A Birthday Weekend Getaway

Last weekend Shawn went out of town to celebrate the a 40th birthday of one of his dear Ohio friends, Meesh.  We were both invited to this gala, but it was too complicated for us to both pull it off.

Shawn and Hudson Ohio friends celebrating Meesh's 40th



So, in the wake of feeling sorry for myself for not celebrating with my husband, my mom and I decided to take off for the weekend and try to have some more waterslide fun.  DID WE EVER!!!!  Oh yes, the 67 year old and 37 year old seemed to enjoy the slides just as much as the little ones. How could we not, take a look at these! 

Waterslides here we come!

We stayed at the Hampton Inn in North Conway, NH (a 4 hour drive from home) Friday through Sunday morning.  We played in the water for hours together, had some great meals together and even did some quick bathing suit shopping.  Hudson at that point was exhausted from going up and down the stairs to the waterslide all morning and he fell asleep in the grocery cart while grandma and I picked out new bathing suits at TJ Maxx.  May I also add that Myles and Molly were perfect angels while we shopped (I think we must have worn them out too).  Great time had by all and made complete by a late lunch at the Rainforest Cafe on the way home from the mountains.  Thanks mom and kids for making my birthday weekend so spectacular!

Grandma catching Molly

Myles loving the little slide

Molly posing with Mr. Frog slide

Having some mirror fun in the hotel room.

Cozy by the fire in the lobby

Important News Flash

Shawn and I met with Mrs. Z yesterday and it is official.  Myles is progressing to 2nd grade.  We are so proud of him as he has advanced several reading levels in the past two months and now he is only slightly behind where he should be, compared to the very behind that he was just 2 months ago.  He will do summer school again this summer, for five weeks, and we will with great pride be dropping them both off at school next year as big second graders!

My BIG 2nd  grade bound kids with one of their special cousins.

Also, Molly has lost a tooth. It has been a long wait for this one but finally her front tooth has fallen out and the tooth fairy has come to our house to bring HER some money!

Molly filled with a bit of excitement from the gift the Tooth Fairy left behind.

A good family friend of ours was just visiting from California and was patient enough to teach all three of our children to knit. Oh yes, Myles and Hudson wanted to learn as well.  While Myles and Hudson have moved their interest back to making paper airplanes and successfully messing up the house, Molly has become quite fond of her new hobby.  She has knit every night since Saturday and she is proud to tell you she is on her 13th row!

Whine free Hudson and  Dinah and Molly knitting!

Finally, onto Hudson.  He has not whined for 4 days now.  This is a revelation.  Today on the way to school he said, "mom I have not whined for days now, aren't you proud?".  PROUD?  Are you kidding, yes i am proud, delighted, thrilled and just so happy.  He has been whining on and off for months now.  Shawn and I have been commenting on how he was so easy as a baby but so high maintenance as a 3 year old.  I asked him why he has not whined for several days and told him I as so proud and his answer, "I am happy mom". I have learned my lesson:  Don't piss off your 3 year old or he will torture you for months to come!!!!!

The Daily Craziness is keeping us so Busy.

I don't really have any one topic to Blog about this week.  It has been such a hectic week with different things popping up that seem to interrupt our very routine life.  For example, last Friday night on the way home from work my car broke down.  I am talking black smoke pouring out of the hood.  My anticipated Friday night full of chilling out with the kids and taking a neighborhood walk was stolen from me by my 2003 minivan.  Two hours later Shawn had me home safe and sound and the tow truck had delivered the van to the "car doctor"~ as Hudson calls it.  Uggghhh.  Not a fun way to start a weekend.  $1000 later (new AC compressor) the car is back on the road, but not after some anguish on my part as I was thinking perhaps we should throw in the towel and buy a new one.  I do like my old beast though, just not the bills it has been bringing.  On to more important things.  Kids. 

I had a Mother's Day that started off with breakfast in bed and a handful of homemade cards by the kids. It was nice to have them shower me with food and cards and their excitement.  The funny thing is I had to pretend I was just waking up, meanwhile I was upstairs doing laundry for the two hours they were downstairs with Shawn getting ready to "wake me".  My bed had no sheets on it when they came to see me (they were being washed), but no one seemed to notice and I do think they really thought I had just woken up!! 

This week has been hectic as Shawn has been out extra nights with work commitments and I have been unable to do my normal YMCA workout with the girls.  So, I was a little thrown off by this as I realized that I draw energy from burning calories!  I am hoping to get back into the routine next week. 

Finally, I got this email from Myles teacher yesterday:

Good afternoon,

I am writing to set up a meeting with you and your husband to discuss Myles' progression and recommendation for next year.  The end of the year is creeping up quickly, only 33 days left!  I tutor after school on Tuesday's for Myles and also on Thursday; every other day of the week I am available to meet right after school.  I am also available any day before school or after 4:30.  Please let me know what day and time works best for you. 

Thank you,

Pam Zagadsky

Kingston Hill Academy

We tried to meet with her this morning but she can not meet until next week.  We are anticipating a suggestion from her to have Myles repeat 1st grade.  So for all those readers of this Blog, we are confused by what we should do.  We know our 6 year olds are individuals and we get that, believe me, but should we keep one back and let the other one go on to the next grade?  Should we keep them both back?  Perhaps she will surprise us and tell us that he is suddenly doing great and reading at the correct level, I am hoping. I am afraid that Shawn and I will have a big decision on our hands in the week to come in regards to what to do about next year for the twins.  We will keep you posted with this.

Happy Friday.

