I Have a Secret

Shh... don't tell!

I have a secret that I'm about to share.







There is an awesome thing happening in my city right now.

Batman has come to town.

That's right, the newest Dark Knight movie is being filmed here. I would love to say that I have a small role in the movie, but I don't have the luxury of standing in line all day with the hopes of being in some random crowd seen with hundreds of other people. But I do have something.


A few nights ago I was picking the husband from dinner with an old friend. I knew that filming was going on that night and I decided to take a detour through downtown to see if we could see anything (hello, Christian Bale?). A few streets were closed off but nothing was set up to film yet. Damn you Christian Bale! I was just about to give up hope while pulling up to a red light when I saw it. Snow!

You see, The Dark Knight takes place during the winter months. And now I'm glad I didn't have to wear a parka for a crowd scene during those 90 degree days. New mock snow hadn't been laid out yet, but there were remnants of snow from the night before. A quick trip around the block and a bad parking job on a side street led us to our own baggie of Bat-snow!




Of course, I didn't place the snow in the baggie until after we were home because who carried around empty Zip-loc bags? Not me. Which means there is also Bat-snow laying in the cup holder of the car.

It may not be the cleanest snow, but then again neither is the real stuff after it's hit the sidewalks of downtown. But at least I can that I am the proud owner of part of a movie set. At least until Christian Bale comes to my house to take it back.



Until next time...

Red mohawks and a walk

If you read yesterday's post, than you already know that the 4th of July is a busy holiday for us.

On the 4th itself, things really get busy. Especially this year.

Of course we all don our red, white, and blue. Little Dude wanted his hair sprayed red and blue again this year. Thankfully GG opted out of it. Last year, the red stained her hair for 2 months!









Along with the spray colors, Little Dude also wanted a mohawk. Surprising it held up most of the day! Please don't ask why he looks stoned in this picture. He has the same look in almost all pictures I take!

This year was especially busy because we were walking in the parade with the Girl Scouts. Little Dude was supposed to try and walk with the anti-bully group for the schools, but he somehow managed to stay with us girls.

While I walked with our troop and our lovely float built around a stroller

Little Dude took a ride in the van. The whole entire route!

After we successfully walked (and rode through) the parade, we made the trek back home for lunch. I had to make a quick trip to my mom's before heading to a picnic at a friend's house. I think this is a picnic we might have to go to every year. Both of my kids had friends there, as did I. As well as good food and good drinks! Everyone needs a little whipped cream vodka for the holidays!

As the sun began to set behind the storm clouds, a friend and I, with our 5 collective kids in tow, began our walk uphill to the high school stadium for the firework display. We found a good spot where everyone could see and my friend's stroller was easily accessible. As soon as a drum and bugle corps began to play, the sky opened up. For the second night in a row, we were caught in the rain. Thankfully my friend's husband, who volunteers for the 4th of July committee, was there. He found us a nice dry spot in the press box to wait out the storm.

The rain finally stopped and it only delayed the start of the fireworks by 10 minutes. We found a new spot to sit and waited for the show to start. It was well worth the wait!

Yes, this is a firework!
Pretty awesome, right?!

Wordful Wednesday by

and


Until next time...

The battle has begun

What a crazy weekend, as the 4th usually is! We could all use an extra day just to catch up on sleep. I know it won't happen, but at least it's a sign that the weekend was a fun one.

Saturday was just a bunch of running around, but Sunday is when the real fun started. After visiting my in-laws, I took the kids to the local Street Fair.

Our street fair isn't anything huge, but it's fun. Each of my kids got a free airbrush tattoo as well as a turn in the bounce house. I "treated' them to free hot dogs and free cotton candy. Free is good. After visiting the vendors I took them to the police station to find a spot on the curb to watch the Battle of the Barrel.

Every year someone asks what this Battle is exactly. Local fire departments gather and have a battle. A barrel is strung up in the middle of the street. Using their hoses, the teams of firemen (and women) they try to push the barrel to the other side of the wire.

