Fall Break!

I'm not sure who is most excited about fall break in our house - B b/c there is a short break in his hectic tutoring schedule, M b/c there is NO SCHOOL (yeah!), or me b/c I get a few days respite from packing lunches and making sure the family calendar is running smoothly. In fact, I could argue that I am anticipating and enjoying M's school break more than I enjoyed my own.

It has been a busy fall for the trio. I am most pleased with M's progress in school. His art and handwriting skills have improved leaps and bounds in the 2 months he has been at school. His CLUE (gifted) class continues to astonish me with the careful thought and planning that obviously goes into their units of study. He is growing more independent, making lots of friends and seems to enjoy school (once we manage to drag him out of bed!).

It makes me look back on the angst and mental hand-wringing that we put into the decision to send him to our neighborhood public school and wonder, "Why were we so uptight about it?" I worried that the city school system couldn't provide for him an equal education to what I had received in my small town public school system. Well, I was right. It isn't providing him with an equal educational experience. It is blowing the pants off the opportunities that I had and I'm thrilled. Not only does he have CLUE, his teacher is fantastic and they have Accelerated Reader, which I think is an awesome reading program. He is reading chapter books now - Magic Treehouse, Magic School Bus, Nate the Great and more. Not only is he reading, he is devouring books. I love it!! In addition to the eductional aspects of his school, I really like that he is being exposed to the fact that not all kids look like him or come from a family background just like his. He has learned that some of the kids at his school don't always get enough to eat at home. He can pronounce names like keondra and za'coria without pausing.

So, as we head into our long weekend, I'm happy that to have a short break. But, I'm even happier that he has ended up at such a great school!

Good Gracious!

Oh my goodness! I have not published since before the first day of school! Bad, bad mommy. To be honest, things have been SO busy around here that I actually FORGOT that I have a blog. Sigh...



So...let's see. Where to start?



First day of kindergarten: the 1st day went great. M loved it and came home to tell me that everything about kindergarten is GREAT. And, that "it was just like preschool only we learned stuff." He has settled very well into school and seems to be enjoying it and thriving. He is also learning that not everyone looks like him or has the same manners as him (he was shocked, shocked that kids at lunch chew with their mouths open. Then he decided that the fact that this is gross was cool. Oh the wonderful things they learn at school...) We could not be happier with our local school, a public school, and I'm grateful to my friends who put up with thousands of questions (some of them probably not so tactful) and reassured us that it was a good place to send our little one.



Reading: M has become quite the reader lately. He loves Scooby Doo Mysteries, Magic School Bus chapter books, and pretty much anything printed on which he can lay his hands. He will read for hours. Great, right? Yes, except now I'm having a hard time getting him to come eat dinner, wash his hands, do his homework, etc. I always swore that I would never tell my kid to "stop reading" like I heard so often, but it is looking as if I may have to eat my words...

Home

Ahhhhh.....we're home. After a 10 hour flight from Munich to Atlanta and another short flight from there to Memphis, we arrived home around dinner time.

We loved Germany, had a fantastic time and would go again in a heartbeat, but it was SO nice to come back to our own home sweet home :-)

The Alps!

This morning we drove to Bregenz, Austria and headed up to the top of the Pfander mountain in cable cars. It was SO beautiful at the top. It remided me of the book Heidi with all the foothills with houses and farms dotting the landscape. You wouldn't believe how many shades of green you can see there and in the distance you could see the high Alps. Just lovely! Another nice feature is that the temperature was much cooler (probably in the 60s) and there was a cute little playground at the top. Of course, M made a stop there while we enjoyed the views and refreshing temps.

Drove from there to St. Gallen, Switzerland to see the historic library at the abbey. S & K went in to see it while the three of us wandered around the town. Nothing too special here, except the library. And, on the way out of Switzerland, we got pulled over for not having a "special sticker" which one apparently needs to buy to drive on the highway there. The Swiss cops were, to quote Dick Cheney, major league you-know-whats prompting B and I to vow that we would never, ever set foot in Switzerland again.

We escaped from the mean Swiss and headed back to friendly Germany. At Konstanz, we got on the car ferry to cross the Bodensee. M and I both thought this was very fun!

Back in Ravensburg, Rutenfest had begun, which from what I observed mainly involves a lot of drinking, drumming and these hats with pins and flowers. The guys wear them and there appeared to be a lot of pin trading going on. I think we're in for a loud night tonight...

Lindau

After leaving Meersburg, we drove along the shoreline of Lake Constance, about an hour, to Lindau. Lindau is another intact city, but in my opinion wasn't quite as cute as Meersburg. However, we enjoyed walking around the walled, old city. And, we saw a Bavarian wedding! The bride and groom and other members of the wedding party were all dressed in traditional German clothing. We had intended to take the ferry from Lindau to Bregenz, Austria, but missed the ferry so headed back to Ravensburg instead for a little R&R. After another delicious dinner at Gasthof Ochsen, we braved the rain to go hear a brass orchestra playing German songs (again in traditional dress). In front of the stage, near us, were a group of German school children, all speaking...German. M was just fascinated by them, they were close to his age, and you could tell that he really wanted to be a part of the group, but was too shy to go stand up near the front with them b/c he couldn't understand them.

Tomorrow is the start of Rutenfest in Ravensburg. It is an annual festival in the city dating back to the 1400s. Lots of blue and white Ravensburg flags flying all around the city in anticipation of the big festival. It's a complete coincidence that we ended up in town for this, but should be fun!

Meersburg (my favorite day)

Got up this morning after a loud and hot night at the Gasthof Ochsen. There is a bar/cafe across the street and no a/c at the hotel so our options for most of the night was either to roast in silence or have air but lots of noise. This morning, however, was much quieter and we again awoke to the church bells sriking the hour. Actually, at 6 am, they rang for a long time (maybe for mass?). Anyway, this went on for at least 5 minutes, prompting B to remark how much he hates organized religion! :-)

This morning we drove to Meersburg. It is a lovely, medieval town on the shores of Lake Constance/the Bodensee. The lake is huge and green and you can see Switzerland just on the other side. We walked down about 200 steps to get from the top of the hill to the lower town. Almost at the bottom, M decided to walk down the huge granite steps instead of staying on the smaller steps. On his first step, he pitched forward and fell head first down the other 5 stairs. It was really scary!! Fortunately, we escaped with a few scratches and the air knocked out of him, but no broken ribs or head injuries! Whew. We took a few minutes to regroup....


We wandered through the harbor/lower town and then headed back up the hill. The buildings are almost all original to the middle ages and you felt like you were back in time walking through the streets. Although it was sunny, the light couldn't shine through to the street in some places as the upper levels of the homes reached so close to each other across the street. It really felt like we had been transported back in time about 500 years.


Back on the top of the hill, we bought tickets to visit Meersburg Castle. This castle is the oldest inhabited castle in Germany. An aristocratic German family owns it, but you can tour part of the castle. The oldest section of the tower, Dagobert's Tower, dates to 628 AD and most of the rest of what you can tour was built in the 14 and 15th century. It was the coolest castle tour I have ever taken. If you are at all interested in medieval history, this was the place to be. You could see the great hall, bedrooms and ladies' solar as they would have been arranged at that time. We also saw the knights' armory - full of chain mail, armor, swords, other weapons and a rare medieval jousting lance (the wood still in tact). This was, by far, M's favorite room. We also toured the blacksmith and kitchen areas in the basement, saw the dungeons (couldn't go down in them, but could look down into them) - I would not want to be there!! On the walls, they had posted the coats of arms for the knights and nobles who had lived in that castle dating back to 1200's. We also saw a medieval toilet room and bathing room. In more recent times, the Brothers Grimm stayed at the castle and they had some letters written by them on display.

Laupenheim

This morning we awoke to the town bells at 7 am, ringing through our open window. It had gotten cool enough during the night that we needed our featherbeds. So peaceful and lovely in Ichenhausen this morning.


After another delicious German breakfast - cold cuts, cheeses, extremely fresh bread and croissants and lovely fruit. I'm worried that M might go through Nutella withdrawal when we return home since he has had it every morning! Off to Laupenheim today. This village is where our friend S lived when she taught in Germany 25 years ago for the Dept of Defense.

