Hair Gel

Now that I have a job, John has to do the morning routine. Let me re-phrase that...John has to drop the kids at school. By the time he usually rolls out of bed, I'm showered and ready for work, the kids are dressed for school and eating breakfast, lunches have been made and are already packed in their backpacks. I'm not patting myself on the back, all moms get it, we just do what needs to be done. But I have to admit, I find it amusing when after I leave, things go awry. I enjoy that he has a taste of chaos that is parenthood. And this morning Camryn indeed threw him a curve ball.

I left my picture perfect children eating their waffles at the breakfast bar, thinking his morning was going to be a breeze. The rest of the story is as told to me by my husband:

After getting Dylan on the bus, he came in to get Camryn's shoes and coat on. When he looked at her he could tell she had done something to her hair. It was slicked back and shiny.

"Camryn, did you find mommy's hair gel?" (Now anyone that knows me, knows I don't own hair gel...I'm lucky if it's washed and blow dried!)

"No daddy, I used my syrup!" He stood in disbelief and then panicked when he saw the clock. There was no time to give her a bath and get her re-dressed in time for school. So he handled it the old fashion way. He dunked her head under the kitchen sink. As he tried to rub the rapidly hardening syrup out of her hair she squirmed with discomfort.

"Daddy, I don't like this kind of shower...stop getting me all wet."

He did the best he could and hurried out the door to school. I was not hiding my amusement when he relayed the story over the phone. It's these moments that he will remember forever and I'm glad they happen to him.

However, I was embarrassed when I picked her up from school and discovered her hair matted to her forehead with a light brown hue. But it didn't inhibit her from having fun in the least, so all was well...but she did have a proper shower shortly after I picked her up.

Valentine Cards

Every year we scour Family Fun magazine for the cutest Valentine card ideas. And this year's winners are:

The Caped Crusader that says: You're a super valentine.


Dylan drew, traced and cut out all the capes. But after he finished writing about the fifth one he asked: "Mom, why can't we just buy valentines like all my friends?"

Camryn's were a little more work for me...ok all she did was pick the flavor lollipop but aren't they cute!!

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Party Foul

Dylan was invited to a good friends birthday party to watch Star Wars Episode 1 in 3D. He absolutely wanted to go but had reservations about the movie. He scares easily at movies! The darkness of the theater, extreme volume and anticipation of what is going to happen has his heart beating a mile a minute.
Luckily, the mom is a good friend of mine and I alerted her to the potential disaster on her hands. He was confident the day of and assuring me that even if he was scared he wasn't going to let anyone know. I was worried he would be terrified inside while putting on a front for his friends. So my friend promised to look for signs of his discomfort and I left him at the theater knowing she would call me if I needed to come get him.
Then I proceeded to go to the store and upgrade my phone....not realizing it would be out of service for almost an hour while it updated all the information from my old phone. What kind of mom leaves her number in case her son needs her and then basically shuts her phone off? Panic started to set in while I anxiously watched the green bar slowly fill as the updating progressed on my phone. The absence of any voicemails or texts once the phone finally turned on relieved my stress. I did show up early to pick him up from the party and am happy to report he did great. He asked a lot of questions and even covered his eyes at one point but made it through and was glad to be a part of the party. Dilemma avoided!

Snow!!!

I'm the first one to complain about winters in New England but due to the lack of snow this year I was actually excited to finally get some. Although the storm was a small one, the inclement driving conditions canceled our two birthday parties and basketball practice. Turning our crazy Saturday into one where we would not even get out of our pajamas. Except to change into our snow clothes of course!!!

So the weekend started with the brightness of snow falling outside and the quietness that comes along with it. We lounged around, made cinnamon buns for a late breakfast and played some board games. The boys dedicated some time to playing Skylanders, not sure who enjoys it more, Dylan or John.
And Camryn and I did her sticker book and tutu kit from Christmas.


After lunch, we bundled up and headed outside! The snow was an incredibly soft powder, so snowman making and snowball fights were out. Luckily snow angels work in just about any type of snow!


