Lemonade!

The boys are obsessed with lemonade stands. It started a few weeks ago when the kids that live across the street were setting up their own lemonade stand. Our neighborhood is bursting with kids, but there is a big concentration of younger kids right next to our house with about ten children under the age of ten living within a five house cluster. My boys haven’t really joined the gangs of kids roaming the street, even when it is a group of kids their age playing right across the street. They prefer to stay in their own backyard, playing their own games. The boys play with the neighborhood kids at parties and neighborhood bbqs, but otherwise, they are still a little hesitant about jumping in.

Until the lemonade stand. The sight of that stand and all that signage was too much for Griffin. He wanted in. He begged Brennan to go with him. Brennan refused. He begged Aidan to go with him. Aidan refused, and instead went off for a bike ride around the block.

Griffin stood on our driveway just watching that lemonade stand and the gang of kids, desperate to get in on the action. (And it was all of 100 feet away from our house. But still, he couldn’t do it without his brothers.) Finally after I couldn’t take it any longer, I took pity on G and walked him across the street, promising to stay with him until he felt comfortable.

Brennan stayed in our front yard, digging in dirt, but watching us out of the corner of his eyes. Finally, after several minutes had passed, Brennan wanted to join in the lemonade fun too. And when Aidan returned from his bike ride and also wanted to sell some lemonade, all three felt confident enough that I could return home.

The lemonade stand was a hit. We live in a neighborhood of very kind people. Almost every single car that drove past stopped to purchase a lemonade. My favorite moment was when my grandmother drove by, saw the stand, and stopped to purchase a cup. She pulled into our driveway to chat with me while she waited for her cup to be delivered. Brennan ran over to her with her cup of lemonade in one hand and a fistful of ice cubes squeezed into the other hand.

“Nana! Did you want ice in your lemonade?” Brennan asked, opening his fist to show her the ice cubes melting up against his dirty, grubby six year old hands.

“Um, no. I’m good without ice.” She responded, swallowing a chuckle, but throwing me a smile.

“Good call.” I told her, laughing out loud.

At the end of the day of lemonade, each child brought home their share of the profits from the neighborhood stand. Each child made $10. $10!!!! There were like 8 kids running that stand, which if you do the math (and I never like to do the math) means that their little stand brought in almost a $100.

It’s a racket!

So of course, they wanted to do it again. Who wouldn’t? So today, with the assistance of their kind babysitter for the day, my cousin Bridget, the boys opened up their own lemonade stand in our driveway.

And made $8 each for about an hour of sales. Bridget told me she couldn’t believe it.

“Everyone who drove by stopped. And most of them just gave them a dollar or a few people even gave them $5, and told them to keep the change. The lemonade stand is a money maker!” She told me when I got home.

Indeed it is. Lemonade for everyone!

First Communion - Aidan

A day or so after we came back to reality from our week away in Hilton Head, Aidan made his first communion. (And we hosted a brunch for thirty family members. That was great planning on my part. Who doesn't want to get off a plane to jump right into party planning?)

Aidan made his first communion with almost his entire third grade class, the same boys and girls he has been attending school with since kindergarten. It was unbearably sweet to see all of them together, bursting with pride over their collective moment. They are a wonderful group of kids and I feel very lucky that Aidan is a part of them.

I also felt quite nostalgic watching Aidan during the mass, remembering that this same church was the church in which Chris and I were married, that Aidan and his brothers were baptized, and now Aidan's was celebrating his first communion. It makes each celebration that much more special because of all the memories surrounding this one place.

And of course, after everyone had eaten at our celebration brunch, it isn't a true family celebration without a drag out, Wii battle between all the "boys" of the family. (I think Uncle Seth and Uncle Travis get even more excited than the little boys for these video game wars.)

A Year of Reading

Aidan's third grade teacher required that each student read a minimum of 500 pages a month on their own. Each student had to maintain a monthly book log, listing the title of the books read, authors, pages in the book and a short summary about the book. Beyond the reading requirement, his teacher also started a contest. The student who read the most pages from September through May of the school year would win a gift card to barnes and noble.

The contest winner was announced yesterday. By a large margin - my reading reader Aidan came in first place and won himself a $30 gift card to the book store.

He won the gift card by reading close to 18,000 pages since September.

