Coloring our Easter eggs

April 2, 2015Leave a comment

34 colors eggs – some with vibrant colors, others with plastic design wrap, others with sunset colors. All cranked out in a two hour time frame on Friday night: the start of Spring Break for Ri and Mario. They were mad I didn’t have more eggs.

Mario got super into the coloring this year. You see the bright pink one on the left? Mario made that one and when I gasped at how bright it was, he lit up. He had a mission to make more bright pink ones. At first I thought this was an act of love and tribute to his mom. Then he said this to Ri as they worked:

“I bet I could sell the hot pink ones for $5.”

Maria just shook her head, and then said: “Mario, these are for our family and friends.” Mario shook his head at what he viewed as an absurd comment. If there’s a possibility to make some cash, why not grab it?!

They set up the kitchen bench against the counter and both stood on it to color their eggs. They placed two chairs behind the bench. They used those as the “break room.” Each one had to take a five minute break to rest. After a couple breaks, Mario didn’t want anymore. He was too into egg coloring. Ri got upset about this decision.

“Mom, it’s a rule we both agreed to do and he has to abide by it.” Luckily, we were about finished with the coloring so Ri let it go – she’s a stickler about rules. Soon they were playing hospital on the chairs: Ri was scraping the end of a pencil on Mario’s arm to get rid of the poison in him and Mario enjoyed the challenge of not screaming in pain. Weirdos.

But back to the eggs. I’ve been coloring eggs with the kids since Ri was two. It is one of my favorite traditions with them: first because it’s chill and they get along so well admiring their eggs, and second because I have no artistic ability but somehow I feel I’ve created masterpieces when I dye these eggs fabulous colors.

Now the question is how we will eat all of these before they go bad? Egg sandwiches, egg salads, egg sundaes?

Week in review

March 27, 2015March 27, 2015Leave a comment

We have been busy the last couple of weeks so I thought I’d wrap it up in one concise post! Here we go:

1. Ms. Elena visits! I guess I should mention Satah and Jorge came, too, but all we cared about was Elena. Actually, not true. Mario loved shooting hoops in his bedroom and out back with Jorge and Ri loved talking about anything with Sarah. I loved eating Elena’s cheeks.

2. Meg and dad visit! They came in to take the kids to the Franklin Park Conservatory to see the butterfly exhibit. They loved it and Meg and Dad got some great photos (but I’m still waiting on them to send them my way…). Then we met up at the park for some ultimate frisbee – that was ultimately pretty pathetic – but fun. I know where my active genes come from: I love that we have an hour to spare and we run around like mad.

3. Tether ball tournament. Ri mentioned that her school had tether ball and Jon made a pit stop on our way home. The man has some mean tether ball skills. He whooped on all of us. Ri and I escaped without injury but poor Mario got a ball in the face, which had to sting since Jon has quite the swift hand. He eventually forgave Jon and wanted another shot on him. But no one can beat the king.

4. Playground gymnastics. Mario and Ri and I showed off our flips and splits; I hung in for a while but then they showed me up.

5. China night at Mario’s school. Mario had been talking about this night for a few weeks. He talked about the dragons he was making and the play he was going to put on with his class. He did not disappoint. We had to get there 15 minutes early because Mario “had to meet Blake” before the show began. All the two of them did was wrestle around the school yard. When we finally went inside, it was adorable. They had a panda picture stand and a passport for the kids to fill out at each room they went to in the school. Grandmq even got a picture with the Panda!

Mario taught us Chinese art, that dragons are good luck, and that red and orange are lucky colors in China. He also put on a heckuva performance waving a flag and singing and drumming a Chinese melody. It was hilarious to see all these boys hyper as heck all night and then get on stage and be somber and calm as they waved their drumsticks slowly and chanted Chinese lyrics.

I love these school events. Mario was charged his Grandma came to be with him, too. We picked up Ri from soccer and let Mario pick the restaurant for dinner. We thought Chinese would be appropriate but he opted for Bob Evans. I couldn’t blame him – pancakes sounded really good after fried rice and tea.

6. We saw an owl! I’ve been trying to spot an owl for weeks – ever since a friend posted a picture of one on Facebook. She said she found it two blocks from our house. After three weeks, I finally spotted one a street over in an evergreen. I can’t believe I spotted him – he was a tiny little guy. I ran home and told Jon. We made the kids shorten their shower and get in their nighties and we all drove over to see the owl. I couldn’t get a good picture of it and was getting frustrated. Maria took my arm and consoled me. “Mom, we will have the memory and that’s better than a picture.”

