Hooray for the Fair Party!!!

This year marks the first year of an actual Hooray for the Fair Party!!! Of course chain saws, "bomb fire", kids staying up way past there bed time, and alcohol consumption were involved. It was a great time to hang with great friends and kick off to the "Peanut butter and fluff fair (quote from Mary-Ann)"

Obstacles of Life!

Life always presents so many obstacles. Over the past year and a half I have been extremely stressed. I am trying to take on numerous roles. I am a student, pursuing my doctorate degree in physical therapy, a mother of two small children, a wife, and a per diem physical therapist assistant.
When I decided to go back to school I knew it would present some challenges but nothing like it has. If I am not physically entertaining my children I am studying. I drive with notecards, I sleep with notecards, I walk with notecards, and keep notecards in my purse. If I don't have my notecards on me, my son says, "mommy don't you need your notecards? When are you going to be done with them anyways." It is cute, but sad. Last year the most stressful part of school was studying! This year the most stressful part of going back to school is babysitting.

Recently, I was completely thrown of guard. It all started after I received a 3 1/2 page letter from my sitter stating that she had to "take a toy" out of my sons hands. Honestly, who hasn't taken a toy from a 4 year old. What 4 year old doesn't test you? Not to say my son is perfect because, by all means he is not. Yes, he should have listened when the sitter asked to put the toy down, but he didn't. Lesson learned (hopefully). From this point on, every time I mentioned my sitters name he would scrunch his little nose, and pout! If I told him he was going there he would hysterically cry...it was heart wrenching. I would constantly ask "why he was crying" and he would cry harder. I had the worst images going through my mind...he kept shutting down.
After a week of trying to talk with him and getting no were but him producing more tears, I decided to ask Mary-Ann. When I approached her the first thing she said to me was "Mikey was bad, and was locked in a room for a long time!" My heart sank to my toes, literally. My little boy was traumatized. Locked in a room-come on!!!

Needless to say, Michael and Mary-Ann are no longer going to that sitter. I approached her on it and she assured me that Michael wasn't "locked" in there but was placed in quiet time/time out for a half hour the day she took the toy away. It hurt me in many ways as a mother. Completely believe Michael should have been reprimanded for not listening, but a half hour in quiet time for a 4 year old, in a room he hadn't been in? I think that penalty doesn't fit the crime.

This week the kids will begin with a new sitter. I am praying for happy children to come home. I have never felt so stressed before. I can't calm down and continuously cry...I think, I have too much on my plate and need me time!

It is Almost Fair Time!!!

Mary-Ann has informed us that she is really excited for the "PEANUT BUTTER AND FLUFF FAIR!"

Moms compared to Dad's in the eyes of a 3 yr. old!

Mary-Ann informed me today that.....

"mom's are fat......and dad's are big!"

Is she trying to tell me something?

Princess Mary-Ann

Today, I was able to watch Michael and Mary-Ann at morning meeting at school, before we all left for a field trip. All the little kids sat around in a circle and morning meeting started with a sang...

"Hickledy, Pickledy, bumble bee won't you say your name for me...."
and each child says there name and then passes the bumble bee to their friend,
and they sing it again...14 times to be exact!

Prior to school starting one of my biggest fears was that Mary-Ann was going to introduce herself as Poodle, because, that is what we call her, and/or Princess Poodle.

Half the class, has said there name, and the bumble bee gets passed to Mary-Ann who is sitting very quietly. I get a little nervous, because who knows what Mary-Ann will say or do. The whole class begins to sing and I can feel anxiety coming on....

"Hickledy, Pickledy, bumble bee won't you say your name for me...."
and Mary-Ann shouts out, "my name is Princess Mary-Ann".

Only Mary-Ann I thought to myself! Gosh...she certainly does have a lot of CONFIDENCE!!!

Goodbye Training Wheels!

"OOPS! Crash 1"

Up we go...lets attempt again.

He is doing it!

and....he is off!

There are many milestones that a child reaches, however, no milestone has been as emotionally touching as the one I experienced the other day! Michael, doesn't have a lot of confidence in himself and gets frustrated very easily if he can't "get/do" something right away. The other day Michael had a major confidence booster!

Monday, Michael came home from the babysitters disappointed that he couldn't ride his bike without his training wheels. He has tried to ride a bike without training wheels, however, gave up the second he fell. I told him that we would give it a try, and warned him that he may fall a couple times, but that I would run along side of him.

Riding bikes in New Hampshire, isn't easy. The road we live on is dirt and we are surrounded by hills. This doesn't stop a little boy though. On Tuesday, September 21, 2010, Michael, was determined to conquer this goal! We headed up the driveway and began our journey together. Michael was able to ride his bike straight without any problems, however, once he had to turn....he would........FALL!!! He fell a hand full of times, until he got it. Running down the road for the 10th time in 15 minutes, I finally gave up, and totally let go! This was Michael's reaction when he learned he was on his own:

"OH MY GOD! I AM DOING IT! I AM DOING IT!"

