Wine and Cartoons

New Beach Pictures

andrea — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 02:38:52 +0000

Last week I made Keith take pictures of the kids at the beach because that is what all the cool families do. Cool people have scenic pictures taken, so “everyone” can get a feel for how awesome life is. I used to take the kids to Sears but people really couldn’t tell how awesome we were from the basic backgrounds. We probably should have made all three of them dress alike but Aiden seemed angry when I tried to put him in a dress. For the most part they turned out well. It’s just that Aiden has this crazy smile he does when he knows we are looking at him. Madeleine starts out strong in the smiling department but quickly loses steam as she has to wait for her brother to stop smiling like a crazy person. Towards the end of the pictures she looks drunk and Aiden looks normal. It’s a chore for everyone involved.

“Aidenisms”

andrea — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 02:30:41 +0000

It probably seems like I dote on Aiden a lot here. Maybe it seems like I favor him over the girls because I am always talking about him. It’s not that at all. It’s not. What it is, is that he is always saying the oddest things. In the past few months I have enough material to write a book. Let me give you some examples…

1. Last year he informed the school librarian that he needed to check out a book on electricity because “he had a light bulb out in his room”. He then told her he was going to see if he could fix it after he read the book.

2. When we were at my parents house this summer, Aiden began to sink into their pond. My dad told him he had better get him out of there or he was going to disappear . Aiden responded with, “Well when you pull out my skeleton you will know it’s me because of the boots”!!!!!!!!!!

3. When Aiden came home from school today he informed me he started a club at school. I made the grave error of asking him who could join. He told me you had to have a piece of metal, be friendly with his dinosaur, and agree to sign the treaty.

4. About a month ago Keith was pushing him to hurry up and get into the shower. “Hang on dad, I have to take off my weapons”.

The list goes on and on. I need to remember to write down as many of his ‘isms” as possible. No one would believe me otherwise.

Mummy Impression

Fighting a tree

Fighting Lobsters before the age of 3.

Face paint at an early ago

A New Start

andrea — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 16:59:02 +0000

for my Madeleine. Today is her kindergarten orientation and I seem to be the only one having problems. Its such a change from how we spent our summer. She made it very clear that she was not going to begin a new school this year. As far as education went, she seemed fine hanging out with me all day doing chores. Right, what she wanted was to spend the days hanging out with me doing art projects, watching sponge-bob and eating snacks. Madeleine is a huge fan of snacks. If Madeleine were on facebook she would probable create a fan page devoted to snacks. She asks for snacks so often that I now become angry when I hear the word snack. I am literally angry writing the word snack.

I am going to be honest and say I really worry about her making friends this year. She has been in school with the same group of kids for three years. I know these kids and I know their parents. Maybe its the adjustment for me that is hard too. I keep thinking back to my first day of kindergarten. I was really quiet in school, very similar to Madeleine. I did well enough making friends so I should have faith her to to make it. I mean what are the chances she is going to hate everyone and end up a social outcast. Like 15% right? That should make me feel a little more confident… She has changed her outfit three times, carefully packed her backpack, counted her school supplies, and reviewed the bus routine with Aiden. All that is missing is me being able to let go.

Seven Years In…

andrea — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 16:30:26 +0000

and parenting a child like Aiden never ceases to amaze me. I neglected to do a blog celebrating his birthday and I owe him one. Of course it’s almost a month late and I’m posting on my sisters birthday so that should count for something.

Aiden has gone through so many changes this past year. He started last fall as a kindergartner who was insistent on leaving after lunch. I have to say that first grade feels like a whole different ball game. This year its all about desks, homework, science projects, and meeting new friends. Maybe I should say more friends since he has developed an amazing amount of friendships.

Aiden was lucky enough to spend two weeks with his favorite people this summer. This includes a whole week with his dad at an airshow. He loved it! A couple weeks before we were at my parents house. I can’t think of a better way for Aiden to spend his time.

He makes me so proud when I see his kindness towards his sisters and his friends. He is the kid that knows when I am upset and will give me a hug. He is the kind of kid that thanks you profusely when you do something for him. Every day I am thankful for him and tomorrow will be bittersweet as he heads to the world of first grade. I will probably cry and clap. Figure that one out.

