St. Paddy's Surprise!

Since things never seem to work out the way we plan, we shouldn't be too surprised but we are. 

Considering that I can't even figure out how to flip the picture the right direction it should also come as no surprise that I read the test wrong.  Initially I called Brian in to see the faint line that goes horizontal because it was pretty faint.  After saying that he saw it too we happily went about our morning.  An hour passed before he came back to me and said I had read it wrong.  Now, for those of you that are aware of our 9 year trek to get the 2 kids we have, you also know of the morning that I did a happy dance for 10 minutes only to hear "oh wait" because he had misread the EPT.  From then on out, I only bought First Response but he bought this box so there you have it. 

So, let's review, we decided that yes we wanted a third kid, planned when we would start but were shocked that it actually worked like it's supposed to.  Also surprising was finding out this morning that my doctor no longer does the ob part of the ob/gyn.  I have to pick another doctor but I don't know who or where.  I can stay in this particular practice but I'm unfamiliar with a number of the doctors and would genuinely like some recommendations.  All of these things have been pushing me towards telling sooner than I planned but the saddest one of all (not even counting that I don't think I can keep my own secret) is that since the weather has turned warmer, I've had to pull out the seasonal clothes.  In doing so I remembered that I needed to lose about 5 pounds to get into them and 10 pounds if I wanted to get in them comfortably.  There's a pretty good chance I'll be in maternity clothes in the next few weeks.  There's also the unavoidable issue of the nausea that makes me do things like sleep on the couch for 35 weeks, throw toasters off the deck and gag when my husband tries to hug me. 

I'll save the issue of trying to sell one house and build another before November for another time...

Crazy Hair

This week is Spirit Week at James' school.  Yesterday was a team day of sorts, we of course forgot.  We also forgot our lunch box and had to go back to the house, wearing his Ravens' jersey was the least of our worries.  Today is a crazy hair day and the boy insisted that we spike his hair which is now long and heavy so it doesn't want to spike.  I even used the industrial strength hair gel.  No luck.  We also have purple hairspray that I picked up back in October for those moments that we need to up the love for the Ravens.  I think it's safe to say that he qualifies for crazy hair.

I'm not sure what that face is.  It might be "look at me, I'm cool" and since we're so far from cool in this family, we do it with sarcasm and that is the end result. 

He also wanted to get his new shirt in the picture.  We just did the Safari Overnight at the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philly.  Lots of fun but it wore us OUT.  I'll share the pics and details from that at a later time.  I also just realized that I might need to reel it in on my "buy it big" behavior.  Judging from this pic, he's going to wear that shirt into middle school. 

Daddy-Daughter Date Night

Tonight was Brian's turn to go out with Cailin for a Daddy-Daughter Date Night sponsored by the Chick-Fil-A in Elkton.  This is probably our favorite place to eat.  It actually blurs the line between fast food and "real" restaurant for us.  Last year they had a Mother-Son Date Knight that James and I went to.  It had a nice little castle theme going on which was cute (I also took their leftover decorations for a Scouting event and never used them, whoops).

I'm waiting as patiently as I can for their roaming photographer to upload her pictures from the evening but I do have one that Brian snapped on his cell phone.  I hope that Cailin is able to remember this night or even a few in the near future, with or without the pictures.  I don't even remember how old I was at the time but I do have a nice memory of getting to ride with my dad in one of the trucks he worked on.  It was a big deal, making sure I was cleaned up, dressed nice and had a white headband in to hold back the mop of hair.  Remembering that those things were important to me, I made sure to do them tonight for Cailin.  Just like me, she's Daddy's girl. 

Such language...

Thanks to driving a minivan and having to go all over creation to accomplish anything, I like to plan out my days to either stay home and close by or get it all done in one shot.  I hit the Pee Wee Playtime with Cailin this morning, as usual she had a great time.  Afterward, I needed to pay our property taxes so I headed to Elkton with the intent of getting Chick-Fil-A for lunch.  A few things to make note of regarding this decision.

1)  It was lunch time.  The place is hopping to begin with.  Add in lunch time and I'm beyond thankful for the Mom's Valet service they provide.
2)  We just came from Pee Wee Playtime which is open to the public and while I don't like to judge other parents, I do like to make note of the way they parent.  
3)  Related to the above is that some of the women from PWP were also at Chick-Fil-A and I don't know how but the children had multiplied and I really couldn't handle the play area at its current head count.
4)  My kid is a runner and when you have your hands full is the best time for her to run.

I had gone to the trash can closest to the door because my plan was to drop the trash, hit the bathroom, get a refill of tea, and go.  What happened instead was me hitting the trashing, grumbling under my breath because she instead ran back to the play area.  She's little and can't read so she was pushing on the door instead of pulling.  I walked back to get her, reminding her that we were leaving.  How does my delicate flower react to these events? 

