I'm full of scrap sometimes...

Talk about loss of inspiration -- when your workspace is in shambles! After a crop at a friend's house on Sunday, I was motivated to make more cards at home, but I needed to reorganize my space. The picture below isn't what I started off with...I promise, I'm not that messy! BUT, it's what happened when I began pulling things out of every corner, mixed along with "help" from Ronan. Doesn't look fun at all, huh?
Then, after hours and I mean HOURS of downsizing and purging, I finally ended up with a half decent space. I moved the iMac to the other side of the room, creating two computer work spaces -- so that when Ryan and I both work on homework or need the Internet, we have two places that aren't right on top of each other.
What should I do with that printer? It's been on the floor for 4 months. I used it a lot when I was in San Diego, but it's just more cost effective to just get prints at Costco, I think. I don't know. I think I'll just look at it for a few more months before I make a commitment to get rid of it.
So now that my space is more organized and open, it's time to scrap. Oops, I'm wrong. Little crazy man is waking from his nap, so I guess I'll just have to wait until another time...ahhh, what fun.

And this is the word of Riley...

She continues to say things that make us laugh...it's never-ending, I'm convinced.

Riley: Oh my gosh, momma, Ronan said the 'F' word!!!
Me: What?
Riley: Fries!

I'm hoping that she doesn't know that 'F' word actually means something else -- but the fact that she doesn't, makes the 3-second conversation even funnier.

What will she say tomorrow?

The face of OLD.

Apparently, I can't come to grips with the fact that I'm getting old.  My friends have accepted their 30s, but me?  Nope.  I'm not there.  In my mind, I'm still that 20-something, who isn't thinking about fat retention or wrinkles...and I guess lucky for me, I have friends that like to snap me out of that daydream and back into reality.

This weekend, I spent a few hours with my friends on Saturday at a skin-care class given by my friend, Nikki.  Nikki sells Mary Kay and thought it would be nice to have us over to her beautiful home and show us some products.  Clearly, I was unaware that all the products began with names containing the phrase "anti-aging," because I would have never gone -- I mean, do I really need "anti-aging" products?  (I'm kidding, Nikki, I would have come anyway...at least for the food.)

But there I sat at her table, listening to her tell us about how we shouldn't pull our eyelids to apply eyeliner because it would quicken the wrinkle process and how now is the time to be using products that are going to slow down the aging process and I  looked at her like she was nuts.  Well, my facial expressions must have spoke a million words because both Kristina and Mandy looked at me with this 'get with it' look and out of Kristina blurts the truth I have been refusing to accept:

"Maria, face it.  You're getting old.  You're in your thirties."

Me, old? I'm in my thirties?  No, sister.  I'm only 30...right?  And 30 is supposed to be the new 20.  Right...?  

Am I wrong to be in denial?  I mean, don't we all want to hold onto the fact that we aren't getting older and believe that we are just getting wiser?  I haven't had issues with birthdays up until last year...and now this year...and probably the next 9 years until I turn 40 and that will be a whole new ball of problems to worry about, huh?

Mother of the Year Award

...is probably not going to go to me this year...

Yet another funny conversation to share with everyone and if you have your little ones around, this probably isn't a post for them.

The other day, Riley and I were in the living room, watching Ronan freak out.  Riley looks at me with this serious face and this is the conversation we had:

Riley:  Momma, Ronan is being a little shit, huh?

Me:  *I spoke no words, I only looked at her with a my stunned and shocked face.*

Riley:  Uh, I mean, Ronan is being a little s-h-i-t (spelled out), huh?

Me:  Riley!  Where did you hear that?

Riley:  Well, daddy says it and you always spell it.

Me:  We are to never speak of this again, okay Riley?  

I couldn't believe it, but I could.  Since as far back as I can remember, I have been spelling things out, so she wouldn't understand.  I'd say things like, "don't say that when R-i-l-e-y is in the room" or if we didn't want to upset her, we'd say "should we go to the p-o-o-l or should we just go h-o-m-e?  

What's funny is that I don't think it ever occurred to me to stop spelling things.  I remember the one day I said, "Hey Ryan, should we take R-i-l-e-y to the m-o-v-i-e?"  And without a second hesitation, Riley jumped in and said, "Yeah, I want to go to the movie!"  Duh, mom.  Duh.

So is this my cue to stop spelling?  Maybe I'll do sign language or something...

"I'm not being dramatic, momma."

Riley is at gymnastics camp again this week and when I came to pick her up, this is what I saw...Riley sitting between two of the coaches, rubbing her knee.

When she finally looked up and out into the glass, I waved at her to come out and tell me what was going on. The first thing she said to me was, "I'm not being dramatic, momma. My knee hurts. I have a rug-burn."

Of course she said it loud enough for all the other moms to hear, so they started laughing... But it WAS funny, because it's exactly something I would have asked her the minute she walked out, so she beat me to the punch.

He wears his sunglasses at night...

It wasn't exactly nighttime when I took these pictures...it was this morning, but you get where I'm going with it...

Our friend, Joni, spotted some Build-A-Bear clothes for Riley and one of the outfits came with a pair of sunglasses.  Well, instead of putting them on her bears -- where they belong -- she outfitted her brother in the glasses and proved to me that Ronan has a tiny head.  The glasses fit him perfectly.  

Remind me who summer vacation is for again?

