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Friday, September 25, 2009

Ice cream is my kryptonite!

I'm defenseless against it! I can not say no to ice cream! It doesn't matter what flavor or what time of day it is, it is an essential part of my every day life! I eat pretty healthy all day long and then crash and burn at night but I can't help myself.

A half gallon of ice cream in my house is about 4 servings! I've tried weening myself off the stuff. I started putting it in little ramekins instead of huge cereal bowls but I just find myself filling it up twice. I don't put it on my grocery list but its as if my cart is on auto pilot and I somehow end up in that aisle anyway. One year I went so far as to give it up for lent. I hit rock bottom when I found myself eating an ice cream-less sundae of whipped cream, hot fudge, nuts and sprinkles.

After I put the kids to bed at night, it's all I can think about. I can feel the magnetic pull to the freezer all the way from the couch. It's my own personal bowl of euphoria. With each creamy bite of frozen deliciousness I can feel the craziness of the day melting away.

So superhero, I am not. But I rather sit on the couch with Ben & Jerry then fly around in a cape with Superman any day!

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Leaving our mark

My grandfather built my parents house that I grew up in and in my mind that simple fact made it more homey. There is a piece of paper with my sister and my hand prints on it built into the wall in the front hallway. It made me feel like I would always be a part of that house and somehow those prints sealed my memories into the walls.

So when the builder asked if I wanted to put the kids prints in our new addition, I didn't hesitate for a second. When the time came Dylan was at school and Camryn was sleeping so as not to miss the opportunity to claim this as their childhood home, I grabbed a stick and etched their names into the floor.

It felt so official. Like this simple act was proclaiming that this was our home where the kids would grow up and so many memories would be made. We were here to stay!

And then Callie reminded us that it already was our home with plenty of memories already tucked inside it's walls. And apparently she wanted to leave her mark too!

Monday, September 21, 2009

The wife of a cook

People always comment to me about how great it must be to be married to a cook. They imagine having a live-in chef, delicious food and no work required. I usually flash the obligatory smile and nod in agreement. But let me give you 5 reasons why they are completely wrong:

5) The hours: other than scrambling a few eggs and popping toast into the toaster oven, my husband isn't home for any other meal, let only cooking it for me!

4) When he is home to cook, he cooks like he is in the restaurant with staff to clean up the mess after him...guess who the staff is at home??

3) On the rare occasion that we go out to dinner together, he lets me know half way through the meal that not only could he have made the dish better but for less money

2) I do most of the cooking at home anyway, but if he is around he has to look over my shoulder, add ingredients that aren't even in the recipe or at least stir something even though I'm perfectly capable

And the #1 reason it's not so fun being married to a cook:

When I do make something that is absolutely delicious, everyone I serve it to automatically gives him all the credit and would never believe I made it!

Construction Begins!

We've been talking about it for 2 years. Should we stay or should we go? After 6 months on the market with no offers, 2 architects and 5 sets of plans later, construction has finally begun!!!!

I'm so anxious to get things going that I encourage demolition. In order to pour the foundation we had to tear down a part of my new deck but I found myself cheering as it came down. My yard is torn up and we have a permanent mound of dirt in the driveway but I have my eye on the prize.

My husband now has a honey-do list that will last him at least 6 months. Dylan loves nothing more than dirt, tools and big machines so his life couldn't be any better. Even Camryn is partaking in the fun.

The deck comes down


The general contractors hard at work






Dylan in his glory



So far so good. Other than the constant mud prints throughout my house, I have no complaints. But this is only the beginning, the roof is getting ripped up, walls are getting torn down, feeding kids without a working kitchen...but I'm so excited about the finished product that I say, "Bring it on!"

Famous last words I'm sure.

Thursday, September 17, 2009

A Fun Fall Day

I love New England in the Fall. The crispness in the air, the changing of the leaves, snuggling back into your jeans and hoodies. Activities like apple picking and local fairs make Fall fun for the kids too!

Today we went to a local orchard and had a ball. There was a huge sunflower maze that you needed a map to navigate through. Dylan took the lead and the rest of us were just trying to keep up.


I think we ran into ever dead-end possible. But I think Dylan's goal was to stay in there as long as possible. It's amazing we ever got him out!
Then we took a tractor ride to the apple orchards to pick our own. Dylan wanted to pick the highest ones that he could reach.

And Camryn didn't quite understand why we didn't want the ones off the ground in our bag. We definitely owed more to the "Sin Bin" then any other family there.



You would have never known that Camryn had eaten any apples while picking once we got into the orchard store. She made a beeline for the bakery, grabbed onto a package of Apple Cider Donuts and wouldn't let go. Seriously, she wouldn't let up her grip even for the cashier to ring them up. Honestly, it wasn't a purchase anyone was too upset about but my husband and I barely got any!

So when I'm complaining about how much I hate New England in the winter, someone remind me of how much I actually do enjoy the changing of the seasons!

Crazy for Cakes

This weekend was Dylan's 4th birthday party. Every year I pick a theme of something that he's interested in and try to carry it throughout the event. And every year I make myself crazy about his cake. I'm a huge Ace of Cakes fan and somehow think that by watching the show I'm able to create such masterpieces. And then when they don't look anything like them, I become frustrated.

Not only do I have no experience or training in cake making/decorating but my kids don't like real cake, they prefer ice cream cake. So I'm limited in the carving and shaping department. And fondant and ice cream don't make for a very good combination. But all things aside, I think I'm getting better every year!

Here is the progression of my cakes:

Dylan's 1st birthday cake: supposed to be a turtle made out of ice cream, no one at the party could tell what it was2nd birthday: He was obsessed with Cars, hence the race track (this was before I discovered fondant)


3rd birthday: John Deere party


Dylan's 4th birthday cake
Dylan's 4th birthday party cake: he loves to fish with his dad
My personal favorite: Camryn's 1st birthday ladybug cake

I think I'm improving each year! My next adventure is to make a topsy-turvy cake and REALLY drive myself crazy!

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Posted too soon!

Pre-school drop-off today managed to make my last post null and void. So please disregard it or refer to paragraph two for a more accurate description of today's affair!

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Back to school jitters

All summer long I've been dreading the day that Dylan goes back to school. Not only does it mark the end of summer and our fun-filled days together but Dylan didn't separate well last year. It was actually the worst case scenario for dropping your child at school.

Fighting him to get dressed to go, carrying his flailing body to the car, tearing him out of his carseat, hysterics the entire walk to the classroom and teacher peeling him from my arms while he screamed: "Mommy don't leave me!" And this went on for 2 days a week for at least 3 weeks straight. It took everything in me not to just home school him.

But when I picked him up he had had such a great time I knew I was doing the right thing by leaving him there. It got better after awhile. I would find notes in his backpack that read: I miss you mom but I'm staying happy. Or when I dropped him off he would say: "Look mom, no tears!"

Then Camryn began to be more active and need more of my attention and he felt like he was missing out on things that were going on at home while he was at school. I reassured him that Camryn napped and I did boring housework for the whole time he was gone. So we ended the school year on a positive note.

All summer long I'd been prepping him about a new classroom, with new teachers and friends and he just didn't want any part of it. So you can understand why I had a bad case of the back to school jitters.

On Monday I pulled into the parking lot ready to have my heart ripped from my chest while my little man screamed for me while I abandoned him. But to my delight, he hung up his backpack, went to find his nametag and never looked back!!!

It was amazing and I'm so proud of him! So the cord has been severed and now I get to watch him soar!