Arrived in Laupenheim and got to see S's old apartment as well as the beautiful old mansion where she had taught. Apparently the home belonged to a Jewish family before the Third Reich, but after the war, was turned into a school. We walked up to see the Schloss (castle), stopping in at a little bakery for some yummy pastries. The castle was closed today. However, the grounds and buildings were lovely. Next to it was the church, with its typical Bavarian church tower. You could see these in almost every small village and large town.

On the way back down from the castle hill, we walked past a brewery and could see the chute from which they sent out the dregs of hops and other ingredients when they were done with them. In the city center, we found a small playground with this fun, artsy metal helicopter that M played on for probably 40 minutes. He made friends with a little German girl and even though neither one of them could understand the other, they seemed to be having a grand time.

The entire town of Laupenheim had large, painted frogs (kind of like they do in other cities with other animals). So, we made a game out of finding the frogs all over town. We met Jeanne, a friend and former co-worker of Sally, for lunch at the Gasthof der Drei Mohren (inn of the three moors). The "blackface" figurines and decorations everywhere were most certainly NOT p.c. Jeanne has taught for the Dept of Defense for years and has lived in Germany, Korea, Japan, Hawaii, etc. It was very interesting to chat with her and learn about that experience as well as her experiences living in Germany now, as a non-German citizen.

Our sleep deficit is catching up with us today for sure. M is cranky and I'm tired, which makes me less tolerant of M's whining.

Later this afternoon, we arrived in Ravensburg. It is a fantastic medieval city with several towers and buildings dating to the 13-14th century. We are staying at a cute family-run guesthouse, the Gasthof Ochsen. The food here is AWESOME! It is the best food we have had in Germany (and all of it has been very good). And, for dessert, we had Apfelkuche (apple cake) that was really like small apple donuts with ice cream and fresh whipped cream. It was so yummy! M fell asleep in B's lap during dinner (he's exhausted!) so I'm sitting here writing this while he sleeps and listening to some lovely band playing out on the square through our open windows. I guess they don't have mosquitos in Germany b/c there are not any screens on any of the windows and yet no bug bites either. Mark that as yet one more reason to move here!

Legoland!!!!

This morning, we had our last yummy breakfast at the Munich Marriott hotel and then headed west to Gunzburg and Legoland! M did not know that we were going to Legoland, just that we had a "special kids' day" planned. When we got off at the exit for Legoland, we asked him what the signs said, but all he kept seeing/reading was Gunzburg. All the grown ups kept saying "What else do you see? What else do you see?" Finally Aunt S. pointed out the Legoland on the signs and then M said, "Ooh, can we go there?"

Legoland was a LOT of fun. There were tons of fun rides like the Pirate School ship, a knights' jousting ride, and driving school where the kids got to drive little Lego cars around the track (no center guide, so they could steer wherever). At the end of the driving ride, M got a "Fahrschule" (driving school) drivers' license. Of course, it is in German!

MiniLand was super cool. They had constructed models of the city and port of Hamburg with ships and ferries that actually moved around in the water, the Munich airport with planes built from Legos that move down the runway, an Alpine rescue scene with a rescuer that moved up and down from a helicopter that seemed to be suspended in mid-air, Neuschwanstein castle, the city of Lucerne Switzerland, and more. We could have spent hours there, but it was outside and hot. So, we moved on...

After a full day at Legoland, we drove to the village of Ichenhausen nearby to spend the night. We stayed at the cutest little hotel - Gasthof zum Hirsch. They had deer skins and antlers on the walls in the hallway. M's comment was "Ewww - look dead animal skin!" From our room, you could see the village church tower. We had dinner in the Gasthof's Biergarten that evening. The food was great, but HUGE!!! I had a delicious Schnitzel and M had schnitzels in the shape of dinosaurs from the kids' menu. So cute. We also had our best beers of the entire trip in Ichenhausen. It may be that any beer would have been great after a hot day at Legoland, but the Agustiner beer was still my favorite that we tried during our trip. And, when beer is cheaper than water, you get to try a lot of beers!

Since we had stuffed ourselves at dinner, we decided to take a stroll around the village to help our digestion, as M says. We found a lovely square with this cute fountain with a stork on a protractor. As the sign explaining the fountain was all in German, I'm not really sure what the protractor had to do with it. However, we soon discovered why the stork. As we looked at the local Schloss (castle), now a museum, we saw a enormous nest on the roof of the one building. At first it looked fake - like an art installation or something. Upon closer examination, though, we found out that it was a real nest with 2 live storks in it!! It was really cool. I have never seen a live stork. When they kissed (or touched heads at least) their heads made the shape of a heart. We stood there and watched them for quite some time.

Finally, M had to return to the fountain to continue his quest of touching the water in every single fountain we saw in Germany. And, there are a lot of fountains, so there was a lot of water touching going on! Fortunately, he quickly learned that Kein Trinkwasser means 'not for drinking'.

Ichenhausen was just lovely. My favorite location so far and I could really love living in a vibrant small village like this one with the church bells marking each hour and the quarter, half and three quarter hours too. You don't even need a watch!!

Regensburg

Historische Wurstkuche

Today we took a day trip to Regensburg, about 1 hour from Munich. The town is a beautiful old city and a UNESCO World Heritage location. It was not bombed during WWII, so much of the medieval structure is still in tact. The stone bridge (Steiner Brucke) there has been in continuous use since the 12th century. (Kind of makes you wonder how they can build a bridge that lasts for over 900 years and our 50 year old bridges are falling into the water...) On the drive to Regensburg, we saw fields and fields of hops. I had never seen these before - it was really interesting as they grow up these long lines. Over the hills, you could also see lovely blue and white maypoles rising up out of many of the small villages off of the autobahn. The countryside itself reminded me a lot of Pennsylvania, with rolling fields and hills.

B enjoyed driving on the autobahn with no speed limit. Plus with a nice Audi and some great engine speed, he was having a grand old time.

Regensburg had a beautiful cathedral with some of the original stained glass windows which dated back to 1320. M thought it was very cool that dead people were in the floor of the church (buried under the flagstones) and that you could see what they "looked like" (their effigies carved in stone). We also went down into the crypt with some of the pillars, carvings from the 13th century. It smelled super musty down there!

For lunch, we ate at the Historische Wurstkuche which has been a fast food restaurant for over 500 years!! Yummy wursts, with sauerkraut and sweet mustard... After that we stopped for a coffee at Germany's oldest coffee house (the Prinzess). The service was pretty awful. We would have ordered desserts, but the waitress never came back to us. Oh well....

We then wandered to to see the Roman city gates, which were part of the old city walls. The Romans established Regensburg as a provincial capital under Marcus Aurelius and the gates date to about 700 AD. On the way back to the car, we were wandering and got a little lost. This turned out to be a great detour as we found a cute little Spielplatz (playground) where M played along with several German kids. He later said that this was his favorite part of our day that day.

We headed back to the hotel, went to the grocery for water and snacks, and then walked to a lovely little Italian restaurant for dinner. The pasta was obviously freshly made and it was delicious! M fell asleep on my lap at dinner but then managed to wake up for the walk home and stayed up for several more hours at the hotel. Jet lag sucks!!!

Munich

This morning we all slept in until around 9:30. We managed to just make it to breakfast at the hotel, which was DELICIOUS!! M and B discovered the joys of a Nutella-filled croissant and I think that the whole idea of salami, cheeses and fresh bread for breakfast is fabulous. After stuffing ourselves at breakfast, we all headed out to see Munich.

First stop - Marienplatz (again) although this time in the sunshine. We got there just in time to see one of the 3 daily Glockenspiel performances. The Glockenspiel is a bell tower and clock and has life sized-figures which dance around and perform at 11, 12 and 5 each day. In the top half, they reinact the wedding festivities from a royal wedding in the 16th century. In the jousting scene, the Bavarian knight always wins (of course)!

