Play Ball!

May 24, 2015Leave a comment

The start of baseball/softball season has arrived with the Memrial Day weekend. Ri played on Friday night, which was strange since we have always played on Saturday after the parade. We are hurting for pitchers this year so I’ve been working with Ri on the mechanics of fast-pitch. She’s got the strong body to swing that ball over her head and swivel those hips and whip it over the plate. During practices, she just wasn’t consistent and didn’t have her groove. She also doesn’t have the desire to go out and practice for hours to improve. But the times I’d get her out with me, we’d continue to work on it. And then one day, I had her concentrate on turning her hips so they pointed to the side and then return them center towards the catcher. She did it and pitched it perfectly. And again. Something clicked in her. And so it was – she started our first game as pitcher.

And she pitched awesome for her first time. She only walked one batter and struck out a few! I was so excited for her. And it made the game go so much faster watching her pitch two innings because she was the main attraction. It made Jon and I nervous as heck but it was cool. And it’s even more fun for me because I was a fast-pitch pitcher; so to see Ri going at it makes me smile.

The girls lost the game but held their own throughout. They had one bad inning that doomed them but I was much happier about their play than I thought I’d be. They were bummed for three seconds about the loss but then quickly recovered when they found out they got a free treat from the concession stand .

Mario got to be in his first parade this year since he’s finally in baseball and not tee-ball. He was excited to be able to ride in a truck with his buddies. I made him promise over and over that he would not pelt anyone with candy. I should have made Ri promise it, too, because her and her teammates were winging candy at kids.

By about half way down 1st Avenue, the girls started to get tired and thirsty. They began to peter out. Surprisingly, they still had candy (in years past 25 pounds was gone in three blocks). But Ri got them pepped up again by cheering “we’re number one not two not three not four….” We arrived at the field and participated in the Opening ceremony. Grandview feels like Mayberry on this day. Everyone is lined up for the parade and everyone comes to the field afterwards to watch the ceremony and running the bases.

Mario played his game later in the day at 3:45. We went home after the parade and wrestled a while to get him ready (he is my child – he’d rather stay active than rest before a game). Ri got invited to the pool with Henley – her first pool trip of the year.

Mario looked like a bad mo’ fo’ out on the field with his shades and his snug baseball pants.

He refused to go out on the field without his shades. He didn’t have a chance to catch a pop up fly but he did get a grounder hit to him… and he missed it. But he did decent hitting – went 2 for 3. Of course, he struck out once which really irked him. He stomped out of the box and whipped off his helmet. “My coach can’t pitch” he told Jon. He was accurate in his statement – his coach threw some horrible ones to him. But, he needed to brush it off. I’m sure he likes Jon being in the dugout with him even if he acts like he doesn’t.

The game finished an hour and a half later. It was rather long but much better than tee-ball. I can’t wait to see him snag a pop-up next game; he gets a DQ gift card if he does!

Halloween 2014: don’t stop til you drop!

November 1, 2014November 1, 2014Leave a comment

Two Halloween costumes – $65
Accessories for costumes – $24
Candy to pass out for Halloween – $20
Trick-or-Treating with my babes –
Priceless.
Ri’s school party was Thursday and Mario’s on Friday. What a blessing – I could hit them both. It was strange going to Ri’s 4th grade party. She kinda wanted me there and kinda didn’t. She asked me to come – I did not just show up like some parents (whose kids were oh, so embarrassed!)). I helped her with her outfit and took pictures with her friends but as soon as we walked out the door for the parade, she was on her own.
“Do you want me to walk with you?”
“No, mom, stay with the parents! ”
And so I chatted with the other moms and watched the 4th and 5th graders walk by laughing and smiling together. We got a few class shots when they returned and they were off to their class party.
In grade school, I would have been sitting at Ri’s desk helping her with the game or craft on tap. She would have dragged me all over the room with her. In 4th grade, all the parents stood at the back of the room and watched as the 4th graders awkwardly stood around eating and waiting for the games. I left a bit melancholy knowing this would likely be the last year Ri asked me to come to school.

