Friday, August 22, 2008

A visit from Martine, Sam and Charlie...

We had a very nice weekend with my friend Martine and her 2 cute boys in town from Connecticut (2 weeks ago)! It was fun to see her since it had been about 6 years or so and we had a lot to catch up on. The boys had a blast, and Martine and I picked up where we left off like it was only yesterday that we were single, childless, working at Max's together and hangin' out in South Beach... My charming Mitch was sweet as ever (as usual), he put together a little BBQ for us while we took the boys to Boomers. He made hot dogs, hamburgers, corn, salad and of course, a veggie burger! And as you can see from the pictures, he also tired out the boys nicely! What a good sport! Thanks babe, you are the best! And thank you Martine for making time for us, I know you had a lot to do in a short trip! It was great to see you! It definitely won't be another 6 years before we get together again!!





My little cleaner & helper...




Anthony is all about cleaning and helping and doing whatever it takes to get a sticker on his "Reward Chart"! Of course he thinks he deserves stickers for just about anything. But it has been nice to have him so positive and anxious to help with things like vacuuming and laundry (even if it actually makes more work for me to re-do his chores). He is much nicer about dressing, brushing, sleeping, eating and lots of other challenging things. I'm so happy that he is starting to better understand that there are rewards and consequences for his actions without being reminded constantly! There is hope to get out of the terrible 2's and horrible 3's... Whew and YAYYY!!!!!

He is also becoming even more loving and appreciative... he is such an observant, smart and clever little boy! He always tells me that I am pretty and thanks me for doing things with or for him. He loves to tell me things I don't know (funny facts or phrases... sometimes that are made up and some he's learned at school) and then he'll say "You never heard that before right?" "I'm gonna tell you something else too... you ready?" He is anxious to learn lots of things, especially relating to dinosaurs, airplanes, rocket ships, heaven, skeletons, and still tractors and engines of any kind. He always wants specific info on the hows, whys and names of everything. He is also excited about learning and writing letters and making the sounds and thinking of words that start with all letters. When we are home he can rarely be caught without a magnadoodle or pen and paper practicing his writing and drawing. He is a lefty and insists on writing sideways, but his teachers are helping him learn the "lefty" ropes. He is so good a tracing and copying letters and pictures. He even drew an amazing copy of a basic car that Mitch drew for him. It included windows wheels and a driver and then a road to travel on. I'm so proud of him! I love you "baby"! xoxoxoxoooo!

Blueberry Muffins Anyone???


Anthony loves to cook and bake. But he especially loves anything that has dough or batter so he can eat it raw! Gross! He's just like his Grammie! They would both eat powdered milk or pancake mix or any kind or batter or dough! As you can see from his entire head in the bowl, he just can't get enough! He also loves to show off the finished product and always makes sure everyone gets a sampling! He counted out a big plastic bag of muffins to send to Utah naming off the whole family including baby Warner. Grammie was very happy to get his package (wink wink) and he was thrilled that everyone loved his muffins. He sat at the bar and had two when they were fresh, then he stated: "I can't have another one, right?... I guess I could be done for the day." Thats one of his favorite new comments "I'm done for the day." This could refer to eating, picking up toys, bathing.. whatever. Another common response is "FINE!" He usually says it loudly like he's really put up a fight, although that isn't normally the case. I hate to admit it, but he probably got that from me.




"Mmmmm...Mmmmmm!"

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Just venting...

"Sometimes you're the windshield...
......and sometimes you're the BUG."

I'm feeling a bit like "the bug" this week...
This is my wish:

I would like to have more time with Anthony,
more time with Mitch,
more time for work,
more time to SLEEP,
more time to maintain my home (aka - clean, laundry, grocery shop, organize, pay bills etc...)
more time to catch up with & be a good friend to my friends,
and perhaps just one second to not have anything to do...

perhaps then I would feel slightly more in control of my life.

Sounds a bit unattainable, which I guess explains my frustration and sense of "drowning". Yes, I'm being a bit dramatic, but the pressure is starting to wear on me. I do much better when I don't think about it and just carry on, one day at a time thinking only of the blessings int my life (which are many, and wonderful)! I will work on staying positive and only worrying about the things I can control and not think about the rest...
"Ignorance IS Bliss."
!!!

Ok, sorry to vent, but it must work, because I'm feeling a "libba-bit" (a famous Anthony quote) better already. I really am very happy and love my life, so I'm not complaining, just wishing for more time to "love" all the aspects of my life instead of rushing through them like a maniac on a schedule that is grossly over the allotted hours in any day. I'm sure I'm not alone on this... so for all of you who can relate: Just breath in and out and think of things that make you happy... Yes, just like the "Sound of Music" song, "These are a few of my favorite things". Then just keep smiling!... We can take a few lessons from these "Grinners" (Anthony, Warner, Asher & JoJo):


Who's not smiling now??? CHEESE!!!

Monday, August 4, 2008

Another weekend in paradise...

I hope I'm not boring any of you... But, yes, this is yet another post, about yet another "fun in the sun" weekend..... Sorry! Let the fun begin...

He will kill me for this picture some day, I'm sure! Sorry buddy, I couldn't resist! You are too cute fishing naked not to take a picture! That's his new real pole... he's been practicing in the pool until they get some bait for the lake.... that ought to be interesting! Especially since he is becoming more obsessed with death (how? why? where? when?) as the days go on... He instructed me not to spray the little sugar ants coming in the house because "they like us and they are nice and they like living in our house! Don't do that!! They will get killed!" So sad... but I sprayed them the minute he turned his back!

Playing, playing, and more playing!





Ribbit!

This is a little baby frog that we scooped out of the pool with this bucket. Anthony was very excited to pet him before we "set him free".


"The Strawberry Patch"

The best part about ^ this picture is that Anthony took it!


We had fun at the "Strawberry Patch", where, if they were in season, we could have picked and ate our own strawberries. But there were other things to do and see. Mitch and Anthony each adopted a talking parrot that they thought really loved them! The birds were really cool and would do anything for attention. It was fun that they were so responsive! The pinkish white one got right down and spoke in a squeaky high voice for Anthony and screamed when he'd try to walk away. He danced and turned upside down and kept showing us how he could climb on the cage and let go with his feet, only holding on with his beak. Anthony cried when we left and wanted to take him home. He said "He will be so sad without me, he loves me!"............ Mitch got suckered in by the bright red/colorful one who followed him around the cage where ever he went saying "Hello... Whats up?" while he tried to get Mitch to copy his head movements (like Mitch was his talking pet). He also turned in circles while holding onto the cage and hung from the top doing "pull-ups". Their goodbye was equally as dramatic! What a couple of softies I have! I wish I had them that wrapped around my finger! Just kidding, they are both very good to me! In addition to the "lovebirds" there were fruits and vegetables planted, donkeys, turtles, a pig, chickens, roosters, a little country store with ice cream (which we did not have) and .... hmmm... I'm sure I'm forgetting something... Anyway, it was a fun weekend!