Saturday, July 30, 2005

The Fair...

Our town has an annual fair every year in July. It started this past week, and of course we thought the boys would love it. We've taken them before, but we thought this year would be the year they would really appreciate it. Sure, we thought our oldest son would definitely walk through the barns with the animals (this is NH you see, so naturally we're talking about a fair with a gazillion animals) And he would definitely go on the Merry Go Round- he is afterall 5 now, and almost in school.
Ok, apparently we don't know our boys that well. I did get my youngest to suck it up and go through the cow barn. He loved it, well as much as he could see from sitting on my hip with his face buried in my shoulder. As for my older son, he watched me go through it from a safe 100 feet or so. Nothing doing with that one. He had no desire whatsoever to check out the animals.
So, the barnyard animals were a bust.. but he's going to love the rides, right??? I should have known.. My youngest had no problem getting onto the Merry Go Round, with me of course. My oldest decided in quite a whiney, leave me the hell alone kind of voice, that he was all set hanging back (again) with his dad. That is until the ride was about to start and all of a sudden he decides he's ok with it.. and the rather nice lady running the carousel lets him sneak on. Now, you would think that anyone on the Merry Go Round would want to pick out the prettiest, tallest, most spectacular horse, right? And you would think that the carriages they have on those rides would not be reserved for a 5 year old, but rather an infant and it's over zealous mom, right?? Oh, so wrong.. That was the only thing he would get on.. the boring carriage that just sat flat, no up and down, no nothing!
But I don't let him see my disappointment at his lack of adventure, rather I tell him how proud I am of him that he tried the Merry Go Round, and we wave everytime we pass his dad waiting for us at the gate.
I think next year he's going to want to go on the Ferris Wheel, and maybe join the other kids in the pig scramble.. And I'm sure he'll walk through the barn with his little brother and me!

Wednesday, July 27, 2005

Vacation???


I've been on vacation now for almost a week.. only a few days left. Last weekend we took the boys camping. I've always loved to camp, when I was younger I would go with my friends, and it was usually centered around the campfire at night, with several drinks. No one cared where they passed out, they just did. We could spend the days napping, or reading.. eating.. then more drinking. You did whatever you want.. much like the rest of your life before your kids..
This trip was not like one of those trips.. by far! First of all, you have a gazillion more things to pack.. and heaven forbid if you forgot something that the 2 year old can't live without for 3 days.. like his favorite star wars toy, or even another binky. Then you have to consider the whole nap factor.. the whole eating thing, and the whole let's take a trip to the beach, and bring every blow up thing available.. It was fun, and we were lucky to do it with another couple who had 2 girls. They definitely helped entertain each other. But the trip ended on a sour note when both boys got sick.. oh, and of course I forgot the thermometer..
But the camping is behind us, and we're all unpacked from it, and besides the rotten mood my 2 year old has been in, we're pretty much back to normal. Tomorrow I have my niece back, but I'm still on vacation from my evening job.. which I miss terribly. I didn't realize how much I looked forward to 5 o'clock, and getting out for a while.. at the moment, my youngest is at my chair, saying he wants to watch the movie where Luke dies.. Luke never dies.. I wish this vacation was over!!!!!!!!!

Tuesday, July 19, 2005

We're staying Housey!!

We put our house on the market yesterday. We found this great house down the street that we fell in love with. We did everything we should.. got pre-approved.. put in an offer.. and had our first showing last night. I didn't realize this was going to happen so quick. My husband met with our mortgage broker this morning, and after talking with him, we took our house off the market and withdrew our offer on the great house down the street.
We could have afforded this house, but that would have been it. There would be no more family camping trips, or birthday dinners with the girls.. clothes.. shoes.. all that! In the end, that great house would have owned us, at least for a while anyway. We've decided to try to do an addition, and give us and the boys bigger bedrooms (they're tiny!) That would make more sense, and definitely be affordable.. I would have hated to tell my oldest son that we were moving.. he calls our house "housey".. he could never have left it!

Sunday, July 17, 2005

Ralph...