But it was also nice to see Ri so independent – not crying her eyes out when I left her classroom. I want her to feel comfortable being on her own and she’s certainly moving in that direction.
Mario’s party was what I am used to. Lots of frantic kids running all over the place, throwing things, and giggling. His parade was indoors because it rained on Friday. He paraded through the gym: his eyes grew large and his mouth opened to a smile when he spotted me. Makes me glow every time. I stayed for his entire party – watched him try and eat a donut off a hanging string without using his hands (hilarious game); draw a picture of his teacher in a Halloween costume (he chose a clown); and devour mini M&Ms.
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He certainly seems to be the class clown.
Halloween night was a blast. The most fun one I’ve had with the kids. I got home at 5 pm – Halloween started at 6. We ran around and got dressed; Bethany helped with Ri’s pirate make-up while I tried ten shirts on with Mario to wear under his costume. That boy is picky!
We were finally ready at 5:45 and I couldn’t wait any longer. Yea, that’s right. Me. Not the kids. Well, they couldn’t wait either but I was the major proponent.
I love Halloween. It has always been one of my favorite days. And it’s solely because of the CANDY! Yea, I like the cute costumes and seeing friends out but I LOVE the candy. My sweet tooth is alive and well just like it was at age 7. All week long I’d been teasing the kids they better not even think about coming home until 8 pm, when trick-or-treat ends because I won’t let them in the house without a pillowcase full of candy.
We left ten minutes early knowing our neighbors would take care of us even if it wasn’t officially start time. Ri came running down the 1st driveway mouthing “I got three candy bars!” Mario did the same and added “and I got a Reese cup for you!” They know how to please their mama. We had to make a stop at Stephanie’s house to get pictures with the kiddos. But we made Steph rush with the pictures because we had a charge before us – get candy!
We were serious.
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Mario was a trooper. He usually peters out after 45 minutes or so but we met up with Rowan and Henley around 6:45 and he cranked it out until 7:25. >

At 7:25, Henley, Rowan and Mario wanted to go home. They were cold and tired. I turned to Ri and asked if she wanted to go, too.
“Nope, let’s keep going, mom.”
“”Are you sure?”
“Yep.”
So we trucked on after Jon came to pick up everyone else. We hit the funeral home on 1st and then crossed over to a few houses. It was about 7:50 by this time and Ri started limping.
“Are you hurt?”
“My foot has been hurting a bit but I didn’t want to tell you.”
“Why?”
“Because I wanted to make it until 8 since I know it means a lot to you.”
I didn’t know whether to feel like a heel for driving my daughter to pain -all for a KitKat – or to be overwhelmed by her thoughtfulness. I gave her a hug and told her we were done…except for the one other house up ahead!
And so she went up to one last house and then we visited her friend, Kathryn who lived three houses down. She soothed her painful leg by eating a s’more and we called Jon to pick us up.
Ten minutes later we were sitting at the kitchen table salivating over Mario’s pile of candy and Ri’s pile.
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Ri counted out 26 Twix bars – her new favorite candy bar.
“I got three of these when you and I continued on, mom.”
That made me feel a bit better…. In turn, I massaged her aching leg as she and Mario laid in Ri’s bed thinking through what candy they’d eat in the morning.>

Whirlwind

May 30, 2014Leave a comment

The last couple of weeks have been a whirlwind. I signed up to coach Ri’s softball team and had to participate in “the draft” and practices for the last two weeks. The kids had their last week of school prior to the Memorial Day weekend (yes, they get out way too early), which consisted of school parties and fretting about presents for teachers. Oh yea, and Jon was out of town all week. But we persevered with just a few rough spots (really rough). The kids biked (Mario) and scootered (Maria) to school every day during the last week of school, which was a god-send since it allowed me to start my day with some fresh air.
The last week of school was nuts. Maria had an end-of-the-year party at McKinley Park all day on Thursday. They wore bathing suits and took down tennis rackets and water guns. Ri was not happy about the fact that they had to walk to the park from school – she begged to take her scooter. By the time I made it down at noon, she was playing “family” with Riley and Anna and hanging close to Mrs. Pharion in the shade (she likes hanging with adults and listening to the conversation).