18,000 pages! That's a whole lot of reading. I could not be prouder.

24

“Mom, how old were you when you married Daddy?” Brennan asks as I hug him goodnight.

“I was 24.” I reply.

“24! Wow, that’s old.”

Sigh. Yes, practically ancient.

“And that was how old you were when you first kissed Daddy? 24?”

I only wish I hadn’t burst out laughing just so I could have solemnly told him, yes. Yes, 24 is a perfect age for you to hit before you start kissing girls. But my laughter may have ruined it. Damn it. Another practically perfect parenting moment ruined by my lack of a poker face.

Knocking Out a Tooth

Brennan's front tooth has been loose for about a month. Since then he has been working it nonstop, trying to get it out so he could get his financial bounty from the tooth fairy.

On Sunday, all three boys were up on the swings goofing around. Chris and I were sitting on the patio battling out Words with Friends. (We are addicted. Just don't ask how we spent our Saturday night. Just. Don't.)

I hear a loud smack and a cry from the swing set. I look up to find Brennan holding his face and crying. All three boys are yelling. Over the din, Brennan stops crying and yells, "I lost my tooth! It's out!"

The boys run down to Chris and me in a mass of yelling. Brennan proudly shows off his new lost tooth and the open gap at the front of his mouth.

As Aidan takes his turn looking the tooth over, the turns to Brennan and says, "Did I knock your tooth out when I hit you in the face with my elbow?"

Brennan proudly and happily responds, "You did!"

Nothing like an elbow to the face to bring about the joy of the tooth fairy. Boys are fun.

The Orange Juice to End all Orange Juices

Damn that Wegmans. Just when I thought I had all my little Wegmans addictions in check (oh ultimate chocolate cake I am talking to you), they have to go and create something new. (And no, I am not discussing the new fresh veggie bar, which while very cool does not an addiction make.)

I am looking at you Freshly Squeezed Organic Juicer. Yes you. You with your tiny samples of fresh squeezed goodness that lures you in and convinces you that 7.99 is not an extreme price for a half gallon of liquid sunshine.

I caved. I bought the millionaire juice. And I loved it. So much, that I not only bought it, but I hid it from my children.

(I gave them the store brand, non-organic, non-freshly squeezed, from concentrate juice. I hang my head in shame. SHAME.)

I hid the juice in the fridge, until one day, my Wegmans partner Griffin realized that the orange sunshine in a cup was actually in our fridge and he rejoiced! And demanded his own cup of organic goodness! And while I reluctantly shared, I told him it was our little secret. We clinked our glasses together in celebration while we drank our liquid gold huddled out of sight of my other two children. (And then gave the other two boys the store brand stuff.)

This past week, G and I are at Wegmans getting the weekly shopping done. We walk by the organic juicer manned by a Wegmans employee when Griffin yells out in a very loud, carry across the entire store voice:

"Momma! There it is! There! It's the juice you don't share! The juice you don't share!"

Commence much laughing from the other mother's shopping in the vicinity of my cart. I managed a quick half laugh as I grabbed yet another half gallon of that damn addictive orange juice and threw it in our cart.

The "Juice We Don't Share" has ruined me for all other juices. (Sob! Shaking fist at Wegmans. ) I can never go back! Never! (And neither can Griffin.)

Brennan Graduates!

I had a really tough time when Brennan started kindergarten. I thought it would be easy, letting my second baby boy head off to school, but it was just as hard, if not harder. Brennan grew up so much this year. He is a boy. A sweet, laughing, loves the world little boy.

A boy now headed for first grade.

The Mother's Day Teas 2011 Edition

Way back before Hilton Head and vacation and our month of rain, we celebrated Mother's Day. With teas! At school! It was a day of mother's day teas. I started with Brennan's classroom, where we ate goodies prepared by his teacher, loved up our adorable kiddie's crafts and enjoyed some sweet mom's day songs performed by his class.

My sweet kindergarten boy.

After Brennan's Mother's Day tea, I was off to Griffin's school. More homemade baked goodies, more sweetly sung songs, and more lovingly made crafts.

And after too many years of my children telling their friends that their mommy's favorite thing to do is "watch television" or that the thing I tell them all the time is to "do the laundry," it was like a breath of fresh air to see my darling third child's mother's day poster.

