You Say It's My Birthday???

A Memory from a Summer-Long-Gone. One of my brothers and me during one of our many trips to the beach... circa 1981ish.

Well another year has come and gone. It is my 36th birthday today. It doesn't bother me that I am another year older. 36 really means nothing to me. My life continues on as it has for the last several years. But I am bothered by a few things...To me my birthday has always signaled that summer is coming to an end. When I was young I would get school clothes for birthday presents. As a teacher it means it is time to start heading into the classroom to prepare for the upcoming year. It is bittersweet. A happy day that I spend hearing from loved ones and friends... 36 years of relative happiness and health is nothing to thumb your nose at! And don't get me wrong... I am grateful for every second. But this year's stint as a stay-at-home mom is coming to a rapid end. It is not that I don't look forward to the new class I will have or the upcoming events of the next year. But time is marching...VERY QUICKLY! And I find that on my birthday, I always wish that it would slow down a little. That my kids would stay innocent for a little longer... That we all had more time to spend together... I know, I know! BOO HOO! I will get over myself now!

I actually had a great day. My family gave me a Mother's Ring for my birthday. I spent the day at work and felt I got something accomplished. Being at work gave me the chance to spend time with some of my dearest friends. We had goodies! YUM! My kids came home from camp with flowers for me. My husband took me out for dinner without the children! We actually had a conversation at the table that didn't involve wiping kids mouths or cleaning up spills (Thanks to my mother in law for watching the kids). Then the neighbors came down and the kids played and we had a campfire. We laughed and gossiped and were serenaded by the girls singing songs from Hannah Montana. The kids made s'mores. I found out that you can tell a lot about a person about how they toast a marshmallow. Then my husband bathed and read to the kids and it is off to bed. A wonderful day and a great birthday! Thank You and here's to another year!
The kids hang out after toasting some marshmallows.


My son and our neighbor posing for a picture. They humored me and stopped running for a split second to smile for me. Then they were off! Start your engine's Dudes!




The neighborhood ladies of song. They needed some refreshment after singing to us. Here they pose with their marshmallows.



There is no denying that my daughter has inherited my sweet-tooth. We would set up graham crackers and chocolate for the kids. She would sneak up and steal the chocolate. When you say, "What do you have?" she has no quams about showing you! Such a delicate flower!

Such a "guy" already!

It is spaghetti night at my house! I give my kids each a bowl full of spaghetti with tomato sauce and watch them dig in. This is a meal to be served on bath nights only! What a mess! I turn around to get something off the counter and turn back just in time to see my son lift up the hem of his shirt and wipe his mouth with it. I yell, "Hey! What are you supposed to use to wipe your face?" He looks serious and says "The sleeve?" It is hard not to laugh as I hand him a napkin.

My son at nine months learning how to feed himself. Sorry to say that he hasn't gotten much neater since then!

The Nail 's Head!

A friend sent me this in an email a long time ago. I looked it up and it appeared on someone else's blog. I read this and felt that no truer words have ever been uttered. I try to tell myself this when the little green monster called "envy" rears its ugly head. I have it hanging up near my desk at home and at work... For all of us who feel that life can be a rat-race at times...This one is for you!

Friday, August 18, 2006
I Am Too Blessed To Be Stressed

Someone will always be prettier.
Someone will always be smarter.
Someone's house will always be bigger.
Someone's car will always be better.
Someone's children will do better in school.
Someone's husband will fix more things around the house.

So let it go, and love you and your circumstances.

Think about it.....
The prettiest woman in the world can have hell in her heart.
The most highly favored woman on your job may be unable to have children.
The richest woman you know- she's got the car, the house, the clothes- might be lonely.
So.......love you.
Love who you are right now.
Tell yourself "I am too blessed to be stressed!

To the world you might be one person,
but to one person you just might be the world.

Posted by -mamamia- at 10:19 AM

Vacationing with the Fairy Godmothers!