They all looked so tired – teachers and kids – and I knew softball practice would be dreadful that evening.
I got to Mario’s room at 1:45. The moms told me he had been looking for me the last ten minutes. He glanced over as they told me and ran over to give me a big hug. We worked on postcards and decorating frames. The boys ran around like nuts while the girls sat in place. Why is that?! Mrs. Page passed out “candy” awards to each kid. Mario got a peppermint patty award because “he is a burst of energy every day!” Who does that sound like?!

Friday was clearly going to be a free-for-all day for both teachers and students after Thursday’s insanity. Ri got to watch a movie and Mario got playground time most of the day. I picked them up with Patty at 2:50 and they were charged up. School was officially out! Grandma took them to get DQ and they played with Sophie and Quinn. Mario declared “It’s summer, we don’t have to do anything!” So he wishes….
Friday was a much better ride-to-school day than Thursday. The kids goofed around together and gave me a sweet picture to remember their last day of third grade and kindergarten.

Thursday was not quite as sweet. Mario woke up on the wrong side of the bed and was pissy the entire ride. I asked for a picture of him and Ri and he refused to look at me. After the third time asking, I said “fine, be that way, Mario.” The inflection in my voice told him I was disappointed. This creates quite a conflict in him. He wants to stay pissy but he doesn’t want to disappoint me. He stopped his bike and told me I could take a picture. When I went to take it though, he wouldn’t smile. So I said “forget it” and kept walking. He started crying and telling me he was just about to smile. He then flew past me on his bike mad as heck. We got to the school and he waited for me. I knew he wanted me to ask for another picture. He plays these games when he’s mad. Instead, we dropped Ri off at her classroom and went to his room. I said goodbye. He ran out as I left and said sorry and begged for a picture with Ri. This kid. Of course I did it (even though he still didn’t smile big) even though I probably should have told him too late to teach him a lesson that he couldn’t get his way all the time.
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And just like that, no more bike rides to school for two and a half more months. Now the bike rides are to Stauf’s for Black Russian bagels – yum.

On Saturday, Ri and I walked in the Memorial Day parade for our Reds softball team. I love this parade in Grandview. It has such a small town feel with everyone lining the streets and waving at you. We bought bags and bags of candy for the girls to throw and we still managed to run out blocks before the end. The girls chanted “We are the Reds” throughout the parade. It was a blast.
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Patty and Jon took Mario, Gio and Alana to watch the parade and scream for Ri. They got three full Kroger’s bags of candy. They were very happy campers. It was insanity when we got to the field. The kids were all hoarse from screaming the entire parade route. I was exhausted from working out at 7 am and then sheparding the girls for two hours. Parents were everywhere looking for their kids. Kids were begging for water. Craziness! But opening ceremony was awesome with the Star-Spangled Banner and old plane overhead and Ri by my side and all the kids ready to play ball. I’m a sucker for that stuff. We headed directly into our game at noon. There was confusion about who was home team so Jon jumped in to do the concession stand. Mario loved helping him. When the game ended, Jon pronounced he never wanted to see a hot dog again.
The girls were a little shell-shocked their first game. They didn’t look comfortable on the field and the pitchers were nervous. The girls didn’t bat as strong as I would have liked either. But I think it was first game nerves. The good news is that we came back from a 6-1 deficit to make it 6-5 in the end.
We were all popped afterwards. Jon’s feet hurt, my back ached, Ri was hot. So Jon and Patty and I sat on the deck and chilled (after I mowed the grass!). The kids played on the computer and ate parade candy.
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On Sunday, we found out the pool was open so we flung on our suits and headed down.

And guess who jumped off the high dive without flinching?

Last year, he’d climb up a few steps and stand there terrified, and I would have to help him down. Amazing what a year will do. Ri continued her high dive jumps – this year doing mid-air splits. She was so proud of her little bro after he jumped off and told everyone we ran into afterwards.
On Monday, we traveled down to Cincinnati for the long-awaited pool party at Aunt Susie’s and Uncle Kenny’s house. Oh, how the kids were dying for this party. They love having a private pool to play around in with Jon and me and the cousins. We brought Rocco down with us after Susie invited him (she is the consummate dog lover). The kids and I threw on our suits and jumped in without five minutes passing from stepping into the yard. Guess who joined us? Yep, Mr. Rocco. He loved the pool, and refused to get out. I tried to pull him out to take a breather after 20 minutes and he hopped right back in when I turned my back.