DAMN IT

Whether or not I agreed with the sentiment or was possibly thinking it to myself during the chain of events is no matter.  She said it, clearly and in context, again.  Awesome.

I don't want to make a big deal out of it because she'll eat that up but I don't want to let her get away with it.  As we walked I told her that we don't use such language, it's not nice.  I don't think she cares and I'm pretty sure that one of the older gentlemen having lunch heard her, me and was laughing.  See above regarding how she'll eat up the attention.

For those family members reading this, I already know what you're thinking and you can stop laughing at me.  

At least she's honest...

Cailin:  I go potty.

Daddy:  Is this some trick to get your jammies off to get into something else?

Cailin:  YES!

We're fighting to keep her clothes on and to keep her out of the tub.  Usually it's one or the other but sometimes both.  I'm just amazed that a child who can barely go 10 feet without falling can strip in under 3 seconds. 

8 year old humor

What did the hamburger say?  I think I've got a sesame seed between my buns.

That is comedy gold if you're an 8 year old boy.

I am your mother...

And I make things happen!  I’m still giddy over this and couldn’t put off sharing it any longer.  Like I mentioned in the last post, James joined Cub Scouts at the end of 1^st grade.  My big contribution during his first full year was heading up the Blue and Gold banquet.  If you’re not familiar with Scouting, this is the big to-do celebration held every year.  I also can’t stress enough how fortunate we are as a pack to have the support we do from American Legion, Post 194.  Every year we get the use of their facilities and that alone takes our banquet to the next level. 

Our theme for this year, as chosen by the Cubmaster via a bug placed in his ear by one of his 9 year old triplets, was “All Things Space”.  Now, it’s no secret that this family ranks pretty high on the geek scale so I had to restrain myself just a bit in how far I took the theme.  I could have gone campy.  I could have gone hard-core sci-fi.  Campy, hard-core sci-fi was also an option but it’s no fun when nobody gets the references.  I decided to go classy as though I too were a young boy between the age of 6 and 11, or a grown man who had to be sworn to secrecy. 

May I introduce to you, the 501^st Old Line Garrison…

Oh yes, that’s Darth Vader, or “Big Guy” as Cailin calls him.  She loves him and she is still mad that she didn’t give him a hug.  The first Saturday in May is going to be so fun. 

This group drove from surrounding areas of White Marsh, Baltimore, Glen Burnie, and I believe even close to Washington to be at our banquet.  I can’t even begin to tell you how amazing it was to be there for this.  These guys do this on their own time and dollar.  The only thing asked of us was to do something charitable or make a donation in their name.  Take some time to read about everything the 501^st do as a group across the country and I’m sure you’ll agree that’s a small price to pay. 

Fast Forward

We'll say by about 5 years, sound good? Here's the quick catch up, since the last entry James has turned 8 and his sister has turned 2. Yes, his sister Cailin. The one that was never mentioned in the handful of entries that were posted. Getting her was probably the main reason there was a hiatus in entries. It happens. It also happens that she is going to be part of the reason that entries will continue being sparse. Not much else has changed to be honest. We haven't moved, we still own dirt. Eventually we'll get to live on that dirt, we just don't know when.

There was a genuine reason for stirring up this particular blog that has gone unloved for so long. Actually, two if you wanted to be technical.

James hit the first grade and begged for Cub Scouts. We resisted. I was still pregnant, then just had a baby and we were still getting in the swing of things. Towards the end of the school year we learned that resistance was futile. We went to a pack meeting and were quickly assimilated. We left that evening under the impression that Brian was becoming an Assistant Den Leader and I would later be in charge of the annual Blue and Gold banquet. The idea of Cub Scouts being a father/son activity is great but a total myth. The reality of it is that now, two years later, Brian is the Committee Chair in addition to the Assistant Den Leader, I am the Treasurer and just finished with the Blue and Gold for 2012. Being that Cailin is now a 2 year old girl, it's a little hard to say where she fits in the Cub Scout scheme of things. She is of the opinion that she too is a "Bub Scout" and frankly, we don't have the energy to argue with her. She's really opinionated.

The above being the primary reason for blog revival, the secondary is Pinterest. I think for the most part, everybody knows what it is and how it works. Those of us that worked on the Blue and Gold came up with some great ideas, did a lot of work and put our own spin on the great ideas of others. What I found when searching Pinterest was that there wasn't much specifically Scout related and I'm fairly certain that we're in this Scouting thing for the long haul.

Eventually, maybe, hopefully, I'll be able to get back to the original intent of the blog, sharing the house building experience, but for now I think it'll be just as fun to share everything that we're doing with the kids.