He had the hugest grin and smile on his face and had to call everyone to brag about this milestone. The moment was tearful! I was overwhelmed by emotion.

His conversation with Ahma was:

"Hi Ahma, you need to come over her quick...I have something to show you."

His conversation with Pat (our neighbor),
"Hi Pat, call me when you get home...I have something to tell you!"

His conversation with Nan,
"Hi Nan, I am a big boy...I don't need training wheels anymore...I can ride my bike ALL BY MYSELF!"

This was the first time I have ever seen Michael as excited and proud of himself! I am so PROUD of my little man! Good bye training wheels....and hello to many scratches and boo-boos!

Fall!

Fall is my favorite time of year! I love the fresh air, apple picking, going to the fairs, Halloween, and of course celebrating the birth of my handsome little boy, Michael! To kick off the fall season we always go apple picking! Apple picking is so much more fun with kids. Michael, taught all of us the "correct" way to pick an apple was to, "twish and pull." This past weekend Michael, Mary-Ann, Ahpe, Ahma, and I all went to Stoneybrook Farm in Gilford to get our bushel of apples! As always we had a great time and got TONS of Apples!

NUTS, NUTS, We LOVE NUTS!!!

One of my favorite snacks of all times is nuts! I love all nuts, peanuts, cashews, almonds, pecans, the list is endless. Mary-Ann has discovered that she likes nuts as well. We seem to polish off jars of nuts and trail mixes like crazy. During my lunch break, I had to run to Sams. As I walked down the aisles I was extremely excited when I came across a huge can of cashews! I instantly put it in my cart and continued shopping. When I arrived at home and came into the house, carrying my huge container of cashews Mary-Ann started jumping up and down and screaming. Getting excited, I dropped everything and began to sing:

"nuts, nuts I love nuts!I absolutely positively LOVE nuts!"

Mary-Ann LOVED my song....but stole the container of nuts from me. From here the conversation was this:
Mary-Ann: "mommy I LOVE nuts!"
Mom: "you do, me too!"
Mary-Ann: "you and me are girls and Mikey and Daddy are boys....us girls....we LOVE nuts!"
Mom: "Mikey and Daddy love nuts too! We all love nuts"

Afterwards, I chuckled to myself, and of course had to tell this to Mike! Only Mary-Ann would say such a thing as us girls...we LOVE nuts!!! Yikes....I am in trouble!

SCHOOL IS HERE!!!

It's a love hate relationship!

Mary-Ann super excited!

Michael anxiously waiting!

Michael showing off his super hero bag!!

Mary-Ann showing off her Dora backpack!

It is official-Michael and Mary-Ann are both in school! Where has the time gone? This is Michael's last year in Preschool and then it is off time for the "big" school. He is ready to make friends and participate in extracurricular activities. After his first day of preschool this year he was very excited to tell me that there were more boys in his class. He told me he sat next to one and tried to talk to him, but the boy wouldn't talk to Michael. He said the boy was mean! I felt so bad for him...but told him the boy was probably just shy!

Mary-Ann LOVES preschool and her teachers Ms. Sally, Ms. Laura, and Ms. Alyson. She was very excited because she met a friend named Jessica!

It is going to be such a fun year watching my children grow, meet friends, imagine, learn, and play! I am so blessed to have such wonderful children. I love my babies more than ANYTHING in the world and my love for them just continues to grow.

By god, I miss them!

Oh summer how I miss you!!!

Canobie Lake Park with Laura

Canobie Lake...Loved the Canoes!!!

Nothing like a Harley...(old orchard beach)

One of our many walks on the beach looking for shells!

Portland Maine Childrens Museum.

Summer is over...back to school....back to routines....back to a crazy schedule...I will certainly miss the summer days spending time with my beautiful babies, going to the pool, canobe lake park, Maine, roasting marshmellows, sparklers by the fire pit, stress free nights, sleeping late

School Problem #1

Confrontation is not my thing! I Hate confrontation more than anything!!! I dread the day that I have to confront one of my childrens friends parents, friends, or teachers. I am not sure I would be able to do it.

This year, Michael and Mary-Ann will both be in preschool. They will both be going to Village Preschool with Ms. Sally. We LOVE Ms. Sally and are more than satisfied with all that Michael brought home last year. He can recognize the letters of his name, make the sounds that those letters make, he can count, he can write his name, he can color, do puzzles, use his imagination, and has grown into an amazing little boy. The only downfall of last year was that there were only 4 little boys (counting Michael). Not many options to make friends....although he did do that. Biggest problem of the year was one little boy who constantly talked about guns and weapons and hunting. Michael began to constantly talk about guns, weapons, and killing bear. We had numerous talks to him about how dangerous guns and weapons are, and that we don't allow guns/weapons in our house as well as, gun/weapon talking.

