Packin’ It In

March 17, 2012Leave a comment

We headed out of Cincy on Friday night with Cheez-Its, Diet Coke, and apples. We were set for our rush hour drive down I-71. Half-way through the trip, I found a kids size bag of M&M’s in my side pocket so all was good. The kids watched Tom & Jerry and Maria drew pictures as she glanced up at the tv. We burst into my mom’s house in record time; traffic was surprisingly light on the way down. After playing on the treadmill for a few minutes, and eating some Girl Scout cookies, we headed over to Julie’s to pick up Gracie for a park trip. Gracie is about the cutest little thing possible. I venture to say that she may even compare to my munchkins when they were her age. You must want to eat her up. She loves her “Aunt Mary” so I get big hugs and kisses when I come over.

Liz let Gracie come to the park with us while she picked up Laura and they got pizza for dinner. Liz warned me that Gracie would not want to ride int he stroller but I told Liz that Gracie had never seen the “Cadillac” of strollers before. Sure enough, when Gracie saw the BOB, she hopped right in it as comfortable as can be. Maria strolled Mario and Gracie nearly the entire way to the park (she loves playing mom). Maria took control of the climbing wall, as she always does. The girl may just be a professional climber one day. She has amazing upper body strength and she scales up the wall like she’s spidergirl. It is awesome to see. It’s funny how she likes these “untraditional” sports like rock climbing and frisbee while Mario enjoys the more “traditional” sports like baseball and basketball.

The kids tried to find frogs for me in the stream but had no luck. They did get plenty wet though. Maria likes to go off on her own and “think” as she puts it. I keep a distant eye on her but she does enjoy her space. Mario feels like he has to do the same so he announces that he is going off, too, but inevitably within two minutes he is calling for me to show me something. I like how they feel comfortable enough to go out on their own (just as long as they tell me first!).

After the park, Liz and Laura graced us with LaRosa’s pizza. The best pizza ever. We ate at Julie’s house, and Mario ate three pieces of pizza. I almost fainted. He has a little appetite lately. After dinner, the kids went downstairs (Julie’s basement is the play area for the kids and is heaven-sent). Liz and Laura and I got some alone time to talk, which was also heaven-sent. I love their love for family and their respect for who I am. The two of them are a lot more strict in the discipline area and tend to lean more conservative than me, but they have a respect for how I raise M&M, and we have a healthy dose of ribbing with one another on our parenting styles (Laura is like a second parent to my kids and Grace).

We all traveled over to my mom’s for a viewing of “Babies.” My girlfriend had recommended it to me and I was excited to think of watching a movie that wasn’t animated or geared towards four-year-old boys. The movie turned out to be a delight, especially with Liz and Laura’s quips here and there. It is about four babies growing up in different parts of the world – the San Fransisco, rural Mongolia, Tokyo, and Africa. It follows them pre-birth to age 1 or so. The movie does a great job showing the immense differences in the cultures. The only constant is the breast-feeding mother, and the cats. Each house had a cat that provided pleasure in one form or another to the babes. I found myself getting a tad annoyed at the San Fransisco mom. She did a lot of the activities that I did with M&M but putting her up against the other mothers made the things the SF mom did look ridiculous. In one scene, the SF mom was in a class with her baby where they were listening to African music and waving their hands back and forth overhead in a dance-like motion. The baby stands up and makes a bee-line for the door. “That’s right, get out little one,” quipped Laura, and we all laughed. After seeing the African women with their babies sitting in the dirt, with flies swarming around them, with smiles on their faces talking it up amongst each other, it was hard to take seriously the group of five white parents trying to sing African songs with their babies. However, I fully admit that it may be something that I would do with M&M to introduce them to other cultures’ songs. The kids were intrigued with the babies. They enjoyed certain scenes like the African baby eating mud and water from the ground, seeing the Mongolian baby taking a bath with a goat coming up from behind to drink his bath water, observing the Tokyo baby trying to put a toy together and getting upset each time she failed, and watching the American baby take a poop in her diaper (with all of those memorable “poop” faces). They also enjoyed Laura’s and Liz’s comments throughout the film. On the way home to Columbus, Maria and Mario made the same comments while watching the movie in the car. What influences those girls are!

After the movie, we hit the sack. The kids slept on the floor – Mario in a sleeping bag that he thought was awesomely cool and Maria in a regular blanket because she allows Mario to have what he wants. She was actually burning up for some reason so did not want to be stuffed into a sleeping bag. They slept until 7 am, which was a gift to me. By 7:45 am, we were in the stroller heading to Marx Bagels for our bagels and cream cheese. Heaven on earth. Pumpernickel combo toasted burnt with cream cheese. Maria has fallen for the strawberry bagel. Mario eats a small bite of the raisin bagel. After the bagel shop, we hit the pet store and found a floppy frisbee. I was charged after looking at three different places in Columbus. The kids have taken to frisbee but we lost our old floppy one and the plastic one I bought produces much pain when they fail to catch it and it strikes them. Mario wailed the last time we used the plastic one, and now he is gun-shy with the floppy one.

