Soccer Boys

Spring soccer, game on! As I may have mentioned, soccer in whoville is on the crazy side. Anyone and everyone with a child can be found at the huge soccer fields on Friday night in whoville. They stagger the times for games and practices by age group and it creates such a traffic logjam that the local police is required to direct traffic for most of the evening.

You have to see it to believe it.

This year, Chris volunteered to be the assistant coach for Aidan's team with our friend Dylan as coach. This allowed us to sneak in Brennan for some playing time even though he is technically under the age limit. Brennan is in love with soccer. He practices his drills at home, talks about it incessantly and asks everyday, multiple times, when he can go to soccer.

There is also something really sweet about seeing both Aidan and Brennan on the same team, playing together. They overwhelm me with their cuteness in their matching uniforms and big smiles. As teammates, however, they have very different soccer styles. Aidan is fast and often the first to get to the ball, but he prefers not to fight for the ball and will willingly surrender it to another player. Aidan's goals tend to be breakaways without challenges from the other team.

Brennan, on the other hand, takes soccer as more of a contact sport than is required. I had to remind him several times this past Friday that the kids with the red shirts were his own teammates and therefore, he didn't need to tackle, push or kick them out of the way to get to the ball. Brennan has yet to make a goal, but he did knock down half of his own team attempting to get the ball going in the right direction.

They may approach soccer differently, but for both boys - it's pure fun. I have to admit it is just as much fun for me to cheer them on from the sidelines.

Icky, Icky Boys

This is a conversation I really wish I had NOT overheard amongst my boys. (Please note I have purposefully omitted the names of the involved parties in order to protect the innocent.)

Boy 1: (whispers softly to his brother) "I just stuck my finger in my ear and licked it. It tasted REALLY gross!"

Boy 2: (whispers back softly) "Oh yeah?"

Boy 1: "Yeah! Gross!"

Boy 2 sits in quiet contemplation for a moment, leans over to Boy 1 and whispers, "I've eaten my boogers before and that was pretty gross too."

Boy 1: "Wow."

Boys. Icky, icky, little boys.

Twisting the Knife

Griffin and I are rocking in his room before bed, snuggling close. I rub his back while he rests his head against my shoulder, tucked into my neck. We rock back and forth in silence for a few minutes.

Griffin slowly lifts his head, catches my eye and says softly, "I'm happy now Mommy."

"You are?" I reply smiling, "I like when you're happy G."

"I am. Happy!" He smiles sadly and continues, "I was sad when you were gone. Just sad."

Ouch. He gave me a nice heaping dose of mommy guilt with that little dig.

The boys definitely have a tough time whenever I travel, which truly isn't often. I could probably count the number of times I have been away on my fingers. It seemed this time Griffin seemed to have the worst time adjusting to my absence. I returned to a needier and much more emotional Griffin. He clutched my legs when I had to leave to go to work and sobbed, begging me "not to go." He also told my mom to "go home" when she was at our house, fearful that she was there to babysit him. He needs to know where I am in the house at all times or he gets really agitated.

But he's happy now. Happy.

Griffin Discovers He May Have a Future with the WWF

It's all crazy, all the time.

Girlfriends

There are many things in my life for which I am grateful. At the top of the list is my girlfriends. I have had the honor of sharing my life with some truly amazing women. The type of women who are accomplished and beautiful and smart, but manage to also be kind and supportive and generous. My friends always chose to see the best in me and I, in turn, in them. The power of a good female friendship is pretty remarkable.

This weekend I escaped to the beach with three very dear friends - Diane, Amy and Christine. I have been friends with Diane and Amy for over half my life. We are, as many have commented over the years, big complimentors. We spend most of our time together telling each other how wonderful each other are or how beautiful. Your ego gets quite a boost from some time with these women.

Six years ago, Amy, Diane and I were gabbing in the backyard watching the setting sun at Diane's home in Portland, Oregon. Joining us was a new friend of Diane's, a neighbor - who was meeting us for the first time. After fifteen minutes of hearing us talk to each other ("You are so beautiful tonight! I love that shirt on you! You are so smart! I love how you told that story! You amaze me with your accomplishments! etc, etc."), she interrupted us with wide eyes and remarked, "I'm sorry, but do you guys always talk to each other like this?"

