From Mainiacs to Vermonsters

Thursday, November 21, 2013

When I am 4 . . .

Lately Ethan has been reassuring me he will do/eat all sorts of things, "When I am 4 years old."

Well, I tried to tell him that his birthday is 2 weeks away and then he'll have to eat my pasta (or insert any other food item that isn't fish sticks, carrots and apples.) But you know, that whole pesky concept of time thingie just hasn't sunk in yet.

Tonight I made burritos. I had 3 different proteins, rice and various veggies. I knew going into it that Ethan would be resistant. But I also KNOW they do similar things at his school. And yes, I also know that he eats certain things ONLY at school . . . like cheese pizza for example. Note to self: find out how they make their cheese pizzas.

So yea, my kid went to bed hungry. Because even though he constructed his burrito. He refused to eat it. It made me sad, it made him sad, but I couldn't waver. I can't keep making him a separate meal when I have Toby over there, chubby hands wrapped around a whole frickin' burrito om-noming it down. There was no fight, just a little crying and a lot of reassurance from me that the food was safe and that I didn't want him to go to bed hungry . . . but he still did. And I feel like the worst mom in the world.

Even though I sang him a special dragon song, found him the dragon "with wings only MOM," and gave him so many hugs and kisses he asked me to leave . . . he didn't eat dinner. I know, logically, that he will be okay but it is hard to think past the "failure" alarm going off in my head.

I am thankful that my kids are so brilliant and resilient that they can persevere despite my hiccups. I can only hope that I stay on the right track at the right time to support them . . . always.

Ethan's birthday is coming up and I've chosen to have no presents at his party. Birthdays are not about presents. They are about celebrating someone and having fun with family and friends. So, even though he will have presents at home, hopefully no one will bring any to his party. At Ethan's age, he doesn't understand that presents, gifts and treats shouldn't be expected and shouldn't be the highlight of a visit or event. It is time with people. The hugs, playtime and fun that you have . . . not THINGS. I truly hope that I can instill him a value that doesn't focus on WHAT he has but WHO he has that loves him. I am not; however, made of stone . . . I did get him several gifts for his birthday, despite the fact we have so much crap . . . er . . . toys in our play room that I could probably stock a day care. Time to purge? Maybe when I'm 4 :)

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Juxtaposition

So, in the past month, I've been blessed with two visitors. My dear friend Charity swooped in for a 4 day whirlwind visit and it was awesome. Now, my momma is here. She has less than a week left in her visit and I'm finding that I don't want her to go. I think having her here right now has been a life saver. Not only is my "fairy" doing my laundry, dishes and cat boxes . . . on top of wrangling children, but she has given me the confidence to muck out my Room of Doom. Hopefully, when she leaves I will be more caught up . . . if nothing else having this support right now has been a balm to my nerves.

But in another realm, this past month has been devastatingly eye opening. My dad is very, very sick. Knowing that people don't live forever and being faced with said mortality are two very different beasts. As my sisters and I deal with the reality of the situation our physical distance from one another feels razor sharp. I'm doing what I can from thousands of miles away but Christmas plans are on hold (after they were completely dashed not too long ago) and I'm torn between wanting to enjoy my time with my momma and running back down to Florida to see my dad.

This time that my mom is experiencing in my "zone" with my precious boys is once in a lifetime. Toby is growing so fast. Every day it seems to be a new word or "trick." Ethan is an amazing little boy . . . so full of questions it can be mind boggling.

I have planned Ethan's birthday party for December 1st (his actual birthday) but haven't sent out the invites or even started planning it yet . . . STRESSOMGSTRESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! But I'll get there. I will get invites out this week (yes I will . . . somehow) and then I will figure out a menu and hopefully get it all done before the birthday!!

So many things, my head is spinning. So many emotions . . . so much to be thankful for right now.

Saturday, November 2, 2013

Heya

So . . . these past few weeks have not been "fun." Plans for the holidays have been in upheaval, Luka was diagnosed with cancer and 3/4 of the Jeans' clan have been sick with the plague that spread through Ethan's preschool like wildfiiiiiiiiiire.

But I did send Ethan to school on Thursday for the Halloween party. He still had a slight fever but so did every other frickin' kid that was there. They all sounded the same as well, sniffles and coughs amidst the dressed up creatures. His teachers (of whom one had been taken out by said plague) were understanding and glad to see him.

Needless to say, having both boys home (SICK) with me all week was um . . . not fun. I couldn't take them any place because Toby was having a tough time cutting a tooth on top of being a feverish snotty mess. (Thanks Universe.)

Anyway, my momma arrives in about 3 hours to help me out for 2 weeks and I'm so excited. Pure, no strings attached, help and quality gramma time. Woot woot.

Now excuse me while I go take a hot shower and try to cough up some more yummy phlegm.

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Montshire Madness

This past Sunday I hit a goal. When we first moved here I had a list of places to visit (or things to do) with the boys. There were a few places that I had to nix after speaking with other moms and realizing the boys were a tad too young, but overall I think we did pretty well!

Montshire Museum of Science has been on my "list" since we moved to Vermont . . . A KID'S MUSEUM!!!! In addition, I've been trying to devise a way to meet up with friends from down southways for quite some time. Kismet.