Weekend Highlights and Lowlights

Highlights:

• Shawn and Grandma (and it turns out Aunt Christa too) successfully completed a 5K Road Race
• Grandma came in third in her age group.  We are so proud of you Grandma!!!!
•  Myles and Molly played in their first t-ball game of the season and they both got hits
• Shawn and I went out to dinner on a fantastic date to a new gem of a town we discovered. (Stonington, Ct)
•  Ms. Brianne, our summer babysitter, watched the kids and the kids were SOOOOO excited to have her put them to bed.
• Myles lost yet another tooth while eatting dinner with Ms. Brianne on Saturday night
• Myles had some "grampa time" and constructed a wooden plane and painted a bird house
• The entire family (including the neighbors) are healthy!
• The kids had a grand old time with Shawn taking tractor rides

Lowlights:

• Shawn got a ticket for running a red light.  He and Huddy both tell me he should have not received it and that the light was really yellow when he made his left hand turn.  The light turned red while they were stuck in the intersection.  My philosophy is that my child and husband are telling the truth but we will still have to pay the $85 fine!
• I tried to make a pulled pork on Sunday but it would not fit in the crockpot!  I had to put it in the oven and it was WAY too much work to pull as it never got as well done as it does in the crock pot.  Between pulling pork and baking 4 quiches for the kids school I was stuck in the kitchen for way too long on Sunday.
• The toothfairy forgot to come   

  

  Doesn't his mouth look like a Jack 'o latern?

  

April Vacation Week....

was last week.  The kids were with Shawn on Monday and Tuesday and they had all sorts of fun.  He brought them to the bike path and they all biked for 3 miles and then had a picnic at the train station.  They had a good time watching the trains go by and enjoyed some time at a local playground.  The next day Shawn brought all the kids and Luke to the skate park in Westerly where despite hearing some teenagers swear (Myles could not seem to get over this) they all had a blast.  Molly was so proud of herself for riding her scooter at the skate park and Huddy participated as well.  When  I came home at 4:30pm on Tuesday Shawn had four kids (ours and Luke) sitting quietly at the island and decorating Easter Eggs!  I was impressed. 

Wednesday the boys spent the day with Grandma at the URI pool.  Molly was invited to go out to lunch and to the movies with Elliott and her mom Kelly.  She had such a good time and was just delighted that she was able to pick out ANYTHING she wanted from ANY restaurant in the Food Court at the mall.  She thought that was just fabulous.  Kelly let them both ride on the carousel and they watched a puppet show in the mall and ended the day with "Rio" the movie in 3D. Molly was all smiles at the day's end. 

Thursday through Saturday Grandma and I took the three kids on a two night adventure in Plymouth, Massachusetts.  We stayed at the John Carver Inn which has an indoor water park that looks like the Mayflower and its very own game room (where Molly played ping pong one night with Grandma at 9pm) and a fabulous restaurant called the Hearth and Kettle.  In Plymouth we visited a playground, went out to several yummy meals at restaurants, went to the beach to chase seagulls and collect sea glass, visited the Mayflower II and Plymouth Rock, walked a bit along a river walk where Myles found a wing from a seagull (that he thought was so cool) and did a lot of swimming.  It was a fun two day escape with lots of activities.

Molly took this picture of us!

3 kiddos and the Mayflower II

Molly, Mommy and Huddy in the pool!

Myles coming out of slide

Grandma with Myles and Molly having fun!

This was our first trip without the pack n play as Huddy finally got just too long for it.  We brought along his new LL Bean super padded sleeping bag and he was delighted to sleep in between the two double beds in the hotel room.  The second morning there I woke up to, "mom help me there is a railing on me".  I looked down to the floor towards where he should be sleeping and no Huddy.  I was not too alarmed as I knew he was in the room and calling for me, but where was he?  "Mom help I am stuck", I heard again.  By this time I was on the floor and looking under the bed. There I saw two little feet sticking out and realized that he had rolled under the bed sometime in the night and spent the night on the dirty dusty rug and not on the sleeping bag!  Thankfully when I pulled him out from underneath he was not traumatized in the slightest and he did not appear to look like a dust bunny.   I thank goodness I did not wake up prior to him calling for me or I would have had a panic attack not knowing he was safe under the bed!!!

A Girls Grip to NYC

Molly wrote the following Blog entry on the bus ride home from NY.
(Gina, Hailey, Dotty, and Grandma joined us on the trip to see Aunt Barbara)

Once upon a time there was a little girl and her mommy they took a trip to NYC.  They took a long bus ride there and when they got thare they saw Aunt B. They took a long walk through the city all day and got presents for their brothers and stopped for snacks and lunch. We were tired but we had fun;  then we headed home we rested on the way home. We were so excited to see the rest of the family. The end.         Love Molly

Mothers and Daughters

A few of mommy's favorite ladies.

Father Daughter Dance

On April 9th Shawn was proud to accompany Ms. Molly to the Kingston Hill Academy Father/Daughter Dance.  They had a blast together tearing up the rug from 5pm to 7:30pm at the local Elks club.  They then went to a 7:30pm dinner at Shogun and ended the night with ice cream from Lickety Splits.  I was a bit envious as it all sounds like the perfect night to me but so happy that the two of them enjoyed their time together.  They did not get home until nearly 11pm.  Molly is a night owl so she truly does wake up in the evening hours and come out of her shell.  We are a bit nervous for the college years as the child likes to
P-A-R-T-Y!

All set and ready to dance.

Enjoying her flowers and showing them off.

Molly with daddy and her upside doll in her matching dress.