Halloween 2013

November 2, 2013November 6, 2013Leave a comment

One ninja zombie and one valley girl showed up before my eyes when I walked into school Thursday for the Halloween school parties. Some other mom was helping Mario into his costume and an irrational streak of anger jolted through me. “That’s my kid”, my jealous self thought. But then he looked over at me and exclaimed “there’s my mom, she made it!” Yep, work can always be put on hold for that type of reaction; I gently shoved the mom aside and took over wrapping ninja yarn around Mario’s head.
Mario and his boy friends were jumping all over the place and play boxing while the girls were standing around watching. It was a hoot trying to get them to pose. The boys kept punching each other and the girls kept giggling.

Meanwhile, my girl was in the bathroom with her other third grade classmates getting ready. Aunt Sarah and Jorge were helping her out (blue eye shadow and pink lips to add to the costume). I met up with her after I walked the parade route with Mario (who highly complained about the parade being termed a parade: “this is simply a walk around the block, mom, not a parade with music and lots of people!”). Ri was adorable with her 80’s self.

The rain started coming down right when we hit the school doors – perfect timing. I stayed with Mario in his classroom since this was his first grade school Halloween party. He was grouchy as heck because he expected candy and games and running around thanks to his sis who had given him false hope that his party would be all that. What Ri failed to understand was that I brought in cupcakes and sugar and crazy games because I’m a sugar nut whereas the moms in charge of Mario’s party were wholesome and nutritious and brought in bananas with raisin eyes and did spider crafts. Mario sat pouting as his spider legs wouldn’t glue correctly and his scissors wouldn’t cut well and he was forced to sit in his chair. But then a cupcake appeared with an Oreo on top and life was good again; he even smiled for a picture with his mom!

Meanwhile, Ri partied it up in her classroom. Sarah and Jorge stayed for a bit but then felt like Ri wanted left alone with her friends so they hit up Stauf’s. A while later, Ri came down to Mario’s room sad that I wasn’t in her room with her. She’s had three straight years of me all to herself. Nonetheless, after she saw how down Mario was, she was her generous self as always and told me I could stay with Mario. She stole a candy corn from his table and bolted back to her room.

Bethany met us back at the house (we were soaked from just getting in and out of the car). Mario threw off his shoes and played Star Wars Wii and Ri threw on her robe and played Minecraft. I headed into work for a quick meeting and prayed the rain would stop by 6. No luck. I got home at 5:30 and Sarah and Jorge had the kids ready to go. We threw on our rain coats and headed up our street for our first time ever trick-or-treating on our street (we usually head to 2nd Ave.). It was Jorge’s first trick-or-treat experience. Too bad there weren’t more kids out due to the pouring rain – but he did get to witness a human taco. My little munchos were making their mama very happy by ignoring the downpour and hitting up all the welcoming houses.

Meanwhile, Rocco cried and cried whenever the kids walked up the sidewalk to get candy.

We made it all the way to Broadview before Mario started to peter out on us. He was wet and cold – two things he can’t stand. Sarah and I pushed him hard though saying “look at this house here – it will have good stuff!” He held on for a few more houses (he scored big on the last with eight pieces of chocolate) and then Jon rescued him from his misery (Jon got in from England in the afternoon and drove from Detroit back home to make the tail end of Halloween). Maria left with her friend Riley around the neighborhood so Sar and Jorge and I were left contemplating dressing up and getting candy ourselves. Sar could have completely passed as a ten-year old ghost but we forgot a sheet.
We met back up with Ri and headed to Doris and Kim’s house to say “hi.” We saw our old house on 2nd Ave. and got a handful of candy from Doris and Kim. We also saw our old neighbor Carolyn who still sends b-day cards to the kids. She gave Ri a big squeeze (and a lot of candy). Ri and I hopped in the car as Sar and Jorge brought it around to us and Ri gloated as she showed them her loot. A bag filled to the top – just what I had begged for over the last two weeks. Kit Kat, Reese’s, Butterfinger, M&Ms, Snickers… Pure heaven.

