First trip to the ER...

It was bound to happen sooner or later and seeing as he's almost 6, we've done pretty well. We had to make our first trip to the ER with JD on November 29th. He and daddy were playing around in the kitchen right before he went up to bed and lost his balance and hit his head, about 1/2 an inch from his right eye, on the corner of the half wall in the kitchen. We figured he'd have a bump and when we looked it was bleeding...then he saw it was bleding and started screaming and crying, which only made it bleed worse. I grabbed a kitchen towel to put over it and Reece ran for the band-aids...I knew however that this would need more than a band-aid. We grabbed his Bobo bear , left the house about 9:25 and tried the urgent care place up the street, but they closed at 9, so it was off to Carroll County Hosptial Center...about a 20-25 minute drive. On the way JD started saying "I'm scared, I don't want stitches...promise I won't get stitches!" I told him I couldn't promise that, but we'd see. Luckily the wait wasn't long and the nurses were really great with him. His eyes got teary a few times and his lip was quivering, but he never cried after we got there. They checked him out to make sure he didn't have a concussion and the PA asked him all kinds of questions, like how many of his stuffed bear did he see; did he have a headache, did he feel like he was going to throw up (no, that was mommy!). Luckily they were able to use dermabond and steri-strips to close it (I told the nurse that he was really scared about getting stitches, so if there was a way to do it without, that would be awesome). On the way home he said he was going to tell his classmates about the ER and then says "That's a pretty fun place." Um, yeah...you got stickers and chocolate pudding, of course it's fun. LOL Can we not go back to the "fun" place anytime soon, thanks.  At least it was not a horrible experience for him.

The steri-strips are still on a little over a week later, but we've been extra careful not to get them wet and we've been keeping a band-aid on it during the day. He missed PE last week since the school nurse suggested that if they were playing field hockey, it might be best to write him a note to be excused. Otherwise it hasn't stopped him, my little tough guy. He even particiapted in crazy hair day at school the day after this happened. Daddy spiked his hair and painted it green. Reece felt really bad, since it happenend while they were playing and was worried JD wouldn't want to horse around with him anymore.

Friday, the day after it happened. This was after he got home from school.

This was Sunday, first time we took the band-aid off. You can see a little bruise too.

Holy Turkey Day Batman!

Can't believe Thanksgiving is next week! I stopped by to pick up some stuff from a friend last night and he says to me "You look beat." My reply was "Get used to it, I'll be like this til, ummm, after New Year's." LOL Seriously though, we have stuff to do every weekend between now and the end of the year, so that leaves weeknights to get cookies made, gifts purchased, cards out (sorry guys, not gettin' homemade ones this year!), and other holiday things done in addition to homework, housekeeping, daily chores etc. UGH! I'm losing my mind already. In the last week, I sent JD's permission slip back to school sans the trip fee and sent his data binder back without signing it. Invest in 3M people, I'm gonna need Post-It notes...lots of 'em!

My shopping list seems shorter this year, but maybe it's just because I'm planning to do several "family" gifts and gift cards are on alot of people's lists. I want to try and make some ornaments with JD, something he can paint or color to give to his grandparents and we're also doing a book of his artwork for my mom and dad. In fact I just scanned a bunch of his drawings yesterday and hope to be able to upload everything to Snapfish this weekend and get that ordered.

As far as the full weekends go after Thanksgiving we have my company holiday dinner and then a night out at Cantina; a visit to Michele for a haircut (this is on the list because for those that don't know, I get my hair cut about 2x a year by my friend Michele at her house, so it's usually a long visit with catching up and the kids playing...to me it's an event and I love it!); a trip to the Science Center to use our Groupon; possibly a small football gathering; Reece's Union's Christmas party; the annual cookie swap with my girlfriends, and then it's the weekend before Christmas. Hoping we'll get some time to go see the holiday lights either at Adventure Park or in Columbia at Merriweather Post too.

We'll be heading to my parents next week for the holiday and JD is looking forward to seeing mom-mom and pop-pop. I've still got homemade bread and a pie to bake before we go up and JD has a dentist appointment the day before Thanksgiving as soon as he gets out of school. Thanks goodness I took Wednesday off. I'm also in charge of the turkey this year, so I think I'll bring my girly apron that a friend gave me for Christmas last year. I remember my mom and gram would put on their aprons to cook holiday dinners and it's a wonderful memory. Thinking this new recipe I found on Pinterest for Apple Cider Sangria might be in order too. I would love to get some people together on Friday night to go out and catch up while we're there, but seems as though there are no takers based on the results of my Facebook post. If not, we can try again at Christmas...or not.  ;-)

Powerless...

That title refers to the state my parents house has been since super storm Sandy rolled through last Monday and how I and alot of the community in West Amwell Township, NJ have been feeling. I realize this was a huge storm that casue widespread damage and feel very luck that my parents didn't have any damage and still have their house and possessions, but they live on a major road and it's still closed and hasn't been dealt with. We've asked them to come stay with us for a while to visit and spend time with JD, but they'd rather stay there. It's their home and I understand that. However, I think they're getting a little bored without TV.

There are some things that my parents have on their side though.

1. Luckily, my brother lives in the area and for the first 4 or 5 days after the storm, while he and his girlfriend were also without power, they stayed at my parents. They are now back home, but my brother stops daily to start the generator in the morning and checks on them on the way home.
2. They have a generator. There are many people in the township who don't have one, which means no heat in this cold we've had recently and more importantly, no water. There is no city water in the township; everyone has wells and no power = no well pump.
3. They have a propane stove and water heater and the heat is fuel oil. They can cook and when the generator is running to power the thermostats, they have hot water and heat.
4. They have a land-line phone that's not cordless, so they can make and receive calls.

I joined a group on Facebook for West Amwell Township NJ and the community members on there have been great about sharing information. They have also been very verbal and contacted and continue to contact their representatives, the governor's office, the power company, the state utility board and the local TV stations and newspapers. Just yesterday, a crew from Channel 6 news WPVI from Philadelphia went to the elementary school to interview residents and township officials and they also went to some residents' houses to see how they are living. Amazing work by a very small community that pulled together to be heard!

I've been hearing that utility crews have been on my parents road today and am keeping my fingers crossed that they will have power back tonight or tomorrow.

Update: Mom and dad finally got power back on going into Day 13 (Saturday Nov. 10th)!

The Rock Candy Experiment

Taken Monday evening (10/22)

I'm not sure where JD saw this, but he's been asking about making rock candy. I've seen it on Pinterest and maybe it was in one of his Highlights for Kids magazines. We finally got everythig together on Monday night to make the syrup and start the candy.

We used:
2 cups of water
4 cups of sugar
gel food coloring
4 bambo skewers
chip clips
funnel
mason jars

Making the syrup took the longest, because you have to add each cup of sugar and dissove it completely before adding the next. I read several sets of directions about cooking the syrup and some said to remove from the heat as soon as all the sugar was added and some sid to boil it for 5-10 minutes. I did let it boil for a few minutes after the sugar dissolved, but didn't want to get the temp too high since we weren't making hard candy. You can add flavoring to the syrup too, but JD decided we should leave it plain.

