Speedy

I'd like you to meet Speedy (or Hannah Montana, but I prefer Speedy). Speedy is the kindergarten class pet. And since I had one child leaving kindergarten, one child entering kindergarten and a slightly reptile-obsessed child, we get to keep Speedy for the summer.

So pets in the Whirl-wind house include three kids, a husband a dog and a turtle. Clink, you'll be happy to know the tank with the dead lizard has finally been removed. However, the three dead lizard carcasses are still inside the basement, awaiting proper burial. Lets hope when the dog passes, Husband doesn't decided to get him stuffed!

Happy Birthday, Meenie!

On Saturday, Meenie turned six. SIX! Can you believe it? We spent the day at our annual girl scout camporee. She had a blast - what more can you ask for - spending the day with friends, having fun, plenty of activities and cupcakes! When we got home, we had a party with family. The thunder and rain held off until just after everyone left. The day before, we celebrated with friends with a luau. Again, we were dodging rain and thunder, but it was nice while the party was happening.

It's hard to believe that six short years ago, she flew out of my womb (literally). That she started life as a miserable infant who hated to be held and wanted to watch what was going on around her. Now she still likes to watch before jumping into an new activity. But some of the fear and "I can't do it is gone". She's so close to riding a two-wheeler (and much closer to than her older sister), jumps of the side of walls into lakes and swimming pools (where just last year we had to drag her kicking and screaming into a pool), climbs to the top of the jungle gym outside, reads and finally has a sense of humor. She's grown so much and is so much fun!

Happy Birthday, Meenie!

From the bottom of the bottle

I'll confess, some evenings I like to grab a bottle of beer or a glass of wine. Husband and I tend to be beer snobs, so we usually have a well stock variety of brews in the fridge. This does not, however make us alcoholics. On the contrary, I come from a long line of family members with alcohol issues so I tend to steer clear of those problems. I've seen first hand the damage it does. I've experienced the feelings of hurt and pain. We don't want our girls to experience that.

That being said, alot of my facebook blurbs have had to do with alcohol in one form or the other. here are a few recent comments that have made me chuckle.

Setting: The liquor store stocking up because we had some friends over and we were stocking up. Just Moe in tow.
Moe: Are you going to get the wine. You don't have anymore.
Me: maybe
Moe: You need to by wine mommy. The one with the baby one it.
Me: Okay.
Moe: Upon finding the wine, insisted that I needed two bottles.

Setting: Liquor store once again, three kids in tow.
Husband to employee: Hi, I had some specialty order, I checked on the shelf where they're kept, I can't find it.
Employee: Let me check - nope can't find it. Let me call the other store, the owner's there today.
Einey: I see the Voodoo, it's waaaaaaaay up there.
Me looking up: Hey hon, she found it.

And today, the grocery store. it's Sunday.
Meenie: What's that thing right there.
Me: It's a tarp, they don't sell alcohol on Sundays in the state.
Meenie: What, that is so not fair. That's just insane!

So yeah, we drink around the kids, we don't get drunk, but we will have a drink. Kids parties usually have a container of drinks. When you come here, you never know what you'll find.

Feeling Blue

If things had gone according to the package, I would have two little girls walking around with Turquoise hair. Over winter break, my kids wanted to dye their hair. We used some spray on stuff from Halloween, but it flaked off in minutes. Yeah total crap it was, but we didn't have high hopes.

I promised them that over the summer, we'd do it right. We'd get the good stuff and they'd have colored hair all summer. So summer vacation is hair. I did my research and picked up some Manic Panic Semi-Permanent Hair dye - Turquoise (which came highly recommended everywhere, it was supposed to be THE hair dye to use). I read the package, I followed the directions and nothing. Totally freaking flop and a waste of money. Meenie and Moe both have a slight greenish tinge to their hair, but you have to look REAL close. I've talked to a few people who have used their products in the past and they are also quite surprised. Epic FAIL.

