Explorations

What do you know, if you ignore your supposed to be napping crying toddler, he may just go to sleep. And that he did. Most days I don't mind if he doesn't nap. No nap days means an early to bed night which gives me a break at night. Of course, dealing with the night time whininess is sometimes unbearable.

Tee loves having a bath at night and he also likes to play in the tub. After he is bathed, I let him play for a little while alone. Now don't get all over me because I stay upstairs and constantly check on him. I use this time to fold laundry or clean up the mess that seems to overtake my house on a daily basis.

One night, Tee was calling me because he said he had to go poopy. I thought it was unusual because he seems to be fairly regular and doesn't typically go at night. The second night was a repeat of the first. The third night my husband bathed and watched Tee in the bath. Tee ended up pooping a little in the bath which again is very odd for him. I finally figured it out by the fourth night when I bathed him. As I was bathing him, he was exploring one of his many orifices on the southern part of his body. That was a fun explanation of why we don't put our finger there. He actually repeats the conversation for me a couple of times a day when he is sitting on the potty. At least he listens.

Another Birthday

I am not the type of person that likes to be the center of attention. I would much rather hide out and let others shine through. A lot of times I feel that way about my birthday. But I am getting better with celebrating my special day.

The day got off to a shaky start. Jay had gotten in trouble on Friday night. He thought he was losing the game we were playing and got an attitude. After many warnings, he was sent to his room for the night by his Dad. Did you get the "by his Dad" part. Fast forward to the morning and I got a birthday card from him in which he ripped and put black crayon all over. Lovely!

As I was opening my gifts, Jay had another attitude going so I sent him back to his room. Really all I wanted for my birthday was for the boys to get along. Some days are so tiring dealing with all of the bickering that goes on. The boys ended up being fine most of the day especially when I told them that they had to go to their Dad for everything.

My gifts were very nice. I got snow boots, snow pants, waterproof gloves, undergarments and socks. Do you see the theme here? Why would I need all this stuff? We are going skiing this weekend and my husband felt like I needed to be prepared. Prepared I am. I am not sure I will ski but we are going tubing. And yes honey I love my very thoughtful gifts.

In the evening, we went with our neighbors to my favorite restaurant. I was so looking forward to the meal all week. It was fabulous. After dinner, we came home and had cake from one of my favorite places. I wasn't a huge fan of the red velvet cake but it is the thought that counts.

Jay's Debut

Last year, EE has his art debut and I wrote about it here. I think Jay was a little jealous at the time. But we all went and looked at EE's work.

I was so excited the other day when I got a postcard saying that Jay's work had been chosen for display at the County Education center. He had a grin on his face that was priceless.

The opening night was last Wednesday, which was not the greatest timing for my husband due to work but he made sure to be home so we could go as a family.

The theme was Zoom. Not sure what that means. But Jay did a piece called "Zoom on Fish".

We met Jay's art teacher and she only had good things to say about him. Always nice to hear that your child behaves.


Jay in front of his work.


Another piece of artwork that we will cherish.

Preschool once again

I can't believe that it is already time to think about registering for preschool again. I did a lot of researching last year but 2 year old programs are hard to find in the area. Most programs begin with 3 year olds but only run for 2 1/2 hours. I would like to have a 3 day program that last at least 3 hours.

I love Tee's current preschool. The teachers are great and the families are nice. He has a great time there. The preschool is a little out of my way. Most of the place I go are in the opposite direction of his preschool. His preschool starts at 9:30 (a little late for me) and goes for 2 1/2 hours (not long enough). So as much as I like the program I feel like I need to find something else that meets my needs a little more.

On Monday, I visited an open house for the Catholic school that is literally right behind our neighborhood. The program goes from 9-1 and runs like most preschools with the exception of Spanish lessons. Of course, the kids wear uniforms. There is never a need to get out of your car for drop off or pick up as they assist in both. As you could probably guess this program is a bit pricey.

There is a waiting list of 1 person right now. After discussing with my husband, we thought that it would not hurt to turn in the application with the fee. Contracts are mailed out in March. Once they determine that someone will not attend, they will start calling on the waiting list names. The application threw me for a loop with the questions, some were check the box and others were written. I felt like I was getting Tee ready for college. The first question was to describe what your child is into. The second was what you hope that you child would get out of the school's program. Definitely a little hard to answer. The last question was basically skills or talents in which could be used by the school.

