Mother's Day weekend

I can remember being young and knowing that I wanted to be a Mom.  Being the last of 5 children, two of my older siblings started their families while I was in high school.  My Mom watched my oldest sister's children while she worked. 

My sister had two children 15 months apart.  I lived at home while attending a local college.  I would help watch the kids so my Mom could take a break.  They were like my real live dolls.  So I learned how to take care of children early on. 

I was lucky,  I met a wonderful man and we were married.  A few years later, we decided it was time.  Mother nature didn't cooperate very well.  We got discouraged as the months passed with no  luck.  We were finally referred to a reproductive specialist.  There were many tests and procedures.  I didn't have a plan B for having children.  There was no thinking about anything else.  Well, after about 9 LONG months we were finally blessed with two little boys.  Not an easy pregnancy but how awesome that I got not only one but two babies.

At some point during the next few years, I decided that I needed another baby.  We decided to not really try and if it happened then great.  Well, it became problem when it didn't just happen.  So we went back to our special doctor.  And after getting all the prep completed, I ended up pregnant on my own.  It was the best feeling in the world. 

Mother's day is always a special day for me.  I love my job as a Mom.  My boys did such a good job at making the morning special.  Jay was the first one up and cuddled up next to me to wish me a happy Mother's day.  Tee was up next and did the same exact thing.  E was the last one up but followed suit. Then it was card/present time.  The older boys did coupons at school.  Love these!  I need to keep these handy.  I got lots of cards.  I think Tee made 5 on his own.  He brought a plant home from school for me also. 

Next up was breakfast out.  My rule is I don't make meals on Mother's day.  Yes, the day did include enjoying two baseball games but they won both.  We had dinner out.  It was a nice day with minimal Mommy work.

I guess it was a little bit of Mother's day weekend.  We went out to dinner with another couple on Saturday evening.  I made reservations for a place called Volt a month ago.  Yes, reservations are required a month in advance.  Why you ask?  The restaurant owner was on Top Chef.  I don't know much about him, I guess I should have researched prior to going. 

The menu was a bit odd.  You had to do a 4 or 7 course meal.  With the 4 courses, you had a choice in each category.  The waiter had to explain just about everything on the menu.  It was a bit odd.  I am not really even sure what I ate except for the chicken as my main course.  Portions were small.  It was good.  It is certainly not a place you would frequent often, but good for a special occasion.  After our dessert, they brought out more desserts for us.  And they sent up home with coffee cake muffins. 

It was an awesome weekend.

Exhausted

It has been a month since I have last been here.  Yes, a month.  So much has happened in this month.  Let me see if I can catch you up.

14 Years!  Yes, my husband and I celebrated our anniversary last month.  My husband planned a night away for us.  It is unfortunate that we are so busy with kid activities that we left late on Saturday evening and had to come back early on Sunday.   

It was a little comical.  A little while after we left the house, we got a call that one of our smoke detectors was beeping.  I have asked my husband to make it a point to change the batteries every 6 months.  We called a neighbor who changed it for us. 

We checked into a great bed and breakfast.  We did a little walking around.  Well, more than a little as my husband made me hoof it to the restaurant for dinner.  It worked out because I ate way too much.  It was a bit of a walk but a good way to let it digest a bit. 

I turned my phone off at night because I didn't want to hear the ding as emails came in.  I did happen to look at it in the morning and noticed I had a missed call but did not think about it.  Later on I found out that one of the boys opened the door to let the dog out and the alarm went off.  So they tried to call the house, then us and then our neighbor.  It worked out, thank goodness, the police did not show up. 

Next year, yes, there will be a next time, decided to keep him another year, I suggested we do a trip after basketball ends and before baseball starts. 

Baseball!  We are in full swing.  E and Jay have 2 practices a week and a game on Thursdays and a double header on Sundays.  Tee has games on Thursdays and Saturdays.  Thursdays can be tricky trying to get the older boys to an away game and get back in time for Tee's game.  The older boys' team is doing well. 