So....here we are today....2 weeks until the first day of school and Ms. Sally calls. Why? I quickly returned her phone call only to find out that one of the little boys in Michaels class will be attending a different preschool. That leaves two children in his class-3 counting him. Ms. Sally can't justify having the 4 year olds go to school Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and instead the 4 yr. olds will be joining the 3 yr. old class Tues and Thursday and will still go on Wednesday. All the other parents (the other 2 that is) are on board with this decision how do I not go along with it-when I LOVE Ms. Sally. I questioned everything...will he be still getting the education he needs to be ready for full day Kindergarten next year, will he fall behind, what is she going to do to prepare them? All of her answers are valid. Problem comes with the issue of NOW Michael will only have 2 boys his age in class, and one of them being the "gun/weapon" boy. BIG CONCERN!

Concern #2...Michael and Mary-Ann will be in the same class two days a week...Not so sure about this. Stress has taken over me. I want the best for my child! I have called other preschools and am just not as happy with what is to offer...but I don't want Michael to pick up anything else. This summer this "gun/weapon" boy told Michael a snapping turtle was in the lake and would bite him. He went 1 week without swimming in the lake or pool!

Decisions, decisions, decisions...

Tears or No Tears...

The biggest fear of any child is to meet MR. SWITZER!! It has been a year since we have had to even think about Mr. Switzer, however, for the next two weeks Mr. Switzer is going to be involved in our daily routine!

Last year at this time we were fighting a constant battle and coming up with numerous ways of how to bribe Michael and convince him it would be ok...even though deep down inside I was just as nervous if not more nervous.

Yesterday, Michael, went to Mr. Switzer's without any tears....he went under the water, kicked from the side of the pool, and jumped in. The happiest moment of the day was that Michael doesn't have Mr. Switzer this year...he has two young ladies!!!

When I got home from work, the first thing I did was ask Michael how it went. His comment to me was, "mommy, Mr. Switzer is still ALIVE! He is not dead!!!" Thank goodness!!!

Strawberrie Picking...

Cribs create strange emotions!

I never dreamed it would be so hard to get rid of a crib. Mary-Ann was bursting into tears and I was holding back all my tears. It was our first crib! Both children slept in that crib as infants the day they arrived home from the hospital...and now...it is gone! I felt a mixture of emotions. I want another child one minute but the next I am very happy that I have two healthy beautiful children. Michael and Mary-Ann are both so independent now. It is easy to go to and from places to some degree. They are starting to get involved in activities, make friends, and entertain themselves. But....there is always that feeling of not feeling "complete" or "done".

My Mothers Day Gift

For Mother's Day I received a gift that every mother dreams of......A DUMP TRUCK! I wasn't the happiest person, but knew that it would benefit Mike and his business. It is the only way at this point his business can grow. It made me nervous. I am in school, not working except 4-6 hours a week and the last thing I wanted was another car payment. Mike assured me everything would be fine until.....it didn't pass inspection and needed a new computer part! We were stressed and weren't sure what in the world was going to happen. Mike was devastated and felt awful! I felt terrible for him! I kept telling him that there is light at the end of the tunnel and as soon as the truck was on the road it would be a good investment (as far as his business was concerned).

So....here we are....the DUMP TRUCK PASSED INSPECTION and is OFFICIALLY ON THE ROAD!!!! HOORAY!!!!

A Mother's Day Gift that turned into a Father's Day Gift!

Summer Fun!

Michael and Mary-Ann have been best friends....the days have been so relaxing! I am not breaking up fights, problem solving, or struggling to entertain two very active toddlers! The weather has been perfect, absolutely beautiful! It has been so nice to go to the pool and watch them play and learn to LOVE the water. It has been amazing to see them grow as swimmers and build there confidence!

Beach Days

Beach days are so fun with friends! We have enjoyed going to the beach until later that evening we are covered in dots from head to toe! Michael was in the water the entire time and was blessed with DUCK ITCH!!! Needless to say our beach days will be limited!

My Gymnast

Mary-Ann has been going to gymnastics for the past 2 1/2 months. Saturday, June 19, 2010, was her very first gym show! It was an adventure. The day before she had no nap because we were enjoying the day at the beach and she was exhausted! We had to wake her up to get ready, she wasn't cooperating, and the entire way to Plymouth she complained she was tired. When we arrived the gym had its usual smell of foot cheese and there were at least 30 twinkling star gymnasts running around, as well as, older children.
The topper was it was at least 90 degrees and every parent, grandparent, aunt and uncle were there supporting there gymnast!

Mary-Ann, our fearless leader, and far from shy child, was so scared to go out on the floor. I had to bring her out there and wait for her gym coach, Randi, to come and take her from me. I was so nervous she was going to cry or have stage freight. As always, Mary-Ann proved me wrong and was herself...trying to take off her shirt, grabbing herself, picking her noise, and was far from acting "lady" like!

It was very cute and a great show! At the end they called each gymnast onto the floor and presented them with a trophy! She had a great time and soaked up all the attention!