When we lived in San Diego, there were schools in our neighborhood that went all year long...meaning that they would have longer spring breaks and holiday breaks, but basically school doesn't end for the summer.  I thought it was crazy and felt bad for those kids -- but now that Riley is home this summer, I know why they do that and wished they did that here.

When she is home, she thinks she has full reign of the tv and that she can watch the Disney Channel whenever she wants.  It has truly gotten out of hand.  I bought her books to practice reading, writing and math and when I ask her to get her practice books out, she says, "what books?  I don't know where they are."  

Our friend, Shelley, challenged her to read a book a day.  This isn't a big challenge.  If you look at our library, you know that there are plenty 'level 1' books she could choose, but she'd rather dodge hits from her brother.

This morning, I had had enough.  I asked her what book she read yesterday, knowing full well what the answer was and now, she has to read at least 2 books today.  She has zero tv time today and guess where she is going next week...

Back to CAMP!

I love spending time with her, don't get me wrong.  She and Ronan just go at it all day long, it's almost become more of a chore than anything...so if she can at least have fun half the day at gymnastics camp without having to fight with her brother, we'll take it.

Sugar Bugs Can't Hold Us Down!

Ahhh, talk about relief! No cavities for either of the kiddos today!
Riley did great, as expected, and did everything the dentist told her to. She made it through a set of x-rays, or "pictures," and doesn't have to go back for 6 months!

Ronan...well...EXCEEDED expectations. At first, he wouldn't go back with the hygenist... so we sat in the little room, waiting for Riley to finish up. I think they have this all figured out...because we sat for a good 20 minutes and Ronan got so antsy, that by the time the hygenist came to get him, he was out the door, looking for Riley. He did great, they said. He opened his mouth, they counted and 'cleaned' his teeth and isn't due back for 6 months!

I was nervous for no reason at all. I thought for sure I'd be standing next to an 18-month-old freaker outer and here he was, charming all the ladies.

All good...until next time, right?!

When Riley Speaks, We All Listen...

Riley is a funny little chick. She entertains us and we laugh -- although she doesn't like that we laugh AT her and not WITH her...

Here is a funny Riley quote of the day:

"I'm doing free massages. You just have to pay me in Disney Dollars. I can massage arms, feet, shoulders, backs, and legs. Daddy, I can give you a massage for free, since it's for Father's Day. You can still give me Disney Dollars, though."

And Riley's joke for the day, as she tells it:
(She's told us this joke several times and every time, it's funny.)

"There was this kid who said he wanted to be a hawk, so he jumped off a cliff and became a hawk. Then there was another kid who wanted to be an eagle, so he jumped off a cliff and became an eagle. The last kid jumped off the cliff and said 'oh crap' and he became a piece of crap!"

(Now, apparently there is a non-G-rated version of this joke, but the fact that this child still remembers it cracks us up.)

A Cuddler and a Gamer

And they both belong to me!

Since birth, Riley has always been a cuddler and a hugger. She's the baby nobody ever put down and wanted to hold. She was just an angel, all the time. And almost 6 years later, she's still the same cuddler and hugger that I brought home from the hospital -- except this time, she's the one holding the baby!

You might remember our neighbors had their baby, Thalia, about 2 months ago. My children have been enamored by her since the day they saw her home from the hospital...and now that Thalia is sturdier and stronger, her parents have allowed Riley to hold Thalia with some supervision.


Riley was so excited and would tell Becky where to place Thalia on her lap. When the baby finally fell asleep, Becky set her on Riley and this is what we got to witness:


Now, for my gamer. The apple does not fall far from the tree in our little family. Ronan can't quite play Grand Theft Auto IV, yet, but he CAN play a little Wii Fit! We were at Shelley's the other night for our weekly dinner and she has a Wii Fit that needed set-up...and in order to get it all ready, we had to play, of course! Riley had a blast with it and Ronan was not about to let everyone else have all the fun. He got on that board like he knew what he was doing, swinging the controller all around. Then he settled down a bit to watch and chill with Shellwii.

Has HOA gone too far?

We moved to the area a little over a year ago. We found a beautiful new development and a house we have made into a home. We have our own little piece of land and it's ours. Well, at least it felt like it until our first notice came in from the Managing Agent for our HOA.

It started off as a courtesy notice for the garbage cans that were on the side of our house. They needed to be out of sight and we were instructed to put them in our garage. I refuse to put them into the garage and thus, a fence was built to hide the ugly cans. Problem 1 averted.

Then, a few weeks later, we got another courtesy notice for our recycle bin needing to be put away. I'm sorry that I didn't drag the dumb thing in within the 15 minutes of it being unloaded into a recycle truck, but come on...at least I'm recycling. So yes, we pulled the bin in and and problem 2 was dodged.

Soon after that, we get another letter regarding our yard and how the grass needed to be edged along the driveway. So what do we do? We pull the cars into the street, edge the grass and hope that we don't get in trouble for having such an unruly yard (can you detect the sarcasm). Now mind you, at this time, we had a lawn service coming to fertilize our yard, making it green and lush and we were told by this company to let the grass grow out a bit so it fills out. We followed the company's instructions and it leads us to get reprimanded by HOA.

Now a few months ago, I get a letter warning us that we were in violation of parking in the street. PARKING IN THE STREET. We never park in the street. We always, always park in our driveway. We fear that our cars would get swiped if in the street and thus, we never park in the street. I was completely surprised by the letter and blew it off, knowing we did nothing wrong.

