Category: Outdoors

The joys of snow

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Old man winter decided to shower us with snow today. Finally.

Snowflakes danced on my nose and eyelashes as I ran through the neighborhood this morning. My IPod died on me ten minutes into my run. Irritation and anger raced through me for not charging it the night before. However, as I continued to run and pout, I heard vibrations of snow on the trees and a trio of birds still chirping away in the 15 degree weather. I changed my thinking: rather than be irritated for 60 minutes, I became grateful for the glorious morning and the snowflakes and the weekend and the opportunity to be by myself for an hour. The results were much better, indeed; I had a most enjoyable run.

Maria teaching Mario early

I came home to a trashed house – the remnant of a crazy week juggling colds, homework, work, and kids’ addiction to electronics. As I began to clean, I sat Mario down with a phonics workbook. He is having trouble with his ABC’s and we are trying to think of ways to help him learn them. When Maria was his age, she had numbers and letters down pat. Mario’s teachers tend to put less emphasis on rote memorization and more emphasis on creativity. I like that style of teaching but I still want Mario to learn the basics! Then again, he isn’t hitting Kindergarten for another year and a half so I should probably just chill.

All Maria needs to hear is that Mario needs to learn something and she transforms herself into “teacher-mode.” She set up a desk and asked Mario to sit with her. She quizzed him on letters and when he got them wrong she gently told him “that is not right, buddy; let’s try it again.”  He surprisingly hangs in there with her, even letting her lead in the ABC song. He gets to “LMNOP” and he mumbles something incoherent and continues on with Q and then straight to Y. I have no doubt that Maria will straighten him out and get him reciting his ABC’s in no time.  She is a born teacher – even giving Mario a report card based on his ABC’s (“You did ok but keep practicing.”).

After an hour and a half of cleaning, Jon and Patrick and Mario left for Marion to see Jon’s mom and dad, and I stayed home with Maria and Alana (Mario ended up staying with Grandma and Grandpa Ionno after just pleading to them one time to spend the night – he is spoiled). The girls stayed in Maria’s room for a while playing a game that scares me. One of them is the mom and the other the teenage daughter. The daughter screams at her mom and tells her she hates her and drives off in the family car. It seems to always start this way. A snapshot of the future? Let’s hope not….

Maria has inherited my ADHD so after a short time of playing that game, she was ready for something new. She threw on her coat and went outside to play in the half-inch of snow. Alana followed. I continued to clean the counters. Ten minutes later, the doorbell rang. I answered and saw the girls giggling around the house. I went back to cleaning. They rang again. I opened the door and they both lobbed tiny snowballs at me. I stood in the house with snow falling off me. Should I get mad about the snow in my house or the snow on my shirt? Should I get mad that they interrupted my cleaning.  No.  Instead I got even!

I threw my coat and shoes on and chased them around the yard until I got ’em both with snowballs. Since we were covered in snow, we decided to try to build a snowman. The snow was light and fluffy and sparse, which prompted both girls to tell me there was no way to build one.  But I always remember my dad’s actions on a summer day at the farm months ago. He had bought Mario a kite and Mario wanted to fly it but there was absolutely no wind. Everyone told Mario he could not fly it; that is, except my dad. He took him outside to give it a try. With a hill and a will, my dad ran down the hill with that kite flying high in the sky behind him. Mario jumped up and down with sheer joy on his face and we all stood in awe.

The girls with Alycia Snowy

And, following my dad’s footsteps, Maria, Alana and I made ourselves a sweet, little snowman. It took lots of work – the girls shoveled their hearts out – but we did it. Alycia Snowy Ionno is her name and she is a beauty.

Skippin’ Football Sunday

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The family woke up on Saturday and got working on cleaning our rooms.  It caused much heartburn in Maria on Saturday night – she worried that she would be bored cleaning her room.  “How can I make it fun, mom?” 

“I used to listen to music and dance around my room while I cleaned,” I told her.