After that, we walked over to the Deutsches Museum. It houses lots of displays on technology and science - how they build underground tunnels, how engines work, waterwheels, boats, airplanes, rockets, etc. It is huge and really quite cool, especially if you are interested in that kind of stuff. They also have a "Kinderreich" area full of hands-on experiments for kids - water play, mirrors and lights, musical instruments, pulleys they can ride up into the air, etc. M loved it lots!! He also enjoyed playing in the giant engine parts that are on display out in the courtyard.

Next, headed to the Englisher Garten and the Chinesischer Turm and biergarten. The place was packed with Germany enjoying a lovely afternoon in the Biergarten. Tons more lederhosen (and B thought that no one in Germany actually wore lederhosen!) and dirndls. The generic word for this "traditional dress" is Trachten. After eating (and drinking) for a while in the Biergarten, M had to go to the restroom. There was a lady there handing out paper towels to dry your hands on (for a tip). M gave her the money I handed him, took the paper towel and said, "Thank you. [pause] I mean Danke Schon" All the Germany ladies thought that was very cute.

By this time it was early evening and we headed back to the hotel for an early dinner, some swimming at the hotel pool, and bed!

Arrival

Pretzels as big as your head!

Our flight from Atlanta to Munich was about 9 hours. M was very taken with the touch screen entertainment system on which you could play games and watch movies. My one complaint is that Delta has done a poor job of selecting "kids" shows which are appropriate for anyone under 12. However, they did at least have Monsters vs. Aliens, so that was good. And, a cool feature where you can watch/track your flight as it goes across the map from start to destination. M only slept about 2 hours and we adults, not at all. I guess the entertainment was TOO entertaining! Upon landing in Munich, M looked at me and said "Can you believe that we flew across that entire ocean in just one night?!?"

After waiting forever for our luggage, we took the S-bahn and then U-bahn to our hotel. It was a LONG ride and in hindsight, a taxi would have been totally worth it! Upon arrival at the hotel, our rooms were not yet available, so we went into the city center to Marienplatz. It was raining and chilly and we were tired, so it wasn't our best day in Munich... While down there we decided to go to the Hofbrauhaus for a beer and some lunch. Saw lots of "Stammtisches" (reserved tables for locals), lots of lederhosen and dirndls and LOTS of beer. A traditional Bavarian brass band was playing polka music and it was very atmospheric. M got a soft pretzel which was actually bigger than his head. We had some delicious (and filling) pork schnitzel over spatzle (noodles) with gravy. Yum! For those of you interested in history, this is the location where Hitler launched his "Beer Hall Putsch". As B pointed out, it was a little weird to sit there at these old wooden table and imagine that in this very spot, a whole bunch of Nazis (or future Nazis) once sat and ate and drank just like we were doing.

We had pretty much exhausted all of our energy and politeness by this point, so we made our way back to the hotel on the U-bahn. There was a lovely little Saturday market in the "platz" near the hotel. It was fun to wander through it and see the cheese, meats, and produce. Looked delicious!! After napping in the lobby for a while, our rooms were finally ready! Hooray. We all fell into bed at about 5:00 pm (Munich time). Which was great while it lasted, but M was wide awake from 1-3 am. He was actually pretty funny. While going to the bathroom (at 2am), he yelled to me "Mom, can you believe that we are actually in Germany? When we get home, let's speak German all the time." It is going to be a fun trip!

Anticipation

Well, the suitcases are packed (mine and M's anyway. B is a last minute packer...) and the trip goodies have been collected. We are off to Germany in 2 days and are all very excited. I think that M may be a little less excited once he finds out that the plane ride is 9 hours, instead of the 2 hours that he thinks it is going to be. But, hopefully he'll sleep on the plane so it doesn't seem so long.

It requires a LOT of planning to leave the country for 9 days - medicine, clothes, snacks, books, things to keep a 5 year old occupied... I'm fretting that B and I may end up looking like pack mules when we board the plane, even though I think we are traveling pretty light!

We are all very excited to go, now that the trip is almost upon us. M has been practicing his German "Guten Tag, Danke, Bitte". I'll be he is a big hit with his glasses, blond hair, and rudimentary German :-)

Summer Camp

Last week, M went for his second week of Zoo Camp this summer. He really loves Zoo Camp, and the camp staff loved him right back. (They actually thanked me for sending him...) He learned all kinds of cool stuff, like that tarantulas have their skeletons on the outside of their bodies or that wolves are actually really good dads. That conversation was great:
M - "Today we learned about fantastic fathers."
Me - "Oh yeah? What kinds of animals are fantastic fathers?"
M - "Wolves. They are good dads because they protect their babies"
Me - "Any other fantastic fathers?"
M - "Well, I can think of one - mine!"
Me - [melt]

Anyway, this got me to thinking. How cool would it be if they had summer camp for adults? You know, a week that you could go and learn about something new, like how to can food, or how to pick great wine, or how to knit... It would be great b/c as an adult I don't really ever feel like I have enough time to learn something new and practice it for long enough to really know it. Or a week long history course (the Roman empire in 5 days or less, perhaps?) A real bonus to this summer camp for grown-ups idea would be if someone else had to pack your lunch for each day - now we're talking!

Adventures

We had a BIG day today. This morning M and I headed to Mississippi to pick blueberries. We had done this once before during a visit to Seattle. Let me just say that there are several differences between picking this time and picking in Seattle:

1. I was the only adult which made the picking take MUCH longer.

2. It was about 20 degrees hotter this time - even at 8:30 in the morning.

3. Because of the freakishly hot weather we have had, the berries were scarce and we had to hunt to find good bushes.

However, we got 1 gallon that we picked and had some fun in the process. In case you are wondering, that is a super hero mask under the glasses in the picture above.

After our morning adventure, we headed to the Pink Palace for the special anamatronic dinosaur exhibit. It was very cool - both M and I agreed on this. The dinos (T Rex, Apatosaurus, Mosasaurus, etc.) looked really life like. They are operated by robotic insides and you could see and operate a sample robot to see how it all worked under the skin. You should have seen the kids all jump when the T Rex turn its head toward them, open its mouth and roar!! Funny stuff.

We also did the Dino Scavenger Hunt which takes you through the older, permanent exhibits with dinosaur fossils found locally in the mid-south area. M really liked this and did a great job solving the puzzles. Then, we had to visit the Piggly Wiggly exhibit where you walk through the old fashioned grocery store. I'm pretty sure M likes this exhibit solely for the turnstiles at the beginning and end. He asked to do it again (to go through the turnstile again after I chased him off of repeated rounds on the exit turnstile.) When I declined, he said "But Mom, this time I want to look at the stuff and ask you questions." Boy is that kid smooth with the lines!

A few more M'isms

This week we've had a few "funnies":

- The other day, he told me "Mom, girls can never turn into boys, but sometimes boys who are confused can turn into girls" I would like to know who exactly has been talking to him about cross-dressing, etc?!?!

- Last night at bedtime, he told me "Mom, I am one veeerrryy hard kid to keep up with!" (true).

National Ornamental Metal Museum

Today, we decided to take a trip to the National Ornamental Metal Museum, right here in Memphis. M and I had never been, B had visited once with an out-of-town friend. This is one of the hidden treasures of Memphis! I hesitate to tell you this, lest we begin a trend and the grounds become overrun.

The museum consists of 3 buildings - 2 with displays and a smithy shop where you can watch them forge new items, although today there was not much forging going on to M's disappointment. You really cannot blame them though, it is too hot here right now to deliberately start a fire and make it hotter!! The first building had a cool display of locks, caskets (aka treasure chests to M), decorative pieces, utensils, gates, etc. M loved it and so did we. We hit the gift shop in the first building and M got a $1 metal charm to carry in his pocket. They had fabulous gifts there - I could spend some serious money. As a matter of fact, my necklace that the boys gave me for Mother's Day is from here and is lovely.

We then went into the second building, which had a special exhibit mostly made up of spitball launchers and a "personal lite brite assistant" and other quirky stuff. M loved the spitball shooters - the mini pocket one, the long range "sniper" model, etc. I thought that the PLBA was pretty fun too.