Boy, was I in for a shock. Yesterday, I get a CERTIFIED LETTER, one that cost the Management Company $5.32 to send me, stating that it was a "final notice" for the same parking violation I had received months prior, and that if it was not remedied, I would be subject to a fine. I don't think I have ever been so upset. Who are these people to tell me that I haven't remedied a situation that never existed.

I promptly made some phone calls to the HOA company and it felt as though I was participating in a prank call on the radio. Although the person I spoke to was nice, she had no answers for me -- none that were acceptable and this has pushed me to the breaking point, where I am ready to contact newspapers and news stations and have them do some sort of special on corrupt HOA's.

I was told that perhaps it wasn't my car parked in front of my home that instigated the letter. Hmmm, it could have been a neighbor's car, or a friend's car... I asked for a solution. What should I do if I have friends come over for lunch or dinner? Can they not park in the street?

Answer: No, they can't park in the street, they must park at the CLUB HOUSE. (The club house is 0.4 miles away from my home.)

I'm sorry. I couldn't take that answer. You are telling me that my friends who might be bringing there tiny children over, are going to have to park their car 0.4 miles away, walk to my house in the 95 degree heat, stay for an hour, and then walk back to their car that may or may not be there? Un-freakin' believable.

We finally find a neighborhood we love, and that euphoric feeling has to be tarnished because someone has too much time on their hands and has to (cover your ears, kids) bitch about a car being parked in front of my house for an hour? Give me a break. Do I date complain about the dead grass lawns with the weed infested landscaping? No. Do I cry over the fact that a neighbor down the street can't pull all the way into the driveway and blocks the sidewalk, so when we take walks, we have to go into the street? No. Do I have hissy fits over people having parties and cars all over my neighborhood? No...instead of whining, I'm wishing I was invited.

Can't people just be happy? Why do they have to rain on everyone's parade? I get that HOA would need to do something if a trailer were parked in my front lawn. Or maybe if I started placing pink flamingos and fake penguins in my yard. Or even if I had my Christmas lights strung up past February. But I'm not. We follow the rules, we maintain our yard, we want our house to look nice and we want to be in a good neighborhood. But it's almost like HOA infringes on the livelihood of neighborhoods and it frustrates me.

After I huffed and puffed on the phone with Ryan, he told me to just forget about it and blow it off. I know, I should. I'm going to let it go after I'm done with this post (I think). I'm just so over the fact that this association, who collects at least $60 a year from each home in my development, has so much power over what goes on. Don't you worry, I'll make sure I'm at the next HOA meeting and I'll be darn sure to speak up regarding this issue. (And that should be a shock to most of you, because honestly, I hate public speaking...but this would be worth the stress.) I hate that we have been a target for all these notices. I hate that HOA is so reactive and not proactive. I hate that I can't know who is reporting us because I would love to know why they have all this extra time on their hands.

Happy Father's Day Album

Since Ronan graced our lives, I've had very little time to dedicate to my second favorite hobby, scrapbooking. What's my first you ask? Well, collecting scrapbooking supplies, of course! Anyway, I've made lots of friends who are quite crafty and whether they make cards, crafts or scrapbook, I have inspiration all around me to get me back into something that I really enjoy.

I started an album for Ronan and will soon work on a Disney album...but until then, I have found that I get lots of satisfaction from making accordian albums. Maybe it's the fact that once they are done, they are done. They aren't works in progress. I can see a finished project. Which, if you are a scrapper, you know that those "finished projects" are hard to come by. Riley's scrapbook (she's 5 now) is still a "work in progress" and probably will be until the day I die. I just hope that I will someday have enough time to get Ronan's life down on a 12x12!

So, for Father's Day this year, rather than get Ryan something he really wants, I made him something that I'll give to him and then take back from him. (I'm kidding. He can keep it.) The photos in this accordian album are from our first Disney trip and are all in black and white.

Supplies:

9x9 Accordian Album (CTMH), title done with CuttleBug (You're Not the Boss of Me), paper (g.c.d. studios - planes & trains collection, paper trey white cardstock, Stampin' Up! Wild Wasabi), faux stitching using Stampin' Up! white signo gel pen and paper piercer, CuttleBug Hippie Chick font used inside.

The last photo is one that I had Riley draw our family. I just love her artwork and even though it wasn't her usual medium (of crayons and markers on white paper), she adapted well and made us look good. The "L" on my skirt and her shirt stands for "love" she says.

One more word!

I don't consider Ronan to be much of a talker...he's more of a do-er...but lately, he is starting to add a word here and there to his little person vocabulary...



Last night, he was reaching for Ryan's XBox360 controller while Ryan was playing Grand Theft Auto IV and screamed (clear as day!) "Mine!"



Not exactly one of the words I would prefer for him to have at 18 months, but I'll take it...