7. Ri and her Girl Scout troop went to the YWCA to make crafts with the kids staying there. The girls did great with the kids. There was a girl making crafts who was in their same grade and afterwards we talked about how easy it is to find yourself in a situation where you need help. I think the girls really got it and talked about going again and helping out. Afterwards, we treated them to DQ. I had Kathryn, Ri, Lucia, and Gwen in the car on the way home and they sang top-40 songs and yelled hi to random folks walking down the street. Ahh, to be young and carefree!

8. An Ionno family visit at Rooster’s! We ate fried mac-n-cheese. Yes, it sounds wrong but oh, it is so right! Maria knows what to order!

Patty and Uncle Chris and Patrick and Carrie and Connie were there watching the Ohio State game. Tony was in town, too. when we walked in, he announced that he had just won $100 playing Keno, which is some gambling game you can play at the restaurant. Mario’s eyes lit up. He was hooked the rest of the time we were there. Meanwhile, Ri and Alana did up Tony’s hair.

9. And finally, Ri got braces! She was a rock star through it – never crying once. I can’t believe how wide that tiny mouth of hers opened!

She chose red and orange rubber bands. She wanted a before and after shot of her teeth so she could send it to her grandmas.

Darling girl!

Give me the money!

March 10, 2015Leave a comment

Mario is in love with his beyblades lately. He’s dying to buy Japanese ones on eBay. But he has little to no money in his wallet. So he decides to clean his room, Maria’s room and the bathroom to earn some money. Granted however, he does not tell Jon or me about this decision so we did not set any price we’d pay for him to do these chores. And Maria never did either.

He finishes “cleaning” Ri’s room, which entails throwing her clothes in random drawers and tossing random objects on the ground onto her bed. I think his mantra is “if the floor is clean, the room is clean.” He walks downstairs and informs Ri that he cleaned her room and she needed to pay him. She casually finds her wallet and whips out a $20 bill to give him. This all happens while Jon and I are at work.

When we come home, we hear what happened. Mario now assumes because of Ri’s ridiculous generosity that he is going to score serious cash from me and Jon for cleaning two rooms. Wrong. He’s deflated when we tell him we may give him $1 for his efforts. Ri comes to his side advocating about what a thorough cleaning job he did.

Patty came in town to watch M&M while we went to Cancun last week. She lost her phone the day before her arrival and she was upset she’d have to buy a new one. While she was taking Ri to school one morning, Ri found Patty’s phone hidden in the car seat. Patty was so relieved. She offered Ri $5 for finding it. Ri’s response: “you keep it Grandma for when we go to the lake this Summer.” Mario later found out Patty offered $5 to Ri. His response: “What?! I didn’t have a chance to try to find it in Grandma’s car and get $5. Not fair!”

Jon and I arrived home from Cancun. We had bought a couple of drinks at the airport and I had gotten two Mexican coins back from the cashier. I slipped them in my pocket without looking at them. As Ri and Mario opened the last of their souvenir gifts, I remembered the coins. I took them out and handed one to Ri and one to Mario. Ri looked at it and said “cool, a $5 coin.” Mario looked at his and said “wait, mine is only $1.” Ri looked at me with a concerned look. She immediately handed her $5 coin to Mario and told him she’d trade. I stopped her arm from reaching his hand. But he had already rejected her offer. It’s like he innately knew there wasn’t anything he was going to do with pesos here in the US so why use his good will on that exchange with Ri. Or, for all I know, he innately knew that $5 pesos wasn’t even worth $1 in US currency so why bother. It would not surprise me a bit.

Old Man Winter

February 21, 2015Leave a comment

These days grow longer and longer. It is flippin’ freezing outside; you know it’s been a rough ride when you see the temperature will be 16 degrees and you are excited. I can’t drag the kids outside with me in the evening to walk Rocco because I would be accused of child endangerment. I can barely head out there with Rocco for more than fifteen minutes. My poor toes have steadily remained purple through the days. All I can say is that sweet Spring cannot get here soon enough. I will embrace it and not let go. I will not complain when we have 90 degree, humid weather this Summer. Just get me out of this frozen tundra.

There have been some highlights to the last few weeks – thank goodness for these kids and their activities; they force us to get out when we would be hibernating.

