Cake Walk 2014

April 5, 2014Leave a comment

Cake Walk 2014 kicked my butt. I don’t know if it was the opening and closing of the festivities or the loud band music and even louder kids, or the chocolate cake we devoured once home.
Maria went with her friend, Kathryn since she had a play date with her after school. This year she continued to step one foot closer to teenage-hood. She came to see Mario and me only a few times and it was only to ask for money and water. She hung out with one group of girls for a minute and then others the next. I likes seeing that.

Then she found our next door neighbor who is Grandview’s baton twirler and stood with her to try to learn how to twirl. She must have stood up there for 30 minutes.
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Meanwhile, I should have left at 8:30 to head up to the event with Mario because he would have never known what time it started. I gotta take advantage of his youth while I am able. And all he wanted to do was play the kids games and all I wanted to do was try to win a cake. Guess who won?
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He played the golf game again and again. Then he moved onto the football game where the volunteer was absent. All the kindergarten boys were loving the freedom of that. Soon a volunteer showed up so we moved to the lollipop game. Such anxiety each time he pulled a sucker out to see if it had a blue tip or not. He moved to the treasure chest and scored these dandies.
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Then we hit the baseball pitch. He was allowed to stand on the line closest to the catcher but refused. He wanted to stand where the older kids had to stand. And don’t you know he got a strike on his first pitch.
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Ri kept trying to win a cake but to no avail. I finally got Mario to head down with me and try to win. After three more hole-in-one attempts, he finally followed.
There was Ri standing in line with Kathryn and Evie. She smiled when she saw me and waved (at least I still get that). Mario and I went to another line and danced to the music as the band played. The music stopped, we sat in our chairs and hoped. Unfortunately, our numbers weren’t called. Mario got livid last year when this happened but this year he brushed it off. We stayed for the band’s last tune and although we didn’t win a cake, we bought a sweet blue one in the form if a mustache that Kathryn and her mom had made. And we dug in at 10 pm when we finally got home.
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Hamsters, pups, oh my…

April 2, 20142 Comments

I could offer Maria and Mario a round trip vacation to the Bahamas, a trip to Disney, or a new bike, and they’d still pick a trip to Petland over all of them. They have loved that store since they were toddlers. They find so much joy when they walk in the door between the dwarf hamsters (Mario’s favorite), the pups (Ri’s favorite), kittens, bunnies, and gerbils. We made a trip up there on Sunday morning because we had to buy party supplies for Sarah’s shower at Party City, which is right next door. Ri has a future in party planning, for sure. She worked on invites at the house and when we got to Party City she immediately moved to the decorations aisle to coordinate themes. We would have spent $500 on decor if she had her way. She couldn’t stop herself: “this is adorable; we need these steamers; these games are a must….” Meanwhile, Mario found himself some killer gold glasses. He wanted gold glitter to spray in his hair but I refused.
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A piece of bubble gum made up for the glitter. We delivered our bundle of party goods to the car and headed into Petland. Ri darted for the pups and Mario rushed to the dwarf hamsters. He yelled for me to come over to him “mom, there are six of them and they are sooo cute!” He could stand there all day and pick them up, put them in their wheel, pick them up again, put them in their wheel again….I was tempted to buy one but realized I was reliving my childhood and my love for hamsters (supposedly I was allergic and therefore had to give away my hamster after days of nurturing it, and yes, there were years of counseling over that). But now that I’m the one that would have to clean the cage, I don’t have as much of a desire for one. I told Mario he already had fish to love. His response: “As soon as my fish die, I want this hamster.”
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Those fish of his need to watch out. Ri found herself a little chow puppy and loved on it. However, when I commented on how cute it was, she promptly replied “not half as cute as our Rocco.” She is loyal to the bone.
She and Mario had a blast with the pups. One little sprite fella wouldn’t stop biting Mario’s shoelaces and jeans. Mario loved it and purposely darted all over the space to play with it. He was belly laughing so hard I thought he’d hyper-ventilate.
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It’s great to know that we can find so much happiness in such a tangible trip. And one day, when fish have traveled to another place, we may have a hamster in the house.>