The sculpture garden is lovely and we discovered that there is a sculpture in the garden by the same guy who did the one that my uncle gave us as a wedding gift. So, we had to take photos of that, of course. The garden is full of neat pieces to look at and there is a lovely little gazebo overlooking the Mississippi River. We had a great time sitting there and watching the paddlewheel tour boat come down, turn around and work its way back upstream. We then saw a barge coming upriver and it docked below the bluff on which the grounds are located. It looked like a pit stop for the barge as they offloaded their garbage (good to know that they don't just chuck it into the river!), and other stuff. M was fascinated. The grounds are lovely - well landscaped, nicely shaded, and, as B pointed out, probably about 20 degrees cooler than it was in our backyard today. The combination of cool river breezes and large shady trees makes for a pleasant place to spend a hot summer afternoon.

Pennsylvania Trip

We had a nice time in PA, visiting family, but were happy to arrive home today. M had a blast at Hersheypark with Granddad, H, E, R and Aunt T. He also rode his first "real" rollercoaster - 3 times! On the 2nd and 3rd go-round, he did it with his hands in the air. Sadly, I have no photos of this as his mom was actually holding on to the seat restraint (and also one arm around him). We did lots of fun rides. M enjoyed the flume, the roller coaster, and the Ferris Wheel. I humored him by riding on the tilt-a-whirl, which my dad calls the "tilt-a-hurl" and that is a good name for it - bleech! Seriously, I don't know what I was thinking when I said yes to that one! We rode on the ferris wheel at the end of the day, at M's request. I'm afraid of heights but went along - mostly to keep an eye on M. My little brother, E., kept routing for the wheel to get stuck at the top and then he said "Don't worry G, this is made out of steel. I mean it is put together with rusty bolts, but..." That E is a funny guy!

Manners

You try so hard to instill manners in your child (well, at least WE do, I have seen other children out in the general public whose parents obviously have spent less than a nanosecond teaching their kids manners, but I digress.)

This week, M is at vacation bible school, getting his annual allotment of bible songs and Jesus stories. He loves VBS, as they call it. Or as he would say, he's a big fan of VBS. But yet as a parent you fret when you turn your kid out into the wide world without you there to watch their every move. Will he remember not to pick his nose? Will he rat out the fact that sometimes you serve Happy Meals as dinner? Will he remember his manners?

I am pleased to say that a friend of mine reported last night that when he was leaving VBS music class yesterday, he stopped and told the teacher, "Thank you for doing music with us today. I really enjoyed it." That is the verbatim quote. It made me so happy to hear this and even more happy to know that all those efforts in instill some manners have paid off. I mean, honestly, sometimes his manners at home are atrocious. Awful. Raised in a barn type manners. He has been known to actually poke my hand with his fork in order to get my attention (and he has lived to tell about it!) He routinely demands instead of asks for things (and then is forced to repeat this request over and over again until he has it right). So to know that underneath all that is a boy with perfectly lovely manners makes me feel so good.

This morning I gave M a big kiss from his Grammy with whom I spoke last night. He thought that was hilarious and wanted to give me one back. So he did, but then afterward said, "You know Mom, that wasn't a big kiss. That was a smooch! I bet you never had a smooch." I didn't tell him that almost every night after he is sound asleep, I climb up on his bed and give him a big smooch. It would violate the 5 kisses treaty we have, but I just can't help myself. What can I say? He is smooch-able for sure!

Reading

We have another mystery fan in our house - M is very taken with detective stories. Currently, Jigsaw Jones and Encyclopedia Brown are the top choices. The other night, M and I were reading Encyclopedia Brown at bedtime. He likes that Encyclopedia's real name is Leroy (you know Mom, like Pop's name with a Le in front). Lately, he has taken to "correcting" me if I don't get the inflection or voices right. For example, if I don't use enough indignation in a sentence or put the emphasis on the wrong word, he'll restate it. After fixing my 'mistakes' several times the other night, he offered to read for a while (guess he thought that way the book would be read correctly). Here are just a few of the words that he read with absolutely no help from me (and pronounced them all correctly too):

- businesslike
- cleverly
- Battle of Manassas
- Stonewall Jackson
and he also got "reacted" hyphenated over two lines. It really blew me away. I mean, I know he can read well, but the Battle of Manassas for goodness sake!! B and I are going to be in serious trouble in a few years - very serious!!

Summer Break

We are having a VERY busy summer so far. Last week was full of local adventures - breakfast at IHOP with me, lunch at Red Robin another day with B (after allergy shots) and a trip to the new Target which is the best Target EVER!! M. asked if we could start going there every day :-) I said that I didn't think that was wise, if he wants a college fund that has actually been funded!

On Sunday, our big excitement was that we moved the queen size futon up to M's room so that he can have a bigger bed. He just could not stay on his twin sized bed. The other night I went up to check on him and he was sound asleep with his feet on the floor, his rear end up in the air and his arms, chest and head on the bed. On Sunday night, while reading our bedtime books and snuggling, he said "Mom thank you SO much for this bed." To which I replied that he was most welcome and that he should thank B since he did so much of the heavy work. M looked at me and said "Mom, you know you did most of the work." Ha, ha. Getting credit even where it isn't due.

M has started swim lessons and B took him to the first one. The next day I took him and was quizzing him about how his teacher looked so we could spot him. M said, "Well he looks just like me, except he is bigger and he has fur on him like Daddy. So, I guess he looks like Daddy." (B would be thrilled if I said he looked just like the swim coach!) M's swimming continues to improve, but he has a small problem when practicing. I have noticed that if there are any little girls swimming nearby, he has a tendancy to lose focus and instead of looking at me or the wall or wherever he is swimming to, he looks at the girls and starts going off course. Parents, lock up your daughters!

More "Isms"

We have had some cute "isms" around here lately from M. Just a few:

• Callepittar (for caterpillar)
• As a matter in fact
• This toy is not cooperating with me! (that always makes me laugh)

I think it is amusing how having a child is like having an external recording of your own sayings and voice inflection. For example, I have been known to say "What in the heck...?" in an irritated tone of voice when another driver does something idiotic. Well, M has picked up this little saying and now I'm trying to unprogram him from saying "What in the heck?" He does a spot on imitation too, has the inflection right and everything. Now that he knows that it bothers me it makes it that much more enticing to say... I guess it is good that I don't say what I really want to say to those people (out loud at least)!

Were you in the Civil War?

This morning, my adorable son asked, "Mom, which side were you on in the Civil War?" I'm not sure whether to be amused that he has not grasped the concept of a time continuum yet or offended that he thinks I might be 140 years old!! I think the first. After all, a few weeks ago he guessed my age as 25.

Lots of people say that having a child keeps you young. I think it can certainly age you. Such as when we are looking for a missing item and M says "Mom, I'll look for it. You have old eyes and I have young eyes, so I'll be able to find it better." What a charmer! Of course, that does not take into account his Y chromosome. Having this chromosome apparently makes it impossible to find ANYTHING you are looking for without female assistance. Being the only female in this house, you will understand that I stay quite busy finding other people's stuff with my "old eyes."

5 year olds are just so cute when they point out that you have wrinkles or that you should really wear mascara all the time because "you will look prettier." That is fine. Since I love M more than anything in this entire world, I probably won't point out his first zit or how funny he looks with braces. But, if he continues to comment on my age-related flaws, I can't make any guarantees.

It's a Small World

When we went to Disney World in January, M really liked the "It's A Small World" ride, much to his father's chagrin. This is not surprising, considering that when I took a 15 month old M to meet up with Grammy, Granddad, and the rest of the crew, IASW was his favorite ride on that trip as well. We have great shots of baby M loving the ride with Aunt H and Grammy. So, he liked it again when we were there in January - although this time, he was much more interested in those hula girls!

Recently, he discovered that we have the song on our iPod at home. This has led to repeated listenings where he will just keep hitting the back button and listen to It's A Small World over and over - and over - again. He also does this sort of dance to it. Being kind, I'll call it a 5 yr old version of interpretive dance. It is really more like a cross between ballet, break dancing and just falling on the ground.

Although repeated listenings of the song are not what I would recommend for anyone wishing to maintain sanity, it is kind of cool that he is learning the words because I do think that the sentiment behind the ride/song is a good one - although we may seem so very different, in many ways we share a lot in common. Seems that it might do some grown ups good to listen to the lyrics of that song more often too!

