Beating The Heat

There's a term all Marylander's know well, and will gladly tell visitors from other states. "If you don't like the weather, just wait 5 minutes". This year our seasons have been just about as extreme as you could imagine. This past winter brought the most snow in a season we've ever seen. Cumulative accumulations of over 8 ft. We didn't have much of a 'Spring'. Things seemed to jump from being buried in several feet of snow to hot and humid very quickly. Watching the evening news last week the weatherman said we've already had about 35 days this summer over 95 degree's, which in itself is a record for Maryland.

I have never liked summer time for that reason alone. I hate being hot and sweaty. Last Saturday the weather topped off at 108 degrees. CRAZY HOT! The air conditioner can't keep up with that kind of heat. Inside the house the thermostat was reading 84 degrees. I had all the ceiling fans set on 'high' and all that did was blow the hot air around, which was better then nothing. So, Saturday night I told Charlie I wanted to go out and get an inflatable pool for the kids and I to splash around in and keep cool during the day.

After dinner I left the kids home with Charlie and went out in search of a small pool. Something small enough that wasn't too expensive and yet big enough that I could sit in there with the kiddies and cool down, too.

My first stop was Target. They had a pretty good selection of small inflatable pools. Big enough for my two little ones to play in, but not much room left for big sister or mommy. So, I left and went to the next store I thought might have something. Kmart. Literally had no pools of any kind. Left there and went to the next store down the road. Toys R Us. They were also out of any kind of pool. Now I'm getting a little bummed out. I leave and try my luck at Walmart. They also have nothing available. Not even little plastic baby pools (you know, the little tiny preformed plastic pool that's about 3 ft around and 6 inches deep). I'm getting disheartened now, but am still determined to come home with a pool for the kids. Last stop, Big Lots. The woman at the register was pretty sure they didn't have pools, but IF they did they would probably be in the kids toy section. I check. Nothing. Not even a water gun.

Totally bummed out I leave the store, empty handed. I decide to go back to Target, because at least there, they had small inflatable pools which would give the kids something to at least splash around in a little and have fun. I go back to the isle that has the baby and toddler pools. I found a decent sized baby pool that looked pretty good and it was only $9.99. I grab it and then see a Toy Story themed pool with Buzz Lightyear on it and it comes with 2 Buzz Lightyear water guns that attach to a hose for added fun in the pool. It was on Clearance!!! As if it was meant to be. With these 2 inflatable pools and water guns that come with one of the pools there's plenty of water fun to be had by all the kids in the backyard.

So, 2 hours after I began my hunt for a pool, ending at the store I started at, I made my way home with both the pools. Sunday afternoon Charlie used his air hose to inflate the pools and I filled them up. A storm passed through while the pools were filling up and we all got soaked, which wasn't so bad for the kids cuz they were already in their swim suits, but I was still fully dressed. When the lightening started we all went into the house to wait it out. It passed by quickly. I got my swim suit on and we all went back out to play. John LOVED the Buzz Lightyear pool and water guns. The 'baby' pool is actually bigger then the Toy Story pool and is big enough for the 5 of us to sit in, but isn't room for playing around. That's one of the reasons I got 2 pools. One for me to relax in and the other for the kids to play around in.

We've already had a lot of fun in the little pools and look forward to more fun the rest of the summer.

Summer Evening Fun

Yesterday was our nations birthday. The 4th of July. Traditionally celebrated with wearing red, white and blue, cookouts and fireworks. When I was a youngster I remember my parents taking my brother and I to a park in Glen Burnie to watch the fireworks. We always had a blast and were mesmerized by the fireworks show. I can still see the beautiful bursts of color in my mind.

I've never actually taken my kids to go see fireworks. Tabytha spends the 4th at her biological grandmother's house and I feel like John and Jessi are still a bit to young to take out late at night to watch fireworks. In the next couple of years I plan to take them, but for now, we stay home.

We had our own fun last night, however. Instead of fireworks, we had waterworks. After dinner I was in the backyard with John and Jessi holding the hose and spraying it into the yard while John and Jessi put their hands into the stream of water squealing and giggling. Jessi doesn't like to be sprayed by the hose, but enjoys playing in the spray on her own terms. She must be the one to approach the water, not the other way around. John wanted to spray the water, so I let him. I held on to the hose while he held down the nozzle to release the water.