So now, we've got:
Ma-ma (that's me!)
Da-da (Ryan, of course)
Da (Riley -- makes perfect sense, right?!)
Ca (Car)
Da (Truck)
Bah (Ball)
Hey-woh (Hello)
Hey-woh (Bye)
No with the a head shake (No)
Mine (self-explanatory)

I'm still worried about his speech progress and at his next doctor's appointment, I'm going to get him evaluated for speech therapy. I'm not even sure what they would even do with him at this age, but I'd rather be proactive about it than wait much longer. It's hard because he gets so frustrated when he wants to tell us something and we have no idea what he's saying. He uses lots of gestures and signs, which is good, but I would love for him to string a few words together. I know there is a lot we can do with him at home, which we try to...but I am very guilty of just knowing what he wants and simply getting it for him before he even asks. That's probably where it all started because I don't think he truly ever had to ask for anything...

I know, eventually it will come and we won't be able to get him to shut up, but I'm ready for some deep conversations with a 2-year-old...bring it on.

Funny "Conversation"

Some of you might know that my mom is here visiting for most of the summer. It's been great for the kids to have their grandma (ngoai - in Vietnamese) around and it's been nice for Ryan and I to be able to go out to dinner on occasion sans kids.

My mom has been living in the U.S. since 1975 and has picked up very little English. It has been something that has always bothered me, but not a subject I could do much about but live with it. I basically grew up having to translate everything to her and instead of HER helping ME, it was the reverse. Although she is an adult, I have found that she has very little independence -- a quality, a necessity, I want instilled in my children. With that being said, my kids are learning a lot from her in other ways.

I haven't really tried too hard to teach the kids Vietnamese. I swore I would when they were born, but being that Ryan doesn't speak it, everything just was easier in English. I do say things to them in Vietnamese and they understand...but a full conversation isn't something that is going to happen anytime soon. Since Ngoai does not speak English well (think-Jackie Chan broken English but even less vocab), conversations between her and the kids has been, VERY ENTERTAINING!

Riley often looks at me and asks me what Ngoai is saying and she'll repeat it in Vietnamese and then in English, as if she is trying to teach my mom how to say it. Ronan, who isn't talking much but the occasional "no" has been using sign language and gestures to get my mom to do things he wants. It's funny how kids can figure it out.

But the best has been listening to Riley try to have "conversations" with my mom. She not only speaks slower, she raises her volume (as if my mother is deaf) and starts cutting out words in sentences and then she adds her own "Asian accent."

It generally starts off like this:

Riley: Hey Ngoai, can you get me an apple?
Ngoai: Oh, I doh-no (I don't know.)
Riley: (slower and louder). Can YOU get me APPLE?
Ngoai: (looking at me for help and translation) Ah, o-k.
Riley: (still slower and much louder) Can you cut apple small and put on plate so I can eat?
Ngoai: (not having any idea what Riley said) o.k.

The entire time she has these conversations, she does motions to show what she is saying... you can tell she is adapting to try and communicate with my mom. It's just hysterical that she somehow gets this broken English accent when she starts a conversation with my mom and eventually, my mom gets what Riley wants and does it.

Playing at the Park

The kids were in need of some major decompression time this afternoon.  Ronan was having a 1/100th life crisis and wouldn't stop crying and Riley was losing brain cells from sitting in front of the tv this afternoon.  We are lucky to live close to a park that has lots of slides and climbing attractions.  

Lately, I have been trying to take the kids there in the morning, so I can get a workout in with the kettlebell.  It's actually given me an opportunity to pay attention to myself AND provide the kids with some sort of entertainment.  This morning, we stopped at the park and because we couldn't get enough -- we had to drag daddy along after dinner.

Ronan has no fear.  He climbs up and down everything without a second glance.  Riley is so cautious and I love that about her because I can pretty much focus my attention on Ronan when it comes to avoiding injury.  Ronan and Ryan went down the big slide a few times together (and it goes so fast because it's steep) and after a little while, short man attempted it on his own. He went down on his belly and continued to go back up for more until we told him we had to leave. Riley braved that slide, too, and shocked us by going on it at least a dozen times.

It's awesome how being outside can calm a kid down.  You would think it would get them all crazy -- running around in an open space -- but it's definitely therapy.  Now if only there was a snack bar stand right next to it that sold glasses of wine or pitchers of beer.  We'd all be soaking up a piece of heaven...haha...

Olympics 2020, Here We Come!

Ronan had his first official gymnastics trial class this morning at 9 a.m.! Okay, it didn't go quite as smoothly as I had anticipated. He has never been one to sit during 'circle time' at Gymboree, so I don't know why I thought he would do it at gymnastics, but he tolerated it for the 3 minutes it lasted. The good thing, is that it's more stretching and warming up, than it is 'circle singing time' and there aren't any balls to distract the little man from the various activities.

I started off and did the circuit with him, but he didn't go full out until Ryan and I swapped and Ryan got in there with him. He was bouncing on the trampoline, hanging on the bar and from the rings, running across the long trampoline and jumping into the big pit of foamy things.

If his 1 1/2 hour nap thus far is any indication of how worn out he is from this morning, well then sign us up!

We decided we are going to get him into it after our summer vacation. It was more active than Gymboree has been and it's a nice INDOOR sport for us to enjoy during the hot, sweaty, humid seasons we endure here in Tampa.

Here are a few pictures from this morning:

Sweet Sounds of Riley

This morning, I was nudged awake by this little voice coming from Riley:

"Momma, momma, are you awake? I wasn't asleep last night when you came in and gave me kisses, I was pretending to be asleep."

In my sleepy stupor, I didn't answer with anything coherent...so she went on to say:

"Momma, I love you and daddy and Ronan and I am just sooooooooo lucky to have all of you."

