Anyone who has kids of both sexes can tell you there is a big difference between sons and daughters, but apparently this is lost on Liam.
This week when I got Liam out of bed, I told him,"Liam you are very special to me because you are my only son."
He looked back at me, and without a hint of sadness asked,"Is Megan dead?"
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Saying The Unexpected
There are some things I just NEVER would have guessed I'd be saying:
"Liam, don't lick the windows!"
"Liam, No! You can't vacuum my hair!"
"Liam, don't drink the water off of the shower floor!"
And that was just this week!
"Liam, don't lick the windows!"
"Liam, No! You can't vacuum my hair!"
"Liam, don't drink the water off of the shower floor!"
And that was just this week!
Exploring Salem
Since the beginning of September, I am working four days a week with Thursdays off. This has been a fun way to get in a weekday field trip with the kids.
My first Thursday off, we, um, explored auto-mechanics together as Mac had to jump start the car after Megan's assessment and then take it to the shop for a new battery.
But my second week off, we made our annual pilgrimage to Bauman Farms. I thought this was a genius way to avoid the weekend crowds and indeed the place was empty. What I didn't quite know was that several of the attractions are only open on weekends. Oops - so no bouncy house or zip lines for us! But there were still plenty of doughnuts and fresh apple cider, which are the real reasons we(I) go to Bauman Farms anyway!
And then this past Thursday, we spent a couple of hours at Wings of Wonder, a butterfly (and reptile) exhibit in Independence.
As an added bonus, we got out for another outing today (Saturday): our first movie in a theater as a family to pass the wet and rainy day. Northern Lights Cinema offers Double "plays" once a month with a short kids play, a movie, and food (pizza, drink and popcorn). The movie was Toy Story 3 and somebody should have warned me that this was going to be such a tear-jerker. Andy goes off to college and I was practically sobbing - "oh my God, my babies are going to leave me!" But other than that (and Liam needing to pee three times) it was all good times.
It has been fun to have an extra day to get out with the kid, and I am loving the stage they are at. It finally feels like we don't have to pack a car's worth of equipment to get out of the house and we can do things as a family that we ALL enjoy!
My first Thursday off, we, um, explored auto-mechanics together as Mac had to jump start the car after Megan's assessment and then take it to the shop for a new battery.
But my second week off, we made our annual pilgrimage to Bauman Farms. I thought this was a genius way to avoid the weekend crowds and indeed the place was empty. What I didn't quite know was that several of the attractions are only open on weekends. Oops - so no bouncy house or zip lines for us! But there were still plenty of doughnuts and fresh apple cider, which are the real reasons we(I) go to Bauman Farms anyway!
A-maze-ing fun!
Gettin' nutty
"Hi, Kris!"
And then this past Thursday, we spent a couple of hours at Wings of Wonder, a butterfly (and reptile) exhibit in Independence.
As an added bonus, we got out for another outing today (Saturday): our first movie in a theater as a family to pass the wet and rainy day. Northern Lights Cinema offers Double "plays" once a month with a short kids play, a movie, and food (pizza, drink and popcorn). The movie was Toy Story 3 and somebody should have warned me that this was going to be such a tear-jerker. Andy goes off to college and I was practically sobbing - "oh my God, my babies are going to leave me!" But other than that (and Liam needing to pee three times) it was all good times.
It has been fun to have an extra day to get out with the kid, and I am loving the stage they are at. It finally feels like we don't have to pack a car's worth of equipment to get out of the house and we can do things as a family that we ALL enjoy!
Friday, October 8, 2010
Getting Multi-Cultural in Salem (Yes, Salem!)
Last Saturday, one of my colleagues invited us to Salem's Multi-Cultural Institute's Ball and silent auction for a free dinner since he and his wife had sponsored an entire table. Seven hundred and fifty seven dollars later (not including babysitting!), it didn't seem so free, but still we had a fun evening.
For some reason celebrating multi-culturalism inspired me to make ethnic jokes all night. First, I teased that I was going to wear my Sari to be ethnic, but instead I wore a regular black dress. And then we got there and there were a few Sari clad women and several of them were white chicks! Ok, now that was a missed opportunity to reuse an old bride's maid outfit!
Dinner consisted of three buffet stations: Middle Eastern with (awesome) cous cous, lamb, salad, hummus and pitas; Asian with Korean BBQ, cucumber salad and fried rice; and European with spaghetti and rolls. Really?? That's the best they could do to represent European culture?!? I guess they just wanted to make white people look lame so we would focus on all the other cultures, but I was already feeling lame for being in my generic dress.
During the evening there were three performances: an Okinowan dance, some belly dancing, and a performance from the Indian school of dance. I didn't really think of Salem as having much of an Indian population. Anyway, I guess there is enough of an Indian population to support a school of dance and the performance was pretty cool. Not to mention the half naked guy was pretty hot, so that made it easier to appreciate his culture.