We asked her, dumbfounded, "Like what?"

"Like this!" She gestured wildly as she tried to explain, "I feel like I'm in the middle of a freakin' Oprah Winfrey show or something. I've never heard anything like this in my life!"

We laughed, shrugged our shoulders and told her, without apology, that yes, this is how we talk to each other. We always have. We always will. We are lucky.

This weekend, joined by Christine, the big ego boost continued. When we were not saying nice things to each other, we told stories that made us laugh so hard we cried. We stayed up until midnight each night talking. We soaked up the beach, lounged in the pool and enjoyed margaritas as we watched the setting sun. I spent most of each day and night interjecting into each conversation with the phrase, "I am so happy."

It was four days that was, simply, a gift. I have always heard that your female friends act as a mirror to your own self. If that is true, I probably have a better, a kinder, a prettier and a way funnier mirror than I deserve.

Brennan: On Mommy 2009

Brennan's class created their requisite Mommy posters to decorate the walls of the school for Mother's Day. Below a drawing of a giant flower and a green stick figure with one piece of blue hair, Brennan answered the following to his teacher's questions:

My Mom's Name Is.... "Mommy"

My Mom's Favorite Thing To Do Is.... "Drive to Wegmans." (He must sense my excitement over strolling the artisan bread and bakery aisle. My focaccia and Nonna's fougasse is calling me! When I laughed over this answer, the teacher confided that one of the other kiddies wrote their Mom's favorite thing to do was... sleep. Love it.)

When I Come To School My Mom... "Goes to Work."

I Love My Mom Because... "She gives me surprises every night." (I have no idea on this one. Surprises? Not a clue.)

First Crush

Brennan has a crush. It's the first crush for our group of boys. Aidan has never spared a girl a second glance, despite always requiring a quick clothes change before his buddy Ellie comes over to play. But, Brennan has spared a second glance and even a third. He's got it. And he's got it bad.

Her name is Amelia, Lia for short. She is very cute - blonde ringlet hair, big blue eyes. She's a doll and she has stolen the heart of my second born.

It started with Brennan talking about her quite a lot around the house. He started requesting play dates with Lia in between his prolonged discussions on her virtues. After a few weeks of much discussion on the life of Lia, Brennan boldly announced last week that he "has a girlfriend!" And then he looked at me squarely and said, "And her name is Lia, Mom."

"I figured as much Brennan. Lia is a nice friend to have." I told him while my heart broke a little.

Today I picked him up from school. He ran into my arms to give me a hug. After he left my arms, he quickly ran over to Lia to tease her about something and tug at her hair. Brennan quickly caught my eye as he stood behind Lia and mouthed to me, "This is LIA!" He then smiled a sheepish smile and ran to grab his backpack.

Lia. Tonight, I learned that Lia is "very tall." She is also "very funny." And she knows how to "dive in deep water. Like deep, deep water mommy. Deep!" I also promised to set up a swimming play date over the summer with master swimmer Lia.

I should have known Brennan would be the first to fall head first into his first crush. I know I should have known, but it's bittersweet just the same.

Naked Dance

I recently told our neighbor across the street, a mother to two girls the same age as Aidan and Brennan, that if she ever wanted to teach her children the male anatomy she simply had to direct her girls to glance out their windows at 7 pm to watch my boys prepare for bath time. If it's bath time, then my boys are dancing naked.

There is no shyness in the naked dance. Oh no, no shyness indeed. It's full out booty wiggling, jumping and twirling all while screaming with glee from the sheer nakedness. Boys like their bodies. Every single inch of their bodies. (Okay, some parts get a little more (ahem) love than others.)

The front of our house has many a window open to our neighbors across the street. The hallway upstairs which is home to the naked dance is wide open to the windows - meaning that the neighbors get quite a show if they happen to be looking out the window towards our humble abode. For all we know, the naked dance gets many a standing ovation from our neighborhood. It's quite a dance.