So for now, the girls still have normal hair. I guess my next step is to visit the local hair salon and get a colored strip glued into their hair. Not what we were going for, but it's going to have to work :(

Just Say No

There comes a time in your life when you have to say "no". The topic came up today because Einey's getting older, she'll be a teenager before we know it. We want to make sure she can talk to us about anything and that she knows it's okay to say no.

Meenie was with us, she was the only one out of school at the time. And in her class, there has been alot of attempted lip-locking going on. Between girls and between one particular boy and any girl he can. The mom of the boy is aware of it and kind of laugh's it off "he's gonna be a handful". Meenie has mentioned that he's tried to kiss her before. We talked and we told her that she needs to say no. And if he doesn't listen, to punch him (husband also continued in the nose). Of course, we also told her that she'd probably get in trouble a bit at school, but that we'd rather she'd defend herself if she wasn't comfortable in a situation and we'd take care of it after.

Of course, this afternoon, Moe was making this insanely annoying noise and Meenie told her no twice then got up and punched her. "But mom, you said that if I said no and hey didn't stop, to punch them". Oy vey.

Plugged in

Two of my kids now own DS's. The third has an ancient Gameboy Advance. Husband has a DS. Usually all four of them are plugged in.

Today, we brought Meenie a game since she's been doing a tremendous job cleaning up around the house (while her sister's add to the mess and make excuses for not cleaning). We're hoping that it teaches them to help clean up. The downfall to buying games that we've never played* (i.e. Pampered Pets) is that I can't answer every whine "how do I do this?" and "I can't do it". And of course, since it's not an insanely popular gamesuch as Super Paper Mario, I can't look up a walkthrough for the game.

*Or in the case of Pokemon which I haven't played in a bazillion year.... "Sorry Einey, but I don't remember something that happened in a game I played millions of years ago. Stop asking me those questions every 5 seconds!"

No time to call....

My friend and I coach a micro soccer team. Our team, the Dolphins, consist of 10 three to five year olds. They're a great bunch and we really enjoy doing what we do. But... You knew there was going to be a but.

However, some things tick us off. It's not the tantrums. It's not the kids running off the field at random times. It's not tying shoes and dusting off knees. Nor is it stopping battles over specific balls (how they can tell the difference baffles me). It's the parents. Now don't get me wrong, they are great. And they do what any sport parents should do - they cheer their kid on and they cheer the team on. The sit on the sideline and gossip. That's great.

However, when they fail to show up for practice and or games, that irks us. Last night I hurried to the field for practice. The other coach stayed home with her sick son. I get to the field a few minutes early and they're no one there. Fine I'm early. I wait. And I wait. And one parent shows up. One parent out of a team of 10. You do the math (other coaches kid - who we knew wouldn't be there + Moe + kid who showed up does not equal 10). Of those other 7, we knew two were iffy, but probably would not make it. SO that leaves FIVE parents, who couldn't bother to call or email to say they couldn't make it. Five parents who showed up to the game today. Five parents who did not say anything about missing practice. Sadly, we had this happen three weeks ago. Both of us coaches were there, with popsicles, and the same child who showed up last night was there. And SEVEN kids didn't show up. It's not like we're hard to get ahold of. All the parents have both of our phone numbers, our cell phone numbers AND our email addresses. It takes all of 5 seconds to call and say "hey, we can't make it to practice".

We don't get paid for this. We take time out of our week to teach their kids about soccer. And that's the thanks we get (we didn't get any coaches gifts or thank you's last season either - not that we're bitter). And it's not like the parents don't like us - they're always telling us how much they like what we do and how much they're kids love coming to practice. And all the kids who played soccer in the spring from our old team in the fall came back (they had the option to request another coach).

So yeah. Apparently our time isn't worth much.

Rain, Rain Go Away

Seriously, I haz kids done with school. Home for the summer. Go away.

If I wanted this much rain, I'd move to Seattle where I'd at least have the benefit of good coffee on every corner as well.

