But, I'm not ready yet

Mason is having his first drop-off play date tomorrow and I am having a minor, ok, Major panic attack over it.

Mason has had a bunch of play dates over the years, and even a few with new families we have met through preschool. They have always been with me present, mostly because me and the other Mom want to chat and get to know one another. But seriously, I have never had a Mom ask me to drop off my child at their house. Until now. And well actually, she never really asked, but more assumed.

For about a week we had been playing phone tag in trying to set up a play date with our sons. Finally we met up at a school function. This was where she said, "so do you want me to just take him to my house after school or would you prefer to drop him off?" I'm pretty sure my mouth dropped to the floor and my eyes bugged out. I felt blindsided as I struggled to regain my composure. We had already agreed to the play date and even though I am not at all ready to let my son run off without me, how could I back out now? I feel really uncomfortable sending my son to the home of someone I barely know. He is only five years old. I know most of the parents in Mason's class have multiple kids and the ones in his class are usually their second or third so they have been there and done that. But he is my first, my baby, and this is a HUGE step for me. I'm sure they are a wonderful family and from the brief moments I have talked with her, I've determined she is very nice. The fact remains, we've only had a few brief encounters, so I don't know her all that well yet. I don't know any of the parents in his class very well for that matter. At least not well enough to let my son go to their house alone.

Mason, of course, is thrilled about going to this house because he says they have Legos and he is really into building with Legos right now. I explained to him that I will not be there and it would be a long time without Mom (2 hours, and that was me cutting it down). Still he doesn't seem to be apprehensive about it at all. I seem to be the only one with reservations and suffering from fear, panic and worry. What if he gets hurt and I am not there? What if they allow him to do things that I find inappropriate? What do I do if their discipline methods are completely different than ours? Will she let them play outside unattended? What if he gets uncomfortable or upset or bored and wants to go home, will she call me and let me know? I told him that he should tell the Mom if he wants to leave and have her call me and I'll come pick him up but still, I have all these horrors running through my head. I've never been to their house, I've never seen my son and her son interact or play with one another, so I have no idea how well they get along. This is all so new and uncharted territory for me and for him. I have no idea what to expect, nor do I know what is the protocol in these situations.

I mentioned this on Mason's birthday, with all the parents wanting to drop off their 4 and 5 year old children at my house for his party, and this wasn't the first time I ran into this. At what age is it appropriate to expect other parents to watch our kids for two hours while we run off? Even more, is 5 too young for a drop off play date? Especially if you do not know them that well? I want my son to feel independent and confidence in not having me around but at the same time, he is only in preschool. I have such anxiety and feel so uncomfortable about the whole situation, yet I feel I can't insist I be there or back out for fear of being seen as rude or over protective. I'm almost trying to find any excuse, like bad behavior, to call up and cancel. Ahh! Please tell me I am not the only one who feels this way?

So how do I deal with this anxiety? I'm not sure. I could very well be that Mom who sits in her car for two hours, parked across the street.

Transforming

Mason turned five years old last week. FIVE! Oh my gosh I cannot believe it has been five years since I first became a Mom. How fast the years go by and even faster, how you settle into your new routine. The ease at which you transform from a daughter, to wife to a mother and never look back. So it is only fitting that he chose to have a Transformers themed birthday this year.

I had quite a bit of fun planning this party. O.K., I have fun planning all my kids parties, but this one was especially fun. Mostly because of the age of my son and his party guests. I was able to do so much more, be more creative and actually plan some fun activities to go along with our traditional pin the tail, pinata and cake. Even more, it was fun because I kept it simple.

Yup, that's right, I said simple. The decorations, the favors, and the food, all quick and easy. It really helps to make early preparation a priority. Establishing that theme early on and then buying things like streamers, balloons, and tablecloths weeks before the party; even before I made the invitations. I scored them pretty cheap thanks to sales and coupons. Of course I could not go shopping for any of this stuff without my co-planner. He has been a part of the process from the very beginning. Since he could talk (which was two) and had an opinion, I've respectfully run my ideas through his approval. He usually agrees, but every once and while we butt heads. Still, it's fun to get the kids involved.