PS - you should really see him dance to the "Pirates of the Caribbean" song (yo ho, yo ho, a pirates' life for me..) Very funny!

Mother's Day

I had a great Mother's Day, in no small part due to my 2 great guys. I do have to say that I think that what a 5 year old thinks you want vs. what you may actually want are kind of funny. For example, as a "special treat" for Mother's Day, M offered to read his books to me while I had breakfast in bed. And, it was a good thing too because he saved me from having to read the Sunday newspaper all by myself while enjoying the delicious breakfast that B made for me. Really, that was a close call! ;-)

But, seriously, in speaking with my friends and hearing about their Mother's Day and what their husbands and children did, I have to say that I find it amazingly sweet how hard some of these guys work to give us a special day. Their plans may not turn out perfectly - or even close to the original plan - but they really try hard to show how much they love us. The best gift I received, in addition to M reading to me while I ate my breakfast - which I really DID enjoy - was when my wonderful, sweet husband thanked me for Matthew. When you think about it, I DID do most of the work for 9 months in 2003-2004, so it was really nice of him to acknowledge that. And, he is a pretty great parent too. But, we'll get a chance to focus on him next month.

Whew - busy Saturday

We have had a BUSY day today. M and I were planning to go to the community festival at his soon-to-be new elementary school. He asked if we could bring along his younger cousin, L, so he could show it to her. He wanted to bring her along "kind of like a sister."

Side note - lately M has been arguing with himself in the mirror during bathtime. I partly laughed this off as "ha, ha - he has no other kids to argue with in this house so he has to just pick on someone." But, then, as usual, I started to get paranoid that we were scarring him by raising him as an only child. Followed by this request to have his cousin join us for the festival, and I was really getting worried.

Back to our day... L arrived and we went off to the festival. They both had a BLAST! Faces got painted, moons were bounced, and balloon animals acquired - in fact balloon animals were acquired twice. The first set popped after touching the grass. This set off a round of crying and lamentations such as the world has possibly never seen. Happily, we were able to get new animals after a short wait. M wowed the firefighters there by naming every single piece of equipment on their truck - seriously, all of it. They were very impressed. The driver followed us around as we toured the truck telling all the other firefighters just how smart M was. Both L and M indignantly set a 2nd grader straight when she dared to suggest that the dandelions they both had picked for me were weeds. "They are NOT!" they both replied. Obviously, this 2nd grader has not yet learned that all botanical "gifts" from a child are flowers, be they dandelions, leaves from a tree or clover. :-)

Then after everyone was good and tired, we headed off to Costco to get some free samples and, oh yeah, a few groceries too. They were both very good in the cart at the store, except when I was held hostage in the cold room for some sort of berries. It seemed any sort would do and we settled on strawberries for our purchase.

Finally, after a long day of adventures, we dropped Miss L at home and headed home ourselves. As I tucked M into bed tonight I asked him about his favorite part of the day. He snuggled up against me and said, "I had fun with L. But, my favorite part of the day was when I got to have special time with just my mommy." Seems that being an only child isn't harming him at all...

Where has April gone?

Wow! We are nearing the end of April and I can't believe how fast time flies. M has only one month of preschool left (forever!). And, although I'm doing a happy dance about no longer paying tuition, I'm a little sad that my little boy is SO grown up already.

This morning, my dapper little guy asked me if he looked like a kindergartener - he was wearing a white polo shirt and nice khaki shorts. The dress code at his elementary school will be similar and he has apparently picked up on it. He had some angst when I told him that next year he would have to tuck in his shirt. "What if I can't? Will I have to go to the principal's office?" he asked. I'm not sure where he learned about the principal's office - maybe in a book. But, yes he did look like a kindergartener - a real grown up child and not a baby or a preschooler anymore.

While this makes me a little sad, I have to say that each and every age has been wonderful with him and I love this age a lot. We have thoughtful conversations and he is starting to show a capacity for compassionate thought - considering what other people's feelings are and how he might influence that.

Yesterday, my sister was having a rough day and M overheard my conversation with her and asked me about it. He asked if we could call her - and we did. He left her 2 messages. The first was very sweet, but the second almost made me cry (and it DID make her cry) - he said "I'm sorry that you are feeling sad. I love you very much." He just breaks my heart with his kindness sometimes. I wish that I could freeze that in him and protect it from what he will inevitably encounter in "real life" that will try to squeeze such compassion out of him.

I love yooouuuu

As I sit here typing this, I'm listening to M sing himself to sleep with a self-styled version of the Nighty Noodles song that we sometimes listen to. The song goes, in the refrain: So, nighty noodles, noodles to you. I loved you oodles, oodlesies too - you know I do.

He is up there singing, "I love you. I love everyone. I love you. I love everyone. I love yyyoooouuu. And, hey mom, when are you coming to bed?"

B is out of town so I'm letting him sleep with me in our bed tonight, hence the need to know when I'm coming to bed.

We had a GREAT day today. First at Home Depot we stumbled across the kids' do-it-yourself workshop and build a birdhouse together. It was a lot of fun and really well organized. We'll definitely be going back to that again! Then, continuing our lucky streak, we found that Rhodes College was having a free carnival today - and the weather could not have been nicer. There were moon bounces, inflatable obstacle courses, games to play, free books and the kids even got t-shirts and balloons. WOW! It was well done and we had a great time. Tomorrow afternoon we are off to the Trinity/Evergreen Easter Egg Hunt. Before that M sings in church for Palm Sunday. It has been a full weekend!

B - according to M (age 5)

I did this interview with M twice - once about B and once about me. These are his responses about his dad:

1. What is something dad always says to you?
MTS - Don't shoot at people

2. What makes dad happy?
MTS - Hugs and kisses

3. What makes dad sad?
MTS - if I don't give him a hug and kiss

4. How does your dad make you laugh?
MTS - tickles me

5. What was your dad like as a child?
MTS - he liked transformers

6. How old is your dad?
MTS - I don't know. I forgot.

7. How tall is your dad?
MTS - smaller than you (points at me)

8. What is his favorite thing to do?
MTS - play with me

9. What does your dad do when you're not around?
MTS - works

10. If your dad becomes famous, what will it be for?
MTS - tennis

11. What is your dad really good at?
MTS - playing with me

12. What is your dad not very good at?
MTS - not running as fast as me

13. What does your dad do for his job?
MTS - tutors

14. What is your dad's favorite food?
MTS - Asparagus

15. What makes you proud of your dad?
MTS - That he sometimes gives me treats when you (points at me) aren't around.

16. If your dad were a cartoon character, who would he be?
MTS - Superman

17. What do you and your dad do together?
MTS - play

18. How are you and your dad the same?
MTS - same eyes

19. How are you and your dad different?
MTS - He's taller and I'm shorter

20. How do you know your dad loves you?
MTS - Because he just does

21. Where is your dad's favorite place to go?
MTS - to the Tropical Smoothies restaurant

Me - according to M (age 5)

I did this on Facebook, but it was super cute, so thought I'd share here too for those of you who have not entered the 21st century:

1. What is something mom always says to you?
MTS - Be nice or you'll go in time out

2. What makes mom happy?
MTS - Hugs and kisses

3. What makes mom sad?
MTS - punching

4. How does your mom make you laugh?
MTS - tickling

5. What was your mom like as a child?
MTS - she liked her little wooden rocking chair

6. How old is your mom?
MTS - um, 25.

7. How tall is your mom?
MTS - taller than my daddy (ha, ha - I'm not)

8. What is her favorite thing to do?
MTS - play with me

9. What does your mom do when you're not around?
MTS - work at Marriott

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
MTS - soccer or maybe diving

11. What is your mom really good at?
MTS - racing. Although you never win, you're really great.

12. What is your mom not very good at?
MTS - running very far

13. What does your mom do for her job?
MTS - She works for Marriott. Do you work for Marriott or at Marriott?

14. What is your mom's favorite food?
MTS - Broccoli

15. What makes you proud of your mom?
MTS - Loving her

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?
MTS - Elmo

17. What do you and your mom do together?
MTS - play

18. How are you and your mom the same?
MTS - we have the same color skin

19. How are you and your mom different?
MTS - she's bigger and I'm shorter

20. How do you know your mom loves you?
MTS - I know it in my heart

21. Where is your mom's favorite place to go?
MTS - McDonald's

Inside the mind of a 5 year old

Yesterday, after watching the end of Tarzan (the Disney version, of course), M. turned to me and said, "Mom, when you die is this the way it works? You get to say a few things and then you go straight to Heaven?" Kind of caught me off guard b/c I hadn't really been paying close attention to the movie, although I knew (spoiler alert!!) that the dad-gorilla had died. I thought is was fairly perceptive of him to make that connection. Lest you be concerned, we don't watch violent movies here - nothing rated higher than G - but occasionally the good folks at Disney will have someone die in the movie and usually, as M noticed, they get to say a few words before they go. Interesting that he picked up on it.