Mario and I suffered serious cuts from Rocco’s nails as he swam by us but it was a joy to see him in his element. We had to pull him out for the spectacular pool volleyball game. The Heiles against the Non-Heiles! The Heiles dominated, and Jon joined me for some post-game fun.

And it remained all fun-n-games until one of the many dogs playing at Susie’s house decided to let loose on Rocco. Rocco was engaging in his friendly antics, sniffing butts, when one of the dogs attacked him. His ear was sliced and face gashed and blood was everywhere. It seriously was like a murder scene. Jon and I had specks everywhere on us. Mario was mesmerized with all the blood and Ri was scared too death about Rocco. My mom and Rod and Mario and I jumped in the car and headed to the emergency vet at 5 pm. We ended up there until 9 (par for the course on a Memorial Day). Luckily, they were able to glue Rocco’s ear. He also got to leave with a cone.
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Yep, it’s not a party until someone leaves in a cone. At least mom and I got some quality time together. And Mario learned how to make some killer Keurig coffee and tea.
Rocco keeps us laughing with his inability to maneuver around objects with his cone head. Ya gotta laugh at this crazy life or else you’re screw–, no I mean, you’re coned.

Memorial Weekend Round-up

June 1, 2013June 1, 2013Leave a comment

Ri and I were short-term celebrities Memorial Day weekend when we got to walk in the Grandview parade. It took mad running around to find a truck for my girls to ride in Saturday morning but I found one and the girls had a blast throwing candy to folks lining the street. I had them whooping up “Go Reds” at every turn. And, we got a surprise visit from Grandma Lolo. She came up for Ri’s first game and joined in the parade with us.

Once we got to the field, the girls lined up and ran around the bases as their names were called. Half were charged up and the other half were scared too death (Ri was in the former, of course). Then mom and daughter got photographed by paparazzi.

Maria went three for three in our first game. I was so excited for her! Jon and I were worried that she’d strike out and get all melancholy about softball (like she did in practice) but she cranked it (and then started to get cocky saying “the other team doesn’t hit that well…”). It was a blast watching the girls hit and go around the bases so elated to have actually hit the ball.

Mario rooted on his sis and when I asked what his favorite part of the day was he said “seeing Ria in the parade.” Darling.

Mom blessed us with gorgeous ceramic mushrooms for our yard when we got home from the game. I love walking out to them every morning. It was so nice having her experience the chaos of the game with us!

Mom left in the afternoon and Jon’s kin drove up. We had his parents and brothers and niece over for a cookout. Ri is all about family – always has been. When I told the neighbor kids they could stop over in the evening, she scolded me “Mom, we have family over in the evening – we can’t have friends over, too!” She likes her family time. Patty made her potato salad and her chocolate truffle for the cookout. Double trouble. I will be wearing sweatpants for the next month.

By the time the family left at 9:45, I was dead to the world. My body was exhausted in so many ways and I could barely make it upstairs to bed. So what did we do on Sunday? Headed to the zoo with the neighbors! Why not just make it a completely insane weekend?!
However, I got to talk with Stephanie, another adult, while the kids played and that was a welcome activity.

I think we saw a total of eight animals during the time we were there because we had to stop at each statute and play on it. But it wore them out so we dealt with it just fine. It is so wonderful to have kids three houses down the street that get along so great with Ri and Mario. They will be spending a large chunk of the Summer together, Zi am sure.

By Monday evening, Jon and I were spent. Ri had another game on Monday afternoon and Jon got just as involved as I did as coach. We left the game, had two of Ri’s friends over and hosted the neighbor kids for Mario. I told Ri and Mario that dad and I better be sainted for all we do for them.

They both rolled their eyes … but then jumped on us with big hugs. They know.

Twice-baked goodness

November 26, 2012November 26, 2012Leave a comment

We ended the four-day holiday with twice-baked potatoes; Jon’s and his brother, Chris’s favorite and one of Patty’s signature dishes. I am not a velveeta cheese fan and was hesitant to try one but I had put so much effort into helping Patty make them that I felt compelled. It was not a mistake. Pure yumminess.

