FB post present (7/29) - June 1, 2011

Going on right now - Kelly yelling to me from the bathroom: "Mommy, there a spider! Don't worry I will handle this! Let me get a block from here (she got a block from the block bin and has been whacking the floor w/ it). Mommy, where is it?! Oh, it on a block! (laughs) Here Mommy, here you go!" She just showed up with a pulverized spider in her hand. Good, now she can handle ALL spiders!

Miss K doesn't sit for very long during dinner so we usually end up giving her bites of food as she runs by (I used to be the same way). Tonight she kept running up to Jeff,getting a bite of chicken, & then running away. Jeff was like,"wow, she's eating well tonight." But after about 5 rounds of this Jeff got suspicious & said,"Kelly, are you spitting these in the toilet!?" K replied,"Yes, this chicken is gross!"

Preschool Dance Party going on in the kitchen to: Stevie Wonder (Superstition and You Can Feel it All Over), Baha Men (Who Let Dogs Out) and Abba (Dancing Queen): Random AND Fun!

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that I bet the person who coined the phrases, "I laughed/coughed/cried/sneezed so hard I peed my pants", was by a women who had given birth at least once but most likely multiple times. I of course don't know this from personal experience, I'm just a very good guesser and a wicked smart person.

We had a bit of an Adam & Eve & forbidden fruit situation going on here yesterday. I came into the kitchen to find Kelly standing on a box of bottled water, chugging a bottle of liquid chocolate Nesquick that she got off the counter. Her 5 year old brother was standing next to her with a mouthful & a look of guilt exploding from his face. When asked, "what's going on here?" He replied, "Well, she offered me some."

So, the same elderly neighbor who asked me if I was expecting last year just looked at my legs while I was talking with her and said, "Oh, I see you have that vein problem under your knees". I told her I've always had a vein under my knees. I now know who to go to when I want my self image crushed in any way.

Had a dream last night that I was pregnant (fyi, I'm not for all of you who are going to ask or speculate that I am :-) & when I went for the ultra sound I found out I was having twins. The screen showed 2 tiny people running on 2 tiny treadmills in my belly. If I may psychoanalyse my own dream: those would be 2 mini-me's trying to run away, but getting nowhere fast.

For all those concerned there is no need to panic or call a search and rescue team, the jaws of life, or an ambulance. I was finally able to get out of the shirt I tried on from the "Juniors" section all by myself and without major injury. However, I may have strained a muscle in my back from all the bizarre contorting I had to do.

Oh boy! 20th reunion is less than one week away! May I trip & skin my hands & knees, tuck my dress &/or skirt into my underwear, & blow a snot bubble out of my nose. What? No, I'm not serious! It's just that all those things may or may not have happened to me in the past & I feel that if I just put it out there they won't happen again. Maybe I'll just dress in a bubble to be safe, but not on my nose of course.

My parents came to visit one day while we were on vacation and my mom made rice krispie treats, which were totally yummy. My 5 year old bit into one and in his adult monotone matter-of-fact voice said, "these certainly look a lot better than they taste." Brian's Nonni was the only one who didn't seem to find the humor in his comment.

Back from a GREAT vacation! The high point by far was watching my son go from a non-swimmer to a swimmer right before my eyes. The low point by far was going jogging and coming upon a what looked to be a bag of puke baking on the road in the blazing sun. Take the bag o' vomit out of the equation and this vaca gets an A+!

I need to stop watching "Chopped" - I keep finding myself getting a meat out of the fridge, a vegetable, and then 3 or 4 random ingredients out of the pantry. Once at the counter I say "Go!" and then start dicing, slicing, sauteing, basting and grilling like I'm some kind of mad woman.

When I joined fb by "accident" I think the first thing someone said to me on here was, "Welcome to the dark side. Expect your laundry piles to just keep growing." I stand here 2 1/2 years later and I've decided to clean off the top of my fridge. I got up on a chair to realize it has grown a sweater.