We headed to the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in downtown Cincinnati at 11 am. I had been looking forward to the parade for the last few days. In all my years growing up in Cincy, I never hit the parade even though I lived in Clifton and worked downtown for years. Also, the kids had never seen downtown since we always stop at the Blue Ash line. I had big plans to go to Bicentennial Commons and the Riverfront but those were squashed after the long parade.

We partied on Fountain Square for a half hour before the parade, and then found a good seat on Fifth Street (thanks to Laura pushing us along). The parade brought much excitement, especially when the participants threw candy at us. I scored a green cowboy hat, and Mario scored a fireman’s hat. Maria got mega compliments on her green hair. The kids loved the clown that was part of the parade. He walked out in the middle of the road and dropped his pants. They laughed so hard. We loved the Irish dancers and the bagpipes. But after an hour and half (and hardly any candy), the kids got restless and we took off. We were all exhausted. Laura had to do round two with her girlfriends, and I had to get us home to Columbus. So, it was definitely Energy Shot time and time to head home (only after we took a glance at our mom and mine’s old Clifton house and reminisced about our time living together).

When we got home, Laura surprised Maria with a rockin’ Big Time Rush home-made shirt. It is nothin’ but cool with BTR on the front and ruffles on the bottom. She looks too cute in it. She got it a little muddy later in the day and she freaked out crying that her shirt was dirty (she never does that with any other shirt)! Laura is a sewing machine and has started a blog, Finding Red Fern detailing her escapades. Laura also has stored an inordinate amount of facts in her brain. She has answers to anything – I mean anything. It always amazed me when I was with her the things that she would know. Maria has since picked up on this fact as Laura blurted out random facts during the Babies movie and then gave descriptions of things at the parade that only Laura would know. When we were driving home, Maria questioned me from the back seat: “Why does Laura know so much and my mom doesn’t?” Lovely.

We played frisbee outside of my mom’s condo in the parking lot. Then we played jump rope. My mom bought a jump rope for her exercise kick and the kids became interested. We twirled the rope as they tried to jump. Again, Maria did surprisingly well. Again,it is those random, non-traditional sports that she enjoys. Mario did alright, too, but again, he is much more proficient at picking up a ball and bat. We had to take the dogs for a walk before we left so we dropped by Julie’s to pick them up. Maria always takes Butters because he is heavier and pulls harder. Mario takes Willie because he is a piece of cake to walk and he allows Mario to do anything he wants. M&M love dogs, that is for sure. They are very gentle with them and always patient.

We finished up the day with a bath (and the duckies that the kids remember from times past) so they smelled fresh for the ride home (I almost passed out on the ride down to Cincy because Maria took off her shoes and her feet reeked!). We arrived home to beautiful skies (it had called for rain). We played outside the rest of the night. Maria and Mario built a rock wall for me in the front yard and brought blankets and pillows out in order to be able to lay down. I love that they engage in these activities. Anything outdoors makes me giddy. When it got dark, I laid with them on the blankets and we found stars in the dark blue sky. Not an easy task with the immense amount of clouds. It was idyllic for about 5 seconds and then Mario shot up and jumped on me and acted like a monkey. He could not sit still. We lasted another 10 minutes before we packed it up and moved it inside for nighties and a book.

As I unpacked our clothes (I pack as if I will be gone for a week for an overnight stay), I grinned. Then I smiled, Then I smiled wide. What a jam-packed St. Patrick’s Day full of new adventures and old ones. The kids built a rock garden. We ate bagels and cream cheese. Gracie warmed us up. We saw clowns and bagpipers. Butters and Willie let us walk them. We learned to jump rope. What a wondeful life we have.

Character in my Characters

March 10, 2012Leave a comment

“Mom, I am Catwoman and Mario is Batman and you are WOnder Woman. The Joker is following us and we need to escape.”

“Drive the jet faster, mom! We need to get away!”

And that’s how our morning started. I drove the Volvo jet down King Avenue in order to escape the Joker. Catwoman kept an eye out and fixed my lasso while Batman made all sorts of plans for our get-away. We didn’t watch any tv in the car. Beautiful. We arrived at the nursery having escaped all bad guys.

I promised the kids that they could each get a small plant to put in their rooms. I figured that such a gift was a lot healthier than a plastic toy. I had read numerous articles about the attributes of house plants recently and hoped that it would get Maria and Mario jump started on green thumbs (I need all the help I can get with my back yard). Mario spent the first fifteen minutes in the nursery frightening the fish in the pond by trying to reach in and grab their tails. I ignored him for a bit but when the nursery employee kept giving me the evil eye, I told him to stop. Maria played with the nursery kitty – a big ol’ plump tabby cat who let Maria carry her everywhere. I found some pots to re-plant my grandma’s flowers from her wake, and waited for Maria and Mario to pick out their plants. Mario chose a plain green one and Maria chose a green one with white polka dots. They got their pots (Maria, red and Mario, green) and we headed home. They took their plants out of the plastic container and re-planted them in their pots – so proud of doing it themselves. Maria built a little “home” for her plant with a balcony and a hot tub and a bed. Mario placed his on his chest. They do add some life to their rooms.