The third time is definitely the charm.

My mom is "pretty"! My mom always says "I love you"! I love my mom because "she's nice to me"!

I love this child. I shall keep him. Forever and ever.

Griffin also drew a picture of what I do while he is at school.

The Sun Finally Came Out to Play

It has been one rainy spring. While I am grateful Whoville isn't prone to floods or tornados, the incessant rain has been tough on the spirits. My three very active little boys have been itching for some outside play time and the weather has not been cooperating. Finally, in desperation, they have managed some outside playtime in our giant mud-like backyard. Between the mud play leading to three mud covered little boys and the dog lying about in mud pits creating a 95 pound mudden retriever, my floors have seen better days.

I finally gave up on the floors, the muddy shoes, and the dirt covered dog. The mud wins. But, please, oh pretty please, can we see some sun again?

The forecast for our long Memorial Day weekend showed us a whole lot of sun. We endured the rainy Friday prelude with a three hour long marathon Monopoly match, content to know that tomorrow we would be at the opening day of the pool soaking up some rays.

Because the weather people never lie. No. And they are always reliable. (We should know better.)

Saturday morning, I woke up to clouds. I was a bit worried. But the weather people! They showed me sun! Five days straight of sun!

I tried to stay upbeat. I told the boys to get ready for the pool. I got my swimsuit on and packed the pool bag even as the clouds got darker.

I saw Griffin in his swimsuit, goggles on his head, standing in front of our sliding glass door watching the clouds quietly. And then the rain began to fall. Big fat tear drops, raining all over our sunny day at the pool.

Griffin turned to me with huge tears in his eyes and cried, "NO! I can't take it anymore! NO MORE RAIN!"

I shared his pain.

To perk the boys back up into our summer fun mode, I told them we would swim anyway. What's a few rain drops? We can swim in the rain! In fact, we will spend the whole day at the pool, rain or not!

I spent the first two hours or so at the pool huddled under some towels while the boys swam happily in a nicely heated pool. But finally, the sun started to break through the clouds. I have never been so happy to finally see the sun.

We soaked up another sunny day on Sunday. The boys and I were at the pool from 10 am to 4:30 pm! My little fishies of children didn't want to get out of the pool, but I promised them it is only the beginning of the summer with many more sunny pool days to come.

Memorial Day

We celebrated Memorial Day and its bright summer sunshine at our neighbor's backyard bash. Margaritas, diving competitions and brand new super soakers. Summer celebration at its best.

Take Me Out to TOO Many Ball Games

Three boys, three different little league teams. Oh holy hell. I knew not what awaited us in the spring of little league when I registered all three of my boys for baseball so enthusiastically this past January. But then the schedules rolled out and I sat down with my calendar to input the baseball schedules into our life. Three boys on three different teams equals a whole lot of baseball.

(Too much if you ask my opinion. But nobody is asking.)

I did look at the massive amounts of games, practices and little league stuff on our calendar, shake my head and immediately call my dear husband to commiserate the fate of our spring. After discussing it, we decided that we needed to make sure that the boys truly loved baseball and wanted to play little league, rather than falling into the trap of just doing it because everyone else seems to be doing it.

I gleefully considered that one, two or all of my boys may end up hating little league so much that they wouldn’t even want to sign up next year. I considered this so joyfully as Chris and I set up camp at the baseball fields on opening day, preparing for a marathon day of games upon games. We got to the diamonds around noon, and I knew we wouldn’t be home until after 7 pm. (We got home around 8 that night. In fact, we ate both lunch and dinner at those fields. And treats. And drinks. Damn, that concession stand does a mean business.)

But, here’s the thing. The boys loved it. Every single one of them had a ball.

Brennan had the first game on his Pee Wee Texas Rangers team. He played first base and scored the first out of the game. After the game, the coach called all the players over to the side of the field and presented Brennan with the game ball. My little B. It was a moment for him. He was so proud of his ball that he refused to let it go for the rest of the day and night.

Aidan had the second game on his Minors Cincinnati Reds team. I will confidentially admit that I enjoyed watching Aidan’s game the most. It was the first time I had ever seen one of my children play a *real” game that was actually competitive. Up until this point, the sports we have done are still in the cooperative and learning category, so they tend towards the fun, rather than keeping score. I was cheering and yelling just like a crazy sports Mom. And Aidan gave me a lot to cheer about. (I was cheering so much that I forgot to take any pics!)