Last week he came home from school and told me in a very solemn voice that their class goldfish had "passed."
I said, "Passed? Like died?"
He said, "Yes, that is what Ms. Carole said. (again with a very serious face and slow, solemn voice) He passed."

At this point I'm pretty sure he clucked his tongue and shook his head. Made me feel like I was having this conversation with my own grandmother.

3 Generations

We have a great picture from when M. was a baby of the four male generations of the Stroud family (were this the middle ages, we would say I have successfully "done my duty" as have the Stroud wives who precede me). Sadly, Pop Pop passed away in 2006. But Sunday I took a great shot of 3 generations of Stroud men after we attended the Harlem Globetrotters game. A handsome looking bunch, I think. Of course I"m a little biased because I am married to one of them and the mom of another!

Spring Break

We started off spring break with a bang by going to see the Harlem Globetrotters on Sunday with Pop. M had a great time, although he didn't quite understand it all. He got a mini Harlem Globetrotters ball and has been having fun trying to make it do the same tricks that the Globetrotters can do!

Today he is off to Zoo Camp - a Radical Rainforest Adventure! Sounds like fun. And, finally the sun broke through the never-ending clouds this morning. I had almost forgotten what it looked like, it's been so long!

The other day, after stripping off his shirt so that he could paint "Indian stripes" on his chest, arms, face - you get the picture - he turns and looks at me and announced "Mom. It is too cold in here. I have duck bumps." :-) He gets angry when I giggle at his funny little sayings but sometimes they are just too cute to hold it in...

Why having a boy is so great

When we discovered at our 20 week ultrasound that M. was going to be a boy, I was a little worried. I grew up with a sister and wasn't sure that I would know how to be a good mom to a boy. But, man, someone knew what they were doing! I love being the mom of a boy. It is fun to build with Legos and race around on wheeled vehicles. And, boys are hilarious. 2 cases in point:

1. The other day M was crying on the sofa because his ears were still hurting him after his surgery (poor thing!). So, he's crying and I'm trying to comfort him and then all of a sudden he toots (passes gas). He looked at me, I looked at him and we both just started laughing. At which point, he tooted again and we laughed even harder!! And, it effectively stopped the crying too.

2. I served asparagus for dinner on Monday night. At first, M refused to eat it, said he doesn't like asparagus. When I explained that eating asparagus will make your pee stink, he suddenly LOVED it and ate about 5 spears. And, the next morning was rewarded with stinky pee, which he found vastly amusing!

See - boys ARE hilarious :-)

"Isms"

Today M and I were watching Lady and the Tramp together as part of our week-long movie fest following tonsil surgery. At one point, one of the dogs was speaking in a Scottish accent and he leaned over to me and said "Hmm, that's kind of unusual for a dog." He was quite serious and it was very funny.

Later, my mom texted to say she had landed at the airport early. I turned to M to let him know it was time to go get her and he said, "Yes, but has she arrived at the gate yet?" I seriously sometimes think he is 5 going on 25!

Snow Day

We woke up this morning to find 6 inches of snow on the ground. It had started snowing yesterday afternoon, but picked up again overnight. How exciting! Although M just had his surgery on Friday, we agreed to let him play in the snow because snow around here doesn't last very long (in fact, you could already see the grass showing through the snow by this afternoon.) We said that he could go out and before you knew it, he had completely dressed himself - clothes, mittens, hat, boots and coat - ready to GO! It wasn't very good snowman snow, but he had fun exploring in the snow with his fireman's ax (aka ice pick) and yard stick. In fact we lost the yard stick in the snow - couldn't find it anywhere. I recovered it this afternoon once everything melted.

M is recovering well from his surgery - we are going to have a hard time keeping him still long enough to heal completely, I think. He is still whispering and has this funny way of talking that sounds like someone stuffed a bunch of cotton in his cheeks. But, one upside to this whole ordeal is that he has been very snuggly the last few days. He does this thing where he nuzzles me with his head - kind of like a cat - while we are sitting on the couch watching movies. So adorable! It makes me want to let him have even MORE ice cream and pudding than I already am.

Surgery tomorrow

Tomorrow is M's tonsillectomy (with some other possible 'ectomies' too). We are preparing by eating lots of crunchy food today like weekend cereal (read: sugar cereal), potato chips, etc. We've been very fortunate to have such good friends who are willing to lend M bunches of great movies while he recovers. We have some really great options to look forward to during the recovery!

So far, he seems to be taking everything in stride although he said that he hopes this is his last surgery. (Me too!). We have to be at Le Bonheur bright and early at 6:45 am. But, I have to say that I think LeBonheur is one of the best hospitals ever. It is a children's hospital and I feel fortunate that we live only about 5 minutes from there. They have been absolutely FANTASTIC every time we have been there - for M's previous surgery and also a few ER trips with the asthma.

For a while there I was starting to freak out a little about the upcoming surgery, but I'm feeling better now. Just ready for it to be over and for my little guy to recover quickly. Plus, he doesn't know this but he has 2 music cards (a favorite with him) waiting for him when he gets back from the hospital. :-)

Playlist fun

Last night, B brought home his iPod from work with a special playlist for M. It is all of the songs that M especially likes, such as: (let me know if you see a Cars movie theme in some of these!)

• Life is a Highway


• Life Could Be a Dream (aka Lightening McQueen, a-shoot-a-pot-a-toody by M)


• Everybody likes to Cha-Cha-Cha


• Take Me The Way I Am (aka the Here Take My Sweater song by M)


• Don't Rock the Jukebox (aka Don't Rock the Juicebox)

We all three had a great time dancing to the new playlist. And, hurray B remembered to send the pics today so I can post them.

"I'm mad bananas"

So, Saturday morning, I awoke to the sound of M yelling from his room, "I'm mad bananas!!" I am still unclear exactly what had him in such a tizzy, but he was definitely mad bananas... When I inquired as to what made him feel this way, he put on his very best scowl (which is actually quite cute) and said "I don't know but I am mad bananas!" His mood didn't ever really improve the rest of the day. I'm sure part of this is due to the fact that it was rainy, cold and gross ALL day. However, even a 2 hour afternoon nap didn't really seem to resolve the grumpiness issue.

I am happy to report that he woke up much happier today. In fact, I got him to go back to his room and read his new (from eBay) Sweet Pickles books to himself for about 30 mins after he got up this morning. And, he is currently enjoying learning about stud finders with Granddad and Daddy. He has been running all over the house identifying studs "Dad - you're a stud!" "Granddad, you're a stud!" etc. We have even come up with a new superhero around here - Studman. Should you need assistance finding studs at your house, let me know and I'll teach you the special Studman signal :-)

M's Birthday

I didn't post any of the exciting adventures from M's birthday yet! We had a Buzz Lightyear party with a treasure hunt and a pinata - and 5 friends. Can I just say that pull string pinatas may be one of the best inventions of recent memory? Particularly when you have a party of 5 year olds!! He got to have his first "gifts" party where I didn't write "no gifts" on the invites to his little friends. One little girl, who is a favorite of M's, gave him a Lego set. This was, of course, a huge hit. When I asked him about it later he said "Yeah, [friend] gave me Legos. (shrug) She knows what I like." It was SO funny! He was not as thrilled about the discovery that getting gifts means writing thank you notes, but we did manage to finally crank most of them out. He got good practice writing "thank you" over and over. By the end, his Ns were even facing the correct way.