A while later, she headed to her room to go to bed.  Jon and I were sitting downstairs when we heard Justin Bieber’s voice coming from upstairs.  A few minutes later we heard crying.  Jon went upstairs to see what was wrong.  Maria stood in her room with tears down her cheeks and told Jon “I am trying what mom told me to do but it isn’t working.  I am still not having fun.”  Poor thing….

That is why when we woke up on Sunday morning, I jumped out of bed and made cleaning fun!  I smiled and laughed and skipped around as I helped Maria pick up her room.  Mario jumped right in, too, picking up barbies and folding clothes.  Maria picked up a book here or there, made her bed and then moved on to getting dressed.  She is going to be one that takes two hours to clean her room on Saturday morning.  When we moved to Mario’s room, he lost interest in cleaning.  He was more concerned about jumping off his loft bed and doing kick stands around his room.  Maria helped me check the clothes on his floor to determine whether they were too little for him anymore and if they were dirty.  He somehow still does not understand where the laundry basket is located. 

Maria and Alana outside of the hospital with the flying pig

After cleaning, we got ready for the day.  Jon scooped up Mario under his wing, and headed to Dover, Ohio to visit Big Mario and Vicki for a day of pasta and wrestling.  I scooped up the Maria and Alana and headed to Cincinnati to visit my grandma in the hospital and to play at Aunt Julie’s house.  We listened to Big Time Rush for most of the ride and then colored pictures for grandma.  The kids were anxious to see grandma – I think they were more anxious to see “sick” people and the devices and instrumentalities of the hospital.  Neither of them remember a hospital.  They peered at the people in the hall and in the beds entranced by the fragility of life.  When they got to grandma’s room, they greeted her skeptically not quite sure if they should get near her.  As time went on, they got better at engaging with her eventually singing Christmas songs to her and talking to her about school.  Alana must have sung her 10 religious songs that she learned in Catholic school.  When Grandma asked Maria to sing a song, Maria belted out Jingle Bells!  My grandma looked at me and said “you need to get Maria in Sunday school.”  

After grandma’s, I took the girls to a delicious bagel shop in Blue Ash.  I grew up on these bagels and cream cheese.  They are fabulous.  We got toasted bagels with a load of cream cheese and sat at the bar.  Heaven.  Next, we headed to Julie’s to see her dogs and visit Grandma Lolo.  The girls LOVE to walk Julie’s dogs because they are just right for them.  Both are maybe 25 pounds and do not pull on their leashes.  They allow the girls to drag them anywhere.  A win-win situation for all. 

I went back to the hospital to be with grandma. We had a pleasant conversation about her friends, card parties, and needing solitude.  Us Menkedick brood all have that solitude gene in common – we need alone time to be our best.  We picked it up from grandma, I learned. When I returned to Julie’s house, the girls were downstairs listening to records on a Fisher Price record player.  Yes, records!  Maria was amazed at the looks of the record player, laughing at how I used to have to listen to music on such an antiquated device!

We hopped in the car to head back to Columbus.  Alana’s parents are much more strict than Jon and I and wanted Alana home by 7:30 since it was a school night.  We raced up I-71 in order to hit McDonald’s Playland for ten minutes (it has become a staple with each Cincy trip).  We got Alana home 1 minute late and proceeded to Orange Leaf for a frozen yogurt treat before bed. 

Mario walking up the long hill.

The boys met up with us at the house – they were exhausted from four-wheeling and wrestling all day.  Little Mario also decided that he was old enough to walk up the long hill from Mario’s shop to Mario’s house all by himself.  He got tired of waiting for Jon to finish his conversation with Big Mario and informed Jon that he was big enough to take the trek himself.  Jon agreed, not sure if he would make it or not.  But that boy has determination and will when he needs it and he made it.  

We all gave each other kisses hello, got in our pjs and headed to our beds – no time to watch football on this jam-packed Sunday….