I need to buy some stock in Nike elastic sweatpants because that’s all I will be wearing for the next two months between all of the holiday goodies.

Maria and Mario called me from the road on their way back from the farm to see when Grandma and Grandpa Ionno would be over. They had a good time at the farm with Sarah and Jorge and Mama Meg and Peepaw. Maria got in a hike with Sarah and the pups and Mario got to go hunting with Peepaw.

They also got treated to a holiday parade in Marietta. Peepaw piled ’em up in the car on Saturday and drove to Marietta to see what was happening; he had no idea that a parade was in order! Mario scored some plastic army men and a tank and Maria nabbed a ladybug pillow. Maria got to bathe Taz and love on him, too. Mandatory horse fixes when she’s out on that farm.

I got some monstrous hugs upon their return, which I soaked up like bubbles in a bubble bath. The farm (or maybe Aunt Sarah or Mama Meg) had quite the effect on Maria. She went upstairs without any prodding and took a shower, got dressed, and brought down both hers and Mario’s dirty clothes bins. She dragged them right over to the washer and threw them inside. She went back upstairs and got a hamper for the clean clothes in the dryer. All without any peep from me or Jon. Alleluia! She did ask for help with the detergent though and I walked over to get it down for her. She pointed at the Downy and said “I need that, too.” I told her she didn’t need to use that with detergent and she promptly channeled her dad directing me to get it. “We need both – Downy makes the clothes smell better.” I could practically hear Jon in her voice.

Grandma and Grandpa Ionno arrived at 2 pm and Mario promptly laid his body across Grandma and played his iPad game. When she tried to move, he cried “No, grandma!” Finally, she got to move but only to help Ri with her homework. Ri got lucky because Grandma is the master of word puzzles. They cranked the puzzle out with the help of Alana and me at the end. As soon as that was over, Ri and Alana dashed upstairs to Ri’s room never to be seen again until dinner. Mario and Gio watched tv in our room and then went outside to play frisbee and bounce on the trampoline. They referred to each other as “dude” continuously. I picture them on a cross country road trip in ten years with feet hanging out the window and music blaring.

We all watched the Browns game (Patrick was lucky the Bengals weren’t playing) and caught up on the latest. Chris and Connie arrived with pictures from their wedding. Dinner was fabulous with the twice baked potatoes quite the hit. Ri ate two and begged for a third. We talked about Jon and Patrick as kids – Patrick slapping his cheeks outside in order to stay awake on New Years Eve and win 50 cents. Jon had no trouble staying awake. It was a superb time especially with the kids eating in the other room.

After dinner, the kids helped Alana and Grandma open birthday presents. Grandma scored an iPad for her birthday – I can’t wait to see her on Facebook! I am also going to urge her to write her and Joe’s story on it because it would be an amazing memoir.

We had to end the holiday on a pumpkin pie note so we sat down at 7 pm for one (or two) last pieces of pie with lots of whipped cream. Maria showed us her “trick” which entails putting the tip of the can of whipped cream in her mouth and pressing down to fill her entire throat and mouth with whipped cream. About as impressive as her dad swallowing a whole deviled egg.

We sang happy birthday to Patty and Alana and wrapped up the night. I kept wanting to extend the days longer so that the reality of work and school could be quashed. But I woke up this morning (after falling asleep with the kids at 8:30) happy as a clam – my body filled with tenderness and appreciation for a most incredible family and a most fantastic holiday weekend.

Homecoming

October 6, 2012Leave a comment

Maria complained last night when I picked her up from school. She did not want to leave. The reason: she did not want to march in the homecoming parade.
“Mom, I don’t want to walk all that way!” (The parade is about a half mile long).
She then took it a step further.
“I hate cheer leading. Just hate it. I just do it for you and dad.”
Lovely.
Little did she know that I was not backing down on this one; she had to finish out the season and then we’d stop next year if she wanted. But i was a taken aback because she seemed to be enjoying it the last few weeks.
Jon asked what was the matter when she stormed in the house and stomped up the stairs. I told him. He walked up and got her laughing (he can get her laughing anytime). A few minutes later, he asked her if she really hated cheer leading. She said “no.”
I looked at her quizzically and asked why she kept telling me she hated it but told dad she liked it.
“Dad understands me, mom. That’s all.”
Oh, ok.
We laughed together on our walk to the middle school – she was in much better spirits explaining that sometimes it’s hard being a cheer leader because her team loses a lot and she wants to win. A little competitive spirit coming out in her….
We got to the school and she played with her friends while the band got in order. She wanted nothing to do with me as can be seen by this picture…