How could I not wake up at that point and hug and kiss her! Such a sweet and lovey girl. And then at that point, Ronan woke up and tried to hit her. Dream over, I guess.

Really, though, Riley is such a sweet girl. No matter how much her brother tortures her, she always tells us how much she loves him and she still wants to hug him as hard as she did the first day she met him at the hospital...

Maria's Movie Review

I didn't just get to see ONE movie this week, I saw TWO! And in this segment of my weekly blogging, you will get to hear my official reviews of:

Indiana Jones and some big glass ball head (you can see where this review is gonna go...)

Sex and the City

Indiana Jones:

On Friday night, Ryan and I were on a date down in Ybor City and decided to go see Indiana Jones at the theater there. The movie theater is awesome -- not just because of the leather stadium-style seating, but because before you walk into the movie, you can load up on alcohol and be on your way! I didn't drink that night, but had I known how the movie was going to go, I probably would have had a few beers beforehand.

Ryan was shocked to hear that I had never seen the first three Indiana Jones movies. Yes, I have never seen them. BUT, the reason I agreed to go to see #4, was because I heard it was good. Oy vey. Within the first 5 minutes, I was ready to leave. If you haven't seen it and want to, skip this part of my blog... Harrison Ford is old. I give him kudos for trying to be the star of this movie, but puh-lease! All the stunts were obviously done by someone else and I felt like I was watching some cheesy movie on TBS. Now, perhaps my neglect of seeing the other three didn't lead me up to what I was going to see in this one, but there was nothing remotely interesting about this movie (except for maybe the fact that this group of grown adults went chasing around for 2 hours over a glass head shaped like an alien.)

Ryan and I left when the movie ended and were so disappointed. Happy to be on a date with my hubby, I didn't dwell on it too much. I wished there was a way I could have gotten 2 hours of my life back...but Ryan was ready to sue George Lucas for producing this awful movie.

Maria's Review: Thumbs Down

Sex and the City:

Last night, Mandy, Becky and I trecked out of Riverview and headed to Brandon for a short girls nights that consisted of dinner at Moes and a movie.

We were told that this movie is everything you want it to be and ends in a way that leaves the viewer completely satisfied and THEY WERE RIGHT!

I laughed, I cried, I was happy, sad, shocked and grossed out -- and there was truly not one minute where I wasn't glad I got to see this movie. I don't want to ruin it for anyone who hasn't seen it...so I will leave it at that. Go see this movie. (Even if you haven't watch all the seasons, you will still enjoy the movie.) I'm still laughing in my head about various parts of this movie -- I might have to go see it again!

Maria's Review: Thumbs up!

Happy 18-Month Birthday, Ronan! AND Happy Last Day of School, Riley!

I can't believe that 18 months ago, I was propped up on a hospital bed, pushing this little person out of my ************ (haha, I bet you thought I was going to get all nasty-nasty on you! Just kidding!) Honestly, though, the past year and a half have flown by...so much faster than I remember with Riley. Ronan is just so non-stop, and I'm thinking that helps time fly by.

[Here is a picture of Ronan just a few days old.]

Yesterday, we were out at Costco picking up my contacts and I found these tiny little person glasses and could not help buy try them on him while we were waiting. Not that I would ever wish for him to need glasses at this age, but man, was it cute!





And last night, we spent a couple hours playing in the lanai and believe it or not, Riley and Ronan were actually getting along. I got them to pose for a few pictures together and Riley had to get all silly on me.


Today was Riley's last day of Kindergarten. Crazy. She only has at least 12 more years to go! I'm happy we all made it through her first year. She learned to read, add/subtract, cooperate with friends and utilized her artistic abilities with all the projects they did -- and I learned that it's okay for her not to win EVERY award, that I can let her walk into the school building without me escorting her to the door, that one minute she might be best friends with someone and the next minute they tell each other they don't want to be friends...and that I'm only 12 years away from having to pay for college.

[Here is a picture of Riley on her very first day of school. She looks like such a baby doll...]

It has definitely been an experience. I know Riley enjoyed it and she's made some amazing friends. I love how innocent it has all been and how when they are that young, everything rolls off their back and they really know no stress in life. I fear the day that she will have to make tough decisions about classes she has to take and the moments her heart may be broken by people who decide they don't want to be friends anymore (we all know how catty girls can be!)

[And here is Riley this past weekend. Looks like such a difference than just 10 months ago!]

I'm so proud of her for doing so well and I am excited (I'm not being sarcastic, I promise) to be able to spend the entire summer with her and Ronan before she has to start *gasp* the FIRST GRADE!

Spontaneity...

How lucky are we to be able to live an hour away from Walt Disney World and decide last minute that we are going to go for the day! We just came back on Sunday from an overnight trip to Disney. We were able to get last minute reservations at Port Orleans French Quarter (POFQ)and tickets to the Pirate & Princess Party at the Magic Kingdom.

If you have never been to POFQ, it's such a quaint resort that resembles New Orleans -- according to Ryan (since I've never been to NOLA). It was excruciatingly hot there on Saturday, so we were more than excited to enjoy the resort and the pool in the afternoon. Port Orleans also has another side to it, Riverside, which is a lot more spread out and larger, but we didn't get to venture over there to sight-see. We'll have to check it out again someday.