Ri sat sorting out candy for Sarah and Jorge and me while Mario ate his stash. I was concerned about whether this Halloween would be a bust but it turned out to be delightful.

And the kids really got a treat when Sarah and Jorge stayed with them the next morning and played an epic two hour Monopoly game with them. Pure heaven.

Heaven

October 29, 2013October 29, 2013Leave a comment

I am so happy to have this boy in my life. A few days ago, he started making Skylander books, which consist of one Skylander on a page and about three or four pages stapled together. No words. But he verbally describes each Skylander to me. After reading all three different books to me, he started his sales pitch: “what book do you want to buy, mom?”

“How much are they?”

“For you, $10.”

“”Is that a higher price than for others or a deal?!”, I wondered out loud.

“Hey, I need money to buy Skylander swap so I gotta sell them for at least $10.”

I told him I’d give him $5 knowing we’d land at $6 since he always bargains back and forth. But I made him autograph it for me so when he became famous, I could say “I knew him when….” He thought that was cool. He wrote “Mom”, drew a heart, and signed his name. Precious. Then he stuck out his hand to retrieve $6 from me.

When I tucked him in, he asked when I’d get him the $6. I told him I’d savage through my purse when I went downstairs. He made me promise to put the cash in his wallet in a particular order: “the ones have to go after the fives and the fives after the tens. Dad and I organize our money right.” Oh my.

The next evening, he laid in our bed waiting for Jon to come up to watch football with him. Jon called me up to look at him. He was laying face up holding one of his “books” in front of him. He looked like an angel. I walked over to him and kissed his forehead and he looked at me with a sad little face.

“What’s wrong pumpkin?”

“I don’t want you or dad to die.”

I was dizzy with love and compassion and swooped him up in my arms to hug him. I told him we weren’t going anywhere and he hugged me back as hard as I hugged him while planting the most gentle of kisses on my cheek.

Heaven.

Pumpkin patches

October 25, 2013Leave a comment

I am in disbelief over my babies at age three and now at ages 8 and 6 at the pumpkin patch. What will it feel like when they are 15 and 13? The thought of it makes my heart drop like a boulder into my stomach. There are certainly those days when I ask myself “when will they be 18 and able to take care of themselves?” But those days seem to happen a lot less than they did when they were 5 months old and I was up for the tenth time in the wee hours of the night. Now they can make cereal on their own, sleep through the night, play games together. It’s the perfect time where they are somewhat self-sufficient but also completely in love with me. I get hugs with no provocation. I get pleas for good-night kisses. I get random “I love yous” through the day.
Fellow moms tell me that it gets even better as they continue to grow up and develop their sense of selves, their independence. And I can see that as I watch those moms beam as their child scores a soccer goal or makes the Dean’s List.

But I will miss that constant affection and connection that I have with my babes right now. The thrill that runs through me when I step in the door and get knocked over on the ground with hugs. The warmth of two kids’ bodies curled against me as I read them a book. And the immense joy they exhibit by simply being dropped off from a hayride into a patch of pumpkins.

Weekend Round up

October 21, 2013October 21, 2013Leave a comment

We took Rocco for an evening walk on Thursday or Friday night. The moon was glorious – as full as it could be and casting a muted yellow light onto the earth. I stopped the kids and made them absorb it. Then I shouted “make a wish!”
Mario pleaded for lots of toys at Christmas and a new Skylander. Sophie begged for new Legos. Maria pleaded for her mom to have the best birthday ever. That’s it. All she wanted from the moon. My sweet baby. She has got every caring gene in her body (Mario has them too but the toy gene trumps quite often).
On Saturday, Jon took the kids to Marion to visit their cousins at Patty’s and Joe’s house. I got in a killer 11 mile run in and lifted weights. It was superb. And then to top it off, Rocco took a walk with me and didn’t stop every second and make me beg him to move. It was delightful. I love taking him to the woods by our house and letting him off the leash; he rips through the leaves and dashes from log to log smelling the remnants of other animals.