While we waited a bit for the syrup to cool, I wet 3 of the skewers with water and rolled them in sugar and set them aside to dry. The 4th skewer I dipped into the syrup and rolled in sugar instead. You need to do this to give the sugar crystals something to start growing on. We used a funnel to put the syrup into clean mason jars and then added the coloring. I used chip clips to suspend the skewers so they don't touch the sides or the bottom of the jars.

This morning the yellow, blue and green syrups seem to be doing well. You can see the crystal build up on the skewers. The red isn't working so well. Not sure if it's because we used a different type of food coloring or if it's because it's the skewer that was dipped in syrup and then the sugar and not the water and sugar.

We'll keep checking and I'll post a photo when we're done. The photo at the top is of  our jars after we were finished setting them up. Hope we get some good candy sticks from this. JD will be very excited!

Yellow jar - Friday morning

Finished Rock Candy

JD Gem....

This is a good one! Reece and I were getting ready to go to the last day of the MD Renaissance Festival. We went 3 times already and took JD, so this time we were going by ourselves. I was finishing up and JD was laying on the floor in my room rolling around cause he was in such a hurry to go to grandmom's.

JD: Am I going with you today?
Me: No, you're going to grandmom's. Mommy and daddy want one day to go and visit with our friends and not have to worry about where you're running off to.
JD: Mommy, I think something broke.
Me: What?
JD: Something broke.
Me (all worried): What broke?
JD: My heart...my heart is broken because you aren't taking me with you to rennfest.

REALLY!? Did he really just say that. And again I ask, where does he come up with this stuff?

Revolving teachers anyone?

To be honest, I wasn't exactly thrilled that JD was starting kindergarten in the class with the teacher on maternity leave. I know it happens. I've had friends who are teachers go on maternity leave. I know it's the luck of the draw when they make up the classes. We met the permanent sub at kindergarten orientation and she seemed really nice. I communicated with her by email a few times and we had our parent/teacher conference with her in September. Felt confident that she'd be a good teacher for JD and assumed she'd be there until his regular teacher came back from leave. What is it they say about assuming...that you make an ass out of u and me?

Last Thursday we get a letter home with JD from the principal stating that the permanent sub came to them Wednesday and informed them that Wednesday would be her last day at the school. No reason given in the letter, not that I expected there to be. They're interviewing for a new permanent sub, the same reliable assistant is still with the class and we have the best interests of your students looked after, blah, blah, blah. So, the class has had a sub since last Thursday and I can only hope they have the same sub today and not someone else. (I intend to keep track!) SO, this situation means that, assuming (yeah, there I go assuming again) that the regular teacher comes back in the spring, the class will have had at least 4 teachers this year. Not cool!

How are the kids supposed to develop a relationship with their teacher and for that matter, how are parents supposed to.

Reece told me about the letter before I got home Thursday and when I got there JD handed me the letter and said "Mommy, Mrs. __ is gone and she's not ever coming back. It's very sad." I told him there was nothing we could do about it, but that Mrs. __, the assistant would still be there and try to keep things the same, but that the new teacher may do things a little differently.

I think I may have to correspond with the principal.

JD Gems...

One night while getting ready for bed, JD said "I want to sleep in your room mommy." I told him no and he got upset, so I asked why he wanted to sleep in my room. His answer: "Well your pillow is in there mommy and it smells like you and I like that...and another thing, your bed is so comfy and cushy and I like that too."  I gave him my pillow case so that his pillow would smell like "mommy" and it was off to bed he went. LOL

Another night, after soccer practice, I took out my contacts, put on my glasses and went to help JD take his shin guards off. As I'm helping he says "Mommy, I like when you wear your glasses." This I knew already, because he's told me before, but I asked why he liked it anyway. So glad I did. He said "They make you look smarter.......like a high schooler." Gotta love this boy!

Random memories...

Ever since my friend Nadine posted a photo of her cleaned out fridge with it's container of Halo Farms Iced Tea, I've been thinking alot about places we'd go and things we'd do when I was a kid.

Unless you grew up near or live near Trenton, NJ, you've probably never heard of Halo Farms. I haven't been in years, but when I was a kid, it was this big barn like store where you could buy regular milk, the best chocolate milk, iced tea (delicious!), lemonade and other drinks. You could also watch the drinks be packaged in thier paper cartons and my brother and I loved that. They also had an area with farm animals...goats, sheep, ducks...that you could go see. We even went there on a field trip once for school.

There were lots of places we went to when we were in that area, around Olden Avenue. There was Jay's toy store, where mom and dad got my frst bike. I can still remember all the bikes they had and seeing the plastic pools stacked and ready for sale in the summer. Another place we went to alot was the Parfait House, also on Olden Ave. That was usually a stop for sundaes served in the fancy tall glasses with lots of hot fudge sauce and my my mom would get creme de menthe parfaits. She'd always let me have a taste...yum!! Sometimes when we'd go, we'd pick up coke syrup for my great Uncle John; it helped settle his stomach.

On Saturdays, we might go with my dad to get his haircut at Joe's Barbershop. Joe was great! He always had lollipops for us or candy cigarettes and the kept then under the register...we knew exactly where they were. There was a little slide door in the wall, just above the back of the chair near the register. There was an auto place on the other side and they'd make coffee in thier office and leave a cup there for Joe so he could get it. Afterwards, dad would take us to Burger King, which was a huge treat since we never went out for fast food. Guess that's why I love burgers with mayo and katchup. Those onion rings were my favorite and they don't taste the same anymore. Sad. Of course the love of mayo on a burger could have been from Wendy's too. I remember when I had broken my arm and Dad went to the barber with Dave, they stopped on the way back at Wendy's and brought a burger home to me. Square burger with mayo...what? Who knew it would be so good.

We spent a few New Year's Eves at the Ground Round on Olden Ave, before going to the Lavery's party. They always had a TV on playing "classic" cartoons for the kids and you could go to the popcorn machine and get a basket of popcorn for your table while you waited for the food. They had party hats and noise makers and did an early count down to the new year. Then we'd head to Lavery's and spend the rest of the night with a bunch of families of school friends and bring in the new year.

I remember trips to Sears in Trenton and to Dunham's in Lawerenceville. My dad would take us to Dunham's to get birthday/Christmas/Mother's Day gifts for mom. Usually slippers, a robe, a nightgown, a wallett or Jean Natte perfume. My mom would take us there to get things for Gram (my mom's mother)...again, nightgowns, robes, slippers, and Emeraude perfume. I still rmember that green bottle.

My dad's mother, my Nona, and my Aunt and Uncle lived in the Chambersburg area of Trenton...that was the Italian section. 19 Tyler Street. They had a cool house, with a spooky basement. In one corner, there was this little cave like place where they used to keep thier coal for the furnace. We always thought there was a monster in there and Uncle Dave never told us any different. In the back, he kept all his blacksmith tools. Upstairs in the living room, the couch was always covered in plastic and my Uncle had his spot between the fancy living room and the dining room where he'd watch TV in his chair. My Aunt used to have this fancy whtie and gold phone in her bedroom, which I always thought was so great as a little girl.

Other trips to Chambersburg took us to Barbero's Bakery for birthday cakes and italian pasteries. Since my birthday and my brother's were so close, we'd have one big party, but mom and dad would take us to Barbero's and let us look through the book and each order a cake decorated the way we wanted. Oh, and when we'd have picnics, dad would go down the morning of, to Colonial Bakery in Trenton, and pick up rolls he ordered. Loved going with him because it smelled SO wonderful and they always gave me and Dave a small, fresh rolls for the ride home. Picnics were always fun for us because it was the only time we got soda too. Dave and I would go shopping with mom and she'd let us pick out the flavors...always the store brand and they were loose cans so you could mix and match.