Kids gather on the sides of the street to watch knowing full well they will get soaked to the core. Many of my friends we passed along the way asked if I was taking the kids to the pool because they were each carrying a towel. No pool, we're just pros at this battle thing. We come prepared!

Well, almost fully prepared. I failed to check the weather before we left because I was under the assumption it was going to be a gorgeous night. We all know what happens when one assumes, right? In the end, I was just as wet as the kids - them from the hoses, me from Mother Nature.

Rain was a running theme throughout the holiday. Thankfully it held off for the parade the following morning. The rain held out long enough to almost ruin the fireworks.

I'll share more about that tomorrow. Right now, I think I need a nap.


I hope you had a good holiday!

Until next time...

Easy as 1, 2, 3...4?

Hurry up!

Eat your dinner!

You need to change your clothes!


Every June, as week or so before the 4th of July, a local shopping center holds a pre-holiday celebration with fireworks. I have taken the kids since they were little. They love the colors and the booms, but it is always a production to get there. This year was no different. We had a guaranteed parking spot at my in-laws house, but I still wanted to get out the door early.

We love to walk around and see the dance school show off their latest performances. We played some Wii bowling for a chance to win a win or a special bowling ball. We didn't win, but the kids did amazingly well. We ate a bunch a good, junky food and we finally made our way over to a good spot to plop our butts.

The fireworks started a few minutes later than I thought and it started to get a little ugly (none of us have an ounce of patience!), but once the first firework umbrellaed the parking lot, we were all smiles.

Luckily the rain held off until we were walking back to the car. The skies didn't fully open up until we were all safely buckled and pulling out. This would have really mattered if I didn't have 2 kids who really had to pee. I had to pick a few things up at the grocery store, so we planned on stopping for that and to use their restrooms.

By the time we finally got home, we were not only tired, but soaking wet. I told the kids to change into their jammies and as usual, Little Dude putzed around. While I was trying to get GG settled, he came in her room and said,

"Look mom, I have on 2 pairs of underwear!"

Apparently he snuck on that other pair when we were trying to rush out the door earlier in the evening. Upon further inspection, I realized that he did not have on 2 pairs of underwear on. He had 3!!!

And within a few minutes, the boy placed a 4th pair on his head and pranced around the room.

The only thing I could do was laugh. That child is definitely a character!



Until next time...

Fast little honkers

The past few days have been pretty cool weather wise. Especially compared to last week where I though we would melt! We've been taking advantage of this cool down by doing more things outside. It is so much easier to exit the house when the temps are way below 95 and the humidity isn't a million percent.

The other night, I took the kids to a local park to feed some ducks. Unfortunately it was after dinner by the time we got there. The ducks apparently ate their dinner by that point as well. They weren't hungry, but we still enjoyed walking around.

We saw ducks, peacocks, buffalo, and a few turtles. On our way back to the car, we circled the pond one final time and saw the cutest things ever.

Trying to protect their young, the waddled away pretty quick. Darn those honkers are fast!

We had a lot of fun on our adventure, but it came with a price. Dirty, stinky children!

I'm not sure if he wants to get cleaned or not!

Until next time...

Glad I don't have a tail

I'm going to let you in on a little secret. When someone asks what your child ate, the best answer to give to sound like mom of the year is "I don't know". You look even better when the person who asked the question is a paramedic. Let me back up and explain the whole story...

Over the weekend, my little town had their 3rd annual Community Day. It's nothing to rave about because quite frankly, there's not much there. And that's a shame. Even though I'm not a fan of one of the ladies in charge, I really need to find the organization on Facebook or something and suggest how to get the word out more for next year. We really need that new park and stadium.

Just because there's not a lot to do at Community Day, we still managed to have some fun. The first hour that we were there, the husband and I let the kids play on the inflatables and play a few games. After that, the boys went home. It was time for me to volunteer at the Girl Scout booth. On the way over, GG stopped to get a sno-cone.

Instead of having GG be bored out her mind with me at the booth, I let her run around with her friends. They ran all over the field for the next 90 minutes or so. I ran into GG on my way to get a bite to eat and she asked for a bottle of water. She had a headache. I should have paid more attention to this little detail, but I failed. GG drank some water and went back to find her friends.

