The Day After The Day After Thanksgiving...

Whew, I made it through yesterday.  For the past few years, I have been shopping on "Black Friday" for the deals and yesterday was no exception.  There were definitely some great deals out there.  

I stood in line at Super Target with my friend, Manami and her sister and friend starting at almost 4:45 am. The store didn't open until 6 am.  I have to say, though, that time went by pretty fast.  We were immediately approached by a group of people giving out coffee and honey buns (you know, the kind that last FOREVER), and in the midst of saying "no thank you" a dozen times -- they handed us several pamphlets on Jesus Christ and his teachings.  I mean no offense to anyone who reads this blog, but please...can't there just be ONE place I go without being stopped and given a teaching on the Lord and His work?  I believe.  I grew up going to Catholic school.  I went to church everyday.  I just prefer that I'm not solicited at every junction I make a stop at.

If I didn't mention this before, I was pumping gas one day with Ronan in the car, and this car pulls up in the pump beside me...the girl jumps out of the car and asks me if I would take her pamphlets.  I politely refuse and she hops back into her car and drives away.  SHE DIDN'T EVEN PUT GAS IN HER CAR!

Okay, so I digress, I'm sorry.  So as we stood in line, I swear, we were approached by the most random people.  They wouldn't talk to the group I was with, but JUST ME.  I guess I had a sign on my back that said, "please stop and talk to me this morning."  I found out from Manami's sister that I have a very approachable look.  I guess that is a good thing and I hope that look takes me far someday.  Maybe someone will approach me and offer me a million bucks.

Anyway, promptly at 6 am, the doors to Target opened.  It was as if the lights from Heaven were shining down (detect my sarcasm?), and you could feel the adrenaline rushing through everyone's veins.  I got that nervous excitement and warned all the girls to make a bee-line to the electronics section (because that's what they were going for), and I would try and meet them after I hit the toy section.  As I took a short-cut through the towels to get to the toys, I made my way to the aisle where the Star Wars stuff was.  I witnessed a man grab two Star Wars lego sets and another man HIT him and argue with him over why he was taking two.  

Can you believe that two grown men would actually fight over toys?  Toys, people. Come on. The minimum wage paid Target employee standing right there just happened to nonchalantly say, "please sir, that was not appropriate" (in her best monotone, it's too early for this shit voice).  I smiled at the lady next to me and just giggled.  Men can be so silly that early in the morning.

So, I headed two aisles down and found the Thomas the Train Trackmaster stuff that Ronan has.  I grabbed one of each (that were on sale) and opted to buy them and return them later, should I change my mind.  Did the same with stuff for Riley.  It was an easy shopping trip.  [And after talking to Grandpa or "Pa" I guess I'll be returning a lot because he too, went to Target, and bought a lot of the same stuff. -- Saves money for us!]

Anyway, I ended up having to go to work that afternoon and smiling at all those moody and greedy people who would yell at me for not having enough bags to give away (like I had anything really to do with it...)

The next morning, we pulled out our artificial Christmas tree.  I don't care that it's fake.  I love it.  It was $24 at Old Tyme Pottery and worth every penny.  The kids really got into it and wanted to help out as much as they could.  Riley wanted to tell a story for each ornament and Ronan, well, Ronan just wanted to destroy them all.  We have glass ornaments that are ball-shaped and anything round (in his mind) is something to be thrown.  We spent a good amount of time that morning telling him not to throw.  

I have no picture of the tree right now.  Why?  Well, because one strand of lights just burnt out and I don't want to photograph it without it.  This shouldn't surprise me, since the first 2 sets of lights we tried to put on it were all burnt out, too.  Guess that is what you get when you spend less than $2 a box on lights, right?

Happy Thanksgiving!

I'll post after tomorrow, as we are celebrating our 5th annual Friendsgiving this year.  Every year, it's with different people...and every year, I'm thankful to have had the chance to spend it with those that were there!

We've got a big crowd coming tomorrow, 11 adults and 8 kids!  Can't wait to eat!

Hope everyone has an wonderful turkey day!

From the mouth of Riley...

In the car last night....

Riley:  Daddy, thank you for taking me to the hockey game last night and for coming to my school for career day.

Ryan:  You're welcome, honey.

Riley:  Mommy, thank you for uhhhhhhhhhhh (long pause) whatever it is that you do.

Me:  Uhhhh, thanks?  (At this point I'm thinking, how about housing you in my uterus for 40 weeks, or for giving birth?  LOL)  

Conversation #2

Riley:  How does Grandma say McDonalds and Chicken Nuggets?

