Wii are thankful November 30, 2008

What better way to spend Thanksgiving than to Wii…  After much debate (mostly over whether we could afford it), we finally joined the throngs of those getting off the couch but still playing video games.  We bought a Wii.  And I must say that it is pretty awesome.  Despite losing pretty much every game, I’m still enjoying the action of it. 

Jeremy spent the first night with the Wii creating all of the Mii’s (the players you can create to resemble yourself or others), so we were ready with all of the family members to play on Thanksgiving.  Enjoy the pictures below of everyone getting in on the action.

Nana wins at tennis (after crippling Papa with her backhand)

Mason even tried it out!

Kristin and Jeremy got the hang of it all very quickly and were winning at everything (much to my dismay…  Me?  Competitive?  What?)  Tennis seems to be the favorite so far, but we’ve only played the games that came free with the system.  So there is much more to learn and much more to enjoy! 

I think I’ll be thankful for the Wii for giving us all something to do during the cold winter.  But really, I’m mostly thankful for all of my wonderful family and friends.  And I look forward to Wii-ing with you in the future. 

Memories November 21, 2008

Tuesday would have been my dad’s 62nd birthday.  It was his mother’s birthday too – my Grandma Dottie.  I had not had much time to reflect on it all day, but after Mason and I got Cooper to bed, we grabbed a picture of “Grandpa John” and Grandma Dottie from the shelves in the living room and sang them Happy Birthday.  Mason got into it despite the confusion of singing a song to people she has only ever seen in pictures.

Grandma Dottie and my dad back in the day

The picture of my Grandma Dottie also included me, my sister, and my grandpa.  It was from my college graduation, and Mason asked where she, Daddy, and Cooper were in the picture.  Cute, right?  I told her she was not even a blip in my mind at that point.  She was asking so many questions about the pictures that I decided to go the extra step…  It was time for Mason to finally watch my dad’s video.

(Back story – During our stint in Leesburg and at Loudoun County High School, we had been lucky enough to know Bob Updegrove, an amazing photographer and slide show creator.  He had done all the high school slide shows, and our family had greatly enjoyed each and every one of them.  So it only seemed right to ask Bob to make a slide show of my dad after he passed away.  We collected photos, and he created a wonderful video that we all treasure to this day.)

As the video started, I told Mason why we had made it and what she was about to see.  I think she was most interested in seeing Mommy as a little girl.  I would describe each picture and often why it was special.  I’ll admit, I had wanted to watch the video myself.  But to share it with Mason made it more precious to me.   I want Mason to know her grandfather, even if he can’t be here in person.  I want her to understand how much he was loved and how much he is missed.

On the other hand, watching the video with Mason only made the absence of my dad even more heartbreaking.  Here is this vibrant little girl only getting to see static pictures of her vibrant grandfather that she will never get to meet.  I  know my dad is watching down on us and can see how special Mason and Cooper each are, but it’s not the same.  He should be here – teaching Mason how to play soccer, tickling Cooper to get that guttoral laugh, hanging out with our wonderful family!  He is here in spirit, though.

At the end of the video, I asked Mason if she liked seeing all the pictures of Grandpa John.  She said, “Maybe we can go to his house sometime.”  I explained that he was no longer with us because he had died.  She said, “Like the spider in Charlotte’s Web, Mommy.”  (Gosh, this girl is incredible!)  Yes, but he is always looking down on us – laughing with us, crying with us, and just loving us.

Love you, Dad

My son has a tooth!

Finally!  After almost 11 months, Cooper finally has a tooth.  One that you can actually see!  Granted, he rarely lets us see it, but I know it is there.  I’ve been “hearing” and “seeing” it coming for weeks now.  He’s been whiny and upset about it.  His hand is red from all the gnawing he did as that glorious tooth grew in.  Hard to miss those signs.  But it is hard to miss that tooth if you don’t look hard enough.  I’ve tried to get pictures, but no luck.  The boy is very protective when it comes to that tooth.  Heck, I’d be too if I had been working on it for 11 months!