Many times when we'd visit my Nona, we'd take her to the cemetary to visit Grandpop William's gravesite. I loved going to that cemetary...still do. His grave, and now my Nona's too, is right by the carrilon, that plays music with bells. I can remember helping dad clean up the grave and the markers at the foot of it that have Z's on them; planting flowers in the spring and taking wreaths or grave blankets at Christmas. There are some pretty inpressive graves in that cemetary. One of my favortives is the one a mother had made for her son who was a soldier. She saved and collected money and had a statue made of him to mark the grave. Dad would also drive us by where our little cousin was buried, out by the fence. I really want to take JD out there sometime before my dad is gone, so that he can go with us too. I also need to take JD to where Gram and Grandpop Otto are buried in Lambertville....maybe take some flowers to each one. To this day, I love going to a cemetary, especially little old ones you find off on the side of the road.

There's so much more I could add here, but I'll stop for now. I hope that we make memories for JD like the ones my parents helped make for me. It seems harder now since things aren't the same as just 30-40 years ago. We get bread and cakes from the grocery store bakery; fast food stops are normal now, especially when we travel (mom and dad always packed a cooler of sandwiches and drinks...and there were always pepper and egg sandwiches, which I didn't like back then, but do now); we buy toys at Walmart, Target or online. At least we've found a great pizza place that makes "tomato pie" like the kind I grew up with...none of this dominos or papa john's stuff and also an Italian Ice place, well truck, that gets it's ice from NJ and is just like what my brother and I got at the pizzaria's when we were kids. JD likes his Rita's but if it's mine or Reece's choice, we head to Victor's Italian Ice truck. In fact we bought a quarter bucket of thier strawberry ice to help us get through the off season. LOL  Good times!! Oh, and we're gonna have to take JD to Halo Farms now...maybe during our Thanksgiving visit.

Momma Slacker in the House....

Well. It's been quite a while since I've posted an entry and there has been alot going on. Just momma being a slacker and not getting online to post. So here goes...

We're now just a little over 6 weeks into the school year and I'm still hearing "Do I have to go to school today?" At least it's usually on Saturday mornings, but when I tell him no, he gets all excited. Still working on transitioning to the new routine? I'd like to think not. Maybe he's just not going to LOVE school. Who knows. The word from the teacher is good though. We had our conference a few weeks ago and the teacher was very happy with what he's doing in class, his behavior and participation. He's still bringing home papers with stars and smiley faces and get smarty dots on his hand alot. Just waiting until he gets to Star of the Week...that will put a smile on his face.

JD's also been drawing alot when he gets to daycare in the morning. Says it makes him feel better and then he doesn't miss me when I leave. The current trend is to draw mostly everything in green marker...his favorite color. I feel like I need to buy a bunch of crayola markers in just green and bring them to the daycare since he uses them so much. LOL He draws our house in various configurations of the rooms, and he includes features that we can identify so we know what room it is, but there's almost always all 3 floors shown and almost always a yellow square in the bottom corner...the kitties littler box. Not sure why he thinks of that, but he does. Give me a little laugh. Other things he includes are daddy at his computer or JD and me on the couch playing PS3 and the kitties on the beds. Recently he's been copying words he sees too. Good practice.

We're still playing soccer, but mostly just at practice. He still hasn't played in an actual game. The season is almost over. Only 4 more games and we'll be out of town for one of them. So glad his coaches are very understanding with his reluctance to play in the games. Probably not going to sign up for next year at this point.

It's been a short Rennfest season for us. We've been 4 times since they opened (August 25th) and we'll be going one last time closing weekend, which is weekend after next. We've also gone on Sundays since soccer has taken up most of our Saturdays, but it's been okay. We just haven't seen alot of people we normally would this year because they go on Saturday. I never finished my green skirt, but I have a little over a week to add some colored tulle to an old one to make a peacock inspired one for the "day of wrong". The outfit is more costume than garb, but that's what day of wrong is about.

I've also been starting to think about Thanksgiving and Christmas this year. Trying to get gifts early here and there since money's a little tight. Trying to plan on some homemade gifts too. We'll see how that goes. I did find a fabulous bread recipe that I plan to make for Thanksgiving and of course my apple pies. Luckily they will both travel well since we'll be heading to NJ this year.

Not much else to report, but it just always seems like we're busy....and that's not about to change anytime soon.

 On September 29th we went to Atiyeh and Chad's Wedding.

 Miss Atiyeh and her buddy JD.

It Just May Be a Very Long School Year...

Well, we're two weeks into school and JD is alreay looking forward to days off and the weekends. That said, I'm hoping it's just that he's still adjusting to the new schedule and length of his day. If not, it will be a very long school year. He keeps coming home with "great job" stickers on his papers, great drawings, stories about what happens in class and "smarty dots" on his hand. You'd think there'd be something about it he likes! Oh yeah, and now he says he has 6 girlfriends. What's not to love about kindergarten?! LOL

Soccer hasn't gone very well on the other hand. After 2 very promising practices where he actually participated, he did not play in the first game on Saturday. He puts these huge expectations on himself to win and be the best even though we keep telling him all we want is for him to give it a try and have fun...we don't care if your team wins or loses; if you make 100 goal or no goals...just give it a shot and you might have fun! Guess we'll have to decide whether to keep trying or let him just quit this season and try again if he wants to next year. Kind of diappointed, but it is what it is.

First Day of Kindergarten!

Here's the big man on his first day of school. He cried as I was getting ready to leave him at daycare, which of course made me cry, but it didn't last long. Can't wait to hear about his first day!

Where did summer go?

I can't believe that the end of August is so close and we're heading into fall. I've already been thinking about Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas; using the slow-cooker for dinners; football games; and cool evenings around a campfire. That said, the fall is going to be a little dfferent for us this year. As of next Monday, we will have a kindergartener on our hands. JD's also signed up for soccer, which means Saturday games after labor day (of course that's if he decides he's going to participate...there's a story coming...wait for it.)

Last week I started taking JD to All About Kids Learning Center, which is the daycare his buddy Connor goes to. I wanted him to get a feel for being out of the house from 6:30 until 4 and also to get used to the place since he'll be going for before school care. I figured there'd be some crying and drama, but I was pleasantly surprised by my brave little man. He did great! He went Wednesday, which was a field trip lunch to Captain Dan's seefood restaurant, and he also went Friday. Today is the only day he's going this week and the field trip is to the local bowling alley and he's been dying to go bowling again, so that worked out great. Tomorrow is kindergarten orientation where we'll see his classroom and meet his teacher and find out anything else we need to know before school satrts on Monday.

Eveyone keeps asking if he's excited and honestly, I don't know. I keep telling him, like a little countdown, how many more days till school starts and he just says okay. I mean, really, he has done this before at Carrolltowne the last 2 years, so maybe it's no big deal to him. The other thing everyone asks is how I am. Um, okay. Is it weird not to feel all upset that he's growing up. The only thing I really feel about it is stressed at all the added work I get...making lunches, getting him up and dressed and to daycare, helping with homework. Yeah, his dad can help, but let's be real people, it's gonna all fall on mom. Maybe I'll get a little teary eyed as I drop him off at daycare on Monday, but having worked full time since he's been about 3 months old, I'm used to being away from him during the day. I'm more excited to hear about his first day and all the following days and what he's learning.

