Dear People using the family workout area in the Y

Did you bring your children with you today?

YES: Proceed to next question

NO: Please leave.  You are hogging the machines needed by/set aside specifically for those of us with kidlets in tow.  And if you still insist on breaking the rules and staying, stay off the equipment with TV screens if you don't plan on watching TV.  Some of us need to be distracted from our kidlets "playing" in the kiddie corral area.

Are your children too old to play in the kiddie corral area?

YES:  I'm glad you encouraged them to bring a book to read, but make sure they aren't sitting on the equipment to do it.  Have them move to a table.  That's their purpose.

NO:  Good for you.  Turn up the volume and get to it.

NBA bound

Two weeks ago was the very first organized sporting event for both Drake and Flynn.  It didn't really matter that neither understood how to play the game.  I am proud of them for getting out on the court (without tears or tantrums), for listening to their coaches, and for trying.  I was, however, sore from laughing so hard.  Watching small children play an organized sport is hilarious!  It's like herding confused, hyper cats.  Volunteers who coach at this level deserve a medal.

Flynn was first.  He's number 4 on the red team.  His defensive skills reminded us of a zombie Frankenstein.

And then there's Drake.  This doesn't fully capture this gazelle-like running ability, but it does include his very first possession. He's on the blue team, also number 4.

Last Saturday was a little different.  Drake scored his first basket, and Flynn refused to play.  During swim classes, participation is the opposite: Flynn wants to dive in, and Drake would rather swim if no water was involved.  I guess that's the way it goes.  It is nice to see them developing their own interests.  I just hope the amount of driving on my part will be minimized.  :)

On 60

Today marks what would have been Bill and Joyce's (my in-laws) 60th wedding anniversary.  I have always loved that it was on Groundhog Day: such a non-traditional way to remember the date.  I wish I could have known them better.  I wish that I could call up and ask for child rearing advice (after seven kids, you are an expert).  I wish the boys could have known them and I wish they could have met the boys.  As much as I wish for what cannot be, I am grateful for what I have.  I got to spend time with them.  I got to see the unparalleled pride in their expressions at Tim's college graduation.  I got to spend Christmas with them, and Joyce, as sick as she was, made a batch of fudge just because I made an offhand comment that I liked it.  Their legacy lives on.  I see it in Tim; they raised him to be a good man, husband, and father.  We show they boys pictures and tell them stories about the grandparents they will never meet.  But, they will always be with us.

Those crazy kids!

More kid funnies

Scene: In the car.  Queen's "We Will Rock You" comes on the radio.
Drake:  Why is he kicking his cats all over the place?


Scene: I'm cooking dinner: chicken seasoned with rosemary.
Drake:  Mommy, why are you cooking the chicken with grass?



Scene: running through the house with arms flailing.
Flynn:  Help!  The cheese is chasing me!  The cheese is going to get me!


I love my funny family.  :)

Yes, it is winter

December taunted us, with its bitter cold and nothing to show for it.  January decided to do what December couldn't: snow.  This was our wintry week.

Sunday- first official snow day
Off to Pao's for the now traditional first snow day donut.

Happy to be in the snow

Monday- MLK day (officially no school)
Off to Grandma and Grandpa's house for some sledding

Go, Grandpa, Go!

Hello, there.  We are the same height

Most everything melted off Monday night, which makes me wonder why school started two hours late.  (Two hours late means no school for Drake.)  Oh well, no big deal.  Both boys had developed the sniffles, so staying home wasn't so bad.  Tuesday night is when it all hit.

By mid-day on Wednesday, seven inches of snow fell.

And then, the freezing rain came.  We ended up with a half inch of ice atop the seven inches of snow

Mid-day Thursday
Icicle snack time 

Flynn wanted to know who put out the Christmas decorations on the tree.
It glittered with all the ice.  So pretty.

The bird netting looked like chain mail.  Crazy.

Thankfully, the normal rain started late afternoon on Friday.  Flynn sampled ice from every part of the property.  He preferred the driveway ice, but got a kick out of the patio furniture ice.  (It was in a scroll pattern.)  We were finally able to leave the house Saturday.  An entire week of snow days will wear a parent out.  Pulling the sled isn't as much fun as being on it.  Plus, my brain is a little mushy from all the Curious George and Lego Indiana Jones.

Before this, I only experienced one snow day.  1996- UPS.  It wasn't the snow so much as the ice.  Everything around here is build on a damn hill.  No way would I drive on the roads, then or now.

What's your record...?

On the way to Hayley's soccer game with the boys and my parents, Mom receives a text that a new family member, Wesley, is on the way.  The following conversation ensues with Flynn.

Flynn:  Mommy, what's a Wesley?
Me: He's your new...uh...cousin... we'll go with that.  [Second cousin?  Third cousin twice removed?  Not sure.  I'll figure it out someday.]
F:  What's a cousin?
M: A cousin is a relative.
F: What's a relative?
M: Members of your family.
F: What's a family?
M: A group of people connected by blood that are a great source of stress.
F: What's stress?
M: What's your record for consecutive questions?
F: What's a record?
M: Gaaah!

The secret cat language

Drake: Mommy, we need to put a sign in our yard that says, "No cats allowed.  Stop pooping in our yard."
Me: Really?  OK.  But, how will the cats read it?
D:  We'll write it in Meows.  It will say, "Meow meow meow meow meow meow."