Adult Time November 16, 2008

There is definitely a little (or a lot) of good in some quality adult time!  Jeremy and I were fortunate enough to get a night out last night thanks to the in-laws taking the kids.  We FINALLY used our Capital Grille gift card to eat some delicious filet mignon.  Then we joined the throngs to see Quantum of Solace at the Uptown (neither of us thought it was outstanding).  We ended up the evening stuffing ourselves with ice cream at Coldstone.  It was a great night! 

After sleeping in until 7:15am (aahhh, what a luxury!), we worked off the night before by cleaning up the front yard that had been taken over by leaves and half-eaten pumpkins (thanks to hungry Mr. Squirrel).  What a sense of accomplishment to see the finished product!  Not only was I excited to see it all cleaned up, but I was even more excited knowing that the family wouldn’t be tracking in leaves every time we came through the front door.  (I have been vacuuming daily!)

A good meal, quality time with my husband, a clean front yard (and home)…  I’d say it was a pretty darn good weekend!  I’ve got to keep the spirit up and start my Monday on a high note.

So I Wish I Could Dance November 12, 2008

I like to dance, but I would not consider myself a good dancer by any means.  But oh, I wish I could dance!

After Monday night, I wish I could dance even more.  I have to admit that I went to the So You Think You Can Dance show last night.  It was my birthday – I’m allowed to do what I want, no matter how lame it may sound.  My friend, Shana, and I commented the whole night on how good the dancers were and how we wished we could move like them.  From hip-hop to salsa to contemporary, it was awesome!  Check out one of my favorite dances from this past season.

Pretty cool, huh?  I never took dance as a kid – soccer was my sport of choice.  Here we are trying to get Mason into sports (soccer, lacrosse, tennis), and yet I think the only thing she keeps saying that she WANTS to do is dance.  How can I argue with that after seeing all these amazing dancers the other night?  It is a sport, no matter how many people think otherwise.  Dancers work their butts off.  (Same goes for you cheerleaders out there! That’s another thing Mason was intrigued by after her first football game.) 

 

 

 

 

                              VS.

 

 

 

 

      

Hmm…   Which one looks more fun?  We’ll just see where she takes us.  As for Cooper…  the kid has got quite the arm!

The benefit of slowing down. November 10, 2008

We had big plans for yesterday.  It was going to be a great day!  My mom and the in-laws were all arriving around 10:30am.  We were going to hop on the metro and go downtown to the Green Festival.  I was really looking forward to the day.  Yes, the Green Festival would have been interesting, and I had heard there were great kids’ activities.  But I also was looking forward to the metro ride knowing that Mason really enjoys the train, and it would have been Cooper’s first ride.  (Remember, it’s the little pleasures I like.)  Then we were going to come back and have a delicious meal with everyone.

Well, right around 10am, Mason started complaining that she didn’t feel well.  Then she started with the cough.  It was over.  She went to bed to take a nap.  No metro ride.  No Green Festival.  No fun.  Not that I was blaming my sick kids (Cooper’s been dealing with the cough for a week now, but had been getting better), but I was just disappointed in the circumstances.  So we had to come up with an alternative plan.

Maybe the problem is not just in her throat.

After much debate, we ended up just going to Candy Cane Park and then for a walk.  Mason brightened up at the park and enjoyed the slide, the see-saw and chasing her daddy around.  Cooper enjoyed the swing.  All in all, it was fun.  Then we went for a walk while Mason just rested in the stroller.  It was a gorgeous fall day, and Rock Creek Park can just be stunning this time of year. 

We came back and rested.  I reflected on the fact that we didn’t need a big DC focused day.  We just needed our neighborhood park and a beautiful fall day.  I’d say we had a nice environmentally friendly day too – Green Festival or not.

I still got to spend time with my family.  I still got to see the smiles on my kids’ faces at the park.  It was a slow, relaxed day, and it was wonderful.

Crawling and Chicken November 6, 2008

I knew this day would come…  a day in which it is hard to find the good.  It’s good that it is happening close to the beginning of this blog so as not to have this immense pressure on me to never have a negative post.  I don’t want to put anything negative in this blog, because the point of it is to find the positive.  Therefore I don’t want to use this to bitch and moan about all the bad things that have happened so far today.  It just forces me to look really deep to find the good.  And hopefully in finding it, I can have a new outlook on the day.