Saturday evening, Jon and I drove up to Marion to pick up the kids and visit Patty and Joe and Jon’s brothers and their families. The boys spent most of the time watching each other play Minecraft on the iPad while the girls played make believe in the basement. It’s so freeing to have them all play together alone while the adults chatted upstairs.
Ri woke up in the middle of the night with a fever. She’s such a machine, though. She washed down some Tylenol and just went back to bed without complaining at all. When she woke Sunday morning, I knew she didn’t feel the best but she kept a straight face and went with me to the YWCA to do crafts with the homeless kids. She has such a big heart. Within about twenty minutes, I could tell she felt horrible and I made her sit down. But soon I saw her up helping a little girl with her Halloween mask. We left the Y and went home for a day of relaxation. She slept on the couch while I raked leaves with Rocco. It was so gorgeous outside I didn’t mind the manual labor at all. She mosied outside after a while and recited recipes from one of her kids’ books.while I made a leaf pile. Then she began to take pictures of all the glorious flowers in the yard. She’s got a bit of an eye on her….

She slipped in this one (Rocco’s poop bag) and thought it was hilarious!

Meanwhile, Jon took Mario to his swim birthday party. Jon talked it up with the moms at the party keeping them laughing with his jokes. He reported that Mario had a great time with his dudes splashing around the pool and being silly. When Mario came home, he reported to me that one of the boys swam in “panties.” I looked at him quizzically and Jon chimed in “they were speedos, Mario.” Mario had never seen such things since he has been wearing boxers for the last two years to be like his dad. Indeed, anything he can do to be more like his dad makes him happy. He watched football with Jon in the evening jumping off the couch every few minutes to act like he was catching a pass (Jon does not do that).
Ri and I read Janes and the Giant Peach for 45 minutes, which made me oh so happy. I love reading with her and dreamt about it since she was a baby. I tucked her in bed at 8:30 with the hope that she would be better in the morning. Mario stayed up until 10 with his dad watching football and making us watch his pretend touchdowns (and touchdown dances). I think he’s ready for the NFL at age 6.
Oh, and we got Boo’d last night, which means we have to “Boo” two houses in Grandview tonight. I’m not sure if I like this “Booing” idea – seems to be yet another way to commercialize a holiday (I now have to go our and buy candy and bags to put at the two houses we “Boo.”) But the kids were so excited to be the “Boo” recipients so I will play the game like a good citizen and go buy candy and bags after work. I will make them walk to the houses we “boo” tonight though – it’s too nice outside to drive anywhere today. Winter will sneak up on us way too soon….

Magic Mountain madness

October 14, 2013October 14, 2013Leave a comment

Mario,

This is how much I love you. I gave up three hours in the beautiful outdoors – 70 degrees and ocean blue skies – to stand at Magic Mountain play land and watch you run around like a spaz with your boy friends. I’m not sure Magic Mountain is any more obnoxious than Chuckee Cheese (at least it doesn’t have a life-sized rodent playing the guitar and belting out ear-piercing tunes) but it is as loud and chaotic. Moms and dads looking at iPhones trying to be lured away from reality, Magic Mountain teen employees flirting with each other and bumping into you. And kids (a majority of boys it seems) bouncing off each other and matted walls like little atoms.
I was hoping I could do a drop off but you aren’t quite at that age yet. And besides, the boy who didn’t want me near him 24 hours ago while walking in the parade now wanted me by his side and watching his every move.

“Mom, you can have some pizza! Mom, they have your favorite, chocolate cake. Mom, you will love this game!” (He knows how to get me).

But Mario had a blast with his boys and that’s what matters. He even scored a hand buzzer with the number of tickets he racked up and that was quite the gem in his eyes. He wound it up and approached me to shake my hand. I shook his hand and it buzzed rather faintly but enough you could hear it. I leaped backwards and Mario laughed.

That’s what makes these otherwise challenging parties worthwhile.

Homecoming night

October 13, 2013October 13, 2013Leave a comment

Mario walked in the homecoming parade and could not have been more ready to walk by himself. Every time Ri and I got close, he’d yell “go away!” He wanted to bask in his football glory without dawdling family members close by him.

