Happy Holidays

Hope you had a good one. Ours was pretty great. We were very busy. The boys got an early present a couple of days before Christmas. They got a new bunk bed set which is actually a long story (isn't it always?). See, way back when Aidan was two, we decided to go bed shopping. I found what looked like a terrific bunkbed set on ebay. The customer reviews said the beds were sturdy and nice and they were very reasonably priced. So we ordered them. The Husband spent a day putting one bed together and boy was he pissed!
"This is the cheapest piece of junk I've ever seen."
And it was pretty cheap. Not sturdy. The wood was a very soft pine. But it worked as a single bed for our boy. He used the "top bunk" and it was great, it even had built in bed rails. It's worked well for over five years.
A couple of months ago, The Husband built the bottom bunk for Riley and that's what he's been sleeping in but it wasn't a bunk bed. The Husband felt the beds were so cheap, they were unsafe to use as a bunk, especially in earthquake country.
So, the other day, we headed over to the bed store and got them a very nice, very sturdy bunk bed set. Merry Christmas!
And then, when they went to bed on Christmas Eve in their brand new Super Mario pj's, Santa covered them in brand new matching comforters for their new beds while they slept. This would have been great were it not for the fact that Riley awoke at 4 am with a copiously bleeding nose. What a wonderful way to start the holiday.
But it gets better...
Aidan then woke at 6 am dry heaving in the bathroom. Poor guy.
He then had some breakfast with his dad only to find that Santa had left a receipt from the Lego store on the kitchen table. I guess not everything is elf made these days. Regardless, both boys were thrilled with the gifts he brought. Aidan is actually now convinced that Santa really exists because as he told his grandma on the phone later, "That Lego set Santa brought me costs fifty dollars and I know my parents would never buy something that costs that much!"
Thanks Santa.
Later that day, we all hopped in the car to drive seven hours South to see my bio family. Riley spent the entire seven hours asking, "Are we there now? Are we there now? Are we there now?" every ten seconds except for the hour he mercifully napped.
"Now are we there?"

And then there was my favorite:
"Why don't we just go to the airport?"

Aidan spent much of the ride vomiting. It seemed the nervous stomach he complained about in the morning was actually a virus. He ended up throwing up into used McDonald's cups while we drove through L.A. Not much fun.
Luckily it was only a 12 hour bug and he was fine by the next morning.

The visit was nice. the trip was fun. We got to see lots of people and even squeezed in a visit to Legoland, which I do NOT recommend...will write more on that later...what a ripoff.

Things were great until about an hour before we were ready to leave when Riley began to vomit. And vomit. And vomit. The Husband ended up flying home solo (he had an important meeting at work). He then flew back to us and drove us all back last night. The boys thankfully fell asleep almost minutes after we hit the road and were mercifully quiet throughout the drive. But it was tough on The Husband.
We got in at 4 this morning and the boys slept in until 8.
It's been a crazy holiday.
But aren't they always a little nuts?

I Hate Gogurts

And "Fruit Snacks" and Yogos and all that other stuff that pretends to be healthy when it's really pure sugar.
Have you looked at what is in a Gogurt?
It's disgusting.
And my kids love them. They love it all and why shouldn't they?
Who doesn't like sugar.

I am so tired of food companies marketing faux healthy stuff to me and my kids.

I wish I could afford to shop at the frou-frou organic stores instead of the regular grocery store.

There is no avoiding the crap anymore.

And I am tired of fighting with my kids about why a banana is better for them than a banana Gogurt.

Gogurts must die.

Aidan

Aidan has taken on a huge task. He has decided to teach his three-year-old brother how to read.

He's brought out flash cards and picture books and is prompting Riley with sight words.

The problem is that Riley is still not quite proficient in all of his letters. He goes to a developmental preschool, you know. There's plenty of time for that academic stuff when he is older.

I don't push it.

Aidan is really trying though.

All I can say is Good luck with that, kid.

Who knows? He just might do it.