Another 30 minutes pass when my girl returns to the booth. She now says her stomach hurts and she is really hot. I turn to look at her and all of the color has drained out of her face. I was about to gather our stuff to take her home when I thought to feel her head for a fever. After all, she was sick earlier in the week. Perhaps it had been lying dormant for a few days.

When I touched her face, she feels clammy and cold as ice. My friend put her hand on GG's leg, which was also cold and clammy. I look back at her face and this is when I realize that her lips are blue. My heart dropped. Thank goodness the EMS tent was nearby because off we ran.

The paramedics turned on the misting fan behind her to cool her off. I was not a fan of this. It was warm that day, but nowhere near as hot as it had been earlier in the week. The checked her blood pressure, as well as her pulse ox (the level of oxygen in your blood - I know this from our asthma induced hospital trips years ago).

Everything checks out fine, which is when one of them turn to me and ask "What has she had to eat today?" That is when I utterly failed as a mom. Other than the sno-cone, I honestly had no clue what she ate for breakfast. The husband feeds the kids on the weekends so I can sleep in. I also had no clue what color sno-cone she ate (drank?). Turns out it was blue. I'm thinking (hoping) I didn't notice the sno-cone blue left on her lips until she lost all her color. Another fail? Probably.

The diagnosis? Get the girl something to eat, like a hot dog or hamburger.

If I had a tail, it surely would have been between my legs. I should have paid more attention to what was going into her body.



Until next time...

Our own aviary

In my city we have a wonderful aviary. There are all kinds of birds there. I love going in to the tropical room. It's like Where's Waldo, except with birds. You could stand in that room for hours and never see the same bird twice.

But my absolute favorite are the Lories. Those are Lories over there on the left. Everybody gets a cup of nectar before walking into their room. They perch on your shoulders and arms, as well as drink the nectar from your cup. Loud, but beautiful birds.


I have decided that this summer we may not visit the aviary. The price of everything is going up. I'm ready to have another child just so I could sell it to be able to put gas in our car.

Instead of going to the Aviary, the kids and are going to line our camping chairs on the back porch and watch what is already out there.

Last week I shared pictures of the robin nest forming on a shelf on our back porch. This thing is a monstrosity! Originally I decided that robins are the hoarders of birds. Other than twigs, there were wrappers and dryer sheets up in that nest. Upon further investigation, I realized that they are not hoarders. They are very resourceful birds.

The mass of twigs, from what I can figure, is a make-shift tree. Building on the shelf provides stability. Tucked in the way back of the mass of twigs and garbage is an actual nest.




I'm sure before we know it, that little nest will be full of tiny blue eggs. Let's just hope that the birds don't try to fly in the house. Being right next to the back door, this could be a real possibility.

Not only do we have the robins to sit and watch, but I have noticed the beginnings of yet another nest. This one is being built by tiny birds. Wrens perhaps? Their nest is tucked up in the awning of our porch roof. I can't take a picture and I can't knock it out even if I wanted to. And I kind of do!

These wrens are so skittish. I can see them sitting in the trees with nest materials in their beaks, patiently waiting for me or the kids to disappear. So different from the robins who, quite frankly, couldn't care less.

This summer we will be bird watching from the comfort of our back porch. You are more than welcome to join us. I may have to charge you a small fee. I do need to put gas in the car if I want to get food to feed my family.


Wordful Wednesday by

and



Until next time....

Green skies and ping pong balls

In Southwest PA we don't have to deal with extreme weather, save the occasional blizzard once every few years. As much as complain about the cold, I would much rather be here than somewhere else. We've all seen the wrath of Mother Nature recently in Japan. I know I definitely couldn't deal with that. At all!

However, after yesterday, I have started the rethink where we live.

The weathermen predicted warm, but rainy weather for yesterday. We all know that weather men (and women) are right maybe never 50% of the time. The abundance of sun yesterday was further proof of that. I expected an easy drive to get the husband from work. I wouldn't need my sunglasses, but I was happy to not have to drive in the rain.