Ri and I were so out of there after the parade. She had no desire to watch the football game. Mario, on the other hand, was all about it. He was so excited to sit with Jon the entire game. Some of his little buddies were playing down by the concession stand and he joined them for a bit but sat up in the stands most of the game. Jon gets a gold star for making it through the entire game (most folks with younger kids hit the road at half time).
Meanwhile, Ri and I hit Grandview Ave. for a wild night: Panera for Mac-n-cheese and Orange Leaf for ice cream. We know how to rock the town.

Crooning

October 7, 2013October 7, 2013Leave a comment

Mario crooned “I think you are so cooooool and I want to come to your house. I want to be cooool like you – can I come over” as we stood in the back of Target. That wig brought it out of him.
The power of Maria’s wig did not hit her until we got home and she sang to Jon and me “I’m heading down a country road driving in my four wheels. I want to be with you all night….” (Good ol’ David and his country music that he plays for the kids on the ride home from school).

I swear I don’t know how we survived without these two goofballs years ago.

Nature!

October 6, 2013October 6, 2013Leave a comment

We had to take advantage of the warm October weather yesterday. We packed Rocco’s “bag” consisting of water, bowl, treats, and a chew toy (I finally don’t need a diaper bag and I’m relegated to this). We packed string cheese and crackers and granola bars for us humans. And we headed to Park of the Roses.
I took Ri and Mario there last year sans dog and they loved taking off their shoes and playing in the shallow creek. Quite a number of dogs jumped in with them while we were there and that’s what reminded us that it would be a good place to take Rocco. It didn’t disappoint. Rocco loved being off the leash and running through the damp leaves, picking up tiny sticks, and braving leaps over baby branches pushed easily by strong winds. Mario gave him a run for his money running ahead of him in a mad sprint to see if he could catch up.

Maria has soaked in the spirit of her late Grandpa Bill and her uncle Jorge; she wanted to take pictures galore of all the glory in the woods.

We arrived at our destination – a cascading, slate waterfall with mid-calf length pools of water on each end. The shoes immediately came off and the kids became one with the water – literally. Maria laid on her stomach and immersed her whole self. As I watched her, I witnessed pure grace. The way she lifted her head to the sky and closed her eyes as if soaking in all the beauty of the woods with one long breath.

And then Mario interrupted the tranquility with this face:

And so we moved from spirituality to frivolity with the help of Mario and Rocco who proceeded to flip out when he noticed Ri and Mario in the creek. He is still a bit shy about swimming so he expressed his displeasure with them going in without him by barking like a rabid mutt. It scared the heck out of Mario. But eventually he settled down with the lull of treats and even jumped into the very shallow end. In a hilarious move, he walked right on Ri’s stomach and used her as a log to protect him from the mean waters.

An 80 pound black lab visited us at one point in the afternoon and Rocco was beside himself happy. He played with her for 15 minutes straight not at all scared of her size. He even tried to make his moves on her but she was unimpressed (note to boys, jumping our leg does nothing for us).
Nature brings out curiosity and playfulness. You can’t help but jump from rock to rock and pick up the giant leaf resting in front of you to compare it to the size of your hand.

You can’t help but stand on a boulder and belt out a song about love (yes, Ri and Mario want to be on the Voice badly).

You can’t help but strike a silly pose when mom begs for a darling picture of her babies.

And you can’t help but plant a big ol’ smooch on your brother as you play in the creek together.

Ok, there are some things that even nature can’t make right!

We have no choice but to make this our regular nature outing – how could we say no to a face like this?

Weekend update

September 30, 2013September 30, 2013Leave a comment

Another rousing weekend for the family. I am really impressed by how I can get up on Monday morning and take a run with as tired as I am on Sunday night (that double dip UDF ice cream at 10 pm must rev up my cells through the night).