I can handle the windows and the eyewitnesses to my boys' special brand of crazy. But tonight I was oh so grateful that the eyewitnesses could not also hear my children sing with gusto as they danced naked. Because tonight they created a whole new song, courtesy of the creative genius of Brennan. It's a sweet little ditty called, "I Love My Penis."

As far as I can tell it goes something like, "I love my penis. My penis! I have a smelly butt. Do you want to smell my butt. My butt is slimy! I love my penis!"

After three or four rounds of Brennan singing as he danced, Aidan and Griffin caught on and joined him on the chorus.

It was quite a sight. The naked dance meeting the penis song. If only I had thought to grab video.

Beach

Ah, vacation. Lovely, wonderful vacation. The beach was terrific, as beautiful as always.

The night before our vacation starts the same as every other. I run around like a lunatic, swearing, stressed out beyond belief attempting to pack for myself and three children. I pack up backpacks for carry on filled with toys, books, snacks and treats. I make lists, check off lists, and make new lists. I lay out everyone's clothes for the plane and pack a carry with everyone's essentials just in case. I download kiddie shows for my ipod just in case of emergency. I charge up a D.S. and check batteries in the leapster and camera. I get grumpy at the work and wonder why we even bother to go on vacation.

Chris laughs at me, tells me he has no idea what I am so worked up about, and packs a small bag for himself in under two minutes.

In my next life, I am coming back as the Dad.

After all the bags are packed, including Chris's, I wait until I am all alone with the luggage destined for check in and I start to stash my secret library. Books, books and more books are tucked into nooks, crannies and pockets - inside of everyone's stuff, including mine.

This works every year and satisfies my small (ahem) addiction to reading on vacation and well, all the time. But this year, the boys' collective bag was overweight. Chris raised eyebrows at me as I sheepishly had to extract no less than four hard cover books from the boys' bag while we checked our luggage.

The jig is up!

We arrived in Florida relatively unscathed. The direct flight was dreamy and oh, so wonderfully quick. We spent our days in the sun soaking up every last bit of vacation. The mornings were at the beach, digging or building sand castles in between hopping waves. After lunch, Griffin went down for a nap and I took Aidan and Brennan to the pool.

It was glorious.

At the end of each day, the boys were exhausted from all the sun, all the activity and all the fun. We all managed to sleep well, even with us tucked into one bedroom.

We all loved the time with my grandparents. Griffin dazzled my grandmother with plenty of hugs and smiles. Aidan and Brennan loved talking up my grandfather on anything and everything. We even fit in a trip to the local aquarium where the boys were over the moon touching sting rays and watching sharks, manatees and dolphins swim.

I have vacationed at the same spot for over ten years. I always question if we should mix it up a bit and pick someplace new. But then we get there and it is perfection. All of it. I start my day drinking my coffee watching the surf and end my day gazing at the setting sun. There is no other place I would rather be.

Balance

On most days of my life as a working mom, I work for balance. The part time gig helps me achieve a somewhat delicate balance tempered with some guilt, a little frustration, and often a bit of stress. But it's balance. I have an intellectually stimulating job I enjoy (most of the time). I get more time with my children on my three day a week schedule than if I worked the slave hours demanded of a full time lawyer. All in all, I feel like my life has achieved a successful compromise that works for me as a person and as a mom.

The balance doesn't work when one part of the compromise pushes back. On Friday, work pushed back into my family time. I had a client with an emergency, a serious holy crap this is going to cost them a ton of money emergency, who needed me on a 10 am conference call with 5 other people. I found out about the mandatory call at 8 am. I had no child care and I was at home with three children. There are clients with whom I can swing the whole "please ignore my kiddies screaming in the background thing" during our work call, but this was not one of those clients. This was a client who could not even know I HAD any children, let alone that I was about to discuss very important things while also caring for said children.

Ten minutes before the call, I turned on a movie for the boys, gave them popcorn and a bag of marshmallows as a bribe, and begged them to stay in the playroom for the next fifteen minutes. The fear in my eyes was enough to get them all to agree with me. I ran and hid in the laundry room for the call.