This past week we had the chance to spend some time in York, Maine with our Fairy Godmothers. One of my friends had rented a place with her step-children and her own mother so on Wednesday the other FGM and I headed north with my family. What a great time! We got to see how her stepkids have grown into amazing young adults, spend time with great friends, and have a bunch of little adventures in the meantime. And nobody even complained about having to play a billion games of Go Fish with my boy!
The Fairy Godmothers hang out on the beach (see a previous entry for background).

My husband and our daughter jumping the waves. She is a fearless child who kept wanting to go deeper into the ocean while her older brother found it more his speed to run from the waves.

We braved the beach even though it was overcast and windy. The kids were infatuated with the run-off pipe that created a little river going to the ocean. We parked our chairs next to it and let them have a ball.

Of course anyone who knows my son knows that he is obsessed with all things train-like. So we couldn't leave without riding the trolley. We rode "Maddie" into town and "Bessie" back to the Trolley stop.

I would say my daughter is posing and channeling the spirit of the late Marilyn Monroe, but since she is only 22 months old, I'm pretty sure she is just acting goofy because she knows mom is taking her picture!


My son riding the trolley. He was so excited he kept laughing and clapping his hands. The experience was only made better by the fact that for the first half-hour we had the whole trolley to ourselves.

The kids and I at the beach at high tide. We passed the time throwing rocks into the waves because there was no beach to play on until the tide went out. Then my son had an unfortunate incident with dog-poop (that somebody rudely left right at the bottom of the stairs) and the happy moment was lost!

We went back to the beach after supper and spent some time running from the waves. We had a blast and my son keeps asking when we can all go away together again.

It's A Good Thing They Are Cute!

My son at age 2.


I am going to brag for a moment. I have a beautiful son. I am fortunate that he is also a fairly nice, well-behaved child. I have always seen the beauty in my son and looked at him and thought "perfection!" even as I have been more than aware of his faults and weaknesses. But I figured I was biased. I mean I am his mother! I grew him inside of my body for 9 months! I thought I was just overcome with love and devotion, the kind that makes things beautiful. Then I started getting stopped in malls and on walks. People started commenting on the tone of his skin, the blueness of his eyes. The thickness and length of his eyelashes ("His lashes are not normal!" my hairdresser declared recently!). The dimples in his cheeks. He is now going into kindergarten and is very tall. He has lost all of his baby-ness, which makes me a little sad for me and a little excited for him. As he gets older I still get a few comments here and there and every so often I find myself looking at him and wondering if he is for real. And he is often sweet and loving, too. He is what I like to call a "gentle soul". At times this results in him being oversensitive and overemotional (like his mama), but he is also empathetic towards others, which is a trait I find lacking in many adults these days, never mind children! Don't get me wrong! I am not one of those parents that says, "My child can do no wrong". There are times when I wonder if he will live to see his next birthday. I have seen him run off on me and scare me silly. He has thrown fits of rage on the floors of many public places. He has said embarrassing things really loud (i.e. commenting on a woman's hair, or lack thereof, in Home Depot). And when I am so angry that I think I am going to blow, he unleashes the ultimate weapon: he looks at me all wide-eyed with those crystal blue eyes rimmed with dark, long, thick eyelashes. A rush of love sweeps over me, and I know that no matter how upset with him I am, he is still my sweet boy and I am so lucky to have him.

Here is my son (on the right) with my best friend's son. They had been swimming in the new pool at their house, even though it was only April. It was unseasonably warm and they couldn't resist the chance to splash around in the few feet of water when the pool was being filled.

MIIIINE!