I love you little man, have a great year at school.

Trying To Get Back

andrea — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 18:18:37 +0000

To a somewhat normal posting routine. I mean what its only been a year since I was fairly regular at posting. We finally had our summer start with a visit to my parents. To the regular eye it’s a single family home on a dirt road. To my children it’s a fabulous world filled with ice cream, swimming, and all the frogs you can catch. It was amazing to watch Aiden come into his own catching frogs and lightening bugs. The frog catching started with my sister in law giving him a frog habitat. The idea is that you send away for the tadpoles and let them grow up under the watchful eye of the young scientist. We saw no reason why the frog had to wait for tadpoles. Aiden started catching the bounty from my parent’s pond. He spent his days hunting for them in the reeds and the cat tails. More often than not Madeleine was watching from the sidelines. It’s not that she was above catching frogs except there was no way she was going to touch a frog.

Madeleine and Charlotte used the time in Michigan to fight, blow bubbles, fight, have tea parties, fight, eat ice cream, and fight some more. It seems to be an arrangement that works well for both girls. We were able to celebrate Charlotte’s birthday and I owe her a post on turning two. We have all suffered mental anguish since she has become a toddler. I hope one day she is able to experience her own children…who act the way she does…That doesn’t mean I was badly behaved as a child. Tomorrow Aiden turns seven…

Madeleine at the M.S.U dairy

Visiting Nana at M.S.U

Fishing with Aiden, Doodah, and Tuck Tuck

Madeleine worried about being late for class, except she is 13 years too early!

Frog Boy

Fishing...

Chuck and Tuck

Doodah and his little girls...

Here! I’m Here

andrea — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 04:39:01 +0000

Life can really get in the way of blogging. I swear at the end of the day I can feel my computer mocking me, begging me to get up at write. And I want to and then… I fall asleep.

In a nutshell…

1. Aiden completed another season of tball.

2. Madeleine finished pre-k, onto Kindergarten next year!

3. Aiden has two days left of Kindergarten!

4. My awesome new van was rear ended a couple weeks ago, but all is well and easily repaired.

5. Charlotte is becoming more outgoing and dangerous. Really, really dangerous.

6. My beloved cat Duncan is missing.

7. I can’t think of anything because I am too tired.

Tomorrow I will work hard to post pictures and videos…promise.

Not Such A Good Month

andrea — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 15:37:56 +0000

So I mentioned that my brand new car was totaled last month right? Well after almost four weeks of driving three children around in a car, I was able to find a replacement vehicle. I decided to go with another van for one obvious reason. I am not stupid. Three kids that close to each other is dangerous. Especially since the one in the middle is mean. A very mean toddler. Madeleine has lost almost all her hair to Charlotte pulling on it and poor Aiden won’t hear right anymore. And please don’t get me started on how loud Charlotte’s voice is while screaming in my ear. The kids were thrilled to have distance between themselves and their little sister. In fact they put her carseat in the third row. I had to move it eventually but I could understand why they wanted her back there. I was kind of ok with her back there too. On the whole van front I think we might be good for awhile. I am going to go ahead and pray to the van God’s for awhile just to be on the safe side.

In other sad news my poor cat lost her tail. Not like in an eyore kind of way. She escaped one evening and when she returned there was something completely off about her. I couldn’t feel anything broken but it was like all her bones were missing. You know, in a Harry Potter kind of way. (if you haven’t read the books this will not be funny to you and that just makes you lame). We took her to the vet and it was discovered that she was crushed under something. Long story short, her tail died. Which makes the story even shorter. She seems awesome now that her tail is gone. I was going to have it made into lucky charms, like a rabbits foot, but this seemed to bother the vet.

I would update everyone on the kids but i’m needing to workout so….