Once we were on the highway, the kids and I noticed the dark clouds rolling in. We saw a little lightening and a few big, fat drops hit the windshield. With the position of the clouds it appeared that we were slightly ahead of the storm. I hoped that it would pass and we wouldn't get stuck in it on the way back home.

Oh how wrong I was!!!

Quicker than a snap of my fingers, those big fat drops turned into some of the biggest hail I have ever seen. I have never pulled off the highway due to weather. Until yesterday. I really started to freak out when everyone else on the road pulled over as well.

The kids were ooh-ing and aah-ing over the size of the hail. Me? I'm surprised I wasn't honking the horn from my heart pounding out of my chest so hard! All the while I prayed that the windshield wouldn't break.

After a few minutes that felt like forever, the hail stopped. The rest of our drive was easy and I assumed the return trip would be easy as well since the storm had passed. I really need to stop assuming.

During the last 10 minutes of our return trip we all noticed our surroundings getting darker and darker. Without completely driving like a bat out of hell, I tried to hurry and get us home. I think because of this, I ended up getting behind the slowest driver ever. Needless to say, a few blocks from our house the lightening once again started and the sky turned a scary shade of green.

As I'm turning a corner I hear it.


BOOM!!!!!!


I do believe the exact words out of my mouth were "What the fuck was that?!" (I'm such a good role model for kids, aren't I?)

The hail had once again started. It was beating the crap out of our car but being so close to home, I had no choice but to keep going. As I was sprinting into the house I noticed chunks of ice on our porch steps. Instead of standing in the now pouring rain, I walked through the house and out onto our covered back porch. That's when I noticed this...

It looks like a ping pong ball, but it is indeed a 1 inch ball of ice. I hope to never see that again!


By the way, that ball and his friends left a nice dent in the roof of our car! But I guess it's better than a broken windshield! Compared to the rest of the area, we actually got off easy with this storm.



Until next time....

A Good Deal

Yet again we had a full weekend. I don't know why I expect anything different?

Friday was spent outside for many, many hours. It was a gorgeous day and we took full advantage of it. The kids and I walk to their school playground. After an hour, we grabbed their scooters and headed up to Caribou for drinks and a snack. After we returned home, we took a drive out to the big park to play for a while.

Saturday was date night, but not for me and the husband. A few weeks ago, Little Dude and I had a Mommy and Son date night at Chick Fil-a. It was now GG's turn for a date night with daddy.

Just so you can have a good laugh, I would like to point out that I drive them to the wrong restaurant. We quickly fixed that, and their night turned out magical.

Their table was set and they had a waitress who served them. Music was playing and every song was about love. After their meal, they got to take a limo ride around the parking lot. I'd be really surprised if you didn't hear her squeal when she found out! As a memento of their date, each girl got a magnet with her and her date as well as a CD containing all of the music that was played through their date.

Sunday was the first official day of Spring. While it wasn't as warm as Friday was, it was still a gorgeous day. The kids spent a good portion of the day playing outside. When they seemed to need a break I decided it was time to enjoy my favorite part of the first day of Spring. Free Rita's Day!

I know that not everyone may know what Rita's is, so I'll tell you. It's ice made mostly from fruit, although they do have other flavors like Swedish Fish and Cotton Candy (ew!).

Every year on the first day of Spring, Rita's shows their appreciation for their customers by giving out free regular sized ices. Just to put it into perspective, I usually get a kid size because a regular is too much ice for me, no matter how delicious it is!

While standing in line I realized that we could upgrade to a gelati for a dollar (custard is added to the ice). Three gelatis for three bucks is an awesome deal so that's what we got. I chose Tropical Punch, which is really good. The kids went for Swedish Fish. And yes, it really does taste like Swedish Fish.


I think we all enjoyed our snack, don't you?

Until next time....

I didn't mean to break tradition

It's Super Bowl week, we bleed black and gold in this house, so yes, you're getting a football post. And why I got in trouble over traditions and superstitions.


The big game is next Sunday and I cannot wait! Words cannot express how excited I am! Of course that excitement will end 10 minutes before kickoff, but we'll cross that bridge when we get to it.