I organized a Flapjack fundraiser for the boy's baseball team.  Kudos to Applebee's for giving back to the community.  We sell tickets to friends and family....well more friends for us.  Our friends come to the restaurant on our assigned day and they get served by one of the boys.  Of course, parents have to help in the kitchen with getting food on the plates.  It was a nice time and a good way to raise some money.

Auction! My friend and I have worked so hard on planning the auction.  There were two parts to the auction.  The first one was held at the end of April at the church.  We had 50 items to auction.  Every item got a bid.  Unfortunately, not all "winners" stuck around to pay for their item.  I ended up having to track down 21 people.  I met some people at the church and others I ended up delivering to their house.  It was so much work.  It ended up that 3 people did not return my call and we re-auctioned those items.

A week later and just this past Monday was the golf tournament and auction.  All went well until we had winds to content with.  Trying to set up signs was impossible.  We had to move to plan B then plan C.  We ended up taping everything down to the table.  It was so ridiculous.  We had 40 items to auction.  Happy to report that every item had a bid.  And this time I only had to contact 4 people.  I am still in the process of getting payment. 

The auctions went really well.  We were able to raise $6,700 for the county's only homeless shelter.  We were very excited about the outcome.  The two of us put a lot of work into this auction.

School!  There are 4 weeks left in the school year.  I can't believe the boys get out so early in June.  It will definitely be longer summer, which sounds nice at the moment but we will see come July.  Trevor finishes his last year of preschool around the same time.  My little baby is graduating from preschool.

There is so many other things that we have been doing but I will need to update at a different time.  I hope to download pictures soon.

The Marriage Ref

Last year I would watch this show called The Marriage Ref. The show helped couples solve issues. Three comedians would listen to the issue at hand (each couple told their side), make funny comments and then rule with one couple or the other. It was very funny and I really hope it comes back.


The one show I remember was where the husband wanted to write numbers/letters on his socks so that he could keep the pairs together. His point was that he felt they should stay together and the wife refused to assist him in keeping pairs together. Why do I remember this one? I personally thought it was a great idea. So I put initials on the twin’s socks so I could keep them with the right child.

Sometimes I feel like we need a stint on the show to settle some of the disagreements we have in our house. One just happened recently.

The other day my husband got to go to lunch with some of the Oriole players. He purchased some baseballs so that he could get signatures. The destination for the signed balls is in the entertainment center in the “man cave”. Great idea.

But then he pulled out this box of bobble heads, like 8 of them. Honestly, I don’t remember the team, maybe the Capitals. His plan was to put these in his “man cave”. I had to break the news that NO bobble heads would end up on the shelves in the entertainment center.

I won this one and the bobble head have ended up in the boys’ rooms. They are banned from the basement. I wonder how the comedians would vote on this one.

I guess I better get a move on doing something with the many shelves in the entertainment center.

Easter 2012

I have such good memories of the twins when they were young.  My multiples group always held an Easter party with a spectacular egg hunt for the kids.  They always had such a great time.

Unfortunately, due to the older boys' schedule, Tee has not been to an egg hunt.  So this year I decided I would take him to the egg hunt at our church. 



He has such a good time.  He saw many of his friends there.  When I tucked him into bed that night, he said, Mom I had such a good time at the Easter egg hunt.  I was so glad to hear that.

 The bunny worked her magic and left these awesome baskets.  They worked hard getting eggs ready for the hunt.

The first call in the night came from Tee's room calling my name.  It was about 4:30 am.  I quickly told him it was not time and to go back to sleep.  Next call at 4:45.  Then it was the dog that needed to go out.  Tee ended up coming into our room around 6:30 and then shortly after we got the big boys.

Our normal on the step picture.

Looking at the treats!

E showing his book!

The Easter Bunny even brought something for the dog.



The egg hunt in the basement.



It happened that the Orioles suite was open today.  Attending a baseball game is not something that we would typically do on Easter, but decided it would be a good change.  