Me:  Mack Dah-no and Chee-king Mack Muggetz (in my best impression of my mom.)

Riley:  I'm so glad we are English, so we can say whatever we want.

Perfected the Asian Accent

Kids are sponges.  That is a fact.  They see and hear things around them and are able to remember them...whether they choose to respond, is their own decision.

Since we  left Pittsburgh, Riley has been really missing my dad.  It honestly BROKE my heart when, on the way to the airport to go back to Tampa, I turn around and see my mom bawling her eyes out and Riley leaning against her, quietly wiping away the tears.

We arrived at the airport and while my dad and Ryan began to unload the van, Riley completely lost it and couldn't hold back the tears.  And there she said it, she didn't want to leave Grandma and Grandpa.  Well, my dad started wailing, pulling his hat down over his eyes, hugging Riley so tight, you could practically see her body go limp.

We all said our good-byes, hugged and promised to call when we got back home to Tampa.

We did.  The plane landed, we exited the plane and I started dialing back to Pittsburgh. Grandpa asked to speak to Riley.  She grabbed the phone and said nothing.  She nodded (which she doesn't quite get that they can't see/hear on the other side of the phone) and after she finished the "conversation" with my dad, she gave me the phone and said, "I didn't talk because I was trying to swallow my tears."

*gulp*

Which brings me to yesterday.  Riley hasn't talked to my parents in a week.  Not because she doesn't want to, it's mostly because of my work schedule and missing each other's phone calls. But yesterday afternoon, I witnessed Riley doing her best impression of an Asian accent.

My dad asked her questions about what she wanted for Christmas.  She responded with "I dohn noh" which, if you can follow, means, 'I don't know."  And I heard a lot of "oh kayah, grang pa" -- again, 'Okay, Grandpa."  

I don't know where she gets it but when she starts to talk to them, it's like this little Asian Riley comes out and she does the accent.  Best part, I think they understand HER better when she does it...

Could I feel any worse???

On top of having a cold...I've had this slight sadness looming over me these past few days. When I left for work the other day, Riley begged me not to go. Then she said, in her quiet little voice, "I feel like I don't even have a mommy because you work so much."

My heart stopped. I glared at Ryan, not knowing what to say...only to see him mouth, "She's being dramatic."

But still...it hurt. And to be honest, it still hurts. I work retail. I'm in the bra and panty business...and I work my butt off when I'm there. People recognize how hard I work there and so I get a good amount of hours...and that leaves me to being home with Ronan during the day, picking Riley up from school, spending an hour with her and Ronan and then getting ready for work. I get home when they are both completely asleep and out for the night.

It's not stressful to me. It's just different. I don't have the perfect balance of work and home, although I feel like the situation couldn't be better -- because the kids are home with Ryan when I work and we don't have to pay for childcare. They get quality time with their dad and it's great. But daddy gets a lot of their fun time. He is the one to take them both to the park and Chick Fil-A. He's the one that sets up the train all around the room and laughs with them when it falls. He's the fun one.

I'm the one that asks Riley if her homework is done. I'm the one that is the drill sargeant in the morning, so Riley can make it to breakfast. I'm the one that hears the whining from Ronan because apparently, he doesn't do that when I'm not around.

I guess I'm just feeling like I'm not the fun one. I don't take them out. I miss their weekends. I miss their night times...

I don't know. I guess I'm just being a baby right now, but guess where they are at...a hockey game with their daddy and I'm here, blogging, cleaning, and getting ready to go into work at 9:30 p.m. I shouldn't complain because lots of people are looking for jobs and can't find any, but man, does it suck not be the fun one.

Happy Halloween!

This year, Riley didn't have much trouble deciding on what to be this year. It was either a princess, a princess, or a princess. Unfortunately, I was not about to purchase another princess dress and frankly, as much as I love Disney, I'm over the princess thing. That is soooo 5 years-old, if you know what I mean. So, she thought and thought and thought and thought and finally chose to be Dorothy, from the Wizard of Oz. Perfect. The costume was $20 at Wal-Mart and she looked perfect. I even had a basket to complete the picture.

Then, there was Ronan... ahhh, last year was so easy. He couldn't say no, well, he couldn't talk at all, so I chose his costume for him. He was Yoda. This year, I waited until the last minute and opted to borrow a costume from my friend, Joanna...and the little dude was going to be Chewbacca. How stinkin' cute is that? Well, we wouldn't know because he refused, outright refused, to put the costume on. It's furry, so we told him to pet it like a doggy and I think that freaked him out even more.

Using my mommy brain, I remembered that we had practically remortgaged our house for this outfit from Disney...a German soccer player uniform...he looked really cute and we got that PPW (price per wear to only $25 a wear right now!)