Mac and I went a little crazy at the silent auction (on one glass of wine so I don't even have an excuse!) which is how we ended up $757 in the hole. However, we will be enjoying a beach house, a family fun pack, 12 loaves of artisan bread, an air duct cleaning (are you jealous?) and a dinner date -to a Thai restaurant no less, because we wanted to stick to the multi-cultural theme (and because Thai food is good). I also won an Asian shirt in the raffle, which was pretty funny because out of the 50 prizes they raffled away, that would have been #49 on my list. And when I got the shirt, it was a size Medium, which is bigger than I would normally wear. What the heck? I mean, nobody in China is a size medium, right?
All the jokes aside, it was a great night for a great cause. And it made Salem seem so diverse (Go Salem!) As a Euro-mutt, my life has been pretty void of ethnic traditions and celebrations, so I especially appreciated the chance to borrow a little culture (but sadly, not class!) from people in my own community.
For some reason celebrating multi-culturalism inspired me to make ethnic jokes all night. First, I teased that I was going to wear my Sari to be ethnic, but instead I wore a regular black dress. And then we got there and there were a few Sari clad women and several of them were white chicks! Ok, now that was a missed opportunity to reuse an old bride's maid outfit!
Total honky couple
Dinner consisted of three buffet stations: Middle Eastern with (awesome) cous cous, lamb, salad, hummus and pitas; Asian with Korean BBQ, cucumber salad and fried rice; and European with spaghetti and rolls. Really?? That's the best they could do to represent European culture?!? I guess they just wanted to make white people look lame so we would focus on all the other cultures, but I was already feeling lame for being in my generic dress.
During the evening there were three performances: an Okinowan dance, some belly dancing, and a performance from the Indian school of dance. I didn't really think of Salem as having much of an Indian population. Anyway, I guess there is enough of an Indian population to support a school of dance and the performance was pretty cool. Not to mention the half naked guy was pretty hot, so that made it easier to appreciate his culture.
Mac and I went a little crazy at the silent auction (on one glass of wine so I don't even have an excuse!) which is how we ended up $757 in the hole. However, we will be enjoying a beach house, a family fun pack, 12 loaves of artisan bread, an air duct cleaning (are you jealous?) and a dinner date -to a Thai restaurant no less, because we wanted to stick to the multi-cultural theme (and because Thai food is good). I also won an Asian shirt in the raffle, which was pretty funny because out of the 50 prizes they raffled away, that would have been #49 on my list. And when I got the shirt, it was a size Medium, which is bigger than I would normally wear. What the heck? I mean, nobody in China is a size medium, right?
All the jokes aside, it was a great night for a great cause. And it made Salem seem so diverse (Go Salem!) As a Euro-mutt, my life has been pretty void of ethnic traditions and celebrations, so I especially appreciated the chance to borrow a little culture (but sadly, not class!) from people in my own community.
Monday, September 27, 2010
New Earrings
Mamaw came up to visit the week of September 20th, to check on her new house and to watch the kids while Mac was on his Mid-west sports tour with some college friends. At the end of the week, Mamaw bought Megan some "good" earrings, hopefully to alleviate some of the ear pain Megan was having. I think Megan just needed to be told to stop playing with her earrings, but I was out voted by the uber-consumer team of Mac and his mom, so Megan got new 14k gold and garnet earrings.
"Mom," Megan explained to me,"The earrings were 36 dollars. I have 22 dollars so that is almost 36."
"Megan, $22 is not almost $36," I reply, ever the pessimist.
"Yeah. I just need a fourteen dollar bill!"
I love how that is so smart and so naive all at the same time!
Monday, September 20, 2010
School For Liam
Like Megan, Liam started at Rosedale this year in the preschool class three days a week (Mac was really pushing for five!).
Liam also likes school, but, um, he's not exactly the student that Megan is. Don't get me wrong, he's doing just fine academically. It's just that he'd rather spill paint than learn letters, jump up and down instead of reading quietly, lick toys instead of cleaning up. Basically, he is all boy. What really gets to me and Mac, though, is his "hands on" learning style. All day long he walks through the house: open the oven, close the oven, touch the dishwasher buttons, turn on the lights, turn off the lights, grab the keys, wear my shoes, reset my clock, put on my chapstick, open the cupboards, get out the salad spinner, open the fire gate, play with my pen...He just touches everything and it drives me and Mac INSANE! Other than that, he is a really cute, lovable kid.
Liam also likes school, but, um, he's not exactly the student that Megan is. Don't get me wrong, he's doing just fine academically. It's just that he'd rather spill paint than learn letters, jump up and down instead of reading quietly, lick toys instead of cleaning up. Basically, he is all boy. What really gets to me and Mac, though, is his "hands on" learning style. All day long he walks through the house: open the oven, close the oven, touch the dishwasher buttons, turn on the lights, turn off the lights, grab the keys, wear my shoes, reset my clock, put on my chapstick, open the cupboards, get out the salad spinner, open the fire gate, play with my pen...He just touches everything and it drives me and Mac INSANE! Other than that, he is a really cute, lovable kid.
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