Little Door

There is a strange little door in our neighborhood. For reasons unbeknownst to me, my daughter is absolutely fascinated by it. Whenever we walk by it she feels compelled to ring the doorbell. I don't know why, it's just one of those things. Maybe she is trying to see who lives behind that teeny tiny door, she has said before that she thinks small babies live there, but we can't be sure... We never stick around long enough to find out. On the two occasions she did actually manage to ring the doorbell she ran off before anyone had a chance to answer.

Playgroup Rant

Jack and I go to this playgroup on Thursdays, for him, not me. It consists of mostly 2-3 year olds and their Mommies and sometimes the odd sibling or two. Take today for example, Annabelle was there as well because her school was closed do to yet another Jewish holiday, and her school, although not religious, is owned by a temple and therefore follows their schedule. Anyway, that's not the point of today's rant...

So today, Annabelle is with us at Jack's playgroup and we (Annabelle, Jack and I) are at the Play Doh table making shapes. Jack for some reason is completely obsessed with shapes, his favorite being the triangle, so naturally he has gathered up all of the shape cutters and is having me make various shapes out of Play Doh so that he can line them up, which is what he does when we are at home.

After a few minutes of this, Jack has all of his shapes lined up just the way he wants them and is happily naming them off when suddenly, Annabelle calls over Miss P. (one of the play group "teachers") and asks if she wants to play Play Doh with her. Miss P. comes over and sits down in between Annabelle and Jack and starts asking Annabelle if she knows what the different shapes are.

This was fine except that Miss P. kept picking up the shapes that Jack had lined up and disregarding the fact that it was seriously pissing him off! Every time she picked up a shape Jack tried to take it back from her and she pushed his little hand away and threw him a lump of clay like he was some sort of moron who wouldn't know the difference. She would say, "now this is a tough one, do you know what this shape is, Annabelle?" and Jack would try to reach for it and be like, "that's my pentagon!" and she would completely ignore what he was saying, push his hand away, toss him another lump and then take a different shape from his line-up!

I am not sure why this angered me so much. Maybe it was because this is supposed to be Jack's playgroup and Annabelle was just there by default, and once again, she was receiving all of the attention... Squeaky wheel. Grease. I get it. But come on, she should have realized what she was doing. They (the play group leaders) put all of this time and effort into trying to inform us, as parents, to be conscious of what our children are doing because they are constantly learning through play and positive reinforcement is supposed to help build stronger more confident children, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, but then she just goes and completely crushes my little boy.

Bitch.

She should practice what she preaches.

All snide insults aside, I think the reason I am so angry, which has nothing to do with the Play Doh incident, is that these "teachers", who have no real teacher qualifications, treat Jack like he is some type of freak because he won't sit in a circle. Seriously. The boy is not stupid yet they treat him that way because he does not want to conform. They have said things like, "Soooo- tell me a little about Jack... Has he always been like this?"

WTF? He is 2 and a half. His sister was THE EXACT same way at that age. She, by the way, is now Princess "circle time."

Last week at playgroup we were supposed to be decorating paper apples to hang on a paper tree... It being fall and all. Jack wasn't really interested in the activity at first, I am assuming because there were way too many toys to check out. Once he did his once around, inspected all the toys and had a little play, he came over and decorated his apple. Miss A. commented, "Wow, did you ever actually think that Jack would do that?"

Why yes I did.

I am sorry; my son is not a robot. He is an individual and he will sit in a freakin' circle and decorate his freakin' apple when he is good and ready.

Clearly I have issues!

At The Zoo

Jack made some new friends at the Zoo this past Saturday! In the petting zoo section there was a little machine where you could stick some quarters in and get a handful of corn to feed the animals. When our quarters ran out, Jack put his hand up there and helped himself... He then took his stolen feed and ran after the goats yelling, "try it, TRY IT!!" "Come on, try it. It's nice." They sure did love him!

Conversations In The Car

Further proof that I'm raisin' them kids right...

Annabelle: "Mommy, we can't leave yet! We didn't get any beer!!"
Said as we were pulling out of a liquor store parking lot

Me: "It's OK, Matthew's Mommy bought some beer."