Kinderbration

Meenie completed kindergarten today and we attended her kinderbration. This years theme was the Rodeo. It was great! At the conclusion, the teacher gave each child their kindergarten scrapbook (each child makes their own - they are awesome, I have one from Einey as well) to give their parents. I an so amazed at how much she's grown this year, both physically and intellectually! The pictures from the beginning of the year make her look so little!

Moe's preschool graduation is tomorrow, but she goes back Monday for 1/2 the day for kindergarten move up day (so since her normal schedule is Mon.-Wed., Monday is her last day). Einey finishes on Wednesday the 17th. But the 16th and 17th are 1/2 days and include family cookout, Mass and awards ceremony. She's so ready to be done (she didn't want to go back this week after missing Friday being sick). I'll have 2 mornings free with just Meenie. I'm looking forward to it, we don't get alot of time alone together!

So a week from tomorrow, we are officially on summer break. Woo Hoo. Maybe I should stock up on wine now?

It's my birthday and

oh hey, look at that, it's not my birthday, that was yesterday. I was too busy relaxing and having fun to bother to visit. Sorry guys.

My morning started with my husband bringing me a HUGE caramel Latte and was followed by dropping all three girls off at school. Followed by 3 1/2 hours of peace and quiet. Then pick up one kid followed 2 hours later by picking up the other two. And then we hit the woods in search of fairies. We found a bunch and spent a long time taking a 2 mile hike. It was great. It was this super serene section of the Natchaug (aka Blue Blazed Trail) which ran along side vernal pools and rocky waterfalls. We hiked a mile in, the girls sat on a plank bridge and had a snack and we hiked back out. We found frogs, toads and more frogs. And then, of course, since we felt great after our hike, we stopped for Chinese on the way home. The day ended with a nice big glass of wine.

And cake - it's in the oven now (a day late but who can complain?). Super chocolate cake with chocolate chips, chocolate frosting and espresso ice cream.

Growing Old

Moe: How old will you be tomorrow?
Me: 29
Moe: How old are you today?
Me: 28
Moe: Your really old!
Me: thanks....
Moe: Your welcome.

If I get that singing birthday card "I love you cuz your old" that she likes so much, I may have to skin her....

Summer is upon us, what to do now?

From the archives, originally posted last year- June 26, 2008.

Living in the state of "were going to keep raising gas prices and you can't do anything about it and oh you blinked, here's another $0.15cents - hahaha- fools" means more people are staying closer to home this summer and looking for low cost summer activities. Husband on the other hand, has finally gotten bitten by the travel bug (go figure!). So here are a few low cost ideas to get you through the summer.

Local Library - Our local library has a variety of summer programs, in addition to the summer reading programs. There are preschool story times (which I may take advantage of), craft days (which I've signed Eieny and Meenie up for. Hello Mommy and Moe morning coffee time! We've missed you!) and girl scout craft days - which you neither have to be a girl or a scout to attend. Only Einey meets the age limit though.

Swimming - We have several local lakes to swim at during the summer. Many are free, and aren't to far of a drive. We've brought the beach pass for the closest one though. not only is it real close, but it's also less crowded and is the only one which employs life guards.

Playground - When you have a brand new super cool fun for hours playground in town, what's not to like? The kids spend hours running around playing, can make themselves go on swings themselves now and love seeing which friends will be there that day. Call a friend to meet you there and it's an added bonus. The kids can play, the moms can sit in the shade of a tree and talk, all the while keeping an eye on the kids of course! Pack a lunch or a snack and water bottles to prolong the visit and get the most out of it. An extra special treat is after playing hard all morning - kids who don't nap may actually fall asleep in the afternoon!

Hiking - We've combined hiking with letterboxing (click the link below the post for more information) for endless summer fun! You can find our stamps all the way out to the Cape! The kids enjoy it, we enjoy hiking and it's easy to do. You can choose how long you want to be out in the woods. It's fun, cheap and educational! Just make sure you bring proper equipment - letterboxing stuff if your letterboxing, water bottles, insect repellent, sunscreen, and snacks like granola bars. Our hiking bag (always packed and ready for a moments notice) also has helmet lights (for looking into hard to see places and or course, if you get lost, a compass, and a whistle. We also always carry a cell phone at all times. You just never know!