All the while we're having fun, laughing and getting wet. I hear the back door open and Charlie was coming to see what we were up to. I gave him a smile and went back to playing with the kids. Suddenly my back is soaked with freezing cold water from the water bottle Charlie was drinking from. I pulled the hose out of John's hand real quick and turned it on Charlie to "get him back". He ducked back into the house and I thought that was the end. Little did I know this was going to spawn a 'water war'. Charlie got hold of John's big water gun and filled it up in the house, went out the front door and came around to the back gate where the kids and I were (still spraying the garden hose). My back gets soaked again, but I didn't know where it was coming from at first.

I found him and turned the hose on him, again, and he retreated out of range. John and Jessi thought this was hysterical. Charlie came back to spray us with the water gun again and I would spray him with the hose, again. Our buddy, Harold, was also at the house and came out to see what all the ruckus was and Charlie and I both turned on him. John and Jessi were running around the yard shrieking and laughing. We were all running around laughing and having a good time.

This went on for about 45 minutes. It was great. So, no, we didn't pack up in the car and go fight the crowds for a good seat to see a fireworks show somewhere, but, we had a lot of fun playing in our own backyard. John and Jessi aren't likely going to remember these times, but I will and I look forward to telling these stories to them when they're older.

Summer Begins

I've been 'absent' from blogging lately, so here I am to catch y'all up with the happenings in my zoo.

Summer break started with Tabytha finishing 2nd grade and John turning 3. Tabytha's last day of school was the 11th. She brought home her final report card and she did great. Next year she'll receive actual letter grades for her work and I can't wait. It's so much easier to read a report card with "A", "B", "C", etc. . . instead of "C" for consistently demonstrates skill, "P" for progressing, "O" often demonstrates skill, etc. . .

The week before school let out we celebrated John's 3rd birthday. It wasn't a big event. We kept it pretty low key. My parents, Charlie's parents, my sisters, Charlie's sister and family, Harold and my friend Drea and her family were our party guests. We would have loved to have all our friends with us to celebrate, but space in our home limited how many we could invite. Everyone had a nice time. I made slow cooked pulled bbq chicken, we grilled hot dogs and burgers, my mom made smokey Joe's, my MIL brought soda's and my SIL brought a watermelon. John got wonderful gifts from everyone and has enjoyed playing with all his new toys since he got them.

Last weekend was my niece, Shelby's, 3rd birthday. She's 9 days younger then John. Her party was at 2pm and we left our house just before 1pm. On our way to Charlie's sister's house we hit beach traffic. NOT fun. We FINALLY made it over the bridge and managed to get to Faye's house by 3:15pm. Yup, an hour and fifteen minutes after the party started. Aggravating traffic aside, we have a great time at Shelby's birthday party. She got a lot of very nice gifts and she was super excited when she opened our gift. At John's birthday party Faye told me she wanted a sunflower sprinkler and I got the last one at the store Faye suggested getting it at. When Shelby opened it she squealed in delight. That made my day knowing she was happy with her gift.

So far the summer has been relatively 'uneventful'. There's been playing in the sprinkler and in the backyard. We'd like to take a couple days later this summer and go to the Baltimore Aquarium and Port Discovery with the kids and my mom and sisters. We may even take a day trip or two to the beach.

My Happy Mother's Day

I'm mother to 3 beautiful children. Each year, our calendars mark a day set aside to 'honor' mothers across the country. Tradition and commercialism tell you that you should give your mom flowers, breakfast in bed, chocolates, cards or some kind of gift.

All of these things are fine and good. As for me, what I wanted most for Mother's Day, was to do NOTHING. I didn't want to clean the house, do laundry or cook. Tending to the kids in some way was inevitable. One is still in diapers and one is in the middle of potty training.

Our friend, Harold, actually crashed on our couch Saturday night. He was nice enough to watch the kids late into the night while Charlie and I were at my friend's wedding. He woke up before the rest of us and went out to a quick mart and got Krispy Kreme doughnuts for everyone. And with that, breakfast was taken care of.

Late morning Charlie packed up the kids and went to the grocery store to pick up a few things and give me some quiet here at home. I uploaded some pictures to facebook, watched a movie and vegged on the couch. Charlie brought home Pizza Hut for lunch. Awesome. 2 meals taken care of, and neither of them by me! So far this day has been awesome!

Jessi took her regular afternoon nap after lunch and Charlie and I watched some tv in the living room while John and Tabby watched cartoons in our room. When Jessi woke up I went back to check on John and Tabby and laid down in my bed with them. I don't remember what they were watching because I was resting. I never actually fell asleep because all three kids were in my bed with me and being very good. I was able to relax and rest my eyes a bit.