I have another option to consider as well. The church we have been attending will start up their preschool once again. Last year when they moved to their new location they did not have enough money to continue with the education wing of the church. The wing is now almost complete and preschool will be in session beginning with the next school year. The program will run from 9:15 until 11:45 with an option of lunch bunch until 12:45. The tuition is more affordable and still close enough to the house. This is definitely my first choice. I do worry about the possibility of there not being enough of an interest and this falling through. Can this happen? I don't know but I would like to have something to fall back on just in case.

I am sure he will be happy wherever he attends next school year. My hope is to keep him at the same school for the next 2 preschool years. EE and Jay has such a wonderful preschool experience and I am sure Tee will as well.

The long weekend recap

1. The boys have been playing basketball for the past few weekends. This year has been a little different than last year. Last year they were the tallest on just about all of the teams and they didn't play real games. This year there are many kids who are much taller and more aggressive than mine. In fact, I think there are a few kids who are too aggressive and maybe just a bit too rough on the court. I get the sense that EE is having a difficult time. I think he feels a bit intimidated when he gets the ball and is immediately surrounded by several kids. Jay has scored in a few of the games and seems to do a little better under pressure.
2. The boys practiced baseball this past weekend also. There are still a few spots left on the team so another tryout was held this past weekend. I am thinking about getting them into a clinic for either pitching or hitting. I believe we will begin playing sometime in March. Yikes, I am sure it will still be chilly out.
3. Jay had his party this past weekend, the one where he was not able to spend the night. He spent the day saying he did not want to go but we explained he committed to going. EE ended up regretting he said no to going. My husband picked Jay up at 9pm. He said the parents had people over and looked like they were about to have dinner. He also said there were a few beers out. I found it interesting when I walked Jay up to the house, there was one lady who introduced herself to the parents. I can't imagine not having met the parents but allowing your child to spend the night. Maybe I am a little old fashioned.
4. On Monday, my neighbor had us over for lunch. She had a few Mom (and kids as school was out)in order to discuss our work on the school auction. I was not up for the mayhem. Wow those kids (not mine or hers) were wild. So glad to have Tee as an excuse to bolt.
5. The boys each invited a friend over Monday afternoon. As I was standing outside talking to one of the Moms, the boy who always rides his bike down showed up. I told him that each of the boys already had a friend over. Including him would have changed the dynamics too much and I had already had my fill, read number 4. Not two minutes after I walk in the house I get a call from this child's Mom. She wanted to know what the deal was in an almost insinuating tone. I didn't feel like I owed her any explanation. But I did say that each child already had a friend over. She had just wondered because one of the friends over was a friend and close neighbor of hers. Some nerve.
6. I have lost some weight over the last 5 or so months. My youngest is only almost 3 and I thought it was about time. I was also tired all the time. So I started eating a little healthier, cut out sweets (although I do indulge sometimes) and increased my workout intensity. This is a life style change (ok I watch a little too much tv, Biggest loser). I feel like I now weigh what I should. The nervy Mom in number 5 has mentioned my weight loss several times. She has been working out but has not lost any weight. I run into her at the gym today and she got on the stair stepper right next to me. She turns to me and say how much weight have you lost and I told her. She asked me for the second or third time if I was done losing weight. Yes, I am not looking to lose any more weight but I will continue to do what I need to in order to stay healthy. I am not sure why that is such a hard concept.

It may be bitterly cold but at least the schools are hot

Maryland Ranked No. 1 In Public School Quality
POSTED: 6:37 pm EST January 13, 2010
AS REPORTED ON WWW.WBALTV.COM

The quality of Maryland's public schools has once again been placed at the top of national rankings by Education Week, the nation's leading education newspaper.

The newspaper put Maryland at the top of the list, with the nation's only B+ average.

The study looked at data in six critical categories over the last two years, including student performance, state accountability and teacher effectiveness.

New York and Massachusetts followed Maryland in the rankings with B grades. According to the report, most states received grades of C or less.

The state reached the top spot in 2009, as well.

A mirror

At times there is familiarity in my kids actions and words. It is not a good familiarity but none the less there. My initial reaction is one of disbelief but it then all comes back like a bad dream.

Some days I feel like I am looking in a mirror but don't like what I see. My kids have certain behaviors that were just like mine growing up. As much as I have tried to not see it, it is there.