Red Lights

andrea — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 21:38:12 +0000

Have never been friends of mine. In fact the three times I have been involved in a car accident I was sitting at a red light minding my own business. I rarely mind the business of other people while at a stop light. Thursday the damn red light got me again. The girls and I were waiting patiently at a light on Forest Drive in Annapolis when we were hit again. This time it was really hard. Like blow out my rear window and pop my back tires hard. I immediately checked to see if the girls were alright and aside from screaming very loudly, they were. Thank God and lawmakers for car seats. The man who hit me along with the woman he pushed me into seemed to be fine. It took five minutes for the police to get there. Which was great. They took over the whole situation, for that I am grateful. I was so stunned that this happened that I wasn’t making a whole lot of sense. In fact calling Keith and then yelling into the phone that I was in an accident and get here now, probably wasn’t the most helpful. Especially since I hung up on him after I yelled that little bit of information.It’s also important to let your cousin know where your son needs to be picked up. I might have told Ryan the wrong house to go to. He may have walked into the wrong house after knocking on the door. To be fair, the woman of the house was on crutches so all she could so was holler to come in. Unfortunately, she had no idea who Aiden was. It’s also important to not become embarrassed when your older daughter has some serious gas in the examining room of the hospital. It was such an incredibly strong odor, there was no way I was going to take responsibility for that. No way. When the discharge nurse came in I made sure to tell her that it was all Madeleine. I left the house that afternoon at 2:30. When we got home that night it was after 7:00 pm. We are fortunate that all that was damaged was a car. But damn if having your car hit isn’t completely suckish. Completely and totally.

Not Just A Halmark Holiday

andrea — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 14:11:06 +0000

It’s also when this guy:

Jan and Madeleine

Married this woman:

Nana and Charlotte

Thirty some years ago. Which is awesome because then they created a family. And who doesn’t like a family? They made some pretty awesome daughters. On the awesome scale my sister and I rate a solid ten. Here, look at how awesome we are:

Awesome sisters

See? Awesome. And guess what? The awesomeness does not end with us. With a little help from this guy I married I created some awesome children:

2005

2004

July 2008

My sister has also added to the awesomeness by giving my parents their most with their favorite cat:

My parents favorite daughter

Its hard to explain the level of love my mom has for her cat.

Awesomeness aside, its pretty great when you think how the marriage of two kids from Ludington Michigan is still going strong after all these years.

Remember the Shining?

andrea — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 14:49:52 +0000

VID00169That would be the overall mood in my household. The kids and I are ready for reality or whatever version we can get. Aiden, Madeleine, and I are social creatures. We enjoy being with our people participating in our activities. I enjoy time at home as much as the next person. Our time at home has now turned into a week removed from society. The snow has by no means been a negative experience. Aiden has had a chance to really bond with the kids in our neighborhood. Something that hasn’t happened before this year. We are a private community. By this I mean, we all do our own thing. Not a lot of interaction. Kids being in school together changed this. We are now “forced” to build a relationship. Please don’t tell anyone but I like it. It reminds me of growing up on Walker Street in my small hometown. Any given moment my friends and I were running wild in the neighborhood. I recently asked my dad if he kept track of me. He seemed to think I didn’t need it. He was under the impression that no one would kidnap a kid like me. Yeah, that’s right. No one can kidnap awesomeness. By the time Keith came home on Monday, I was running out of ways to be an awesome mom. Over the course of three days we:

1. Built a snow fort.

2.Built a snow tunnel.

3. Made cookies.

4.Made brownies.

5. Ate two batches of homemade maccaroni and cheese.

6. Watched seven episodes of America’s Funniest Home Videos.

7. Helped my neighbor dig us out.

8.Popped the tent in my living room.

9. Sent Aiden to his friend Piet’s house.Where it was discovered that Piet had a better snow fort and a more interesting lego collection.

10. Sent Aiden down to his friend Henry’s. Henry’s dad took some of the boys in the ‘hood on a mile long walk to the beach. I don’t believe they went swimming but they are boys so…

11. Shoveled some more.

12. Had some more friends over.

13. Made some more cookies.

14. Watched some T.V.

15. Keith came home and we did the previous activities all over again.

Wednesday our area experienced a blizzard. It was at this point I shaved my head and ran up and down the streets naked. I’m feeling better now and really love my room at the “clinic”. Now, if you will excuse me it’s time for my nap and my meds.