Thankful

My children--safe, warm, and fed. Their biggest disappointment is a "no TV night." Their biggest worry is over whether they'll get an after dinner treat. They are young, loved, and still very much sheltered from all the scary, confusing, ugliness that exists in our world. Their worlds are giggles and kisses and cupcakes and rainbows. And for that I am thankful.  

Recent events both here and abroad make me disheartened and angry. May we learn that fighting hate with hate is never the answer. May we find room in our hearts for those who are suffering. May we drop our defensiveness and reach out with open minds to try to understand another's life perspective and experiences. 

May the world our children grow up in know more empathy than apathy and more respect for humanity in general. 

Today was a Good Day

Today was a good day. Nothing extraordinary happened. There were no celebrations. I  didn't achieve anything  special. The chores were left untouched. The "to do" list still needs to be done. But...

I had precious one-on-one time with Nick in the first snowfall of the season.

I had brunch with a group of women, whom I admire and respect. I don't see them often, but every time I do, I leave feeling better.

I built a snowman with my three favorite people in the world and warmed up with hot chocolate afterward.

I had alone time with Mark while the kids napped and instead of running over things we need to fix or buy or do, we just hung out and laughed and connected.

I napped.

I had my favorite pizza for dinner with my favorite beer.

Mark and I introduced the kids to The Lion King for movie  night.

We let the kids have ice cream AND popcorn.

I stayed in bed with Lainey until she fell asleep; there is nothing more comforting to me than one of my children cuddled next to me, sleeping soundly.

And now I'm back on the couch with a few moments to myself while Mark finishes putting Nick to bed.

Today was a good day.

The Greatest Show on Earth

Last Saturday, we decided to take the kids away from our every day circus to go see the real deal! We were accompanied by an extra guest, Mr. Roosevelt, the teddy bear from Lainey's preschool class. It was Lainey's turn to take him home for a weekend adventure. Great timing!

The kids really enjoyed the circus, but it was a bit too long for Nick to hang in his seat, so there was a lot of in-and-out with him during the second half. The biggest hits were the tigers, dancing dogs, and the guys on the trampolines. Personally, I'd say Ringling Bros. has some work to do, if they want to keep claiming "The Greatest Show on Earth," but it was definitely entertaining. Lainey's only disappointment was when a few clowns came right by our seats and sat down in front of us. Her reaction: (arms crossed, lip out)-- "Aaaaaw!!! They're just people dressed up as clowns!" (So, uh, yeah...Disney World should be really magical for her in March.)

She was impressed with the cotton candy, however. Nick didn't really care for it, much to Lainey's disbelief--"How can you not like this, Nicky?!" She ate 90% of the enormous bag herself (and then muscled in on Nick's consolation Dippin' Dots.) No surprise that she complained of a tummy ache towards the end.

All-in-all I'd say the outing was a grand success! It was my first time at Allstate Arena, and I think it will be our venue of choice for future events with the kids. Free parking and sooooo easy to get in and out. Sorry, United Center, you're far-and-away a better venue, but not as long as these kiddos are under 10. Allstate, we'll see you again on January 23 for Diney on Ice!!!

The best pic we could get...

Mr. Roosevelt liked the cotton candy
(Mark has on the camel hat that came with the cotton candy, if you're wondering what that thing is!)

Happy Halloween, Mateys!

We had some fine looking pirates at our house this Halloween. Once again, we Trick or Treated in less than desirable weather conditions. It was a particular bummer this year, because the weather was gorgeous on Friday and Sunday. But, whatcha’ gonna’ do? First world problems for sure. And at least the rain stopped while the kids were out begging our neighbors for candy.

We got off to a rocky start. Nick demanded I carry him as we were leaving the house. I obliged, but then forced him down to walk up to the first house. He got is candy turned around and reached for me again. I carried him a few steps and then told him, he was a big boy and needed to walk and put him down again. He walked almost all the way to the next house before reaching up for me again. I told him, “no,” and looked up at me with his big eyes and said, “But, Mommy my feet are wet.” I scooped him up and discovered that Mark had never put his shoes on under his boot pull-overs (which have no bottom). So, I was forcing the poor boy to walk on wet pavement in his socks. I should have laughed it off, but for some reason it got me really annoyed and Mark and I got into a “whose fault was it” exchange. In hindsight it’s funny, but it just wasn’t to me in the moment. However, in a happy ending, as soon as Nick had dry feet, he was all about the candy trail. He loved it! Mark said he probably would have walked the whole neighborhood, if he’d let him.

And I relay Nick’s experience from Mark’s account, because Elaine went to two houses and then refused to continue. Not sure what happened exactly. It could be our neighbor scared her when he came to the door in a black hood or maybe she let her shyness get to her and didn’t want to keep going up to houses…or most likely she just wanted to be difficult. She also refused to go visit our good friends a few blocks over and when they ended up coming to our house, she wouldn’t speak to them until the last three minutes of the visit.

We did end the night with some fun at our neighbor’s house, however. A few families got together and the adults had cocktails, while the kids ran around and played. I was worried Lainey wasn’t going to cooperate given her attitude to that point, but she had a great time and we had to force her to leave. 

As incentive to leave peacefully without causing a scene, we let her stay up extra late and watch a movie at home. (Bribery works and I embrace it wholly!) Letting her stay up until 10pm had the bonus effect of keeping her IN bed until 6am the next morning and avoiding the dreaded daylight savings sleep routine havoc. Nick still got up at 4:15am…doh!

Hope you all had a very Happy Halloween! Now on to Thanksgiving…