Since I wrote the first paragraph earlier in the day, the good did present itself.  Two events I have been waiting for for a long time…

The first was Cooper finally crawling on hands and knees.  He’s been doing the commando crawl for a month or two, and we accepted he may never get on his knees.  We have hardwood floors, and so we just assumed that he didn’t like the hardness.  He would take a step or two on his knees and then just get down to his belly and scoot all over the place.  But when we picked him up from school today, his teacher, Ms. Aletha, said he was crawling on hands and knees all day.  Yay!  So we brought him home and immediately put him on the floor.  Sure enough, he started crawling!  Real crawling!  He’ll soon learn to be much faster on his knees, and then watch out!

As if my evening couldn’t get any better…  as Jeremy and I were eating our Moby Dick Kabob-e-Joojeh (mmmm…), Mason kept wanting our rice.  I told her she couldn’t have any more rice without eating the chicken too.  Well, maybe I should preface this for those of you who don’t know about Mason’s pickiness.  The girl does not eat meat.  She never has.  Besides the fake meat Chef Boyardee likes to claim is in their raviolis, she has never taken a liking to it.  (oh wait, she eats hot dogs too)  This is quite the problem considering Jeremy and I eat meat or poultry every night, and most often it is chicken (yes, paired with rice of some sort).   I believe that since Mason liked the rice so much, she finally decided it was worth it to try the chicken along with it.  She ate 5 bites of chicken and rice!  Oh, could a mother be more proud!?  My daughter had chicken and rice for the first time!  Really, it is a miracle.

Where does she get this stuff? November 4, 2008

I have to write about 2 statements Mason has made over the past couple of days.  I really can hardly believe the things that come out of her mouth these days.  She is so eloquent, and she also understands and picks up on so much more than we think. 

The first statement she made was on Monday.  I’m usually in a rush on Mondays since there is so much more to pull together for school (sheets, blankets, payment check, food, etc.)  No matter how early we get up, I still can’t get out of the house before 8am.  I just don’t get it!  Anyway, on our way down the street, I stopped to let a bus turn onto the road ahead of us.  After letting him through, Mason said, “Good job, Mommy.”  I asked why.  She said, “You didn’t say, ‘GO!'” 

Yes, that’s right.  My 3-year-old has quickly learned about how mommy needs more patience while driving.  I guess I get a little frustrated every now and then.  (or maybe more often than I’d like to admit)  So I learned that I need to showcase the patience my kids have already taught me a little more often, especially while driving. 

The second statement she made was this morning.  She had picked a cute outfit to wear.  It was a short-sleeved shirt, but when I asked her to get a sweatshirt, she listened and went to pull one out of her drawer.  Then she came into the kitchen with her Crocs and her brown Mary Janes.  She said the Crocs would be for school, and then she’d change into the Mary Janes to go outside.  Umm…  no.  I told her it was too cold for Crocs and that she needed socks to go with her Mary Janes.  The tantrum was already brewing as she went into her room.  I could hear the drawer slam shut and her heavy heels (which Jeremy loves to point out come frome me).  I asked what was wrong.  “I don’t look pretty with socks!”

What?!  Where does she get this stuff?  I was shocked that my 3-year-old is already having self-image issues.  Certainly something I want to squelch right away!  I talked her through the sock issue, but all day I couldn’t help wonder what I was going to do to keep promoting a positive self-image.  I worry about young girls these days.  It’s tough.  I learned today that I need to be more positive about my own self-image. 

Just to show that Mason and I have no reason to be down on ourselves (if I do say so myself), here is a picture from this past weekend.  Our own little “glamour” shot…

The need for good in every day.

I’ve realized lately how difficult certain days can be.  Whether it is stress at work, Cooper not eating, Mason tantruming, or even dinner taking too long to make (I know that seems crazy, but that’s the kind of thing that stresses me out), a day can fly by without me taking any time to realize how good I have it.  I am blessed by my family, my friends, my home, my job…   But like many of us out there, I don’t always recognize everything good that happens throughout my day.  It could just be a kiss from Mason or a simple wave from Cooper.  It could be an “I love you” from Jeremy or a “Great idea” at work.  Either way, I want to recognize all these little things that are so good.  So this blog will serve as my venue for discovering (or rediscovering in many cases) all that I have to be thankful for.