Excuses, excuses...

Hi all! I was boo'ed yesterday by Darlene from Darlene's days and I got a cute little graphic saying that I was boo'ed and what not BUT while I was trying to write a post and get that cute little graphic on my blog yesterday, we lost electricity during a terrible storm and it all disappeared in the blink of an eye or in the keystroke of a finger...what ever the case may be. I'm busy right now and struggling to at least get this post in but I'll try to put up my cute sign later. Thanks Darlene!

Today I am going on a field trip to the apple orchard with The Son's class. Can anyone tell me why it has to be so danged cold out right now? Usually in Pennsylvania at this time of year we have nice crisp fall days that MIGHT require a light denim or courdoroy jacket. Today it's practically freezing out and I'm going to have to wear a hat...to the orchard...with other moms who are WAY cuter than I am and will probably just be cold instead of wearing a hat and looking "not so cute". Then I have to go to work in a swim suit which is also not cute. At least The Son is cute, I'll just bask in his cute glory.

Speaking of The Son...his costume won "Most Original Costume" at the YMCA party this weekend. He looked awesome and we were all very proud. It wasn't surprising that we won since out of the 500 kids that were there, I think he might have been one of 10 that had a homemade costume. Am I remembering it wrong but didn't kids years ago always have homemade costumes? I know The Sister and I ALWAYS did...Our Mommy (A Halloween Birthday Girl) was good like that. I know she was smiling down on my little robot this Halloween and would have been very proud of me (and The Husband) for all our hard work.

So, I know you want a picture, right? I didn't get a lot that night, it was very dark at the party I'll show you a preview and then post more after the actual trick-or-treating that will commence on Friday. It's going to be cold. Last year we walked around The City in jeans and a top and The Son was actually hot in his costume, this year I'm trying to convince him that it's OK for Wall-E to wear a hat...he's not really happy about that, The Son likes to be very authentic in his costuming. So here he is, cutest Waste Allocation Load Lifter - Earth Class EVER...

I'm participating in a race...

next Sunday! Yes, me, a race, it's just a 5K. I'm not really planning on running it and fortunately, now that The Sister is pregnant, she won't be running either. We'll be walking in the Brain Tumor Society's Race for Hope in honor and memory of our beloved mother Joyce who passed away almost a year ago after a very brief battle with brain cancer. Our goal is to raise $1,000 and we're almost there but of course, we would love to surpass that goal. If you're able to give at all, please click to see my personal page and donate to a wonderful cause. Thank you for helping in the fight against brain cancer.

I guess I'd better get to the gym a few times this week, huh?

Our Mommy

This week...

Is a busy one, I haven't been blogging much because of it. I had my report cards due for swimming lessons this week and they take a LONG time. This session it meant 32 report cards and in another 8 weeks, I'll have more. Anyway, they're finally done, I'm happy with them and I hope that the parents will appreciate the feedback. I do put a lot of time into them. 

Also this week, I am diligently working on The Son's Halloween costume. He wants to be Wall-E and I am the mom in the neighborhood who insists on making all his costumes. There was one year I bought a costume but I doctored it up a little to make it extra special. So I've been spray painting a box to get it ready and soon I'll get to start the fun part of decorating the box. I think it's going to come out CUTE. We have a big party at the Y on Saturday and you know I want my little robot to win. 

This Saturday morning is also The Niece's 3rd birthday party at a pumpkin farm a couple hours from our house. We'll be leaving really early to get to that shindig. I guess she's worth it...after all, she IS my Goddaughter.

The Son is coming to work with me tomorrow morning, bright and early. He's excited but I just get stressed out about it. He also has tip testing for karate tomorrow night which will probably mean, a nap will be in order. Getting up at 6:15 AM is never easy for my little guy. So, in honor of the Halloween costume I'm working on, I'll post a few pictures of his Halloweens past. 

Here he is at his first Halloween as "Woody" from "Toy Story". So cute.

The next year, he dressed as a Dalmatian pup from "101 Dalmatians". The Husband was also a pup and I dressed as Cruella for about 10 minutes until The Son made me take the wig off. It was fun while it lasted. 