Forts and Theo’s and the Stars

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Mario and Mama Meg and Taz this Summer

I checked in with Grandma Meg and Peepaw tonight to see if the kids were behaving. 

Peepaw and Maria at the farm this Summer

My dad answered: “Hellllo.” He sounded in good spirits.  The kids screamed “Hello” to me in the background.  My dad put it on speaker and a cacophony of voices came across the line.  Maria informed me that she ate spaghetti and meatballs and garlic bread at Theo’s restaurant.  Mario informed me that they made a fort and dug for gold in the gravel driveway.  Dad chimed in to confirm that they were being good and sweet.  Meg informed me that dad and Mario lay in the Study together and look at the stars.  Maria surely makes Mama Meg play barbies with her. 

We meet them at noon tomorrow for the drop-off at Olive Garden.  Jon and I are excited to see them.  Maria and Mario do not know how lucky they are to have three sets of grandparents that provide them such unconditional love… and spaghetti and meatballs!

Pot-bellied pigs and marshmallows

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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!).

Skipping to our own beat

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I felt pretty beat up the other day.  I created one of my “what do I want to do with my life” fixations where I obsess about what I want my legacy to be, how I can create a start-up business that will help the world, how I can be more creative.  I shot down any belief that I could make progress on anything that I wanted to do. All in all, pretty daggone depressed.  The kids played in the other room while I scoured the internet for articles that would bring some glimmer of light into my downtrodden day.  Nothing.

The sun even beamed through the window; typically a welcome visitor.  Eventually, I knew I needed to get outside and at least take a walk.  Walks generally put me in a little higher state of mind.  I yelled to Maria and Mario to put on their jackets because we were going to take a walk to the library.  After a few sighs and begging to use the car (I do not know what happened to my “green” kids – I think they revert to motor vehicles once it hits below 50 degrees!), we slipped on our jackets and headed outside.  Much to our chagrin, the sun and lack of clouds brought the temperature to close to 60 degrees.  Maria whipped off her jacket and Mario ran in glee. 

As we approached the corner of our street and First Avenue, I still felt gloomy even though the sun’s rays warmed us up.  Another block up, Mario reached up and took my hand.  I looked down at his sweet, round face. 

“Mom, I have an idea.  Let’s skip! Come on, Ria, you too!” 

The babes skipping

He started the skipping, skipping to his own little beat.  Maria followed, skipping to a completely different beat on the heels of her brother and eventually up to his side to hold his hand. I took a deep breath and dove into it.  And so we skipped down First Avenue.  And my gloomy mood began to wash away. 

How could I not smile as I lifted my feet to skip down the street like I used to do when I was 8 years old?  How could I not find pleasure in watching Maria and Mario lift their little feet and skip down the street with wide smiles on their face and genuine laughter pouring from their mouth?  

Such a simple act to perform and such a huge difference in mood.  I could have talked until I was blue in the face to a girlfriend or read twenty articles on improving my mood but they would have not had near the effect on me that skipping to my own beat produced.  And all because of my 6 and 4-year-old kids who sensed my funk and knew just how to bring me out of it.  My kids are able to teach me just as much as I am able to teach them, and often times, on a much more grounding level (and to their glee, they got a library vending machine snack out of it since I was in such a good mood!).

Don’t leave us, Autumn

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We are getting down to the last few weekends where you can still go outside in a sweatshirt and shorts (or jeans for those cold-blooded folks), view a few remaining leaves on the trees, and feel the warmth of the sun on your face.  I can’t stand to be inside on these weekends because I know in a very short period of time, I will be relegated to the house staring out the windows at the bleak, frigid, bare-treed world. 

