my favorite season

I decided my blog needed a face lift. What better thing to do at midnight on a Saturday while your husband is out with the guys. Notice I am STILL not tackling anything on my to-do list. Oh well... always tomorrow. Also, I haven't posted any new pics of the boys lately. So here's one from this week. It's not the best shot - but you can at least tell how big they are getting. :)

The Penguins

Is this thing on? So sorry for the lack of updates!!!! Life has gotten (insert word that means hectic x 1,000,000). I am back to teaching full time. Chris is back to work plus his 572 duties and responsibilities for Hill each week. The boys started at a new school (homework and all!). Laundry basket has turned into Mount Washmore. House looks like I have 25 dogs living in it (hair EVERYWHERE!). My life is just a MESS. So what will I do on my Saturday off? Blog. Go to a country store's fall open house. Go shopping for work clothes and new shoes. Then home to do lesson plans. Did I just tackle anything on my list? Negative.

The boys are doing really well with our new schedule. Jack still cries whenever he is dropped off somewhere (school or a grandparent's house). Poor kid. He just wants a day at home with his parents. He is loving the 9am wake ups and pj days on Saturday and Sundays. He is also talking up a storm. Can you believe it? Jack! His new favorite word is, "stuck." Everything is stuck. He hangs from railings like a monkey. Loves to line up cars in a row. Wants to read a truck/car book at every chance he gets. Aside from the high pitched screaming and toddler tantrums - he is such an amazing, fun, and good little boy!

Josh is turning into a little man right before my eyes. He sits and "reads" books to a pretend circle of kids. It's the cutest thing. He is reading with such animation too! His drawing has become so detailed. His letter and number recognition has really taken off as well. Its' amazing to see what a little sponge he is and how much he is absorbing from 3 full days of school a week.

Chris and I are excited to say that this week we signed Josh up for his first hockey team! Josh will be on the Pottstown Penguins. We were so excited to tell him the news. Only my child... here's the conversation:

Chris: "Hey Josh! Guess what? We signed you up for the Penguins! You are going to be on a hockey team with a coach and teammates! You'll skate on the ice and get to wear a jersey!"

Josh: "The Penguin adults or the Penguin kids?"

Chris: "The Penguin kids."

Josh: "Are you going to be my coach?"

Chris: "No honey."

Josh: "Well can I body check?"

Chris: "No bud."

Josh: "Oh man!!!!"

So as you can tell... he's really excited! :) Only our child would be disappointed in the fact that at age (almost) 4, he can't play for the NHL Penguins or body check his opponents! Today I asked him:

Me: "josh what number do you want to wear on your jersey for the Penguins?"

Josh: "I want to wear 52 thousand 5."

Lastly... check out Josh's drawing. It completely blew Chris and I away. On his own - he drew this! Check out the ice, the center line, and how the two goalies are facing the right direction as if you were looking at the game on tv. We're in trouble w/ this kid....

Have a great weekend. I'll be sure to update before Easter. :)

16 random things

Ok my sister tagged me in some random facts about herself and asked me to do the same. This is for all my readers... hopefully you'll learn some new things about me. :)

1. I blew through a stop sign on the way to take my driver’s test… and then passed… Scary thought.

2. I love Hershey’s chocolate, salt & vinegar chips, and cheese. I would survive on these 3 things simultaneously if I could.

3. I grew up a die hard hockey fan with family season tickets to the Flyers, attended numerous Flyers Wives Fight For Lives Carnivals, and met pretty much all the players during the ’89-91 seasons. I kissed Rick Tocchet on the cheek and vowed to one day marry a professional hockey player. Little did I know that wish would actually come true.

4. I have never broken any bones.

5. I have a 3cm microadenoma on my brain (on my pituitary). Left untreated it can cause infertility and a 100lb weight gain over 10 years. This was discovered after a miscarriage and the birth of my first child.

6. I became addicted to All My Children in college (thanks Krista) and have watched every episode since the spring of 1997.

7. I have wanted to be a teacher since I was a child. I used to make all the neighborhood kids my students and we’d play school at my house all summer. I’d even send them home with homework to bring back the next day. It’s a wonder that I had any friends!

8. My husband and I exchanged phone numbers at the prom (we weren’t each other’s dates).

9. I hung out with the band Bare Naked Ladies backstage and on their tour bus. Steven called me Katie-the-fragrant and needed to know what perfume I was wearing so he could buy it for his wife.