Took K to the trampoline park this morning, she collided with another boy, she went down, she was holding onto her foot, & she wasn't coming up. I've been watching too many sports b/c I started looking around for the jumbotron to show me exactly what happened repeatedly & in slow motion. She will only walk on the heel of that foot and says, "ouch" when she steps down on it. Please don't let it be broken, PLEASE!

Must stop having weird dreams about my class reunion. Previous dreams included a final exam at the bottom of a mountain and an ice skating competition. Last nights dream included the bathroom at the venue being filled with about a foot of ocean water, and a hot dog eating contest. I'm thinking of just staying home at this point.

K to me as we were getting on the highway yesterday, "Mom, go faster!" "Kelly, I'm going fast" "No you not, go faster faster faster!" "I can't go faster or else I'll crash into that car in front of us" "Go faster over there!" as she pointed to the emergency pull-off lane, "No Kelly, I'm not allowed to drive over there" and then I heard a huge sigh from her car seat. I'm not looking forward to her teenage years.

Went to the beach yesterday. I have a small sunburn on my right thigh in the shape of a letter J. I guess that's better than a sunburn with the shape of the letter L on my forehead. Well the years start coming and they don't stop coming, back to the rule and I hit the ground running............

My kids LOVE this show on PBS called "Wild Kratts". It about the Kratt brothers who teach the kids all about animals. Kelly just said, "Can I watch Wild Craps?" I burst out laughing and of course she screamed at me, "STOP LAUGHING! IT NOT FUNNY!" Well I'm sorry but yes it was.

I was just walking barefoot in my house, and stepped into a plate of cinnamon. When oh when will I learn to look for plates of cinnamon before I walk from the living room to the kitchen. When I say?! When?!

I started up my "Fat Fight" blog again. If you're a newer friend and have no idea what this means, it's a blog I started back in the fall, where I babble on and on and on about losing weight - you won't be able to stop LOL! :-) Seriously, I started it as a way to help myself and help others at the same time. If you are trying to lose weight take a look - www.fatfight-now.blogspot.com

Jeff and the kids just got back from my In-laws (YES, I had ANOTHER afternoon to myself!). I asked Kelly what she had for dessert & this is how the conversation went: "Did you have dessert at Nana & Grampa's?" "Yes, banilla ice cream" "Oh, I LOVE vanilla ice cream!" "No you don't! I will! You won't love it! I will!" As a friend stated the other day, "2 year old children are just tiny escaped mental patients."

Kids around the breakfast table eating their pancakes. Kelly "I love you mom" Brian, "I love you Mommy" Kate "I LOVE this butter!" Hey, 2 out of 3 ain't bad.

There is a band playing one street over. The lead singer is so painfully bad that I think he just set off a car alarm.

I am still home. I am still alone. I am suffering from a horrific migraine. I am in pain. I am trying to remain happy.

I am home. I am alone. I am happy.

For those of you familiar with my son's drawings, you know he colors all faces brown. K just emerged from the bathroom with thick globs of lotion smeared all over her face. One smell and I knew it was my self tanner. Brian's dream of having a family member with a brown face might be coming true within the next 6-8 hours.

While buckling K up in the car this morning she said, "I love you soooo much, Mom. I love your hair, I love your nose. You so awesome." I'll take it!!

Took the kids to a pond today that is close to our house but in a different town. While driving I said, "We just passed a sign that says Entering Milton", Bri said, "Mom, that's impossible. Towns are REALLY big." I said, "Well some towns are big & some are small. If you're on the edge of one town it doesn't take long at all to get to another town." Brian replied, "Woh, I need as much air as I can get right now."

Well GOLLY, I sure am glad I got Pinocchio out of the library for the kids! Why we just got to watch Pinocchio smoke cigars with another kid and we've now heard the word "jackass" not once, but TWICE!! Disney really pisses me off sometimes! Stay tuned I'm sure there will be a post later about one of my kids calling another one a jackass!

Just had a lovely afternoon at the beach with a friend I had only ever met on Facebook. Thanks, Mark Zuckerberg and Daniel Hayden for making this possible.