The call went a little longer than fifteen minutes. After forty-five minutes, I could hear Griffin getting antsy in the playroom. When his bellows for me turned into screaming wails and he discovered my hiding place in the laundry room, I did the only thing I could think of - I hung up the phone as fast as I could. I placated the kids quickly, bribed Griffin with a juice box (grape juice, hello stained carpet!) and ran upstairs to my closet to take part two of the call. After reconnecting, I took a deep breath and calmly told the client that my cell phone had inadvertently dropped the call.

I thought the worst was over when the call ended. I took the kids outside to play and promised to make the morning up to them. When I checked my work email later that day, I got an email requesting that I travel to New York City for meetings on Monday. Then I got a call from one of the higher ups at my firm regarding some issues with another client. I was on my third conference call of the day when Brennan slipped off the slide and wailed in my arms as I held on to the phone with my shoulder and head.

It was insanity. It was beyond stressful. And it made me ready to say fuck it all, I am done.

There are times when you try to please everyone and you end up pleasing no one. This is how I feel when my work-life balance gets out of whack. There is too much need and not enough of me to fill the need - from work or home.

I had a nice old fashioned meltdown later that night. I gave Chris enough of a scare that he told me I was off duty on Saturday - from work and home. He got up with the kids in the morning so I could sleep in (until 8:30 - that's almost the middle of the day in our house!). He took the kids out of the house on a field trip to Home Depot to give me some quiet time at home. He even took the kids out to dinner while I met some girlfriends for too much Italian food and good red wine.

I desperately needed that little break. It convinced me I have the strength to get back into my life and regain some of my hard won balance. And if that doesn't work, I leave for a week long vacation on Tuesday. Balance seems easier with a little sand between your toes.

Keeping It Real

Brennan and I were walking down the hall at his school when a man and a little boy approached. As they got close to us, Brennan waved, smiled brightly and said to me, "Mom, this is my friend Owen!"

I smiled at Owen and said hello to him and his Dad.

We were just about past them in the hall when Brennan continued in his loud preschooler voice, "My friend Owen likes to pee in his pants!"

There is no such thing as a filter to a preschooler. None.

All Good Things

This weekend was everything good. My brothers were home for the weekend. I always look forward to spending time with them and seeing them visit with the boys, but it never feels like we get enough time. This weekend we got the perfect amount of time. Time spent together just hanging out and enjoying each other's company.

We began our festivities with a little doubles tennis - Chris and I versus Travis and Seth. I only wish someone had filmed our match. Seth dove for each ball - often ending up lying across the court battered and bruised. I had never seen anyone with open bleeding sores after a short tennis match. It wasn't enough that Seth dove for every ball. He demanded Travis follow suit and screamed "dive!" at full volume anytime the ball got close to Travis.

It was a miracle Chris or I managed to hit the ball at all considering how hard we were laughing at the antics on the other side of the net. But, oh we hit it. We so hit it. And we cleaned up the court with my competitive, athletic brothers. I see many a rematch in our future.

After tennis, Seth and Travis spent most of the day at our house. We didn't do much of anything really, but relax and play much wii. Our cousin Liam joined us and it felt like a little party all day long. Seth and Travis left for all of an hour to come back for dinner, Buffalo style: pizza, chicken wings and chicken finger subs. The amount of food consumed was awe inspiring.

The next day, Easter began nice and early with the boys clamoring to head downstairs and begin the basket hunt. The big basket filler this year was Legos. Legos, legos and more legos. The boys immediately set to work, building to their hearts' content with Chris's patient assistance. (I suck at following lego building instructions so not a soul asked me for any help.)

My brothers and Grandma Jo Jo stopped over for Easter breakfast. We started the fun with an Easter egg hunt with eggs cleverly hidden outside in the quite chilly morning air by Seth, Trav and Liam. The boys loved the hunt and loved the candy in the eggs even more.

It was a perfect weekend, full of family and relaxing fun. I had tears in my eyes when I said goodbye to the NYC crew as they headed back to real life, but I was grateful for a weekend full of all good things with people I love.