We were only there for the night and opted to eat off-site for dinner. Where else would we go, other than HOOTERS! Okay, so not the most appropriate place to bring your 5-year-old and your 17-month-old, but it's a fun place to be. The servers LOVE Ronan. I mean, how could you not love the little dude. I think the fact that he was sporting his "Ladies Man" t-shirt helped him get the ladies talking to him. The funniest part about being there, was the fact that they had a bean bag game on the one wall and the girls had both kids standing there, tossing bean bags into the holes. Who woulda thought you could get that kind of babysitting service at Hooters.

After dinner, we headed over to the Magic Kingdom for the P&P Party. We did this our first time at Disney and although we had to pay for separate tickets, it is totally worth it. We literally got on every ride we wanted to get on with no more than a 5 minute wait. Ryan and I were able to get on Big Thunder Mountain and Space Mountain with NO WAIT. And if you have never done a 'baby swap' before, I highly recommend it. You can both stand in line together and when you get to the front, one parent waits with the kids while the other one rides and then you switch. It cuts out the extra waiting time and saves you from having to navigate through any waiting you might have to do alone.

The kids just love the Tea Cups. I don't think we saw the kids smile and laugh all weekend, like they did on that one ride. Amazing how intentional vertigo can make kids happy. Who needs Disney when you have a spinning office chair in your house!

It was a fun trip and I was sad to leave on Sunday and head back to reality. Now that our season passes are blacked-out until the fall, we can go until after Riley starts the 1st grade (boo hoo) but it gives us more time to plan out where we are gonna stay and what we are going to do!

Just being...

together sometimes and not fighting can make for some of the greatest moments. Riley and Ronan are not known to be completely cooperative when they are in the same room. Ronan doesn't really enjoy it when Riley gets any attention from Ryan and I, so a pushing fight ensues and we get forced to split them up into different rooms. BUT, when they do get along, it is so stinkin' cute. We have gotten to the point where we can tell Ronan to give Riley a hug and if he is feeling like a lovey dovey, he'll do it and Riley just eats it up.


Ronan has also started hamming it up for the camera because he knows he can see a picture of himself right afterwards. This was him smiling, knowing that seconds later, he would be able to see himself in the digital camera!

We also had a Shelley dinner night last week and with Shelley, always comes Elsie and the now beloved "En-tendo DS" that Riley just loves. She has been playing Nintendogs or something like that and her excitedment has gotten Ronan excited about it too...this is a picture of them watching the dogs dance:


And here is Shelley guiding Riley for part of the game...

And Ronan, playing with Elsie:

And of course, what week would be complete without a picture of Ronan freaking out! We went to Riley's award ceremony at school and he did so well sitting there, until literally, the last 3 minutes. He had a mini-breakdown and since I had my camera, I thought, "hey, I should take a picture!" He was not happy I was taking pictures when I should have been holding and cuddling him....

You haven't heard the last of Disney!

Just when you thought you were done reading about our family Disney adventure, here I go, surprising you with some more pictures! These are the Photopass pictures that they take for you at the various parks. We splurged on these, mainly because it isn't often we can get a family picture taken OR feel comfortable enough to give someone our camera to take a clear picture of us.

Most of our pictures were edited to add the special effects (like what you see in the corner in the picture above.) Seeing these photos makes me wish I was back there again....
Ronan didn't really look at the camera all that often. He was much more enthralled with all the happenings around us, but this morning at Epcot, he cooperated and finally looked at the camera. This is probably my favorite picture of the two of us from the entire trip.
I could always count on Riley to get in a Photopass picture with me. To get my money's worth, I swear, I made us stop at every photographer and get some sort of picture taken. I figured that I might as well, because I know not every picture is a keeper.
Doesn't this chick really look like Snow White, or what?This was a cute family picture at Animal Kingdom. Riley was hesitant to do any sort of "acting" so when he asked her to "pretend" to hold a baby, she looked at me nervously. I assured her it would be a cute picture and seeing the end result proved me right! I just hate it when I'm always right.

I love this picture because of how good Ryan looks in it. He will totally deny this, but he is definitely making love to the camera. Work it.

And lastly, this picture was during the Pirate & Princess Party. There was no line to wait for it and taken at night, this picture turned out to be very cute.

Such an awesome vacation....ahhh....which is why we have to go back just one more time before our season passes get blacked out for the summer! Yea! We get to go back for one night this weekend and I can't wait. Ryan and Riley were going to surprise me with the news on Saturday morning, but considering that I have to be the one to pack for all of us, they had to clue me in, I think. So exciting!!! I'll definitely post more pictures when I get back from the mini-trip! (No photopass pictures this time...)

Ignorant Mother: UPDATE

Even after my blog post, I was still upset and so I decided to take some advice from friends and write an email. I changed the names again...but you will get the point. Afterwards, I will sum up what the response was.

Dear Other Mom,
I just wanted to let you know that I was slightly offended yesterday after talking to you at gymnastics. I'm not sure if you meant it to be rude, but your comment about how 'Susie* does in one day what Riley has to do in two days' was very hurtful and something that should not have been said in front of Riley. I understand you were questioning why Riley was moved up and why Susie was not. I don't know the answer to that. We never asked for Riley to be evaluated and when we were called about the new class, we were excited to know Riley was making some sort of progress. I really felt as though you were making it sound that Riley didn't deserve to move up and wished that the conversation would have happened when she was not there.