By the time we finished that adventure, it was starting to warm up outside. I enticed them to head to the woods with me by telling them we may find baby bunnies or eggs in a bird’s nest. Of course, we found no such things but by that time, they enjoyed just running through the woods and climbing rocks. I needed to be outdoors. I have felt stifled for the last week and a half with grandma’s sickness and eventual death. Even though I have gotten outdoors for runs with my sis or walks by myself, I have not been able to enjoy the sunshine and the songs of the birds. My brain constantly wafted into a separate world – blurry and lacking much emotion. I just got by for those days. To actually feel some emotion again and the warm sun on my face was refreshing. And Maria and Mario only added to the day by making me laugh again and again as we walked through the woods and played in the sand volleyball court and the swings.

After my grandma’s funeral earlier this week, a few people approached me to comment about what personality Maria and Mario exhibited. One commented at how they were both so spirited and happy; another commented on how outgoing and engaging they were; another at how confident they acted. It naturally made me proud as their mama but it also made me happy. And as we hiked up a hill full of sticks and mud, making jokes and laughing at one another, I remembered those comments, and felt such an intense moment of joy. These babes of ours are genuinely happy creatures, not scared to take risks and adventures, ready to question ideas they don’t understand, comfortable in their skin, able to laugh at themselves. They take our lives up a notch.

Jon met us at the park and we watched them brave a climb up a huge rock.

We didn’t say a peep. Just stood back and admired the view.

Cancun or Bust

February 27, 2012February 27, 20122 Comments

Last Tuesday spun by like a wooden top. Jon worked on the house all day with Jason while also trying to take calls for work. I sat on a dozen conference calls and cranked out emails in an attempt to avoid having my colleague overwhelmed while I was out. When I got home, we madly packed our clothes realizing that shorts didn’t have buttons (and of course neither of us can sew) and dresses were torn. Too bad we didn’t look earlier. Oh well, we realized we’d be in our bathing suits most of the time. I packed the kids’ clothes and boots for Grandma Meg’s and Peepaw’s house, and tried to gather some games and toys that both the kids and the grandparents would enjoy. We put the kids to bed at 9 pm, and as I left Maria’s room, I heard her sniffling. When I went back to give her a hug, a full-out bawling session occurred. She begged us not to leave for Cancun. It was awful. We did not expect that type of reaction from her. I rubbed her back and laid with her until her eyes shut. I walked out of her room softly hoping not to wake Mario. When I peered in Mario’s room to ensure he was asleep, I was taken aback when I saw him sitting straight up in his bed wide-eyed staring out at me.

“What’s the matter, pumpkin?”

“I don’t want you to leave me.”

Jon walked in the room and both of us let out a collective sigh. This unexpected emotion from the kids took us both by surprise and we stood there holding Mario between us and rubbing his back. They actually do love us…. We let Mario lay with us and we are sure that we were both out before he fell asleep. When we woke at 4:30 am, Maria got up, too. She cried again for us to stay and it was only when Maggie laid with Maria in our bed that she calmed down. What a way to leave!

We arrived in Cancun at noon to a beaming sun and breaking waves. Heaven. This is our third trip to Cancun – Jon’s company sponsors the trip. We stay in the same hotel each year, and play in the same part of the ocean. We eat at a lot of the same restaurants, and hang out with the same group of friends. As much as that may seem monotonous, it is actually very soothing. We have no concerns about how the hotel will be, whether the beach will be nice, how the food will taste. We know it is always close to perfect. The first couple of years I felt a little overwhelmed with Jon’s friends and their wives. A lot of them know each other well from going to Cancun every year or because they live in the same city. I am a lone goose. But this year, I let go of any concern about not fitting in and just enjoyed myself. And it was the best trip we had in the three years. Jon and I ate incredible food, played like kids in the ocean, snorkeled, drove a speed boat (Jon felt like Crockett in Miami Vice!), sat together on the balcony listening to the waves, and talked uninterrupted! I loved diving in the ocean for sea shells; Jon would stand on the beach with the water hitting his legs waiting for me to bring shells to him. It was a precious gesture on his part. We laughed hard at Jon’s friends’ antics. They are all hilarious in their own right. Phil is from the UK and has a quirky little accent. He is so cool that he could afford to wear white beach shoes and still look good. Dave is from Michigan and he is your down-to-earth, good-natured guy who always has a funny story to tell about his kids or his wife or their adventures. Joe is a slick, suave Michigan guy who is always considerate and making sure that people are having a good time. Their wives definitely make them the men that they are – they are the backbones of their families. Strong, funny, and intelligent, they always welcome me into their group and make me feel at home. Those are the three guys and their wives that we hang out with the most in Cancun but there are others who provide us with much entertainment, also. It’s a good group and the camaraderie and brotherhood amongst the male colleagues is enviable – I wish I had as much fun with my work colleagues as these guys have together.