On February 11, Maria had her first play. She played Susan B. Anthony and had a whoppin’ three lines. But she rocked it – she was one of the few kids who you could hear (thanks, Heile family). She got on line and found a colonial costume to wear for the show and a hilarious white wig. Grandma Ionno, Grandma Lolo and Aunt Sarah, Jorge and Elena showed up to see her in action. She did not seem nervous as she waited for the play to begin; rather, she ran around with her friends and laughed. She was annoyed with me and Grandma trying to get pictures of her. She was nervous about one thing – that Elena would start wailing during the performance. Elena tried to do that but Sarah swopped her out the back doors before she could get a good one out. We cheered hard for her after the performance; she shot us a quick glance but focused all her energy on Luka (Bethany brought him to see the show). Afterwards, we took the actress to Barley’s for her much loved ribs and beans.

On February 13, the kids celebrated Valentine’s Day at their schools. Ri took in tattoos and Mario took in Sponge Bob. I had bought them mustaches on a stick that said “I mustahce you as a Valentine.” They were adorable. Both Maria and Mario were appalled at the the thought of giving them to the respective opposite sex. “That would be so embarrassing mom!” So back to Target we went for the tattoos and SpongeBob cards. Boring. Ri got ice cream sundaes at her party; she did not care that I did not come. On the other hand, Mario begged me to attend his, which I happily did. You can’t walk away from those parties with a sour attitude. The kids are too dang cute and so excited about making heart-shaped towers and paper flowers.

On February 14, Ri had a pool party for her friend Janira at Westerville pool. They stayed there from 12:30 until 5. She got pizza and ice cream and cake and non-stop pool action. When I came to get them at 4 pm, they begged to stay for another hour. They all tried to jump in an inner tube together without tipping over, which failed every time. But they had a blast and it was great to be in a heated pool area and see bathing suits!

On February 17, Ri had her skate party with 10 friends. Mario got to attend, also (Ri let him use one of her friend passes for one of his friends). The moms may have had more fun than the kids…. I was happy to see many of the moms head out on the rink with me. The girls all did a great job skating and falling. No broken bones. Ri greeted all of the girls as they trickled in at different times – she is a good host. Mario tried to help Rohan skate but it was not easy. So the two of them ended up playing games the entire time. Mario was not disappointed about that.

On February 19 and 20, the kids got off school due to the extremely cold temperatures. Bums. They were so psyched up. On Thursday, Bethany took them to Galaxy Games and Golf from 3 pm until 9 pm. They played tag and hide-n-seek and Mario won 1000 tickets. He was so pumped up. On Friday, Mario feigned illness to stay home with Jon and Bethany and Ri went to COSI. Not bad for two days off of school.

On February 21, we got seven inches of snow! The world turned white and Rocco couldn’t get enough of it. I am surprised his nose did not freeze off as much as he dug into the snow with it. Ri and I took him on a walk up to Grandview Grind and he leapt with joy, literally, throughout the entire walk. We visited Ri’s friend and their new pup and Rocco found a playmate. They played great together. Ri ended up staying at Anna’s house while I walked Rocco home. The neighbors were making a giant snowman in the front yard. I walked in the door and told Mario we had to go sledding. There is a small hill by his school that I knew was open. He shook his head no and told me he didn’t feel like it. I kept prodding him until he finally got on his jeans and sweatshirt. He had to wear his Cabella’s overalls and coat since we don’t have any snow pants that fit him. He was all stressed out about how he would look.

“No one else will be wearing this, mom. I will look stupid!”

This boy is more concerned about his looks than I ever have been. Jon and I reassured him that he would be fine. If someone laughed, he should ignore them. Each person is unique. I don’t think he so much agreed with us than he just wanted to shut us up so he threw on his boots and headed to the car. It was funny because Ri showed up with her friend, Anna to sled an hour after we arrived and she had on a huge pair of brown bib overalls that did not fit her at all but she could have cared less. They all had a blast going down the hill, engaging in a massive snow ball fight, and making a ramp to jump over.

It was so beautiful today because although we had seven inches of snow it was 33 degrees so you could go outside without your face freezing off. Tomorrow the high is 23 degrees and I think it starts to plummet even worse Monday on. I keep telling the kiddos to have dreams about Spring flowers and birds chirping and open windows with a warm breeze wafting in, and maybe that will help move old Man Winter along.

