Life with our Lads

Countdown to Three

2012-01-26T21:56:00.003-05:00

Today at pre-school they made a big fuss of Danny and sang him Happy Birthday. When I picked him up he was wearing his green paper crown and he's been wearing it all day. He's grasping the fact that it's his time to shine and he's starting to like it. Course he's still telling me that he's going to be five and all he wants is a Mario cake.

It's been a bugger of a week at work so we have nothing done yet. Tomorrow night we'll be making his cake and I found a great Lightning McQueen tent that we can set up in the front room for him on Saturday morning. No party this year but we'll make a bit fuss of him and he's got all kinds of things lined up for Saturday with his friends.

It's been a different scenario for me with Danny. I'm used to Jack, who wants to have fun and be social and get involved. I've had to ease Danny into all of this and hope that he doesn't go ballistic. This morning, when his teacher showed me the special birthday chair equipped with a balloon I thought "oh Lordy, he's going to bolt from that thing and go nuts if they make him sit back down". Turns out I was wrong and he loved it.

Good for you my love.

Losing Marbles at a Rapid Rate

2012-01-24T20:56:00.001-05:00

A common remark when I state that I waited till I was older to have kids is that it must be much better than having them young, but I think I've stated before that it's got its equal share of issues, like not being able to crawl around on your knees to play horsey for one. Well another is that we completely lose our marbles after about 40.

For example, when I picked Danny up from pre-k yesterday he had wet pants and when I asked the teacher why she was quite taken-aback and said "he's used the potty twice so I don't know why" When I got him home I discovered that Craig had sent him to school in a swimming diaper.

And in the last 24 hours we've lost my cars keys and Jack's lunch bag

And I have started to get their names mixed up with the pet's names, though not the fish yet thankfully. That would be embarrassing wouldn't it, calling my firstborn the same name as his pet snail Gary. I'm really not too worried yet, especially because all my friends appear to be having the same stories to tell. Going nuts isn't too bad when you're in good company is it.

Playing Catch-up at 1020

2012-01-21T17:01:00.008-05:00

I missed making a big deal about my 1,000th blog post, which I intended to do but forgot & now I'm at 1020. Aspirations of doing a review of my blog from the last 7 years went to that part of my brain that stores my would-like-to-do list, which includes house DIY projects, doctor's visits, an oil change and sorting though Danny's underwear drawer (there really is no need to keep baby socks in there anymore since he has feet marginally smaller than Craig's). There's just not enough hours in a day, especially when both boys want my undivided attention and willingness to play at the drop of a hat. I do wish they'd play together instead of always individually wanting me to play with them. Must work on that.

Job-wise it's been an interesting two weeks. First I had a fabulous time at a conference in Long Beach, California and felt really good, then I came back to Ohio with a thud. My job will be changing and taking on a whole host of new challenges that I found out about at the end of this week. I'm going to look at it as a challenge and try to remind myself that I have a job and there are thousands of people worse off than me. The median house price in Detroit is currently $7,500 for heaven's sake.

Anyway, trying to keep things a bit more cheery, Craig and the boys are doing great and we finally got some snow for the boys to play in...

And it's Danny's birthday week! He'll be 3 next weekend so I hope to make this a special week for him. It's hard to make it as super-duper as Jack's birthday when he has all the 4th of July stuff going on, including fireworks and 80 degree weather, but I have ordered Danny a much coveted SuperWhy tee-shirt with attachable cape that I know will go down a storm. We'll probably take him to an indoor play-place that he feels comfortable with, since he's not keen on new things. I asked him if he'd like to go to Disneyland & Mickey Mouse's house next year with me (I'll be in Daytona Beach for a conference) and he furrowed his little brow and said "no, I want to stay here". In contrast, Jack was jumping on his bed shouting yes yes yes!!!

So let the celebrations begin little man! This week it's all about you.

Bucks & Dexter

2012-01-08T09:25:00.005-05:00

It's a big week for our family this week. I will be going to California and leaving Craig and friends to rally and make sure all goes smooth with school and pre-k. I have the best neighbours in the world I have to say. Craig's in a cheery mood though. After 5 years of hunting he got his first deer yesterday with his muzzle-loader. A 9-point buck as well! He was in shock I think, then on an adrenaline rush and then he crashed when he got home. The deer is currently at the butcher being made into burgers, steaks and sausages for us. I am excited to see how much meat we get.

At some point we are going to go for a ramble again today. We've been trying to get the lads out each weekend for a hike or ramble through the countryside and it's been amazing that we could. Normally we'd have snow and ice cover by now but yesterday was 48 degrees F and sunny. I do hope I don't bump into Hayden again today though. Hayden is a kid (5 maybe) who we met yesterday. After he had hassled Jack and kicked Danny in the face at the park's play-set I finally told him off (I have a rule that I don't discipline other people's kids unless they hurt mine, then it's fair game I reckon) and the little s**t looked at me and said "You're not in charge of me". Thankfully his aunt heard him and sent him off for his fifth time-out of the afternoon. I had several dealings with that boy and by the end of it was ready to throttle both him and his family. He was a serial killer in the making. Be torturing animals before he's eight probably.

Talking of serial killers, we are both obsessed with Dexter. After several friends convinced us how great the series was we have plunged in and are trying to catch up on six series. We are up to Series 2, episode 7 right now and completely loving it. So if you love a well-written and enthralling telly program then give it a try. He's a serial killer but he only kills the bad ones so that's ok :-)

Salad Rant

2012-01-05T16:34:00.006-05:00

Being on a health frenzy (is it possible to lose 30 lbs before my conference next week?) I have been consuming a lot of salad lately. The veggie salad is my favourite because it has radish and carrots and cabbage in it as well as the usual lettuce. It also has snap peas in it though which I pull out with disgust. Which brings me onto my rant. At our work's Christmas party one person brought a salad with cooked, cold green beans in it. Thankfully I spied it before I put it in my mouth or I might just have barfed all over the white elephant gift I brought. Green beans for goodness sake!

Here's my list of things that do NOT belong in a salad:

Green beans (especially cooked, limp and cold)
Snap peas
Bacon (cold bacon? I'm a bacon-lover like anyone else but come on!)
Croutons (dry bits of toast?)
Sunflower seeds
Cranberries
Copious amounts of cheese (some Caesar salads have so much Parmesan cheese on I can't see the lettuce)
Lashings of dressings
Walnuts
Raw onions
Peppers
Apples, pineapples, strawberries and any other fruit

I realise this makes me weird to some people but I'm English. A salad in England is lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers and a bit of sliced carrot if you're lucky. If you ask for a salad dressing they will bring you Heinz Salad Cream. If you ask for ranch they may just have it. If you ask for fat-free buttermilk ranch with poppy seeds they'll start laughing at you.
I don't think this makes me picky or a philistine in any way. I think the food, and especially the salads, have just got ridiculous. Just give me lettuce!

Indifferent to Independent in a Day!

2012-01-04T19:20:00.004-05:00

Potty training has been hit and miss to say the least. If I'm persistent I can eventually get him to go, under duress. It can be so draining that I have been a total defeatist and used diapers all over Christmas. Our babysitter makes him go hourly and is so organized about the whole thing that I felt guilty letting it slip over the holidays, but I also didn't want to have to watch lovely festive movies on a couch smelling of old man's underpants after he'd peed on it for the 4th time. Linda is also doubly motivated because lets be honest, changing somebody else's kid's undies, no matter how much you like that kid, is still gross. So anyway, seeing as I let it slide I have been surprised the last two days how well Linda has said that he's done. Then today he decided that he'd go from fighting me on potty training to being Mr. Independent. He came running into the front room while I was eating dinner and said 'I need to go potty!" and so I trudged off to the bathroom after him. When I got there he'd removed his pants, was sitting on the potty and said "Leave the room mama I need to pee!" WTF? Last week he was running around oblivious to everything going on down there and now he's ordering me from the room? Unbelievable! The boy that has never let me feed him is now going to ban me from potty training. I should feel glad I suppose but I feel a bit miffed and told him so. "No" I said "I will not leave - I'm your mum and I want to see you pee!" And yes I'm quite aware how stupid that reasoning sounds.

Danielisms

2012-01-03T16:37:00.011-05:00

It's hard to turn my boy down when he looks at you and says pleath (please). Having a slight lisp is one of Daniel's most endearing qualities.

He was sat on his potty recently, pointed to his nipples and asked Craig earnestly, "Can you take these off please Dad?"

Every morning lately when he wakes up he yells excitedly "It's morning day!" which is his version of saying it's time to get up.

We've had a great time over Christmas with him but when I mentioned that he's back at pre-K this week he looked at me and said flatly "NO". Oh dear.

As my husband Craig said this evening, some people have crack and our Danny has "The Fresh Beat Band". He loves this kid's band and turns into a groupie whenever they come on the telly. I can't resist posting a short 20-sec video as there's nothing funnier than watching kids dance!

I've had such a great time this past 2 weeks that it's been hard to get back into work today. When I picked them up from the babysitter today and Danny told me he'd been having fun with play-doh I felt a little pang of sadness and wished I could have been with him. He's just such a jot to be around at the moment.

So Long 11, Hello 12!

2011-12-31T15:41:00.007-05:00

Goodbye Twenty Eleven! I will remember my boys swimming like guppies in the lake in Michigan and momentous occasions like Jack starting Kindergarten and Danny starting Pre-K. Craig got a new, much better job and we had a fun summer with lots of swimming and hiking. Jack did ok at soccer but the year's sporting accomplishments were definitely involved with swimming. That appears to be all that happened to us. Nothing too exciting at all!

I do hope 2012 brings a bit more pizzaz. Here's my goals (wishes) for 2012:

* To lose weight again. I am fully aware that this will require a change of lifestyle but who knows, maybe I'll get to that this year!

* To be a diaper and sippy-cup free house. After five years and a couple of grand worth of diapers I cannot wait to be done with them.

* To refinance the house, pay off my car, roll in my English pension with my American one and officially start college plans for the boys.

* To go home to England (this will require new passports for us all too)

* To get my mojo back at work. Since having the boys the passion for my career has not burned as bright as it used to. I want to go to work dressed to impress, with new ideas and the energy to see them through

* To help both boys succeed at school, even if it means sitting with them each day to do academic work (not an enticing idea I admit)

* To find a babysitter and have adult time with my husband. I have said this every year for five years and not done it. I will this year!

* To redecorate the boy's room and get a breakfast bar in the kitchen. And build a kitchen pantry. And make a new front path and step. House & garden projects never end do they

* To have fun with our English visitors (Craig's mum, dad and nephew) and make sure they have fun

* Maybe this will be the year we seek US citizenship. Maybe

That's not such an over-wheming list is it. More than anything I hope that 2012 keeps me and Craig in jobs and that we all stay healthy. Everything else is just the icing on the cake.

Happy New Year everyone! I hope you all have a great time this weekend and that 2012 is a good one for you too.

Ta-tas & a bit of Ornithology

2011-12-29T22:37:00.005-05:00

Craig went back to work today which was a bit sad. Not just because it felt like the end of Christmas but because I knew I had the boys on my own - arghhhhh! Only kidding. It wasn't too bad and I only needed two hours on my own tonight in Target to recuperate once Craig got home. I didn't see any breast-feeding mommies in Target - not sure if they did the sit-in thing in my local shop or not. I was glad to see them taking a stand, especially since the woman was originally sat in a quiet part of the store with a blanket. She wasn't exactly standing at the checkout shaking her ta-tas. Shame on the people that harassed her.

Anyway, me and the boys had a good day. I got to do a smidgen of housework and then later they got to have fun at a local play place/cafe. At the cafe I got to chat with a local mum that's thinking of sending her kids to our Jack's school so I tried to do the big sell. I love Jack's school I really do.

Tomorrow I'm going to run a few errands with the boys but I think I have a cunning plan to stop them from being a nightmare while I'm shopping. I'm not going to say what it is though as it might back-fire horribly in my face.

As a bit of a side-bar, I saw 3 lovely birds in my garden this morning. I'm used to seeing the Cardinals and Chickadees but it took me a while to identify the Titmouse. I believe they travel with the Chickadees so that makes me fairly certain. I did not take these pictures by the way (thank you Google images).

The Cardinal (State bird of Ohio)

The Titmouse

The Chickadee

It seemed like a good idea at the time

2011-12-27T10:03:00.003-05:00

Now I know why I gave up wine. After drinking far too much last night and then having to get up and be Mary Poppins this morning while at the same time cleaning my kitchen which looks like a gang of monkeys came for dinner, I have vowed once again never to let the evil grape liquid from hell pass my lips. It was a great day though. We had a friend's daughter and her boyfriend over for a Boxing Day lunch, then we had friends over for a bit of a "do" last night. Two are still asleep in the spare room and probably thanking the lord they don't have kids.

We all consumed far too much

Wine

Beer

Baileys

Chocolate liqueurs

Chicken & cheese dip and

English chocolate

and not enough

Water and

Vegetables

But then a great party doesn't generally involve the latter does it.

Today I have two more parties to go to but I'll be driving so I'll be good. My poor body needs 6 gallons of water and an early night. And when I'm feeling more beauty and less beast I'll post the chicken dip recipe because it was awesome!

Christmas Lights 2011

2011-12-25T22:17:00.005-05:00

In what is becoming a bit of a tradition, I've made a little movie about our Christmas this year. It's set to the same song as the 2010 Movie but hopefully you won't mind.

We have had a great day and spent some wonderful time on the phone or Skype with family in England. The boys have had the times of their lives and are both crashed-out in bed.

Happy Christmas!

A Christmas Song & a Blooper!

2011-12-24T16:59:00.004-05:00

We asked the boys to sing a Christmas message to you all (the idea snaffled from my friend Heather). They did a great job but the first attempt was a total blooper as you can see. I have no idea where Danny got that from!

Twas the Night Before Christmas

2011-12-24T09:37:00.004-05:00

Today I actually feel like I'm READY! Yea! Everything is done, even my neighbour's awesome tree (photo later).

As Craig and I gazed at all the wrapped presents hidden in the back of his car in the garage last night I finally felt relaxed. I also thought that maybe buying your kid the Lego Star Wars Death Star ($400) doesn't sound so bad now that I see all the booty we bought the kids. Craig, in his infinite wisdom, said "Let's not worry about the money. This is a magical time. When they are older we won't buy them as much." Mmmm, not sure I believe that.

Jack, as I have said before, asked for a bow with five arrows in a quiver. I'm really proud of the quiver I semi-made (with a little help from the local outdoor shop). It even has his name on it. It did require the complete destruction of a handbag that I loved but my sacrifice will be worth it in the morning when he sees it.

I got all my housework done yesterday so that today I can just enjoy spending time with the boys. I don't get to do that very often as all my "leisure" time is typically spent trying to make my house look clean and catching up on ten loads of laundry. And Danny needs a bit of TLC. Last night he got whacked in the face with a ping-pong bat courtesy of older brother, then he fell off my bed (the story "Five Little Monkeys" could have been written especially for Daniel) and then he accidentally head-butted me when I put him to bed. Maybe I should have bought a helmet for him instead of his Spongebob & Patrick racetrack.

Merry Christmas everybody! I hope you have a wonderful time with family and friends and that you feel loved and happy this season. x

Crazy Mums and Elves

2011-12-20T18:31:00.002-05:00

I read this blog post today and just had to share it. Those of you with an "Elf on the Shelf" and even those of us without one will get a kick out of this. I wish I could be as brutally honest on here as this mum!

From the blog "Poeple I want to punch in the throat" comes Overachieving Elf on the Shelf Mommies

Making the Most of the Magic

2011-12-19T21:46:00.008-05:00

Tonight we loaded the boys up in the minivan and took them to an outdoor light show at a local state park. As a treat we let them hang out in the back of the van with their duvets and pillows, rather than strapped in their seats. Half-way around the park I had a panic attack that Danny would somehow get the back door unhooked and go rolling out, but of course he didn't!

The boys loved it and found the whole thing magical, especially when we put the Santa CD on with a personal message. Danny's just a bit bewildered with it all but Jack totally believes it all and gasps in shock when Santa talks to him. I feel like this might be Jack's most magical time for Christmas so I'm trying to make it as good as I can for him.

When we got back the four of us slouched on the couch with all the lights off except for the tree and we watched The Grinch again. Danny loves the Grinch and even sings the song. At bedtime Jack said "5 days till Christmas now Mama?" and looked like the wait might just kill him.

I, on the other hand, am having a great time with all this. Can you tell?

My 12 Days of Christmas

2011-12-18T07:34:00.005-05:00

Inspired by The Potty Diaries , Hot Cross Mum, and Expat Mum, I have decided to join in and write my own 12 Days of Christmas song, based on my life this holiday season. So here's how things are in my house!