Also, Matt came with us! Truly I don't think I could have done it alone. The minute we set foot in the museum both boys were off at a dead run . . . in opposite directions! It was 3+ hours of Ooohhs and Ahhhs and Look At DIS! and two parents trying to wrangle two kids (sounds easy, right?) Also, I was trying to take all the pictures in the world because every millisecond Ethan was doing something cute or Toby was being adorkable. And to make things even better, the lighting in there was strange - flash was too bright, no flash meant fuzzy pictures. Yea, um. Well, you will see.

So, here goes: A picture story of our first (of many) visit(s) to Montshire Museum!

Gorgeous fall day in Norwich, Vermont!

In the door for 5 seconds and they are already touching everything . . . good thing that is exactly what they are supposed to do!

See this? This is what Ethan looked like bouncing around like a ping pong ball completely overstimulated with all the SCIENCE!

Tiniest snapping turtles you ever did see.

So wee!

Brudders and fish! (Mommy clearly forgot to use the flash.)

Toby was in fish heaven.

Not-so-little Toby Wee.

Ethan educating Toby on the species of fish in the tank.

I'm still not clear on the purpose of this exhibit but Ethan sure loved it!

The closest I got to getting him to hold still for a picture!

Clearly he was miserable. Look! I can blow air in mommy's face!

Cutest windmaker I know.

Using the hose the "right way."

Meanwhile, over at the fog machine. A cute munchkin hanging out with daddy!

So many things to turn . . .

Best seat in the house for the turtle feeding and info talk!

And then he got to feed turtles! (not pictured.)

And this is what Toby looked like the whole time . . . ZOOOOOOOM

Spying out crayfish with daddy. *ahem* Or Fodder as he has been referred to as lately by Ethan Wee. (For the record I'm known as Mudder.)

More fish Mudder!

AND THEN OUR FRIENDS ARRIVED! (Idella and her daddy, John!)

Ethan showing Idella the ropes.

Must show them the tiniest snapping turtles in the world! (Erin is holding Madelyn and Ethan is showing Idella the wee creatures!)

Look! All 4 in one frame! *flex*

Clearly Madelyn was still skeptical of me.

BUBBLES!!!

Ethan did it his own way and blew some of the best bubbles!!

Action shot!

BEES! This exhibit was pretty awesome. They had a tube (which you can sort of see on the left part of the photo) so they could come and go as they pleased.

Leafcutter ants exhibit. It was mindblowingly awesome. Seriously. And Idella is manning a small camera that zoomed in on the ants in real time. Those soldier ants were crazy buff!

Fossils! (well, sort of . . .)

Drawers of awesomeness! This one had some very well preserved snakes in it. Very kid friendly except maybe the squashed finger hazard. But Ethan was very careful!

Ethan and the girls checking out some turtle shells.

Curious minds!

Gila Monster skin! Ethan was quite taken with the snake eggs preserved to show the snakes inside.

Almost as tall as a dinosaur bone!

A million different types of nests. Ethan was in heaven.

MOOSE!

Pretty sure he is dreaming about how he wants these drawers full of wonder in his bedroom.

Smile! Errrr, or just stay still!

Diversionary tactics! (Toby had run out of steam at this point!)

Amazing butterfly exhibit. I didn't capture all the other bug exhibits . . . but there were so many that Ethan never wanted to leave.

View from the top of the museum.

Gorgeous day in lovely Vermont.

Looking down from the tower. Goodbye Montshire! See you soon!

Sunday, October 13, 2013

I Heart October

It is no secret that October is my favorite time of the year. I'm not too pleased that it has reached the high 70's (and I swear we hit 80 at some point yesterday and today) this month. However, it should be cooling off in the upcoming week so I'll let it slide.

When we first moved here I had a whole list of activities I wanted to accomplish for the boys. Berry picking, apple picking and pumpkin picking were high on the list. In a week we will be hitting another highlight but you will have to wait for that reveal!

So, while we weren't really going to be buying pumpkins (we already have quite a few at home) I still wanted the boys to experience a pumpkin patch. We could have gone back to Mazza's (where we went strawberry picking) but we have inside connections to Whitcomb's Pumpkin Patch. That is right . . . I'm connected.

Our Friday playdate friends joined up with us for some corn maze and pumpkin fun. Since it was so hot they served lemonade instead of coffee/cider. See October . . . failing me. We also had the foresight to arrive when they opened so it wasn't too busy. The corn maze was HUGE and I later found out it was planted in the shape of Vermont. I was dutifully impressed! My friend and her adorable boys live down the street from the patch so they have had the pleasure of going through the maze many, many times. Her eldest let Ethan lead. Um, yea. Pretty sure we went in about 12,000 circles but that is okay. The boys had fun! And then when they emerged they got candy (well, Toby didn't.)

Also, they had a sandbox which was pretty awesome. You will notice in the pictures that Toby pretty much has a binky in his mouth the whole time. There is a reason for that! I let him go binky free the minute we got there and as soon as he found the sandbox a huge handful went right in his mouth. Yup, that binky is protection!

It should be noted that we had one of the wettest springs in the history of the state seeing record rain fall amounts two months in a row. Whole fields were underwater for long stretches of time. This means that crops like corn (and pumpkins) didn't grow to the size they normally would. But, in my opinion, the corn was still plenty tall. Although, for the first time in a long time, Whitcomb's won 2nd place for the biggest pumpkin at the fair. I'm certain next year they will reclaim the throne!