I believe in God. I believe that God is merciful and I believe God is just. If Casey Anthony is guilty then may she feel (at some point in her life) remorse, accept wrong doing, and ask for forgiveness. God is the final judge. NOBODY gets away with murder. And if she's innocent, then bravo to our justice system, because I would have locked her up and thrown away the key!

This is for Duxbury people: The minute I bite into a Swedish Fish I am a kid again filling my bucket up at Papa's Place.

As we were leaving my parent's house last night K says to my dad, "I got a joke for ya". My dad said, "Well let me hear it" Kelly then says, "Knock knock" "Who's there?" "Banana" "Banana who?" "Banana who is in your diaper". My started laughing and said, "Well whoa that sounds a little risque!" We all had a good laugh.

Jeff and I are going to watch The Social Network tonight. It's important for me to know about the birth of my best friend.

An older gentleman, who was illegally traveling in the breakdown lane, passed me in his Cadillac. His license plate read, "tingle". About a 1/4 of mile later I passed HIM because he had been pulled over by a state trouper. All I could do was laugh and wonder how "tingle" was feeling now.

We had a BANG tonight, but not the kind you hope for on the 4th of July weekend. Poor Bri accidentally fell backwards off the side of an above ground pool. Thankfully he was wearing his life jacket, which helped break his fall (life jackets, useful both inside and outside the pool). No ER visit for now but we've got to check on him tonight - goose egg on his head - poor buddy. :-(

Off to the first fun activity of the weekend. YES! Also, just put on my new dress and when I did "K" looked at me and said, "That so cool! That awesome!" It's got toddler approval!

Gas co. came today- put 3 yellow flags on my lawn- spray painted the gas main cover yellow to prep for work being done. He didn't tell me he was doing this, yet saw me earlier w/ my kids. AFTER he did it he came to me & said, "Can you please tell your kids to leave the flags alone". WHAT FLAGS?! Walk around the house - two kids had stepped in the fresh paint and 1 (guess who) was running w/ a flag.

The teenage kid at LOWES just pretended to scan Kelly and said, "she keeps coming up priceless" - I smiled and said, "you have no idea..."

DHS Class of 1991!!!! Buy your reunion tickets!!! We want to make sure we can have a dragon ice luge and a giant cardboard cutout of Glenn in his football uniform! :) (I copied this from Jenna. Personally I don't really care about any cardboard cutouts but the ICE LUGE sounds GREAT!).

Kate to me just now, "I hope I get to go in the deep ending of the pool again today!"

Just got back from the sprinkler park. Kelly was running around with a bucket that said, "JACK" in big black letters. A little boy was running behind Kelly. I'm thinking it was probably JACK.

Was just in the shower. Forgot to lock the door. Heard a little person at the door trying to get (but who thankfully can't open doors yet). All of a sudden I hear the knob turning and the door opening and a 5 yr old brother saying, "There you go! Everybody IN!" 2yr old sister replied, "Thanks Brian, thank you so much!" Yes yes, thank YOU Brian, thank you SO much!

This is for all you Kelly fans out there: Me in the car today, "Kelly, I love you soooooo much!" Kelly: "I don't love you at. all! YOU! STINK!" What every parent dreams of hearing from their child - I have goosebumps.

Kate and Brian started "Swim and Gym" this week. Kate's last swim teacher (who runs the program) is named Jim. Kate came home home from swim and gym on Monday and in a perplexed voice said, "Well, Jim was at the pool but he didn't get in and swim." It's all so confusing when you're 4.

Finally got so fed up & tired of K yelling at me "NO!" & "STOP"! anytime I do anything I remotely enjoy like dancing or singing, that when she told me once again "NO!!!" on the car ride home today I started singing LOUDER! After I ignored her incessant yelling "NO!!" She started yelling, "You're a naughty naughty MOMMY!!" & then eventually yelled, "YOU. ARE. WRECKING. ME!!!" Mmmmmwahahahaha!

Someone told me (oh yes, Michael Spooner) that I should let my kids pick a punishment for me for being on fb too much, instead of doing push ups. Well, K just barfed all over me at the dinner table. Does that count??

is thinking that if "Piano Man" had started with "It's 9 o'clock on a Monday morn, regular crowd shuffles in.." & the rest had stayed the same, it would not have become such a huge drunken anthem at college bars.