10. I have seen Def Leppard in concert twice and have every expectation of going for number 3!

11. I whole heartedly believe I have witnessed divine intervention and an unidentified encounter in my lifetime.

12. I have swam with a dead body.

13. I jet skied inside a volcano.

14. I have not slept on my back ever since I watched Cat’s Eye as a child.

15. I saw Dane Cook live and had front row, center stage seats… it was terrifying.

16. Ok – see if you can follow this one: I sat 3 rows behind Al Gore during Bono’s graduation speech at Harvard University, where just months earlier Sara Gore and I drank together in a bar… a few bar stools away from Tatyana Ali from the Fresh Prince of Bel Air. WOW!

eureka!

Have you ever had one of those not-so-proud parenting moments? I must say I have them more often then I would like. But out of all my mishaps… this one takes the cake. Any of my readers with small children or who care for small children need to read this!

First off… in my defense… we have eaten fruit on the beach many many times this summer. Apples, peaches, nectarines, and PLUMS. My children have had NO problem eating around the pits and then bringing me their trash. So of course I thought NOTHING of sitting the boys in their chairs for lunch… giving them each a plum… and then walking back into the kitchen to make their pb and j sandwiches.

Panic struck as I delivered Jack’s sandwich and noticed only half of a plum left… a pit less half of a plum. I immediately searched his mouth. Then his chair. Then the floor. There’s no way this kid swallowed a plum pit. Yet I couldn’t find it anywhere! I immediately called my girlfriend (who is a nurse and her husband is a doctor of internal medicine). I explained the situation and we marveled over the fact that Jack didn’t actually choke on the pit! How in the world it made it’s way down his esophagus is beyond me. We came to conclusion that it was either a really small pit, or hopefully it was a freaky pit less plum. We were concerned that the pit would create a blockage somewhere b/c the acids in the stomach would not be able to break it down.

So I monitored Jack each time he ate. His temperament and eating habits did not change one bit. I knew that I would not feel at ease until the dreaded pit came out in the wash (so to speak). I honestly started to feel like I was losing my mind. Could the plum have been pit less? If not, I was determined to find it. With each messy diaper I’d put on my digger hat, grab my chisel, and get to work. Didn’t you know that paleontology is one of the many hats I wear?

So have you ever wondered how long it takes to pass a plum pit through your system? Two days. Two fun filled days of searching and EUREKA! I made the discovery I was looking for. Thankfully, crisis adverted. I am not going to tell you it’s ok if your child swallows a pit b/c it will eventually come out. I am just lucky that Jack’s pit came and went without any problems. There is never a dull moment in my life…

(another) josh sillies

~The boys are outback playing and through the window I hear Josh yell, in a harsh mean voice, to Jack, "YOU PLAY BALL LIKE A GIRL!"

~I was having some private time in the bathroom when the door was slammed open. Josh proceeded to come in, pick up the step stool, place it right at my feet, and sit down with out saying a word.

"Um... Josh what are you doing?"

"I have to go potty."

"Well Mommy is using the potty right now."

"That's ok, I'll just wait in line."

~"Mom, I don't like these feet (pointing at his feet). I want to get new big feet like daddy."

~Josh is at the playground shooting hoops by himself while Jack and I are on the swings. He stops, goes over to the bench and sits down. "Mom I need to take a rest because my feelings hurt."

~Chris left for work this morning and Josh yells to him out the door, "By dad! Have fun at your work! Make sure you take a nap and play some hockey!"

calgon! take me away!

Tonight I leave for a girls getaway! I can NOT wait! My cousin, girlfriend and I are heading to my beach house tonight until Friday night.

On our agenda:

1. sleeping without children waking us up or crawling into our beds

2. sunbathing with out having to run after our children on the beach or hearing the constant nagging question, "will you PLEASE build a sand castle with me"

3. listening to our iPods while taking a nap on the beach blanket (which NEVER happens)

4. taking long hot showers, putting on make-up and doing our hair because we will actually have time to take care of ourselves for once

5. going out to a fancy restaurant for dinner and cocktails without having to rush or feel embarrassed b/c of our screaming kids

6. going out dancing and enjoying the nightlife (seriously has hell frozen over? I don't think I have done that since Josh was born!)

7. taking a brisk walk along the beach in the mornings to get the old heart rate going

8. watching Twilight, reading tabloids, girl talking, and just remembering what life was once like before kids!

Don't get me wrong... I love my kids more then anything in my life.... but this getaway is LONG overdue! I am eager to return with pics of the new and refreshed me... :)

fun with family

We had a fabulous 4th with some of our favorite people! Chris's cousins Jim and Heather were kind enough to share their home for a day filled with fun in the sun and delicious food! We really have a blast with this bunch! Here are some cute shots of the kids courtesy of my mother-in-law (see slideshow above). Thanks for taking such great shots Carole!