The cousins ready for a train ride

We woke up on Sunday to a balmy 59 degrees (most mornings nowadays are in the high 30s) and I over-bundled the troops for our morning stroller ride.  We hit Giant Eagle for something different and its close proximity to CVS where I needed to develop pictures.  Jon and I bought a picture frame collage when we bought our new furniture for the house a few months ago and the frame has a bunch of different sized frames that look really cool in the spur of the moment.  However, once you get home and are forced to fill 2.5 x 3.5 and 4×4 and 3x 3.5 it is a different story.  I think I have spent  over 4 hours at CVS trying to correctly develop pictures to fit in the frames.  It is driving me batty.  And yet I won’t give up (although I did feel like throwing the collage frame out the second story window one night at 1 am).  But I digress…

Mario got a chocolate muffin and Maria got a chocolate sprinkle donut at Giant Eagle (Mario said “Why do you get chocolate donuts when you don’t like chocolate?!” Maria’s response “I like chocolate donuts – who wouldn’t?!).  After Giant Eagle and CVS, we headed home reading Berenstein Bears Moving Day.  Yes, I stroll them and read them a book held by Maria who does a great job turning the pages and holding it just right so I can read the words.  As we approached home and the sun peered through the few remaining leaves of the big oak trees, I decided that I would brave it and see if my niece and nephew wanted to head to the zoo with us.  My sister-in-law agreed to let them go and Maria and Mario screamed with excitement. 

Having fun on a statute

We got home and packed pretzels, raisins, and fruit roll ups for the trip.  We grabbed the library movies we had rented earlier in the week, and we were off to Hilliard to pick up M&M’s cousins.  We packed everyone in the truck, fastened seat belts, and headed north to zoo land.  I thank the heavens that I only have two kids but if I had four, I would be able to crank it out.  I packed those kids in the car in less than a minute and that’s with buckling seat belts, too.  I have become a pro. 

We arrived at a quiet zoo with parking close to the entrance.  When we entered, everyone grabbed a map and began to review as if they knew what they were reviewing.  We decided to head to the Petting Zoo first.  Of course, it was closed.  The barn was open so you could see the goats but it’s not the same as being in the pen with them.  We decided to head to the North American region and come back to the Petting Zoo. 

Watching the polar bear

One of the coolest sites of the day was the polar bear exhibit where you can go underground and watch the polar bears dive into the water to play or catch fish.  Two polar bears jumped in while we stood underground, and the kids got to witness them playing and swimming around in the water.  They were darling.  We tried to hit a playground after the polar bears but it was closed, too.  The kids were upset and began with the whiny complaints (“This zoo is awful…”).  I explained to them how lucky they were to be able to come to the zoo and how a lot of kids don’t even get that opportunity.  Maria understood it immediately but the rest of them failed to comprehend at all.  Nonetheless, we continued on to the bobcats, pumas, and moose and their minds were promptly diverted to how cool those animals looked. 

The metal statutes were a big hit for the kids.  They loved to climb on them and swing from them.  We hit one of those at almost every new geographical location.  The bird sanctuary was a bigger hit than I thought it would be.  They searched for birds throughout the sanctuary and when they found one they made a mad dash to the chart to see what kind of bird it was.  After the bird sanctuary, we hit another playground and it was closed, too.  This even pissed me off. I get that they close the playground areas at a specified time each year but really, on a day that is 60 degrees?  More disappointment on their faces when I told them it was closed.  I think it was disappointment and exhaustion from walking for two and a half hours.  Tension began to rise in the two groups of siblings, also.  Giovanni had found a feather and Mario wanted to touch it.  Gio refused.  Mario begged.  He still refused.  At that point, Maria walked up to him and pointed her finger scolding him about how selfish he was being and how he needed to learn to share.  Alana hurried up to defend her brother and tell Maria to leave him alone.  Maria proceeded to tell Alana that Mario would not share his toys with Gio if Gio continued to act selfish.  Alana said that Gio didn’t care.  And yes it kept going just like that for another minute or two before I interjected.  What would spark up 4 and 6 year olds after an exhausting day at the zoo?  McDonald’s Playland!  Let’s go kids!  