Heading to California on lemonade

April 2, 2014Leave a comment

Maria and her girlfriend Anna are on a mission to California. They are thinking of all sorts of ways to raise money to play for their airline tickets. I arrived home from work to find these two out front hosting a lemonade stand. They had made yellow lemonade and pink lemonade. Maria’s pink lemonade somehow warranted a greater price – $1.50 – than Anna’s yellow lemonade which was $1.00. Anna placed herself on the sidewalk and shouted “lemonade here! Get your lemonade!” Ri giggled. She’s not as front and center as Anna; she stays behind the scenes and collects cash. I purchased a pink lemonade and their eyes stated at me as I swallowed it. “Delicious” I pronounced (even though it was rather diluted – they can’t be skimping on lemonade powder when charging $1.50!). They both smiled wide. After about fifteen minutes, they came in for Rocco. “We need something more for customers. They not only get to buy lemonade; they get to pet this sweet dog!” Little Rocco was a good sport and sat next to them while they tried to retrieve customers. Sam from down the street came down (what a doll) and taste tested both kinds. He chatted it up with them – asking questions and making comments about their sign. Maria blushed and smiled while Anna chatted away with him.
They earned $10.75 by the time I made them pack it up (they rung in Mario as their last customer but he wasn’t as gentle as I was (“this lemonade is awful!” – the girls didn’t care – they had his moolah!). Maria informed Jon and I that Anna was keeping the money because she was planning out the California trip. Jon questioned her about that choice and asked whether they should split the money instead? Maria didn’t flinch in her response: “Anna can keep it all.” A trusting soul, she is. When I put her to bed last night, she asked if they could set up shop up the street next time so they got more people to pass them. It looks like she really wants to head to California. Hey, at least she still wants me to come.
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Spring Break in Marco Island

March 31, 2014September 3, 2014Leave a comment

We walked out to find palm trees with seashells scattered all around them forming tiny islands throughout the airport parking lot. We has struck it rich – trading Ohio snow and freezing temperatures for Florida warmth and ocean air.

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They got the opportunity for the second time to sit in the cockpit – they both kept asking questions of the pilots and Jon and I finally had to pull them out so we could take off.
We drove two hours from Sarasota to Marco Island and arrived at midnight. The kids stayed awake the entire trip. Yes, really. Maria gabbed the entire way which cracked Jon and I up until we hit an "I'm so fricken tired that if she doesn't stay quiet for 15 seconds I'm gonna scream" breaking point. But even then we loved her enthusiasm and she did help keep us awake for the trip.
We stayed at the Marriott Resort. We had an amazing view of the ocean and the Tiki pool, which was designated as the main kid pool with a slide and waterfall. The kids finally hit the sheets at 12:30 and fell right to sleep. They were up at 7:45 ready to take in the beach and the pool. And so everyday began….

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The Tiki pool was pretty crowded once 10 am hit but it still was manageable. The kids would slide for a bit and then want to hang with Jon and I. The waterfall felt amazing on your back if you stood in it. It doubled as a punching bag for Mario and a massaging device for me.

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We found some exquisite shells on the small island we boated to with Captain Hugh. Mario spotted two fishermen when we landed on the island and immediately joined them rather than looking for shells. He just struck up a conversation and had them chatting with him in minutes. They even let him throw a fish back in the water. Jon and I found sand dollars for the kids and Ri found cool shells for Sophie. It was a good time.
When we returned to land, we played with Grandma in the pool (she's such a good sport – she went right under the waterfall with us) and at the beach. We played hard so we could splurge at Joey's Pizza and Pasta. Yum. Their veggie pizza was to die for and Ri loved her some meatballs!

Our meatball poet

March 20, 2014March 20, 20142 Comments

Maria and her third grade class hosted a poetry cafe on Tuesday this week. She kept enticing Jon and I with how much we’d enjoy her poem. I asked her a few nights before if she was nervous. She replied “a little but some kids stood up and cried or shook the entire time they spoke so I’m doing better than them.” God love her.
I arrived home Tuesday to find her already made up in her new Target dress, hair flowing, lip gloss on, and a dab of light pink eye shadow rubbed perfectly on her eyelids.
“What do ya think?” She knew exactly what I’d say.
“I think you are beautiful inside and out and I think you are gonna rock out the poetry cafe tonight.” She smiled wide and twirled around the driveway.
We ate some Mac-n-cheese and headed down to school with three boxes of Girl Scout cookies (I forgot I volunteered to bring a snack – I knew the 15 boxes we ordered would come through in a pinch).
As we were walking towards the school door, Maria looked back at me to tell me to hurry up. She stared at me from my head to my toes and cried “that’s what you’re wearing to the cafe?!” I thought I had done pretty good – I had on a new t-shirt, nice jeans and a pair of sporty gym shoes. I curtly replied “you gotta dress hip for these cafés.” She kept walking. When she looked back at me, I pouted. She gave a tiny smile and said “sorry mom, I’m just nervous.” Oh, sweet baby. I hugged her and she was off to her classroom. Mario and I were off, too, towards the baked goods table.
Grandma Meg surprised Ri and Jon made it on time, too (dad waited to go to Michigan until after the cafe, which landed him up north at 1 am – true love for his baby girl).
Ri gave an impeccable performance. She wrote about a Swedish meatball hosting a party for international friends. It was smart and funny (and of course, the best from her mama’s eyes!).

