Friday, October 31, 2008

Happy Halloween

I can't stop laughing at this! It is too funny.

Monday, October 27, 2008

Life Lessons

Rylee was still lounging in bed this morning when I was getting ready to take my shower. She told me she wanted to take a shower too so I told her to let me know when she was ready. As I was rinsing the shampoo from my hair, I heard her searching through the drawer that holds all the brushes, barrettes, and hair ties. A few minutes later she informs me that she doesn't need a shower because she just put her hair in a ponytail and "without using the brush". She was so proud.

So the lesson I seemed to have instilled in her at some point along this journey is that the only purpose in a shower is to make your hair look good.

Just. Great.

Monday, October 20, 2008

Englightenment on Parenting

Molly and Cody sometimes can get pretty irritated with Rylee. Rylee is definitely learning how to manipulate and tease and she likes to be the one in control (hmmmm wonder where she gets that -don't look at me!). Well Molly got a little dose of what it is like to be the mom this past weekend. And she can't stop thinking about it. Or stop laughing about it.

The first incident was at the house. Molly wanted Rylee to lay down and watch a movie with her. Rylee had her own agenda. But Molly, being Molly, kept asking her, almost pleading with her to lay down and watch the movie. And then the conversation went something like this:

Rylee: Molly look at me. Look at me right now.

Molly looked at her

Rylee: I said no. No means no. Do understand that?

Molly doesn't answer because she's trying so hard not to laugh.

Rylee: Answer me. Molly answer me right now. Do you know what No means?

Rylee: When I say no, I mean no. It does not mean to keep asking. No means no.

Molly finally answers okay and bursts into laughter. Rylee leaves the room, NOT watching the movie.

Rylee: 1 Molly: 0

The second thing was on Saturday night. Her and Rylee slept over my mother's house. Molly said she was almost asleep when she heard Rylee say "Molly, are you sleeping?". Molly thought about what to say and then decided the best thing would be to pretend she is in fact sleeping and not answer Rylee. So Rylee got close to Molly's face and loudly said "Molly, answer me. Are you sleeping?" To which Molly had no choice but to reply "No".

Rylee: 2 Molly: 0

When Molly told me about that, I had to tell her about what she used to do to me when she was young, and even not so young. Like one time when I was sick and sleeping on the couch while her and Cody played in the living room. She walked up to me and screamed "MOM" just to wake me up. Then I told her that if I was sleeping and Cody noticed. He would go get a blanket and cover me up.

And Molly's response: "Oh. Now that explains EVERYTHING."

Exactly.

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Wordless Wednesday: Fall Foliage

Here are some random shots I took with my cell phone while driving home from hockey late Saturday afternoon. The river is the Deerfield which is my absolute favorite place in the world to hang out with friends and family.




Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Family Fun, Football, & Of Course Hockey

That pretty much sums up the weekend. We went to a Friday night high school football game. My friend Michelle has a son on each team so it was fun to root for both kids. I just love watching football, especially under the lights. Rylee had a great time watching the cheerleaders and Molly and her friend had fun checking out all the boys.

Hockey officially started on Saturday. We had two games and then watched our league's PeeWee team play. Cody got defensive player of the game. Molly did well, better than she thought she did. I'll post that story another time but will say now that I am very very proud of her.

Saturday night I took my mother to a benefit dance held for a very good friend of mines father, who has lung cancer. It was good to see everyone and heartwarming to see the community pull together like it did. There were so many people and so many gifts donated for raffles. It was truly amazing. And at the same time very very sad.

Sunday I met my Sheryl for a very long run/walk on the rail trail. It took us 2.5 hours to do 11 miles. Next weekend I want to do in two hours. I was pretty sore but overall felt good. And best of all, I am looking forward to doing it again.

Sunday afternoon we went to Max's football game. He is really learning and getting into the game now. He had two solo tackles and recovered the football. After his game we went to visit my friend Maureen and her family. It was so gorgeous we sat outside and watched the kids play. Later, when it cooled down we went in to watch the Dallas game. It was so exciting and the kids really got into watching it because the score was so close and then went into overtime.

And then Monday we attempted to hike Greylock. Below are pictures of Rylee getting ready for the hike. Yes that is makeup on her face and yes she does have a skirt on. It took some convincing but I finally did get her to change into more suitable hiking attire. After our hike, we went apple picking.