Annabelle : "You have to go back. We need to get our OWN beer."

On a separate occasion...

Annabelle: "My balloon is flat."

Jack: "The balloon is flaCK?"

Annabelle: "No Jack, it's fla-T, not fla-CK."

Jack: "flack?"

Annabelle: "FLA-T. ta ta ta, FLA-T." "Now you try."

Jack: "The balloon if flack."

Annabelle: "The word is Flat, Jack. Not flack." "Mom, he's not listening to me."
secretly smiling to myself, all the while wondering, "how does it feel?"

School Days

Well, Annabelle had her official first day of school yesterday... In case the first photo is not too obvious, she was very excited. She did great with the whole- Mommy leaving her- thing, she even told ME to be brave! I guess it's a good sign when you go to pick a kid up from school and they don't want to leave?

Jack had a tough time leaving his big sis at school. He was sobbing, and had huge streams of tears running down his face as he repeatedly shouted, "I WANT TO GO TO SCHOOL TOO" all the way to Starbucks. And then he was happy because he got to eat a giant cookie for breakfast. And go to Toys R Us to buy some new cars. And go to the car wash. And play with any toy he wanted without having to fight for it.

All in all, Jack was a pretty happy camper. Until it was time to pick Annabelle up from school. And then Jack was unhappy again. And he pounded on the school doors, SCREAMING, "WE HAVE TO GET ANNABELLE", "WHERE IS ANNABELLE?", "I WANT TO GO TO SCHOOL BUS" (??).... And then everyone within a 5 mile radius was unhappy. Except for Annabelle, who thought Jack's rantings were hysterical.

Thanks To Everyone!

Thank you everyone who donated in support of my Jimmy Fund walk!

Apart from Jack having a MAJOR kicking, screaming, back throwing, head spinning, BITING-Mommy-TWICE meltdown on the bus back to the starting point, the walk went pretty well!!

As of today, Team Abby has raised over $9,000.00 and donations are still coming in!

Annabelle, sporting her medal, enjoys a quick burger after the walk.

Jack and Teddy have a little goove and a cookie before the start, while Abby's sister, M.K. enjoys a good nose pick.

After the walk, Miss Abigail made a special appearance to thank everyone in person.

A Heartfelt Request From Annabelle

***Thanks to EVERYONE who has already donated!!!***

**As of today, Team Abby has raised over $8,000!!**

Annabelle's little friend Abby was diagnosed with Leukemia in March 2007. Next Sunday, September 16th, Annabelle and I will be joining Team Abby and participating in the Boston Marathon Jimmy Fund Walk to help support the Jimmy Fund and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Abby has been very brave, fighting for the past 6 months, but still has a bit of a bumpy road ahead. She visits the Jimmy Fund Clinic once a week for treatments.
If anyone would like to make a small donation you can do so by visiting my fundraising page:
http://www.jimmyfundwalk.org/jenbolitho

Many thanks to ALL!!!

The Unofficial First Day

There was an open house at Annabelle's preschool today. It was her first time seeing her classroom and meeting her new teacher and the other children in her class. Her "official" first day is next Tuesday and she is very excited!

From the moment we left until right before bed, all she talked about was how much fun she had at school and how she couldn't wait to go back. Actually, I had a hard time getting her to leave!

Although she looks a little nervous in the first photo, I can assure you she was as cool as a cucumber! She walked right in to the classroom, said hello to the teacher, sat down and made herself at home. She sat right by the door and greeted all the other children as they walked in.

About halfway through the open house the parents were asked to leave so that the teacher could get a better sense of how the children would deal with the separation. Of course my lovely daughter practically didn't even notice that I had left the room! She did great, made a few friends, and had a big smile on her face when she came out of the classroom and saw me waiting in the hall... I only wish the photo was better.

The Evil Gate Keeper

"I am the keeper of this rock sculpture."
"Little brothers are NOT allowed."
"Yeah, I just tried to choke him."