On the first day of Christmas my family gave to me: a cat poo under the tree

On the second day of Christmas my family gave to me: 2 boys wrestling and a cat poo under the tree

On the third day of Christmas my family gave to me: 3 dead fish, 2 boys wrestling, and a cat poo under the tree

On the fourth day of Christmas my family gave to me: 4 males farting, 3 dead fish, 2 boys wrestling, and a cat poo under the tree

On the fifth day of Christmas my family gave to me: 5 NEEDED BEERS .... 4 males farting, 3 dead fish, 2 boys wrestling, and a cat poo under the tree

On the sixth day of Christmas my family gave to me: 6 demands for candy, 5 NEEDED BEERS .... 4 males farting, 3 dead fish, 2 boys wrestling, and a cat poo under the tree

On the seventh day of Christmas my family gave me to me: 7 dust balls rolling, 6 demands for candy, 5 NEEDED BEERS ...., 4 males farting, 3 dead fish, 2 boys wrestling, and a cat poo under the tree

On the 8th day of Christmas my family gave me to me: 8 muddy paw prints, 7 dust balls rolling, 6 demands for candy, 5 NEEDED BEERS ...., 4 males farting, 3 dead fish, 2 boys wrestling, and a cat poo under the tree

On the 9th day of Christmas my family gave to me: 9 toys to pick up, 8 muddy paw prints, 7 dust balls rolling , 6 demands for candy, 5 NEEDED BEERS ...., 4 males farting, 3 dead fish, 2 boys wrestling, and a cat poo under the tree

On the 10th day of Christmas, my family gave to me: 10 loads of laundry, 9 toys to pick up, 8 muddy paw prints, 7 dust balls rolling, 6 demands for candy, 5 NEEDED BEERS ...., 4 males farting, 3 dead fish, 2 boys wrestling, and a cat poo under the tree

On the 11th day of Christmas my family gave to me: 11 chocolate handprints, 10 loads of laundry, 9 toys to pick up, 8 muddy paw prints, 7 dust balls rolling, 6 demands for candy, 5 NEEDED BEERS ...., 4 males farting, 3 dead fish, 2 boys wrestling, and a cat poo under the tree

On the 12th day of Christmas my family gave to me: 12 lovely kisses, 11 chocolate handprints, 10 loads of laundry, 9 toys to pick up, 8 muddy paw prints, 7 dust balls rolling, 6 demands for candy, 5 NEEDED BEERS ...., 4 males farting, 3 dead fish, 2 boys wrestling, and a cat poo under the treeeeeee!

A Festive Few Days

2011-12-17T19:45:00.007-05:00

It's been a very festive few days. First I had Danny's Christmas concert at school and he did great. I prepared him as best as I could and his teacher was ready to be with him. He didn't really sing but by the end of it he was clapping and as you can see he was very excited.
On Thursday night & yesterday I volunteered with the PTA at Jack's holiday shop at school. The kids all came into the gym and bought gifts for their families (the PTA had been out and bought loads of gifts to stock the shop). It was wonderful and really got me in the Christmas mood. To see how excited the kids were and to be able to interact with them all was just magical. And knackering! I was totally done-in last night and could have gone to bed at 7pm.

But we dragged the kids out to Columbus Commons instead for the holiday fair. It was okay but I probably wouldn't go again because it was far too cold to enjoy it. Jack had a good time though and ran into a couple of his school friends down there.

He really liked feeding the goats in the petting zoo..

Today I spent 5 hours cleaning my house and trying to catch up on laundry, all the while telling the boys to clear off and get from under my feet. I wish I had a cleaner woman just once a month to come and help me because I can't cope, but it seems like something a posh lady would have and not a working class woman from Liverpool. That would be like a "fur coat and no knickers" as my mum would say.

This afternoon some friends came over to bake & decorate Christmas cookies and that was good fun. We hadn't seen them for a few months so it was great to catch-up and talk about school and kid stuff. Makes me feel like I'm in good company and perhaps not as crazy as I feel sometimes.

Tomorrow I have a kids birthday and at some point I need to go shopping for the kids presents because it's back to work on Monday. Last Wednesday when I knew I had two vacation days and a weekend ahead of me I thought I'd get so much more done.

Where does the leisure time go?

An Album for Christmas

2011-12-13T23:34:00.002-05:00

I can't decide if I want Craig to buy me the new Amy Winehouse album or this one by Peter?

Me Figuring out Daniel

2011-12-13T21:53:00.015-05:00

When I put Danny to bed tonight I read The Hungry Caterpillar to him which is one of his favourites. At the point where it turns into a cocoon I asked him what it was and he said "A Raccoon!" Bless. His teachers said he did "mmmm-ok" and did that little tilt of the hand from side-to-side when I picked him up today and asked how his morning had been. It's the big Christmas concert on Thursday but Mrs N assured me that in rehearsal today he did great as long as he could sit on her knee so that's where he'll be during the concert. Good. Phew. Glad he has his spot picked out and I don't have to worry about him running & screaming bloody murder from the church. Today Linda told me that during his nap-time he asked her to lie next to him for a cuddle and a chat. That's what I do most nights at bedtime so I'm glad he's interacting a bit more. Although I saw his class photo today for the first time and all the kids are either sat on the bench or in front of it, except my boy that's stood by the side, next to Mrs N.

It's taken me a long time (nearly 3 years!) to decipher his personality and to try and help him, rather than fight him. Yes, he's like a bull he's so headstrong and yes, he's very physical so I'm trying to get Jack to stick up for himself (now those are bizarre conversations) but being headstrong and physical do not pose too many challenges for him - in fact those things will carry him in life I think. His issues are his reluctance to accept change, his fear of new things and the fact that he genuinely likes playing by himself and doesn't want some kid coming up and being friendly and taking his toys, though he does have a couple of friends. All the fights in my house are about Jack trying to play with him or taking away a toy. I feel so bad for Jack sometimes because he wants to play and Danny will tell him to bugger off (sometimes Danny will follow him and acts adoringly). Danny is just really independent and not looking to other people for entertainment. I'm not too concerned about all this right at the minute - especially now that I'm figuring it out and not taking it personally (I did for a long time). He's polite and has good manners around adults and has never been mean to another kid. He's just Daniel - his own person and not willing to change and he's not barging in, telling everyone "it's his way or the highway". He's not cheeky to people or a smart mouth. He's quietly getting on with things off to the side and enjoying himself. But if you bother him, then he'll bring it on. I'm amazed by his personality and actually in awe of him. He'd rather go to bed starving than eat his dinner and he'd rather stay in time-out for an hour than say sorry for something he thinks is unfair. I'm too old and knackered for such endurance. I'd say sorry just to get my warm milk and a soft blanket and bed. But that's the difference between being 42 and nearly 3 I suppose.

I really do feel like I'm the one learning here. He knows exactly who he is and is willing to fight for it. I need to teach him how to be in life without fighting with him constantly and driving us both nuts. There's a common saying among parents that if they'd have had their second child first they'd never have another. I disagree 100%. I look at Daniel and my heart just bursts with pride at how independent he is. He's going to be amazing I think.

Never too Old to Learn

2011-12-12T21:46:00.007-05:00

Lessons I have learned today:

1. If your nearly three-year old is stood in front of you wearing boxing gloves, don't put a cardboard tube to your eye and say 'I can see you!". OUCH! Black eye.

2. Letting your five-year old see his presents from England and putting them under the tree for another excruciating 13 days is tantamount to child torture

3. Not taking medicine all day so that the cold runs it's course is STUPID. When will I learn that I don't have to suffer and muddle along?

4. Danny will eat hot dogs! Anytime I find something to add to the minuscule list of things he'll eat it feels like I scored a major goal!

That's quite a bit of learning wouldn't you agree. Now time to take lots of medicine and get to bed...

Santa Visit 2011

2011-12-11T21:04:00.008-05:00

I love all the hoopla of Christmas. Right after Craig's birthday we buy the tree and start to do some of our traditional things. I've also had Christmas music on the radio in my car and the kitchen but I think it's driving Craig a bit nuts as he keeps switching it back to NPR. Personally I think I get to work in a much better mood after listening to Jingle Bells than I do after listening to an in-depth discussion on the state of the economy. I've also realised that I enjoy the build up the the 25th just as much as the event itself, so I'm doing my best not to get too stressed out about mailing presents and other tasks.

We've already watched Frosty and Elf & Polar Express and this past week Craig took Jack to see the new Muppets film and they both came home singing "manamana doo doo de doo doo". It felt odd to hear Jack singing a song that I used to sing as a kid!

My neighbour has started to put the lights on his mammoth tree. I cringe watching him teetering at the top of a big ladder with a long pole, trying to get the lights up there. I'm sure all the neighbours breathed a collective sigh of relief when this thing showed up to help ...

Today we took the boys to see Santa at our usual place. It was really busy and we had to queue for an hour and I had to remove Danny and take him around the corner for a time-out at one point. He kept pulling his woolly hat down over his eyes and banging into people among other things. In his defense, having to queue for an hour surrounded by breakable ornaments is not the best scenario for a two-year-old.

They had a guy there doing ice sculptures and they give out free food and carriage rides.

Jack had written his letter to Santa and took it with him to personally hand it to the big guy.

Jack was mesmerised by him and loved every minute. We prepared Danny as much as possible as he hates new situations and I think that really helped. He still didn't want to sit near him but he did chat with him a bit and said 'Thank you Santa!" as were were leaving. That's the key I think - to prepare him ahead of time. No surprises for Daniel!

So it's back to normal tomorrow for a few days, although I am still ill and Craig has man flu. Starting Wednesday we'll have school concerts and parties and all kinds of thing leading up to the big day. Tis the season to be jolly!

Fast Cars & Candy

2011-12-07T00:05:00.017-05:00

I've been listening to Christmas music now for about a week, mainly in the kitchen and the car, and we've got the tree up and the decorations. We still have outside lights and presents to conquer though. Both of those things are weighing on me. Still, let's bring on the music and all that comes with the season! I love it all I really do.

The boys are beside themselves with anticipation and asking Santa (us) for :

"A bow and 5 arrows and a quiver" like one of his heroes in the film Narnia (Jack)

"Fast cars and candy canes", like a young Hugh Hefner! (Danny)

Jack asked me yesterday if the Grinch was real (he loves him but is scared too) and I said No!

Then he asked me earnestly if Santa was real and I said Yes! Absolutely YES! (Let this little dream last as long as it can please). My first lie. It felt good and I'm sure there's plenty more on the horizon.

Last night I got home very late so didn't see the boys until this morning when Jack came running into my bedroom, asking where I had been. When I told him that I had been at a posh banquet he whispered "oh! Did you look beautiful mama?" and my heart imploded and I died right there on my bedroom carpet. Please don't grow up any more Jack.

Our first Christmas concert will be at Danny's school next week and I am on hooks. If he refuses to tidy up toys and goes bonkers about putting his coat on what on earth will he do when asked to perform in the church? Lordy Lordy. It's a mixture of dread, anticipation and excitement.

I keep thinking of a line Mountainear (fabulous blogger, mother of boys, including one called Daniel) said when my Daniel was born. She mentioned a religious topic called "Dare to be Daniel" and while I'm not into organized religion at all I do think that line describes his persona pretty well.

This is one of my favourite Christmas songs (But ohhh, I have many):

Happy Birthday Craig!

2011-12-03T02:16:00.007-05:00

Happy Birthday to my husband - the skydiver, scuber-diver, hunter, canoeer, fisherman, hiker, son, brother, uncle and dad!

Craig's favourite song: I wish you were here, by Pink Floyd

Going to Keep on Rambling

2011-11-30T23:47:00.003-05:00

That's the end of the blogging for a month thingamajiggy (hurrah!) but I'll probably keep at it since it's Craig's birthday weekend and then Christmas. I do love to keep this thing going and I know of at least two people that read it on a daily basis (note to those people; please leave a comment. I do love getting comments)

While I was working on another little project this week I went back and looked at some of my old postings and actually made myself chuckle a bit. I was quite funny and interesting years ago, before I went mental with stress. I also looked much younger and slimmer too, darn it. At the time I felt old and fat but looking back at those times I look much better than I do now. Funny how that works isn't it.

Another reason to keep blogging is that several of my family members in England refuse to go on Facebook (you know who you are!) so this is one way for them to keep up with the boys and see what we're up to. It'll be my 1,000th post soon so will try and make it a good one.

Right now I'm off to bed. Tonight I went to a work dinner and got home too late but still had to stay up and watched my recorded XFactor. I know some people roll their eyes at that and make comments about how brain dead it is but I love it and I've crossed over the line of giving a crap what other people think. Age does that. So anyway, Josh Krajcik, Melanie Amaro and Chris Rene were great as usual. Rachel was good too. I'm hoping Marcus and Astro get booted tomorrow, but would also be ok if Drew did. You don't care do you? Sorry. Sleep deprivation.

Must get some rest so I can play with my boys tomorrow night after work: Bob the Builder and his Superhero sidekick.

I'm Losing the Battle of Wills

2011-11-29T22:14:00.004-05:00

It's a good job I have a sunny disposition because today has been a beaatch as they say in urban talk. Why so bad you ask?:

1. I have a cold

2. It's rained for the last two days, non-stop

3. I went Christmas shopping this evening for 3 hours and bought virtually nothing

4. Danny had a #2 at pre-school so I had to go and change him again, then he had a melt-down at tidy-up time and his teachers looked a bit fed-up when I picked him up. Then he refused to eat dinner or sit at the table and then he weed on the floor while he was staring at the new fish tank. Lord give me the strength not to throttle him Homer-style. I did investigate sending him to a more relaxed pre-school but they are full. *Sigh*.

So anyway, I'm going to go back to a couple of shops tomorrow night and buy Christmas presents I nearly bought tonight and then wish I'd bought when I got home. Doh!

And it's supposed to stop raining because it's going to snow

And my cunning plan is to take so many zinc tablets that my cold is gone by morning

As for Danny, I don't know. I really felt like I couldn't cope tonight and I need to get my act together. He's two for goodness sake and shouldn't be winning the battle of wills! I have no doubt in my mind that he'll go on in life and be brilliant at whatever he does - but right now he's a little terror.

Got the Dreaded Lurgi

2011-11-28T20:38:00.004-05:00

It's a quick post today as I have a stinking cold and I feel achey and horrible. As soon as I can, I am going back to bed. Jack also has a hacking cough but Craig and Danny are okay (touch wood). I'm hoping that copious amounts of zinc tablets and Theraflu will get me over it quick.

Because even my eyeballs are aching I have not wanted to wear contacts so have been wearing glasses today which is straaaange. I look like Olive off "On the Buses" (old English sitcom) and it's very disorientating. My line of sight is not used to having just little glass squares to look through so I feel a bit discombobulated.

Two little things from my boys today that have lifted my spirits. Danny was sat at the kitchen window telling me how much he loves "schools" as he pointed to the one next to our house but was mad at me when I kept repeating the word "school". It took a while to find out that he actually meant "squirrels". And Jack told me tonight that he tripped at school and one of his friends said 'You okay bro?" and it made his day. Even when I feel ill, these boys can cheer me up.

Right then, off to Bedfordshire.

My, What a Big Cactus!

2011-11-27T20:40:00.008-05:00

It's Craig's birthday on Friday so we'll be celebrating as much as we can this week. Last night Jack told him that we were planning on making him a surprise hunting cake which is obviously no longer a surprise! I do have a few other things up my sleeve though.

This is one of his favourite pictures, taken on our vacation out west in 2000. We drove all through Arizona, Utah, Colorado, Nevada, Wyoming and South Dakota. He left a little bit of his heart in Moab I think, which was an amazing place. We took David Grey's album "White Ladder" and every time I hear Babylon it reminds me of cruising through the magnificent red landscape of Utah, with my arm dangling outside of our gold Mustang. It was a wonderful holiday.

When we got to Yellowstone Park in Wyoming we heard wolves howling outside our cabin door and we got chased by real indians on Pine Ridge Sioux Reservation. We hiked through Arches National Park, Mesa Verde & Monument Valley. And we had a beer in the Shady Lady Saloon and brothel in Silverton, Colorado. We stayed at a log cabin at the bottom on Big Rock Candy Mountain and we camped under the stars at Devil's Tower (site from Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind). Good times.

It's the one holiday we can't wait to do again, when the boys are a bit older and not so much of a handful. I would like Jack and Danny to gaze out across the Grand Canyon and take in it's grandeur. Right now Jack would want to visit the gift shop and Danny would be trying his best to base jump from it.