The following evening B's family came over to celebrate and we had steamed clams - at M's request. I don't think most 5 year olds ask for steamed clams as their birthday dinner, but hey - what can I say? The kid has excellent taste. I was missing my dad, though, when scrubbing all those clams by myself :-)

We had a slight SNAFU when M opened the birthday cards which arrived for him (late, as usual from my family) and piled all the money up without us knowing who gave him what. He hasn't quite learned to distinguish between a $1 and a $20. By far his favorite thing was the promise from his Aunt T. to purchase a pair of roller skate sneakers for him when he turns 6. I just hope she remembers that should she choose to have children some day, turn about is fair play. I'm still enjoying sending annoyingly noisy toys to all of our friends who didn't have kids when M was a baby and sent very loud, repetitive singing toys. I just want you all to know that it makes me happy every time I send one of those back to you! (You know who you are!)

Life

Well, I have obviously fallen behind the times here lately! The big news around here is the M is now "officially" 5 and is very taken with all things that "big kids" do. He is dressing himself and offering to do more chores. He is also somewhat resistant to let his mommy give him kisses all the time now. In fact, yesterday he told me that he has zapper cheeks which zap anyone who tries to kiss his cheeks or touch them. I'm now having to resort to sneaking kisses in when he is sleeping or extorting them in return for help with Legos.

Ah, Legos. This is a new found passion in our home and M is a lego maniac. (Maybe we should have named him Zack - ha, ha!) He LOVES his legos and is really very good at building all kinds of creative stuff with them - lots of vehicles and flying machines, but also some cool buildings. He has taken, though, to doing this toneless and loud humming when building his creations which is driving his dad CRAZY. (I can use my mom powers to usually just ignore it.) Back to the Legos - I'm thrilled that he likes them so much and have been encouraging it. Today he built a "ride" that had a very complicated explanation to go along with it (like at an amusement park) and when I told him that there are engineers whose actual job it is to create and build rides like that his eyes got super huge. Maybe I'll be able to convince him to not be a motorcycle policeman after all!

Regular Granddad is coming tomorrow for a visit - we are all very excited and M spent quite some time in the tub tonight scrubbing it with his brush to make sure it was clean for Granddad. He also wants to sleep with his special guest - I told him they could have a snore-off. :-)

All about me

This post is mostly about me - so if you are reading to only keep up with M, you can skip it. I won't mind :-)

I had coffee this morning with a wonderful friend who has struggled through her own issues with infertility, loss, etc. and it was so nice. It felt as if I were looking in a mirror emotionally b/c she really understands me and often expresses things that I am thinking myself. There have been babies galore around here lately and while I'm happy for those people, it is still a painful event for me each and every time, especially when it is a boy. I confessed to her that I no longer purchase baby gifts or if I do they are dreadfully late because I have to psych myself up to even be able to look at, much less, buy one. She confessed the same thing. Maybe someone should start a service where women like us can just pay for someone else to pick out and send a baby gift without our having to look at, think about or in anyway be involved in the cute baby item process.

I love getting together with this friend. It keeps me sane, although she may not know it. And the thing is, that while we were talking I realized that I'm really okay with the decision to not keep trying for another baby. But what I'm not okay with and may never be is the fact that my baby boy died. I came to the realization that I could have 10 more kids and it still wouldn't replace the hole left when Colin died. Now that I know where my anger, grief and pain are coming from (Colin's death and not my infertility or family size) maybe I'll be able to continue moving past that. I often think of my grandparents and the fact that they lost a son when he was just a young child. Yet, my grandmother, in particular, never seemed sad or angry or any of the things that I feel regularly. Of course, it was almost 20 years later that I even came along. Life will never be the same as it was before Colin died, but I do very much hope that I can find new ways of being a mostly happy person again and that someday my grandchildren will be just a shocked to find out about Colin as I was to find out about my uncle. And that they will think, "Wow! I hope that if I ever go through something like that, I can turn out just as great as my grandmother did." I'm working towards that.

Love

Lately M has been exceptionally affectionate with both of us. The other night at bedtime, he went up to B and said "Dad, I really, really, really, really, really love you!" and gave him a huge hug. He usually spontaneously hugs and kisses me at least once a day and tells me that he loves me and has taken to putting both hands behind his back with the backs of his hands touching and saying "I love you [or Dad] THHHIIISSS much."

It pleases me that he is such an affectionate child. I hope that this is something he carries forward into the rest of his life. It is important to show and tell the people that you love how much you love them on a regular basis. And, it is something that many of us don't do often enough. I know that B and I say I love you every night before we go to sleep, but not always with the spontaneity and fervor that M brings to the statement. And, so I find myself smiling at M's declarations of affection because I feel that he must feel very loved by us and safe and secure in this house to be able to show such love back to us. And, I try to emulate him and tell both B and M more often that I love them out of the blue and say it with excitement.

When I got married to B, one of my main goals was to bring up any children I might have knowing what a loving marriage looks like. I like to think that M is now reflecting back on the world the love he sees in our home and the love that has been showered upon him by his parents and all the multitude of friends, family members and others who have loved him already in his first 5 years (and B and I before he was even born.) And, I get sad sometimes to think that there are children out there who are not surrounded by this type of love and assurance. If I could, I would adopt every single one of them into my home. In the meantime, however, I am thankful that my child is, indeed, a very lucky child!

5 year old checkup

M has his 5 year old checkup this afternoon. For some reason, it is making me kind of excited and sad all at the same time. During this visit, he will be getting shots for kindergarten which suddenly makes it quite real that my baby is going to kindergarten in the fall. And I'm wondering where has the time gone?

It feels like just yesterday we were coming home from the hospital - Matthew was in his little white onesie which at newborn size was way too big b/c he was SO small. He had his Pooh hat on and it was cold, so we were worried about keeping him warm enough. I think Brian drove 5 mph home the entire way from the hospital and I sat in the back with M. The next few days are a haze of no sleep, repeat doctor's visits for his jaundice and absolute joy that he was here. Now, I look at him - he can pour his own milk into a cup, get himself dressed and even likes to help cook his own breakfast when we have time. Where has the time gone?

I think I have been a pretty "in tune" Mom - aware that he will grow too fast and trying to seize every opportunity to experience each age with him. (Except for a good part of his 2's after Colin died when I feel like I missed out on probably more than I know. But, I don't want to know b/c that makes thinking of that time even more painful than it already is.) Yet, in spite of my awareness, things still slip through, I'm sure.

I just want to freeze him right now sometimes - young enough that he still turns to me when he is sad or hurt or feeling bad. Young enough that he likes to cuddle in my lap and read books and will still sometimes let me give him kisses and big bear hugs. I know in the not too distant future, I will watch him pull away and have to let him go. He is growing up and I need to let him do that. And, part of me is excited to see the wonderful young man I know he will become. I see glimpses of it showing through the little kid he is now. But, there is a part of me that mourns each of these milestones, knowing that I will not ever see this time again, but at the same time happy to watch him growing and maturing into such a wonderful person.

Smooth Hair

It is kind of interesting to see how things change. I spent most of my childhood wishing for curly hair - and eating bread crusts to make this come true. As a tangential comment here - it was a) uncool of my parents to lie about this and b) sort of silly to do anyway b/c as everyone knows the crusts aren't any healthier than the rest of the bread. As a result M has never been forced to eat a crust in his life b/c really who cares??

Anyway, back to the curly hair. I wanted it. I didn't have it. Now my handsome son comes along with beautiful blond wavy hair and the one thing he would like to change about himself? His hair. He wants his hair to be "smooth" which I think means flat. He will put water on his head and pat it down trying to make it "smooth". In fact this morning when we got to school he looked and me and said (accusingly) "Why do you always forget to make my hair smooth?" And, this got me thinking. I don't make his hair smooth b/c I love his wavy hair. I think it looks great! It is the hair I always wanted. But, I realized today that I have to respect his opinions, especially about himself. If he wants smooth hair, he should be allowed to have smooth hair - or at least as "smooth" as we can get it. So, starting tomorrow I will dutifully smooth down his beautiful hair when he asks me to - and I won't even tell him he has to eat bread crusts in order for that to happen.