We trick-or-treated around our block and Ronan was all about it. He would say, "chee oh chee" and would happily scream "BYE" when we walked away. Because he still signs "thank you," people think that he's blowing them kisses and they just thought it was the cutest thing.

It was really nice to see the two of them walking around having such a good time with each other and getting along so well... I wish it was Halloween more often (and having the chocolate around doesn't hurt, either!)

Our Trip Back to the 'Burgh

Which of these is not like the other....

I'm kidding, I'm kidding...well, last week, we had our FIRST DRAMA FREE trip back to Pittsburgh, since we've moved away. My dad wanted to see the kids, so he flew all of us back for 5 days and honestly, it was the nicest 5 days we have spent in Pittsburgh since before we left in 2004. My parents treated us to practically everything and the kids wanted for nothing. Riley was truly the queen last weekend and now we know why her Grandma and Grandpa are in her top list of favorite people.

While we were back, we wanted to go the Carnegie Museum and see the dinosaur exhibit. It's been out of commission since before we moved and we thought the kids would be excited to see the dinosaurs. Riley was in disbelief that they even existed. She really thought they were just things to look at and was not at all interested in the history behind them and their existence. Let us not be surprised that her favorite exhibit was the gift shop in the beginning of the museum. Why they do that doesn't shock me, but man, does it annoy me. Yeah, go ahead and get the kids excited about the toys and knick-knacks so that the entire time they walk through this huge building, they can ask you around every corner, "what can I get at the store over there?"

The museum is really much more interactive than I remember it to be. There are lots of touch screens with explanations, which is nice...and the way you can walk around the dinos is so much more appealing than it used to be...

But nothing was more fun, to me, than to watch Riley and Ronan do the "dig" at the end of the dinosaur exhibit. They had to wear goggles and grab a brush and the metal rod (which I didn't give Ronan because the lady specifically said to me to not let them bang on it...) but OMG, Ronan was so stinkin' cute in those googles. He was so excited to get dirty and brush the sand around...

Riley always loves to hang out with my cousin, Alin and this day was no different. She barely left Alin's side, except to ask me if I would buy something for her...

And Ryan and I rarely have pictures together, so while we were at a stand-still, I made him smile and take a self-portrait with me...I think it turned out pretty cute.

Among the dolls and arts and crafts that my dad had ready for Riley when we arrived, there was no shortage of cars and trucks for little dude. The last time my dad saw Ronan, he was only 8 months and not doing anything, really...so my dad was totally eating it up. We arrived in Pittsburgh with 2 bags. We came home with 6 pieces of luggage and 2 carry-ons. If that doesn't tell you the enormity of what my parents splurged on for the kids, I don't know what will.

Ronan bonded with my dad, or "Pa" as he called him, over the trains. Pa bought Ronan not one, but two train sets while we were there and it took much convincing for them to keep one, so they could entertain him when we come back in the spring. Ronan would laugh hysterically with Pa over the train collisions and sound effects Pa would make...it was so cute to witness and definitely, a wonderful memory for me to have.

And of course, among our visit with Matt and Julie (sorry, I didn't have any pictures of that!), we spent our last night there having dinner with Rochelle and "Teeve" at their place in the South Side. Teeve makes a mean quesadilla...yum. The kids had a blast there, running around like they owned the place and at the end of the night, the kids were lovin' on Rochelle and Steve so much that it made me so excited to think that someday soon...they'll have kids of their own! I can't wait for that!!!

It was such a great visit. I honestly have no complaints. For the first time in a long time, I was able to see my dad in a different light...no stress...nothing but pure love for his grandkids. He wasn't kidding when he said to me that he just is living for the kids...

Although at any other time in my life, I probably would have been sad to not be in the mix of people he "lives" for, to see my parents genuinely happy with the kids around made me thankful they are a part of their lives. My kids knew nothing but extreme love that weekend and it was awesome. Just awesome...

Confessions of a Bad Blogger...

I'm baaaackkkkk....

I'm not going to make excuses about why I haven't been the ideal blogger, except I WILL say, that the computer I usually blog from was in need of some repair and now that it's finally done, I am back on, baby.

Okay, so back in October, waaayyy back in October, we planned a trip to Disney with our friend, Shelley. We had an awesome time. We booked two rooms in Shades of Green and because they were connecting, Miss Riley thought it would be in her best interest to bunk in Shelley's room for the night (and guarantee her very own queen-sized bed) and make it like a sleepover...which she did. Shelley brought her Cricut and I think they were up for a good while at night just cutting stuff out!