It was a fun time.

We ended up eating a big lunch so we decided to have our Easter dinner tomorrow evening. 

Spring Break 2012

It is spring break week!  It is nice to have a little break.  Although Tee has preschool through Thursday, it is nice to have a break in the morning routine.  Tee is taking a break from his lunch bunch this week.  So no rush to get lunches made in the morning.  I am taking this opportunity to do a little spring cleaning.  This house definitely needs it. 

I started with my closet this morning.  I was able to get rid of a bag full of clothes.  I am still not done.  I have the need to do a big clean out.  I spent some time this weekend cleaning out the pantry.  It is amazing how I think I may have just purchased something but it has an expiration of 2009.  Yuk!

The last two weekends, the boys have played in baseball tournaments.  The first tournament went ok.  They tied their first game, won the second and lost the third.   This past weekend the boys played so well.  They made it to the championship game.  I know I won't get the specifics right, but the team was just about to be "mercied" out of the game, but they managed to score 8 runs in one inning.  But in the end they weren't able to pull it off.  They lost 14-10.  It was a lot of baseball this weekend.  Unfortunately, I only made it to the last game.  The tournament was about 1 hour from home.  I think the boys are a bit exhausted.

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I sometimes feel that Tee gets the shaft because of our busy schedule.  When the twins were young, we went to an Easter party hosted by the Multiples Club I was in.  It was such a fun time for them.  It was lunch, pictures with the Easter bunny (always a good bunny) and an egg hunt.  They loved it.  How many times has Tee been to an egg hunt?  I am embarrassed to really even put this in writing.  I decided I was going to take him to the hunt at our church.  I am so glad I did.  He has the best time.  He told me that night that the Easter egg hunt was so much fun.  I really do need to make sure I find time to do these little things with Tee. 

Well, I am hoping to be able to re-group this week.  I feel a bit out of control as my house is unorganized.  Then back to focusing on the auction. 

I am sure we will have a few fun excursions this week....not sure what yet.

Our non-winter

Family birthdays are done until the end of the year.  We made it through.  Now we just get to attend birthday parties.  We have a few on the calendar.

We have had lots going on in the last few weeks.  The husband invited himself on a friend's ski trip.  They went out west.  He was out there for 3 days of skiing and had a great time.  The boys missed a ski trip this year.  Next year we will make more of an effort to take them.

This winter has been such a non-winter.  It has been a really mild winter.  I am in no way complaining.  The weather can go from being really cold one day to 60 and sunny the next.  I do have to say that I am a little disappointed that we didn't have one big snow.  Maybe next winter.

I am working on a silent auction committee for my church.  I use the word committe loosely.  My neighbor who has run many a great auction was asked by someone that also attends my church to "help" her with an auction.  And then my neighbor roped me in.  It is really just her and I doing the work.  It is a lot of work, we will be very busy the next couple of months.

The basketball season ended this past weekend.  The last game is an all-star game.  Two players get picked from each team.  Jay was picked from our team along with another boy.  This boy ended up getting in trouble (at home) and he was not able to play.  So they put in E to take his place.  It is such a strange game.  The boys have never even practiced together.  There was no coaching going on for our team.  Our team was beat like 50-20 or something crazy like that.

Now it is time to focus on baseball.  The boys have two tournaments they are playing in this month.  Eight of the boys have come back from last year and they have added 3 other boys.  It will be very interesting to see them all play together. 

Wondering what the summer will be like this year given our non-winter.

The number 5

It is amazing how I can still remember this day 5 years ago.  I remember I had an awful night's sleep.  I woke up in the morning and didn't feel well at all.  I hesitated taking the twins to preschool that day because I felt so horrible.

And that is when it all started.  My contractions started and I lost the mucus plug.  But I was going no where until my legs were shaved.

I called my husband, who had taken his car to the dealership and was at work.  He got a ride to the dealership and came home to pick me up.  Luckily, my doctor's office was close to our home and the office was connected to the hospital. 