Missing my Sister & Oobleck

2011-11-26T23:05:00.011-05:00

After we FINALLY got the lads to bed tonight we sat back and looked through 300 channels and still didn't see a decent film to watch, so we watched Tosh.O for the whole night. Good lord that man is funny. I would highly recommend him to anyone with sense of humour.

It's been a good day. I rang my sister Jenny this morning and wished her a happy 46th birthday and I got to speak to all my nieces and my great nephew AJ. He had the wonderful northern England accent that I miss and wish my boys had. I love that he chatted with Jack and can't wait for them all to get together next year. I miss my family A LOT. I know I'm going home in 12 months time but times like this make me very homesick and it can't come soon enough. So Happy Birthday Jenny - I wish I could spend it with you.

What else? Well after Jack read "Bartholomew and the oobleck" we made oobleck today with him, which was great. I think Craig and I were more obsessed with it than the kids. It's a mix of corn starch (corn flour or custard powder in England), water and food colour (optional) and it's odd. You can pick it up like a solid matter and then it runs through your fingers as a liquid. Apparently you'd be able to run across it in a pool. Craig and I spent far too much time messing with it and going "I don't get it.." Our kids have no hope do they!

Black Friday without being Pepper-Sprayed

2011-11-25T20:49:00.011-05:00

I'm glad I didn't venture out today for Black Friday, given the shootings, pepper-spraying and general stupid behaviour. People are NUTS. A couple of years ago when I was 8 months pregnant with Danny and couldn't sleep, I got up at 3am and went to Wal Mart on Black Friday just to experience it and there were grown women fighting over $3 pyjama sets. They were made of nasty polyester and 100% flammable but those women were like a pack of hyenas. I haven't been out since.

Today I hung around the house instead with the boys and then took them for a play-date with a friend of Jack's from school, which was lovely. Me and the mum got to have a nice natter while all four played well. I was surprised how comfortable our Danny was, given his tendency to hate new situations. It was a very pleasant experience indeed and as always when I meet other mums, I get some ideas that I think I can incorporate into my parenting. I need all the help I can get!!

Afterwards we went to the fish shop to buy more fish to try and kill. Our Danny was so funny in the shop and kept grabbing the sale assistant by the thigh and dragging her over to the tanks and pointing things out to her like "big pink fishy!" and "look, a blue lobster!", She was a good sport about it and we came away with a tiny catfish, yellow snail, two glow-fish and a couple of danios (how could I not get Danny-ios!). I give them a week before they're floating and eyeless.

Craig came home deer-less but I do hope he gets one soon. I would imagine that the anticipation is huge, knowing that once you shoot one you probably have to track it for a while before it dies. Then you have to call the regulatory service (ODNR) and report it and get the tag number. And then you have to field dress it before getting it to your car and to a meat processor. When I asked Craig how he'll know if it's dead he said you poke it in the eye (ugh). If I can't stomach the thought of that there's a good chance I couldn't field dress it, which entails opening it from neck to end and pulling all it's guts out. There's just no way I could do that. Not that I'll have any problem eating venison burgers, sausages, steaks and casseroles this winter I should add.

So it feels like the weekend's over but it's just beginning as we have another two days off work yet. They are calling for rain tomorrow though and SNOW maybe Sunday. Boooo! Not snow please Mother Nature, not yet!

A Happy Thanksgiving

2011-11-24T18:11:00.007-05:00

We've had a wonderful Thanksgiving Day. This morning we went for our annual turkey-day hike and even though it was 39 degrees F the boys messed about in the streams until we had to force them home, soaking wet. We literally emptied water out of their wellies at the car!

We met several dogs & owners along the way. The black dog on the right was found at a local park last night by a woman we met. She is going to try and located the owner tomorrow through shelters and vets but thinks maybe the poor pooch was dropped off at the park as she had no collar on and was running back and to, looking at the cars as if she was saying "have they come back for me?" Heartbreaking to think that might be the case. Both Craig and I would have taken her if one of us had of cracked but I feel like our life is full enough right now. Still, she was a gorgeous dog and Cody had fun with her.

Danny was like the dog whisperer and played with them for ages.

Then it was home for our turkey dinner. I do love the American version with cranberry sauce and corn bread stuffing. And Craig's mash is to die for! Danny, not surprisingly, refused to try any of it. For desert we had pumpkin pie and ice-cream then headed back out to the park before we all fell into a turkey coma.

It'll be bed for Danny soon then we are going to watch the second Narnia film with Jack. Life is good and we are lucky. I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving too!

My Happiness List

2011-11-23T22:09:00.013-05:00

I just finished The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin and while I wouldn't say that it inspired me to jump into a big project myself, it has made me more conscious each day about how my attitude affects not just my wellbeing but everyone around me. Remember the line "If mum's not happy, no one's happy?" I used to think that meant "everyone needs to make mum happy", but now I clearly see it as "mum has the power to make all around her unhappy", and I really don't want to do that.

The book made me look at happiness as a subject, which really is about what makes you feel good. So I have thought a lot about what makes me feel good and sometimes to really get to the bottom of it I had to think about what makes me feel bad and reverse it. For example, when I've lost my temper with the kids I feel bad or when I've drank too much I feel bad. The book also made me realise I've been going through life looking to the future to a time when I'll be a better mum/wife/daughter/sister/friend, because right now I'm just too busy.

So I haven't come up with a big written project, blog or list of goals but I have adopted a handful of resolutions that I will carry with me each day and try (and sometimes royally fail) to do. They might sound a bit cheesy but this is how they sit in my head so I can remember them:

1. Be Pam

2. Act how you want to feel

3. Lighten up

4. See Craig

5. Gaze lovingly

I think 1-4 are self explanatory. Number 5 is something new that Craig and I have started doing. You go into your kids bedroom and watch them for a minute as they sleep. It only takes a minute but it really helps, especially for me right now as Danny is such a handful. It makes me realize how little he is and how much I love him. As Gretchen (and every older mother on the planet) says "the days are long but the years are short" - which is hard to acknowledge when you are in the midst of toddler-rearing!

So that's it. My little 5-point list isn't very profound and it doesn't include personal health or clutter control or hobbies or other things she mentions, but these 5 things are definitely achievable for me and do make me feel happier if I do them.

Oh Christmas Tree

2011-11-22T16:02:00.008-05:00

We spied the first Christmas tree on our street last night so pulled the car over to the house to wonder at it. Both kids got excited and were pointing at the "priddy lights" as Danny calls them.

Jack asked if we could get ours out of the box and I said that, actually, we will be buying a real tree soon because mummy always loves a real tree that smells of Christmas. Jack of course was not content with why we couldn't get one out of a box NOW, so wanted more reasons for the real tree. So I talked about the smell again.

And the needles in your feet Christmas morning
And the need to de-clog the vacuum cleaner of needles all winter
And the destruction it causes when the cat jumps into it
And the nasty scratches it gives Daddy's arms as he drags it out to the curb in January
And the fact we're just thankful it doesn't catch fire each year

At which point Craig and I looked at each other and burst out laughing. It's a stupid thing isn't it, keeping a dangerous fire-hazard in your house each year because you love the smell of pine needles. I'm still getting one though.

Or maybe we'll get one of these ....

Read all About It!

2011-11-21T22:04:00.004-05:00

My mum sent some goodies for the kids today and included a couple of pictures of me and my sister Jenny. This was taken during our holidays at a holiday camp in Rhyl, Wales in 1973 when I was four years old.

There's two reasons I wanted to post this picture:

1. I am astonished how much Danny looks like me because I always thought he looked like Craig.

2. I have NO IDEA what my mother dressed me as for the fancy dress competition! It's pretty obvious what my sister and the Welsh girl are. I'm somewhat foggy on the scary clown-boy on the end wearing his granddad's pants. But what on earth am I?

Feel free to guess and I'll post the answer after I've asked my mum.

Sadistic Shopping Spree

2011-11-20T22:34:00.017-05:00

It's hard to lose weight when Craig's mum sent him Thornton's toffee for his birthday. He and I attacked the bag like a couple of walkers from a zombie movie, complete with sound effects "agrhh, om om om, argh". We managed to deter the kids from having any by telling them it was coffee and they couldn't have any till they're 18. It worked a treat.

Stupidly, we took them Christmas shopping today to buy toys for other kids. Are we sadists or what? Jack spent the entire time at Toys R Us begging for toys and Danny was in some kind of sensory overload, gazing up and down the aisles and every now and then pointing at toys and whispering in awe "Ni Hao Kai-lan!". At one point our Jack got hold of a teddy bear that was bigger than him and refused to put him back so we had this rather surreal argument in the middle of a busy store with him hiding behind it and me looking like I'm telling the bear off.

So I got a teeny bit of Christmas shopping done at least. Next I'll be out looking to buy 15 boxes of Lego for the lads in our Jack's class. I got volunteered at the last PTA meeting to buy all the Kindergarten boy toys for their Christmas party which serves me right for leaving the meeting early for my XFactor party (thanks Mr's W!) I'll get reimbursed though and I'm actually quite looking forward to getting and wrapping the presents. It's putting me in the Crimbly mood!

I did however make a solemn promise to Craig today. I am never ever ever taking the kids Christmas shopping again. What was I thinking?

And we probably won't go shopping in that part of town again either. It was in the better part of town but good lord they were a miserable bunch. The parking lot was full of road-ragers and the shops were full of really angry and fed-up looking people. In my area of town, we aren't millionaires but we at least enjoy ourselves when we go shopping and we are civil when driving.

A Sentimental Old Fool

2011-11-19T20:47:00.004-05:00

The older I get the more sentimental I'm getting but tonight I really crossed into loopy land. Remember our fish Bert & Ernie & Garrett? Well boggly-eyed Bert died about a month ago and for the last two days our orange goldfish Ernie's been looking a bit off.

It's not down to being ill treated. Oh no. This goldfish tank has been pampered to death and I feel like the only other thing I can do for them would be to take them out each evening and lick them clean. The tank cost me 5 bucks at a yard sale and the set-up has cost a small fortune. As soon as I go to the local fish shop they must nudge each other and whisper "here comes Mrs Muggins again, let's see what we can fool her into buying this time".

The last 2 days Ernie has been listless, then started hiding under the filter, then rolled upside down and finally died tonight. While all this was going on Garrett (the Plecostomus) was hanging out with him, snuggling up to him and following him wherever he half-swam, half-floated along. At one point, as Ernie was gasping for breath, it looked like Garrett was trying to blow air in his mouth.

When I told Craig all this he burst out laughing and said "Pam, he's waiting for him to die so he can eat him". Then to hide my shame that once again I'd been a muppet, I said something about the mouth-to-mouth episode which only made him smile more and ask me to look out for a book at the fish shop that talks about fish giving each other CPR. What's really sad about all this is that not only do I feel foolish but I also feel sad. I was kind of wishing that fish liked each other, you know, like they do in Finding Nemo.

When I went to the fish shop tonight to buy a net so we could scoop Ernie out and give him the right send off down the loo, I went out on a limb and asked the salesperson if perhaps Garrett was Ernie's friend or was indeed waiting to suck him once dead, and she looked at me like she couldn't believe I'd asked and said "well he aint his friend".

RIP Ernie.

Now let's get you out of there before Garrett sucks your eyeballs out.

Loss in our Community

2011-11-18T17:16:00.007-05:00

I love our little corner of the neighbourhood. Since we have a corner lot and live on the end of a school property, we really don't have any direct neighbours but we have several houses opposite and around our property. Each one of our neighbours are great and we count ourselves lucky to be surrounded by nice people that are either retired (and therefore watch your house) or have kids to play with our boys, or are just, well, magnificent people.

Recently our little community has lost some people and it's been a sad state of affairs. Ralph was in his late 80's with Alzheimer's and recently he moved in with his sister in Cleveland and now he's in a secure locked facility where I don't think he'll last long. It's hard to imagine him, as active and strong as he was, being locked up like that. Ralph was stationed at Burton Wood Air force Base in Warrington (Craig's birthplace) during the war and he would always come over to chat with us. During my maternity leave with Danny he came over with a shoe box full of pictures from the war and we sat for a couple of hours, which is a nice memory to have of him.

Then earlier this week we lost a wonderful man, Edd, who died of cancer. He owned a landscape company and he was always coming over to do stuff to my lawn and he even gave us a lawn mower when ours broke. He was so cheery and so eager to do his bit. He would come out each winter and snow-plough the road and help the older people get their drives clear. I know his wife will be devastated. I'm going to the viewing tonight and not looking forward to it to be honest.

One of the houses has been empty for 5 years but the elderly owner living in a home won't sell it because he's convinced he's coming home one day. And our direct neighbours just inherited a another, bigger house and will be moving in the new year.

So our little group is changing and I feel sad about it. I'm hoping that new people moving in will be young with kids or just as wonderful as the people we just lost.

Things I Would Have Said

2011-11-17T22:59:00.015-05:00

I was going to talk about the teacher conference I had today about Daniel and about how he crawls under tables when a guest speaker arrives in his classroom but that needs too much explanation

I was going to talk about how much weight I want to lose since I have become a big fattie & why Weight Watchers doesn't entice me anymore since our leader was so narcissistic

I was going to talk about the fact that I haven't drunk wine in 2 months and will never drink it again for reasons I was going to disclose

I wanted to talk about the crazy group of republican candidates and their humour value each day as I listen to their messed-up debates and see their supporters holding up misspelled, bigoted and hate-laden placards

I wanted to say how proud I am of all the Occupy people and how much I appreciate them making a stand against the greedy people that cream off the top and don't give a crap about the working man.

I was going to post pictures of our gathering last night to watch XFactor USA with people that were funny as hell and made the evening a good laugh. Best line from Simon? "The good news Stacy is that your hair looks better than last week"

I was going to talk about a guy at work who drives me NUTS

I was going to post a video of Jack singing Katie Perry's "Firework" but since the Jerry Sandusky thing I'm doubly-paranoid about posting anything on here that attracts weirdos. This breaks my heart because I have family and friends in England that come to this blog to see the boys.

So instead, I'm going to post about my beloved Buckeyes. The students of The Ohio State University that are graduating this fall and will play football for the last time on Saturday in the shoe. I will be there to salute them and cheer for them and I'm sorry that they had to bear the cross of a coach that got witch-hunted and a program that got humiliated and torn apart. Doesn't that all seem so exaggerated and unwarranted now that other universities have much bigger issues? Doesn't our boys getting tattoos and being paid $200 more than they should have seem outrageous? It does to me.

Putting the Pressure on at Five

2011-11-16T23:07:00.010-05:00

I got a bit upset today when Jack didn't get an award at his first grading period awards ceremony (yes, there is such a thing). He got such a rave review from his kindergarten teacher Mrs C. last week that I really thought he'd be up there with his friends getting something for accomplishment or effort but no, he didn't. He got a certificate for 100% attendance which he was very proud of, bless him.

All the worries have now flooded back that I've sent him to kindergarten too soon. He's 9 and 10 months younger than his friends who got those awards today. Is he going to spend all of his school life always trying to catch up and not grasping concepts that older kids can grasp? When we got home I was probably a bit hard on him while he did his homework and I've told him he needs to buckle down a bit more. Sounds a bit harsh doesn't it, for a 5-year-old, but the standard testing at these schools is rigorous to say the least.

One bright spot of the ceremony was sitting next to a wonderful woman who lived miles away in another school district and her son travelled on the school bus to this school at 6.30am every morning. He has cerebral palsy and when he started at school couldn't talk and he sat in a chair and now he's walking unaided and speaking and taking grade-level math and science. When he got his award his mum was clapping and crying and she set me off, of course. Her son was such a bright and happy lad I felt uplifted just watching him. She kept telling me how wonderful the school and the teachers were and how she hopes her son can always attend it (she has to put her name in the lottery every year because she lives so far away). Anyway, she was an amazing lady and I've been thinking about her a lot tonight.

As for Jack, well we'll just have to help him more. Try and integrate school work into all the fun things we do and also limit telly, as that has got a bit obnoxious the last few months. I want him to be happy and to love school but I'm also going to have to make myself be more of a hard-ass when it comes to the academics. It seems so wrong somehow - to be putting that kind of pressure on a five year old. Shouldn't he just be catching frogs and saving the universe?

Wishing I had a Theme but Oh Well.....

2011-11-15T22:33:00.019-05:00

Today's post is a bit broken biscuits, sorry.

I've been thinking all day about a "theme" for my blog - you know, about cooking or having liposuction or giving up alcohol or having a boob job. That kind of thing. I'm also reading a book written by a blogger (The Happiness Project) and thought about plagiarising her stuff but I'm too honest (ha ha ha). As it turns out, I have no themes in my life - just bonkers stuff most of the time. So there you are.