As for soccer...well, we're two practices in and it's not going so well. The first practice last week was called short due to lightening. Of course that was about 10 minutes after JD decided to participate (after standing around for the first 20 minutes!) This week was worse. He spent the entire practice standing on the sideline watching. We'll try again next week, but it's kind of rediculous. Had a huge debate amongst facebook friends last night on wehether it's okay to let them quit or should you make them stick it out. Our decision at the end of that was we'll try again next week and go from there. Maybe after being at school and playing with other kids at recess, he'll be more likely to participate.

It's also time for the MD Rennfest to start up. We'll miss the first few weeks and probably only go a handful of times this year, because of soccer, a camping trip to Gettysburg and also a trip to Richmond for a wedding.

Let the fun begin!

Where does he come up with this stuff?

Last night my friend Lisa told me her daughter loved the Wee Chefs camp that JD also went to earlier in the summer. She also told me they are having a special Chirstmas version...one evening in early December for a few hours. So as JD is getting in bed, I say "Listen bud, Miss Lisa told me that Addie loved Wee Chefs and they are having a special Christmas one in December." He stops dead in his tracks and says "Keep talkin'!" ROFL Have no idea where he heard that. I asked if he wanted to go and of course he said yes. He's so excited to do Wee Chefs again and to have a friend going with him this time.

Casting away our troubles for a week...

We just got back from a week in Ocean City, MD at the Castaways RV Resport and Campground...and when we left, we rebooked for next year! Obviously we had a a great time. LOL

We arrived on Sunday, July 8 and luckily used the speedy check in option, which meant less things to do when we registered. They had our packet all ready to go and showed us to our site. We were a few yards away from thier beach and the tiki bar. Our only problem was that we couldn't put the awning on the trailer out becasue of a tree. Luckily we have an easy-up tent and put that over the picnic table...problem solved. Spent the rest of the day checking things out and them met up with the Magees (Scott, Missy and Hunter...friends from home who told us about the place). We had a pretty bad storm go through on Sunday night and some rain into Monday a.m., but until the following Saturday, that's all the rain we had.

Monday:
I got up after the rain stopped and went for a run on the road to the campground. When I got back JD had decided to try out the kids camp they have from 9 am to 11 am everyday. The kids play games and make crafts and are supervised by staff. Reece couldn't resist the golf cart rental, so we had a golf cart for 3 days. He and JD had fun riding around. We spent the rest of the day either on the beach or at the pool. JD loved being in the water, which is great since he's still learning to swim.

Tuesday:
We got up early and went to the beach with the Magees at low tide. Walked out on the sand bars to look for sand dollars and clams and other critters. After about 45 min, Reece and I walked back, becasue JD didn't want to go so he waited for and watched us us on the beach. Missy, Scott and Hunter fround 3 sand dollars and a snall horseshoe crab.  We then went to O.C. to the board walk and did we walk...from the inlet to the Kite Loft. Reece had to buy a new trick kite and then had to go use it right away. It looked cloudly that morning, but it got HOT. While he was wrapping up, JD went down the wodden stair to the beach and got s huge splinter in his finger. Now we have to walk all the way back to the inlet with a crying child...or make that I had to carry the crying child all the way back to the inlet. Finally decided to go to the Coast Guard Station to see if we could get some first aid...the guy who helped us with JD was great, even with all the screaming he did. He removed the splinter (had to use a needle to break the skin, hence the scremaing) and then we took JD for ice cream. JS slept the whole way back to the campground, thank goodness becasue there was traffic from an accident on the bridge. We spent the rest of the afternoon in the pool swimming.

Wednesday:
We were up early for our SuperFun Eco Tour from Assateague Island. This group of guys are awesome and very passionate about what they do. We kayaked on the bay side of the island, where pelican flew overhead, and stopped to get out in some shallow water. They caught crabs, grass shrimp, orange sponges, lug worm egg sacks (aka, sea snot...and it really does look like snot) and some small fish amd told us about each of them.  After we got back we again went to the pool, but finished up early to get ready for dinner with the Magees and the McCollums, who were staying in OC that week. We got steamed crabs and shrimp and JD, Hunter and Addie had fun running all over the play ground.

Thursday:
I decided to try the fitness room and used the eliptical. Nice, since I haven't used one since I gave up my gym membership after having JD. We went to Assateauge National Seashore for a good part of the day. Played in the waves and flew our kites. JD was getting pretty brave near the water. I was standing behind him holding his hand and he kept stepping us closer to the water. Even though I was watching the waves one caught us off guard and knocked us both over. He was okay and got right back up for more. So glad he's getting over his fear of the waves and ocean.  We got a close up look at some of the ponies that were in the parking lot. I have to say, people are stupid....they were getting really close to the ponies and there are signs everywhere that tell you not to do this. There are even photos of pony bites in the bathrooms. Guess some people like to learn the hard way. Tonight we sat on the beach near the tiki bar where they had live music until quiet hours started. Brought our cooler of beer and got a few frozen drinks from the bar...just like the original Seacrets...Pain in de Ass and Dirty Bananas. Yum! Once it got dark, we gave the boys glo-bracelets so we could see them and they pretended they were element power bands to fight each other. They had a blast.

Friday:
It was back to OC early to hit the boardwalk for Ficsher's Popcorn and saltwater taffy to bring home for gifts. We found a great pizza place called Piesanos...just like pizza I grew up having in NJ. We went back to playland to win some more tickets so JD could pick a prize and then headed home. Spent the afternoon at the campground down the road called Frontier Town. They have a great water park and we played mini-golf too. Spent another night on the beach listening to a band and they boys having power band duels. I could get used to this!

Saturday:
We started packing up a little and Reece set our stuff up on the beach. Just as JD and I came down I noticed tthe dark clouds movning in and it started to rain. Decided to meet up with Missy, SCott and Hunter for lunch and Pizza Tugos and then headed back to do some more packing. We set the boys up with a movie that night and Missy, Scott, Reece and I hung out and had a few drinks...yeah, we had quite a few drinks this week!

On the way out Sunday we scheduled for next year and were able to get the site next to use, without a tree in the way of the awning. Yay! The Magees will be there too! Made it home around 2-2:30 and did some un packing and got ready for the coming week...back to reality. :-(

We'd recommend the campground to anyone...nice sites, friendly staff, shuttle to OC and Assateague, programs for the kids, events scheduled all week, a camp store that wasn't over priced, thier own beach, a tiki bar and a deli onsite...they've got thier bases covered. Will have to get some pictures up soon!

Learning to be hungry....