I had a scheduled c-section set for March 15th.  This was 4 weeks early.  Not how I planned for it to happen but he was coming ready or not.

That day our family became complete. 



We celebrated Tee's 5th birthday at Pump it Up.  He was so excited to have his party there.

 We invited his preschool class along with some other friends.  A good time had by all!

 He wanted a hot wheels cake.  I was disappointed when the place I went to didn't have the template.  So the next best thing was a race track and we put hot wheel cars on top.

 Cake time.  He had a hard time blowing out those candles.

A family photo!  Love those boys!

No, this is not trash but the presents Tee received.  That would be two bags.  

Momma and her boys.

Daddy and his boys.

Tee had a great time.  He is very blessed to have so many friends and family that joined him on his big day.

My Babies turned 10

It seems so hard for me to believe that my boys are 10 years old.  I can't believe how quickly the time has gone. 

As I mentioned, I finally got the boys to agree to a dodge ball party.  The party was held at an indoor place which also has batting cages.  The boys practice baseball at this place during the winter. 

The boys invited 12 kids and every single one of them was able to attend.  I was a little worried that they were going to get bored with the dodge ball after a while.  The boys played for 1 hour and then we took a break for pizza and cake.  Then the boys went right back to dodge ball.

The boys had a blast.  The refs were awesome.  They kept changing up the game.  So for one game you would maybe use your non-dominant hand and the next you would be on your knees. 

The boys!

I think this was Army style, if your leg gets hit you have to hop.

Jay spent a bit of time over on the sidelines.

I purchased 2 cakes just because I thought they needed to have store bought cakes.  I made dirt cake by request.  The dirt cakes was gone, these cakes were taken back home.

 E did not want to have to blow out his candles.  I did not give him any choice.

Jay's turn.  I always make sure I have 2 cakes.  We sing happy birthday to each one and always E first since he was born first.

Even though we had some issues prior to the party, I think the boys (all of them) had a fabulous night.

The boys each had one friend spend the night.  We rented a movie for them and then it was bedtime.  They slept in the basement and we had no issues. 

Switching gears to get ready for another birthday party......

Confused

The day started out pretty well but as the day progressed I started to get more and more annoyed. 

After I picked up Tee from preschool, I let him play on the playground for a while with one of his friends.  The Mom and I were talking about what we feel is missing from the preschool.  She said let's see what they brought home today.  There was a note in the folder talking about Valentine's Day.  Valentine's day falls on a Tuesday so when would you expect the kids would celebrate?  I would think on Tuesday, but the teacher wants to have the party on Friday the 17th.  What would be the point?  The issue is that the public school are off that day and more than likely Tee won't be in school.  I was so upset that I marched back into school and spoke to the director and asst director.  I explained the situation and asked them if they could remedy.  I certainly don't want to have him miss the party but why would you not celebrate on the day.

The boys have a birthday tomorrow.  We debated on how to celebrate because they did not want to do the same kind of party.  I am not ready to have two separate parties at this point.  Since I am the planner it does have to be convenient for me.  So we settled on a dodge ball party.  The boys were told that they could invite 5 friends.  They were having a hard time and we spent some time working on their list. 

E decided to not invite one of his good friends.  This friend tends not to do well with lots of boys.  We really didn't think that dodge ball would be his thing.  Well, the other day, E came home telling me he felt so bad that he didn't invite him.  There was a friend who was going around telling people he was invited to my kid's birthday party.  I felt bad for E.  We talked and I decided I would call his Mom and let her know the situation.  She was ok with it and her son has decided he will join us.

And if that was not enough.  One of Jay's friends is a little upset he is not invited.  One of the boys invited doesn't like this other boy and keeps reminding him that he is not invited..  I feel terrible because I made him invite this not so nice boy.  He claims to be his friend and I just didn't understand how he could not invite him. 

I think parties may be a thing of the past.  I just can't stand all of this nonsense that goes on.

Hoping for a better day tomorrow!