And here's my bonkers stuff ...

Last week I posted about having sniffles and starting to take zinc supplements. A professor at work told me to take them and when I acted like I didn't know about zinc and the onset of a cold he was really surprised as he thought it was common knowledge that it stops a cold, based on sound research. And that made me feel like an uneducated moron (professors do that to you) but then a colleague of mine said they didn't work. Well I'm here to tell you that they are AWESOME!!! I've been taking zinc for a week and my cold did not materialise at all. I swear. Cost about $6 for a week's worth and worth their weight in gold.

Next up, our lad Jack has been taking swimming lessons and has graduated from levels 1-3 and now they've advanced him to school level 2 - which basically means he's a fish and it's not my doing. This summer in Michigan he swam in that lake every day with his dad and that's what did it. Hurrah for dads because they are fabulous when it comes to raising a son.

Hey! I finally captured his favourite zombie pose!

And lastly, it's XFactor tomorrow night and I'm having guests over who love it like I do. We are going to howl for Josh Krajcik and Melanie Amaro and Chris Rene like a pack of coyotes ( and drink and eat fabulous food of course). Craig and I have always tried to enjoy this with a party - we may not do much adult partying these days but we do try with this one. I hope one day that Josh Krajcik does "Try a Little Tenderness"...

Tongue Twisters

2011-11-14T23:10:00.007-05:00

Jack recently had hold of a fly swatter and exclaimed "look mum! I have a fly flopper! and no matter how many times I corrected him he just couldn't get it. Not that I tried too hard as it was very cute. The lady with us, Susan, said that for the longest time one of her nieces couldn't say magazines, but pronounced it "mazagines" which is something I can really see myself doing.

As a kid I couldn't say "car park" (the term for parking lots in England). To this day I still say par cark 90% of the time and have to stop and think about it before I open my mouth. Thankfully my gaffe it's not as rude as poor Bridget Jones when she keeps pronouncing her bosses name tits pervert instead of Fitzherbert. Jack also can't pronounce ravioli (laviloli) and think (stink - as in "do you know what I stink moma?"). And Danny can't say caterpiller so asks me in the most ridiculously sweet voice if I can read the hungry paterpiller book to him. How cute! I hope he's still doing that when he's 40, as long as he's left the house and is with someone and happy. If he's saying paterpiller and living in my basement and watching porn all day then I'll be worried.

Well that was a short post for today. I'm a bit buggered to be honest. But I would like to hear if any of you have a particular tongue-twister you just can't master.

My Little Zombie

2011-11-13T20:59:00.005-05:00

We are home! Woo hoo! There's nothing like pulling up outside of your house after a major road trip, knowing you're going to walk into a nice clean home. We had a fabulous trip with friends that we should have made the effort to see sooner but time just whizzes by.

I laughed when I saw this picture close-up. Jack is being a Zombie and was practicing his zombie faces in the car on the way home. I told him I'd take some pictures of his different zombie faces so we could choose his best look.

A couple of things Susan and Leonard said has resonated with me. Mostly about taking time to enjoy family and friends, no matter how busy you are. They have reconnected with family after many many years and feel strongly that all those silent years were wasted. I couldn't agree more - nothings more important than family, not matter how wacky they are!

Both boys are zonked out in bed and we are watching Walking Dead before bed as we are knackered too - we had to sleep with a kid each last night because Danny refused to sleep with Jack. Both Craig and I were kept awake most of the night by the running, jumping and crazy dance moves they do in their sleep. At one point Jack told Craig he was walking on stilts while he was sleep talking!

So a great weekend was had and now back to reality. As I tucked Jack in bed tonight he whispered "Mommy, you forget to take pictures of my zombie faces". Awwww.

Nashville's General Jackson

2011-11-12T22:53:00.009-05:00

Today has been marvelous but now I'm cream-crackered.

Due to the time change, the boys got up at SIX FIFTEEN, but then we got going and met our friends and had a smashing time in Nashville, Tennessee!

The reason for our visit: Craig's friend Leonard (& his girlfriend Susan who wasn't on this pic). They were such fantastic hosts and I can listen to the Tennessee accent all day. I can definitely get used to being called honey all the time.

They had booked us onto the General Jackson paddleboat ship for the afternoon for a lunch cruise and show.

The lunch and show were fabulous - full of southern charm and the music was awesome. The band was a music comedy groups that did impressions of famous country singers and they had a fiddle player that brought down the house.

My boy Danny. He was 110% from 6.15am until he crashed about 4pm in the car.

Once again I feel bad for saying this but these kinds of trip would be so much more enjoyable without worrying about your energetic toddler throwing himself overboard, running away and throwing his fork into someone's soup. Jack made firm friends with Susan's niece Bethany and they played all day.

Me and mine.

After the boat trip we toured around General Jackson's Hermitage and then Broadway Street downtown, The Parthenon and the Grand ol Oprey Hotel and the Ryman Auditorium.

I love this city!

Store Your Cones Somewhere Else Cincinnati!

2011-11-11T23:23:00.004-05:00

We finally got to our hotel in Nashville after 7.5 hours of what should have been a six hour drive.

We hit horrendous traffic all the way through Cincinnati and crawled for what seemed like 50 miles. At one point we drove past 15 miles of big orange cones sat out FOR NO REASON. At which point Danny was kicking the back of my driver's seat and Jack was singing nonsense songs so I turned the radio up full-blast (hey, if you can't beat them, join them) and "Highway to Hell" by AC/DC was on, which just about summed up the moment. Next was "Shake it up" by The Cars but by this point Danny was mad about the loud music and shouted "I don't wanna shake it up!" and we all burst out laughing. Family crisis averted thanks to the Big D.

The good thing about travelling from Ohio to Tennessee is that you gain an hour so while my body says it's 11.30pm right now, my phone tells me it's only 10.30pm. Bonus!

Seriously, a couple of ciders and then bed. Boys are already zonked out. I'll post pictures tomorrow. We are here visiting friends and looking forward to some fun. Cody got left behind with our new dog-sitter that we found on Craigslist. It felt odd handing the keys of my house over to a complete stranger & I am so paranoid that I told all my neighbours to watch her like a hawk and take the b**ch down if she makes a wrong move. Ha ha ha..

Who Needs Plastic Crappy Toys?

2011-11-10T22:01:00.004-05:00

I've been asking a man at my work to keep an eye out for great big boxes that will entertain my kids and today he came up trumps. When I dragged it in the house both boys were so excited they resorted to their evolutionary roots and ran around like monkeys for 10 minutes, clapping their hands and shrieking.

After Danny boy had gone to bed, our lad Jack pleaded to be allowed to fall asleep in the box in our bedroom and then "take me to bed when I'm sleeping, pleeeease"

How can you not let a little boy of five go to sleep in his camp, deep in the woods, while he fights off bears and only has a small LED candle for comfort? Craig and I sat in the front room and heard of his escapades until all went quiet and our little boy fell asleep.

Bless.

A Proud Day for This Mama

2011-11-09T22:58:00.012-05:00

I knew it was going to be a good day when my first conversation at 7.15am was a discussion with Daniel that while I understood he was in fact Darth Vader he still wasn't allowed to run in the house.

Then this afternoon Craig and I had our first parent-teacher conference with Jack's kindergarten teacher and it was fabulous. To sit and hear a teacher rave about your child is a marvelous experience that actually gave me a big lump in my throat. She said that he's so cheery and keen to get involved that he helps her sort things out in the classroom (she called him her secret boss) and she kept chuckling and saying "he cracks me up!" Now, he's one of the youngest in his class and he's got some work to do to keep up but she has set us some tasks over the next few weeks to help him and he has to practice his numbers more. I asked her if I made the right decision letting him start rather than holding him back a year and she said absolutely yes - he's doing great. What a relief!

And as an update from last night. The phantom polling station nose-biter has been found and arrested and our carrot & orange soup was a bit hit! And late tonight the Penn State coach and President of the University have been fired. I know that some fans are really unhappy about that but I read the 23-page indictment and I don't think there could be any other conclusion.

Bad Guys & Soup

2011-11-08T22:20:00.021-05:00

I was going to do a post tonight about my carrot and orange soup. You know, post the recipe and then show photos of Craig cooking it (come on, you know that I wouldn't cook). It turned out marvelous and I hope those teachers tomorrow are very grateful and give Jack an "A" or there'll be trouble at t'mill as we say in Lancashire.

So what could possible be stopping me from blogging about soup? Well more important things actually.

It was mid-term election day today in Ohio and I can't vote but obviously have a vested interest since I've lived here for 12 years and pay taxes (rather ironic wouldn't you say that the Boston Tea Party was started because of "no taxation without representation" and yet that is where I find myself). Anyway, Issue 2 was a "no" and I'm mostly happy about that. The Governor was trying to take away Union rights which I think might have been a popular subject had he not lumped in the firemen and policemen. But it looks like some school Levy's didn't pass and I'm not happy about that. The failing of a school levy (tax) means that teachers, buses and programs like sports and art could get cut. The one kind-of funny story from the polls today was the man that got his nose bitten by a poll-booth employee who was mad at him & then ran off. It takes all sorts!

The other big story of the day here is that the football program at Pennsylvania State University has imploded with charges of child abuse by a retired assistant coach called Sandusky. To give an English equivalent - this would be like finding out that an assistant coach at Man United had been abusing kids for years (college football is huge in the USA and this is one of the best and most revered teams). The coach (think Ferguson) said he was told about the abuse of a 10-year old in 2002 and that he did what was legally necessary by informing his two bosses. Another assistant coach who walked into the shower block to witness a 10-year old being anally raped was the one that told him. Now, I have thought about this a lot today. If I walked into a shower block and saw a grown man raping a 10-year old I would jump on his back, beat him senseless and cause such a fuss that everyone in a 50-yard radius would call the police. Wouldn't you? But none of them did anything to stop it and the abuse went on for another 7 years, until 2009. Several boys from 8-14 years old were abused during that time and there are probably more. So at this point the assistant coach, the coach, two big bosses and a janitor have seen all this go down. The two big bosses were arrested today. The big question of the day is if the revered and much-loved coach, who's 84 and an icon, should "retire". I'm baffled tonight by the swell of support and the chant of "we are Penn State!" when he emerged from a car, smiling, on the news. I want to barf.

And lastly who could ignore Herman Cain, the GOP candidate that is refusing to acknowledge the FOUR woman that have accused him of sexual harassment. It reminds me of that Iraqi Minister of ~~Mis~~Information that stood defiant in front of a bank of TV cameras, denying that international troops were in Iraq, as the American soldiers danced behind him.

Fighting the Sniffles

2011-11-07T20:34:00.010-05:00

Last night I started to feel like a cold was on the way and today the weariness and heavy head has started. I am taking zinc supplements and drinking tea with honey and drinking tons of water and hoping I can make it through quick and painless! I don't have time to get a cold right now, much as I'd like to lay in bed for a few days sipping tomato soup and reading (good grief that sounds like heaven doesn't it!)

We've got a lot coming up - school conferences, swimming lessons, Veteran's Day, a trip to Nashville, Thanksgiving, Craig's birthday and then Christmas! Only 47 Days 3 hours, 15 minutes and 48 seconds to go at posting time! Jack has already started to get a little buzz about it and I have too if I'm honest. It's funny how I've gone from somewhat blase to completely fanatical about it now that I have kids. The Target toy catalogue arrived today so I gave Jack a pen and let him go at it - circling the toys on each page that his heart desires. I remember me & my sister doing that as kids and spending hours poring over it. Of course we never got the toys but that's not the point.

But first things first. We've got Jack's first parent-teacher conference this week and I volunteered to make soup for the PTA. I'll be making cream of carrot and orange soup and hoping I don't botch it. As you know, cooking is not my forte!

Hold that Garbage Man Thought Jack!

2011-11-06T21:36:00.010-05:00

Good grief I'm tired tonight - probably because the clocks wet back last night huh. The boys were up fairly early and then I took them to a 6-year old's birthday party. I'm not sure what it is about kid's birthday parties but they completely bugger me up. That's the 2nd 6 year-old I know of now in Jack's class which means they have a good 9-10 months on him age-wise. I do hope he's not struggling to keep up with these older kids.

I met a mum today that I really liked. She's actually the Nana but raising the little girl as her own since she told me that the real mum (her daughter) isn't ready to be a parent. This woman was so interesting and funny. She's a professional career woman but also a musician and a psychic reader, and got the most beautiful and piercing eyes I have ever seen. She told me some people are afraid of her, that they think she's a witch and I laughed but silently agreed. She gave me her card and I'm itching to go and get a reading! She asked me a few questions about Jack & Danny and then gave me a few snippets on what she believes they will be like in life, based mainly on their birth signs. It's really interesting to have someone tell you what path they think your kids will take and what their adult personalities will be like. I'm especially glad that she told me Jack would be a carer, like a veterinarian, since he told me recently that he wants to be a garbage man.

Craig think it's all twaddle of course but I've always loved this stuff. My last reading was in New Orleans in 2004 when a lady on the street in Jackson Square told me I'd have 2 kids and I said no way I wanted kids! and then went partying in the French Quarter with Craig and we both laughed at the suggestion.

Fidget Pie - Yummy!

2011-11-05T22:09:00.002-05:00

Tonight we went to an expat Bonfire night with 30 other Brits and it was great. We met people from the north and south of England (south mainly - something to mull over later about why). The host is a fabulous lady called Maureen that I really like and we keep promising each other that we'll get together but never do. Anyway, we had to take regional food to this party and I baked (YES I did) Lancashire Parkin. And it was popular! Maybe I'm not such a crap cook.

The other English food included:

Fidget Pie - which I have never had before but absolutely loved! From Sussex apparantly.
Toad in the hole - including mini toad in the holes as cupcakes!
Apple crumble
Sausage rolls
Pasties
Trifle
Cottage pie & shepherd's pie
Samosas and bombay mix
Scotch eggs
Quality Street chocolates
Cheshire cheese & crackers

Highlight of the night? More great Brits as friends.

Low of the night? Crazy pretend-British people that I want to strangle. Like the crazy woman that has now introduced herself to me by 3 different names in the last year. She is from the Caribbean and as mad as a bloody hatter - and not in a funny way. Her daughter was equally nuts and has called her 9 month old daughter "On a Journey". Not kidding. Crazy bastards.

Other than the crazies that are obviously drawn to British meet up groups for some reason, I had a great time tonight. All the adults were great with the boys and it was fab to talk about the homeland that we all miss. And the really good thing is that clocks go back tonight so I get an extra hours sleep. Woo hoo!

Bommy Night Fare & Kisses

2011-11-04T16:54:00.011-05:00

We're off to a party tomorrow for Bommy night, otherwise known as Bonfire Night or Guy Fawkes night. I'm supposed to take something English as a side dish so thought I'd cheat and swing by World Market on the way home from work to get some treacle toffee but alas they had none. They did have copious amount of cans of mushy peas for $5 a can though. Scandalous!
You could make treacle toffee yourself you might say, but then I'd have to tell you about my attempt to buy Tate & Lyle treacle years ago only to eventually work out after about ten hours of investigation that it's called black molasses over here and then our disastrous attempt to make it less like liquid goo and more like crunchy toffee.

My next cheat might be toffee apples. I think I might have seen them in the supermarket or was that tubs of caramel sat next to the apples? Should have paid more attention obviously.

I can't take something like pumpkin pie and swear it's a traditional English dish because I'll be partying with other Brits and they'll know I'm lying. The same could be said for brownies if I tried to pass them off as Parkin

Lancashire hotpot is an option but that means I have to cook and I have decided that to be happy in life I'm never cooking again.

Flapjacks sound easy but they probably aren't.

Maybe I'll just make the boys wear England shirts and take some sparklers?

To add a touch of romance, tomorrow marks mine and Craig's first kiss, sixteen years ago. We got together at a bonfire party, of course.

Epic Fail at Parenting

2011-11-03T20:29:00.003-05:00

My youngest won't eat. Well actually he will eat as long as it's his choice of food in his own sweet time, which would be okay if my life solely revolved around his eating habits but it does not.

When I got home at 5.45pm tonight he was once again refusing to even try the food that Craig had cooked him so I turned off the tv and sat him in the kitchen with me while I cleaned (and yes I just confessed that my kids sit and eat while watching a bit of telly sometimes).

He still refused to eat and I got angry and did the discipline thing which was a bit of a nightmare when he's pointedly asking "why?" and I'm saying because daddy cooked it and you don't waste food and his face says huh? and then he repeats why? So I said okay if you won't eat it you can just go to bed. So he looked at me with defiance and went to his bedroom and got in bed, even though he was crying at this point and it was only 6pm.