Pick your own - This morning ,we took the girls to pick strawberries. We got just over 3 pounds for under $4.00! The kids had fun (unlike the last time we went to the crazy lady's farm). We definitely plan on going back - for more strawberries as well as Blueberries (which are ready from mid July through September!). I even plan on freezing some so that the girls can have fresh blueberries in the dead of winter.

Summer Rec. offerings - Each year, our rec. department has a theme day. Two years ago - it was pirate day. Last year (and this year as well - due to part of the day being rained out last year) is cowboy day. They encourage the kids to dress up, send them on a scavenger hunt and give out prizes. Plus there are skits to watch, food to eat and games to play. All in all, it's a fun, cheap day!

Summer music series - Another activity we like is the evening summer music nights. Some nights are kids themed, others are not - but it's still fun to take them to Jazz night, or Celtic night. And nearby, they do river fire (not as big as Providence, but close by and the kids loved it)!. So I'm writing down dates now for local concert nights. It's always fun to pack a lunch and a blanket and let the kids enjoy themselves!

Throw a party! - Last year I threw a water party. I set up the sprinkler, put out trays of bubbles and huge buckets of water. There were relay races, there were water fights. We even dug for treasure from ice cubes! This years plans include a color party - tye-dying fun! - and an afternoon kids tea party. Eieny is planning her own pizza party. Unfortunately the date she picked, her best friends are both out of the state on vacation. Luckily, summer has just began!

Above all, relax and have fun. Summer is a time to get away from schedules, to be barefoot and carefree. We're planning on flying by the seat of our pants and heading in no particular direction. Above all else, we plan on HAVING FUN!

Sixteen

I stole this idea from Mrs. Chicken who you should check out if you haven't read her already. She's headed East soon, so maybe she'll honk on her way by.


Sixteen things I can't live without this summer

1. Lazy days at the lake. If it's like the last two years, it will be us and 2-3 other local families at the town beach. Nice and relaxing!

2. No schedule. No time constraints. Just us and summer vacation. Free!

3. Husband working only days. No nights, no weekends. For the first time in FOREVER! Seriously, I can't imagine having him home like normal (and this will be for 2 years! Of course, since he's in school, it also means loads of studying).

4. The ocean. Hopefully we'll make it to the Cape, even if it's just for one day.

5. Berries! Our strawberries are up, and in another month or so, we'll be enjoying fresh raspberries in the backyard.

6. Hiking. We've been doing ALOT of hiking this spring and I can't wait to take the girls on longer hikes.

7. Ice cream. There is nothing like fresh ice cream from the summer stands.

8. My parent's pool.

9. Fresh veggies from the farm share we joined.

10. Having my Husband home at night (yes this needs to be on the list TWICE :) )

11. Iced Latte's.

12. My garden's. I added alot of late summer/fall flowers to my perennial beds last year and I can't wait to see which one's will come back.

13. Spending time with friends.

14. Picnics and parties.

15. Sandals. I'm getting new one's for my birthday on Monday. Currently they are sitting in a box in my kitchen waiting for me. Just waiting.....

16. Fall- which comes after summer. Husband and I are celebrating our 10 year anniversary in October and are stealing away to Maine for the first time without kids. For a few days!

What are you looking forward to this summer? Tell me in the comments or write your own post, and link back here.

Future Home

My girls are very into religion. We don't talk about it much at home, but going to Catholic School really puts things into perspective for them.

My oldest (who made her First Communion last month) really likes to delve into the topic of religion. She already has her home in Heaven picked out (and has stated "I hope I don't go to H-E-double hockey sticks - no she won't say hell).