They had paper and chalk on the tables so families could write poems to the kids. I looked down after Ri finished and Mario had written “you did a gud job Ri”. Break my heart.

Afterwards, the kids rushed to the sweets table and ran around together giggling.

Mario took the stage to sing – he can’t resist not being in the spotlight.

As we left the school, Ri turned around and moved close to me.
“This may sound a little weird, mom but … I’m really proud of myself.”
The night bursted into color and the sky sang “Alleluia”. I was so excited to hear her say those words to me. I think she’s starting to believe more in herself and recognize all of the amazing qualities she possesses. There is nothing more gratifying to a mom that’s seen those qualities all along.

Legos and Baggie books

March 17, 2014March 17, 2014Leave a comment

I refused to allow the kids on the computer Saturday morning so they roped me into playing Legos with them. Quite an experience.
Mario created flying men who could wield a giant axe mid-air to cut off peoples’ heads. Lovely.
Maria created a trailer to carry horses and several townspeople to Texas. (Non-sarcastic) lovely.
Maria and I were finally able to get Mario to calm his violent men down and hop on the trailer. Then she surprised him and made the trailer fly! Mario was impressed.
He follows her lead more than he will ever admit. For example, she created a “blender” on her trailer for the people to make smoothies. Within two minutes, he was building a similar blender and explaining how people can make smoothies. Ri looked at me and smiled. She knows her influence.
After an hour or so, they begged to play Minecraft for a few minutes. I agreed only if Mario read a Baggie book to us.
Mario whined a bit but then gave in to the pressure and sat next to Ri and read. He is doing so well with sounding out his words. He does really good looking at the pictures to figure out the words, too. Sweet story about that: in one of Mario’s books, there was a picture of a dog running with his owner everywhere. A boy asks “can I take your dog on a walk?” A girl responds “No, take the dog for a run!” She looks angry in the picture even though it’s clear that is not the intent. When Mario read that last sentence, he read it angrily. I asked him why he used that tone. He responded “look how angry that girl looks – that is how she would talk.” Very analytical thinking out of that boy.
He was close to finishing his baggy book when he hit a hard word: “skipping”. He tried a few attempts when Ri stepped in and gave a hint.
“How does “sk” sound?”
Mario couldn’t quite get it.
“What do you do with rocks at the river?”
“Skip!”
“Good job buddy! Now what does “ing” sound like?”
“Oh, skipping!”
God, I love seeing those exchanges! How darling. Makes my heart flip-flip.

Lullaby

March 13, 2014March 13, 2014Leave a comment

This is how M&M roll when Jon is away. Stay up way too late and fall asleep – only after eating ice cream sandwiches and watching a cheesy Nickelodeon show – on the couch, sprawled out with dad’s fleece blankets covering them.
I carry them upstairs when I decide to hit the hay. Maria wraps her arms around me and always mumbles some unintelligible words as I trek up the stairs. Then I plop her on her bed, cover her up with her three blankets, and kiss her goodnight. Sometimes she smiles at me.
Mario always jerks when I first pick him up but then realizes it’s me and melts his upper body into mine. I lay him in my bed and he scoots himself to the very edge until he’s almost hanging off, and then reaches for the covers. I lay them over his shoulders and kiss him goodnight. His mouth relaxes into a tiny oval shape – just the perfect nest to lay a robin’s egg – and I stare at him as I lay on my pillow with the moon’s light shining through the window. His breath is a lullaby and I fall quickly to sleep.

Fashion sense

March 11, 2014Leave a comment

Note to Maria:

Never doubt your fashion sense. I want you to sport the basketball shorts with the hair flower with the go-go boots when you live in NYC and run a health care company. Change it up from the tired old black suit and black heels and pearl necklace. If anyone can do it, it is you, my dear.

Pinch me

March 9, 2014March 9, 2014Leave a comment

Pinch me.

My life is ridiculously good.

Sweet, generous, loving kids.

Hilarious, caring hubby.

Warm, ever-present family.

True friends.

Great colleagues.

I am very lucky. Most days I stop myself ten times over and process this fact. Is it my culture transformation work I did at the university? Is it that I’m getting older and with that gaining a fuller picture of what it means to be happy? Is it that all the self-help books I read in my 30’s have finally hit home?