Story Land

Team Monkey was taken to Story Land in New Hampshire for a mini retreat in the mountains and a fun day at the park. Having never been to any type of amusement park before, they had absolutely no idea what to expect...

Miss Annabelle was super keen to go on all the rides, Jack not so much. He sat out the first ride of the day, the flying shoe, and was a bit hesitant to get on some of the other rides. He eventually gave in and, even though he tried to jump out of the flying balloon, he seemed to really enjoy going on the rides.

Annabelle's enthusiasm didn't always guarantee a positive outcome... She was apparently freaked out by the roller coaster, which I didn't witness because I was too busy driving back to our Chalet to get Jack's Teddy Bear, the flume ride and the tea cups, which I got to see first hand. She was so upset on the tea cup ride that they actually had to make a special stop to let her off!

All in all, I think everyone had a great time. The weather was great, admission price to Story Land wasn't too painful (kids 3 and under free-woohoo!), stuff inside the park was pretty reasonably priced, no one got too cranky, and we spent most of the day hopped up on sugar... Who could have asked for more?

Adorable Moment Of The Day

I pulled up in front of the house and let the kids out of the car. As I went to open the front door they went over to inspect the oozing sap levels of their favorite tree (a new ritual). I called them to come in and Annabelle came running, but Jack stayed by the tree. After calling for him about 10 times, Annabelle finally said "I'll get him for you Mom", and she went back outside, took him by the hand, said, "come on little fella", and led him inside.

~These are a few of my favorite things~

I can almost hear music from The Sound of Music playing in the background~

Christine from Manic Mommy has tagged me to come up with a list of my ten current favorites. Since she not only knows where live but, could probably spit on my house from her front steps if she so desired, I thought it would be wise to play along! So here goes:

the list is in no particular order

1. Pilates- I've taken Pilates classes in the past but have never really been into it, Yoga has always been my hippy exercise of choice. Recently though I've started taking a Pilates class at my gym and I am really loving it. I am actually starting to notice a difference in my gut!
2. My Life Is Good pajama pants. The weather has been cool here for the past few nights so I got to wear them for the first time in months... Ahhhh, how I've missed them so.
3. A good Margarita- seems to be my drink of choose this summer. That, and the Mojito. Oh, and those Corona Lights that Manic Mommy keeps feeding me, also on the list. I guess this favorite is- all drinks containing alcohol in general.
4. Having a tan. Sounds silly I know but, having been in CA for so long I had almost forgotten how horribly pasty white I become in the winter. Being here in MA for the past 2 years has made me appreciate the summer sun!
5. Being completely contradictory to the above favorite, I do love Fall in New England.
6. Speaking of Fall... Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte is definitely a Fall favorite! I also wait all year for the Eggnog Latte, but that's a whole other season.
7. Another recent favorite, which I am actually just starting to go off of, is Webkinz. My sister gave the kids some Webkinz pets a few months ago and, as my children are too young to use the computer, I have been dutifully keeping those pets alive (and playing all those nerdy games).
8. I have also, sadly, become a reality t.v. junkie. I am awaiting the premiere of the new season of Survivor. So I will count Survivor as a favorite.
9. One of my all time favorite things is Christmas. I know I am supposed to be thinking of current favorites but this is hard, so Christmas will have to do!
10. Now I am tired of thinking so I will list as my most current, current favorite thing: finishing this post which I have been putting off for a while and choosing two other poor soles to carry the torch.

So, I choose my lovely sister Kristen, because I'm sure she will have more interesting favorites than I, and I also tag Tina because, what better way to welcome her back from her year long blogging hiatus!

It's Official!!!

No more diapers for the girl who swore she would wear diapers forever... Annabelle is officially potty trained!!

I'm guessing the general consensus would be that, it was about time! But I must say, by not pushing her very hard and letting her decide when she was ready, saved me a lot of frustration. One day she decided, and that was that. Apart from the 2 accidents she has had (luckily both at home), this potty training business has been a breeze!

In Trouble

I can't remember why she was even in "time out" when I snapped this picture. It was just one of those days... But I'm sure she did something really bad!

Wet

His sister poured water on his head...