The resort

I got a killer head and foot massage on our last day at the beach. It was the “Organic Massage” and consisted of a scalp massage, hot towels, face massage, foot massage and hand massage. It ended with a back massage and hot towels on your back and legs. I thought I had died and entered heaven. She poured citrus oils on my hair and spread them on my skin during the massage. I smelled like a lemon when I left. Jon went jet skiing while I got my massage. He didn’t realize that there were 10 foot waves to conquer out in the ocean. He was a hurting puppy when he came back to shore.

We flew home on Sunday and rested for an hour before we headed out East to pick up the kids from Meg and dad. They had a great time on the farm, as always. They rode the horses and played outside. Maria reported to us that Peepaw cut down two trees and “almost killed himself!” She loved telling the story. Mario reported that he almost fell off their horse, Taz but Peepaw caught him. Maria is learning how to ride Taz better and even steered him herself. She wants to take horseback riding lessons so badly, which I have been struggling with since I know nothing about horses. Jon loves the idea because he loves horses.

M&M with their Mexican flutes

I always dreamt that my daughter would play soccer and softball and all of the other sports I loved to play as a girl. I have slowly gotten over my preoccupation with what I think Maria should be and realize I need to let her be who she wants to be. So, horse riding lessons are in her future (of course she picks the most expensive hobby!). When they rode up to meet us, Maria and Mario had huge smiles on their faces. They jumped out of the car and gave us gigantic hugs for minutes long. It was an awesome few minutes. The ride home was just as awesome with them describing their week to us and listening to us about our adventures in Cancun. The evening continued to be great with wrestling and airplane and reading books. We fell asleep with smiles on our faces.

Then Monday morning arrived. Back to the grind. Running around the house trying to get dressed and packed and papers filled out for school. But I took a deep breath as I loaded Maria’s lunchbox in her book bag. I stepped back from the table and stared at M&M and Jon in the hallway putting on their coats. Can I love them anymore? One thing that getting away does for me is reinforce how lucky I am to have such a warm husband and adoring kids. Even if we are at each other’s throats at 8 am on Monday morning.

Partyin’ til the Cows Come Home

February 18, 2012Leave a comment

Party Girl

Maria slept over at her friend’s house last night. Her friend turned seven and had Maria and two other girls over for a birthday party/sleepover. She wrapped her friend’s presents (two barbies) in Christmas paper (I never buy wrapping paper besides Christmas time); signed her card, and found a big party bag to place all of the goodies. These are the times that I think she could make it by herself in her own apartment better than most 20 year olds. When I told her she could call me or dad if she got scared, she looked at me with an exhausted look. “Mom, pleease!” And sure enough, Jon and I never heard a peep from her until we picked her up. She had gotten a manicure, perfume, and made up with her girlfriends.

Meanwhile, Jon and I had chilled with little Mario all night. He wanted to play on my iPhone or ipad all night long. He is completely and totally addicted to all things electronic. He could sit on the floor, legs crossed, head cocked downward to see the screen, and tap on the iPad all day long. He is mesmerized by whatever he is playing. You could call his name ten times and he still doesn’t hear you. Scary stuff. Was I like that when I played PacMan on Atari? He gets away with murder when Maria is gone because Jon and I let him stay up while we watch a show or read. He plays the iPad the entire time. I figure he is in school all week with no electronics so why not let him live it up on the weekends.

Mario and his iPad

In any case, after we make him turn off the electronics, I read to him for at least 20 minutes. He enjoys that time with me, which is good. At least he is not crying for more electronics or covering his ears yelling “I’m not listening!”, which is how he reacts anymore when he gets mad at you (learned behavior from his sister, I believe). And he understands the books we read – he can tell me the main idea of the story every time. So, his fixation with electronics doesn’t concern me… yet.

We picked up Maria from her friend’s house this afternoon and visited our old neighbors, Doris and Kim. We had not visited them since we moved in our new house (we are so bad that way). They always welcome us into their house, and the kids love them. They hung out with Kim outside while we talked to Doris. Kim does anything they want; today she let Maria act like she was driving her car and let Mario toss a ball to Gunther (their dachshund).

As soon as we left and walked in our door, Maria asked “when am I going to Alana’s house” My brother-in-law invited her to spend the night tonight through Monday since they are going to watch Maria on Monday while Jon and I work. Jon and I are chopped liver anymore. The girl likes to get her party on. We packed her up and Jon took her over. She’s gone until Monday.