My weekends with the kids rarely disappoint. They are at ages now where they are able to play on their own or with each other but they also still want to hang with me and go to the park or take a bike ride. It’s perfect: I can get fully caffeinated, brush up on world events by reading my Times, and then later engage in a full-blown pillow fight.
And I love how their minds are developing; it leads to really awesome questions ranging from the benign – how are sidewalk made – to the sublime – why do we go to war. Mario points out things he sees in books we read together that I would never notice. Ri continues to practice the art of compassion by never judging others – the other day I about cussed out a young guy who cut in front of me in line at Kroger’s and she pulled me aside and whispered “mom, he may have somewhere really important to be.”

Yesterday was another day where I stopped myself over and over amazed at how wonderful I had it. The day brought wonderful near-Spring weather. The girls took a bike ride while I walked Rocco. We got a picture on the same rock we took a picture on when Rocco was a pup. Ri was very excited about that!

Mario met us at the park and the kids decided it was time for Rocco to adventure down a slide. Their eyes about popped out of their heads when he did it.

I love this picture of the kids running with Rocco. It’s a perfect depiction of the joy of warm weather.

And this is the perfect depiction of Ri laughing hysterically as she tries to catch up with Rocco!

Love love love these beginning days of Spring.
Next up, a trip to the river where Ri and Mario and I used to go on Sundays to collect rocks. It was closed for a year to create a bike path and I was anxious to see what the trail looked like. We piled in Stephanie’s van with the pup sitting next to Ri and the boys carrying their weapons (in case we encountered zombies) and headed down the street. We parked at the gas station and unloaded. What a sight.

The bank where we used to collect and throw rocks was still ready for us. But it was rather insane trying to make sure the kids didn’t fall (there were huge boulders lined up where there used to be gravel). Rocco added to the insanity by trying to jump in the river; Mario screamed like a maniac for me to hold his leash because “he didn’t want his dog to die!” So, I held him as he pulled me all over the rocks while I held Paxton to ensure he didn’t fall. Good workout.
The kids found great hide-outs made of sticks and leaves (I didn’t inform them that homeless folks probably used these “shelters” because I didn’t quite know how Steph would react but I did feel compelled to talk to M&M later that evening to help them appreciate the struggle all people face at times). The boys played capture and the girls played dorm room (whatever that is).

The kids found a big rock pile on our way out and I asked them to pose as savages. All complied except Mario who continued to laugh like a hyena!

In order to get them to leave, I had to promise them a snack at the gas station. They booked it after that promise. The boys got chocolate donuts (they slipped me one in thanks) and the girls got ice cream cones. They were happy as heck driving home.
We ended the night watching my girlfriend’s kids. A six week old and two year old who I had never met… Huh. I was a bit worried. But it ended up being absolutely joyous. Ri was excited all day to hold the six week old, Emerson Lois. She kept asking “when will it be 5:30?!” Mario kept telling me he didn’t want to babysit. But when they dropped off Miles, Mario took to him like sugar. He threw the ball with him and led him around his room to play. It was precious. And Miles couldn’t be more chill of a kid. He just followed Mario and played with whatever Mario gave him. He never cried once (kudos go all to Mario!).

He taught him how to crawl up the stairs so he wouldn’t fall down and how to beg for (and receive) a cookie. He was so compassionate and sweet with him. Warmed my heart.

And Ri was, as I knew she would be, a doll with Emerson. She laid with her and held her and couldn’t wait to change her diaper. Emerson is a real life baby doll!

Emerson pitched a little fit at one point and I had to put her in her seat while I got Miles’ dinner. The next thing I knew, Ri had her quiet by rocking her back and forth. She also had picked up the mom talent of multi-tasking as she rocked the baby and read a magazine – love it!

I sat at the kitchen table when my girlfriend left with her kids and my kids and Jon had gone to sleep and felt engulfed with gratitude. Another day full of laughter and sunshine and good kids and nature and a tired pup and chocolate donuts. Really, it doesn’t get any better.

National Pancake Day

March 7, 2014Leave a comment

And we celebrated National Pancake Day in style on Tuesday night with giant pancakes full of chocolate chips. Mario just tries to eat out the chocolate chips from the pancake so I’ve decided to throw chips everywhere into the pancake so he will eat it all.
We made 18 pancakes and by the end of the night, there were only two left. We got our full of gluten for the week.
When I was rubbing the kids’ backs later in the evening before bed, Mario looked over at Ri and me.
“I hope it’s National Long John Day tomorrow!”
Ri and I smiled at him and Ri reached over and tussled his blond locks.
You’re silly, bud,” I responded (but I secretly hoped the same).

"MOM!"

Adventures in the Life of a Working Mama