The next year, he was a ladybug. It was kind of difficult finding a "boy ladybug" costume and my mom helped me sew this one. He was so stinking cute! Incidentally, The Niece is going to wear this costume this year, she's going to be just as cute, I'm sure. 

Last year he was "Lionel" from "Between the Lions". No one else knew exactly who he was but he was SO happy with this outfit. He LOVES that show. I was happy too frankly, it came out to look exactly how I wanted it to look. 
So this year he's decided on Wall-E...wish me luck! 

Have a great day everyone! 

Swimming fun!

I took some cute pictures of The Son the other night after I taught swim lessons. I teach from 4:00 to 5:30 and then I get a 15 minute break. At that time, I get The Son from Kids' Corner and put his swimsuit on him and he swims in the shallow part of the pool for an hour while I teach two more lessons. After that we swim together for a half an hour or so and do a couple reviews of things he's working on for swimming. Rest assured for those of you who have read my "life saving" story, I can see The Son the whole time I'm teaching AND the pool is roped off so children cannot go to an area that's deeper than 2.5 feet. They also have to be a certain level in swim lessons to swim with out a parent and The Son is at that level.

Anyway, we took a few pictures the other night and I think they came out really funny and cute. We were laughing our heads off as I took them. Some are a little blurry perhaps, but they're "action shots" so you'll have to excuse it.






This is the look I got when I said it was time to go. He loves to stay in the pool but 3.5 hours in the water is MORE than enough for this Momma!



When we leave swimming, to get to the locker room, we have to go past the Upper Pool at our Y where they are having a water aerobics class. The Son LOVES to watch this class and will "help" the teacher in her teaching of it. I had to take pictures because it's hilarious! I have mentioned before that this boy is NOT shy, haven't I? The ladies in the class get a kick out of their little instructor... it's so sweet!




Well everyone, I hope you're all having a great weekend. We're looking forward to a Parent's Night Out tonight and some yummy food sans The Son. He loves PNO at the Y so he's excited about it too. Enjoy!

It's a dog's life!

I just got back from picking the puppy up from Doggie Day Care. Yes, Doggie Day Care. Do you believe people actually pay for that these days? I do, because I did. We've been home approximately four minutes and he's already collapsed on the floor kicking his legs in what I presume to be joyous puppy dreams. See...

I pass by the place every morning on my way home from work, so yesterday, I decided to call and check it out and it's only $15 for half a day. We all took a ride over and after touring the campus, Ziggy decided that he wanted to enroll, it was definitely what he's looking for in an educational environment. They feature 1.5 acres of open space, (fenced in of course) lots of toys and many, many dogs to play with. They also breed cats, the cats were visible in pens and Ziggy practiced his pointing as soon as he saw them. I guess he doesn't yet know the difference between a cat and a mallard...good thing he's not really going to be a hunting dog. After taking the appropriate placement exams and having his transcripts faxed over, he was good to go. I dropped him off this morning at 6:30 and he was a little nervous, scared that he wouldn't make friends, that he'd be the only one who's not yet "fixed" or most of all, scared that he'd miss his Momma. He overcame his fears and quickly made friends with Abby a little Yorkie who also attends the day care. After that, it was off to work for me.

I went to work and home again, feeling a little sad as I drove past on the way home. I went back to pick him up at 12:45 after dropping The Son off at his pre-school at the Y. He was very happy to see me and the people at the day care said he had a good day but is still adjusting. I don't know exactly what that means and Ziggy doesn't seem to want to talk about it. I noticed that he also made friends with Hank, a spunky Boston Terrier. I hope he's not a bad influence though, you know how those Massachusetts boys can be. ;) I plan on taking him once or twice a week so that he can really run, socialize and just so that he can play with other dogs. All in all, I think it was good for him. He's still hasn't declared a major and there's been some talk of pledging a fraternity...I think he mentioned Delta Omicron Gamma but that all remains to be seen. I'll keep you posted. 

Some funnies from The Son...

The child never ceases to keep me laughing, that's for sure. We had a few doozies this week that I must share with you:

The Son: Momma, you're beautiful. 

Me: Thank you Honey, you're so sweet. 