Mario, meanwhile, loves having his sister gone for a day or two (any longer and he misses her like crazy). He gets Jon and me all to himself. I play baseball with him (he has got an arm on him and can hit pretty good, too). I take him for a bike ride and he is in the lead the entire time (when Maria goes with us, she always gets in the lead). We go to the library and he gets all my attention while he plays his computer games (usually I read to Maria while he plays). We play Wii table tennis and he kicks my butt! We play Hi Ho Cherry-O, and he refuses to stop playing until he wins a game. No, he’s not competitive at all….

Jon and Mario play hunting games on the iPad. Mario yells “Dad, I shot the bear right in the heart!” Jon gives him the rock and then takes a turn. Mario watches in awe. They are hilarious together. I think Mario will be supplying the meat for the family in no time. Meanwhile, Maria will be busy having sleepovers and partying it up til the cows come home.

Dogs and Hamsters and a Super Bowl, Oh My

February 6, 2012Leave a comment

This past weekend was one of those weekends where you wake up Monday morning feeling you totally took advantage of the weekend’s purpose – to relax, be silly, watch football, and eat chips while vegging in your pjs.

On Friday, Jon and I took Mario to the hockey game. Maria had to make the executive decision on whether to go to Kids Night Out at school or to the game with us. It was a brutal decision because she had her girlfriend asking if she was coming to Kids Night Out but she had her dad going to the hockey game. She LOVES hanging with her dad lately, especially when it’s dad and mom and Mario (she is the pack dog). But, ultimately a brief description of the hockey game (watching boys skate on ice and try to hit a puck in a goal) led her to choose Kids Night Out with popcorn, grape juice, friends and a movie. The pack dog strays when there is food and entertainment….

Mario loved the hockey game. He ate his favorite food – a hot dog – and watched the players skate along the ice and hit each other up against the wall. Jon and I thought he might enjoy that activity more than he did since he is all into fighting. Rather, he enjoyed hanging on the railing and talking to the older boys behind us in the box. He also enjoyed the cheerleaders…. We left the game during the third quarter and picked up Maria. It seems that every time I see her at school, she is even older and more independent. She reminds me of me when I was in fourth and fifth grade (probably like when I was in first grade, too, but I can’t remember that time at all!) hanging out with my girl posse. When I picked her up, she was laughing with her three girlfriends and they were falling all over each other. Too cute.

On Saturday, we headed to Hamilton Parker to find tile for our bathroom. The kids ran around checking out the showroom showers and the kids’ room while Jon and I talked to the sales guy. Maria explained where everything was in the showroom since she had come to the store with me back in September. “Buddy, the kids’ room is over here and it has a tv.” Mario’s response: “Will the tv have Godzilla?” Maria’s reply: “We’ll see buddy and if it doesn’t, we”ll find something else for you.” The way she calls him “buddy” makes our hearts melt. After Hamilton Parker, we headed to BW-3’s for some wings and nachos. Nothin’ like a healthy lunch. We waddled out to the front of the restaurant and the kids begged to play a game. They put a dollar in a chicken and egg machine and each of them got a plastic egg. Maria scored a tattoo and Mario scored a little orange plastic cone that had the words “Back away slowly.” I read it to Mario and he laughed “I know, mom and dad, I am going to put this in my room and when you walk in, you will have to walk back slowly.”

We headed to the pet store in the late afternoon to torture ourselves by holding sweet little precious pups that needed a home. Maria always picks the most docile puppies that love to be held. She sits in the little room with them caressing and talking to them. Mario hangs out at the hamster bin trying to put the hamsters on the exercise wheel or in the tire. They run from him like he is death. Mario does not have quite the touch with the pups like Maria does. He likes to put them on the ground and watch them run around and play. If they don’t move much, he picks another. I can usually handle about 45 minutes in that store because it is such a madhouse of people but I made it an hour on Saturday. When we left, Maria begged to go on Sunday.

On Sunday, I skipped yoga because Maria and Mario begged me to stay home. We ate cereal and read books. Maria and I went on a stroller ride to the store to get pencils for her class project – a timeline of her life – all 6 years. We headed out to Dirty Franks for lunch (yeah, two for two on the healthy lunch front for the weekend!). When we returned, the kids and I took a bike ride to the library to grab some movies and new books. Maria and I watched Mario ahead of us – his little legs pushing the clunky wheels of his tricycle. He wants so badly to lead the group but usually Maria cannot help but bolt ahead because she is on a two-wheeler bike and can’t easily slow down without falling off. But I held onto her on this bike ride so Mario could take the lead and he was one proud puppy. When an older lady passed him, he stopped and said hello to her. When we stopped at the library, he said “Mom, an old lady said hi to me and I said hi to her back. I stopped my bike and everything. Are you proud of me?”

We headed to Kroger’s before the Super Bowl and Maria and I stocked up on chips and dip. Maria was grabbing all sorts of dips and chips for our party arguing that “it is the Super Bowl – we had to have a real party!” When we got home, we turned on the Super Bowl and watched all of the commercials. We all sat on the couch together – Mario on Jon’s arm playing Leapster, Maria in between Jon and me. She loved it. She kept saying “I love cuddling with my mom and dad and brother.” We have got to start up family movie nights. Maria fell asleep with 30 seconds left of the Super Bowl. Mario remained wide awake playing his Leapster Ben Ten game. I dragged him upstairs with me to hit the sack, and we were both out cold in three minutes flat.