Paralyzed

We leave for Florida in a week and a half. We are all counting down the days, excited for our time at the beach. But beneath that excitement, I am a little stressed. I have so much to do before we go. So much to do, in fact, that I am spending too much time paralyzed by indecision as to what I actually should be doing in order to get some things done. (How's that for my special brand of crazy, huh?)

This weekend is full of holiday gatherings and time with family. I host both Easter brunch with my family and Easter dinner with Chris's family. On Monday, I will watch three of my friends' children as part of our school break co-op. I have work to do, crazy busy full of stressful mean clients, work to do during the week. Next weekend is turning into a logistical nightmare of balancing family schedules.

I have to pack. For me and three children. I need to pack carry ons that contain fun, engaged activities for the kids. And I am pretty sure I need to squeeze in a shopping trip since Aidan owns no summer clothes that actually fit him. (But yet, I forget this every time I shop and instead keep buying oh, so cute, oh so adorable baby boy clothes for Griffin. Griffin who owns more clothes than any little boy really should.)

So. I am stressed. It's silly stress. All good stuff. But it's the sort of stress that keeps to do lists running constantly in my head, and convinces me to waste precious minutes playing around on facebook rather than baking for our easter festivities. I am officially paralyzed by my to-do list.

The beach will be free of to do lists. The beach will mean nothing but sun, the kids digging in endless sand and lots of quality family time. If I can only get myself through my temporary paralysis of panic, the beach will be here before we know it.

Independence

On Saturday night, we attended a party to celebrate my Aunt Nancy's 50th birthday. It was the normal chaotic scene of any family function. Their house was bursting at the seams with family and friends with kids running every which way.

Aidan and Brennan scattered immediately upon shedding their coats. They joined the gang of kids playing basketball in the foyer or ping pong and rock band in the basement. They checked in with me every now and again, but for the most part they were off on their own.

I expected Griffin to stick close to me. He is two. The house was loud and many of the people unfamiliar. At two, Aidan and Brennan would have clung to my legs or that of a willing cousin for most of the festivities.

But, Griffin always manages to surprise me. I lost sight of him after a few minutes. I found him ten minutes later in the living room. He was sitting on a couch, holding a bottle of water and swaying back and forth to the music as random people jammed on a piano and two guitars. He was content to listen and just hang out. Griffin's head would bob back and forth with the beat of whatever song was playing and he would clap at the end of the song. He knew not one of the people in that room, but he couldn't have cared less.

I saw peeks of him throughout the night. He checked in with me every so often, but not any more than his older brothers. I saw him grab a plate from the buffet and help himself to some fruit. I saw him play basketball and chat with friends of my family. He strutted through the house as if he owned it. If he needed anything, he grabbed whatever person was closest and asked for help.

He was confident and oh, so independent. I am not convinced this fearless toddler was ever a baby.

A Date Day

Chris's parents asked us if they could take the kids out to lunch and shopping today. The thought of just us, alone in the house, on a random weekend day was almost overwhelming. You seriously do not know how to appreciate the quiet of an empty house until after you have children. Silence is beautiful. Truly.

I dragged Chris out to play tennis. We enjoyed some quiet time at home. We even managed to get out for a quiet lunch. It was a lovely day. After we returned home from lunch, we walked into the empty house and I said, "Do you hear that? Do you?"

Chris gave me a strange look and said, "Hear what?"

I smiled and replied, "Nothing. Absolutely nothing."

Ah, the lure of a quiet house. It's a simple pleasure.

Snuggling

A few weeks ago, I let the boys climb into my bed to watch a show before bedtime. I ran downstairs for a minute and returned to my room to find this:

Griffin watched the whole show from Aidan's lap - both of them content to be snuggled up next to each other.

Recapping the Weekend

Our weekend was supposed to be pretty low key, but surprisingly seemed to get busier as it progressed.

On Friday, Chris had a night out with the boys golfing, eating heaps of chicken wings and watching multiple sporting events. I admit to being a little too eager to push him out of the house for a girl's night home alone. It had nothing at all to do with the dvd my cousin had dropped off for me earlier in the week. Nothing at all to do with that little dvd known as Twilight. Uh huh.