Please understand I am not trying to be confrontational. I am not looking for an apology. I just felt awful after our conversation and thought you should know how I felt. With that being said, we probably won't be coming back to **the activity we were involved in** next year. It's not because of this situation or what the other mother said about Ronan. I think that it may be too much for her next year and we want her to be able to try other activities she might enjoy.
Take care,
Maria

Abbreviated response I got via voice mail message:

She basically said that it wasn't what she meant and that her daughter has been taking gymnastics for over a year and here Riley was already all caught up, blah blah blah.

My take on that:
Unfortunately, I can only take it with a grain of salt because what she should have done was apologize and left it at that. And had she had any tact, she would have just said in the very beginning that she was proud of Riley. Oh well. I'm not going to lose sleep over this. I am going to stick with surrounding myself and my family with genuinely nice people and walk away from those that don't care.

Oh no she didn't....[insert 'z' shaped finger wave here]

Do you ever say anything you regret? Have you ever said anything and a minute later thought, 'man, I should not have said that' and then begin apologizing profusely?

For some reason, I have been the victim of having things said to me that I just wished they wouldn't have said...and even after of sleeping on it for 12 hours, I'm still upset about it.

This is what happened:

Okay, so Riley was evaluated in gymnastics about 2 weeks ago and they called us up and said they wanted to move her up to the next level. There would be a change in her schedule, but it was nothing that would stop us from moving her up. We were so excited and proud of her and decided to go for it and change her from her original schedule of Thursdays and Saturdays to Mondays and Thursdays (an hour later.)

Yesterday, Riley and I arrive at 4:25 p.m. and sit down and another mom -- whose daughter was in Riley's original class -- was there and this is how the conversation went down:

*Names have been changed to protect me from getting even more upset...



Other Mom (OM): Well, you guys are a little late.

Me: No, Riley got moved to the next class, the one that starts at 4:30.

OM: Why?

Me: Oh, well she got moved up to the next level. I guess they evaluated her a couple weeks ago and said she could move up.

OM: What? Well Susie* didn't get to move up. I don't understand. Why did Riley get evaluated?

Me: I don't know. I didn't ask for it. I guess she's just doing well.

OM: Well, when did Riley start?

Me: July of last year. We are just doing this for fun, though. I just want her to get exercise. That's why she goes twice a week.

OM: Well, Susie's been here longer than that. I don't know why they wouldn't move her up. I mean, Susie does in one day what Riley has to do in two days.

Me: (completely floored and dumbfounded) Uhhh, well, we are extremely proud of Riley and hopefully she'll want to keep going because we might put her in three days a week.

OM: Oh, that's a lot. It's okay though, I didn't want Susie moved up anyway because her friend is in the class now and she joined because of us and I wouldn't want to move her up and out of this class.

Me: (silent but thinking that some expletives should have been used had RILEY NOT BEEN SITTING RIGHT THERE ON MY LAP!)



This lady had the audacity to say this in front of my daughter (who can be very shy and not confident sometimes) and question why she was moved up? I was furious. I had to stop talking to her. She then started to ask Riley if she wanted to move onto the team (gymnastics competition team) and Riley said yes -- not even sure what it was, I think.

I couldn't believe it. I am still hurt by it because this lady is someone we actually are involved in another activity with and have gotten along with relatively well. I was just in shock that she didn't catch what she said and had no idea that what she even said was out of line. Luckily for all parties involved that I'm not a confrontational person or else it could have gotten real ugly, real quick.

The other situation happened a few months ago, but to this day, I still get upset about it and I'm sure anyone who reads this one will be equally as appalled as I was: (Have a seat, this is a good one, too.)

I was at another one of Riley's activities she was involved in, chatting with a few moms about Ronan -- telling them about all his allergies, his lack of eating and how he is a little behind on the speech thing. The one mom begins to question me about his allergies and his speech and says to me:

"Sounds to me like he might be autistic."

What the freak do you say in response to that? I am already neurotic about the health of my children, extremely conscious about Ronan's progress and here I am being told by a mom (who has an autistic son) that my child is displaying everything her son did and is probably autistic.

I left that meeting in tears, called Ryan who told me to never go back, and since then have had Ronan checked. He is fine. He's perfect, except he may have a speech delay. Nothing I can't get have taken care of with help.

Unbelievable, right? I swear, sometimes I feel like I'm on candid camera and someone just wants to get a reaction out of me, so they say these ludacris things to get me to respond. But it's not candid camera -- it's real life. It just so happens to be other moms who have no tact and don't seem to care about what they say and what others would take away from it.

I have learned a lesson through these two events, though. I will never go around and diagnose another child's behavior or situation because I am not a doctor (at least not one with a certificate or diploma -- but webmd has been very very good to me....) and I will always think twice about what I am going to say because I would never want another person to feel like how I felt when that mom degraded my daughter's progress to make herself feel better.

Okay, I feel better. I had to let that out. Thanks.

My Doctorate Thesis: Bingo Halls are the Microcosm of American Society

Alright, I'm not really writing my thesis on bingo halls and come to think of it, I'm not even going to get my doctorate (at least not on Bingo). But, my experience last night at Jackpot Bingo in Brandon, FL, was definitely one for the books -- and as Shelley suggested, a possible documentary we might need to put together for the Discovery Channel.

