than the Grandview one. They found all the eggs in less than 2 minutes. They are like police dogs with drugs – they sniff out those eggs like pros. I purposefully filled their eggs with candy I would not eat so that I would not be tempted to eat it while I filled them. However, I filled them right next to the extra Girl Scout cookies so I went through a box of Thin Mints and a half of a box of Do-Si-Dos. I would have been better off with peanut M&Ms.

Of course, what else to do on Easter morning than head to Tim Horton’s for some Easter donuts?! We strolled down while I read a book to them. Yes, I have gotten quite good at reading to them as I stroll them down the street. After Tim Horton’s, we strolled to the river to get some Easter rocks to paint. We were going to give them to Grandma Lolo and Papa Rod and the Heile gals but only got a few done by the time we had to go because we had to stop by my friend’s house to walk her dog. Maria loved this chore because she keeps talking about how much she wants to train and walk dogs. She is hilarious with dogs, and humans for that matter, when she is in charge. The dog’s name is Charlie, and all I heard from her was a command of “Charlie!” and then a loud clap. She does the same thing with her little cousin Gracie when she “watches” her. When Gracie does something she shouldn’t, Maria yells “Gracie” and smacks her hands together for a loud clap. She does not mess around!

And then we made the drive to Cincy. Mario slept the entire trip while Maria played on my iPad. When we finally arrived, we met Lou, my mom’s new pup. He is a British coon hound and he is a gorgeous thing. So tame and sweet. Maria was in heaven walking him around the house. Mario played with his boy cousins, play fighting them and taunting them. They taunt him back, though, and he gets upset. Cousin Laura made him the cutest shirt in the world – she sewed a fishing rod and fish on a white t-shirt. It is precious and he loved it. She asked him to pose in it for her blog, and he stood on the chair performing every pose possible until she finally had enough. Ask the boy to pose, and he will gladly oblige.

The kids ran around with all of their cousins all night, and begged not to go when 8 pm arrived. Aunt Ann was in town from DC and she is always a hit with Maria. Maria seems fascinated with her probably because she is always dressed in nice clothes and jewelry but she still acts silly. She is that aunt that lives far away and is so exotic to kids but yet so down to earth and fun when she is in town. Maria begged to go back to Julie’s condo with her so we gave in and let her since the condo is on the way to the highway. She was ecstatic. When we picked her up later, I saw her and Ann in the window, and Maria was just staring at her while she spoke. So darling.

The Heile’s fest was a whirlwind as always. Volleyball, Easter egg hunt (Maria and Mario did not get the $5 egg again this year!), DQ cake, hugging, frisbee, basketball, and lots of good-natured yelling (poor Jon!).

We arrived home at 10:45 pm – both Maria and Mario asleep in their car seats. Maria awoke at 7 am crying hysterically about not wanting to go to Kids Club. Twenty-five minutes straight of bawling hysteria. On a Monday morning. Seriously? That was not what I needed to get me off to a good day. But who am I kidding? There was no way that this Monday morning was going to be good anyway. I just spent a week in Florida and two days eating non-stop sugar and hanging with family. Monday was going to be back to reality. So I wanted to cry with Maria when she was throwing down tears but I held it together and acted like all was just peachy keen. And eventually, it was when we were all off of work and school and back in the house again eating chocolate peanut butter cups.

Pot-bellied pigs and marshmallows

December 20, 2011December 20, 2011Leave a comment

Maria and I traveled downtown on Sunday afternoon. There were actually people and cars all over the place! What a promising sight to behold! The Columbus Commons is a new development in the heart of downtown. It is a large grassy area with a carousel. Yoga classes are held there, kickball games, music fests. On Sunday, they had a holiday festival for kids. I had wanted to take Maria and Mario to it on Saturday afternoon but it rained/snowed all afternoon (the kids were so excited to see tiny snowflakes!).

We took Maria’s friend Anna since Mario spent the day with dad at “Big Mario’s” house in Dover, Ohio engaging in “manly” activities like wrestling, play fighting and hunting deer. They chatted the whole way downtown about games on their moms’ I phones and how they wanted their own for Christmas (keep dreamin’ sista!). When we arrived, the place was booming with people. It was an awesome sight compared to the emptiness the downtown usually contains. The first stop was the petting zoo. For a mere $5.00, the kids could feed baby bottles of milk to the goats, llamas and pot-bellied pigs! Yes, pot-bellied pigs – my absolute favorite animal on Earth! I could have sat in that pen all day holding those little munchball swine. Maria was even more excited for me. “Mom! Mom! They have your pigs!” We must have spent 45 minutes in that giant pen, feeding the pigs and goats and petting the llamas and camel. They loved watching the pigs guzzle the milk and hugging on the llama.

Next, we moved onto s’mores. They had a giant fire pit in the middle of the Commons for people to get warm and make s’mores. They provided each kid with a stick, two graham crackers, chocolate, and marshmallows (what about the adults?!). Maria likes her marshmallows barely melted (I think she actually simply has no patience to let them cook!). and Anna likes her marshmallows burnt to the crisp (the way I like them, too). We warmed ourselves up (I even scored a tiny bite of a s’more from Ri) and hit the carousel. Maria rode the elephant. Two years ago she would have waved at me every time she passed me, but this year, she chatted with Anna nearly the entire time never even taking a glance at me! However, towards the end, I did see her glance over at me to see if I was still around so I secretly know she still needs her mama!

After the carousel, we hit the bouncey house. This bouncey house was brutal – they allowed 7 kids in at one time. Luckily, Maria and Anna were the oldest so they did not get trampled. They even were sweet enough to watch out for the little tykes in the bouncey with them (let’s see 6 year old boys do that!). After the bouncey house, we moved onto the train ride. By this time, my hands felt like ice. I had thin gloves on and any more my hands turn purple if out in the cold for longer than 15 minutes. Fortunately, Maria lost her ride ticket after the train ride so I was able to convince the two of them to head to Target with me for icees (no, not hot cocoa because that makes too much sense!) and pretzels. The girls read Teen magazine while I found cookbooks for my girlfriends. That night I dreamt of m little pot-bellied friends with the hopes that Santa may bring me one for Christmas (hint, hint, Jon!).

"MOM!"

Adventures in the Life of a Working Mama

Category: Eating