Asking an overtired 2 year old what kind of ice cream she wants: "what kind would you like Kelly?" "I want a cookie dough in a cone and then in a cup" "You want cookie dough ice cream in a cone and then in a cup?" "NO!!!! I WANT A VANILLA IN A CONE!" Good think Jeff asked for clarification on that one. (I will go do push ups now)

Time to cut back on fb again for a while.....if decide to do push ups and sit ups every time I get the urge to post on fb I'll be looking like Jillian Michaels in no time! :-)

Brian just got up and looked out the window and said sadly, "It's ANOTHER rainy day? Are we going to have any more warm sunny days?" "I sure hope so Brian" "Because I only like to have ONE rainy day and then have all the rest sunny" "Me too Brian, me too."

Ah yes, the love of a child. A few minutes ago I was letting my littlest love have some "private time" in the bathroom only to find that instead she was slathering a tube of anti-itch bug bite cream all over the bathroom mirror. Her hands should be numb & itch free for quite some time. Oh, & she just appeared next to me and said, "I love you mom,I really love you." I'm not buying it today lotion lady.

As a parent it is my job (my joy) to love my children, it is not their job to love me back. But when my children come up to me and hug me, kiss me, or say "I love you, Mom" without any prompting, there are absolutely no words to explain what I feel in my heart

It's 7:30 in the morning and 2 out of my 3 children are STILL sleeping. It's like Christmas morning for me over here!!

Kelly just came out of the bathroom, told me she had a band aid for me, and slapped a pad on my foot.

Me to Brian, "Would you like to try an English Muffin?" "Do you speak English all the time after you eat it?" "No, I think it's called an English Muffin because it came from England." "Why isn't it called an England Muffin?" "I guess b/c it's named after the English people who made it, not the place they came from." "Do Pirate's make Pirate's Booty?" "I don't think so. Do you want a muffin or not??"

Would like to congratulate my mother on all her accomplishments as a teacher. On this, her last day of teaching, I would like to say, "Welcome to the rest of your life, have a blast, and come babysit ALL you want (kidding - mostly :-)!!"

"K" is in the living room having a tantrum and yelling, "I DON'T LIKE DADDY". Don't worry Jeff, our other two children like you and so do I, and chances are K is going to like you again by the time I'm done typing this. Happy Father's Day!

Kate got 4 rubber bugs out of a "treasure chest" at the drs yesterday. Last night she kept saying, "Wanna play bugs with me?" and I kept saying, "I'm too tired now, but I'll play with you tomorrow." Kate got up at 5:15 today. It is now 5:30 and she just said, "remember yesterday you said that you would play bugs with me tomorrow? Well now it's tomorrow." "Which bug can I be?" (YAWN)

Just overheard this conversation: Kate to Brian "You've got a fat bum" Brian: "Kate, you're not supposed to say people are fat." Kate: "You've got a stinky bum" - and then there was silence. I guess Brian found her second statement to be acceptable.

Drove into Boston with virtually NO traffic and then scored a parking spot right in front of the building I needed to go to. EXCELLENT!!

Are 2 yr olds supposed to say, "I don't like you! I like Daddy! I. don't. want. Mommy! I. want. Daddy!" Seriously, is this a "terrible 2s" thing to do? Maybe it's payback for what I did to my poor mother. I didn't like going to the babysitter when I was 3, & when my mom was driving me there I'd say, "why don't you just drop me off at the dump! & Just leave me on the side of the road if you don't want me."

"K" just came up to me outside and said, "Here mom, this is for your belly" as she pulled my shirt at the neck and tried to drop and ant down it! I'm at a loss for words right now.

Tim Thomas: Totally Terrific - Tremendous Talent - Tenacious Tending - unpreTentious Team player (I've developed a slight crush - I think Jeff's okay with it)

Must. do. some type of Summer activity STAT- the kids are in the other room singing Jingle Bells!