How do you deal with the "mine" stage? I am asking this as a serious question and expect a comment from anyone who can provide insight. Perhaps because he was our only child at the time my son never declared everything his. My daughter, on the other hand, tries to claim all she sees. For example, it was my turn to sleep in this morning. I walked downstairs and found her eating the last few crumbs of a Poptart. I asked her "Are you all done?" She answered, "NO! MIIIINE!" Like I was trying to pry those piddly little crumbs out of her mouth. Then the battle began over my son's toys. He has this cute habit of watching a movie and trying to act it out simultaneously. The choice du jour was a Buzz Lightyear cartoon. He had his Buzz and Woody dolls lined up and would act out all of the action with his little Buzz Lightyear action figure. My daughter started on her hot pursuit of kidnapping Woody or Buzz. First she just grabbed them right out from under his nose. Then she waited until his pretend play took him to the other end of the couch and layed on top of Buzz and Woody so he couldn't take them away from her. I needed to intervene here, as her lobster-like claws were wrapped around poor Woody's leg. It was almost an amputation but I managed to untangle them off just in time. She found some of her own toys and I thought that was the end of it. NOPE! She layed in wait and when she thought the coast was clear, she snatched Woody and ran! There is a voice in my head that says "For the love of God, just give it to her and be done!" But the mom voice kicks in and wants to teach her that she can't take things that don't belong to her. While these two voices were battling it out in my mind, my son chased her down and made a big game out of it (So Wise). Then he put in his neon green vampire teeth and scared her. She lost interest in his toys for the moment. Me? I called it a draw between my two voices and prayed that the "MINE!" phase passes quickly.

The Culprit: My Almost-Two-Year-Old daughter.
The Crime: Kidnapping her older brother's Woody doll in a fit of selfishness.
Her Alias: The sweet adorable toddler
Careful: She may be armed and dangerous with her little fingernails and her small fists.

The Victim: My 5 1/2-year-old son (and his toys).
His Stategy: Distract her with his green teeth

The Many Gifts of Families

It has been an ultra busy week for us. Something scheduled every day. Lots of company and friends. On Friday we went on a trip to the beach to see one of my brothers and his wife (my daughter's Godparents) and (the icing on the cake) my niece. She is only 7 or so months younger than my daughter. We have it on good authority that they are going to be a formidable pair when they grow up. The attitudes between them at the age of 1 are incredible. Watch out world...Here they come. The only down side is they live in DC so we are apart for most of the year. So when they decided to vacation a couple hours away from where we live, at the Cape where we spend many summer days as kids, it was exciting to have the extra time to spend together.
Here is a picture of my sister-in-law swimming with my son, my brother swimming with my niece, and my husband swimming with our daughter. The waves were really rough that day but the kids still loved it.

My sweet niece (donning a milk moustache) has a little snack on the deck of the cottage. Actually she found it was more fun to feed them to the rest of us. My sister-in-law and I could see a lot of similar expressions between our two daughters. They both have the same scowl and the same inquisitive expression (complete with little hand gestures). She started to warm up to me and even let me take her for a little walk by the end of the day. I was thrilled!

Our children swimming with my husband playing a game of "fetch" with the tennis ball. My daughter's expression is priceless and reveals just how much happiness being with her dad and being in the water brings her.

In an effort to avoid a melt-down from my son when overtiredness set in, he and I went for a walk back to the beach. We call these our "dates" and try to squeeze them in whenever possible. He and I walked along the shore and looked for shells and rocks. He wrote his name in the sand and showed me how fast he could run. It is times like this that I wish I could bottle to take out on a rainy day. I snapped a picture of his little footprint so I would remember how small it looked on the deserted beach.

Chelsea's greatest pleasure was climbing up and down the bulkhead at the cottage. Dangerous? Maybe. But we all did it and survived. Besides, there is no denying that she was enjoying herself.

Fairy God Mothers

My children are blessed. Not unlike Cinderella, they have Fairy God Mothers. They are two of my dearest friends. We work together. It is not unusual for me to go to my mailbox at work and find a book that one of them found and thought my kids would enjoy, or a t-shirt that they felt my kids needed to have, or a puzzle that they knew my son would be able to figure out. They take care of me, too. I often find coupons or articles of interest or magazines tucked away in there. When I was scrambling to find someone to watch my kids so I could take a weekly class, they volunteered! When my husband and I want a date night, they will often babysit. They are also the ones who I go to the movies with and hang out with when I need grown-up time. When we are together we laugh until our cheeks ache. They tell stories about my children to people and brag about their accomplishments. They play with my kids and enjoy their company. I once came home to find them all dressed up in my son's dress-up hats singing songs and dancing around with him. Best of all, they love my children unconditionally and they never fail to show it! How I got so lucky as to happen upon these two wonderful friends, I shall never know. But when I count my blessings, they are at the top of the list!