A Sunday

January 29, 2012Leave a comment

Highlights of our Sunday:

Wrestling with dad.

Eating bagels and cream cheese with Grandma Lolo at the counter of the Marx’s Bagel Shop and meeting the Bagelman in person!

Visiting Grandma Menkedick at her nursing home; reciting the ABC’s and telling a story to her (Mario); playing the Partly Cloudy movie for her and talking about school (Maria); just being near her and listening (me).

Playing dress up at Grandma Lolo’s complete with a bright red pair of shoes and red sash (Maria).

Flexing chest muscles in Grandma Lolo’s kid friendly mirror and play fighting with himself (Mario).

Seeing sweet Gracie-poo’s face beam when Maria and Mario walked in Aunt Julie’s front door and hearing her baby voice ask “Maria, do you want to play with me in the basement?”

Listening to Maria, Mario and Grace play mom, sister and brother, and watching Maria help Gracie go potty (she is getting to be such a big girl!).

Laughing with Liz and Aunt Julie and reminiscing about Grandma Heile.

Seeing Laura and listening to her explain to Maria that she must remember the names of nail polish colors on the nail polish bottle if she chooses to wear polish. Maria did not know the name of the polish she was wearing; Laura told her that she was wearing Black on Black on her nails. Laura explained that nail polish colors always had fun names. Maria asked her what the name would be of the color of Laura’s scarf if it were polish. Laura asked Maria what she would name it. “Blueberry,” she responded. Then Maria asked for Laura’s response. “Blue lagoon” I believe she said. Maria was intrigued. The magic in those moments.

Eating Larosa’s pizza.

Driving home under the deep black sky and looking back to see my two precious, inspiring babes deep in sleep, heads limp, mouths open, breathing heavy.

Raising the spirits with Pixar and George and Martha

January 28, 2012Leave a comment

I have been in a little bit of a funk the last week or so. Winter is bringing me down, down, down. I miss taking the kids for long walks, heading to the park for picnics, and SUN! The weekends tend to bring much of the same options: indoor swimming, library, McDonald’s Playland, pet store. I have been trying all sorts of mind games to get me out of the Winter Blues (Jon being home on the weekends is a god-send for some adult conversation and laughs) but I look back at past years and remember this time of year (end of January and February) all the same.

Before I left work on Friday, an email popped up about a Gateway Family Fest on Saturday. I typically delete anything from Gateway because 99% of the time it is a promo for a new bar or a band coming to a new bar. Not my league anymore…. But I opened this one and saw that they were having something for kids from 10-12. I got up for my run on Saturday morning early enough that I’d be home by 10 and we could head to Gateway. However, when I got home my homebody kids did not want to budge. They wanted to stay in their pjs on the couch. By the time we took away electronics and told them they’d have to find something else to do, which in turn, pushed them to ask for the Gateway event, it was 11:15. We arrived at the Gateway Theatre at 11:30 am. Such a bummer because the 45 minutes we had at the Theatre was a blast. They had a kids band that succeeded in getting even the most sedentary parents up and moving. They had balloon artists and crafts (unfortunately, they had packed up when we arrived and I diverted Mario’s and Maria’s eyes from it so they wouldn’t be bummed out). And they had short movies interspersed between musical sets. The two we saw were Tom & Jerry and a Pixar film called Partly Cloudy. Maria and Mario squealed when Tom & Jerry came on the big screen – they love that cartoon and have only seen it in my car. I squealed in delight after the Pixar film because it was absolutely adorable. The beginning shows storks delivering cute babies and kitties and puppies to houses. It moves upward to show all of these white clouds making those sweet puppies and kitties and babies. Then you see a sole grey cloud trying to make cute little things but instead only able to make alligators that bite, porcupines that prick and rams that butt. The poor stork helping out the grey cloud looks like he has seen better days but he keeps coming back to the grey cloud to pick up the next little present to deliver. The stork looks longingly to the bright white clouds and eventually flies away from the grey cloud to the white one. The grey cloud gets angry and sad and cries his heart out. The stork returns with a beautiful package. He opens it and puts on his new football helmet and pads – he is ready for the next hard-to-deliver present from his friend, the grey cloud. It was the sweetest, most genuine five-minute film I have seen. Well worth the trip (along with the buttered popcorn!).

I left the theatre feeling a tad more uplifted. I used the opportunity of having the kids in the car to head to one more place – Half Price Books. I had been wanting to look for some good books for the kids (and me) for a while and Half Price Books is the best. Maria scored a Junie B book – she loves those books recently. Mario found a slew of Superhero books for me to read him while we were there (my book searching did not occur). After finding a handful of kids’ book, we were on our way out when I saw it like a tulip in the weeds. A collection of George and Martha. The two cutest hippos ever. I used to read them to my baby sis and I believe my mom read them to me. I couldn’t resist purchasing it. We read ten stories tonight (they are mini versions) with the kids trying to guess which ones were my favorites (Split Pea Soup, The Bathtub).