Just got in with the kids. Poor Brian (age 5) is feverish and just not feeling good. I told him to wait with me in the kitchen before going into the living room so I could get him a cup of water. He says to me in this annoyed and whiny voice, "Mom! I can't AFFORD to stand here right now!"

While ordering new contacts for us, Jeff realized that our prescriptions are virtually identical with the exception of one minor aspect. I guess we really ARE a match made in "blind" date heaven!

The kids have been into a lot of "potty talk" lately. Me to Kate in the car just now, "Can you sing me one of the songs you sang at your school?" Kate, "No! Penis!" (hysterical laughter). I'm fairly certain "penis" wasn't one of the songs she sang at her St. Luke's Evangelical, 3 year old classroom, preschool closing ceremony 2 weeks ago.

K has been crying and/or screaming for the better part of the last 2 1/2 hours. What got her to finally stop and be happy? I let her make fart noises (excuse me "poopeedoopee" noises) with her mouth on my stomach for the last 15 minutes.

Kelly is sleeping in the car with a half eaten bag of m&ms in her hand. Think she'll notice if they're gone when she wakes up? She's only 2 for crying out loud.

Kate: "MOM! Kelly is making me fun!!" Me: "Kelly is making fun of you?" Kate: "Yes" (although, "making me fun" sounds so much more fun :-)

If you suddenly hear cheering and say to yourself, "That sounds like Colleen Rafferty Ladino", it's not because Dallas won last night and it's not because I can predict the future for any hockey games, it's because my 2 1/2 year old is TAKING A NAP for the SECOND TIME since DECEMBER!!!!! Yes, "K" who earlier yelled at me and said, "I'm not talking to YOU!" is in LaLa Land -and there is much rejoicing!

"Brian, what do you want to be when you grow up?" "A teacher, artist, astronaut" "Kate, what do you want to be?" "A princess" "Kelly, what do you want to be?" "A butterfly!" The difference between a 5 yr old, a 4 yr old and a 2 yr old.

Military time is being used b/c quite frankly, I could have used them: 16:00 - K caught throwing vidalia onions out of the pantry, 16:08 - K dumped out half a container of cinnamon onto the kitchen table & was licking it, 16:09 - K is banned from the kitchen, 16:11 - K was found dumping out her oj onto the coffee table & wiping it up w/ at least 25 wipes, 16:15 - K was back in the kitchen coloring on the table. SOS!

Somehow I get the feeling that a show called "Tired Toddlers" wouldn't get the same ratings as "Toddlers and Tiaras".

On the way to the park with all the kids and K asks, "Can I come?" I thought that since she was in the car with us that was already implied. Me: "Yes you can." K, "You wanna come too?" Once again, thought this was understood.

On the way home from getting ice creams for the kids Kate yells the following to me, "Can you eat some of this ice cream so I can get to the fudge at the bottom?" "Um, Can I eat your ice cream?? Is the pope Catholic? Does a bear sh*t in the woods? Does Howdy Doody have wooden balls? Does a wooden horse have a hickory d**k?" I mean, "Sure honey, if that will help you out I guess I'll eat your ice cream."

My husband just told me that honorary banner captain of game 3 for the Bruins was #8 Cam Neely and the Bs won 8-0. The honorary banner captain of game 4 was #4 Bobby Orr and as we all know the Bs won 4-0. VERY COOL!! How about Phil Esposito for game 6??! :-)

It's a 3 post kind of day: The kids are watching Peter Pan while eating "Peter Pan Popcorn" (microwave popcorn) sprinkled with Pixie Dust (sugar mixed with a little bit of yellow food coloring).

To any of you that felt a cool breeze last night I would just like to say, "you're welcome". Just realized that we left the window's open in the living room with the ac running. No no really, it was my great pleasure to air condition the world.

Kelly, "I want to eat my Kix in the living room with no syrup and no fork." ????? (Don't think I've ever served them that way to begin with)

Trying to watch the Bruins game but all I can hear is hysterical laughter and these words spilling down from the upstairs bedroom: "You're a stinky poop!" "Well, you're a stinky butt" "You're a stinky butt poopeedoopee" "Birds do poopeedoopees?" "You're a bird poopeedoopee" "you're a silly butt bird poopeedoopee"....more hysterical laughter.