But we’d be amiss if we did not thank Old Man Winter for giving us the snow to play in today.

She’s all that

February 8, 2015February 8, 20151 Comment

Yea, she’s all that.

Funny as all get out. She can have me laughing on even my most horrible of days.

Smart as a whip. She knows how things work, where things are, and what are the answers (and if she doesn’t, she can surely play it up like she does).

Perceptive as a CIA agent. She picks up on a conversation and quickly assesses what is happening. She easily deciphers when folks are being sarcastic versus sincere and can hold her own with those sarcastic souls (exhibit 1, Aunt Laura)!

Empathetic as no nine year old I’ve met. She senses when folks are hurting and knows how to console them. Whether it’s opening a door for an older individual or helping feed the homeless, she’s all in.

Fashionable as a runway model. She puts together combinations I’ve never dreamed of mixing and pulls it off magnificently (exhibit 2 above).

Generous as can be. She will give away her money, her toys, her food to anyone she sees in need … and not expect anything in return.

Protective as a mama lion. She will not tolerate anyone messin’ with her brood (exhibit 3, she was ready to call my boss the night I came home so upset about work).

Loud as summer thunder. She exercises those vocal chords extremely well. If you are sitting next to her, put the plugs in those ears. But it’s all in the name of pure joy and excitement.

Adventurous as a toddler. Give her an activity that scares 80% of humankind and she’s on it.

Thoughtful as an unsuspected gift on your doorstep. She loves to see people smile and is always thinking of ways to put one on faces (exhibit 4, sending “I love you” letters in the mail to family members).

Yea, this girl is all that – and I’m so glad I get to witness “all that” every single day.

Grateful for you, Ri.

xoxoxo
Mom

Cooking with Ri

February 6, 2015Leave a comment

My junior chef and I produced another wonderful creation this week. Ri loves to cook; she definitely takes after her Aunt Sarah. And she loves to cook healthy, which cracks me up since all I wanted at age 9 were hot dogs and potato chips.
But here we were cutting up cauliflower and broccoli and brussel sprouts to add to pasta. We tossed the veggies in olive oil and sea salt and placed them on a cookie sheet to roast in the oven for 20 minutes. We boiled some pasta (fiber plus white pasta since Ri hates wheat – just like her dad) and saved one cup of the water we used to boil the pasta. Then it was as simple as mixing the veggies and the pasta with the water and olive oil and feta cheese. Sprinkle a bit more sea salt and pepper and thyme and it was ready!

Ri and I sat down at the table together and toasted to another successful dinner creation, that included three veggies even! She’s carried me a long way from my hot dog and chips’ days.
Bon A Petit!

Sunday Woods Day

February 4, 2015Leave a comment

Ri and Mario held me hostage Sunday morning. They would not let me go to yoga or run Rocco. They forced me to make a plate full of chocolate chip pancakes while they both cooked me some delicious over easy and sunny side up eggs.

Being held hostage ended up being a delight. Eggs and pancakes and hilarity out of the hostage-takers’ mouths. Mario cracked me up when he got out the crossword puzzle to work on while eating his breakfast. “Grandma Ionno does the crossword everyday so I will, too,” he told me.

After breakfast, Ri did my hair while I tried to tickle Mario as he rolled all over me (one of his favorite games with me). Rocco started to get wild by this time and began jumping on me and the couch and Mario and anything else he could as a way to tell us he wanted to go outside. I informed the hostage-takers that they needed to take Rocco on a walk to the woods with me before he tore up the couch or broke a bone in one of us by all his mad hopping. With a little pushing from dad, they agreed. We bundled up and headed off to the woods, which turned out to be a delightful hour of exploring and creating.
There is nothing better than watching your children use their imaginations while in nature. They found a few makeshift tents made with sticks and fallen branches. Mario thought the trolls had made them. Maria winked at me while she agreed with him. Maria found a stick with a rock tied to to it. She proceeded to tell me that it had to have been made years ago. She let Mario use it to cut wood (when asked why he was cutting wood, he had no purpose – just the sheer thrill of cutting into something). They found a half-enclosed area with a log in it and decided they wanted to work on fixing it up. Ri and I rolled a second log down the path so they’d have two to rest on as they worked on their fire pit. I was complaining about how heavy the log was to roll and Ri chirped “you’re getting a workout in, be happy!”