Tunnel Fun

My kids are used to the Playland because of our trips to and from Cincy where the McDonald’s Playland acts as a rest stop half way in between Columbus and Cincy.  Their cousins are not used to McDonald’s Playland because their parents do not frequent such establishments.  Aunt Mary is a lot different from Aunt Carrie.  I could care less about the dangers of such playlands – germs are good for kids in order to build up tolerance.  Heck, I never worried about germs as a kid and I turned out healthy.  But Aunt Carrie is polar opposite.  I am sure it sickens her to think about playing at McDonald’s.  I respect her for that – I sometimes I wish I had a little more of her style in me – but if the kids are with me, we will head to these types of places because they are cheap and the kids like them.  Heck, they spent a half hour running around and exhausting themselves so that when 9 pm came that night, they should have been out cold (Maria was knocked out; Mario was just getting a second wind). 

Finally, we ended up at Joann Fabrics to look for vases and flowers for the house.  I could not believe how good the kids were at that place.  They had every opportunity to run all around the store when I was looking at flowers, but they stayed by my side or within earshot of me.  I was very impressed, and because I was so impressed, I let them each buy a little something.  They helped me select flowers for the dining room and tried to find me some artwork for the room.  Nothing would do the trick so I made an impulse last-minute buy of two flower pictures.  I got them home and decided against them immediately.  Oh well.  I do like the flowers we bought. 

We got home at 6 pm and helped Jon with the remainder of the garage cleaning.  He had worked on clearing out the garage while we went to the zoo – no small task since we threw every piece of junk and unnecessary item in the garage when we moved into the house.  To my surprise, after we were done, he asked if we wanted to go to Bob Evans.  Heaven.  I had been craving their pancakes for weeks.  We loaded up and headed down to Bob’s for pancakes and dinner rolls with butter and mashed potatoes.  Thanks, Mother Nature for giving us such a beautiful Autumn day.

Ahhh, Autumn

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Delicious autumn!  My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns.  ~George Eliot

I knew it would be a gorgeous autumn day the moment I stepped onto the sidewalk for my morning run.  The air had the most subtle bite of chill to it – not frigid like the past few mornings and not heavy like hot summer mornings.  Perfect running weather.  The sun had been up for an hour by the time I got out to run and it greeted me with its cheerful self warming my bare legs.  I love this time of year with the beauty of the leaves, the cool temperatures, the smell of fireplaces heating homes, the cheers of people at the football game. 

Maria and Mario greeted me with a resounding “MOM!” when I opened the front door after my run.  Is there anything that makes you feel more loved than the sound of children excited to see you?  Mario grabbed two Berenstein books for me to read and we sat in his room with the blinds up and sun pouring in reading about “Too Many Commercials” and “Camping out with Ghosts.”  I love it when Mario initiates reading because he so rarely wants to do it.  He is not into anything at age 4 except super heros, wrestlers, and fighting.  I make him sit down at times and color or work in his workbook but after five minutes he is bored to death.  Other moms console me and tell me that it does get better but I have my doubts….  Maria is doing really well with her reading lately because I have made it my number one priority to make her read every night.  She is starting to see the fruits of her work when she gets a card and can read a lot of the words or sees me reading the paper and can decipher some of the headline.  Of course, I received two cards for my birthday that had the word “Bitch” in the inside of them (gotta love my friends and family!) and wouldn’t you know that she opened them and pronounced “You are a bitch!” just perfectly!  She immediately sensed that “b–” was a bad word and covered her mouth laughing.  Leave it to my girl to immediately know how to spell and sound out the cuss words.  Taking after her mom. 

After reading, we got on our sweatshirts and went outside to rake the leaves and play soccer.  Maria is so funny – she is the little worker bee as long as it is work she wants to do (never cleaning her room).  She is also the boss directing how things should get done.  As I raked, she announced that I should rake near the trash cans because that needed it more.  She then went into the garage and began moving things around to “places that they should really be.”  When I asked her to help me with bagging the leaves, she looked at the work and decided against it.  