Before I left for Bingo last night, Ryan told me that he didn't want me to get addicted and I laughed at him. I mean, come on, how could I possibly get addicted to this game? I never win and let's be real, I only have 2 daubers. If I were addicted, surely I would have more daubers than that AND a bingo-themed chair pad for my butt AND a bingo-themed bag to carry all my daubers and lucky charms and tape and garbage bag. The list goes on and on.

I met my friend, Shelley, for dinner and planned to meet up with my other friend, Nikki and her friend at the Bingo Hall. We arrived at the Bingo Hall and as I looked into the window and saw the bingo boards hung up on the wall, I got this little tinge of excitement that ran up my spine. As I took a deep breath, held it as I walked into the smoky hall, I really had this feeling that tonight was my night. Yeah, tonight was going to be the night I was going to come home with the big money.

And then, this husky voice came from a lady behing the counter telling us to get into the back of the line and I snapped out of my daydream and realized I was in for some serious bingo playing. This isn't like your momma's bingo with the little bingo chips -- this crowd had one mission and that was to win and win it all. Still dozing in and out of fantasyland, I was mesmerized by all the different daubers. There were little ones and normal sized ones (all about size, I know) and ones with metallic lids and some with glittery lids. I felt like a kid in a candy store. Since I didn't need to add to my dauber collection though, I passed on the daubers and asked for 36 cards and paid my $21 to play for the night.

I looked around the room and there wasn't one smiling face in the crowd. I went from the nostalgic feeling I got at church bingo, to this "oh my gosh, what did I get myself into" feeling and wondered if Shelley and I were going to be safe. It was apparent that we were Bingo Hall virgins and looking like lost souls, we longed for some guidance and someone, anyone who would take us under their flabby bingo arms and point us in the right direction. We wandered into the "non-smoking" (and I use that term LOOSELY!) looking for two seats next to each other plus room for our friends and wouldn't you know that not one person offered to move over an inch to hook us up!

We finally found a spot where Shelley could sit across from me and as I started to set-up and ask questions to the lady I was about to sit next to, she gets her stuff, starts packing it up and moves to another table. It was almost like it was out of a movie. New girl sits down at popular kids table. Popular kid gets disgusted at new girl and popular kid gets up and moves. So to make the best of it, I smile and think to myself, "oh goodie more room for me and now the other two girls can sit next to us when they get here!"

My friend finally arrives with her friend and as I'm showing her where she is going to sit, the little old lady sitting diagonally from me tells them they can't sit there because that is all her stuff and she wouldn't move it. Let's just say I was slightly shocked and not all little old ladies are nice. (I'm being polite by saying that.) Needless to say, we didn't get to sit with Nikki and her friend. Keep in mind that bingo hasn't even started yet.

We played as many bingo games as we could, bought a couple extra games here and there and unfortunately, I left a loser. But, I didn't leave without taking away a few thoughts about what I saw last night.

Bingo Halls are filled with the most diverse people. Much like American society, people come in all different shapes and sizes and from various financial backgrounds. The Bingo Hall was no different. You had people in there that looked like they walked right off the street with what donations they could get from the corner of the highway trying to win the big jackpot. Then you had the newcomers, like us, who just wanted to go and have a good time -- and maybe win some money while we were at it. Then there was Ruth, who comes everyday - through sickness and health (she was vomiting midway through the night and had to leave...and she was sick the night before at bingo, too...nice of her to share!), has her seat reserved with her butt cushion and was helpful during every game telling us what to do if we fell behind. You've got the mean old ladies who are just plain old mean. You've got the younger old ladies who had plastic surgery and wear tight sweaters embroidered with their names and a bingo board and don't forget the ladies that cash their social security checks and spend it all on one night of bingo.

But you can't beat what I saw to be the biggest sacrifice I saw last night. This is a lady who truly loves bingo. She was the lady that was attached to a nebulizer, sitting in the non-smoking room that clearly was still smoky, and doing breathing treatments all night while she played her 45 cards. Talk about a love for the game.

I couldn't help but feel slightly bad last night for some of these people. To many of them, it's probably their way of life. This is the way they lose their money. This is the way they win their money. Are they gambling their retirement away? Is this all the money they were left with after their spouses passed away? Is the root of all evil actually bingo because it really made some of these people so darn mean?!

I had to think about how lucky I was last night...even though I didn't win. I mean, I got to play bingo as a leisure activity. I went to try and have fun. I wasn't there to try and make a ton of money. I was looking for some "therapy" and to have a good time. There were so many miserable people there, I wondered why they would even go if they were going to get so upset over someone new sitting near them. Oh well, fooey on them. The meanest thing I could probably fight back with was the hope that they wouldn't win anything!

So now, my entrepreneurial blood began to flow and bingo is such an untapped market! We should really position it as a sport -- create bingo jerseys with numbers like 'B-4' or 'O-69'; have pants that already have padding built in; customized dauber cozzies that keep your dauber nice and cool while you heat it up playing bingo; glittery bags for daubers; maybe a bingo athlete to help promote products like ointments or something...this could be such a moneymaker! Who is with me?

Oh, and can we just talk about the fact that they took the fun out of calling "bingo" because now, these fogies just raise their hands. If I ever win at that place, call and ambulance because I'm gonna give those people a heart attack when I scream "bingo" at the top of my lungs and maybe I'll even do a dance to accompany it. That's how I'm gonna roll.