Patty and Alana and Gio attended Mario’s football game on Saturday morning. It was nothing less than pure chaos an hour prior to kick-off with Jon trying to get the dog to poop and Mario dressed and me trying to find cupcakes for after-game snacks that had football rings on them. When I got home at 10:10 am, Jon had left with Mario to get him to the game by a 10:30 kickoff. Except he forgot Mario’s mouthpiece. I got the “Are you on your way?!” frantic call at 10:15 and I rushed Patty, the kids, and the dog out of the house to get to the game. Nothing like doing 80 on the highway with your mom-in-law next to you.
Mario played the entire game because a lot of kids were absent. He kept reversing the ball and running backwards away from kids to try to move forwards but he never made it far, which frustrated the heck out of him. But he hung in there for the entire game; it’s amazing to see the difference in his attitude and playing style this year versus last year. And he loves being the life of the party amongst his team mates.

Maria and Alana kept Rocco busy at the playground. Alana loved helping with the pup (she adores dogs) and they both were very good about watching him around kids (Ri acts like a mother hen shooing kids back when Rocco acts up). Rocco did surprisingly well with people coming up to him. Knock on wood, let’s hope he’s learning not to bite quite as much.

After the game, Patty and I walked the crew up to Panera for lunch. Mario and Gio rode in the stroller so they could play on the iPads while the girls rode scooters (and Jon wants to get rid of the stroller – no way!). Lunch was hilarious: the boys were in the bathroom for fifteen minutes doing their business and messing around; the girls wanted to eat alone and ride their scooters by themselves up and down Grandview Ave. Luckily, Patty goes with the flow as well as I do so we just ate our salads and took it all in.
We took the pup to the woods by our house when we got home and he loved it. I think I have found the perfect spot for him to run without a leash that only takes us 8 minutes to walk to back and forth. I told Mario a story about a troll living in the woods a while ago and he still asks about the troll when we head to the woods. If he sees a bunch of sticks piled up, he will excitedly say “the troll may hide out there” or if he sees tracks he will point at them and yell “troll prints!” So sweet.

Patty and Meg joined me for evening fun – we ate chips and watched the game. The girls played Quirkle (such a great game) and the boys reunited with their iPads. Patty left around 9:30 (what a machine she is to drive an hour home with Alana and Gio at that time of night); we all hit the sack as soon as they hopped in Patty’s car.
We enjoyed Stauf’s on Sunday morning. Rocco walked some of the way with us but then decided he wanted to stroll with Mario. He leaned over the edge after a few blocks and stumbled out of the seat so he decided to walk again. The stroller wheels freak him out though and he just kept whining and trying to bite them (note: ignore my last comment about the wonders of the stroller: Mario needs to stop riding in that thing and bike to Stauf’s).

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I took a wonderful 7 mile run after Stauf’s through UA and then got treated to an amazing delicioso brunch at The Kitchen</a. These women know how to cook – I had a yummy combo of mushrooms, kale, cabbage and tomatoes over grits with a fried egg and fluffy French toast with caramel sauce. My sis and Meg had sweet potato and onion hash that had to be sent down from heaven. Everything tasted so so so good.

We walked off the amazing meals in the woods with Rocco. Jorge loved the tree with the climbing spikes and scared us all to death with how high he climbed. Rocco would whine loudly and try to climb the tree when any of us climbed up.
We came home and played HORSE in the backyard. Maria made everyone coffee while Mario kicked our butts making nearly all of his b-ball shots. Because we still hadn’t done enough through the day, we made a trip to Petland to look at the dwarf hamsters and pups. Rocco scored new toys and treats because I can’t resist buying him something anytime I am near a dog aisle. We hit Party City after Petland and I’m happy to report that we have a zombie ninja and a valley girl in the house for Halloween.
We ended the day with more food – gyros from the new Greek Express. They were mighty fine as you could tell from the way we slouched in the booths – or maybe that was just sheer exhaustion….Us Menkedicks work hard but play harder!

