Summer Soundtrack 2011

The five-year-old, or Superstar as we refer to him, having a glee moment in the pool.

Peesh out.

Circa 1973

Yes, this is me, the wee one in white some 38 years and one day ago. Yesterday was my birthday and while I'm generally not one to whoop it up on these occasions, my family, as usual, wouldn't let me lay low.

Before the sun was even up, I found this birthday greeting in my inbox. The adorable munchkin is one half of my doubly sweet twin nephews, who themselves are about to celebrate their milestone second year. I love the emphatic "No Happy Birthday!" while my poor sister is pleading for cooperation. You go Ari!

As the sun rose and my threesome awoke I was the recipient of this utterly perfect birthday card presented by the middle child on behalf of himself and his brothers.

Note the "good at cleaning" notation. Oy. Perhaps I need to re-evaluate my priorities!

And then there was the gift from my Mister P. The craigslist find that would be mine. Say hello to my new lovuh, er, I mean my new credenza. Please ignore the hot mess that is my garage and check out the hotness of this vintage beauty, circa 1974.

Lastly, there was cake. Lots of cake. Because when you are 38 and grey hairs are cruelly beginning to make their presence known, the last thing you do is say no to cake.

Lucky

I'm not much of a gambler. Don't play the lottery. In other words, I don't really push my luck, but I'd have to say, I'm pretty lucky nonetheless. I have the most amazing household full of wonderfully energetic, ceaselessly interesting, voraciously curious and inquisitive boys whom I love to no end. And then there's Mr. P. I won't gush about how I love him to the moon and back, I do, oh, how I do, but I do know one thing for certain, I really am the luckiest woman in the world. To have a partner that is as kind and gentle, thoughtful and considerate, loving and caring, generous and selfless as my one-of-a-kind husband is something to thank the stars for. Today, the official day of love, which, frankly, seems silly to me as we should celebrate those wonderful people in our lives each and every day, I celebrate my Mr. P. Even though this is the first time in at least 18 years that we are not together on Valentine's Day, my heart is always with him. I love you, honey and lucky doesn't even begin to cover it.

Happy Valentine's Day, friends. Hope your hearts swell with happiness.

Running on Fumes

{Einstein, a.k.a., the five-year-old, with "mommy hair"}

Sheesh, it's only Monday and already I feel like I'm just trying to keep up. Not a good sign, is it? Between a nagging cold (who has time for such nonsense!), a ridiculous amount of homework (I never thought I'd have to repeat 5th grade, again), and life in general...I'm wiped! The other night in the car on the way to meet friends for dinner the five-year-old had this to say, "Mom, I wish our car could fly and we could be the first ones there every time. They should make robot everything and then we could just relax and not have to do anything." Amen brother. I think the boy is on to something.

I should to take a cue from the wee philosopher and lighten up. Need to unload? Feel free to let loose in the comments. How's life?

Halloween: A Recap

Although it rained and plans didn't go exactly as, well, planned, my little goblins managed to eek out a fun and spooky night nonetheless. The littlest one could barely contain his excitement. He practiced his "trick or treat," kept his fingers crossed for Smarties, and ran down the street with nary a look back. And best of all, we added two new members to our Boo Crew. The Twinkies came along for the ride, all decked out in their skeletal suits. Man, it's great to be a kid!

An Excerpt

{Warning: proud mama tooting her son's horn}

As parents, we generally hope that our children inherit our best qualities and not those peskier parts of ourselves that are better left in the dark, never to see the light of day. Well my oldest son, who just turned ten, is a book worm. So much so in fact, that I teasingly refer to the books he is always toting around as an appendage, another limb if you will. He goes virtually nowhere without a book in tow, or two, or three. Seriously, I kid you not. He has among his numerous quirks, a habit of wandering in the wee hours of the night. Most often, these wanderings will end with him finally falling asleep on the old couch in our bedroom. In the morning, every morning, I find a book abandoned somewhere in our room. He "sleep walks" with a book, always one in hand. Among his many habits, I love this one most, his whole-hearted love of reading. This, I would proudly say he got from me.

But not only does his heart belong to books, he loves to write as well. This, he did not get from me. Creative writing is definitely not my forte. But the ten year old loves it. Loves to play with words, create new combinations and bring me his scribbled ideas to proof and discuss. That is how we arrived here. As of late, his preferred tales involve intrigue and deception, heroes and villains, and all manner of creatures of the night. This is an excerpt from his latest bit of storytelling and well, I loved it. It's really for my own bit of memory-making, but do enjoy if you're so inclined.