So there's this guy

that I went on two dates with over fourteen years ago. Two dates and then it fizzled. He never called me and I never called him. I really haven't given him a second thought in fourteen years.
He was a nice enough guy but we just weren't that into each other.
And now he keeps trying to be my "friend".

He friend requested me on Facebook twice and he has emailed me privately asking if I was the girl he knew over ten years ago.
Well...yes but who cares?


But I guess I left quite an impression.

And now he keeps trying to be my friend on Classmates. I never even use Classmates and this guy keeps sending me friend requests.

I don't get it.

Two dates man! Two dates.

I checked out his profile. He's married with at least two kids. It looks like his wife is one of his Facebook "friends". I'm sorry but The Husband has a Facebook account and I visit it regularly (we're "friends") and I ask him about all of his female "friends" (everything checks out people-no worries).
So let's say I did agree to friend this guy. What is he going to tell his wife?
Because if I was his wife, I would ask... "Who is this woman in California that is your new 'friend'?"

And what is he going to say?

Yes honey, this is a woman I dated fourteen years ago...twice.

Why the hell would he want to do that?

That would not fly at my house.

Uh-uh!

And it's not that I don't trust my husband, I do, very much. It's just that it seems to be inappropriate for married people to be looking up old exes and trying to be friends with them after fourteen years.
It's weird.

Now I DO google stalk at times when I am bored. I do that. Of course I do. But I'm not trying to be friends with them. There are lines here people and I don't cross them.

So I'm just going to keep ignoring him. I don't want to be his friend. What is the point?

I just wish he'd stop emailing me.

I think it's creepy.

Think about it, if I found out my dear, dear husband was emailing some chickie he dated fourteen years ago, I'd be pissed. I would. I admit it.

And I don't know about you but I've heard of a lot of marriages being in trouble thanks to sites like Facebook and Linked-in and Classmates. People are "reconnecting" with people they shouldn't be talking to.

There's really no point in revisiting the past if there is romance involved and you are happily married. Don't even go there. That's my motto.

I'm just trying to get through the present day. That's enough for me.

So I'm wondering am I the only one who has experienced this?

Please share.

I'm Sick

That's the bad news. The worse news is that I was supposed to run 12 miles today. Hopefully I can do it tomorrow. Fingers crossed.

The good news is I have 2 and a half weeks off of work. I love being a teacher.

We have been running around like crazy people this year. Riley goes to preschool on alternate days that I work. It just worked out that way. And I work in his classroom on Thursdays so I only have one morning to get things done and then I usually go exercise or get my teacher work done. It's not good for me. I'm a lounger you know! I need time to chill and I'm not getting a lot of it this year. I haven't even been able to blog much lately. It's killing me!

I don't like being busy. It makes me look like this:


So I plan to spend the next couple of weeks hanging out in my jammies.

And cleaning...I plan to be cleaning. My house has been seriously neglected these past few months.

Cleaning...yeah...right.

Team Mom Review: "Parents" Brand Architecture ABC's

This is the last sending of the year we will receive from Team Mom and I think this is truly an amazing toy.
We are no strangers to "Parents" brand toys. Aidan received a magnet writer for his second birthday from my aunt and it lived in our car and made him very happy for years. He would just doodle away on that thing.
Anyway, we received the Architecture ABC blocks and they are wonderful. Brightly colored, squeezable blocks for baby play. And they are pthalate free which is something I look for in baby toys. Babies put everything in their mouths, it's how they learn about their world so it's good to know that the toys they play with are safe. These are very soft, nice first blocks for a budding builder.
The set is large for lots of building fun and it comes in a nice compact and zippy little carrying case.
I think it's quite nice. You can see it here www.parents.com and at www.target.com.
The one downfall for us in this sending is that I don't have a baby in my house to play with this set. So I sent them onto my brother for his little daughter Alison to try out. She's six months old and I know she's going to love them. So for now, this review is to be continued...

I'm Afraid To Go To Sleep

Because last night I had a dream that I was Britney Spears and I was living with that Perez Hilton dude in a mansion in Malibu.