Jay has always had issues with clothes. He had a problem transitioning from summer to winter and vice versa. Jeans seem to be the worst article of clothing he has. They never feel right and he just gets frustrated. The tags in shirts always seem to bother him also. If I can get him to leave the article of clothing on he tends to forget about its uncomfortableness.

I have memories of my childhood and both of these were issues for me. I think I was in high school when I finally found a pair of jeans that fit my body and didn't bother me.

EE is a picky eater. Honestly, one out of three is not bad. He likes to eat fairly simple meals and he definitely is NOT into trying anything new. He would rather eat at home than go out to eat.

I make one meal for my family dinners. The only choice you have is to eat or not eat. I will not prepare 3 different meals to make everyone happy. This is the best advice I ever got from my pediatrician. I don't make gourmet meals that a child won't like. My meals are simple and the rest of the family typically loves what I make.

This past weekend, we took the kids out to a Japanese Steakhouse for dinner with our neighbors. I thought that it would be a fun experience for the kids. This is not somewhere we would normally take them. First of all, too expensive and secondly they would prefer to go somewhere else a little more simple. We had not been to a restaurant like this in years and were looking forward to it.

We placed our order and got simple food for the kids. Tee would share a meal with his brothers and me. Jay wanted the shrimp and we ordered EE the chicken.

Although he seemed to enjoy the chef's performance, EE spent most of the night sitting in his seat with attitude. He didn't touch his salad or vegetables. He did have fun catching the chicken the chef was throwing in his mouth. But he said the chicken on his plate was not like the chicken he caught in his mouth. There was no sauce on the chicken the chef used to have us catch in our mouth. He did not eat anything at the restaurant.

We got home and the first thing he said was that he was hungry. Our response was too bad. He was warned at the restaurant that this was dinner and nothing else would be offered. I did feel a little bad about making him go to bed hungry but we had to stick to our rule.

My response at times tends to be one of frustration. I know with time they will outgrow some of their behaviors, but they will probably be replaced by different ones and those may not be so endearing either. But I would have it any other way!

Not ready for that

Before the Christmas break, Jay got an invitation to a friend's birthday party in January. The party is a sleep over at the boy's house. The father was very kind and invited EE as well.

Jay was excited about the invitation but I made it very clear that his father and I would have to discuss the slumber part of the party. I really had determined that the answer would be no sleep over but felt like my husband should feel the same way.

At the time, I suggested that maybe he would go over for a little while and then we could pick him up late. I think he was a little disappointed at first but over the following weeks I think he changed his mind about wanting to stay the night.

Jay isn't the best sleeper to begin with. He wakes up almost every night in the middle of the night to use the bathroom. He is normally the first one up sometimes around 5 am. Some days it is obvious that he is tired.

EE decided he doesn't want to go to the party but will not give me any reason as to why he doesn't want to go. It seems like a battle of my friend or your friend these days.

I called the Dad this past week and asked him if it was ok if Jay attended the party but we pick him up around 9pm. I explained how we were not ready for him to spend the night out just yet. He understood completely and said there was someone else attending whose parents were doing the same thing. I never said anything about EE but made sure to emphasize that Jay was very excited about the party.

I hope it turns out ok.

Metal is very expensive

I have known for a long time that Jay was going to need some work done in his mouth at some point. The dentist would look at his mouth and tell me that eventually he would need to be evaluated by an Orthodontist. Jay's upper jaw sits on the inside of his lower jaw. Could it have been caused by his thumb sucking as a child, maybe. We will really never know. One thing I did know was that it would be fixed.

He went for an evaluation a few months back. The Ortho suggested that he get an expander placed on the roof of his mouth (luckily one that I don't have to crank) and have 4 braces put on his front teeth to straighten the out. His front teeth reminded me of mine, so incredibly crooked. My first question was, will doing this now prevent him from needing braces? The answer was "not necessarily".

On Friday, I took Jay in for his expander and braces. He was such a trooper.



He choose Midnight Glow as his color. Isn't it cute? I wonder what color he will choose next time he goes in.

Friday afternoon, Jay showed me that one of his brackets (the part glued to his tooth) popped loose. He had to go back Saturday morning to have it fixed.

He has had some pain as expected with so much trauma to his mouth but has done pretty well. We are having to watch what he eats and cut some foods a little smaller than normal.

He will have these on for about 1 year.

New Year - clean closets

I am not making any new years resolutions this year really. I feel like when you make them you rarely stick to them so why bother.