Classic “Maria to mom” look.
But then one of her friends udged her and told her to smile and I got this picture of the Maria I know and love…

Much better.
Meanwhile, Mario stood across from the high school cheerleaders and showed off his moves. They giggled and stared at him saying “he’s so cute!” He acted like he didn’t hear them but as soon as they stopped he danced harder and revved up his show so that they’d pay attention to him again.

It worked.
Luckily, Maria did not witness this behavior. She would have been totally embarrassed and certainly would have tried to put a stop to it.
In the end, it all worked out. Maria walked in the parade and had fun. Mario got attention from the high school cheer leaders and ate it up.
A win for everyone.

The life of a pinball

May 26, 2012Leave a comment

Mario and I met up with Maria and her friend and friend’s mom at 9:30 am at Stauf’s. The rest of the day is a blur. Thank god for iced coffees.

We walked down to the parade on First Avenue – the same place we go every year – nearly parallel to our old house but two streets over. We sat with Amy and Gracie and Joe and made a sign saying “Go Mets” in honor of Zach. Zach is on the Mets baseball team this year; Amy was so excited to see him in the baseball truck with the other soon-to-be second graders. All I could do was think of Mario in that truck three years from now, and the only visions of him were ones of him pelting people with tootsie rolls. There is always one or two little squirts that engage in such activity each year; last year, Mario got pelted in the eye by someone. So hopefully that horrific experience forever scarred him and he won’t engage in such behavior.

The parade was fun this year because we knew so many kids in it (and they limited the politicians)! After an hour parade, we gathered our two hefty bags of candy and walked a mile back home. Maria walked the entire way with me holding Mario. She is a machine (she did it in sandals; even I would have complained). We made a pit stop at the library to take a computer break. Maria played Go Girls Games and Mario played Ben Ten. I got a little reading time in, which was just the break I needed. Middle-school kids were signing up younger kids for the reading program. Maria asked to sign up. I was excited about her initiative. She asked to do it last year, too, but she could not read on her own and she wasn’t that into it. I am hoping that her ability to read better will lead to her reading more this Summer. She picked out a Junie B. Jones book and a couple more random ones. Let’s cross our fingers….

We plodded our way home from the library in the 88 degree heat. We immediately threw on our bathing suits, grabbed our goggles and towels, and jumped in the car. We had to drop the stroller off at the bike store because Mario and I bust a tire on our stroller ride earlier that morning (there was a loud firecracker-like bang and Mario yelled “Cool!”). Once at the bike store, Mario spotted a sweet red and black bike with training wheels. He jumped on it and flew around the store. I looked at the tag and it was expensive. How can a kid’s bike be over $100? Really? But I have had such bad luck with used bikes for him – none of them are steady or ride well – and it has caused him to get scared about riding. I do not want that with as much as Maria likes riding. So, I decided to bite the bullet and get it reasoning that he will have it for the next few years.

We left the store for the pool, which was absolutely packed since it was opening day. Mario and Ri went off the low dive and high dive, respectively. Mario tried the high dive but second guessed it after getting on top (I don’t blame him). He will jump off by the end of the Summer, I am sure. We only lasted at the pool for about 45 minutes; I was exhausted and luckily, the kids probably were, too.

Once home, we made bowls of cereal and rested in front of a Ben Ten on tv. Within ten minutes, Maria was snoozing on the couch. I tried to move her but she was solid dead weight – there was nothing waking her up. Mario, meanwhile, was wide awake and insane, jumping all around the room and acting like random aliens. I let him play on my computer while I went out and mowed the grass and watered the flowers. Then I came in and cleaned out the Study a bit in order to move our new desk in it. I was in cleaning mode. You’d think that it may have been wise to put my feet up and nap a bit with Ri, but that would have been too easy. Gotta keep the momentum going – once I sit down, I am useless for the rest of the day.