M the Chef

M received a kids' cookbook for Christmas from our good friend Aunt S. I have to admit that my first thought was "oh goodness what was she thinking!" b/c it is a Paula Deen cookbook and I find Paula really, really annoying. However the cookbook itself is great - lots of good info on table manners and how to set a table, etc at the front. And then, the recipes are fab for kids. Well, M has become quite enamored with this cookbook. He would make his own breakfast, lunch and dinner out of it if I let him. Last night we made "bullseyes" for dinner (bread with a hole cut out and an egg fried in the middle). He is Mr. Rules anyway, so he gets very particular with me if I don't follow the recipe exactly. He can read the recipe so he is constantly double checking me to make sure I followed the rules. For example, it called for a circle cutter, but I only had a heart shaped cutter for cutting out the bread. After some intense debate (either use the heart or we don't make these, was the basic gist) he agreed to use the heart. Then I tried to eat the cut out heart from the bread. The following exchange ensued:
M: You can't eat that!!
TG: Why not?
M: We need it for the recipe.
TG: No, it is just extra, we can eat it.
M: Does the cookbook SAY it is extra and you can eat it?
TG: Well, no, I just know.
M: (studies the cookbook intently) It doesn't say it is extra, you can't eat it.
TG: Fine... (I know my parents would both be chuckling at this payback of stubborness for sure)

I come from a long line of cooks - I remember fondly cooking with my Nana and my mom as a kid and always enjoyed it. I also took 3 years of gourmet cooking class in high school (over my mom's objections - she wanted me to take sewing - I had to point that out yet again, mom! Of course, had I taken sewing I could have made him his own apron instead of relying on Nanny to do so, but hey that is what Nannys are for!) I love to cook - it is both a creative process and fun for me. So, it thrills me that he loves cooking so much. I'm not particularly good at playing transformers or super heroes and it is exciting to have something to do together that is fun for both of us.

As I continue to struggle with our "decision/circumstance/fate" to have an only child, I try to find joy in all the things that are so great about having "just" one child. Cooking together is definitely one of those things. I think that I would be much less inclined to throw my dinner plans to the wind and let M cook whatever he wanted if I were chasing 2 little people around the house. I also couldn't just jaunt off to the grocery store to purchase the missing ingredients for monkey bread or some other fun delight if I had to take into account other people's naps, etc. (Besides my own, of course).

I think that next week I might pull out the Cooking Around the World cookbook for kids that was mine when I was little. We have could have some great fun with that!!

What a Day!

Wow! What a great, inspiring day! In lieu of actually being in DC, B and I tried to travel on down to the Civil Rights Museum to watch the inauguration but it was filled to capacity by the time we arrived. They turned away so many people, it is too bad that they couldn't have put the big screens outside where more could have watched the inauguration. There was a very nattily attired older black gentleman who got turned away and I felt really bad for him. I'm sure this is an amazing day for him and it is a shame that he couldn't watch with others at such an historic location.

I'm very excited for the change I hope will come in this new administration. I'm hopeful that we can mend fences with other countries and rekindle past alliances.

I think that M was more excited about Obama becoming president than he was about the snow flurries this morning and that is saying something! Can't wait to pick him up from school and watch the recorded inauguration with him. What with Barack Obama and his favorite cellist Yo Yo Ma both being on there, he will be very happy! See, even small people can feel the excitement of change that is in the air.

I have the sweetest son

I try really hard to keep work holidays as family time - easier said than done since my office is in my home and I sometimes have a hard time resisting the pull of work email...

This morning, we had pancakes for breakfast at M's request. He helped make the pancake batter and at one point I looked over and he was blowing kisses into the bowl. I asked him what he was doing and he said, "I'm just adding some love." After they were ready, I put the pancakes on the table and M looked at me and said "Thanks Mommy for making such a great breakfast" and then gave me a kiss and hug - isn't that sweet?

While cleaning up, I was listening to some oldies on my iPod and the song "Life Could Be a Dream" came on - M looked at me and said "Hey that song is from the Cars movie." I chuckled to myself thinking that the song has been around way longer than the movie, as I'm pretty sure that I first heard it as a child on an 8 track in my dad's Sirroco and it was already old then :-) As I type this blog entry, I am listening to him in the background singing "The Lion Sleeps Tonight." I guess he has oldies on the brain. Now I need to work on his 80s repertoire.

Disney

So, we just arrived home from our family trip to Disney World and what a great, but exhausting trip it was!! We stayed on site at the Wilderness Lodge - a very cool hotel designed to look like the National Park lodges that one would have found in the 20s and 30s. The lobby was open to all 6+ stories and had giant totem poles and teepee chandeliers. It also had a replica of the Old Faithful geyser - a fact that B and I found way more exciting than M did.

We hit all the parks and have to say that Animal Kingdom was the least favorite. There weren't many rides that were 5 year old friendly, although the dino dig pit was a hit! The safari was fun too - we got to see lots of animals on the ride. M really loved the Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios. We got to "meet" Lightning McQueen and Mater (CARS movie) and Buzz Lightyear and Woody (Toy Story) at the Studios. They also had a very cool Star Wars ride and a fun 4-D Toy Story ride - both huge hits! At the Magic Kingdom, M really liked the Buzz Lightyear ride where you shoot lasers at targets and It's A Small World. On the 3rd or 4th time on IASW, I finally realized why he kept asking to ride the ride - he really was smitten with the little Hawaiian hula dancers in the ride. He also enjoyed meeting the characters and has a very full autograph book.

At Epcot, we had a blast on Soarin' - a simulator ride that is like hang-gliding over the state of California. M and B also really loved that ride. Made us all want to travel to California on our next trip. M also liked the belly dancer we saw in the World Showcase - you should have seen the smile on his face when he was watching her!!

The one character he really wanted to meet was Robin Hood, but I asked several "cast members" and was told that they didn't have RH anymore - bummer. On our very last day, we were sitting on the Magic Kingdom train pulling out of the station when I looked back and there was ROBIN HOOD! At that point we just had to ride all the way around (about a 20 min ride) and I was so nervous that he wouldn't be there by the time we made it back. But, our luck held out and M got to meet Robin Hood, Friar Tuck and Prince John. Robin Hood was great and spent lots of time with M. When M met Prince John, he told him "You should be a nice prince!" It was really cute.

I really enjoyed experiencing Disney through M's eyes - he just thought it was all so magical. Except that he pointed out to me on Day 2 that he could see the zippers on the back of the characters' costumes and they didn't speak so he had figured that they were not the real characters - too smart for his own good sometimes... I also really enjoyed being able to devote my entire attention to doing Disney with him - when he was tired we went back to the hotel and when he wanted to do something, that was what we did b/c for the most part B and I didn't have any pressing agenda items to cover. It made for a fun and mostly tear free trip.

On Saturday M asked if we could please return to Disney tomorrow. For now, he'll just have to live with the memories. He is still singing the songs from the Hoop-De-Doo Revue dinner show we attended. I think that he had a great time!

And, finally, my wonderful husband, B, actually thanked me for planning the vacation when we returned home and told me what a great time he had. Isn't he great?

Welcome!

Okay, finally getting caught up with the 21st century and starting a blog for our friends/family to follow us on our latest and greatest adventures. We are a family of 3 who loves to travel and have "adventures" both close to home and far away. B and I both love to travel - we've been to Paris, Aruba, Grand Cayman, Puerto Vallarta and some great US escapes together. Since M joined the party almost 5 years ago (yikes!) our family travels tend to stay closer to home, but I do have the kiddie passport ready to go so we can travel at a moment's notice. M has been to several great locations including Seattle, Asheville (pronounced Ash-uh-ville by M) and Nashville (Nash-uh-ville). He has played guitar on the stage at Ryman Auditorium and took a ride on Thomas the Tank Engine in the mountains of North Carolina. We also enjoy going to music festivals and other festivals closer to home. Since we live in Memphis, we have lots of great options for music practically right outside our door. Some family favorites are the Hill Country Blues Picnic in Potts Camp, MS and the Folk & Heritage Festival downtown in Memphis. Our most recent adventure took us to the "happiest place on earth" - Disney World.

Mom duties are calling me - more on our latest trip later on.