Rather, we took a stroll to the library.  Mario begged to take a family walk so we decided that would be a good spot – four blocks away.  I was so excited to see the kids both ready to take a walk!  I was so excited that I even agreed to skip most of the way with the kids after they begged me to do it.  I felt 10 again.  We dropped Maria off at a friend’s house after the library and headed home to those dreadful leaves.  To my glee, Mario couldn’t stop helping Jon and me.  He loves that type of manual labor.  He raked and raked and raked for me.  I would sweep the raked leaves onto a tarp and we would take it down the drive to drop off the leaves at the curb and start the process again. 

“Mom, we are quite a team, aren’t we?” 

“Yes, doll, we are.”

“Are you proud of me for helping you?”

“I am so proud of you.”

Jon and I could not get over what a machine he was raking those leaves up, and kept stopping  to stare at him in complete awe.  I promised him the park after we raked the leaves – anything to stay outside on this gorgeous Autumn day.  I could just eat it up.

Rocco Awesome

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Maria, Mario and I went for a walk in the stroller the other day.  Yes, Maria is 6 years old and still rides in the BOB stroller with Mario.  To her credit, though, it is like a car to her.  I cannot stand driving anywhere (until the dead of Winter arrives) so we go everywhere in the BOB.  When her friends drive by in their parents’ cars looking at Maria funny, I want to yell “This is just like your car but it is a convertible!”  I am clearly more bothered by it than Maria who seems to have no issues with jumping in the BOB and getting a ride around town. 

As we were walking down the street, we got on the subject of names.  Maria asked what names I had chosen for her while she was in my belly.  I told her a couple: Sophia and Grace.  She responded with a grunt and seemed happy that we had chosen Maria.  Mario dove-tailed on her question asking what names we had thought for him.  I told him there was really only one other name that we seriously contemplated at the hospital and it was “Rocco.”  He looked at me with those penetrating blue eyes and shook his head:  “And you chose Mario?!” 

I apologized telling him that Mario is a family name and he looked so much like a Mario at birth.  He wanted no explanation – only an agreement that his name from that point forward would be Rocco.  Maria and I agreed. When we got home, Jon greeted us.  When Jon asked how is Mario was doing, Mario looked at him matter-of-factly and stated “My name is Rocco.”  Jon apologized and followed in our footsteps calling him “Rocco” all night.  Later in the evening, Mario and Jon were playing around and Mario decided that he needed to add a little something more to his name.  “Dad, I am now going to be “Rocco Awesome.””  The next morning we were all running around getting ready for school/work.  Mario was downstairs with me and Jon yelled down to him “Mario!”  Mario sat  in the family room and did not respond.  Jon yelled to him again. No response.  Finally, Jon yelled “Rocco Awesome!” and within a second, we heard “Yeah dad?”  He was serious about that name.

Doing the Rocco Awesome dance

Rocco Awesome stayed with us for another three days until the grandparents came up to visit me for my birthday.  I had warned them about his new name and they were prepared to call him by it but when one of them said “Hi Rocco Awesome!” he shied away and said “No, I am Mario.”  The rest of the day and week he maintained his Mario status without mentioning Rocco Awesome again.  When I looked up the meaning of the names Mario and Rocco, I understood why Mario reverted back to his original name.  “Mario” means “manly”; Rocco means “rest.”  There is no dispute which definition fits Mario better!   

Jon and I are relieved to have our Mario back with us even though we must admit that he does have the look of a “Rocco” – moreover, a “Rocco Awesome.”  At least we can take a sigh of relief to the fact that he has not reverted to one of his old characters – “Wayne-Wayne” who rapped and spread out his arms taunting “It’s on boyyy.”

Practicing gratitude

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I asked Maria and Mario what they were grateful for while we ate dinner tonight. 