When I got back to the kitchen and sat down it felt horrible. It's only 6pm and he's in bed already, which means I won't get to see him today. Sometimes I feel like such a crap mum.

After 10 minutes I went in to see him and he was fast asleep. He didn't nap today and I guess he had a snack at 4pm so probably wasn't hungry. He looked so angelic while he was sleeping that it was a double whammy to my guilt bank.

So here's the struggle for me. I can't ignore his behaviour and just let him eat crappy food whenever he wants, which means I'll always have a struggle on my hands. But I need to learn to deal with that better. I even asked myself today what Nanny 911 would do. That isn't a cry for help in case any friends are thinking about signing me up for nanny's help. I would say a big fat NO. Of course if any of my real mummy friends want to offer advice I'd much appreciate it.

Music to my Ears

2011-11-02T22:25:00.008-05:00

I'm a huge fan of XFactor I'm sorry to say. I've been called a sad individual on Facebook for liking such nonsense, but oh well. The older I get the more I really don't care what people think I should like. By the time I'm 65 I'll be wearing purple wigs, dancing to hip-hop and drinking Bloody Marys for breakfast probably. At least I hope so. For those of you that haven't watched it yet it's not too late - the final 12 started the live show tonight and one will get voted off tomorrow. My favourite 3 that I voted for are Chris Rene, Melanie Amaro and Josh Krajcik from COLUMBUS O-H-I-O!!! He used to make burritos and now we all think he's fabulous!!

But anyway, the reason for my blog tonight was to post a song that I love but had forgotten how awesome it was until I heard it again at the weekend. It's poignant because it is by the deceased but incredibly talented Amy Winehouse. God damn she was good. I can't wait to hear the new album that will be released soon. Whenever this song comes on my Pandora radio channel on the telly at home I have to stop what I'm doing and listen to her. She had an amazing talent.

Lost Some Gnashers

2011-11-01T16:59:00.006-05:00

I had two of my wisdom teeth pulled out at 7.30am this morning which actually wasn't too bad. When people knew I was getting them pulled they felt inclined to share their horror story with me so I've heard everything from bleeding mouths, black eyes, swollen faces and even a few days of delirium. It was the same when I was pregnant and people wanted to tell me how awful childbirth was and how they nearly died, which wasn't helpful at all really.

Anyway, I took two days off work which was a bit extreme but I didn't know if I'd look like John Merrick afterwards and anyway, I wanted to take the time so I did. I took it off as vacation in case I wanted to do yard work or anything else that might make me look like a lazy skiver. This is probably hard for someone to imagine in the UK but having vacation time in the USA is quite rare and there are people I work with that pride themselves on never having taken a day off. I'm sure even now there's been mutterings at work about why I possibly needed to take TWO WHOLE DAYS off work when I only had a couple of gnashers pulled.

Not that I've been lazing about eating Hargen Daaz and watching Jerry Springer I may add. Oh no. I've had pre-school runs and runs back to pre-school for diaper changes, then a run to Linda's house and the school pick-up for Jack. I think I had about 2 hours in the middle of all that where I tried to do a spot of housework but just gave up. I did manage to de-Halloween the front of the house and do a spot of work (for actual work) this morning but that's it.

Talking of Jack - he dropped the F Bomb last night! Right in front of me he told Danny to "get in the F'ing bedroom" I nearly choked. I demanded to know where he'd heard that word from and he said "you mom" so I said and who else? (thinking surely there's a scapegoat out there that can get me out of this sticky spot) and he said no one, just you moma. Oops. What's strange it that he repeated it exactly as I would have said it with him in ear shot - not the full word but a sort-of fnkn mutter under the breath. Looks like I'll have to restrict my language in front of old waggy-ears from now on.

Role on November!

2011-10-31T21:13:00.002-05:00

Well Halloween is over and I'm a bit glad. October is a bit of a drag for me as it marks the start of the looooong and cold Ohio winter and it just seems so rainy & grey. Not that we haven't had some fun this month with farm visits and costume parades and trick-or-treat tonight.

Both boys were Power Rangers of course. What else? They both had school parades but I missed Jack's today. I swear the paperwork from school didn't mention parent involvement so Craig and I thought we couldn't go. Turns out we were probably the only parents that didn't go so Jack was upset, and so am I.

I am now ready to move on to November for a few reasons. First, we have a trip planned to Nashville to see friends. Then it's Thanksgiving. And lastly we'll have the OSU:Michigan game. So I like November. And I have decided that I will once again participate in National Blog Posting Month by posting every day for 30 days so please come by and leave me a comment if you have time.

My Big Brave Superhero

2011-10-27T08:43:00.003-05:00

It was Danny's Halloween parade today at pre-school. He didn't want to put his costume on at home, he hated his cape and he cried when we got to school. But he did it!

Mmmm, not sure about this mum...

Once he saw me on the parade route, he wanted to lock me in like a stealth bomber eyeballing his target. Of course he's the one that refused to hold the rope that all the kids held as they marched. He got to hang out at the back & hold the teacher's hand instead.

Here he comes - looking shocked but I did get a hint of a smile.

What a little trooper he was. He hated it, but he did it.

Seeking Happiness

2011-10-23T08:25:00.006-05:00

I'm really enjoying the book about seeking happiness that I bought last week. It's opened my eyes and most importantly made me feel like perhaps I'm not the worst parent in the world or the most miserable human being to ever walk the earth.

In one chapter she examines what hobbies make us happy and comes to the conclusion that the kinds of things we think we want to do is not necessarily what makes us happy. So I was thinking about this this week. I've always thought that maybe one day I'd return to skydiving. Mainly because I love skydivers (they are wonderful people) and the adrenaline rush after you've landed is not something that could ever be beaten. But you know what? It scares the crap out of me and I don't want to do it. The same can be said for climbing a high mountain and water skiing. Other things I always thought I'd get good at one day but probably won't? Cooking, enjoying classical music and opera, learning to sew, skiing, going to the gym, and playing with lego. I really have no desire to do these things. They do not make me happy.

What makes me really happy is reading, gardening and hiking. I also love to read with my kids and draw with them. I enjoy making crafts with them and taking them outdoors. I do not like crawling round on the floor playing with blocks. Not do I like pretending to be a power ranger (sorry Jack) but that's probably because I'm 42 and don't look great in lycra. I also really enjoy organizing my photos and music and making projects with them. I rarely make the time to do that and I should. At this point in my life maybe I can accept that I'm not going to do those other things in life and maybe concentrate on things I know makes me happy? Just "Be Pam" as the author suggests.

I know it looks like dirty dish water but I really like root-beer floats

What's not to love about rambling through the countryside?

I would love to hear from other bloggers about what makes them genuinely happy. And what things they might just accept that they'll never do in life, because, well, they just don't want to.

Animals on the Loose!

2011-10-18T21:57:00.007-05:00

Bizarre news tonight from Zanesville, Ohio! The little town I took my family to last year and home to the famous wild west author Zane Grey has had a horrible turn of events.

The owner of an exotic animal farm has been shot dead and his animals released. All 48 of them, including grizzly bears, wolves, tigers, lions, giraffes, camels, cougars, and cheetahs. Can you imagine how terrifying that is for a mum taking her kids to school tomorrow? Or someone getting out of their car, on a dark driveway at home tonight? You lock your car then turn around and see a grizzly! The words poo and pants come to mind. So far 25 of the animals have been killed and the Sheriff has a "shoot to kill" strategy given that his number one concern has to be public safety.

Meanwhile, I am just glad I do not live in Zanesville right now, since I still have poorly feet and can't run. Our Cody wouldn't fare too well either with his old man paunch. We'd have to wait until the elderly neighbour left the house and just hope he looks more tasty.

My Last 3 Books

2011-10-16T22:07:00.019-05:00

I've read two fabulous books this past couple of weeks and just started a third.

First off, I read "Seabiscuit" by Laura Hillenbrand. I thought her book "Unbroken" was one of the best books I've read in years so thought I'd give this one a go too and I wasn't disappointed. It's fascinating stuff about the life of the jockeys and of course very heartwarming about Seabiscuit's challenges and rise to fame. It was also interesting to read about his link to thoroughbred greats like Man O' War and War Admiral. You don't have to be nuts about horses to read it but it certainly does make you have an enormous amount of respect for the horses & jockeys after you've read it.

Last Friday morning as I was leaving for Texas, I snatched a couple of books from the shelf, chose "Waiting to exhale" and was out the door when Linda suggested that I take "Labor Day" by Joyce Maynard instead as she had read both. By the time my shuttle dropped me at the Hyatt in San Antonio I could hardly say thank you to the driver I was so engrossed. By later that afternoon I'd read the whole thing. Unputdownable - if there is such a word! It's the bizarre but wonderful story from the perspective of a 13-year old boy over a Labor Day weekend. You really get to like the characters and it makes you feel like being a better person after you've read it. Highly recommended!

When I left San Antonio to come home today I had a conundrum. There's no way I could travel for 6 hours without a book but I hate to buy books from the airport. I like to get my books from thrift shops and the library (cheapskate I know). As I was browsing the books at the airport I couldn't find a single one - even the flimsy paperbacks - for less than $15! Scandalous I tell you. Still, I absolutely cannot travel without a book so I had to suck it up and bought "The Happiness Project" by Gretchen Rubin. This is going to be an interesting book. It's a diary, or blog type book written by a woman who realises one day that she's not happy. Not depressed, but not happy. She then goes on a quest to look at happiness with a commitment to increasing her happiness and therefore the happiness of all around her (husband, kids, family, work colleagues). So far it's been very good - enlightening almost and makes me want to come up with my own happiness project. The stories she recounts of snapping at her kids and picking on her husband rings a bit too true for me not to at least try to soak as much of this book up as I can. It is not a self-help or preachy book at all - like I said, she writes it almost like a blog and it's witty and honest. I'm going to like it a lot and maybe I can take some things from it. I'm sure my husband and kids would very much appreciate it!

Remember the Alamo! (actually I don't)

2011-10-14T07:45:00.005-05:00

I am on my way to San Antonio, Texas for a work thing. If I get a few minutes I might try and wander over the the Alamo again and soak up a bit of American history. I went with Craig 10 years ago but I can't remember much detail - too many glasses of wine, crazy kids and old age dead brain cells have occurred since then. Ozzy Osbourne, in his heyday, once woke up plastered next to the Alamo and peed on it, not realising what it was. I think he was banned from Texas for a couple of decades for that one. I certainly won't be getting up to those kind of shenanigans, especially since I'm officially off wine. Two weeks today since I've had a glass! Not that I'm giving up alcohol altogether I may add. As my friend posted on their facebook page yesterday, "no great story ever started with eating a salad"

Feeling Homesick

2011-10-10T23:11:00.009-05:00

Craig's niece Jenna had a baby this morning. A little boy called Samuel. I couldn't wait to get home tonight so I could go out and buy him something and get it posted tomorrow. Good grief I'm homesick. I've been thinking about home a lot lately and what it means to miss it, especially since I haven't been to England since September 2008.

Do I miss England the country. The green and pleasant land? Or do I miss the people, my family & friends in particular? A bit of both I think but definitely family more. My mum has been to Portsmouth this past week which has been on my wish-list for a few years. I want to see HMS Victory and The Mary Rose and Charles Dickens's house. Last month she went to Whitby - a quaint fishing village and home of Bram Stoker. And she's been to Warwick Castle and Ironbridge and Howarth this year. All places I either want to see or that I love to visit. So I do miss England as a country and especially during those patriotic times like the royal wedding or a big national sporting event. In 2012 it's the Queen's 50th anniversary of being on the throne and also the London Olympics, so that will be a poignant time for me.

More than anything in the world though I miss my family. My niece Gemma is expecting her second child, a daughter, next February so there will be at least 6 great nieces & nephews new to mine & Craig's family in the last few years. I have aunties and uncles that I haven't seen for ages and of course we miss our parents and siblings badly. My mum & sister haven't even met Daniel yet! I think that's what bothers me the most - that Jack and Danny don't get to spend time with their grandparents and aunties, uncles, cousins and extended family. Between me and Craig we've got a large and close-knit family, so it's hard not to be a daily part of it.

Each day recently I've wished that our family could see Jack & Danny, just as they are right now. They are so gorgeous and funny and sweet that they need to be seen. And they need their family. Our Jack is sch a social little boy and he would be over the moon to have all those people as relatives! I can just imagine him planning his sleep-overs at his auntie or nan's house.

We do our best to Skype, write and phone but it's not the same.We spend half of the time on Skype shouting "can you hear me? Oh! I've lost you. Can you see me?" And the phone is impossible when I have Jack and Danny in the room because they will do anything to get me off the phone, including playing jump rope with the cord (I have a lovely old wall telephone with big long curly cord) and launching themselves off the furniture.

So anyway, I'm just homesick and I'm determined to go back to England Christmas 2012. Not that I don't love living in America because I do. And I'm very grateful for the life we have here and for our friends. But I just need to see my family. I am loooong overdue!

Jack's Parade

2011-10-07T22:53:00.005-05:00

Jack came into the kitchen at 7am this morning and starting singing "Do you ever feel, like a plastic bag..." He then spent the time before school watching Katy Perry on You Tube. It was so funny.

The parade was great! All the local schools came together to support the local high school. Our Jack's school had made lovely t-shirts that said "We are Family" on the back. Here he is with his teacher, Mrs C.

Daniel spent the time taking his shoes off, throwing leaves, jumping off things and at one point banged his head on a concrete wall. I'm looking forward to the first event we go to where I don't have to have 1 eye on my youngest the whole time while he tries to take over the world. I only got a 12-second video of Mrs C and the group as they went past, even though I had planned for this all week. Mummy brain strikes again.

It's the Best Right Now

2011-10-05T20:34:00.006-05:00

Our Jack has developed three new habits this week. Firstly, he wants to know what we are doing for every minute of the whole day so that when I answer "having breakfast" I get "Then what?" until I've relayed the whole day's activities, right down to going to bed. The next thing he's started doing is asking me pretty informed and difficult questions. Good for him! Argh for me! On the way to soccer tonight I had to try my best describing what happens to objects when they re-enter the earth's atmosphere. I must confess I made half of it up. Last week he asked me how electricity gets into the house and I said something about wires and it running like water then mumbled something about how the slide makes his hair stands on end and made a hasty retreat to the kitchen. I think I got away with it. I think perhaps it is time to buy a nice big encyclopedia (for me, not for him). The last (and lovely) thing he's started doing is waiting until he's in bed then whispering "can I tell you about school?" and then he gives me a few snippets from his day.

I wish my family in England could see Daniel right now. He's unbelievable sweet and funny and such a unique little person. I can't get enough of him. It makes me sad that they are missing out on him, and him on them. This morning he looked out the window and he said "mummy it's froggy!" and yes it was foggy. And each time we come in the front door, he pokes the little Halloween gel-clings I have on the glass and he says "like jelly!" I could just eat him.

I did love my boys as babies but this time, right now, is my favourite time. It just seems to get better and better. When Jack asks me to sing to him and stroke his head before bed, when Danny kisses all of my left arm when he sits on the potty, when Jack runs to meet me when I get home from work, when Danny says "I'm a rockstar!" and dances his butt off, when Jack sings Katie Perry's Firework. It's all fabulous.

A Most Sober Update

2011-10-01T21:13:00.004-05:00

Danny's pre-school didn't get much better this week. He cried again Thursday and the teacher has told me to just drop and go. I know she's right but ugh. They do say that he calms down and is ok after I've left but I think it takes a while. I know that I'm not the first mum to go through this but it's awful. I hide outside so I can peek in his room to see if he's stopped crying and on Thursday I saw him stood by the sink, sobbing so hard he could hardly catch his breath.

We had Jack's open house and his first report card came home on Thursday. His card pretty much said "progressing towards" and "satisfactory" and a couple of "meetings" but no "excellent". I was a bit disappointed about it at first till I realised he's only been there two weeks. And then another mum at the open house told me that her son got an almost identical report. On Jack's it also said that he chatters too much. Absolutely no surprise there! He's been shouting over to the neighbours and pestering local supermarket cashiers since he was 18-months old! The open house was great though. His teacher had them all sing a few songs for us and he showed us around. He was very proud and so was I, especially when his teacher told me he deserved to be student of the week.

After a quick hair cut for both of them (I do love our authentic barber shop!) we've had a busy day today. Jack scored his first goal ever in a soccer game and was so pleased with himself. For a while now he's been confident in practice but then a bit scared of getting stuck in at games but today he tried his best and did it. In direct contrast to us forgetting the snacks last week, the lady who brought them this week brought coffee for all the adults and home-made soccer cookies for the kids. Bloody show-off.