I decided to join a co-worker on her pre-boot camp diet. It's called The Fat Smash Plan and it's by the doctor from Celebrity Fit Club. The guy who runs the boot camp suggests it on his website. It's a 4 phase program and the first phase is the most restrictive. So, for the past 8 days (today is day 9) we couldn't have meat, cheese, bread, white potatoes, whole eggs/egg yolk, dessert/sweets, soda, coffee, caffiene, pretzels/tortilla chips, fried food, fast food...I think that's it. Anyway, I've been getting pretty creative with beans, brown rice, egg whites, yogurt, all fruits and veggies (except avocado), skim or low fat milk (which I hardly ever drink), tahini paste (process with chickpeas and lemon = hummus), hot unsweetened cereal (i.e., oatmeal, grits, cream of wheat), water. I've lost 2 lbs since the beginning and have put a major dent in my sweet tooth. I've even got the boys eating whole wheat bread (even though I can't yet)...Reece's idea. He said if JD eats it, let's stick with it.

Tomorrow, I can add back to the list of food you can eat for any given day: 3 oz of lean meat or fish, unsweetened dry cereal, 1 oz of cheese, coffee (YAY!), 1 whole egg, 1/2 avocado, and peanut butter! There may be a few others, but these are the ones we're excited about. LOL So this phase lasts for 3 weeks...which will include our OC beach week. We'll see how I do. Gonna really try to stick with it as close as I can. Fresh fruits and veggies for snacking and with meals....not too many desserts/treats...BUT, how will I resisit the yummy Seacrets frozen drinks at the bar at the beach in the campground???!!! Well, if they are like the ones at the main Seacrets Bar in downtown OC, then their price will keep me from drinking more than a few.

Switched back to running and P90, since that's what seemed to work the best for me. They have water aerobics and Zumba at the campground and I can always bring my running shoes for a morning jog.

Looking forward to turning around how and what we eat at home and to our week at the beach. Oh yeah...not gonna give up steamed crabs while we're there either. :-)

UPDATE: Lost 5 lbs from June 18 to July 6 and it really wasn't that hard to follow. It really did lessen my sweet tooth. However, being on vacatino and drinking lots of beer didn't help. Getting back on track with Phase II food list.

A new rule...

This happened a little while ago and I never posted about it. It's too funny not to share. I had been reading a book called "How to Tuck in a Superhero" that I found on Pinterest and a friend recommened. It's about a woman who has 5 sons and the crazy life they have and the crazy rules she never thought she'd ever have to make. I laughed alot reading it and then I had to laugh at myself, because I had the "I can't believe I had to make that rule" experieince. One day at grandmom's, JD decided he didn't want to put underwear on when he got dressed, so when he got home, he decided he should. When I got home, that's all he was wearing...his underwear...backward. Okay. So later in the evening I saw him taking small toys and things and putting them down the front of his underwear (remember, they're on backward so he's got lots of room). Okay. Then he comes to me in the kitchen and tells me how much he likes collecting things and walks off to the living room and starts removing his "collection." And I'm in the kitchen listening..."I've got a car, and another car, and a bunny, and a block, and a truck and a trash can (from his Trash Pack toys)...and a PIECE OF CHEESE, and..." "What?! Please tell me you don't have cheese in there" I call to him. He comes to the kitchen with a big goofy grin and a mashed up Kraft Single, still in the wrapper...that he had "collected". (I had asked him to put it away earlier after he took out more pieces than he could eat and left it on the coffee table.) So, I told him, "New rule, no collecting food in your underwear!" Really.

Life is never dull.

And the summer madness begins...

We're 6 days into June and I'm already updating calenders and checking dates, seeing where we can squeeze everything in. Then on top of that, how do we pay for it. Fun, fun!

In the next 4-5 weeks, we've got soccer camp and then Wee-Chefs camp for JD; a playdate with friends after work; dinner with a friend (hopefully); a scrapbook crop day; Swinefest (BBQ and beer festival in Frederick, MD); Father's Day; 4th of July and our week at the beach. I'm also trying to find time to get together with April and Karen and their families while April is visiting from FL. It's been a few years since I've seen her and it would be nice to see them and meet their new little boy.

It's kind of looking like Rennfest is going to be a short season for us this year with JD starting before school care the last week of August and having to pay $200 a month. Granted, that's not alot compared to what we could have been paying for the last 5 years in regular daycare, but with the new truck payment and Reece back to smoking, it puts a dent in the "fun" funds. I think I need to go through a bunch of the baby stuff we had for JD...the big stuff like strollers, exercisers, and such...and get it to a consignment shop to sell. That should help a little with the "fun" funds.

Soccer mom status...was this a good idea?

Well, JD is officially signed up for the fall soccer league in Sykesville. The Sykesville-Freedom Opimists Club run the league. I talked to some one at sign up to see how many practices they have and how many games...you know, to see what we're in for. LOL He said JD's age group would be at Eledersburg ES for everything, which is great beacause it's close to us. Practices start in August, two days a week and then switch to one day when games start. Games are on Saturday. Still not sure if this is going to be a good thing or not for several reasons...

1. I envision JD just sitting on the feild refusing to play because he can't do something right (according to him).
2. Better yet, I envision him refusing to go to the first practice
3. He's going to be (blessedly) tired the first few weeks of school...soccer practice might not go so well.
4. Game times on Saturday vary...morning to afternoon. Have we just ruined plans for fall camping and anything else we want to do (rennfest?).

I guess we'll see what happens. Luckily his friends, Max, Savannah and Lindsay are playing this year too and we could put down his friends names on the form and they'd try to get him on a team with one of them.

On top of all this, I realize I'm starting to get a little stressed about school starting. Not like, "Oh my baby is going to school, he's growing up!" stressed. Been there, got him on the school bus for his pre-k program. Stuff like this runs through my mind (and I'll add to the list as I come up with new things running around my head):

• If we do before school care, we have to send breakfast for there and then lunch for school...where is he going to put this stuff and not take a giant lunch box. Since he's coming home right from school, he can't leave a separate bag for breakfast at daycare to be picked up later. Paper bag for breakfast, maybe?
• I hope they don't give alot of homework the first week...okay, month, of school. I'm quite sure JD will pass out early because this new schedule is going to be a shock to him.
• I hope he gives things a try. I'm afraid he's just going to give up at things he's has to try more than once to get. I'm afraid he's going to not answer or participate because he doesn't know an answer or thinks he'll be wrong.
• I hope he's not picked on by other kids and for that matter, doesn't pick on anyone else.
• Does he need to know how to tie shoes? (Not that he has sneakers with laces at the moment, but he'll have to know eventually)
• Is his backpack large enough?
• What the heck is he going to be taking for lunches? Sometimes he'll tell you he wants something and then doesn't want it. Guess he'll learn, if he's hungry he'll eat it.

I should be completely nutso by the time school starts. LOL

Where has the year gone...

I honestly can't believe it's the beginning of May. Getting ready for graduation parties, Memorial Day and starting to really think about our week at the beach in July. Actully, I've been thinking about that alot. So much so that I'm back to logging food and doing Shaun T's Rockin' Body DVDs according to the schedule, even if it means getting up 2-3 morning a week at 4:15-4:30 so I can workout 6 days a week without sacrificing every evening with JD. I'm even considering Insanity...oh, yes, that Insanity you see on TV. I must be nuts, but I'm not going to beach feeling crummy about being in a bathing suit. I'll let you know if that happens and how it works out...if I haven't collapsed in my basment.