To celebrate Super Bowl week, GG and Little Dude are having black and gold week at school. Monday was wear something from one of the city's sports teams. Tuesday was decorate your head day.

Little Dude wore a Steelers hat, while GG wore the hat I made for her.





I tried to take a picture of her modeling it off, but the flash blinded her. So you get a picture of the hat on my hand!


Today is Terrible Towel day. And this is the day that led me to trouble. Yoi!




I am extremely superstitious when it comes to my sports. I wear the same thing for every football game and I have my towel every. single. game. Ever since the end of last season I have been searching for 2 Terrible Towels. I have a total of 3, but have been MIA. When I found out about towel day, I asked my mom if we could borrow hers. With the promise of returning it before the big game of course!

She reluctantly agreed, but I decided to tear apart my house one more time. Lo and behold, I found those 2 towels hiding between the sheets. Way in the back of our hall closet. I'm giddy as a kid in a candy store so of course I have to share. I posted something on Facebook thinking my friends who are also fans will be excited for me. Two more towels = two more times the luck. Or so I thought.

One of my good friends told me we would lose the game because I wouldn't do or have the same items for the bi game as I had for previous games. We Steeler fans take pride in our towels and our superstitions, but damn! I didn't expect to get yelled at!

I'm still sticking with two times more luck!


Until next time....

Would you care to sign?

We're just a little over a month into Winter and I am sick of it. Thank goodness we haven't had "the big one" like we did last year and I'm sorry for those of you who have had such a travesty. But I think the weather that we are dealing with is just as bad.

We may not have to shovel feet of snow and then be forced to watch it turn into nasty black hills of ice and snow that stick around for months on end, but we have been getting enough to have to do something. The husband and I are tired of cleaning the car. We are tired of clearing the walkways. And I am sick and tired of breaking the damn ice off of our front porch. That's my job because I am the only one home at the warmest part of the day. Those days are still cold as anything, but the sun likes to warm stuff up just enough to cause me grief!

I know there are many of you out there who are dealing with equally crappy weather. Whether it's feet of snow, ice, or just bitter cold, we're all getting tired of it. Right? So I have decided to draw up a petition. If you are ready for Summer, please feel free to sign my petition by way of leaving a comment.

And if Summer gets unbearably hot where you are, I'm sure we could work out a deal to bring on Spring! And if you live where you don't have to deal with this crappy weather, please leave your address in my comments. I will be moving in shortly!

********************

I, the undersigned, do hereby state that I am sick and tired of the Winter weather. I do hereby petition that the following actions be placed into effect immediately.

The snow and ice must hereby cease and desist.
The bitter cold must be replaced by the warmth of the sun.
The snow and ice shall melt making it possible for us to take our children out of the house
Without having to bundle them in 15 layers of clothing
Only to have them turn around and say they have to pee.

Sidewalks shall be clear so walks can be had.
Parks shall be open so excess energy can be expelled.
The sun shall grace us with it's presence til bedtime
So we can keep previously mentioned energetic kids out of the house

Please sign my petition and feel free to leave any other grievances you may have in regards to the Winter weather. Once I figure out who to mail this to, I can hopefully bring on the Summer.


ps. that stupid groundhog better stop by and read this, too, or else him and I are gonna have some issues!


Until next time....

Whirl wind

These past few days have been a whirl wind! Tuesday it snowed and it made all the driving I do quite difficult. That snow also meant that Wednesday and Thursday the schools had a 10am start. Those 10 am starts are nice because we're not so rushed in the morning, but once the kids are in school I turn into the Tasmanian Devil. Those delays mean I have 2 less hours to get stuff done. Add to that the fact that I love to procrastinate and it's just a disaster.

Yesterday was especially crazy because it was my feature day over on SITS. Yay me! I'm quite proud of myself because I think I responded to everyone's lovely comments.

I would like to give a huge thank you to anyone who read my post about wishing for a fast forward button. Losing someone we care about is incredibly hard. The kind words that were left on that post mean a lot to me. Thank you!


If a commenter is a no-reply, there's not much I can do about responding. But if I can get to your blog to return the visit, I definitely will. Just give me some time.