Dinner time rolled around and I figured my lazy day was done and I'd have to get something put together for everyone to eat. Charlie actually had plans to make dinner. He's not good in the kitchen and never learned to cook. While he was at the store with the kids he picked up some Chicken tenders and tater tots to make for dinner. He got in the kitchen, told me to get out and got dinner started. No, it wasn't a big fancy meal, it was just chicken tenders and tater tots cooked in the oven, but he did it all himself. He even served me and the kids before himself.

All in all, the day was exactly what I wanted. A lazy day surrounded by the 3 blessings who made Mother's Day possible for me and a husband willing to give me a day off from cleaning, laundry, cooking and washing dishes. It was bliss.

Topping It Off With A Wedding

One of my dear friends, Kristin, got married today. This week, leading up to the wedding, was an eventful one for me. Monday my friend, Sarah, came into town. She's Kristin's cousin and one of her bridesmaids. Whenever Sarah's in town I try to make a point to visit with her and her daughter because she lives so far away. We made plans to have a play date Wednesday, so I could see her and our kids could play together for a while.

Well, Tuesday another friend of mine needed someone to watch her two youngest kids while she went to work. I told her I could watch them and asked if she didn't mind me taking them with me to visit with Sarah. She had no problem with it. Wednesday morning John had speech therapy. After he was done I packed up John and Jessi in the van, made my way over to Beth's house to pick up Emma and Noah and headed over the bridge to visit Sarah and Kaleena. I stopped by Einstein Bagels and got box of bagels for lunch for everyone.

We got to Sarah's and I got all the kids set up with a bagel and we all ate outside on the back deck. When we were done with lunch we all headed downstairs. The kids all played well together and Sarah and I chit-chatted. We had a nice visit and around 2pm I gathered the 4 kids I brought and headed home, dropping Emma and Noah off back at their house.

Friday another good friend of mine, Corinna, came into town for Kristin's wedding. She came over Friday night to spend time with me and my family. I haven't seen her in a couple years because she also lives far away. I made dinner and we sat and talked for awhile while John, Jessi and Tabytha were all charming her.

Kristin's wedding day finally came. My mother-in-law came over to watch the kids so Charlie and I could go to the wedding and reception. The wedding was beautiful, Kristin was radiant and all my friends were lovely. At the reception Kristin sat all us AACS'ers (me, Corinna, Holly, Drea and Julia. Sarah sat at the head table because she was a bridesmaid) together and we had a blast! Kristin is the last one in our circle of friends to get married. Somewhere during the reception we all got together for a group picture. All 7 of us gathered in and several pictures were taken with all our cameras. After our group picture was taken we all stood in a circle and put our left hands in the center for a picture of all our hands with our wedding rings. Since Kristin was the last to get married it seemed like a nice idea to get a picture of all our married hands.

After the reception Charlie and went to Drea and Ronnie's house to hang out more. Julia and her new hubby, David, were there, too. The day was long and Charlie had a few beers. Around midnight Charlie started dozing off so I took that cue and we said our goodbyes and headed home. We enjoyed the wedding, had a blast at the reception and got to hang out more with a few friends afterward.

It was a fantastic week and I loved every minute I got to spend with my friends. (the lovely ladies in the picture with me, far left, are Sarah, Corinna, Kristin, Holly, Drea & Julia)

Weekend Events

This weekend was an eventful one. Saturday the kids and I had plans to go to my friend, Drea's, house for her daughter's 4th birthday party. We left the house around noon. Kimi's birthday party was a Princess Theme. There was a giant castle moon bounce for all the kids to play in along with price crowns and princess tiara's with each child's name on it for them to color and decorate. Drea had necklaces, rings and wands for the girls and foam swords and knights helmets for the boys to play with.

Kimi's daddy, Ronnie, cooked hot dogs and hamburgers for all the party guests. Jessi ate 2 hot dogs, a couple cookies, a lollipop or two and a piece of birthday cake to tide her over. John was having too much fun with the big kids playing swords to be interested in eating anything. Tabytha got in on the action, too. John and Tabytha also enjoyed playing in the moon bounce.

I spent most of my time chasing after Jessi and keeping her from grabbing food off of other people's plates while John and Tabytha were playing with all the children at the party. The weather was great. The forecast, earlier in the week was calling for rain showers during the day, but the rain didn't come. It was cool, sunny and breezy. Great outdoor birthday party weather.