I write this blog tonight with the kids still up (10 pm) and Jon and his nephew watching a show about Alaska in the other room. I stare in front of me at the fresh ruby flowers standing upright in their vase. I eat buttered popcorn and drink a root beer. I take a deep breath and slowly exhale. Life ain’t bad, Mary Grace. Just breathe and read a little George and Martha.

Makin’ Do with What we Got

January 22, 2012Leave a comment

Took a kick-butt yoga class this morning at Harbor Yoga in Dublin. I have been looking for a good class since the one instructor that kicked my butt only teaches at lunchtime during the week (I would go back to work looking like a wet rat). The instructor this morning kept the pace fast except she still did five breaths in between each vinyasa. I jump up and back a few times to keep my heart rate going so it’s not a big deal but I have the whole class looking at me like I am a freak.

When I returned home from that venture, the kids were on the Ipad and the phone playing games. Jon had taken them through Wii and a Call of the Wildman show and they finally wore him down to get to the electronics. Jon and I tag teamed it again today just like yesterday. I keep the kids for a few hours and then he does the same. It keeps us both sane and then when nighttime hits, we both feel like we have had our alone time and are able to concentrate fully on family time. I rounded the kids up, tore them away from their electronics and bundled ’em up for a walk outside. We went to the woods a few blocks behind our house. I asked them to notice something that no one else notices. Maria found a nest in the barren trees and a squirrel high up on a branch. Mario found “turkey” tracks in the snow. He thought they may be hiding in the woods. The woods looked pristine. No one had walked through them, and the snow laid perfectly on the broken branches laying throughout the trail. We walked back to the railroad tracks and I had to tell Maria my story of Peepaw jumping the trains when he was young. She loves that story and always begs for us to do it. I tell her Peepaw will need to show us how to do it.

After walking on the tracks, we headed home to do some grocery shopping. Mario has been craving some watermelon and honeydew popsicles and I have been craving some Gatorade. Of course, we go in with two items in mind and walk out with 10 bags of food. We are going to cook at home all week – I swear! After Kroger’s, we came home and made ourselves peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on soft wheat bread, cheese its and grapes. The kids sat in the oversized recliner and I asked them Brainquest questions. It was quite enjoyable until Maria complained about her wheat bread “I hate Wheat, mom. I only want white bread!” She sounds just like Jon. She got over it – her stomach won out and took down the sandwich – and her and Mario enjoyed the thrill of answering Brainquest questions.

After resting a bit, it was time to head outside again. I wanted to shovel some of the sidewalk off. Everyone grabbed a shovel, and we went to town. Mario could do it all day – he is a madman. Maria gets sidetracked easily, and within ten minutes came to me in the back of the house with a list of 10 other things we could do – bake cookies, have a party, dust furniture….

My sledding babes

Then, she came up with an awesome idea. Sled riding on the front lawn! Mario had been begging to sled ride all day yesterday but the hill near our house was void of snow. But, as we stood in our front yard, I realized that our driveway had a bit of a down slope to it – enough to provide a bit of a thrill to the kids on their plastic slides. We got them out of the car, and lined ’em up. Maria went first on the blue circle slide. WIth a big enough push, she went 20 feet down the drive and landed at the edge of the sidewalk and street. Mario went next and pushing him is like pushing a balloon – he just flies away. He went 20 feet down the drive and into the middle of the street (I did make sure no cars were coming). They loved it. Nothin’ like making do with what you got and creating joy from sliding down a driveway on a piece of plastic. Especially when it produces such huge smiles on babes’ faces.

Toys R Us – Yoda

January 21, 2012January 22, 2012Leave a comment

We woke today to slushy streets but thankfully, not a lot of ice. I was able to manage a run (although my calves are sore from flexing them in order to avoid slipping in the slush), which makes all the difference in my day. Everything gleamed throughout the neighborhood due to the fresh white snow on the ground. My footsteps made the first marks of the day.

Mario in his jeep

When I got home, the kids were outside with Jon shoveling the sidewalk. Jon knows how to put them to work and they love it. My stomach twisted up a bit when I drove up and saw them outside. A good twist – a feeling of warmth and gratitude in having such a wonderful hubby and kids. I like when that feeling creeps up on me. The kids and I went inside and began our Saturday cleaning, which is still like pulling teeth. Once we get the music started and begin picking up, the whining wears off but until then it was as if we told them they had to go work in the mines.

We started with Mario’s room because Mario had a little accident in the middle of the night. He came into our bedroom around 5 am to get his sleeping bag. I thought he had just woken up and wanted to use it but I should not have been so naive. He must have changed out of his pants and dried himself off because the towel was in the middle of the hall and his pants were by the steps. At least he didn’t call on Jon or me to do that for him like he used to a year ago.