Mario worked on his firepit and positioned the sticks along the border of the shelter while Ri gathered more materials. I made sure Rocco didn’t destroy their creation. He can’t stay away from a good stick.
I had to drag the kids out of the woods at 11:30 so Mario could make his b-ball game. I told them to remember how much fun they just had so that next time I asked them to come with me, they wouldn’t whine about going out in the cold. They rolled their eyes at me and I yanked them both close to me for a hug. Rocco was up at the end of the trail gnawing on a huge branch he found. I looked up at the blue sky and knew the day was gonna be great.

Girls and Boys

February 1, 20152 Comments

The boys and girls split up early yesterday morning. Ri and I left at 8 am for her indoor soccer game and Mario and Jon left at 8:45 am for Mario’s basketball game. Ri took me up on my advice to get more aggressive, at least somewhat. She went for the ball a few more times than last week. Slowly but surely….
After soccer, we stopped at Starbucks and got my coffee. Ri wanted to try something new so we got her a chai latte. She loved it.

We saw the boys off to go hunting (Mario was so excited) and got to work cleaning the house. All the salt and snow had been tracked in and it was driving me nuts. Ri agreed to do the toilets and I did the floors. As we began, she looked at me with a rag in her hand and mused “Susan B. Anthony would be shaking her head at us doing the cleaning in the house after everything she fought for on behalf of women.” Touché. I explained to her that we are doing it of our own choosing and the boys would definitely be folding laundry when they got home.
After finishing the household chores, we settled down for a mani/pedi in the kitchen. Ri wasn’t too concerned about this activity when I said “why should girls feel they have to get their nails done and not boys?!” Her response: “boys should get them, too.” I had told Ri that we could go to CK Nails but she responded ” why don’t we save money and just do them for each other?” That’s my girl. And so she arranged the kitchen as a nail salon with two trays and chairs and polish, clippers, files, moisturizer, towels, and bowls of water. She gave me my mani/pedi first. I have to act like I’m in her salon and she tells me about all the famous people she treats at her salon. She informed me that I had large veins in my hands which was a sign of stress. I needed to take it easy (her way of getting me to sit with her all afternoon). She finished my hands and moved onto my feet. Yowzer! She had her hands full with my feet. They are definitely runners’ feet. She kept her game face on though as she worked on them since she didn’t want to offend her customer.

By the time I finished Ri’s nails, we were starving. Ri agreed to walk to Stauf’s but only if she could scooter. Deal. I miss heading up to Stauf’s on the weekends. When the kids were little, I’d stroll or bike or carry them up to Stauf’s for a muffin or bagel at least once a weekend if not two or three times. We lived two blocks away. All those memories flooded back as I sat across from Ri and she worked on a crossword puzzle and we ate our bagels. How has she grown into such an amazing girl in what feels like three seconds?
We played tether ball on the way home and I’ve never felt so uncoordinated in my life. Ri got a kick out of seeing me so unable to play an activity. She also got a kick out of me getting slammed in the stomach by the ball. Yea, it was ugly. Not a fan.
On the way home, we decided to go see a movie at the dollar theatre. We decided on Alexander and the Horrible, Terrible, No Good Day. Before we saw that though, we had to try on Ri’s new Susan B. Anthony outfit that we ordered for her play next week. She looked like she had been blasted out of the 1800’s. She loves it.

As we drove to the movie, I remembered that Ri could not eat popcorn with her palette expander. Dang. I didn’t want to make her jealous so I had to be relegated to Milk Duds and nachos. Ri got a one quarter pound angus hot dog, God love her. The movie was bearable, which was a gift since so few are at her age.
We drove home and ended our night with a call from Jon informing us that Mario and him got a rabbit. Mario climbed through the thorn bushes to retrieve the rabbit for him.
Ri and I laid in her bed while Rocco ran back and forth from her bed to the hall chasing a ball. We laughed so hard at his crazy antics until he finally had enough and laid his head at the end of the bed. We rested our heads on her purple pillows and fell fast to sleep.