Our yard is mainly flat, and our vow not to leave the house today kept us from venturing around town for a better hill. So what's wrong with going off the cliff in the back woods???


At least we were responsible parents and removed any loose sticks that were pointing up and told them to abandon their sled if they were headed for a tree!

I'm pretty sure Bromley enjoyed her first big snow!

But I soon found her in the sandbox, longing for summer...

Hot chocolate and a movie had us all cozy on the couch. Dinner, dessert and books followed and the kids were zonked....Dad fell asleep during story time too!!

With the roads cleared, we headed to my parents house early Sunday morning for some real sledding!
It's hard enough to get the kids all dressed but now with Bromley around, it's extremely hard to keep them dressed!!Snow fun was had by all and it was certainly a weekend for the books...and the blog!

Early Acceptance

I usually like to keep my posts light and fun. Just stories I want to remember to tell my kids when they get bigger. This one is going to be a little heavier but something I hope I won't need to remind them of. Something I hope is already working it's way into their little spongy brains.

Isn't it amazing how kids really don't notice differences or make judgments of others at this age? Unfortunately, those kind of things are taught to them. And twice this week, I have been impressed by my children and their acceptance of everyone.

On Sunday, I asked Dylan if he knew why he had the day off from school on Monday. Kudos to his teacher, because he in fact knew exactly why. He proceeded to tell me all about Martin Luther King Jr. How he was a black man who wanted everyone to be able to do the same things. He wished people would fight with their words and not hands or guns. How he had a dream and because of that dream was shot by a white man. Dylan produced a piece of paper from his backpack that illustrated his own dream: "For everyone to like everyone the way they are!" And I'm going to hold him to that one!

On a separate note: Camryn has been learning about differences at school too. They started with physical differences: eye color, hair color and skin color. Moved on to foods, holidays and traditions. Then began talking about family make-up: brothers, sisters, divorced parents, step-parents. And again kudos to her school, they included gay couples.

This weekend Camryn attended a birthday party for a school friend and I had the pleasure of meeting a lot of the parents. When Camryn introduced me to one of her favorite playmates, she followed it with: "and these are her mommies!" Just like that! Matter-of-factly, no judgment, not even any questions. Just as it should be. In turn, we hit it off and are arranging a playdate soon.

I'm proud of them and will strive to keep them this way forever. Only if that childhood mentality of pure acceptance was contagious. What a better place.....

Girl Talk

Camryn and I had some one on one time this weekend. Of course, we did the obvious thing: had a tea party dressed to the nines! On special occasions like this, I even let her put actual "tea" (i.e. water) in her teapot and bring some snacks up to her room. She can pour til her heart is content or until I have to go to the bathroom whichever comes first.

But what made this tea party blog worthy was the content of our conversation. Before I reveal our chatty gossip (and indeed it was just that) I must put a disclaimer on it. This is not a reflection of what happens when I am on the phone with, in the presence of or at "tea parties" with my real friends (you know who you are and do not need the reassurance!)

So here we are in our fanciest dresses, extravagant jewels and matching teacups. We are both sitting in our Pottery Barn Anywhere Chairs, legs crossed, pinkies up when Camryn initiates conversation by saying:

"So mom, lets talk about our friends!"

If I had tea in my mouth at that moment it would have come flying out. I like to think she meant it in the innocent way that a 3 year old would. But I couldn't help to flash forward down the road when she is actually sitting around with her friends over tea...juice...ok martinis and doing just that. The dreaded girl gossip and talking behind each others backs! I'm so not ready to do through that again.

We did in fact talk about her friends...who she played with at school, what color shoes they wore on Friday and how much she was looking forward to seeing them on the next school day. Let's just hope girl talk can stay positive throughout her teenage years!

Car Conversation

In the car this weekend Dylan asked to play with my I-phone. I hesitated and asked:

"Doesn't playing my phone when riding in the car make you carsick?"

To ensure his Plants vs Zombie screen time, he of course denied such allocations.

But my droopy-eyed daughter confirmed:

" Riding in the car makes me car tired!"