After all the fun at Kimi's birthday party the kids and I packed up and went to Bowie to meet up with another friend of mine, Holly, and her family for a 'family game night' at her church. We all got there around the same time and I FINALLY got to meet her new baby, Charlotte (who's only 4 weeks old). Inside the church auditorium different 'game' stations were set up. All of the stations were geared towards children. There was golf, bowling, bean bag toss, ring toss . . . and many more fun things to do. John, Jessi and Tabytha all took off to play at the different game stations.

At first I was a bit overwhelmed with all the activities they had set up and wondered how I'd keep all 3 kids corralled to play all the different games, but after about 20 minutes I kind of just let them go and play the games they wanted to play. Although, I did keep more of an eye on Jessi then I did on Tabby or John.

The church also offered a cookout dinner for everyone who attended. Hot dogs and hamburgers with snack bags of chips, apples and lemonade. We sat and Tabytha ate a hot dog and an apple, John ate about 1/4 of his apple, but wasn't interested in his hot dog. He wanted to keep playing, so off he went to play some more. After the kids were done with their food, Tabytha took Holly's oldest daughter, Emma, to go play so Holly and I could sit and relax.

The kids and I didn't stay the whole time because of the long ride home. I went around collecting the kids and said goodbye to Holly and baby Charlotte (I couldn't find Joe or Emma to say goodbye to). On our way out the kids were given goodie bags for participating in the family game night.

It was such a fun day. We got home around 7:30pm. Just in time for the kids to get ready for bed. We actually came home to a straightened up house. While we were away Charlie took it upon himself to do the dishes, straighten up the living room and wash his own clothes (and that included folding them and putting them away! Be still my heart!)

Sunday came and I felt awful. My head was stuffed up, my throat hurt and I had a bad headache. I wasn't up for going to church. So I bummed around waiting for the Tylenol to kick in and drank some hot tea to soothe my soar throat. The kids and I hung around inside for the morning while Charlie and his buddy, Harold, were in the garage working on a side job Charlie's doing. The house was pretty chilly so instead of turing the heat on to the whole house I thought I'd just use one of the electric space heaters we have in the living room, since that's where the kids and I were.

Around noon I straightened up the toys that the kids weren't playing with anymore and did some vacuuming. Well, I guess the vacuum and space heater being plugged into the same outlet was too much for it. It tripped the breaker and the power went out in the living room. I unplugged the vacuum and space heater and went back to the laundry room to flip the breaker back on. Power was back on.

About an hour later the power in the living room went out. Again. This time I wasn't vacuuming. I wasn't sure what could have tripped the breaker. I went back flip it back on, but it wasn't tripped. It was still in the 'on' position. Strange. No power in the living room, and the breaker wasn't tripped. So, I flipped it off, waited a few seconds and flipped it back on. Still no power. I turned it off again and this time waited for a few minutes. During this time I went out to the garage to let Charlie know the power in the living room was out and I'd already tried resetting the breaker.

He wasn't happy. He was in the middle of doing some body work on the car he was working on and didn't really feel like dealing with this. Understandably so. He finished up doing what he was doing and while he was doing that I fixed him lunch. He came in to eat and stayed inside to see if he could figure out how to get the power back on in the living room. He tried the breaker (even though I'd done it several times myself with no luck, but you know men.) He called our neighbor to ask for his advice and tried whatever he said, again, with no luck. He finally decided it could POSSIBLY be the breaker switch itself. Reluctantly, Charlie got in the car and drove to Home Depot to get a new breaker switch. When he got home it took the old out and replaced it with the new. He flipped the switch and. . .

Still NO Power!

He tried flipping the switch again. Nothing. He came back into the living room and looked at the outlet where the heater was plugged in thinking maybe the problem was with that. He replaced the outlet and tried the switch again.

Still

No

Power!

ARG! We didn't know what else to do. I called my dad and told him what was going on and everything we'd done so far and asked if he could think of anything else we could try. He said that without being there to look at it all himself he really couldn't think of anything else we could try. I thanked him for trying to help and we hung up. We were at a loss. Charlie and I didn't want to call an electrician because we really couldn't afford it. My mom actually suggested going to all the outlets in the house that had a reset button on them and resetting them and seeing if that worked. Well. There's only 2 outlets in the house that do that. In the back bathroom and the outlet by the front door outside. I reset the one in the bathroom, but the one outside wouldn't reset.

Charlie thought maybe that was the problem and called my dad to ask him about it. My mom answered the phone. Charlie asked for dad and mom said he was on his way over. What?!?! Mom said that dad couldn't put our power outage out of his mind, so he decided to come over and see if he could help Charlie.

Charlie said he was surprised, but in a way, I wasn't. That's how my dad is. If someone has a problem with something and he can't fix/figure it out in a phone call, he'll find the answer himself and call back or go to the person's house to help out.