Weekend round-up

September 17, 2013September 17, 2013Leave a comment

We got treated to a visit from Aunt Jane, Uncle Steve, Robert and Laura on Saturday morning. They came up to see Mario’s football game. We took Rocco to the vet at 9 am to hear that he was looking good and then rushed to Tim Horton’s to get lucky timbits for Mario to eat pre-game. The line inside and out was ridiculously long so Jon took me and the kids home and drove to another Tim Horton’s while we changed. The ovens at that Tim Horton’s were down so there were no donuts. You would have thought Mario was just told he would never be able to walk again. He lost it. Flailing everywhere. Bawling.

Once he calmed down, I told him we could get some magical donuts at BP and a cereal bar. Maybe they would work even better to allow him to score touchdowns. We stopped for them and got on the highway at 10:15 – his game started at 10:30. The highway we needed was closed. We spent the next 20 minutes trying to find an alternate route that wasn’t busy. I was irked because Jane and Steve had come to see the game and we were late. Jon was irked because I was irked. The kids, luckily, were oblivious listening to Radio Disney on their headphones. I was telling myself the whole way that I cannot control the situation; stay calm; breathe. I eventually convinced myself when we were two minutes away.

It was great having Jane and Steve and Robert and Laura at the game – they completely got into it jumping up and down and yelling for Mario as he ran for a touchdown.
I had ice cream with them later and reminisced about the good ol’ days when I rode in the trunk of the station wagon with no seat belts and played in the deep water with no life vest!

When we got home, Jon swept Mario away to Big Mario’s and Aunt Vickie’s house to fish and go four-wheeling. Mario’s dream come true. He got treated like royalty between cookies and pasta and a coyote skin that Big Mario had treated just for him. He couldn’t wait to show it off when he got home Sunday night.

Meanwhile, Ri and I got her present ready for her sleepover at the Hyatt. Yeah, a hotel sleepover. The birthday party detail continues to be raised up notches. Pretty soon you will be expected to rent out a ballroom and boy band for an eighth birthday party.

After I dropped Ri off at 4:00, I had the night to myself. I got a massage at 4:30 and then spent the rest of the night with little dude.

I was like this with Cy, too. I would make big plans in my head to go to the movies or the coffee shop to read but then Cy would look out the window at me and I’d turn around and spend the evening with him. So Rocco and I enjoyed the evening together with a walk to Pet People that took two hours with all the stops we had to make (between sniffing, laying down, and people petting) and watched a Sarah Polley documentary (which was quite good). We hit the sack at 10:15 pm and started all over at 6:30 am.
Maria texted me from her friend’s mom’s phone at 9:30 am asking me to pick her up. One of her friends had called her “heavy” and not let her participate in a game. Ugh, girls. But Ri is such an old soul and was able to process that her friend was probably mad about something else that had happened at the party and took it out on Ri. Pretty impressive intuition for an 8 year old.

She wanted time with her mama anyway – we took Rocco for a walk, bought a pooper scooper and a toaster at Target (she loved that I combined these two things in one sentence), and got a pedicure!

As the night wore on, and Rocco got in his chew stage (Maria’s friend came over to apologize and Rocco accidentally caught her little brother with those sharp puppy teeth while chasing him), I started to get testy. I made Ri get on Xtra Math and she complained. Then, once on, she did poorly. She was not answering simple subtraction quick enough and I let my end of day fatigue take over.
“Come on Ri, you have to get these more quickly. This is why you have to do Xtra Math everyday. You aren’t getting simple problems right.”
She started crying as I peered over her shoulder and watched her every move. I let out a sigh when she missed another and she jolted up and ran upstairs crying and yelling “you are the worst mom ever!”
I sat on the kitchen chair staring at the computer. I definitely could have handled this better. I know how much Ri hates pressure and stress so why did I stand over her shoulder? Yea, I know why….

I called her back down to finish Xtra Math, which she did. Then I swung her legs around to meet mine, looked her straight in the eyes (those beautiful blue eyes) and told her I loved her more than anything. I also apologized for putting undue pressure on her. She reached out and hugged me and apologized, too. We both decided that the fight warranted an ice cream cone so we headed off to UDF for double dip peanut butter ‘n’ chip.

And we both concurred that ice cream solves all problems.

"MOM!"

Adventures in the Life of a Working Mama

Category: laughter