Maria being driven by her chauffeur in her Escalade

After cleaning, I made them work on their workbooks for 15 minutes. Mario loves showing me how he can trace his letters; Maria loves trying to get an “A+” on each workbook page. After they finished that task, we headed off to Toys R Us. I still have a $25 gift card that Maria got for her birthday about 2 years ago (it’s probably worth about $!0 now) and I told her she could get something little in honor of a great report card. Mario earned himself a small toy, too, for helping to clean his room and finishing his ABCs (should I have dinged him for peeing in his bed!).

When we first walked in Toys R Us, the kids’ mouths dropped at the massive amount of toys and games and movies and candy throughout the store. At first, I thought about how amazing it must be to walk through the store as a kid – every toy you can imagine floating around the aisles for you to view. I soon changed that thought and decided that Toys R Us is hell for kids because of all of the toys floating around and their desire to have every single one of them. Maria went from wanting a Leapster game to a Barbie to a stuffed dog to a penguin to a …. Mario was surprisingly not as crazed about the toys. He planted himself in the toy cars aisle testing out the jeeps and four wheelers. He also eyed the skateboards.

Katy Perry in the making?

You tend to tune out the crying in Toys R Us because it is so prevalent. Kids begging their parents for toys and upon hearing “no”, falling on the ground in pure distress. Maria and Mario did not go there, thank goodness, because they know better. Maria is well aware that she has a lot of “things” and if I tell her “no” on one more “thing” she typically takes it in stride and moves on. That being said, after going through a lot of “no’s” with me, Maria found a Barbie “head” – one of those decapitated creatures with long blond hair that kids can braid and comb. The thing was marked down 70% from Christmas so it was a steal. I cracked up that she chose this toy as she absolutely detests to brush her own hair or get it brushed by anyone else. She also detests anyone braiding her hair. Maybe this toy will help her move towards that direction for once in her life.

Mario got a set of army guys – those little green, plastic figures. It came with a tank and truck, too. All for $5. Love that deal. We also looked for Yoda. I have loved Yoda for years and had an awesome little plastic figurine back in college (why wasn’t I more careful with stuff back then?). I got another one as Fitness Director at the YMCA but lost him in one of my moves from Cincy to Columbus to Cincy to Columbus. They had every Star Wars figurine except Yoda at Toys R Us. I was so mad. Sweet Maria who always takes care of me told me this story: “Mom, when I was at Target one day, a man asked someone where Yoga was in the toy aisle and that person said “Who’s Yoga?” Can you believe that someone doesn’t know who Yoda is?!” She always tries to get me in a better mood. And if there was a Yoda in the store, I am quite sure she would have bought it for me with her toy money.

Me all dressed up, my fashion designer, and the popsicle eater

After Toys R Us, I got a welcome trip to Stauf’s to eat a black russian bagel and diet coke. I read about Newt Gingrich’s win in South Carolina (UNbelievable!!) and felt sick to my stomach so I had to switch over to reading labor and employment articles (numb my mind). When I got home, Maria begged me to help her braid her new doll’s head of hair. That turned in to her begging to “dress me up”, which she has begged to do for weeks, and I have declined for weeks. It was 6:30, cold, and I knew I would not be heading out again. So what the hay. Within a half an hour, I had eyeliner on my eyebrows, lipstick all over the lower half of my face, blush smeared on my cheeks, and nail polish on the top halves of my fingers. Worse than that, she dressed me in my old orange dress that is tight and short with a pair of gray high heels. She made me throw a white skirt under the dress since it was so short (this is Maria’s signature look – a skirt under a dress). I just don’t understand how she can look at a well-made up woman and comment on how pretty she is but then lather me with crazy make-up and think I look good?! She proudly took me downstairs and introduced me to the boys. Mario’s response: “Will you marry me?” He is going to be attracted to some winners (Jon’s response was “ugh” – much more appropriate).

It’s now close to 9:30 and Jon and I look forward to a half hour alone before we both can’t keep our eyes open and fall fast asleep with the hopes of no little ones crawling into our bed.

No Rules

January 17, 20121 Comment

Do you really think rules will help these goofballs?

Mario gave us a huge insight into his thinking tonight when Jon picked him up from school. He had gotten all the way up to “Space” at school. His classroom has the kids’ faces pasted to rocket ships and they move from earth all the way up to Space depending on how good they are. Jon commented on how proud he was of Mario for getting to Space and then asked why he behaves so well at school and not at home. His response: “because school has rules, dad. You and mom don’t have rules at home.”

So there we have it. Little does he know how he just changed life as he knows it at home. I told Maria that story when I picked her up from school, and she immediately started to plan when we should rule out “rules for Mario.” Jon asked about rules that would apply to her and she shook her head: “I don’t need ’em, dad.”

Of course.

"MOM!"

Adventures in the Life of a Working Mama

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