Apparently, her room is going to have a purple canopy bed, on clouds with a dolphin fountain in it. She's going to party everyday! Her next door neighbors (apparently in a block) are going to be (insert best friends and her siblings names here). Oh and we can live next to her as well. She's going to swim and dance and pick berries everyday. She can't wait to get to Heaven. (Although hopefully it's not for a long, long time, because even though she cant wait, I can). It's going to be beautiful and fun!

At first, when they started speaking of death, it freaked me out. Death was always something I'm afraid of. As a child, I would freak out over who would get my toys and it would cause me to lie awake many nights. It still freaks me out. But now instead of trivial things like toys, I worry about who will provide for my kids and how they will be.

But my kids? They love talking about death. They accept when pets die. They love nothing more then to frolic in the graveyard (although now, they mention "I can't believe there are dead people in here - not in a bad way, just matter of factly). And while I can't say it doesn't freak me out a bit, I can respect that they heave a healthy understanding of death and accept it.

All I can do is smile and nod (even though I'm cringing inside) when the topic comes up.

Little Rhody

My Husband has officially quit Rhode Island. (we'll see how long that lasts).

Over the weekend, we took, what should have been a 15 - 20 minute trip away to search for letterboxes. Only, an hour + later and we never reached our destination. We headed out down Route 6 from our home. Easy as pie. Took a left onto Cucumber Hill Road and then it went downhill from there. We turned left onto Moosup Valley Road (as instructed) and was on the lookout for Rt. 14 to take to Waterman Road. Only Moosup Valley Road turned into Rt. 14 with no signs. From there, we were searching for 102. We ended up driving across Rt. 102 as it wasn't marked as 102 from our direction. We turned around and from the East we see a BIG sign - junction 14 and 102 (would have been nice driving from the West). Okay, back on track. Let's look for Flat River Road. Oh hey, see 117 there, that's Flat River Road, let's turn around again. Okay, getting close, we just need to find Philips Hill Road, it's right off Rt. 117. Drive down the road, nothing. Turn around and drive back. Nothing. Lots of little roads that are marked on the opposite sides of the roads with the tiniest road signs ever. And driveways with road signs on them. Yeah for the smallest state, there are plenty of signs. Just not where they should be. We finally, after driving back and forth, give up and head back to CT to letterbox. We looked at google again when we got home. Turns out they omitted that Philips Hill road doesn't go all the way to 117. About 1/10 of a mile is actually Hill Farm Road. Would have been nice to know that before we drove around for so long.

Sadly, that's not the first time we've come across that in Rhode Island. The roads are usually poorly marked (in spots, the signs are after the turn off). SO yeah, not a productive day.

Sadly, we didn't find and letterboxes we looked for that day. And to top it off, we walked right by where one should have been (the clue was in our backpack - it wasn't one we set out to find). Oh well, there's always tomorrow. Of the next day. Only not in Rhode Island.

It's tick season

It's June and in New England, it can other wise be known as tick season. We've done a ton of hiking this spring and I can't tell you how many times I've pulled ticks off of all of us. One's crawling around and one's imbeded. Big one's small ones. makes my skin crawl just thinking about it. Almost everyday lately, someone has one. I've taken to spraying with DEET (yeah I know) when we've hit the woods lately (which, you know, is almost every day).

So instead of giving up hiking, we're trudging on ticks and all. Let's just hope we can make it through without Lyme Disease this summer.

So many posts, so little time

So many posts are running through my head. But the weather has been wonderful, and I haven't wanted to waste it by sitting here writing.

I had a Memorial Day post all written in my head complete with pictures, but I'm having problems with synching my camera to my computer. yes, my brand new Canon. Which I love. I can take pictures, but no longer synch to the computer. Which puts a damper on things. And also offers a conundrum. do I send it out for repairs and end up taking pictures over the summer with my PandS? Or do I continue taking pictures and send it out later. I have no clue how long it will be in the shop, or even how much, but I guess I should look into sending it out. But the birthday parties over the summer, baseball games, the beaches, the hiking and our anniversary trip to Maine in October. See my problem? I can not live without my camera for very long :(

I wonder if Cannon offers loaners?