I enjoyed the quiet time soaking up unrequited love, vampires and teenage angst. Lovely, perfect night home alone.

Saturday, I headed off to play tennis while Chris took the boys for haircuts. Chris returned with a message for me from his barber. I was warned to drop the scissors and step away from the boys' hair. I have a tendency to believe that I possess skills that would allow me to do a quick trim. This misguided notion has left many of my children with crooked bangs and little bald spots. But, yet - I keep doing it. It's a disease. I can never meet Chris's barber in person. There may be bloodshed.

We spent the afternoon outside, soaking up the sun. It has been a beautiful few weeks here in Buffalo. Sun and sixty degrees suggest spring is in the air. Brennan took many a spin on Aidan's bike. Aidan attempted tricks on his skateboard. Griffin rode his much loved Star Wars scooter. We even grilled hot dogs and hamburgers in celebration of the warm temperatures.

We continued our weekend Sunday with a little more tennis (for me) and a matinee of the 3D version of Monsters vs. Aliens. The boys were in awe of the special effects, loved the glasses and ate several pounds of popcorn. We headed home after the movie for dinner with Grandma Jo Jo, my brother Seth and sister in law Tennille.

The boys wrestled Seth to the ground, challenged him in Wii and then had us all laughing til tears streamed down our faces because of their antics in a dance off. You haven't lived until you have seen Griffin bust a move. (Or endured Brennan's dance moves under his stage name "Gas Man.") The boys loved up their Uncle Seth as much as possible, only letting him leave when he reminded them he would be home in two weeks to visit at Easter.

There was nothing extraordinary about our weekend, but it was a perfect weekend nonetheless.

Vocab Hurts

Aidan has weekly vocabulary words to study at home. In addition to learning the words, he is required to write a sentence using each word in his take home journal. He had a hard time with this assignment at first and begged for help in creating sentences.

In response, I told him to take experiences or people from his life and figure out a way to use his vocab words into sentences that relate to those things. If that failed, try some imagination!

It seemed to work. For a while, Brennan was quite the star of Aidan's sentences.

"My brother Brennan can tell funny jokes."

"I can jump higher than my brother Brennan."

"My brother Brennan likes to make me laugh."

And then I made a surprise appearance in vocab land.

"My mom looks very pretty in dresses."

I would be lying if I didn't admit I was thrilled at my first appearance in his homework.

It quickly lost its luster with this doozy:

"My mom always eats all the donuts."

Hmmmm, not so pleased with that sentence and the assumptions the teacher will make after correcting that doozy. When I asked Aidan about that sentence and the fact, that yes, I have no idea what donuts he is talking about, he replied, "Well mom, you told me to use my imagination."

Great. Doesn't every mother want to be known as a donut hog?

P.S. Can I just add that the donut sentence snuck in on a night when Chris was in charge of reviewing Aidan's work prior to handing it in to school? I feel an urge for some vocab sentences starring the Dad.

Remembering the Miracle

I always knew I wanted to have children. I looked forward to being a mother and creating a family. I went so far as to have it planned out. I would have my first child at 28, and three more would follow shortly after that. It was all part of my plan. (Yes, the plan involved four children. I was a tad bit delusional back in the pre-kiddie days.)

We spend so much of our youth being fearful of becoming pregnant that you never realize that the conception of a child is, in itself, quite a little miracle. I never knew. I thought it would all just magically fall into place, just when I wanted it to.

I got pregnant right away. I was 28. And I had a miscarriage shortly thereafter. The miscarriage shattered me. I became even more undone when subsequent months of trying to conceive again came and went without any success. I watched close friends celebrate their pregnancies while my heart broke a little more each passing month.

Eight months after my miscarriage, eight very long months, I became pregnant with Aidan. We found out on Christmas Day. It was, and will remain, the greatest gift I have ever been given.

Since that time, I have learned that my 8 months of tears and breakdowns is a tiny, microscopic drop into the giant sea of women riding the roller coaster ride of trying to conceive a child. I had it easy. I had it good. And I never knew.

I know now. I learned.