Wrestling times

January 30, 2015Leave a comment

Mario brought home a wrestling flyer a couple of weeks ago. One of his friends was trying it out and he wanted to, also. The problem was that he had basketball on Tuesday nights and wrestling practice was Tuesdays and Thursdays. I tucked the flyer under some workbooks and forgot about it. Then Mario questioned me for the third time “can I try wrestling?” I emailed the coach who informed me that Mario was welcome to just attend on Thursdays.
Great.
I am not a big wrestling fan.
But we went last Thursday and Mario enjoyed it. He didn’t walk away yelling “I want to be a wrestler” but he enjoyed doing wrestling moves on his buddy and running around on the mat. Towards the end of the first practice, Ri joined in the fun. She ran around with the group of boys. There were two fourth grade boys who were practicing and Ri and they were teasing each other.
When we left that night, Ri said “I would like to try wrestling.” Nothing more came about it until this past Thursday night. I came home from work and Mario proclaimed “Ri is going to try wrestling!” I looked at Ri and she shrugged her shoulders like “no big deal.”
I fed them some chicken and grapes and we were off.
Ri participated in the warm-ups and gave all the moves a shot. However, some of the moves like where she had to tuck her hand in the boy’s armpit and grab his leg made her uncomfortable. And when they did it to her, I could tell she had experienced enough.

She leaned against the wall while the coach explained to the group that they were going to try out a “real” wrestling match. Ri looked straight over to me, eyes wide open, and shook her head no. She mouthed “I don’t want to do this.”
I waved her over to me. And that was that. No wrestling for my girl. Jon and I were relieved. She thanked the coach for letting her try it out. I was proud of her for giving it a try. A lot of girls her age may have never fathomed the But Ri didn’t flinch going out on the mat. She gave it a go and realized it wasn’t for her. Pretty simple. No pomp and circumstance; no tears; no excuses.
Meanwhile, Mario didn’t want to leave. Practice ended and he continued to climb the wall to try and reach the metal chin up bar. He finally reached it and did a chin up. The coach praised him. He looked over at me with that cool smile on his face, trying not to look excited about the compliment but not hiding his excitement to well. I gave him a thumbs up and Ri yelled “good job, Mario!” She’s his number one advocate.

We finally were able to pull him out of the wrestling room and get his shoes on him. Another reason I’m happy that Ri decided it wasn’t for her: the smell of sweat and heat on the two of them was nearly unbearable as we drove home.
Ugh!

Christmas 2014

January 24, 2015Leave a comment

The kids get two weeks off for Christmas break every year. Every year I find myself frantically calling my dad and stepmom or Jon’s mom or our sitter to see if they can take the kids certain days. You’d think I would learn with each year and plan a bit in advance but it is a lesson I will never learn. Probably because I get away with it every year – finding family and friends to watch the kids on the days Jon and I have to work. The year it doesn’t work out and I can’t attend the boss’s meeting is the year that will make me change my ways.

The kids counted down the days prior to their two-week break with increasing joy until finally on the Friday of the last day of school, Mario exclaimed “no more school after today!” I guess two weeks feels like a lifetime to a kid. We had our usual holiday trek to Cincinnati on Christmas Eve. We hit mom’s house first and madly opened presents. The kids always want to dig in as soon as we open the door and mom obliges.

Susie hosted Christmas Eve at her house for the first time since I was little, and it was really enjoyable. She had gingerbread houses for the kids to decorate (Mario was way too cool to decorate his for more than a minute), and a movie for them to watch (never got to that but good thought).

I wondered if I’d feel at all saddened by having it at Susie’s since I had spent my life going to Grandma Heile’s house for Christmas Eve. But I didn’t because all that mattered was that I had my Heile posse with me for the evening. Ri joined right in the crowd as she always has since she was little. She fits right in with her 20 something cousins.

Mario, on the other hand, is a bit more intolerant of the noise and chaos and constant hugging! Emily came up to hug him and he pushed her away. I took him upstairs to tell him that was rude, and he looked me in the eye and cried “doesn’t she know that I don’t like to be hugged?” Spoken just like his father. I calmed him down and we went back downstairs only to have Cy accidentally hit him in the tongue and mouth with his head as they were playing horsey. Back upstairs he stomped – angry and hurt. Then, he suffered a third incident 30 minutes later when Robert picked him up by his feet and dropped him on his head. Lovely. Poor kid couldn’t catch a break. But then he scored a Nerf gun from Aunt Jane and all was good.

Ri helped me play the white elephant game this year. We took home the horrible clown that everyone hates to get each year. Actually, we didn’t even win it – Cy’s girlfriend did – but she was so scared of it that Maria took it from her to be nice. Ri could play those games all night long with her cousins; she loves it.

We left Susie’s around 7:30, which was nice. We arrived home at a reasonable hour versus the 10:30 or 11 pm times in years’ past. The kids knocked off soon after we left (Ri first as always and then Mario shortly thereafter).