The Son: I think you're the most beautiful girl in the whole world. 

Me: Wow, you sure know how to make a Momma feel good. 

The Son: Yep, the prettiest Momma ever... even when you're naked! 

Me: WHAT? 

(I have no idea what he meant by it but it was hilarious.)

The Son: Momma, that's a cute top, have you worn that before?

Me: No, it's new.

The Son: When did you get it?

Me: I guess a couple weeks ago or so. 

The Son: Well, I like it, you look beautiful.

Me: Thank you Sweetie, you're so good to me. 

The Son: You know what you should be for Halloween Momma?

Me: No Honey, what?

The Son: A model because you are as beautiful as a model and I love you Momma.

Me: speechless but hugging a sweet boy. 

(He might be delusional but he sure can make a Mom feel good.)

And lastly, this exchange took place between The Husband and The Son last night while The Husband was trying to watch his beloved Red Sox. 

The Son: Daddy, I want to watch "Prehistoric Planet."

The Husband: Not right now Honey, Daddy is watching The Red Sox, come watch the Red Sox with me. 

The Son: But I NEED to watch "Prehistoric Planet" NOW! I want to be a paleontologist you know. 

The Husband: Well the Red Sox are in the play-offs so you'll have to wait until tomorrow to watch Prehistoric Planet. Mommy will read you a dinosaur book, that will help you be a paleontologist. 

The Son: NO! I need to feel like a paleontologist and reading won't make me feel like a paleontologist. 

The Husband: Well, I need to feel like a Red Sox fan! 

The Son: (frustrated) Daddy! You're so mean! 

The Husband: I know, I'm the Worst Daddy Ever. 

The Son: (crying)  No, you're not but you should let me watch "Prehistoric Planet." 

This went on for a little while longer with The Son getting more and more frustrated until we all finally decided it was time for bed. He got over it and woke up happily and of course, got to watch "Prehistoric Planet!" He is now officially feeling like a paleontologist! Thank Goodness! Oh, and the Red Sox lost. Sorry Husband. 

5000!

My stat counter finally hit 5,000! That's pretty cool to me. Too bad they're not all leaving comments. ha ha! 

I saved a life.

Well, you may have noticed that I haven't been blogging much as of late. I've just been kind of not in the blog mood, it happens to the best of us, right? Well, after last night, I have something to blog about for sure! 

I saved a life last night after teaching swimming lessons! Really, I did. I teach until 6:45 on Wednesday nights and my son gets in the pool to swim at 5:30 while I teach lessons. After I finish, The Son and I swim together for another half hour or so, having fun, doing mini lessons, (He's getting REALLY good) basically just goofing around. So, last night, we're playing and we were doing the "frog song" with another bunch of little boys. It basically just involves me singing this very annoying cute song about frogs on a log jumping into the pool. The. Kids. Love. It. We played that for a while and then The Son and I went to the deeper end to practice his actual swimming. I don't know how long he was swimming when I noticed that one of the little boys who was playing "frogs" with us, and who is actually one of my very beginning swim students was behind me in the deep end, barely struggling to get his head out of the water to take a breath every few seconds. I FREAKED out! I grabbed The Son because he can't stand there either and then grabbed the struggling boy who clung onto me for dear life. He's been scared in swimming lessons as it is, I don't think this is going to help him. After I rescued him, I had both boys, one on each hip, I had to point out to the "lifeguards" what had happened. The were both young teen boys, one blonde and one brunette. I turn to Mr. Blonde and scream, "This kid is over here, practically drowning and no one is paying any attention to him!" Mr. Blonde says to me in a really snotty way ....wait for it...wait for it...

"I'm not responsible for that side of the pool." 

Well, you can imagine how livid I was at that response, I said, "OK, well, when he drowns, you be sure to tell that to his mother!" 

I then told the "lifeguard" on the other side of the pool, (I guess he's the one who was "responsible") Mr. Brunette, just looked kind of shocked and dumbfounded at what had happened but at least he didn't have a snotty retort. 