While dad was on his way to our house he got into a minor fender bender at the bay bridge toll booth. He was in line to pay his toll and the big pickup truck in front of him had an EZ-Pass. When the truck's pass triggered the toll booth the light came up yellow so the guy backed up to ask the person in the toll booth why the light was yellow. (it meant the balance on his EZ-Pass funds were low, but he was fine to continue through) Well, when he backed up to talk to the toll booth person he neglected to put his truck back into drive. When he finished talking to the toll booth person he stomped on his accelerator (forgetting he was still in Reverse) and plowed into dad's car. His trailer hitch punched a whole in the bumper below the passenger side head light and the bumper of his truck buckled the hood of dads car. Dad and the guy exchanged insurance info and dad was back on his way.

When he arrived, he and Charlie got to work trying to find the source of the problem before the sun went down. I took the kids outside to keep out of the way. Sometime during the search for the outage source our neighbor, Nick, called saying he missed a call from Charlie. I told him my dad was here helping out, but he was welcome to come and offer up any suggestions he may have.

Charlie, Dad and Nick searched and discussed and searched and checked the breaker box for quite awhile. The guys focused on the wall with the outside outlet in it, since that outlet couldn't be reset. They decided to look at the wiring behind the light switch by the front door and discovered that's where the "common wires" were. Nick touched something and got shocked. In him getting shocked something in the wiring case sparked and all three of them had an "Aha!" moment and finally located the problem. They fixed it and tried the breaker switch again and there was Power!!!!!

Nick was fine and everyone was happy it was fixed and have the lights on again. I thanked Nick and my dad for all their help and offered them both something to eat before they went back to their homes. (Both declined the offer). The power was back on just in time to get the kids ready for bed. I got them all ready and tucked them all in and Charlie and I sat down in our living room enjoying the restored power and our 'after the kids go to bed' snacks and a little TV.

Little Chefs

My son is not quite 3 yet and is slowly trying to be more independent or 'help' me when I'm doing something for him. I think it's great. When I fill up his sippy cup he likes to 'help' pour the drink and put the top on all by himself. He's still not fully potty trained yet, so if I need to change him, he'll get a pull up out of the diaper container and grab the wipes and bring them to me. When he's all cleaned up, he throws the dirty pull up away.

Yesterday I decided I'd make pancakes for dinner. I rarely have time in the morning to cook breakfast, so I make 'breakfast' for dinner occasionally. Everyone enjoys it.

While I was in the kitchen making up the pancake batter the kids were in the living room playing together. John seems to have inherited my picky eater habits and doesn't eat much. But I've noticed if he picks out what he wants to eat, he's more inclined to eat it.

Just before I was ready to pour the batter into the pan to cook the pancakes I thought the John might want to 'help' and in helping may want to actually eat his food! I called John into the kitchen and asked if he wanted to make pancakes with mommy. He got so excited. I got a chair from the kitchen table for him to stand on and he got up and stood at the stove with me. I poured the batter into 2 circles in the pan. When the pancake batter began to bubble on top it was time to flip.

I stood behind John and helped him hold the spatula, scoop under the pancake in the pan and flip it over. Then, we did it again for the other pancake in the pan. He LOVED it! He pointed to one pancake and said "John food?". I said "yes". He pointed to the other and said "Baby food?". I smiled and said "Yes". When the pancakes were cooked on both sides I helped him slide the spatula under each pancake and place one on his plate and the other on Jessi's plate. I cut up the pancakes and John helped pour the syrup on his pancake and was in a rush to get to the table to eat.

While John and Jessi were eating Tabytha had her turn. I poured the batter into the pan. She waited for the bubbles and flipped the pancakes (without my assistance). She had a blast helping make the pancakes, too. When John was done with his pancake he asked for more. He brought the chair back over to the stove and we poured more batter into the pan and he flipped the pancakes again.

The kids all enjoyed their dinner. When Charlie came home from work John wanted another pancake and got to show his daddy how he flips his pancake. After he was finished I realized John ate 3 entire pancakes! I can't remember the last time he ate that much food in one meal.

Now that Charlie was home Tabytha got to show him what a good cook she was and made his pancakes for him. While he was eating his pancakes, I had cut up some scrapple and Tabytha cooked it up. She felt so grown up being able to cook. She did a great job and listened to all my instructions.

Tonight Tabytha's gonna help me cook dinner again. Tonight is garlic roasted whole chicken legs and baked potatoes. With her help I know it'll be delicious.