I've been trying to work on figuring out if we'll need before and after school care for JD too. So far, since Reece's schedule is back to 6am-2pm, we may just need before care. However, in order to save money, I may just change my work schedule and come in later so I can get him on the bus and then I'll just have to work until 5:30 or 6. Ugh! So not used to that, but if it saves us money I might. Of course I have no idea what time the bus would pick him up and they can't really tell me since the bell schedule is changing for next year. I still have to get his medical form to his pediatrician and remember to take the dental form to his appointment next Friday.

I know the rest of the school year and this summer are going to fly by. If I figure correctly, he's got 6 more speech sessions left, including today. Then it's up to us to keep his skills up for the summer. I was reading the blog of one of JD's former classmates mom and she was saying how this little boy was dismissed from the program also and was reading at a mid-kindergarten level. Reading?! JD's not reading. I know, I shouldn't listen to other parents about stuff like this and compare JD because all kids are different, but it kind of makes me worry. I need to check into the readiness information they sent home also. I'm trying to work on sight words with him and we still have that "Bridging the Gap to Kindergarten" book to work on. I'm just so worried that we're going to get calls about JD not wanting to cooperate or participate in his class/school work. He doesn't like to be wrong and if he thinks he is, he just doesn't want to participate. That's a habit we need to break.

Another reason the summer wil fly by is that as soon as May rolls around, the weekends start filling up with things to do. As I mentioned we have graduation parties, birthday parties, a few camping weekends, the tubing trip, mother's day and father's day and we still need to get back up to NJ to have the big birthday celebration dinner for mom. I think I need a clone...or more hours in my days.

Kindergarten registration...becoming a Dalmation

I totally forgot to post that JD is all registered for kindergarten at Piney Ridge ES - mascot...the Dalmations. We went on the only day they had evening hours. Luckily I had alot of the paper work filled out from the PDFs online and had all the support documents we needed to take with us. That didn't mean there wasn't more to fill out when we got there. LOL The principal already knows us from all of the IEP meetings (she comes to them since Piney Ridge is JD's home school) and she was happy to finally meet JD. We also ran into his buddy Maxwell and his parents there. Max is still in the program at Carrolltowne and was so excited to know he's going to have a friend at school. Not sure if they will be in the same classroom, but they will probably see each other. We scheduled our kindergarten assessment appointment and also found out that there will be a back to school night before school starts just for kindergarteners. The kids get to meet their classmates, meet the teachers and take a ride on the bus. (The bus is old hat for JD since he used to take it to Carrolltowne.) The only thing left to decide is whether we'll be doing before and after care or just before care. Reece's schedule has changed again and he'd be home in time to get JD off the bus...for now.

We were given a workbook for him also. All the kids get one at the end of the year so they don't lose any skills over the summer. (Summer homework?!) Anyway, the kids turn the book in the first day of school and if they have 80% completed, they get a special prize. According to the principal, the prize really motivates the kids...we'll see. LOL They said to wait til summer to start working on it, but since JD is no longer in school, I might get moving on that with him to keep his skills up. Let the homework begin...hopfully with no struggles and fights!

Another year older...

I'm typing this entry on my brother's birthday...his last in his 30's. Yikes! Of course that means I'm another year older too (11 days before his) and my mom just celebrated her 80th birthday (April 10th)! We spent Easter weekend in NJ visiting with my family. David and Amy had dinner at their house on Saturday for mom's birthday, but we kind of celebrated them all. We went for a tour of the Battleship New Jersey in Camden on Friday and we also visited with JD's godmother, Chris, on Saturday. It was a good weekend. The only thing we had originally planned doing, but didn't, was taking mom out for a big fancy dinner to celebrate this milestone birthday. We're going to make plans for a non-holiday weekend in the near future for that.

I don't know how I forgot to mention this in the last post from March 22nd, but it was our 9th wedding anniversary. Reece and I celebrated at the Melting Pot with a little help from his brother's Christmas gift. Cheese fondue first and then turtle chocolate fondue for dessert. Heaven!

Next weekend we're taking the trailer out for the first camping trip of the year. JD keeps telling us "I'm so ready to go camping!" Grandmom and grand-daddy will be joining us this time. Hoping the weather forecast improves a little...right now there's a 50% chance of rain/thunderstorms both days. JD want to go see the painting at the visitor center, so if it does rain, at least there's something to do indoors. When we get home on Sunday we'll have to quick get ready for a birthday party for his friend from school. He's excited because he misses everyone and he'll get to see several of his friends there. Hopefully Lucy, Lilly and Leo will be at the party...JD says Lucy is his girlfriend. LOL

Not much new on the craft front. I did finish the Harley scrapbook in time to give it to my brother Easter weekend. He loved it! Still working on the blanket for April's new little boy, who made his arrival on March 30th, safe and sound. Missed the crop at Karen's this month and will have to wait til June for the next one...gives me time to get out all the wedding stuff so I can start working on that scrapbook. Also still considering what if anything I'll be making for renfest garb this year. Better get moving on that soon if that's in the plan.

And last but not least, the JD Gem. I was waking him up for grandmom's and this was our conversation:
Me: JD, get up we're going to be late...we need to go to grandmom's.
JD: (in a sleepy voice) You need to slap me in the face mommy
Me: I need to do what?
JD: You need to slap me in the face.
Me: Why do I need to do that?
JD: To wake me up.
Me: Dude, you watch too many cartoons.

He's also come up with this line somewhere - "Please do this for your own boy." or "Please do this for your only son."  What a crack up!

Easter Crafts

I finally took some photos of the projects I worked on the last 2 weekends. The first is a plastic egg wreath that I found the instructions for on Pinterest. It was easy enough to do and turned out really well. I used a piece of cardboard cut into a roughly 12-13 inch circle and then cut a nine inch circle from the middle of that to make the ring; 2 packages of multi-size eggs from Michael's; hot glue; leftover easter grass from last year to fill the spaces and hide the cardboard; and a bow I purchased at Michael's.

My next project was Easter cards. My mother in-law got 4 kits for me from the scrapbook store up the street (Photoscraps in Eldersburg, MD) and brought me her Copic marker collection and her stamping inks to use. She also brought a set of Easter stamps she got so I could make additional cards too. The card with the bunny in an airplane and the one with the bunny cacthing butterflies are the kits that I colored, cut out and put together. So cute!!

The next card I came up with, using the bunny in a basket stamp she brought. I stamped the bunny on special cardstock and colored them. The Copic markers are incredible to use. It's best to use them on special paper for Copics, which allows for smooth blending and no bleeding. I used the rest of the stamps in the set to add the words "Good things come in small sugarcoated packages" and "Must Have More Candy" to the front, and "Hoppy Easter" to the inside.

My final project was the paper Easter baskets that my mother in-law showed me how to make. She saw these at scrapbook store also. You trim a 12x12 sheet of medium weight paper to 9x9. Then score it in three inch intervals (so in the end the score marks create 3 rows of 3 squares). Next you score each corner sqaure from the outter corner to the inner corner, which help them fold in to the center of the basket. Punch a hole in each folded corner; run a ribbon through and tie. Use a 1 inch strip of the same paper to make a handle that you attach to the inside. I used a border punch on mine. I'll fill these with some easter grass and put a treat filled egg in each pocket. Plan to make these for family and a few of my friends' children.

Hope you get to do some fun things for Easter. JD even helped grandmom make his cards for my parents and his god mother. 

Nights Under Canvas...