I dragged the little boys over to the shallow end and told them to play there. I then went and talked to the supervisor of the lifeguards. I was so upset and angry that I was shaking and I'm sure I didn't make a pretty picture standing there freaking out in my dripping wet swimsuit but I don't really care. 

I am more than likely to be persona non grata with the lifeguards but I don't need a bunch if 17 year old kids as friends anyway, the adult guards will understand. Also let me say that the incident wouldn't have happened with most of the guards we have, at least I don't believe that it would have. 

I got back in the pool with The Son and we played for a little while longer after I had shown the other boy where it was safe for him to play. It was an exciting night to say the least. I'm so glad that no one was hurt and that I was able to help the child.  Who knows what would have happened if I hadn't been. Poor kid, he's one of my favorite students and I really hope this doesn't set him back. 

Oh! You also might ask where his mom was, she was on the pool deck reading. I won't even go into that because I do like the woman but you can make your own judgments there. 

Have a great day everyone, we're off to the pumpkin patch/apple orchard with some friends! 

Tag! I'm it!

I want to start off today's post by thanking Darlene at Darlene's Days for giving me an awesome "I heart your blog" award AND by tagging me to do a 6 random facts about myself tag thing. I've never actually had an award and I've never been tagged. What fun and all in one day! 

So now I get  to give this award out to six bloggers for them to pass on as well. I have many blogs that I read but most of them have already received this award so I've searched through my blog roll to see those who haven't already gotten this award. If you already did get this, I apologize...just know that lots of people "heart" your blog. 

I'm giving it to:

Marie at Watch the Wind Blow By

Roshell at Always Smiling
Erin at Running to Stand Still

Buffy at Buffy's Bitchin' Blog

Michelle at Heart of a Runner, Body of a Mother

and last but certainly lot least, my sister Cathleen at It's Just the Little Things 

I also figured I'd make it easy on myself and tag these people to answer the six random things about themselves tag as well. I'm so efficient, don't you think?

So, here's the six random things about me:

1. I have ichthyophobia which is defined as the fear of fish. I HATE fish. I cannot even go into the fish sales area of the pet store because to me, the gold fish are the worst out of all of them! I can go to a large aquarium because The Son loves fish but even then I have to really prepare myself for it, sometimes it's difficult for me to not freak out when I'm there but I usually do OK for him. 

2. When writing in a check book, I must write in all the same color, preferably blue. I would never be happy if I wrote one entry in black, one in blue and so on and so on. It. All. Must. Be. The. Same. If I don't have a blue pen and have to write a check, I'll make note of the entry on a scrap piece of paper and enter it in the check ledger later. The check itself can be written in any color, just not the entries in the ledger. 

3. I love to peel stickers and plastic off of stuff. I was in heaven when I got all my new appliances and got to peel off all that plastic. Once on vacation, we rented a house and they hadn't peeled the plastic off of the bathroom light fixture before it was installed (duh.) I climbed right up on the sink and peeled it all off myself. It was thrilling. 

4. My favorite food is macaroni and cheese. I like it all, from Kraft to gourmet truffled mac and cheese. Delish! When I was first pregnant, Kraft mac and cheese was one of the only things I could manage to eat. Do you think it's a coincidence that it's also one of The Son's favorite foods now too? 

5. I love to sing and have done lots of musical theatre. Right after The Husband and I were engaged, I even worked as a singing and dancing waitress on a river cruise ship "The Spirit of Philadelphia." It was a really fun job. The Husband worked there too, he didn't find it as much fun as I did. 

6. I hate soda. I never drink it. I don't really even like juice. Water is my usual beverage of choice excluding the "grown-up" beverage category of course. 

Thanks again Darlene! You made my day for sure. 

I look forward to seeing everyone else's six random facts! Have a great day everyone. 

Tonight I transform...

into City Momma! Actually, I should say City Girl because I won't really even have to be a Momma tonight. I am heading back into The City to hang out with one of my bestest girlfriends (Joanie) there. I will also get to see my old house, it's construction progress and if it's worthy, I'll take pictures to post on The Blog. 