For now I need to figure out what the heck I'm wearing tonight. The husband and I are going to his company work party. It's nothing fancy. Apparently programmers aren't big on the dressing up thing. But I still like to look nice.


This weekend the midgets will finally get the chance to play in the snow. There's enough of it out there that they should be occupied for quite some time (yay!). Keep an eye out next week for some pictures of my snow monsters!


Until next time....

High as a kite

We're high as a kite

We just might

Stop to check you out

High as a kite as in a sugar high. This here's the family friendly blog, remember? Stop to check you out? There were quite a few awesome costumes out there. There was the cutest little boy, maybe a year old, dressed as a tiger. Or there was the dad dressed as Darth Steeler. Ok, really he was Darth Vader, but he wore the costume over a Steelers shirt. Halloween means trick-or-treating, but it was also game night here.

If you want to see my crazy kids
you can go here.

We had so much fun trick-or-treating. I will admit it was cold, but the kids seemed to forget that as they saw their bags fill up. Both GG and Little Dude had their own bags the carry. When they were full we would dump it all into a pillow case. I think next year I am taking 2 pillow cases with us. The weight of the one I had was probably close to the combined weight of both kids!

My midgets are by no means big kids, but they are 5 and 8!

I wasn't sure if Little Dude would survive the walk back home, but once he realized we were dumping out the pillow case, he perked right back up. That also may have been the Reese Cup kicking in!

Yet again, we have a Willy Wonka explosion...

I would like to point out
that we only trick-or-treated on 2 streets!

I do believe their favorite treasure were these...

Yes, those are Gummi Pizzas. I think we'll take the divide and conquer approach with those bad boys!


I hope everyone else and their little ones had a great Halloween!


Until next time....

Soccer drama continues

The other day I blogged about my feelings on soccer, should GG continue to play after this season. Neither I nor the husband are thrilled with her playing on the 9-13 year old team, but we'll see how it plays out in a few months.

I was reading my comments from that post and Oka suggested I look into joining the board with the hopes of making improvements. I think that's an awesome idea. Complaining from the sidelines rarely gets anything done. I'm active in the PTA and try to help keep our school stay awesome for many years.

After GG's soccer practice Friday night, joining the board is completely off the table!

At least 2 weeks ago (forgive me~ all the practices run together anymore), Little Dude's coach mentioned youth athlete recognition night. Each fall during one of the high school football games, young athletes are recognized on the field before the football game. His coach told us the night this season is going to be October 1.

GG has her practice Friday nights and with recognition night being the Friday coming up, I wanted to ask her coach how we were doing things. Would practice be cancelled or rescheduled? When and where should we meet at the stadium? He looked at me like I was speaking a foreign language! No one had mentioned anything about this to him. We walked over to ask the other coach there if she knew anything about it. This other coach is one of the people who is charge of the league.

She had no clue what we were talking about either!!!

For the life of me I can't figure out how Little Dude's coach knows all this information before everyone else. He was the first to know when the games started, what color Little Dude's team would be, and now the recognition night. But how is it that one of the head honchos of the league is clueless about all of this?!




I'm all for jumping in and lending a hand to improve the situation, but I'm definitely not sticking my hand in this mess!



Until next time....

Planes, trains, and automobiles. Or just planes!

As we all know Saturday was 9-11. The memories of that day still haunt as if it were yesterday. Instead of wallowing in that sorrow and watching the stories of that horrible time, I went out this year. To an Air Force base.

My sister from another mister wanted to see the air show. GG was at a friend's house, but I knew Little Dude would go nuts over those planes. And the soldiers, too!

Here's a recap of our day. Post-it style!







Roughly 30 minutes to get to this point,
but another 2.5 hours to go the last 3 miles!
Thankfully it only took us 1 hour to get home.
Gorgeous day, 9/11 - I guess that was THE place to be!

Check out the detail on that beauty!



And because I couldn't pass it up, I had to get a picture representing black 'n' gold pride! The guy with the 2 Crosby jerseys is just icing on the cake!

For more Post-Its, go check out...




Until next time....