A Few Fun Facts About Being Out In Public With A Potty Training Three Year Old

(At least my potty training 3 year old)

• They will announce to EVERYONE that they are wearing underwear


• They will tell EVERYONE what type of underwear they are wearing at the moment (i.e. Little Mermaid, Curious George, etc...)


• They will tell EVERYONE what type of underwear they wore yesterday


• They will try to show EVERYONE their underwear


• and their little bum too


• They will tell EVERYONE that they went "peeps" on the potty


• They will tell EVERYONE that they went "poops on the potty...
• Yesterday


• But today they had a little accident...


• and pooped in their Little Mermaid underwears


• But now they are wearing different underwears


• with fairies on them...


• And those don't have "poops" on them
• And EVERYONE will be happy to know

Not A Moment Too Soon

And just when I thought my blog might turn into an angry rant forum... My Mama has, on her birthday, gone and offered me the use of her camera (which, ironically, we gave to her on her birthday last year), for the next 3-5 weeks, while mine is being repaired!

Happy Birthday Nana!

*note missing flowers and small finger prints on the cake

WTF?

It's only 8am, my kids have been up for about an hour... Already, this morning I have found (and cleaned) pen marks all over the love seat, a banana that someone had stepped on and left mushed in the rug, pancake mix spilled all over the kitchen, syrup all over the dining room chairs, and a puddle of milk in the rug. I have put back the "little chairs" (which were used as climbing devices in various locations) about 6 times, pulled a wad of toilet paper out of the bathroom sink, picked up about 2,000 cars, built a train set, and opened about 30 mini cans of playdoh. I have succeeded in making a pot of coffee, but have not had any yet. I've also made pancakes (hence the syrup all over the dining room). Right now I am about to go and pick up all of the playdoh, which is now ground into the rug, but not before I change Jack's stinky diaper. I hope this is not an indication as to what today is going to be like!!!!!

Waaaaah!!!!

I just smashed my camera!!

I am so annoyed. I was trying to get a decent shot of Annabelle wearing her new shirt that her nice Auntie Kristen sent her, when the camera slipped from my hand and landed face down on the hardwood floor, on the lens which was fully extended. I picked the camera up and tried to retract the lens, it gave a pathetic little moan but wouldn't budge. I gave it the once over, and it was then that I noticed the camera body, much like my own, is falling apart at the seems.

A slight panic set in before I remembered that; when I bought the camera originally (2 years ago), I might have also purchased an extended (4 year) warranty from Best Buy. So I searched every place I could think a Best Buy warranty plan might be hiding, and I found several... Including one for a Canon Elph, purchased in 1999! But alas, none belonged to the Canon SD500, smashed camera of the day. Which made me not only annoyed, but also very sad...

Then I thought: Hey, I can get a NEW camera! I've been thinking about getting a digital SLR anyway, I even recently told Nick that if he wanted to get me one as a joint Christmas/birthday gift, that I would be happy to accept it. Problem solved! Only, as nice as a digital SLR would be, it is rather bulky, and I would also like to keep a little point and shoot handy for chasing after Monkeys and all, which would mean that I might have to go ahead and get a new point and shoot, as well as a SLR... And probably a divorce too.

Not ready for a divorce yet, I waited on hold with the Best Buy service department for over 20 minutes (surprisingly, my cordless phone-yet another Best Buy purchase- didn't die out on me during this time), and a very nice gentleman got on the phone and informed me that yes, I did purchase the extended warranty for that particular camera! He gave me my sacred warranty number, told me to bring that, along with my busted camera, to the nearest Best Buy store and they would have my camera back in tip top shape in no time! Yeah!!

So, to get to the long-winded point: I won't be posting any new pictures for a while... Except for this not-so-great one, which I was able to salvage for Auntie Kristen: And husband, even though my little camera will be mended soon, I still want a digital SLR for my b-day.

Picture You

Annabelle has decided that the fire hydrant in front of our house makes a fantastic camera. She asked me to stand there so that she could "picture me."

Here, she is taking a picture of me, while I take a picture of her... "You picture me, and I'll picture you." It all makes perfect sense!