That's what they call a night out camping in our MAC (Mid-Atlantic Campers) forum. Since we have the hybrid with bunk ends, we are sleeping under canvas, just like in the old pop up we had. MAC started as an off shoot of Pop Up Explorer (PUX) and most of us still had pop ups when the group originated. Many in the group have since upgraded to travel trailers or hybrids, like ours. It's pretty cool to see the clever mods people have done to thier pop-ups...adding storage, air conditioning, fridges, etc. One thing we'd like to do is start replacing the bulbs in the lights with LEDs, which would be great for dry camping (i.e., national seashore with no electric hook ups). When we found our Rockwood Roo, we pretty much got everything we wanted and were looking for. It was a deal we couldn't pass up.

I'm so excited this year to be able to use it alot more. It was hard to plan camping weekends when Reece was out of work. We didn't have a whole lot of extra cash for booking a bunch of weekends early in the year, like most peoople do. If you don't do it early, then you get what's left, if you can find anything at all. Since there was an extra pay period for my this month, I decided to use the extra from the first paycheck to do just that and be able to get out camping at least once a month, which I mentioned in the last post. We've got many nights of camping planned and that makes me happy. Gettysburg will be the end of April and mid-October. Elk Neck will be in May and Cunningham Falls in June. July is our trip to the beach and then the annual WV tubing trip at the end of July. I think we're still trying to plan a Lancaster/Strasburg Railroad trip for sometime in Sept also.

I think only one trip so far we'll be alone. One or possibly both Gettysburg weekends will be with Reece's parents...others will be with our MAC friends and our week at the beach will be with the Magees. Hopfully my brother and Amy will make it for a weekend out with us and if we can get Lancaster in there, maybe mom and dad will come too.

Happy trails to all our camping friends out there. Here's to a great season of nights under canvas!

March-ing on...

So, has March come in like a lamb or a lion? I guess we'll go with lamb, because of the sunny days, but the wind was roaring over the weekend. If it's planning on going out like a lion, I'd appreciate it being back to nice weather before we head to NJ for Easter. Also hoping for a warm Easter day so I can wear my favorite blue summer dress. :-) I'm looking froward to our NJ visit, becasue we'll be celebrating mom's 80th birthday too. Now we just need to decide on a place for dinner....some place nice that accomodates mini monsters, ah, I mean children. LOL

Well, other than having the inspection done (keep your fingers crossed for a good report) the new truck is at home in our driveway. That made for a very long week last week. We did get alot done this past weekend...laundry, cleaning, clearing the dining room table of junk, getting rid of some baby toys, taking out trash and recycling from the basement and taking care of a few errands that needed to be done. Whew!

We've been getting some additional camping dates on the books. If we don't do it now, sites will be booked full and we won't get anywhere. So far, we've got Elk Neck State Park in May and the Ocean City trip in July. Trying to get spring and fall weekend in Gettysburg also and possibly Cunningham Falls SP in June. Looking forward to doing some more camping this year!!

I haven't posted too many craft things lately, but there are projects in the works. I'm currently working on a baby blanket for my friend April. She's having a baby boy this month. For years now I have collected Harley/motorcycle theme paper and embellishments with the thought of doing a book for my brother. I plan to try and get that done for his birthday in April...I hope. I started my Christmas and Vacation scrapbooks at the last 2 crop days at Karen's. The vacation one is a Milestones album, which I've never used before. It has pages that hold 5 photos/papers (3 horizontal and 2 vertical), instead of the full 12x12 page. So far, I like it for the vacation stuff. I also have on order the scrapbook that I'm going to do our wedding photos in, again a Milestones album, and have ordered copies of wedding photos I didn't have printed. Now I need to get in the closet and get the box out for hings like programs, invites, stuff from our honeymoon, etc.  I also found a pattern on Pinterest for a small purse I'd like to make using fat quarters. Something for spring. Speaking of sewing, I need to consider anything I want to make for faire this year and maybe get a move on that before August (trying to not have a last minute, down to the wire, finish it for final day of faire project this year).

Time Flies...whether you're having fun or not...

Wow! It's been a while since I posted anything. Everyone in the house was sick at some point this month. First JD, then Reece and then me. Ugh! Now JD and I have our allergy thing going on. That is the only complaint I have about the unseasonably warm weather we're having...allergies. The daffodills are coming up and the hydrangea and our cherry tree are getting buds. I've already been thinking about spring planted bulbs for the deck pot and for around the mail box.

We have a new addition to our house as of the first weekend in February...her name is Samantha, Sami for short. She's a torti we got at the Small Miricles Cat Rescue where we got Bobo. She'll be a year old in March and is sweet as can be. I love when I'm in another room and hear JD talking to Sami..."Hi pretty girl...hi sweet girl". So adorable. Believe it or not, she had a cold too. The only one who hasn't been sick is Bobo. LOL

By the end of this week, we'll have somethiing else new...well, new to us. We found a Dodge Ram 2500 SLT...it's a Cummins diesel, already has a cap for the bed and is perfect for towing. The truck we currently have pulls the trailer, but we'd never go very far with it...just wouldn't trust it to haul the Roo on trips to places such as Maine or Tennessee, both places we want to go. I already warned Reece I'm gonna be stressed out over this for a few months until we get used to the payment and get it through inspection and registered in MD. Then I'll get all excited about it. JD will have so much more room too!

And, last but not least, all the paper work was approved so that JD can start his speech therapy today. He's now in what is called the Itinerant Preschool Program, but will be going to Carrolltowne ES, where he was before, for the services. So hopefully he'll be able to see his old teachers on occasion.

JD Gems...as told by his speech therapist

JD's speech therapist told us this in the meeting yesterday. She was trying to get him to say a word with a "th" in the middle so she showed him a picture of a bathtub..

Tammyy: Joseph, what is this a picture of?
JD: A tub
Tammy: Well, yes, but there's a longer word for it. Can you use that?
JD: (Looks at Tammy for a few seconds) Tuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuub?
Tammy: (Cracking up laughing)

There you have it folks, she did ask for a longer word for it.

JD's IEP Re-evaluation Results...Bittersweet

I posted this info on facebook, but wanted to add it to the blog also. Yesterday was the IEP meeting at Carrolltowne ES to get the results of JD’s re-evaluation for special ed services. He's met all his goals in the occupational therapy and academic areas (Yay!), so the need for services in these areas is not there, which means he won't be attending Carrolltowne after next Tuesday (sigh).  JD will still be getting speech therapy once a week, most likely at Carrolltowne, but I still have to call the speech therapist and work out a time. His grandmom will just bring him up there for his half hour on whatever day we decide on.

His teachers are so proud of him and we are too. I told him his teachers said he's done so well, he gets to graduate from this school and he was excited. We'll decide what to do from here as far preschool or something until he starts kindergarten in the fall. Kindergarten registration is the last week of March and the representative from Piney Ridge ES who was at the meeting yesterday said we could call anytime and schedule a visit with him to take a tour of the school.

We’ll let you know how things go from here.  We’ve really been blessed that JD was able to be in this program. He has had the most wonderful, helpful, caring teachers and we will miss them very much.

Five is Fantastic!

JD turned 5 on January 12th. We had a little family dinner with his Grandmom and Grand-daddy (unfortunately my parents we'ren't able to come down from NJ), his Uncle Joe and his cousins, Brynn and Zach. I let him choose what was for dinner...pizza!...and he decided on cupcakes for dessert. I found some great ideas on Pinterest and made tye-dye cupcakes. They were so easy to do and look awesome! I even had help from my neice to make them.