Holding the baby chicks at the farm

Maria: eggs (she had just brought some back from Grandma Meg’s and Peepaw’s farm); little grapes (we had found “baby” sized grapes in the bunch of grapes earlier in the evening); and her grandmas (all three of them!).

Mario: for a wonderful night; mom and dad and Ria and Cy (“I miss him, mom”); my grandmas; and the farm. 

Mom: for the bike ride and for 62 degree weather and for our new home.

I try to ask this question every night in order to reinforce how important it is to recognize all the wonderful people and things around us.  As part of my training to be a culture shaping facilitator at the university, we performed an exercise around gratitude.  We were asked to think about how many times through the day we stressed about something or we wallowed in self-pity because we did not have something or we missed someone or we failed to get something done.  Then we were asked to think about all that we did have – be it a home, significant other, health, car to travel in, clothes, friends, etc.  Most of us realized that when all was said and done a great majority of our life was good.  We had a roof over our head, we were able to travel, we had family who loved us, we had a pet who licked us, we fed ourselves three meals a day (if not more); yet, we realized that we tended to focus  a significant amount of our time and energy on the negative things or people in our lives. 

Hence, the idea of practicing gratitude.  Ever since that training, I have consciously made an effort to push myself to be grateful, especially during the times I see myself heading downhill.  And I figure if I can start M&M praciticing it, they will be experts by age 10. 

And it’s not that hard.  Each day, I find myself tripping over a wealth of things and activities and people for which to be grateful.  Tonight, I was grateful for the chilly fall weather that allowed us to throw on our sweatshirts and bike helmets and take a ride to visit our friends.  I love watching M&M head out on their cycles, laughing and talking the entire way to the destination.  Maria sings songs to herself.  Mario points out each animal and flower he sees on the way.  I love seeing the grin on Maria’s face as she turns a corner all by herself and the excitement in Mario’s voice when he spots a squirrel behind a bush.  I try to allow myself to see the world anew like M&M.  When Mario points to the squirrel, I look at the little critter and wonder if he will find a nut, what tree he will choose to climb, how many brothers and sisters he has at home.  When Maria turns that corner, I remember back to riding my back with Beth Ann, my grade school friend, and how thrilling it was to speed up and down our alley. 

M&M keep me practicing gratitude.  It is hard not to practice it when I have them by my side.  Hopefully, our evening ritual will become embodied in them to where they hit the pillow at night and think about all they have to be grateful for in the day that is about to pass under them.  The stars, the night, a warm blanket, sweet dreams….

Happiness is hanging with a 70’s hippy and an 1800’s pirate

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Happiness is hanging with a 70’s hippy girl and an 1800’s pirate…

We began our Halloween day getting up late and scurrying around trying to get outfits and breakfast and hand-made cards together.  Maria and I jumped in the car at 8:17 and made it to school at 8:20 as the bell rang.  Maria was able to devour a cereal bar in that three-minute period of time, though – my girl can do anything!  Mario drove with dad and got treated to timbits and loads of chocolate at preschool (could that be why he is running around like a mini-tornado at 10 pm?). 

Maria had her 2nd annual Halloween school party where they walk around the perimeter of the school to show off their costumes to the ogling and way-too-excited parents and friends.  I arrived just in time to see Maria walking out of the school and turning down the street.  She looked so happy.  Maria has an infectious laugh and just hearing it once a day keeps the doctor away, I believe.  I heard it as I watched her walk down the street with her girlfriends.  She spotted me soon after I pulled up and held out her hand for me to join the walk (how long will her intense desire to have her mom near her amongst friends last?!).  I walked her around the perimeter of the school taking in the sights of other scary, beautiful, funny, and cute costumed characters.  Maria wore her 70’s hippy outfit well.  She even threw on the John Lennon specs for a bit of the walk.  However, she would not do the peace sign to people as she walked by, which would have sealed the deal.  She gets very self-conscious when eyes are on her.  She is like her dad – she is much better in a small setting versus a larger one.  There was a snow princess in Maria’s class who wore lipstick and eye shadow. Maria commented about her saying “all she cares about are her clothes and make-up – I am not into that.”  Thank god my dear. 