I went to the football game this afternoon which was terrible. I haven't seen the Buckeyes play that bad in the 12 years I've lived in this country. It's going to be a terrible season!

And now I think I'm going to bed early. No wine for me for a while peeps. Trying to give the old body a rest. And Craig will be off trying to get bambi tomorrow so I've have the kids on my own. He's able to hunt on private property now which is a relief. I hate it when he goes off into public woods with God knows who else hiding in there with guns! I've seen Deliverance!

Getting me a Cat Muff!

2011-09-27T20:09:00.006-05:00

I had thought that Danny's pre-school might be getting better but it isn't really. Today he cried his little heart out when I left and kept saying "I want you mama! Don't leave!" It was heartbreaking. The teachers are obviously used to it and trying to get me to leave quickly but it all feels a little cold. One of them said to me "Shut the door on the way out" which was a bit uncalled for as I don't think we'd been in the class room for more than 3 minutes. I must remember to scowl at her next time we go.

When I picked him up I was told that he had an ok morning but didn't interact with the teachers or kids at all. At reading time he sat by himself and at snack time he was on his own. She said he likes to have a choice and then go be by himself. That just breaks my heart. It also makes me a little mad since the whole point of pre-k is to gradually introduce him to social situations and I don't like the idea of giving him a choice to go and be by himself. We're only two weeks into this though so I obviously have to give it more time.

Jack has play-dates with school friends tomorrow and their mums are coming. Yea! More people I don't know to entertain. Sigh. And the forecast says rain so that's 6 kids and 2 adults in the house with me for at least an hour. Please let the kids be nice. I've had my fill of non-disciplined kids this last couple of weeks. I have taken to boycotting the local parks now & again just to give my blood pressure a rest because the parents drive me nuts. I met a history professor (from England actually) that was complaining to me that his son slapped a girl and her mum discliplined him. He thought that the mum was out of line but he gave up looking for sympathy when he saw my face.

This would all be much more tolerable if I had a glass of wine in hand right now but I'm off the wine for now - trying to be healthy. Health"ier" I should say since I just ate a tube of Smarties after dinner (thanks English family!)

And the cat, Tutz, continues to poo in odd places. Basement windowsill today. That's 4 times in the last week. I'm going to cut her nails, groom her, clean out her litter tray and try to pay her more attention and if that doesn't work then I might just have to send her away and have her made into a nice muff for winter.

Impromptu is the Best

2011-09-24T19:53:00.005-05:00

I love impromptu moments. They are always the most enjoyable and fun. This particular one was a 3.5 hour outside play-date and picnic by chance. If you had asked me if I wanted to play outside for close to four hours I'd have said no way (housework and far too much stuff to do) but it was great to just enjoy the time with friends and kids. I just enjoyed the moment, which I do not do 99% of the time, and it was lovely.

My Hubby the Confidence Builder

2011-09-24T12:04:00.003-05:00

At soccer this morning Jack nearly scored three goals, which is a major turn-around from previous weeks. He does great in practice but then doesn't have the confidence to get stuck in and get the ball during games. He actually didn't like playing games because of this. This past week Craig took him to the park for a couple of hours to try and get him a bit more used to it and it really made a difference. At the end of the game today he said he was sorry that it was over. Nice job hubby!

This boy will have no problem getting stuck in during games. If he wants that ball he'll just dive right in and take it! I can't wait until I can get him signed up for games.

On the way home Jack said again that he can't wait until Monday so he can start being student of the week at school. When I asked if he'll get to lead the color parade on Friday he said with genuine passion "oh yeahhhhhhh". I think it's the best thing that's ever happened to him in his life.

Tough Week

2011-09-23T22:19:00.017-05:00

What a week!

Tuesday was nuts. After taking Jack to school and Danny to school and then going home to walk Cody, I finally got in my car to go to work and halfway there got a call that Daniel had "had a bowel movement and you must come back and change him", so I did an illegal u-turn and swore like a sailor all the way back to pre-K. He was happy to see me so I can't be mad at him but I do wish he'd embrace the whole toilet training concept. When I finally got to work I managed another hour before they called back and informed me that Daniel would absolutely NOT do lunch. So back I went, after picking Linda up first. Then when I walked into my kitchen Tutz had crapped all over the window seat. You can imagine the language out of my mouth I'm sure. Linda must have thought I'd finally lost my marbles when I took a picture of the window seat and sent it to Craig with the message "I am DONE!" I seriously considered giving her away that day but thankfully that moment has passed. That was a bad day though.

Wednesday wasn't much better. First off I locked me & Danny out of the house when we took Jack to school, then I went to Lake Erie for work and forgot my purse so spent all day with no money. That sucked as I couldn't buy food & drink and I worried that a policeman might pull me over and go nuts on me for driving a state car with no ID. I got home at 6.15pm and had a The Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) meeting at 6.30pm. The PTA meeting was a bit weird. Telling maybe. There are 206 students at Jack's school and only about 14 people were there at the meeting and 4 of them were brand new, like me. That does not give me confidence that the parents like the current PTA committee. Is the PTA committee clicky maybe? Closed to new ideas maybe? In the "any other business" thing at the end I mentioned a new Facebook page that's all about our local schools and the PTA President said she hated Facebook and also said (and I sort-of quote) "I don't care that people went to Bob Evans for dinner! Why do people say that? I don't care. Facebook is for stupid people". This was after at least two of us parents had said we used Facebook. So I'm thinking these PTA women are clicky, resisting change and totally not open to social networking, which is just ignorant. Social networking is not going away and if anything is going to become more helpful and more important as a way of interacting with people and getting your message out.

While I was enduring the PTA, Craig had to take the boys to soccer with no snacks when it was our turn to take snacks. I was trying not to stress about it but poor Craig did and was late for practice so he could buy some. He's a good sport. And Jack scored his first goal!

Thursday Daniel did great at pre-k and, according to his teacher Mrs N. "sat on the rug at story time, danced and used the potty" Yea! Maybe he won't get expelled after all.

Today our Jack (drum roll...) was made "Student of the week" at kindergarten so next week he gets to sit in the comfy chair at reading time, he gets to lead the color procession and be a leader all week. He's so excited and can't wait to sit in that chair. 'I can hardly stand it!" he told me tonight of the wait until Monday. I asked him why he was chosen and he said "I didn't hit anyone and I was quiet in the hallway and didn't sit on my knees and raised my hand when I wanted to talk. And I didn't go to the Principal's office". I'm so happy for him. He's loving school and his confidence is blooming.

And finally, me & Craig are ok but exhausted. It was Craig's first week in his new job and that's exciting but yesterday he got the spare tyre knicked of the back of his Jeep so he didn't sleep last night he's so fed-up about it. That's another $300 expense we could have done without. Bow hunting season starts this weekend though so I'm going to push him into the woods on Sunday to go and get some Craig time.

I'm ok too, really. I'm actually much happier and smiley than I sound on this blog post! I just had a mad busy week at work and my feet are still killing me. I've been saying I'll go to the Docs since Christmas last year and I need to do it. Yeah right. God I sound depressing don't I? Sorry. It's been a tough week. I hate to write blogs like this but this week has been hard.

Let me think of a happy highlight...

Jack will take part in a parade in a couple of weeks and he's learning a song at school. All night tonight I've heard him singing "Baby you're a firework!" by Katie Perry, which is hilarious to watch. I'm going to embed the video in this blog purely so he can practice (I promised him I'd have a video of it tomorrow morning)

After a good night's sleep and a weekend off work I'll be okay again. Back to my old cheery self.

Little bit of Opera

2011-09-22T23:09:00.009-05:00

I was sat having a glass of wine with my summer helper Tom (from England) a few weeks ago and we talked about music and he said he loved opera and I said I didn't. Then he said that he just picks songs from films that he loves and gets that one and before you know it, you love Opera. No one has ever said that before - that you can just like a song. I always felt like I had to embrace the whole thing or be naught.

So, I have two opera songs from films that I love but this is definitely my favourite so my only post (the next one later maybe). I have loved this film for 20 years called "A Room with a View". Helena Bonham Carter and Julian Sands have the best kiss ever in a movie. Ever. If any of you can find a better kiss then tell me about it.

And the music building up to and during the kiss is...

A Laugh I Love

2011-09-22T13:22:00.006-05:00

Daniel has a great laugh. Here's just a snippet ...

Please Excuse the Stink

2011-09-18T20:25:00.005-05:00

We've had a great weekend. Busy as usual with cook-outs and gardening and trying to clean the house at the same time as amusing two children. Someone told me recently that some good advice they were given as a parent was "raise children, not grass" in reference to to making the most of the kids and not worrying about the lawn. That would be perfectly okay except that I'm not just a neat-freak but I actually LOVE gardening. I am at my happiest when I'm stuck into a gardening project or just pottering about with my secateurs.

I might have pushed things a bit far this time though. On Friday I took a days vacation and went to the local sewage plant to get biosolid compost and then we (err, Craig) spread it over the back lawn. It will do wonders for my lawn I know, but good grief it stinks like poo. Which is what it is actually so why am I surprised? On Saturday we had English friends over for a cook-out and we had to set it up outside of the garden proper and still, as you ate your sausage or took a sip of wine, as gust of wind would come though and waft a foul smell and we'd all go quiet. I apologised at least 10 times and they politely insisted they couldn't smell anything "No, really, can't smell a thing, honest". We English are extraordinarily polite. My American friends would have said "Damn woman, what have you guys been feeding the dog?"

So the smell is still here, two days on. Might last a good week and will surely shock the postman tomorrow. Can't open some windows and both kids and the dog are barred from the back yard for at least a week. But my lawn will look gorgeous next spring!

Loving Cliff!

2011-09-15T20:34:00.008-05:00

In contrast to Daniel's despair at going to school, our Jack has taken to it like a duck to water. He loves the social aspect and the chance to make friends with kids and teachers. Tonight he did a rendition of his music class this afternoon, complete with musical actions "jump up and down and all around, you're all in the show!" It was like watching someone practice for a play. He has a best friend every day and tells me who got sent to the principals office. He usually helps me pack his lunch too. I hope Danny gets to love it as much.

On Fridays Jack gets to take something for show & tell, so he's taking a toy London bus tomorrow and made me put the You Tube "Summer Holiday" clip on again so he could sing along. I do get a big kick out of my 5-year old's love of Cliff Richard (the American equivelant would be Buddy Holly maybe). It makes me feel like things are coming full circle because he likes songs that I loved as a kid.

I'm hoping his connection to England will be embraced by his friends at school, and not considered weird. Adults all seem to love England but who knows how 5 year olds think!

It Can Only Get Better, Right?

2011-09-15T11:31:00.000-05:00

It can only get better. That is what I'm going to tell myself.

This morning, Danny's 2nd day at pre-school, he was distraught. He refused to wear his name badge, cried hysterically and tried to bolt from the room several times and then sobbed for most of the time there. There was some respite when they took him to the rumpus room but then he got hysterical again. When I went back to get him he was shell-shocked, with a blotchy face and what I suspect was some sick down the front of his sweatshirt. His teacher looked like she'd had a rough morning and just said "It will get better, day by day" and she handed him off to me.

On the way home he sat looking out of the window and didn't say a word. He looked like he was in shock. Poor little lad.

I don't know how to make this better for him & I'm dreading next Tuesday already. Where's Mary Poppins when you need her.

Danny's First Day at Pre-K

2011-09-13T20:19:00.005-05:00

Danny had his first day at pre-school today and I was a little nervous. He hasn't been in a day-care situation since he was nine months old so I didn't know how he'd react to other adults looking after him. I've been building him up about how great and fun it will be and it all seemed well as we were leaving the house.

Once we got in his room he got stuck into the toys and actually played with another little boy a bit and interacted with one teacher a tiny bit. There are a set of triplet girls in his class that are just gorgeous and I met another mum that I got on well with. So all was well and then parents got asked to go to the parlour for a meeting with the centre director for 1/2 an hour while the kids stayed with their new teachers. As we started to leave the room, the 3 girls just started bawling and one boy's lip started quivering and I looked over at Danny apprehensively but he had his back to me playing on a magnetic board so I snook out. I felt so bad that I didn't tell him I'd be back, but I also didn't want to get him riled up.

When I got back to the room it was bizarre. He was stood by the big window, looking out, with his back to the room. He had his hands clenched and hanging down by his sides and his head was set far down, almost touching his chest. The pose he has when he's really mad or upset. I scooped him up and he said "and there's my sticker!" and pointed to his crumpled-up name badge on the floor. I desperately wanted to ask his teachers what had happened but the next group of new parents and kids were coming in so we left.

I tried to get him to carry his new bag and let me take his picture but he was not a happy camper at all, so this is my best shot..

As soon as got went into the school playground he was a different boy of course and back to his cheery self.
A lot of people have asked me how it went but I don't know really. He didn't cry but he wasn't happy. Not happy at all. He can be very shy at first and isn't a social butterfly with anyone except those closest to him (in contrast to Jack who wants to be everybody's friend). I knew he wouldn't interact too much but I didn't think he'd be unhappy or mad - like I think he was when I got back to the room. Time will help I know. I just need to give him time.

Stuff & Nonsense

2011-09-12T19:55:00.012-05:00

I feel like there's lots of little things to do an update on today.

Firstly and most importantly, my friend that had cancer surgery has been told that it was at stage 1 and she doesn't need chemo - so that's a huge relief. She posted recently about food worries then we went and met tonight at the park after having both eaten HUGE amounts of pasta for dinner and we both just wanted to lie down and rub our bellies. I do wish I could be satisfied with a salad and a glass of water instead of pasta & wine!

Next, suddenly we're all so busy. Not just with hectic work stuff but with soccer practice, soccer games, swimming, doctors appointments and open evenings. I have so many schedules stuck to my fridge that I've run out of magnets and am having to double up. I hate the mess of it but find myself letting it go. Where once I was regimental about cleaning, now I can step over a lump of sticky stuff on the floor and not bat an eyelid. And I've started wearing vests around the house and tying my hair up. Good lord I'm turning into a slob aren't I? If you ever see me wearing a house coat give me a good shake.

Tomorrow will be nuts. It's Danny's first day at pre-school so my first attempt at getting them both out of the house dressed, fed and clean by 8am. I'm already half-panicked about it and hope I can keep my cool. It's that time of year when I have my windows open so I would hate for neighbours and passers-by to hear me ranting like a sailor every morning. I once asked my immediate neighbours if they could hear me and they said "No, but we worry that you can hear us too!" So wish me luck on my morning runs.

Jack is doing great at Kindergarten and told me proudly today that he was the table captain. His table are called the "Blue Unicorns". (I typed Blue Leprechauns at first and thought who in their right mind calls kids after little scary freaks? I had to go and check a note on the fridge and realised my mistake!) One thing I have been a bit surprised about is the homework which he's had almost every night. It seems a little extreme after 6.5 hours of school every day but I'm jollying him along and he seems to like it.

A few last things - I was upset to hear that Andy Whitfield died this past weekend. Craig and I loved the Spartacus series and it's so sad that he died so young.

We watched "Paul" this weekend and it was great - very entertaining! It's a comedy with the Sean of the Dead cast about them rescuing an alien from Area 51. In keeping with the alien theme, I gave up on my historical book about area 51. It just got too political and technical and, let's face it boooooring. I can accept the theory that the Roswell crash was a disk-like aircraft from Stalin's Russia that contained "beings" bred in Mengele's lab. Seems far more feasible to me than little green men. I'd like to say I garnished a bit more from the book than that but it was far too boring to read. Sorry.

Innis Woods & Craig's New Job

2011-09-11T15:20:00.004-05:00

We took the lads to Innis Woods Metro Park today. I am ashamed that I've lived here for 12 years and only just went today. And I could kick myself because it's wonderful, with all kinds of gorgeous gardens and things for the kids to see and do. How can we not have been before?

It seemed like the perfect thing to do today, on the anniversary of the 9/11 attack. I wanted to do something low-key and quiet. Plus, we watched some of the live tv this morning but it upset me too much so I'm glad we got out of the house. It's hard to believe that ten years have gone by so quickly isn't it.

It's a big day from Craig tomorrow as he starts his new job. Same place but a bigger and better job and more money. And he gets paid every two weeks so the last week of the month doesn't need to be quite so stressful! He'll get 3 paychecks in December. How great is that! We are both over the moon about it, not just because of the money but he'll be working with someone he really likes and doing something new.