I'm totally serious here.

I woke up terrified.

I would much rather be me than Britney Spears.

I mean really, wouldn't everyone?

Team Mom Review: The Secret Mountain Books

Team Mom sent me three books from a Canadian publisher called Secret Mountain.
Each book is a children's picture book with a music cd tucked in the back cover.
Well I'm just going to tell you, the books are really weird. The illustrations seem blurry and disjointed and the text is...well...it's just weird.
And I'm a preschool teacher who likes weird books.
The text was disjointed and just not that user friendly.

But the CD's themselves are very, very nice. The music selections are eclectic and well done.
Our favorite is Down at the Sea Hotel which contains music written by well known artists like Mary Chapin Carpenter, Tom Waits and Billy Joel. Another thing I liked about this book is that part of their proceeds go to the Breast Cancer Fund. I just didn't particularly like the book itself and neither did my kids unfortunately.

So our vote is that we love the music. It's great relaxing bedtime fare that soothed our entire household. If you are looking for some great new tunes for your repertoire, check out their website for something truly unique.
www.thesecretmountain.com

It's Getting Tougher Out There

As most of you know, our family had an early dose of the "economic crisis" our country is facing. The Husband was laid off in February from his job at Yahoo!. He was out of work for exactly three months (which coincidentally was the length of his severance package).
He was fortunate to find a job he seems to like with a fairly stable company. But as we all know, nothing in this life is certain, especially here in the Silicon Valley.
And now this holiday season, many people we know are losing their jobs. It's really scary.
They say that we Americans are not yet feeling the crunch of this downturn, we're all still pretending that everything is the same as it ever was. That's pretty obvious to us in the amount of people we see out and about shopping.
I think we're really going to see some stuff when the severance packages run out in a few months and more jobs are lost.
Nobody really knows what is going to happen, all we know is that it is bad and it's going to get worse.
But I don't want to give into fear.
Listen, I've never been one to buy things I can't afford.
I've never really had a credit card. I got myself into a little trouble early on with a credit card in college and swore them off completely. Even now, my only credit card is an Old Navy card I never use. The only debt I had before marriage were my student loans (which were paid off before the wedding). Don't tell anyone, but I think my credit rating is one of the reasons why The Husband married me.
But now we have a mortgage. A big one. Blech.
I had to take a lot of deep breaths before I signed off on that one.
At least our cars are paid off though.
I'm just trying to stay focused and positive and hope and trust that The Husband and I are smart enough and frugal enough to weather all of this.
Right now we're ok.
But a lot of people aren't. I'm going to try to help out with local charities and do my part to contribute. I'm contributing to food drives and Toys for Tots but I'm not going to limit it to the holidays anymore. As long as I can, I'm going to try to help others.
And I'm going to hope...a lot.
What else can we do?

Guess who got his hands on the grown up scissors...

He cut up my book.
He cut up my book!
He cut up my book.
It's kind of creepy, no?

Well, it was still readable and it looked like he had a good time.

I guess I don't have to worry about his scissoring skills anymore (and he did this without the helper hand!).

One handed scissoring is impressive.


See...it's all about perspective.

Running and Hot Yoga

That's about all I'm up to these days.

Hot yoga is awesome. Seriously, you just drip sweat the whole time. Rivers of sweat everywhere. It's great.
A little stinky but great.

Try a little Bikram if you want to have some fun.

And of course, there's the holiday stuff and parties and more running and fundraising because I joined Team in Training again.

I'm pretty busy.

I love my husband. I love my kids. I love my job. I love my friends.

Life is good. And I've even got a key chain to prove it.

One Tough Dude

I just watched Riley shout down this older kid who tried to tease him about his little arm on the playground while we were picking up Aidan from school. Riley kind of got in the kid's face and just started shouting. He was on tip-toe doing it.
And the kid backed down and they ran off playing together.
It was very weird to watch and that's all I did.
I was ready to step in if there was blood but my kid has got to follow his own path.

And he used his words.

He's going to be ok.