Winding Down

Last night ended on a happy note. The kids and I took an excursion to see a friend play softball. It was near the playground so the kids got to play a little. My daughter, who is head-strong and moody (just like mama), was having a fit because I banned her from the swings when she refused to hold on with both hands. As an aside... She is only 1 1/2! Yet she refuses to ride in baby swings because she wants to do everything that her big brother does. I thought all hope was lost. We were getting the looks from strangers. But she came through and we all winded down with ice cream at a farm in a neighboring town. They have goats to feed and cows to watch and (as far as I am concerned) the best ice cream around. My husband met us there and took the kids to see the goats (see pic). And the stresses of the day and the trauma of the mean mother taking her child's swing away melted away! And as we were leaving we were able to enjoy the beautiful (almost full) moon. They call it "Luna" (thanks to Bear in the Big Blue House for that one).

Jon and Kate, How do you do it?

Well here we are...hump day. And I am taking care of my two kids and my hunting partner's three kids. I have decided that an appropriate name for this is Camp Godma (my god-daughter calls me Godma). My charges are 2 five-year old boys, 1 three-year-old (my god-daughter) and two one-and-a-half-year olds. I am a big fan of the show Jon and Kate plus 8 but honestly, I don't know how they do it with 8 kids. I can do it with 5 but I have to get super organized and prep for the day. And I have the luxury of knowing that 3/5 of these kids leave at the end of the day. Our kids have spent a lot of time together and get along like siblings. They fight, compete, refuse to share, and tattle one minute. In the next minute they've got each other's backs, are inventing new games together, are singing songs at the tops of their little lungs, and are cheering each other on. It makes me dizzy when I try to keep up, so I accept that I am outnumbered and roll with it. I have watched this brood several times and I actually love having them for the day. They are great kids and fit into our life like they were born into it. Maybe because they kind of were!

Here are some shots from Camp Godma!
Our kids took a last minute dip in the pool as my hunting partner and I watched in awe! Who knew you could have so much fun with 3 inches of water.

Hanging out in the dugout at a nearby softball field. We took a long walk and needed a rest!

On the first day of Camp Godma, we took a walk to "the snack store" (AKA Brattle Stop Market). Of course we couldn't leave without taking a look at the tracks to see if trains were coming.

It is hard to keep up with the big kids when you are not yet 2! My daughter and her little buddy decided to have a quiet snack and let the big kids have the run of the yard.

A Visit from the Past

On Monday, July 14th, I had 4 of my friends from undergrad over to my house. They came from near and far (New Orleans) and hung out for a while. Out of the 6 friends that stayed in touch, 5 of us were able to be there. One of our friends is a single mom in Florida and doesn't get to visit often :( ! It was great. I am blessed with the cream of the crop for friends. I think the mark of a true friend is when you haven't seen each other in a while, but are able to pick up as if you hang out every day. My college friends fit this description. We caught up on each other's lives while our kids (ten in all) played together. The oldest of our kids is almost 8 and the youngest is my daughter at 1 1/2. They got along beautifully and we moms were even able to visit for a long time with very few interuptions. Because there were so many kids, there seemed to be a buddy for everyone. While we typically only get to do this once a year, it is always a blast! Till next year, Wheelock girls!

The Wheelock offspring hang out in the back yard. We had to have cat-like reflexes to get this shot!