Loving that Rumpus Room

2011-09-08T22:23:00.007-05:00

Danny does not start pre-school until next week but tonight we took him for the open house where he met his teachers (hereafter to be known as Mrs J and Mrs N) and he got to play with stuff and go to the big indoor rumpus room*. When we left he broke his heart. Good grief will it be this easy next week? Will he love it and not be a looney when I leave?

Jack & Me Today

2011-09-07T20:06:00.009-05:00

Where do I start? Maybe with Jack.

He had a full day at school and then a trip to his pediatrician (Dr. S.) for his 5-year check-up and kindergarten vaccines (I forgot to do this ahead of time and had to be reminded rather sternly by his school nurse, whom I showed the same fear that I did my own school nurse 35 years ago!) So he had two jabs in each arm and a flu spray up the nose. SIX MEDICINES he kept telling me on the way home (the spray counts as two seeing as she sprayed up each nostril he informed me). Luckily the lady at the desk let him have a spiderman sticker on the way out of he may never have gone back. So here are his 5-year statistics:

He weighs 50 lbs (is in the 90%ile)

He's 46.5" tall (is in the 95%ile)

As usual he talked Dr. S's ear off about school and superheroes and private matters ("Daniel won't ever eat food!") but he did great and only cried a little bit when he got the 4 jabs. I told him he was a brave lad.

Then Dr. S. asked me if I had any concerns and I have one that might seen silly but it's been weighing on my mind for as long as I knew I needed to get him these injections. When he had a jab this time last year, the week after he got HSP. So I'm nervous that these vaccines will trigger it again. Dr. S. had a niece that also got it last year and she said she researched the link between vaccines and HSP and there's only one slight mention but that Jack didn't get that particular vaccine. And then she also said what I know anyway - that the medical field has no idea what triggers HSP. Well like I said, I feel a bit silly about it all since I have friends going through a lot worse worry that this kind of thing right now.

So anyway, after a full day of school and then injections, Jack had soccer practice in the rain and then homework. That seems like too much to me. He's only five! He did get his soccer strip tonight though (ready for his first real game this weekend!). His strip is black & white. They are, after all, The Penguins!

My day was bonkers as usual. Got up at 5 am, drove 3 hours to South Point, (which is a pretty little town on the Ohio River) and did some work then drove back. I love driving through SE Ohio, especially along the river. It's sad to see how bad some people have it, living in the hills, but just the most gorgeous scenery. Bittersweet would be the word. Best of all about these trips, I get a bit of alone time to energise my thoughts for work, daydream about opportunity and plan. I love it.

One thing I did do today was go into Kohl's and buy a $50 pair of Levis jeans that I LOVE LOVE LOVE. Then Linda asked me if I had lost weight and Craig said I looked lovely. I haven't spent $50 on a pair of jeans in 5 years (age of Jack - not a coincidence I feel) And you know what - it feels great. I'm not feeling guilty at all. Gulp.

Another Little Leap of Independence

2011-09-06T08:02:00.009-05:00

Jack can have free breakfast at school but hasn't been doing so far. This morning however he decided that he would, so off we went a little earlier than usual so that he'd have time for a bite to eat before the tardy bell went off at 8.25am (I do love the name "tardy bell" by the way, as we just used the name "school bell" when I was a kid in England).

As we neared the lunch room I could see he was getting a bit nervous and he did a little grab of my sleeve and looked at me imploringly, so I told him that Danny & I would stand near him until he got his food. I was watching him as he stood in line, getting more and more agitated knowing that he'd have to tell the lunch lady what he wanted and he was wringing his little hands by the time she asked him. But he got himself a muffin and a juice box and punched in his number in the machine and off we went, looking for a pal to sit next to.

He spied 3 boys sitting together and he approached them and I was nervous too by this point thinking "please say hi to him!" and then they made room for him, right in the middle of the bench and he squeezed in and one boy said "Hi Jack!" and he looked at me and smiled so I whispered "bye" and we left. I was in bits the whole way back and had to fight off tears. What a brave boy he was and how great that he has friends. I have a feeling that my morning time with him just got a bit shorter and I'm glad for him but sad for me.

Sibling Rivalry

2011-09-05T13:55:00.002-05:00

Last Friday night we had yet another trip to Children's Hospital urgent care after the boys were wrestling and Danny got a dislocated elbow. The doctor got it popped back in and he's perfectly okay, but it certainly didn't tame the rambunctious behaviour like I hoped it would. Bickering and tussling are par for the course in my house. It's got so bad now that if we buy them anything (toys, food, clothes) we have to buy them the same thing or they'll spend hours squabbling. They even stake a claim on drinking cups while I'm filling them up!

I'm sure this is normal but gosh it's draining. More than anything I want my boys to be best friends and take care of one another through life but right now they can't even share a plate of cheese and crackers. They are both vocal and independent and maybe that's why they won't give an inch.

I wonder when the bickering stops? Hopefully before my sister and me - I think we were in our teens before we actually liked each other!

The Piece de Resistance

2011-09-04T21:10:00.006-05:00

After another busy day, Craig goes to the shops about 5.30pm and I am with the kids, intent on doing laundry and finally getting round to bisselling the front room carpet & couch, when my friend Michelle phoned and said she was at the park with her kids - so we all stopped our current doings and left to go and join them. And I also took Cody along.

It was lovely to see them, and me and Michelle had a good chat about her recent surgery for cancer which she has blogged about. Jack & Lauren were off doing their thing and Danny & Michael were chums. It's great to watch them all. Then it all wet bonkers. Cody had 3 poos and I had no proper bags and he was pulling on his lead then Danny started being a nightmare (tired) and had a potty training incident in his pants, then Jack had some kind of domestic with his buddy Lauren, and so it was time to go home. Me & Michelle hugged and said see-you-soon and off I went home, hoping Craig was back from shopping.

When I got home I ignored Cody begging for a treat and Jack wanting 100% of my attention and took Danny in the office to the changing table. I was sweating and all kerflustered and wanting to just have some peace. I'm sure you know the feeling. THEN I took his undies off and as I pulled them down over his knees they twisted and did a catapult thing and a little ball of poo hit me in the cheek! And I laughed because it actually brought the whole thing into perspective and actually it just made me laugh for no reason. Having a ball of poo fired at you isn't as bad as you think, honest.

An End of Summer Saturday

2011-09-03T22:52:00.005-05:00

Good grief I'm tired. It was my turn to get up this morning with the kids and they chose to make it a nice early rise then terrorised me for a couple of hours.

Then I went and stood on the sidelines of a football game for 4 hours in 100 degree weather and thought I was going to die. Seriously. Especially because I had on long pants and proper shoes with socks. When I got home I was nearly purple-coloured with the heat stroke.

So we took the kids to the local outdoor pool and swam from 6-8pm tonight and it was WONDERFUL. All the stress of today just blew away.

Then we got home and finally got the kids to bed and then the electric went off.

Then it came back on & we watched a film and it was ok. A Bourne rip-off at best.

Now Craig is collapsed in bed and I'm not far behind. Just one more glass of wine to unwind and I must stroke Tutz (who's sitting beside me) as she's been a complete basket-case since we went on holiday and if I don't show her attention she's likely to go off and crap in a bizarre place that I won't find for a couple of days (really - that's what she's doing right now. It's like hide and seek with cat poo). Sigh.

Thank goodness it's a long weekend for Labor Day!

Danny being a cannon-ball and Jack doing handstands ...

September 11 - What will you do?

2011-08-30T22:41:00.008-05:00

All this week National Geographic Channel is playing documentaries about 9/11. I cannot believe it's the 10-year anniversary - can you?

And what will you do for it ? (I haven't decided yet..)

Jack's School & My Friend

2011-08-28T20:23:00.015-05:00

I said I'd post a bit more about Jack's school, so here goes.

It's a special education elementary school and 50% of the student population are special education students with physical challenges. The rest are neighbourhood kids (like Jack) or picked from a lottery. It's a very good and therefore popular school, so the parents I've met so far from the lottery system seems really happy to be there. Jack's kindergarten class is small. There are two other special ed. kindergarten classes and they all come together for music, art, recess, sharing (show & tell) and any other activity they can. As the Principal told all of us on the first day, integration is sought at every turn and they operate as a family. Sounds great to me! One of the kids in his class used to be at the same child care place as Jack 3 1/2 years ago but I don't think they'll become best buds. Jack is drawn to boisterous and confident people (aren't we all?) so I'm waiting to see who that best friend might be. I hope it's not the son of the woman I sat next to who was as warm and pleasant as a snake. Or maybe a rat. I haven't quite sussed her yet but she was a piece of work and very rude to the teacher.

My gut feeling is that Jack will love his school, love his teacher but hate the "work" and it will be a challenge for me to make it fun. We have done his homework okay this weekend but I think by 5th grade he'll leave me behind in maths. He'll be asking me basic questions and I'll have to feign deafness. If you have any better excuses please do let me know.

There's something else going on today that I want to say. A good friend of mine has surgery tomorrow to remove a tumour. Can you please pray, or send good vibes or just think about her tomorrow? Her name is Michelle and she's a good egg. She a great mum, wife and friend and one of the nicest people I know. Thanks.

Big Day for Jack, Long Day for Me

2011-08-24T20:37:00.004-05:00

Today feels like one of those days where you can't believe what you did first thing in the morning happened on the same day because it seems so long ago.

It was Jack's first day at school. He's a kindergartner & took to it like a duck to water. Before he fell asleep tonight he whispered in my ear that the school library has a fish tank with a frog in it and he says his best part of the day was making friends. Bless. When I have a bit more time I'll talk about some of his classmates a bit more, including one kid he use to be with at a babysitter's house years ago. Other parents seem nice and his teacher Mrs C seems too good to be true. I am VERY happy with his school - it's small and has a family atmosphere.

Tonight we had his first soccer practice of the season, so more new friends for him

Maybe his team will win a game this year. Go Penguins!

So I just worked for two hours to get ready for something in Danville, Indiana tomorrow and now I'm off to bed. Tonight was marred by two crappy things that happened. One is my doing and involves me continuing to be a doormat to someone, and the second involves a good friend finding out today that she has cancer.

So now I'm off to Bedfordshire and I hope tomorrow brings good things. I couldn't be prouder of Jack, particularly when he told me that he sat next to a shy kid at lunch. I think he'll like school a lot.

There's Changes on the Horizon

2011-08-22T21:59:00.010-05:00

It's countdown to school for the boys! Jack starts kindergarten on Wednesday and seems nonplussed by the whole thing but I think it's a front. I told him I would stay with him for a while and he seemed calmed by that. We'll see. I think I have all the paperwork and school supplies ready and I can't wait to meet his teacher, Mrs C. I think at this point I'm more excited than him though.

Daniel starts pre-school mid September so tonight Craig and I sat down and filled out all of his paperwork. When it asked what his interests and activities are, Craig suggested I write "biting and whacking people with sticks". Good grief don't let him get expelled. He's a good boy is our Danny. Very loving, shy and loyal to his family (already!). But God help you if you take his toy away or try and make him do something he doesn't want to do. Like they will in school. Sigh...

The other thing I'm nervous about is that he isn't really potty-trained yet and they'll let a wet pull-up go for a couple of hours but will ring me to come and get him if he has a #2. I wonder how long that will last before it gets really old for them and for me? He's making small baby-steps in the potty training department.

Anyway, less of the me being a nervous ninny about school and more about a fun birthday party Jack went to recently where they had a Captain Jack Sparrow look-alike there to entertain the kids. It was GREAT! Jack totally believed it and when we left he asked me if Captain Jack had sailed his boat down the river in front of the birthday party house. Then he said "I thought he was pretend until I saw his sword and gun and then I knew he was real and I was so frightened but also it was great". He's not the only one. Many of us mums followed Captain Jack about too, mostly in awe of how much he looked like Johnny Depp!

So my next post will probably be on Wednesday. Jack's first day in kindergarten. Sorry to sound like a cliche but really - where did the last 5 years go??

Surrounded by Fish

2011-08-11T22:23:00.017-05:00

I've had a bit of a dry spell with blogging this past 8 days. Last week was crazy though - it was my first week back after my holiday and our babysitter was on holiday so I had to juggle kids and work and it was our two big field days at work. Then I was stuck to the telly watching the events unfold with the riots in England. I'm not going to offer my opinion on it any more than to say that last time I went home (2008) things seemed really bleak for young people and I'm sure it's got worse with the economy the way it is. I asked Craig why we probably wouldn't see that here since there is extreme poverty here too - and he said "because they have opportunities here".

Anyway, this weekend was good. Relaxing & low-key. Our neighbours had a yard sale and I ended up buying a fish tank for Jack for $5. Then I bought a tank hood, light, gravel, ornaments, plants, water conditioner, food and fish and dropped another $60! The salesman would have sold me a puppy too if I hadn't have had to leave the shop to meet someone. And so - meet goldfish Bert & Ernie and sucker Garrett. Garrett is Jack's fish - named after the friend he met on holiday.

The info label at the fish shop informed me that goldfish get to 12 inches long. Really? That's a humongus goldfish and I'm fairly sure I've never seen one that big. Mind you, most of my goldfish experiences involve fishing dead ones out after a few days and flushing then down the loo.

Talking of fish - this little boy is fearless and will jump into 6-ft. water with no problem. Today we went to visit Debbie & Lynn and they took us to their neighbour's pool and Danny scared me to death. I had to give him a time-out to stop him running to the deepest part of the pool and jumping in. If I can't touch the bottom there's no way he's jumping in there! I don't remember Jack being like this at all as he hated having his head under water until this year.

Jack's swimming is coming along great-guns. His confidence has soared since the holiday at the lake in Michigan and he's diving, snorkling and swimming in deep water with no worries (with floaties of course). I think both of my boys are becoming little fish which I'm glad about, particularly as I'm such a wimp in deep water.
This week it is mine & Craig's 15th wedding anniversary - the crystal anniversary. When I told Craig that he said he'd try and score us both some crystal meth. Smart arse. We have no plans yet but I hope a ring is in the offing because my wedding ring cracked & broke today! It is currently sat on the kitchen cabinet, leaving my finger feeling bare and weird. In my ring's defense, it cost $10 fifteen years ago so it has served me well. The local jeweler offered to repair it for $30 or sell me a white gold version for $999. I think I'll look for another plain silver band thank you very much.

Last Day: Memorable to say the least!!!

2011-08-06T21:01:00.024-05:00

Last day at Camp Bonkers!

Our day started at 3am with Daniel stood inches from my nose crying "snakes" because of a nightmare so I spent 30 minutes trying to get him to bed, and then Craig did, but we finally gave up & got Daniel in bed with me and Craig with Jack. Jack's room was too hot though so poor Craig slept on the couch.

At 9.50am when we all woke (really!) we had two families knocking at our cabin door - the kids and mum that we have made friends with and the Amish mum and her six kids. I was still wearing sleep stuff, hadn't brushed my teeth and had hair like Ken Dodd, but had to host 11 people! Melissa (mum to kids I like) just said "hi" and left two of her boys to play with Jack but the Amish mum walked in and said "Can we hang out? I want to see the cabin" and proceeded to do a tour of the cabin while she tried her best to be polite but failed on many occasions. It was BIZARRE and Craig was cooking breakfast with his spatula in the frying pan and his mouth half open, just blown away by how crazy the Amish lady was. I felt a bit sorry as I think she wanted to come over for a bit of company but I wasn't feeling too hospitable seeing as I hadn't any underwear on.

So anyway. The day just got better from there. While were were swimming this afty, I heard a massive argument going down at the main office and we haven't seen our favourite person, Barb, since. They were all getting ready for the chili cook-off and pig roast tonight so they were all stressed and I didn't like to bother them.

Tonight we went to the chili cook-off and I was a judge! Thank goodness I had Steve, a local chef, to help me because first prize was 1 years rent at the campsite (about $1,100 value!) I think I did okay and really enjoyed doing it. Craig and the boys hung out and did horse and cart rides and then we all ate the pig roast and goat roast. Which brings me to the goat ...

I might have said in a previous post that they had a petting zoo here? Well they had a goat called Butter who was a bit of a character.

That ended up on the grill tonight.

And then in Craig's tummy. Really.

After the devouring of poor Butter, Craig and the kids and I went on a walk-about and met a new group of people outside a camper, very drunk, that dragged us over & who I shall refer to as: a nice, down-trodden woman called Jonnie (who did the dragging), her 5 nice daughters aged 3-16, a tolerable husband wearing a U of M t-shirt, a dim-witted woman drinking whisky who thought she rocked, a skinny man drinking bloody Mary's, a skinnier man drinking mountain Dew & who knows what, and an obnoxious man at the end of the campfire group that pissed me off so much that I'm still have daydreams of meeting him in England one day, taking him into a pub and telling my countrymen what he said. He said something vile but he also made himself look like a right idiot. When he found out I was from England he said "I'm going to start an IRA group here" and when his friend asked why he said "because I'm Scottish". Like I said, idiot. Thank God Craig had gone to get drinks from our cabin because if he'd have heard him say what he said then he'd have probably said something.