It surprised the hell out of me to discover that Aidan can really play baseball. He scored outs, caught and threw balls with ease, and was quite the presence on the diamond. I could not believe it. I even overheard two of the parents asking who he was after a spectacularly good pop fly out he caught in his glove.

(Instead of pretending I hadn’t heard them discussing him like any cool mom would do, I smiled a HUGE smile and yelled “He’s mine! That’s my son! That’s my Aidan!” I make a lot of friends at these games.)

Our last game of the day was our Griffin on his Tee Ball New York Yankees team. He was just the cutest little player ever and possibly the most adorable catcher in the history of tee-ball. Tee ball is pure fun to watch. There is no competition, just a whole lot of laughs as the kids try to figure out which way to run on the bases and what do to with the ball if you actually get it in the glove. Griffin had a great time at his first ever official team sporting event.

Over the last few weeks we have been juggling the insanity of our spring baseball schedule as best we can. It has been made a bit easier due to the weeks of rain outs for both practices and games. But I see a few more marathon sessions at the fields in our near future, both this year, and probably many more to come. Game on.

Hilton Head 2011

As our group of friends was getting close to hitting the big milestone of 40, we made a collective decision that we would usher in the big 4-0 with a trip. A trip, chosen by the birthday celebrant, at which we would all partake.

This was Chris's year of 40.

At first, he started looking at adventure camps in Costa Rica that involved peeing outdoors, living in a tent and windsurfing. When I gently reminded him that he should probably pick something a little more agreeable to a group of friends (indoor plumbing and a tennis court maybe?), he decided he wanted to golf.

Golf it is! Our friend Dylan mentioned the lovely town of Hilton Head, South Carolina as a possible destination. Apparently, there is a lot of golfing in Hilton Head and a very fancy golf course which hosts some very fancy golfers that people watch on tv. I just heard beach! tennis! a kids free vacation!

Hilton Head it is! Happy 40 to my hubbie!

My dear brother Travis and wonderful sister in law Lynda agreed to move from their hip downtown lifestyle to the suburbs to live in our colonial, drive our mom-obile and parent our three kids and the dog. (They knew not what they had done. But I was not about to tell them. But I did thank them profusely. And I will continue to do so. Because, yes, they are the sweetest, most generous people to have done this for us.)

And off we went. We boarded a plane with our friends Dylan, Christine, PJ and Danielle to five whole days of kidless bliss. We were all a bit giddy.

Hilton Head is beautiful. It is green and lush, marked with paths carved out of a forest of trees. By the end of our trip, I was in love with Hilton Head. I even told Chris that I could imagine retiring there someday. It reminds me of the natural beauty of the northeast beach towns, but with a southern charm (and warmer weather.)

We stayed at the Inn at Harbour Town, a beautiful, small boutique inn with a golf course at its back and a slew of tennis courts and a tennis resort at its front. We had found our nirvana! Game on.

We spent five days doing whatever we wanted. The guys golfed five rounds of golf at pristine, championship courses. The women indulged in two hour tennis clinics each morning. (Well, I missed one day of clinics because I tripped down a bunch of stairs and sprained my ankle. I endured the "cankle", spent a day resting and reading, and was back out on the courts the next day. I know. I am shockingly graceful.) We spent each afternoon at the beach, napping or reading, watching people and enforcing a happy hour starts at 4 pm rule with frozen frothy drinks.

I loved the time with my friends. They can make me laugh until I cry. I am very blessed to have amazing friends in my life. We can talk about anything and everything, but also enjoy companionable silence while enjoying the view on a pristine beach. We are all so content with each other, a comfortableness that is usually only found in friendships of a lifetime.

But even more, I loved the time with my husband. It was a gift to have such a large chunk of time away from our crazy lives to just be ourselves with each other. Time to appreciate each other, to laugh with each other, and to fall in love with each other all over again.

I think that is the best birthday present any person could hope for any year, 40 or not.

Next year is my big 4-0. There is talk of Greek Islands in our future. 40 may not be so bad after all.