But during the day, we went to Epcot and ate/drank our way around the "World" at the International Food and Wine Festival. This was our first time experiencing it and I have to say that it is definitely something I would go to again. We just had so much fun trying different things and although I didn't drink as much as I would have liked to (due to cost...I mean really, who wants to pay $6 for a "shot" of wine?!), I had a great time trying things I normally wouldn't have.

We also had the chance to ride on attractions we wouldn't have -- because of the whole baby-swap thing, so Ryan and I were able to go on Soarin' and drag Riley on it later on during the day! (Thanks, Shelley!)

We got stuck on the Nemo ride for a little while -- and had we known this, we would have planned to take a nice long nap in there! The kids had a blast and I know they enjoyed spending every minute with Shelley, or as Ronan calls her, "Shay-EE."

That was a picture of Shelley and Riley right before we went into the Nemo ride. And the one below is a Riley with the Octopus from the movie. For some reason, she was really determined to get her picture taken with this thing.

Ronan doesn't always pose for pictures and today wasn't going to be anything out of the ordinary. I am not sure who or what he was pointing at...but it's a rare picture of the two of us nevertheless.

Generally, Ronan prefers that I am the only one to hold him. Occasionally, he'll let Ryan hold him if Ryan says something like, "Come here, daddy wants to show you something." But whaddya know, the little dude went to Shelley, had his picture taken with her, and demanded her attention when she wasn't giving it to him. Poor Riley had to stop mid-thought many times, just because Ronan would say, "Shay- EE!" over and over again. Just to get him to stop, Shelley had to acknowledge him and then he'd be done.

The next day, we decided to hit Animal Kingdom and I am soooo glad we did! The first time we went, I wasn't so crazy about it, but there is truly a lot to see there. We had such a great experience this time around. We adults were able to ride the Everest ride (fun fun!) and I think Ronan's favorite part of the park was going to the petting zoo where he brushed the goats. I couldn't believe I let him do this, because I think petting zoos can be major breeding grounds for bacteria, but I held my breath and let him touch everything (knowing that he would be washing his hands at the very end!) I am sure Shelley could feel my anxiety, but I'm glad he did it and had fun. He chased as many of those goats (or are they sheep?) all over the place.

The trip ended with us all exhausted, but sad to leave. We had such a fun trip with Shelley and can't wait until the next one!

*****
THE DIORAMA

Our friends, Rochelle and Steve ("Teeve" as Ronan calls him), are getting married in the spring and both Riley and I are in the wedding. Riley has been so excited for it since they asked her in August and finds any opportunity she can, to CRAFT it. This one Sunday night was no different...

We have borrowed Shelley's Cricut to work on mini-albums and she has a cartridge that is dedicated to weddings. Riley decided to craft her own version of their wedding, creating a diorama, where when you look through it, you can see them at the end of the aisle and all the guests.

She invited everyone that was in my US Weekly. Sarah Palin, Heidi Montag (which, if she's going, I'm gonna be annoyed with Rochelle for inviting her), Brad Paisley, Carrie Underwood, Miley Cyrus, Jessica Biel and so many more... We knew that Rochelle and Steve were high class, but this is truly a star-studded event.

She left out NO detail. She added lights and pews...and of course, flowers down the aisle.

We expect that after I package it carefully and mail it to Steve and Rochelle, that it will find it's home displayed somewhere in THEIR new home! (Congrats on the purchase!)

If you need directions on how she accomplished this, I cannot give them to you. I'll have to direct you to her. She was the mastermind behind it all.

My stomach is in knots...

And it's not really about the flight tomorrow.  I always get a little antsy when we head back to Pittsburgh.  You know when you move away from your hometown and make "home" somewhere else, the old "home" doesn't feel much like home anymore...

Not only that, my in-laws live there.  They don't just live in Pittsburgh.  They live in the same town as my parents.  They go to the same grocery stores.  They shop at the same mall.  And here I am wondering how I'm going to survive through 4 days without running into them.  How am I going to do it?

I have replayed scenarios in my mind...like if we were walking down a street and they started to come towards us...I'd slowly grab the kids and duck into a store or restaurant.  Or would I just scoop them up and turn around?  Or would I cross the street and look the other way?  I don't know.  I do know that I don't have anything nice to say to them...which means I shouldn't say anything at all...and I don't know how I would get away with that if I had to see them face-to-face.

I am sure I'm overthinking.  I'm sure I'll have a good time, especially because I'll get to see friends and family and the kids will get to spend quality time with my parents...but man, the anxiety they cause me never really goes away when I return to that city...