Over the last six years, I have shared in the experiences and emotions with friends on their emotional journeys to become a parent. I learned quickly that I had been part of a miracle with my three children. I am more blessed than I deserve to be.

This week I was reminded of this through the tears of a dear friend. It reminded me not to take it all for granted. It reminded me to go home and hug my children tightly. It reminded me of my miracles.

An Interview with the Boys

1. What is something mom always says to you?
Aidan: "I love you."
Brennan: "Get dressed."
Griffin: "I wuv you."

2. What makes mom happy?
Aidan: " When I rub your head."
Brennan: "If I give you kisses."
Griffin: "Rubbing noses."

3. What makes mom sad?
Aidan: "When you don't win in tennis."
Brennan: "When I am not getting dressed."
Griffin: "When Brennan screams. " (Brennan: "I don't scream. You scream." Griffin, "Noooooo!" Brennan, "YES YOU DO!")

4. How does your mom make you laugh?
Aidan: "By tickling me."
Brennan: "Tell me jokes."
Griffin: "When you sing the farmer song."

5. What did your mom like as a child?
Aidan: "You never told me."
Brennan: "a baby"
Griffin: "?"

6. How old is your mom?
Aidan: "57?"
Brennan: "I don't know that. Maybe 4? No - 5! Yeah, 5!
Griffin: "Two."

7. How tall is your mom?
Aidan: "Kind of tall."
Brennan: "Really, really big."
Griffin: "You're big."

8. What is her favorite thing to do?
Aidan: "Play tennis."
Brennan: "Clean up."
Griffin: " Tennis."

9. What does your mom do when you're not around
Aidan: "Go to work."
Brennan: "Go to work."
Griffin: "Go to tennis."

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
Aidan: "I think you are really, really, really good at tennis."
Brennan: "Reading magazines."
Griffin: : "?"

11. What is your mom really good at?
Aidan: "Tennis."
Brennan: "Reading books and tennis."
Griffin: "Singing."

12. What is your mom not very good at?
Aidan: "Golf."
Brennan: "Cleaning windows."
Griffin: "?"

13. What does your mom do for her job?
Aidan: "You're a lawyer."
Brennan: "Like go to work and go on the computer and help people. She's a lawwwyah."
Griffin: "You go on the computer."

14. What is your mom's favorite food?
Aidan: "Pizza."
Brennan: "Carrots."
Griffin: "Pizza."

15. What is your favorite thing to do with Mommy?
Aidan: "Go outside."
Brennan: "Play memory."
Griffin: "Make you pizza from my kitchen."

16. What makes your mom proud of you?
Aidan: "When I get 100% on my tests."
Brennan: "When I clean up the playroom."
Griffin: "When I play with water."

17. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?
Aidan: "Daphne from Scooby Doo."
Brennan: "Caillou."
Griffin: "Diego."

18. What do you and your mom do together?
Aidan: "We both do tennis."
Brennan: "Eat ice cream. Play memory. "
Griffin: "Go on walk."

19. How are you and your mom the same?
Aidan: "Both of our favorite foods are pizza and we both like to play tennis."
Brennan: "Well, we do have the same hair."

20. How are you and your mom different?
Aidan: "You don't like golf."
Brennan: " I don't know this one."

21. How do you know your mom loves you?
Aidan: "When you give me hugs."
Brennan: "You gives me hugs everywhere."
Griffin: "You love me."

22. Where is your mom's favorite place to go?
Aidan: "Tennis."
Brennan: "Wegmans."
Griffin: "Work."

23. How do you know that Daddy loves Mommy?
Aidan: "Because he married you."
Brennan: "All the hugs."
Griffin: "I don't know."

24. What is your mom's favorite COLOR?
Aidan: "Red and pink."
Brennan: "Pink."
Griffin: "blue."

25. What is mom scared of?
Aidan: "Bugs and spiders."
Brennan: "spiders."
Griffin: "skeletons. I like bugs"

26. What is mom's favorite TV show?
Aidan: "I don't know."
Brennan: "I don't know."
Griffin: "Diego! No, the news! I like Diego though."