We're planning on heading out somewhere very trendy and cosmopolitan for dinner where we'll proceed to act trendy and drink copious amounts of cosmopolitans. (or Stoli gimlets which I much prefer to cosmos.) We'll live it up for a few hours, possibly attracting the eye of several eligible gentlemen who will be heartbroken and shocked to learn that I am a 38 year old married mother of one. I hate to break their hearts in this way but at least Joanie is single, I can be her "wing girl". We'll stay out late realizing as we walk home, that Joanie's handbag is bulging with the phone numbers of all the eligible men we met and that we didn't have to pay for a single drink all night. That's how it used to be when I lived in The City. Really... why don't you believe me? 

ha ha ha ha ha ha! Who am I kidding? It probably won't go down exactly like that but I do know that we'll have fun, lots of good girl talk and a few precious hours of forgetting the I am usually "The Momma" and a chance to just be myself. I'll try to take pictures if we're not having too much fun!

Enjoy your weekend my friends. 

Yep!

It worked! Stay tuned for the repetitive use of that new technique! ha ha! 

A strike out post...

I think I just learned how to do a strike out when doing a post. 

They grow up so fast...

Puppies that is. The CityFamily/CountryFamily cannot believe how fast our Ziggy is growing. He goes by many nicknames now, Zig Zag, Zigs, Zigga, Ziganotasaurus.  (named after The Son's favorite dinosaur the Giganotasaurus) I call him a few choice names myself when The Son's not around and he's being especially "puppyish" (in not such a good way) but we'll leave those off the blog so as not to offend some more of my "delicate" readers. 

He's kind of difficult to photograph now because every time he hears the "beep" on the camera, he wants to get closer to investigate. He had The Son and I laughing our tushies off the other day when we were trying to take a picture of the two of them together. The best we managed to get was this:

Here's a few more for you though that came out a little bit better. You can see below that The Son is finally getting used to having a bigger dog in the family, he's only been used to small ones until Zigs came along. 

Handsome...

Yep, that is a "shock"collar you see around his neck. It seems to be the only thing he truly understands. He's had it for a couple weeks now and honestly doesn't even need to be "zapped" all that frequently. He knows when it's off though and he acts up especially during that time. Stinker. For those of you who read my "Mr. Spritzy" post. Mr. Spritzy worked for a while but had to retire as Ziggy got bigger. He's just a plain old spray bottle now. It was nice while it lasted but now "Mr. Shocky" is Momma's best friend. 

"What? You got a problem?!" 

So, it's official, I guess we're a "Big Dog Family" now. All in all, he's a great dog and I'm really happy we have him. Yes, it will be nice when he calms down a little more but I do see great potential in him and he's very sweet. 

In other news, Kimba's hosting a Halloween party on Monday so I'll add a few more details about my Halloween decorations at that time. I want to give a few more close ups and maybe add another thing or two. Hope to see you at the party! 

It's October!

Did you think I forgot that I said I'd post my Halloween decoration pictures today? Well, I didn't forget, I just didn't do it in a very timely fashion. At least it's still October 1st though, right?

Here's the entryway. I decoupaged the "BOO" with different scrapbook papers and changed the ribbons on my mirrors to be more Halloweeny. I also gathered the sticks and spray painted them, added ribbons and crows from the dollar store to a gothic-ish looking urns and called it my "spooky tree". It looks cute but it's not actually that spooky. 

Here's the mantel, it's usually the thing I have the easiest time with. I'm telling you, if you have trouble decorating your mantel, just get some apothecary jars, think of some coordinating items and go for it! You'll have a good looking mantel in no time. 

Some close-up details... yep, that's one of those infamous dollar store white pumpkins...I got the LAST one! 

A side table, I added the web and glittery spider to a picture of The Son last Halloween, that web stuff makes anything look scary! 

This project took me a long time, I cut out ten little bats and suspended them with fishing line from my chandelier in the dining room. I found the idea in a Martha Stewart Magazine and I'm really happy with the results. 

Talk about a window mistreatment! I shredded up an old sheet to do this since I didn't have anything there anyway. It actually looks kind of cool although I doubt "The Nester" would approve. 

Well, that's it for now, I wanted to at least get these up for today, I'll probably post some close ups and more detailed information for tomorrow. Have a good evening everyone!