When we were done picking apples, we stopped at Barb and Jeff's to drop off hockey flyers and ended up staying for over an hour. He coaches soccer, in addition to the kids' hockey team, and they were getting ready to leave for a game when he got a phone call that another player wouldn't be there. So he asked Cody and Molly if they wanted to play. So off to a soccer game we went. It was great to see Molly play soccer again. And best of all, she had a great time playing and the two of them are now on the team. They have about 5 more games left. Yeah! Soccer, hockey, dance and gymnastics. Ahhh, I feel like myself again. It's been a long summer!




Friday, October 10, 2008

The Look

You know the look you give your kids? The one that can instantly stop them in mid punch or mid sentence? The one that lets them know that you are not fooling around? Well I got that look today. And it cracked me up. I could not stop laughing and still find it amusing now, thirty minutes later.

I was dropping Molly and Cody off at school today. I usually do something funny, well something that I think is funny, to jokingly embarrass her. Like yell out the window "Make good choices" (just like Jamie Lee Curtis in Freaky Friday) or God Forbid, wave to one of her friends. Eik, the horror! But today, I wasn't trying to embarrass her. I was just doing what she always asks me to do.

As we pulled up to the school she was glad to see two kids she knew and was quick to get out of the truck. In the meantime, Cody opened his door from the front seat and Molly heard the song on the radio that was just starting. I heard her say, "Oh I like that song". So I turned it way up so she could hear it as she walked away. Well apparently that was just sooooo NOT the right thing to do. Her head snapped around so frickin fast I can't believe it is still attached to her neck. And she gave me THE LOOK.

Glad to see I have taught her something useful.

Thursday, October 9, 2008

Dessert for Breakfast: Awesome

I work in the office of dining services and anyone that knows a chef or baker knows that they are only truly happy when they are feeding people. Especially people like myself who LOVE food wayyyyy too much.

I came to work today with the best of intentions. I knew I had an apple on my desk and was planning on eating it for breakfast. I was actually looking forward to hearing the crunching and tasting the sweetness. I even thought about it while driving it this morning. But then....the baker brought over a freshly baked lemon zinger cake! YUM. The apple might as well have been raw liver. There was no way I had the power to eat an apple and be satisfied while that beautiful lemon caked called my name over and over again (not really, I had my bowl and fork waiting before he even set the box down). So I had a healthy (read hearty here) slice of the cake and hopefully the apple will be breakfast tomorrow. Best. of. intentions.

Once I finished every crumb of my slice, I came to the realization that if I am to continue working in this department, I will need to hit the streets and/or gym at 4:30 a.m. so I can get in a full 90 minutes of cardio a day.

Yeah right! Pass me another slice of cake please.

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Wordless Wednesday: Sleeping Solutions

Rylee picked this out of a catalog that came to the house last week. The current sleeping arrangements in my house desperately need revision and this will solve everything. She is such a smarty!


Friday, October 3, 2008

Fall Foliage Weekend

The first weekend of October is my absolute favorite time of the year. Maybe even more so than Christmas. I never realized it fully until this past Friday. I was getting ready to leave work when someone asked me what I had planned for the weekend. I rattled off a long list of things and as I did, an excitement washed over me.

Fall Foliage in this area is a big thing. It spans over three weekends of activities that satisfy the young through the old. It is a time for socializing, following decade old traditions, and appreciating mother nature.

Besides the spectacular scenery, the first weekend of October also brings the annual Children's Parade on Friday night, the Charity Bed Race on Saturday afternoons, an array of dinner and entertainment options for Saturday evening, and then Sunday is the Fall Foliage Parade. I love walking through the downtown area first thing in the morning. I can feel the excitement of the parade. The spectator stands have been set up on Main Street, the yellow tape has been roped from the trees as an attempt to keep people off the streets, hundreds of people have already set up their chairs or are in the process of doing so, street vendors are beginning to set up their carts, and children are anxiously waiting to see the firetrucks, floats, Shriners' go-carts, and fabulously talented high school marching bands.

The weekend proved to be everything I expected plus more. I had the pleasure of watching a couple of youth football games and the first hockey game of the year! Molly's girls' team beat the IceCats 3-1. She did great. And, best of all, I crashed in on my brother's class' 20 year reunion and was able to catch up with some old friends that I haven't seen in way too many years. Everyone looked great and had an awesome time. I am glad I decided to go.