We decided this year to have JD's party with his friends somewhere other than our house. Last year it was a little crowded...in fact, I think that's an understatement. After doing some research, we found our best bet was Adventure Park USA in New Market, MD. It's about a 30 minute drive from our house. The party included pizza and soda for the kids, unlimited time in the indoor playgound area, and 50 credits for each child to use in the arcade. We ordered extra pizzas so the adults could have lunch too and it worked out perfectly. We could have gotten the cake from them too, but we brought one that JD picked out. He saw the Tron cake and decided he wanted that. At that time, he hadn't seen Tron so I can only assume it was the motorcycle that lights up blue that sold it for him. LOL By the way, do you know how hard it is to find any kind of Tron party supplies? Let me tell you it's nearly inpossible. I was able to get some kids paperback books about Tron on Amazon that were reasonable and found some flying discs (looks like the rings on the Tron players backs) and glow stick bracelets at the party store.

The party went well and the kids all had a great time playing. JD loved running and climbing around in the playground with Lindsay, Savannah, Leo, Lucy, Lilly, Sam, James, Maxwell and Connor. As I expected, he came out of there all swetay and red-faced. He played air hockey (first time) with his friend Sam and a little help from Sam's dad and Reece when the puck stopped mid-table. He jumped in the moon bounce with Sydney and Teyla. JD got lots of great gifts from his friends and we're working on thank-you notes at the moment. My mom made us do them and I want JD to learn to do the same.

I think the funniest birthday moment was on the morning of his birthday when I dropped him off at Grandmom's. Our first 5 year old JD Gem. Here's the conversation we had as I was getting him out of the car:

Me: "Come on 5 year old boy, let's get you inside."

JD: "I'm not 5."

Me: "Yes you are, it's your birthday."

JD: "I don't feel older, so I'm not 5."

See, I knew that's how it worked. I tell myself the same thing every year on my birthday...I'm don't feel older, so I'm not older. LOL

Here's to year number 5 buddy...there are lots of great things to come!

Year In Review

I got this idea from the mom of one of JD's schoolmates. I think it's a great way to sum up what happened this year, include a few bits of info, and guess at 2012 might bring. I got these questions from the internet and from what I've seen there are questions you can ask your kids on thier birthday every year and see how their answers change with them. Cool! Wish I had done this a last year with JD, but 5 is as good a place to start as any. I can even add the list to his scrapbook (the one I will eternally be working on LOL)

What did you do in 2011 that you’d never done before?
I went to Las Vegas…always wanted to go and have never been.

Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
Honestly, I can’t even remember my resolution, so chances are I didn’t keep it. I haven’t really made one for this either, but before Christmas I decided I was going to really watch my sugar intake and started P90. Four weeks in and going strong!

What would you like to have in 2012 that you lacked in 2011?
A new (or new to me) car

What date from 2011 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
April 5…I turned 40!

What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Managing a household on one income plus unemployment for almost the whole year. Did not miss a payment or bill…not a lot of fun stuff, but we had what we needed.

What was your biggest failure?
Gaining back the 8 lbs I lost the year before. L

Did you suffer illness or injury?
Even though the doctor said it was an upper respiratory infection, I’m not convinced I didn’t have the flu. Right as Reece was going back to work, I was out of work for a whole week. I couldn’t even sit up for 5 minutes and spent all that time in bed or lying on the couch. Reece also had some dental issue to deal with last year.

What was the best thing you bought?
Our Droid phones!!

Whose behavior merited celebration?
JD – for doing so well in school that they are currently testing him to see if he can be dismissed from the ECSN program.

Reece – for being Mr. Mom while he was out of work

Carolyn – for taking care of JD and getting him to school after Reece went back to work and even coming back up to meet the bus after Reece’s work schedule changed.

Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?Let’s see…most people on reality TV.

Where did most of your money go?
Mortgage and bills

What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Reece going back to work in September after almost 1 ½  years out of work.

What song will always remind you of 2011?
Probably Party Rock Anthem…it’s the first thing that popped into my head and JD loves to dance to it.

Compared to this time last year, are you:
happier or sadder? Happier…Reece is back to work and we’re actually going on a week vacation this summer.

thinner or fatter? Hhhmmm…well, since I gained the 8 lbs back, I guess fatter. My plan is to be the opposite this year.

richer or poorer? Richer for sure…financially, of course, with Reece back to work, but everywhere else as well.  JD is making great strides at school with his speech. We got to spend a lot of time with our family and friends, who are so helpful and supportive. We have what we need, which is more than some people have these days, and we have each other.

What do you wish you’d done more of?
Camping!

What do you wish you’d done less of?
Worrying (money, my weight, what others think of what I do or say)

How did you spend Christmas?
We spent it in NJ with my family this year. Got to spend time with my brother and his girlfriend, Amy; with my parents; and with one of my best friends, Chris, who is JD’s godmother. This weekend, we’ll be doing Christmas with Reece’s family when our niece and nephew arrive from CA.

What was your favorite TV program?
My all-time favorite is CSI, but really love Big Bang Theory, The Sing-Off and The Voice.

What was the best book you read?
I’d have to say Inheritance, by Christopher Paolini. I waited a over a year for this to come out and I found it hard to put down, but didn’t want to get to the end because I know it's the last one in the series. I plan to keep them for JD so he can read them someday.

What was your greatest musical discovery?
Pentatonix on The Sing-Off…I love accapella music and used to sing in high school, but nothing like this! The music they can make with just their voices is just AMAZING!

What did you want and get?
For there to be work for Reece

What did you want and not get?
To refinance the house.

What was your favorite film of this year?
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

What was an unexpected joy this past year?
One of my best friends and her family stopped, on their way home from the Easter Shore of VA to MI, to have lunch with us and visit for a while. I got to see her twice this year!

What was an unexpected obstacle?I can’t say we really had any “unexpected” obstacles. It threw us off a bit when Reece’s schedule changed from where he’d be home to meet JD’s bus at 4:30 to him not getting home until 5 or just after. Luckily grand-mom to the rescue…she comes back up to meet the bus and stays with JD til daddy gets home.

Pick three words to describe 2011.Stressful, Busy, Fast

What was your single biggest time waster in your life this past year?Facebook!

What was the best way you used your time this past year?Learning to play video games again so I could play with JD.

What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I turned 40 this year and celebrated by going to Vegas with 4 of my girlfriends from high school (we all turned 40 this year) for 4 days. It was so much fun! I also celebrated with some friends here…we all went to Cancun Cantina and I didn’t have to drive! Yay!

What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Being able to refinance the house.

What kept you sane?Girls’ night!! LOL And a little boy who makes me laugh!

Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2011.

Just because you fight with someone doesn’t mean you don’t love them…if you didn’t care about them you probably wouldn’t fight.

Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.

“Life ain't always beautiful, But I know I'll be fine, Life ain't always beautiful, But it's a beautiful ride” - Gary Allan

Make 3 predictions for 2012:

• I will get back into my honeymoon bathing suit (keep your fingers crossed)
• JD will have a great time in kindergarten (Starts in Sept.)
• Someone in the house will get a new car