Life lessons can be tough

So last week we got a letter home from Ryan's teacher saying he was misbehaving at recess. Apparently he got pulled into a pushing/hitting game with some other boys and despite being told to stop and even being put in a time out, he continued to play the game. He got talked to by his teacher and told she was sending a note home. I picked him up and he welled up with tears and told me he had had a bad day and that there was a note for me in his backpack. He was SO upset. The note said he would lose two outside recesses and that his teacher hoped next time he would make better decisions about his behavior. We had a big talk about how to handle this next time and that if we make a bad choice, there are consequences for our actions. This was tough. Tough on Ry and tough on momma. I wanted so bad to just give him a big hug and make it all go away. My baby boy is growing up! How do you teach them not to cave to peer pressure? Right now it's innocent enough games but someday it could be smoking or drinking or drugs. I can't even think about any of my kids getting caught up in these things but know they are all lurking out there. I can only hope I do a good job of instilling good values and give them the tools to be strong and confident, able to say no when they know something is wrong. Yeah this parenting gig is harder than I thought. My mom always said, "Little kids, little problems. Big kids, big problems." I think I want to go back to when they were all babies.

March madness

It's been a while so I figured I should post something here. Life has been good. Busy but good. Dare I say it, but I think we've turned a corner with the girls. The past couple of days they have been playing so nicely together, listening and just all around behaving. *knock on wood* Yesterday we took a spur of the moment trip to the outlets in Lancaster, PA to get some spring clothes. Ryan and Daddy went to see cousins Kerri and Erin play basketball so it was just the girls! Gam and Aunt Kiki came along for the ride. We didn't get up there until 5:30ish. The girls both napped in the car and were very pleasant and well behaved. We hit Hartstrings and got some utterly adorable outfits for Easter. They are coordinated but not matchy matchy. Then we went to Carter's and got some sundresses, capris and the girls picked out new pjs. Molly chose a nightgown while Kate got a 2 piece shirt and pants set. We also hit Striderite and got some new shoes. After all of the shopping we were all famished so we went to Cracker Barrell for dinner. They are peanut free (except for dessert but who needs dessert after all the good eats). The girls again were so good! We didn't get home until 11:30 PM and they were oh so tired and went to sleep without a peep. All around a good day.
At Cracker Barrell I saw these little eggs that you stick in water and they hatch a dinosaur. I got one for each of the kids and they have had a blast watching them all day. They hatched tonight and the kids are such proud parents. If you keep the dinos in water they grow bigger. The kids are very anxious to see how big they are in the morning. Let's hope they aren't too big!

More photography

TV much?

For quite some time Kevin has been dreaming about this. Truly, he kept hinting around about how much he wanted it. So I splurged, ha ha, and got it for him for Valentine's Day. His eyes lit up when he opened it and he actually cracked a smile. So Sunday night was the big event, the debut. He cooked 'em up and they were good. It worked! So we're eating dinner and Ryan comes out with, "Billy Mays says, not even burnt on cheese will stick!" Like father, like son.

Photography

So my dream is to some day do this for real. Right now, I'm learning and practicing and learning some more.

My good friend was so kind to let me use her newborn as my guinea pig the other day. Isn't he the cutest?

I thought I had more time ....

Until I heard this, "Mom, how do you get girls to hang out with you?" coming from my six year old son. Whaaaaatttt????? Cue the record screeching and the world coming to a stop. Yep, my baby wants to know about hanging out with girls. Let's just hope it's a passing thing and not something I really need to worry about. Although, I do remember my first kiss was in the sandbox at school when I was a kindergartner.

So we've gotten back into the swing of things this week. The first week back to school after the holidays was a rough one. No one wanted to get out of bed and out the door. While Ryan was on time every day thanks to Daddy, the girls were not. Somehow no matter how early we started, we were late every day last week. This week is going much more smoothly thank goodness.

Here's a few pictures from after Christmas....

Merry Christmas

We had a very merry one indeed! Busy as to be expected but very happy and peaceful. The holiday week started with a quick trip to NYC for mommy, by HERSELF! Yep, it was a mini vaca. Much needed tho short and sweet. I drove up Monday night after Kev got home from work. I met up with Aunt Hil and Lou at their fav spot, The Redhead. Hil just made some gorgeouse velvet curtains and chair covers for them. We had a few cocktails and then had one of the most delicious meals ever. We had Wild Mushroom Flatbread to share, I had a Sweet Potatoe Salad and Grits with Sausage and Shrimp. I also enjoyed several glasses of red wine. In fact, several too many. I was very happy and relaxed and ended up being a bit hung over the next day. I had grand plans to tool around the city with my camera and check out the holiday sites. Instead, I slept very late, took a leisurely shower, got some coffee and some eats and hung out in Hil's apartment. It was a nice day of quiet and it might have even been better than walking around the city freezing my arse off. I met up with Hil and Lou around 7pm and we headed to DE. We made a stop at our fav diner, Mastori's in Bordentown. Yum. We arrived home around 1AM as there was traffic. Good times. On Christmas Eve, Hil, Lou and the kids made some sugar cookies for Santa and decorated them. We all got dressed for church and made it there with not a minute to spare. The service was beautiful and the best part, the kids were so well behaved. Then back to Gam and Pop Pop's for dinner. Basil chicken, noodles and salad. Easy but delish dinner. The kids got one present to open, new pajamas. We had them home and in bed by 9ish. They were WAY excited and took a bit to fall asleep. Aunt Kiki came over and joined forces with Hil and Lou to do all my wrapping. More wine and lots of good laughs.
Christmas morning began around 3:30AM when the kids started waking asking if Santa had been here and was it time for presents. They were told to go back to sleep many times. Around 5:30 I stumbled downstairs to get their stockings and told them to be quiet at least if they weren't going to sleep. We managed to hold them off until 7:30. I did get video of their reactions as they came downstairs. They each got a new bike. The girls got helmets as well. Ryan got a Hess truck and a blue lightsaber. Kate got a Barbie guitar and Molly got a Barbie laptop. We waited for Gam and PopPop to come over and Hil and Lou to wake up before we opened the rest of the loot. It was a great morning. We did miss Aunt Mimi bunches as she was snowed in back in Seattle. We then had a big breakfast of eggs, bacon, sausage, pancakes and blueberry crumble. The kids took a ride on the new bikes and then a nap was had by all. Our gang did it all again that night with Kev's family at Aunt Kathy's house. We were given a year pass to the Philadelphia Zoo and the Please Touch Museum. We are anxious to visit! All in all a great day. Kev worked today and the kids and I layed low. Aunt Gail made it into town and stopped by and we have some plans to hang out the rest of the weekend. Hil and Lou headed back to NYC by bus. It was great having them here with us. Oh and Ryan lost a top tooth tonight! Lots of pictures to come. I am ordering the things I need to ramp up my computer so I should have no trouble editing and uploading pics.