My poor niece mistakenly thought her two year old cousin was a sweet & innocent child. Right after the 4 year old offered for "K" to cut her in line at the little pool, "K" very politely said "thank you" & then leaned in with a big smile. When my niece leaned in to smile back "K" came out of nowhere with a sssssmack to her face. My poor niece was left too stunned to even respond (or cry). Auntie Colleen is sorry.

Went in a 71 degree pool today. It was SHOCKINGLY refreshing!

Kelly tucked in her two older siblings tonight. She brought Kate her bunny, and then kissed and hugged Brian and Kate and said, "sweet dreams." Then she followed me out of their room and as she shut the door behind her said, "have a good night." After that she told me to be careful going down the stairs. Made the memory of plunging the toilet earlier today just melt away.

Let the kids color and watch shows in their pjs until around 10, then I got their bathing suits on and took them to a sprinkler park, and now they're outside having a McDonald's picnic. I'm going to go ahead and give this day an A+ in kid land!

Important news alert! Very cute and (seemingly) innocent 2 year old children who politely say, "Please leave me alone" should NEVER be left alone! Let's just say I have to find the plunger now.

Kelly, "Mom, I want some yogurt." Me, "You want your yogurt now?" Kelly, "No!" My hands are up, my head is shaking, and I'm walking away.

Reason #1 I'm glad I'm not a celebrity: I don't have to worry about a person following me around the grocery store with a camera on a Saturday morning, when I have no makeup on (and may or may not be wearing the clothes I've slept in :-)

Found a goodie bag in Brian's backpack and asked if it was from a birthday party at school. Brian responded, "No. I think Mrs. K gave it to me for my graduation from high school."

Update on my little "M-80" aka "K" aka "self potty trained child": I passed the bathroom today to find her using her potty chair while eating a bowl of cashews. Hey now! She's so good she's multitasking!! :-)

Have you ever wanted someone to know about, understand, believe, feel something, that they're just not ready to? It's such a test of patience, faith & trust to want something so badly for someone, but to know that it's just not time for them to take it in. Gifts are received when are person's heart & mind are ready to let them in, but sometimes it's so easy to forget that & become discouraged.

My not even 2 1/2 year old has basically potty trained herself! What is a child who potty trains herself at 2 going to be like when she's 16??!! I'll tell you, totally challenging and totally amazing! My little M-80 is going to rock. this. world!

Kelly just ran around the kitchen table, wiped out and bit it on the kitchen floor. I braced myself for the VIOLENT SCREAMING/CRYING that was to come, but instead she emerged eating a potato chip she found on the floor from lunchtime.

Was just watching the news. A woman's home was destroyed in Monson Mass (I had to look that town up - I'd never even heard of it). Her checkbook register was recovered in Milton Mass - roughly 86 miles away! Wow!

Just found out that my son said the following to his preschool teacher just before his closing program last night, "I'm excited about tonight." And then said, "I'm happy and sad. I have mixed emotions." I wonder what adult comment he'll make after he finishes kindergarten. Geez.

Wow! This is the first time I have ever heard the Emergency Broadcast System go off and have it not say, "This is only a test, had this been an actual emergency the noise you just heard would have been followed by....." We are now under a Tornado Warning! Scary!

Me: "Brian, today is the very last day of preschool for you." Brian: "Wow, that just hit me right in the head!"

Summer Vacation at the Cottage

Five years ago and then for the past two years we've rented a cottage on Blackmore Pond in Wareham, Ma.  The cottage is owned by some of Jeff's relatives and Jeff used to go to this cottage frequently when he was a child.  The vacation was filled with fun, family, food, and SUN.  A great time was had by all!

Fun with Family From CALIFORNIA!!!

Mike, Elena and little Michael joined us for two weeks earlier this month.  Here are some of the great shots from their visit to my house (um, Elena and I were there I swear! :-) :