A First for Me

Well the resident cheapo has experienced something new today... a new shopping adventure. My mother-in-law and her husband took my family (including kids) to the Brimfield Antiques Fair. My M-I-L is a great marathon shopper. We have a great time together on these adventures. Sometimes her mother, my husband's grandmother, joins us, too, making it even more fun. Anyhow, I had never been to Brimfield before. Now frugals like myself have to look hard for their bargains. But it was the last day of the fair so many vendors were willing to mark down. It was really interesting! I was informed that many of the vendors had packed up after yesterday, being that it was Saturday and probably the busiest days. But even on a Sunday there were still miles of antique booths. My son (an avid fan of trains) got a steel railroad spike. My daughter got some 70's beads (She kept showing them off and asking "Pretty?". I continued on my star theme and bought several things to enhance my decor. I spluged a little, but also fell upon some real bargains. My kids rode in our little red wagon and thought it was cool. It made me long for a somewhat bigger house (not a McMansion mind you, just more than my current 1,040 sq feet) and a truck to transport stuff (the Honda Accord doesn't cut it). But I settled for a small group of trinkets. We stayed for about 4 hours, including a trip to the food court and a narrow dodge of a complete and total melt-down from our 1 1/2 year old daughter. We only saw a fraction of what was there, but had a full day nonetheless. A lot of walking, which I am counting on to send my kids to bed easily and early tonight. Brimfield hosts another antiques fair in September. I am thinking it is high time to grab my hunting buddy and head out again, then!
One of my finds: a painted star tray. It has cool hardware and is distressed. The color-scheme fits my house. Right now I am using it to keep things tidy on my trunk/coffee table!

Family Fun

Once a year the local symphony puts on a small series of concerts in one of the city parks. They have been doing it for years. I remember going as a child and lying on a blanket and listening to the music. Now our favorite and the one we try to hit each year is the Disney Tribute. We went tonight. The kids had a blast playing with their friends. The parents got to chat a little. And lo and behold there was even a visit from Mickey Mouse! They danced and played and dug in the dirt. We look forward to taking the kids to this each year and we have really never been disappointed. Oh yes, did I mention it was free?! We donated money to ease our minds, but all in all we had a full night of high quality family fun that cost us $14. Not bad for a family of 4!
The bandstand before the kids rush it and start dancing in front of it!

Our daughter enjoying the music and the cool night breeze. We couldn't have asked for better weather. And NO BUGS!

Our son (in the Red Sox shirt) dancing with a few friends. Fun was had by all.

Art on the Cheap!

A long time ago, before a family of my own was even a blip on my radar, I met a woman who had the most wonderful taste in art. It was very abstract and cool. Great big paintings on her living room wall. When I asked about them she told me that the artist was her daughter when she was a few years old. I was instantly taken with the idea. I swore that when I had kids of my own, I would do the same.
Fast forward a decade and here I am with two kids. I have several samples of their work strewn throughout my house. I have framed some of it, like their first finger paintings. I bought small canvases and had them make their handprints on it... a permanant reminder of how small they were (see picture). Some is taped to windows. I keep an archive of each child's work in file boxes. Each piece is like a window into my children's personalities. My son, who tends to be cautious and thoughtful, took great pains with his handprints not to smudge them. He only overlapped them because I told him that it was okay. My daughter, a free spirit who is more reckless, smudged most of her handprints. She looked at it as a chance to get messy! I think I managed to get one semi-clear handprint on hers.
Not only does it provide inexpensive art work, it also sends a message to my kids. It shows them how important their creativity is to me. It shows them that what they do has value in our family. And even this cheapo can't deny that the effects these lessons will have on my children are too priceless to measure.

The Right Hunting Buddy

As any good shopper knows, finding the right shopping buddy is essential. Nine times out of ten isn't it 90% about the company and 10% about the shopping? When it is 100% about finding the exact right thing, I tend to go it alone. I become an antisocial, no-nonsense shopping preditor! Stay out of my way... SCARY!