Every year I do kick into high gear and get organized and this year has been no different. I still have some work to do but I feel so good that my closets, every. single. one. of. them. has been cleaned out.


It started Christmas day, when I went up to my room and went through every article of clothing I own. I decided if I had not worn it within the last 2 years then I didn't need it. I had about 4 bags of clothes and another large bag of trash when I was done. It took a few days but my husband finally got the bug and he did the same clean out. I can't tell you how wonderful it feels to be rid of all the stuff we have held onto for so long.

The boys' closet needed a good clean out as well. I have been telling my husband for some time that the boys' closets are not functional. I knew what I wanted but didn't see anything that was reasonably priced. My husband saw an ad in the large home improvement store ad and it was exactly what I wanted for fairly inexpensive.


Their closets are fairly long. There was one shelf on the top and one bar. I tend to hang all of their shirts to make it easier for them to see while they choose. Otherwise, they would have them all messed up in their drawer every morning.

So my husband started one Saturday morning. It took him a lot longer that he expected. There was a lot of cutting (the shelf), repairing and painting. He is incredibly handy to have around the house. The next day he tackled the other closet and it didn't take him as long since he had a few short cuts.

I absolutely love them. I can now hang up all their shirts and their long sleeve shirts are within reach. I also have 6 shelves to place some of their "stuff" in. See for yourself.


And as you can see by the full laundry bag I guess I better get started.

Better late

It snowed during the night last night. We woke up to the beautiful soft snow. We probably got 2 to 3 inches. Nothing like the 2 feet we got before Christmas.

The first thing I did was turn on the tv to figure out the school status. In luck, we would only have a 2 hour delay. Right now we have to make up 3 snow days and I am hoping we can hold steady.

The boys got to hang out until 10:30. I shoveled the driveway, which is normally done by my husband. We don't get much sun on our side of the street so our snow does not melt so quickly.

So yes I am glad they at least went in late vs. not at all. It is like my sister-in-laws birthday card. It did not go out on time but certainly she would appreciate it any time right? I wouldn't ever send it a month late or anything like that because at that point I would just keep the card until next year.

So I want to wish my sister-in-law a very happy birthday! I hope those boys make the day very special for you. And this message will be on time.

Not the best way to start the new year

It figures that on one of the coldest days up here that our heat would go out on the second level. Our bedrooms are on the second level. I figured it out about 1 pm this afternoon and by the time I called a company they were booked for the day. They will come out tomorrow from 8-5. That is not a typo. I have an entire day window. They will call me prior to coming out and give me time to get home to meet them.

We are very fortunate that we have a gas fireplace in our bedroom. We will keep that on to ensure we all stay warm.

I hope this problem is a small one that can be fixed quickly.

A long drive to the musuem

My friend has been wanting to see the Princess Di exhibit since about November. She had plans to go several times but something always foiled the plans. If you are like me I did not know that there was such an exhibit yet alone in Philadelphia.

We drove early Saturday morning. The drive is 2 hours long. We were able to get our tickets and get in line to walk through the exhibit fairly quickly. We heard from the security guard that the exhibit has been packed every day. I think they will be happy that today is the last day.

It was an interesting exhibit. There were many items from her youth. The most amazing part of the exhibit was her wedding dress and many other dresses she wore throughout the years. The dresses definitely got prettier as the years went by. The wedding dress was a very simple dress and it cost $1,900 us dollars.

A big part of her life was the organizations she worked with. I believe there were 6 organizations. Amazing how she was so involved.

I came away thinking that she was a very simple person with a huge heart and taken too early. I am glad that I was able to see the exhibit even though it was not on my "bucket" list of to dos.

Gadget boy and his birthday

This was the first year in a long time that I did not feel the stress of my husband's birthday being on New Year's Eve. I prepared and got all of his presents prior to Christmas.

For Christmas, I got an itouch and a running watch which tracks not only my heart rate but my pace and distance. My husband has had a great time setting up and playing with my gadgets. Yes, it is no secret that he loves having gadgets, the latest and greatest.

My husband loves to read. I got him a Kindle. Instead of spending our money on hard cover books he can just pay to download them on his Kindle. I think he likes his new gadget.

We hosted a dinner with two neighbor friends on NYE night. It was a really fun evening. We all probably ate and drank too much but we were having the best time. For the first time ever, the two older boys were able to stay up until midnight. They have been trying to recoup ever since.

We are looking forward to a great New Year and wish the best to all in 2010!