Nick trudged through the streets of Paris. His dark, red eyes surveyed his surroundings. The street lamp flickered as he strode past. Three Parisians in pale blue vests tailed him through the endless crowd of people. Their eyes were hidden by extremely expensive designer Versace sunglasses. Nick noticed their weird formation as soon as he saw them. To normal Parisians they would have looked like mere tourists or passersby. But Nick knew, underneath those sunglasses, icy gray eyes with no pupils were glaring at him. He moved into the crowd of people inside the Eiffel Tower. He opened the door leading to the top. When he arrived at the top, he turned around and unsheathed his sword. Sure enough, the people who had been tailing him were there. But they were no longer people, their heads had turned into lions' heads, their backs were hunched over. Claws had retracted from their hands. Nick pivoted and stabbed the smallest of the three. When the sword pieced its skin, the creature turned into a pile a dust.


Oooh, I got chills. But I am his mama, so probably not an impartial reader. Still, I love this boy and his love of literature. {insert-puffing up with pride}


Oh and by the way, the ten year old insisted that I post a copyright notice {:0)} so interwebs, please note, above excerpt copyright D.A.P., 2009.

{image, I think, via This is Glamorous}

Harrumph!

{seven year old, picture day, that is not a smile}

Can you see the expression on this one? Whereas big brother is pining for button-down shirts and ties, this one positively lives in t-shirts. His upper body wardrobe consists of precisely two types of clothing- short sleeve tees and long sleeve tees. Needless to say, he wasn't happy this morning when it was time to get dressed and I presented a freshly pressed, long sleeve, button down, collared linen shirt. Oh horror of horrors! He stomped and threatened and left in an angry huff! Oh well, it's picture day and mama's got the last word. ;0)

{addendum: tonight I could not get him to take a shower, so I threatened, "If you do not get in the shower right now, I will get you another long sleeve, button down, collared shirt to wear to school tomorrow!" Man, he was in the shower before I finished my sentence. My husband came upstairs and asked what had I just said, rolling his eyes. Hey, it worked!}

A Week of Firsts!

Phew, we've had a week of firsts around here! This may very well be the happiest little boy on the planet. He has waited sooo long to lose a tooth. And now, just two short months from his 8th birthday, it finally happened. He was thrilled beyond words and talked about it all weekend long. He cradled that itty bitty tooth in the palm of his hands as if it was the most precious diamond in the world. And of course, there was much speculation on how generous the tooth fairy might be. Now, there are at least three more of those little suckers loose and awaiting a good tug to free them from their confines. Man, I guess the tooth fairy hasn't been made aware of the recession! Someone, that would be moi, needs to visit the ATM asap.

{1st tooth lost, September 6, 2009}

"Mama, I did good today."

Boo Hoo

"Mama, please stop taking pictures of me!"



Siiiiiigggghhh, I'm drowning in a sea of tears right now. Damn that soggy bagel. Seriously, you'd think I'd be a pro by now. This is the third time around and all. But this is the toughest one yet. I miss my baby ya'll. I just wasn't ready for this. Not yet.

{photo via iPhone, on the way to preschool}

Small Talk

Last night as we were winding down our bedtime routine, lights off and having our final "good night" chat, J. the four-year-old says to me, "mama, I wanna fly." You mean like a bird, I say.

"Yesh," says he, arms outstretched for effect, "like a bird."

"Maybe me go in space ship?" Sure, I said, why not. "Otay, goo nigh."

Oh, how I love "seeing" the workings of this little mind in action. And J., just so you know, someday you will SOAR, yes.you.will. Of this I am certain.

{image, J. the 3rd of July, 2009}

Happy Birthday Sweet Boy!

I can't even wrap my mind around this fact. But he's four, really and truly, FOUR! Happy Birthday sweet, sweet (little) big boy. Your beaming smile, joyful disposition, and constant chatter light up our lives. We love you J and yes, today is finally your "BOW-TAY!"

{On the steps of the New York Public Library, June 2009}

That's my boy!

I can't even begin to tell you how many times we've been stopped, by
strangers, like out on the street, and been asked if this is our
child, in all his blond glory. Well he is mine, 100%! And here's
the proof- he may not be olive-skinned, dark, curly-haired, but he has
mama's penchant for list-making.

J, whatcha doin' I asked.

Making a list for fourth of July, says he.

That's my boy, yessiree!

{posted from my iPhone, don't know what Blogger is doing to my spacing}

Making Cookies with a Three-Year-Old

Okay, so there will be no photos of the "making" portion of this little endeavor. Seriously, I would have lost my mind trying to juggle the food processor, sharp blade, little fingers, and unwieldy camera. And don't even get me started on the flour, which elicits shouts of glee from aforementioned three-year-old- "Oooo, pretty snow!"

So let's just skip to the warm, fresh baked just out-of-the-oven meyer lemon shortbread. Yum, right? Evidently not if you are three.

This was the expression I was met with when asking, "J, do you like the cookies?"

Let's just say he wasn't nearly as enthusiastic about the prospect of eating them as he was with the prospect of making them.

Three-year-old response- "I like Oreos!"

Oh well, perhaps his palate will be more refined in a few years, until then Oreos it is.

Happy boy=happy mama=more meyer lemon shortbread for me! That's an equation I can get behind.