Maria finally woke up – two hours later – and she was a piece of work. Pissed off at the world. She stomped across the kitchen moping and pouting and crying. I left her alone and she finally buried her head in my chest and rested for a few minutes. Then she finally morphed into the Maria we know and love ready to ride her bike and play. We got Mario off the computer (not an easy task) and headed off on his new bike. He rocked it out on his bike almost keeping up with Maria. We had hoped that the Art Hop would offer a bouncey house or kids’ music but it only offered a couple of vendors selling necklaces. We dealt with our disappointment by going to the church park. I played tag with Mario and Maria climbed up the top of the slides (her favorite thing to do at the park). Amy and Joe met us up at the park with the kids and they all played for a bit. We all looked like zombies. It was comical. The day felt like three days. We finished the night off with Orange Leaf and a bike ride back home.

When we pulled in the driveway, there was a spectacular slice of moon looking down at us. We all stopped and gave reverence. Then, Maria shouted “Mario’s old bike is still at the library!” So, what else to do but jump in the truck and head to the library to pick up his bike. We finally got into the house at 10 pm. Maria wanted to read Junie B. Jones, and Mario was listening to music on my phone so I didn’t fight it. I just let them be and relaxed over a bag of Cheez-Its, and Maria later joined me.

What a whirlwind of a holiday Saturday. I swear to myself as I sit here tonight that tomorrow will be low-key day but I know myself better than that. We will be off and running – but not until 7:30 am.

Spoken like a true mother

May 8, 2012Leave a comment

Maria, Mario and I sat down to dinner last night. Mario had his toys next to him at the table, and within a minute of beginning to eat, he took out a Ben 10 figurine and started playing with it. I began to tell him that he was going to be sent to his room if he did not stop playing and start eating but Maria interrupted me,

“Mom, I got it. You just eat your dinner and enjoy. I will take care of this.”

She proceeded to give Mario a lecture about needing to eat his food in order to get big and go to kindergarten. She sounded just like me and Jon. When he continued to play with his toy, I tried to chime in again.

She stopped me by grabbing my forearm. “Mom, I really got this” she said as she grit her teeth. She stood up and grabbed the toys from the table and placed them over on the other side of the room. While she walked to the other side of the room, she told Mario he would only get them if he ate his dinner. I thought that he would attack her for sure. But instead he watched her take his toys and did not say a peep. I can’t say that he chowed his food down after she talked to him, but he didn’t go hysterical either. It was quite a sight. I told Maria that she was going to be a good nanny. She told me that there needs to be consequences.

Yeah, my 7 year-old daughter is informing me that there must be consequences. If I was skeptical before, I am no longer. Maria had to be a mother in a past life. Maybe even mine?!

Meanwhile, she was back to her 7 year-old self tonight as we ate dinner. She called Mario a “poopy-butt” and he called her “stupid.” When I told them both to behave, she copped a seven-year old attitude and turn her chair from me. There is my darling girl I know and love.

After dinner, we scurried around to find shoes and clean up in order to go see the elephants that arrived in town for the circus. They stop the rail car about a mile down the street and walk up Grandview Avenue. We head over to see them every year. This year, Sherri and Jessica and Eli and Isaiah met up with us to see them. I had touted the event as a great time. But this year was completely different from past years. The route changed because the circus is at a different location. We used to play around at the local park in years’ past because the elephants went right by it. This year, we waited on the sidewalk in front of a friend’s house.

Last year, there were more elephants and animals in the parade. I believe there was a clown, too. It lasted for 20 minutes. This year there were six elephants and ten horses and the parade lasted two minutes max. Poor Eli and Isaiah. Isaiah summed it up the best when he turned to Jessica and cried “That is it, mama?!” To make up for the lack of entertainment, we let Isaiah and Mario wrestle in the friend’s lawn, which was more entertaining than the elephants.

We walked back to the house, and said goodbye to Sherri and the crew. The kids took separate baths, got on their nighties, and watched a show. I put on my nightie, too, and listened to Maria talk about art class. As I rinsed my face off with water, Maria said “do you know what, mom?” I said “what, pumpkin?” She said “I love you so much.” Spoken like a true mother.

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.

"MOM!"

Adventures in the Life of a Working Mama

Tag: Parade