Doris and Kim with the kids

Megan picked Maria and Mario up from school today so I could get a little work done before leaving for Halloween night.  I begged her to give them a bath since Mario’s hair looked as brittle as desert grass.  Thank god for Megan – she cranked out the bath and had them ready to roll when Jon and I got home.  We headed to our old neighbors’ house, Doris and Kim, for dinner.  They made chili and brats for the adults and hot dogs for the kids (Mario took one bite of the hot dog and exclaimed “this is the best hot dog and bun ever!”).  We miss them and their cooking!  Maria finished in record time and got her costume.  She refused to wear her John Lennon spectacles but still sported the total hippy look and would have fit in at Woodstock without a problem.  When we were getting on her costume she asked “were hippies for peace, mom?”  I answered “yes” and she smiled and responded “Good, I want peace, not war.”  John Lennon would have used her as his muse. Mario finished soon after Maria and donned his pirate costume (after taking ten minutes to situate his skull cap). 

The Halloween gang

And we were off.  Into the sprinkles of rain.  Within a block, Maria was cold and wanted to go to her friend, Zach’s house.  We headed over there and met up with Zach the Ghost and his cousins.  We walked a few houses with them but Zach was going way too fast for M&M who took their time at each house.  Both always said “thank you” and Mario added “Have a happy Halloween!”   By the third block, both kids were ready to head back to Doris and Kim’s house.  I could not believe it.  I tried to entice them by telling them we were close to Mrs. Page’s house (Maria’s old teacher who she loves) but even that didn’t work.  I felt shafted!  I specifically had two kids in order to get at least ten pounds of candy each Halloween.  How could they want to come home 25 minutes after they started?  I would always stay out until the very last light turned off at the very last house in the neighborhood.  I would dump out my candy on the family room floor and count every last piece, always making it over 100.  I would go to sleep with a massive belly ache and wake up the morning ready to dive back into the chocolate.  Now that I think back to those experiences more, maybe it’s a good thing that M&M only have a desire to go to 10 houses and gather only enough candy to skim their Halloween bags.  I should celebrate their moderation and ungreedy selves.

Chaos among the troops!

When we got back to Doris and Kim’s house, we dumped their candy (it did not even take up the whole side of the dining room table!) and found pieces that mommy would like, friends would like, and grandparents would like.  Mario went coo-coo for Skittles and Tootsie Rolls and Maria went coo-coo for Snickers.  I took down the Hershey’s bars and Reese Pieces.  Nothing better than hunting for candy and coming back to eat the kill!  We headed over to Zach’s house after eating ourselves silly and engaged in some fun-filled wrestling and madness.  It is always crazy when we head over there because Zach and Maria pick each other up and rough house like two drunk frat boys.  Mario inevitably joins in the mix while they scream at the top of their lungs.  Someone is usually hurt within five minutes, consoled, and then the chaos starts again.  My friend Amy and I become both exasperated and slap-happy with it all – thank god we have each other to get through it! 

After Zach’s, we bundled up and strolled home while I told them stories about Mario playing in the forest and Maria turning into a princess.  They love my stories, which I love to tell, except after a night of non-stop action and chocolate and screaming and insanity.  But a good mom perseveres through it (although I made it home in record strollering time). When we got home, we watched Big Time Rush Halloween together (I read recently that if you let your kids watch tv, you should watch it with them) and I asked them questions about it afterwards.  Maria looked at me in disgust “Mom, this is not school, just let us be kids!”  We turned off the lights and headed upstairs to sleep.  We snuggled under the covers together and fell asleep within 10 minutes, bellies full of chocolate and heads full of Halloween memories.