But back to the right hunting buddy. I have several that I am lucky enough to call upon at any given moment. The buddy that is with me most often is one of my oldest and dearest friends...we have been friends through many major life experiences, weddings, births of our children, graduations, the works. We just started getting to do this on a regular basis because we both have young children and full plates. And as our children get older and more demanding (and let's face it, fresher) we tend to make a point of fitting this time into our schedules. It is mandatory... I am a mother who believes I am a better parent when I make time to spend my friends without my children. I guess the current term for this is "me time". We typically look for home things. We have a number of favorite haunts including (but not limited to) TJ Maxx, Christmas Tree Shop, Marshalls, AC Moore, Michaels, and Pier 1. We seem to have compatible shopping styles. We have tried antiquing and we plan on hitting some flea markets soon. Our tastes are similar in some ways and very different in others. But we both have a handle on each others styles and help each other out. We talk about our families, our husbands, our children, and anything else that comes up. I found her some dishes when she was cramming for a dinner party. She bought me an adorable planting box that I have on my porch. Who could ask for more in a shopping buddy or a friend...

Simple Things

The Puddle Dancers

I love this picture of my children. My son and daughter have lots of toys...big families = lots of presents + lots of hand-me-downs = tons of toys! But here they are having a great time in a puddle! I have to look past the fact that my daughter is wearing a droopy diaper or that the picture is a little blurry and just focus on the joy: how much fun they are having with such a simple thing. I love it that my kids can be entertained so easily. It makes it easier to overlook the mud all over their clothes and the messes they leave in their wake. Apparently they don't need the high-tech, state of the art video games and toys... a puddle will do! Lucky me... and lucky bank account!

My "Nevers" List

Here is another example of my decor on the cheap...pine cones! I splurged for the cinnamon scented ones but you can find them for free in your own backyard. Add pretty bowl (bought on post-Christmas clearance, of course!) Voila! Frugal queen strikes again!



There are a few things I don't go cheap on EVER! They are as follows:
-anything safety related (such as car seats, smoke detectors, etc)
-diapers (gross possibilities)
-peanut butter or cream cheese (They just taste different!)
-my sneakers (Can you say "shin splints"?)
-deodorant (Don't learn this one the hard way)
-matresses (I prefer King Size Pillow-Top)
-a good bra (Larger girls know exactly what I am talking about!)
-air conditioners and other electronic equiptment
-Chocolate (nuff said!)
-Ketchup (Added by my husband's request)
I will be adding to this as I think of more. I am all for saving money. I am still the original cheap date! But let's face it... sometimes it pays to shell out the extra cash.

I am a bargain addict!

I have a problem... I love decorating. The bigger problem...I love a bargain! It is a serious thrill when I find something on the cheap. The thrill is only made more acute when I see a similar item priced outrageously somewhere else. I know many places in the central Massachusetts area where treasures can be found. Some are big chain stores, some little holes in the wall. I don't know what the best part is... the hunt? The find? Taking it home and finding the perfect spot for it? Making little alterations to it to make it just perfect? ALL OF IT! The whole experience.

I am a mom with two young children who are 5 1/2 and almost 2. My son and daughter have been subjected to many shopping trips that have taken us off the beaten path. And my husband... don't get him started! He claims to hate it when he has to go along, but sometimes I find him getting really into it. In my real life I am a first grade teacher. In my summer life I am a stay-at-home mom. In my dream world, I am an interior decorator/ personal shopper. I have a primal urge to hunt things down and get the most for my money....dress them up and display them. I am not claiming that I have any kind of talent at this, mind you! I just know what I like. I just gain considerable happiness when I feel like I have got a deal. And with 2 young kids, and a house that is usually full of their friends or my friends' kids, I need any bargain I can find. Some call it cheap, I call it smart. It is like emotional protection for myself. I know that I am not going to have an emotional breakdown if something gets broken or scratched (and God knows it always does eventually). Instead I can smile and say, "Oh well, I got my money's worth. I only paid $2.99!"

I bought this little star lamp at a chain discount store. I actually threw it in as an after-thought. It was around $5.99. I added the plaid fabric when I brought it home to give it a more primitive country feel. I saw the same thing in two different specialty stores for $24.99. Wahoo! That felt great. 1 point for the cheap date...expensive gift shops: 0!