On our way back to our cabin I asked a couple of camp ground workers if we'd see Barb before we left in the morning and they said no - she left today. I asked if that was the skirmish was about - they said yes. I now I know why her daughter came by and got the dvds she had lent to the boys. They called her on the cell phone and our boys said goodbyes and thank you (they really liked her) and I could tell she was crying.

So, we have yet to check-out in the morning. There might be more campground politics, crazy people,or dead goats before then. Who knows! If something happens to us before we check out, please look for a fat guy in a black vest and handle-bar mustache who supports the IRA but is Scottish and, when I last saw him, was driving DUI to the shop for more vodka.

In the meantime, we are going out (me, Craig and Jack) to enjoy our camp fire with the coloured flames (Barb gave us a few packets of wonder dust!). We have had a FABULOUS holiday. The boys had loved it and my only low point is not the cleanliness or the rustic nature or any of that - it's the loss of Barb and that dick tonight that glorified the IRA.

Would I come back? We would have done - until tonight.

Day 6: Swimming with Mrs Ingalls

2011-08-05T21:11:00.006-05:00

This morning I went swimming with the lady in the smock and tevas. She was of course completely mad as a hatter and very hard to communicate with but she's on her own with the kids. Her husband is with her but he's off fishing all the time while she brings six children to swim in the lake aged 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12. That kind of stress is enough to bring me out in a rash but she doesn't seem to mind. Her husband must be elated to have found her.

After swimming we went to get ice cream again and Daniel ate his messily, covering himself and all the cafe furniture and floor and then asking for another. It's a nice shop and unbelievably busy which is amazing in this county. I saw Lake County recently listed as the number 1 ghost town in the USA and I can see why. We think about 80% of the businesses we've seen so far have been closed and there are abandoned houses everywhere. It's heartbreaking what's happening to places like this that relied on tourism.

Anyway, tonight we did our bit for the local economy and went to Ludington downtown festival.

Tomorrow is our last full day and we've got lots planned. Swimming in the morning of course which has been our routine. We're all going to miss that.

Day 5: Fun but Challenging Day

2011-08-04T22:44:00.010-05:00

Today was ok. We couldn't go rafting because the river was too fast & full for Danny (ring back tomorrow) so we found a family "fun" center with video arcades that didn't work, teenage attendants that were useless, go-karts that bored Jack and terrified Danny and putt-putt in 90 degree weather. And then the kids started acting up by fighting and yelling. Craig said maybe they should call it the family stress center and I'd have to agree. By the time we left I sat in the car with the AC running full-blast on my face and told the kids to leave me alone for 5 minutes or mummy was going to go ballistic. Actually I went ballistic at them in the "family fun center" which made Craig laugh at me. I guess it is ironic.

Back at the campsite it was ohhhhh, unwind. More swimming & chatting with lovely people. I am also recently friends on facebook with one of the families we met. This campsite is unbelievable friendly! The office manager, Barb, has asked me to judge the chili cook-off with her this weekend. I said yes but have no idea what to do. How does one rate a chili bean?

Another big family arrived with 6 kids that Jack is intent on befriending but Craig told me he couldn't understand why their mum wouldn't interact with him at the lake beach. I met them tonight at the play area and they are Amish - so no wonder she didn't engage Craig too much. The kids seemed nice but the mum was nuts. She might just well be scribbling the same thing about me in her journal. Every time I asked her a polite question she was a tad rude and evasive but then she'd jump in my face and ask the most personal questions about us. And she was wearing Ma Ingalls home-made frock with top of the range North Face Teevas which I know I shouldn't find weird but I did. Anyway, our Jack is intent on making best friends with her kids so I'll have to hang out with her tomorrow for a bit. Maybe I'll scare her off by telling her about my shady past and showing her my tattoos.

*The picture is of me and Jack telling ghost stories tonight around the campfire. I scared myself never mind him. Now where is my mace?

Michigan: Day 4 Belongs to Jack

2011-08-03T23:43:00.003-05:00

Today belonged to Jack.

He met 3 brothers aged 6-10 and he played with them until 11.30 tonight. Swimming, boating, fishing, and finally making smores on a campfire. He has had a huge grin on his face all day. AND he swam with them out into the middle of the lake to jump off the floating dive board - 3 times!

They were great boys with great names. I told their mum, Melissa, that my boys were inadvertently named after whisky (Jack Daniel) and she said her boys were famous wild west gangs: James, Garrett and Dolton.

My favourite thing about today? Jack asked Craig as they were jumping off the raft and having fun - Daddy, is this real or am I dreaming?

Michigan: Day 2 & Loving it!

2011-08-01T20:50:00.006-05:00

Day two of our vacation was so much better. It was like a switch went off in my head and I felt completely different to how I felt yesterday. We spent three hours this morning messing about in the lake and all four of us had a great time, swimming, fishing, and boating.

This is Danny's new favourite thing to do:

After lunch we went to a local town for some famous handmade ice cream

Then we had a quick jaunt over to the coastal town of Ludington. And by the way, how much trouble do you think 1 blue m&m can get Daniel in to?

Ludington was lovely. It's a quaint town on Lake Michigan that's really kid-friendly so we'll definitely be going back at some point.

Lake Michigan is the 3rd largest of the Great Lakes here in the Midwest (Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie & Superior - spells HOMES in case you ever want to remember it for Trivial Pursuit). It is 22,000 sq. miles (just a few thousand less than the country of Scotland!) And I saw seagulls for the first time in ages, which made me miss home.

So I'm loving it now. I feel a bit foolish and spoilt for not embracing it yesterday but maybe I'm getting a bit picky in my old age. I'm so looking forward to swimming again tomorrow and seeing some more sights. Day two = success!

Michigan Day 1:

2011-07-31T22:04:00.008-05:00

I've waited 6 months for my holiday and this last week Jack and I counted down with eager anticipation. We drove 7 hours to get here - our campsite in Michigan with our 3-bedroom cabin overlooking a lake. I had visions of a busy campsite, bustling with families, and us splashing about in the lake and having fun then coming back to a great cabin (luxurious and deluxe the ad said).

When we got here it was a rude awakening. It's a rustic campsite and there's not many people here. I've seen no families at all and each site is secluded in the woods. And our cabin was dirty. The bathroom bin made me gag (so foul I can't even type it here in case it sets me off again - let's just say it had items in it) and the kitchen needed a damn good scrub. Craig took the boys to the play area while I cleaned and unpacked with an heavy heart and when he got back and asked if I was okay I sat at the kitchen table and cried because I've needed this holiday and I felt like all my expectations had been dashed. I don't normally cry at this kind of thing - I roll my sleeves up & get stuck in and make the best of it, but this one felt like a punch to the stomach because I've looked forward to it so much. Craig said we should leave and head home but then Jack started crying that he wanted to stay and I felt bad.

So here I am. I cleaned the cabin and got to know the lady at the office a bit and she seems nice. Nice but obviously a dirty bugger. When I asked for another fan because it's 85 in the cabin, she gave me a contraption so black and covered in dirt that I had to take the thing apart and bleach it. Then she charged me $3.00 for a special blue trash bag. Maybe I'll ask Cody to leave something "special" behind when we leave. There you are see - got my mojo back!

One bright light - the sunset on the lake tonight was amazingly beautiful and the kids appear to be having a good time. Now if I can just get the doors and windows to lock then I might get a good night's rest.

Area 51 & Yoghurt Trumps!

2011-07-30T20:30:00.015-05:00

We're going on holidays soon and I can't wait. Tonight I sang "We're all going on a summer holiday" at Jack's bedtime and he made me promise that he could meet Cliff Richard one day. I'm laughing as I'm typing this as Cliff Richard is not your normal kid's hero and probably in his late 60's now at least.

I'm taking a GREAT book with me. "Area 51" by Annie Jacobsen. From nuclear testing, to spy plane and aliens (not what you think) - it's all there. It's formed from a collection of interviews and recently unclassified documents. I'm amazed that a lot is still classified in 2011, given that some of this stuff took place in 1946. I mean really, what is still worth protecting 65 years later? The one bummer is that I'm on a 15-day loan from the library and the book is the size of a cereal box so I might not get to it. I'll give you a teaser for the book - the Roswell crash was a Russian aircraft that contained doctored kids from Mengele's lab (German scientists were kidnapped and made to work by America, Britain and Russia in 1945). It was Stalin's way of trying to create hysteria after the "War of the Worlds" hysteria on the radio. Think about it - all the UFO sightings happened just before and during the cold war - right?

Anyway, I'm completely stuck in the book already. Looking forward to our hols and just want to finish with a great video of Danny. God I love this boy....

Pre-Holiday

2011-07-26T20:58:00.006-05:00

Here we are at Char & Jan's cabin at the weekend. We went Friday night and watched a fabulous sunset then Jan and I stayed up until 2, or maybe even 3am (who knows - it's Island time) talking and drinking. We came up with up a solution for the USA 4 trillion debt recovery problem and immigration and social issues. Unfortunately, by the time we awoke the next morning we had forgotten all about it all and so just ate cheesy eggs and potatoes.

This week has been a busy one. I've been to Toledo and Dayton. Craig has some major things going on at work. I don't know if I mentioned this before but our child care lady is doing us all a favour & also looking after our neighbours kids (2 girls) at the same time as Jack & Danny. So every day I have 4 kids in the house going nuts. They can't go out in the garden for too long because it's been 95 (110 with the heat index) most days. So when I get home from work my boys are wound like two springs and ready to PARTY whereas I'm ready to DIE. Jack follows me about saying - pretend you're a bad man or pretend you're a horse or pretend you're a new momma. And I say "Can I pretend I'm an old woman that needs to go and take nap?

And so we are counting down the days until our holidays. My goal is to spend a week not searching for Americana. We are going to Michigan to a cabin with our boys and Cody and we are just going to have a fab time as a family. I can't wait.

Chalk & Cheese

2011-07-19T22:09:00.008-05:00

I was sat in a meeting on Saturday (in Kansas) and I got a voice mail from Craig. Seeing as he knew I was in an important meeting, and seeing as I knew he was down the ravine with the boys throwing rocks into the stream, I understood immediately that it was important and I did my best to exit the room with dignity - but fooled no one. Turned out Danny had flung a rock at Jack's head and there was a lot of blood. We talked, Craig set off for the hospital and I went back in the room holding my phone under the table so I could see texts (I have to say here that 90% of the other people did the same throughout the meeting and I'm assuming that they did not have emergencies going on).

Two minutes later I get the text "He threw up" and I'm thinking that Jack has brain damage, is going to die and I have a moment where I don't know where I am or what to do. Turns out it was okay - a small lump and bruise and the docs said a lot of kids throw up from all the upset. Phew.

Now, Danny loves his brother, idolizes his brother, but thought it was great fun to chuck a rock at him. But in the last couple of months we've been to the ER twice - one with Danny after he slammed into a wall and needed a stitch in his head, and now this. I wonder how Danny is going to make it to adulthood? How am I going to protect my little love from harm when he's so intent on getting into something? He's so loving and friendly but good grief so independent and headstrong and unpredictable. And he'll not be told what to do, but If I'm honest I secretly love that about him. Jack is so eager to please and Daniel is so independent it amazes me every day how they can be so different.

Jack's 5th Slideshow

2011-07-12T00:06:00.004-05:00

I meant to post this last week but I forgot and then it took a day to get it done. So it's a week late, (sorry to my fam in England), but here's Jack's 5th BD slideshow ...

Loving the Local Free Stuff!

2011-07-10T13:03:00.005-05:00

My mum was telling me recently that her local library has closed and that many more are following suit in England. That's really sad. I love where I live because even in tough economic times we have a fantastic library system and local things for the kids to do that's free. For example, just this weekend I took J&D's library forms to the summer reading program at the library and got free passes to a water park, the zoo, colouring books and pencil cases, each chocked full of goodies. I can't imagine what I'd do without my local library.

Then yesterday we met friends at Scioto Mile - our new downtown park complete with splash pad. Danny was a bit scared of it at first but Jack had a great time.

Today we'll probably hit the local outdoor pool - also free. I feel very lucky to have these local places at my fingertips, especially when it's HOT like today (85 degrees). Right now the boys are in our garden pool while I catch up on here (mummy's time out). Craig is on his way back from his annual white-water rafting trip to West Virginia. I've missed him and once again I take my hat off and salute single parents everywhere because having two kids to entertain on your own is tough. I feel like I'm always just one step away from complete insanity.

The Help - Fabulous Book (the film?)

2011-07-07T23:02:00.009-05:00

I just finished The Help by Kathryn Stockett. I bought it at the airport a couple of weeks ago after I'd finished Unbroken and was panicking about having to fly bare-handed. I always have to read when I fly, eat, or have a moment to myself. Always. Sometimes if I only have a few minutes between fights I'll just grab a People magazine, or Life, or National Geographic and whatever else I panic buy. I once bought a Popular Science on a 3 hour flight and nearly chewed my own fingernails off with boredom. Anyway. I was so sad that I'd finished Unbroken that I read about 5 pages of The Help and put it down. No book could compete with Unbroken. I spent the flight trying to sleep and browsing through the airline magazines (why are they so crap??)

When I got home I gave the book to a friend because I was still in love with Unbroken (if I sound like a maniac I'm sorry but sometimes a book gets to me for a while and I need to just have that book in me). My friend told me that she finished it in days and couldn't put it down. So I picked it back up Tuesday this week. And here I am - Thursday night and I finished it. All 522 pages. Couldn't put it down. It made me sad, ashamed, laugh and at the end cry.

It's being released as a film next month as you can see by the trailer below. The trailer, to me, makes it look commercial and girly and not as meaningful as the book. I hope that's not the case when I go and see it. It does, however, capture the women's personalities perfectly.

Happy 5th Birthday Sunshine

2011-07-04T16:26:00.005-05:00

Yesterday was Jack's 5th birthday and I made somewhat of a big deal about it, with a party and lots of presents and fun things to do all week. It feels like a big deal though. He's FIVE and going to start school in a couple of months and I don't know where all that time went.

Our Jack is such a good lad. I never have to worry about how he'll treat other kids and other people and he's kind to our dog. His brilliant imagination defines him and he's going to do so well with other kids at school. Within minutes of being with other kids they are the best of friends, running about playing tigers, or cowboys or super heroes. My only worry about kindergarten is that he chatters constantly and can't sit still, but if those are his only challenges then I think that's ok.

My hope for Jack this next twelve months is that he enjoys school, that he builds his confidence up a bit and that he continues to have a strong and close relationship with his brother and with us. Most of all, I want him to be happy and to laugh. A lot. After all, he's just five.

A Hero & Some Cowboys

2011-06-23T22:18:00.017-05:00

I just finished a historical fiction book that I couldn't put down, about a man from California, Louis Zamperini. When I was finishing the book I found myself in the same location (South Beach airport) as the hero of the book did at the end, and I talked with someone at that same airport who lived in the same town (Torrence) as him. It seems trivial, but to me it's an amazing coincidence. The book is called "Unbroken" by Laura Hillenbrand and I have no doubt it will be made into a film in a couple of years, since the author also wrote "Seabiscuit" which was a big hit. I LOVED this book, especially since it is historical. True life is much more interesting to me than fiction.

Louis Zamperini was the nightmare kid (I picked this book because his early biography reminded me of Daniel) . He was troublesome, headstrong, always looking to make something happen and looking to escape and steal and just cause mayhem. His town thought he'd end up in prison and the local police were always on him. Then he stared running, and he went on to be an Olympic runner in the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin. He could, by all accounts, have broken the 4 minute mile had his life not been taken over.

His life was taken over by World War 2 which saw him endure so much that I cannot believe he is still alive. He was a bombardier on a B-24 plane that crashed into the Pacific, he floated for weeks in shark-infested water with no food or water and he endured 2.5 years as a POW in Japan. For those of you like me that know what happened to POWS in Japan you know what to expect in this book.

I have never, ever known of a man so courageous and so wonderful as Louis Zamperini. I'm glad he's still among us. As I said, I LOVED this book and couldn't put it down. I think about him a lot these days.

So, onto lighter things. My boys are cowboys at the minute. Capturing rustlers and rounding up the bad guys with a yee-haw! It would appear that Daniel has the same fantastic imagination as Jack at this point. I love to see them like this.