We did not arrive home to luminaries up and down the street, which was a bit disappointing. Our street has always had about a 90% turnout rate on luminaries and it is magical to turn the corner and see the soft glow of lights lining the entire street. But it was raining softly when we arrived home, and the lights would have gotten burnt out upon lighting. Patty had wrapped some of the kids’ gifts for me while we were gone, which was such a blessing. I came home to nothing to do (in years’ past, I ran around frantically wrapping and getting things under the tree). Jon and I went straight to bed knowing the two goofs would be up at the crack of dawn.

They woke up at 6:30 am and we heard them outside of our door whispering and excited. They lasted until about 6:50 am (we had asked for 7 am) before busting open the door and yelling “Come on! Let’s open presents!” Jon and I rose from the bed, hair in every direction, and got pulled down the stairs by each kid. It took approximately two minutes for the kids to open all 7 of their presents. Seriously. Next year we are going to have to take more time. It was 7:05 am and Christmas was over. But they were both happy campers. Ri got her phone she wanted and Mario got his Nintendo. They immediately unwrapped those items and started playing with them. Jon and I got each other comforters without having any idea we were both getting each other one. Two peas in a pod.

Meg, Dad, Sarah, Jorge and Elena arrived around 9 am for our second round of fun. Ms. Elena’s first Christmas! We ate yummy quiche made by Meg-pie and cinnamon rolls and then skyped with Uncle Jack and Sofia. It was great seeing the dude-man on Christmas day; he never ceases to make me belly laugh. He seems to be enjoying the Nordic life sporting a sweet wool sweater during our talk. Elena let Ri and I hold her while we opened presents. She loved the mega-blinged out baby walker we bought her with all sorts of sounds and lights on it. As we sat around together watching Elena, I was reminded of all the years that Jon and I would head to Meg and Dad’s house for Christmas morning. Jack and Sarah were in grade school and high school, and just as excited as Ri and Mario about present opening. We’d get a call at the apartment at 7 am telling us to head over.

We hung out until around 12:30 and then they left to head back to the farm.

Bring in round three!

Patty and Patrick and crew and Chris and Connie and Frances came over around 1:00 to spend the rest of the day with us. The kids loved hanging out together all day long. Chris told his jokes like he used to when Jon and I were dating. Patrick and Jon talked about all the things they got into when Patty took them to work with her. It was a good reminiscing session; their stories never cease to impress me. Boys. We opened gifts after dinner. Patrick and Carrie gave me the best gift I have ever gotten. A shirt box full of chocolates. There were probably 100 of the chocolate squares overfilling the box. Pure heaven!

We missed Joe’s presence. Patty teared up a few times thinking about him. Mario also talked about how much he missed him. And Ri cried at school before break because she was working on a tribute to Joe and sadness overcame her. There is no doubt he felt the love soaring up to him this holiday.

The girls went home with Patty on Christmas night like they have in past years. They look so forward to that time with her. She took them to play volleyball at the Y the next morning and all of her friends enjoyed their humor. Mario and Gio spent the night at Gio’s house one night and our house the next. They played video games and laughed about farts and butts and all things that make boys chuckle. I am so happy that they still enjoy one another and get to spend time together. Patty is a machine with them. She takes them to the Y, to the arcade, to the movies, to McDonald’s. She plays with them at the condo. Her energy really needs to be bottled up and sold; we’d make millions.

We ended the holidays with a visit from Bill and Jean and Kerry and Kevin and kids. Meg and Dad and Sarah joined in the afternoon fun. We made it easy and ordered City Barbecue and Bill made his awesome chocolate desserts. Maria and Mario do not get to see Ben and Annaliese that often but they still find ways to connect. Ben and Mario connect over the iPad; Maria and Annaliese connect over her American Girl doll and barbies. I remember when Kerry and I were young and both possessing much different interests but we’d get together two times a year and catch up. There was a connection between us even with the months apart and our different pursuits. I am a strong believer in staying close to your roots. I am quite sure that Grandma Menkedick was smiling down on us all day.

After that crew left on the Sunday before New Year’s, we had the house to ourselves. What to do without the commotion, present-opening, running around, and chaos?

Put on the pj’s, eat some of Bill’s chocolate cake, and read Vela.

"MOM!"

Adventures in the Life of a Working Mama

Tag: Life