I awoke last night at 1am to the sound of an army entering my house.. or at least what sounded like one. In my sleepy fog, I tried to get a grasp on what I was hearing. It became quite clear when I heard the ever so lovely sound of someone dry heaving. Nice. As I got out of bed, I heard the voices.. "man, are you ok?".. "drink some water".. I already knew what was coming next. Finding my nephew in his room, practically passed out with the trash can propped up next to him. He groaned when he opened his eyes briefly and saw me, then continuously stated what an idiot he was. I didn't disagree. One of his two friends who had brought him home, and insisted that they were sober, took me aside and had the kahunas to tell me that I should wait til the morning to deal with him because he was going through enough at that point. Well no shit, I knew that getting in his face at that point wasn't going to do a damn thing, but I didn't need some punk telling me that!!
I can sympathize with them wanting to experiment. I knew that he was going to do it at some point. I guess I was being naive thinking that because he was involved with his church youth group he wasn't doing such things. I only get upset because of how afraid I am of him being like his father. His dad is a hopeless drunk, and just an all around pathetic person. I know some of the genes in my nephew are working against him, and he needs to be careful.
I can't imagine what his college experience is going to be like (oh yea, he got back in.. thanks to the wonderful letter my brother in law wrote in his absence) I think that everything my nephew has endured in his young life is going to make him a prime target for wanting to fit in, and feel accepted, therefore being totally vulnerable to peer pressure. I wanted to know all the details.. like where he got the alcohol (they were drinking screwdrivers) and how many times he's drank in the past. Of course he wouldn't tell me who got them the booze, I didn't expect he would give up his friends.. considering that my mother told him that she was going to call the cops and report them.. she's not exactly subtle. He told me that he drinks every couple of months and has been since his last quarter of his senior year.. Um, that was only a couple of months ago.. ugh.. whatever. I wasn't planning on him telling me the truth, but I thought he would be a bit more creative with his lying..
So, he's been grounded for a week, I took away his phone, and he can't go on the computer. He had to be at work for 7 the next day, I made him go, and drove him in (I think he may have still been a little drunk..) He got out early- told his boss that he might have mono (he's got a lot to learn!!) I had my mother go pick him up.. nothing like a big dose of HER with a hangover! He spent the rest of the morning with a bucket..puking. He said he learned his lesson.. which is probably not to come home on nights he's drinking.. you ALWAYS stay at a friends house.. jeez!

Friday, July 08, 2005

The Thing....

My kids are totally hip to Burger King, and what kinds of toys are in the kids meals.. I'm not proud of this, but with 2 very picky eaters, I take what I can get. Thankfully the Star Wars toys are a thing of the past. We've now moved onto the "Fantastic Four".. great! The first kids meal they got (which I call Happy Meals by the way.. it's always a good bribing technique to say if you're good I'll get you a Happy meal..not a kids meal.. happy sounds so much better- thank you Mickey D's) Anyway, the first toy from the Fantastic Four was The Thing.. They were thrilled, it's this Super hero guy whose made of rocks, and claps really loud.. How fun! The only problem? The name.. at least when you have two kids.. Cause you're constantly saying "Where's so and so's thing?" "Is that your thing or your brother's?" or "Stop touching your brother's thing"..You catch my drift right?? Of course my young innocent boys don't get it, but man, do my husband and I get a kick out of it! The next toy was the Invisible woman.. thank God!!!

My Handy Man..


When I was a little girl (well, maybe in my teens) I wanted to marry a carpenter. I figured I snag me a handy man, that could build me a house, and all the furniture to put in it. I'm not sure exactly why I aspired to attain this, but it was what I always wanted. Of course love knows no profession and I ended up with an art teacher, who when I met him could barely change a tire, nevermind build me a house.
Over the years, my husband has become more handy than I ever thought possible. Which I am absolutely loving! Last fall he enclosed our screen porch. He got some advice and a bit of help from his brothers, but the majority of the work he did on his own. This was a huge project and he finished it in what I consider record time.. that may also explain why he ended up with 6 stiches in his head..but whatever, the room is spectacular!! I don't know what's sexier than a man who can do things with his hands (besides groping), or a man with a few scars! Especially the ones that were made trying to improve his family's home.. This past week, he finished building a kitchen table. I had my doubts when I saw him out in the yard with what looked like warped boards, and uneven legs... but when he brought it inside, and put it in our kitchen, I wanted to throw him on it and have my way with him! It's so beautiful, and exactly my taste.
He's now talking about building a trundle bed for the boys.. I love that he's found something that he's good at and that he loves to do.. oh, and I finally have my carpenter.. or at least one in training!!