Having a Transformers theme, it was pretty easy to pick the colors. I assumed we'd pretty much be doing black and yellow for BumbleBee, Mason's favorite character, but he insisted we have blue, red and grey as well. Representing Optimus Prime and Ironhide, respectfully. We split the five colors up between the streamers (Red, Blue, Black) and balloons (yellow, black and silver). I then made two banners. One that says Happy Birthday, replicating the yellow and black stripped Camero that is BumbleBee. The second, a blue and grey banner to represent Optimus with alternating Autobot and Decepticon images. I hung them up the night before his birthday so when he woke up that morning and came downstairs he saw them and immediately said, "I love it Mom. Especially the Transformers letters."

For the favors I made yellow and black playdough. After having made my first batch of playdough last year, I have never looked back. The batch you get is huge and it a lot softer and stays moist for way longer than the store bought brand name dough. I packed them in cheap tupperware containers, printed out the recipe on sticker paper and wrapped them in ribbon.

That night after everyone was in bed I stayed up way too late and decorated the house. I am a bit of a night owl. I work best, creatively, when I am alone with no distractions and it is quiet except for my music or latest podcast I listen to while working. I think it was 2am by the time I finally crawled into bed but I had the satisfaction of having everything that could possibly be done, done. Weekends are my days to sleep in so thankfully I got to sleep later than everyone else after pulling the all nighter. I missed Mason's reaction when he walked downstairs, but my heart soared when Fred told me that he went on and on and on about the decorations and how, "this was the best birthday ever!!" And "Daddy, isn't this great? Isn't this the best birthday ever? How are you not more excited?!" I guess I got it right. If everything else fell apart or didn't go as planned, I could be happy anyway.

The most exciting part of the planning, and the party for that matter, was the activity I had planned.

Are any of you familiar with a show called Dino Dan? It is a show about a boy who is really into dinosaurs and you get to learn all about them and see them in action. It's a neat show as we have stumbled upon it a few times. On one particular day we watched an episode in which Dan was having a birthday. As one of the activities, his mother created a hunt for the kids with clues to find out which dinosaur was on the cake. Mason turned to me and immediately suggested a hunt to figure out which Transformer was on his cake. For months, he would mention this idea to me. However, I soon realized that finding a Transformers cake, much less getting a say as to what character was on it, was extremely difficult. So the plan had to be altered. I thought back to my childhood and remembered the summer reading programs my Mom would drag my sister and I to, as her helpers. One summer, the program had a pirate theme and she did a treasure hunt with the kids. I remembered how much fun that was for the kids, and despite the fact that at the time, I hated being there, it was actually a lot of fun for me too.

So our cake clue idea became the Hunt for the Allspark. Mason immediately thought this was a cool idea. However, we needed a way for each kid to get their own Allspark to take with them and how in world would I make 14 Allsparks? As I searched for ideas, we found ourselves at Walmart, shopping for who knows what, and ending up in the party isle where they have all those little trinkets for favors. You know the ones that are like $1 or less. There we found these cubed erasers, that are a puzzle, and immediately said, "this is our Allspark". They were perfect.

I then spent the next week leading up to the party, creating and coming up with clever clues to hide around the house leading the kids from room to room and ultimately the Allspark. The morning of the party, I hid all the clues in their appropriate places and anxiously awaited for the time to start the game. Below are the clues I created.

I started off by explaining the deal with the war between the Autobots and Decepticons, for those who are not familiar with the Transformers. I then explained that we needed to "find the Allspark before Megatron and save our planet from the evil forces of the Decepticons. Who is with me?" All the kids started jumping up and down, raising their hands and screaming, "me! Me!" The funniest part was after all the kids got quiet as I was about to read the first clue, Sophie runs up to the group and yells, "me too! " (Have I mentioned how much I love this girl?) This actually might have been more fun for me, but I think I got the kids excited enough. I watched as they ran from room to room, looking for the clue and getting so excited once it was found, ready to hear where they were heading next. Once they found the cubes, they were rewarded with a pinata. What an excellent way to get rid of excess Halloween candy.

After some more playing, it was time for cake. Being the family documentarian and always having my camera, my only regret was not having taken pictures throughout the party. No images of the kids all hitting the mark on the pin the symbol on BumbleBee, no images of me reading the clues to overexcited kids, no images of them pulling the strings on the pinata, no images of them them just all around having a blast and playing. However, I did grab my camera long enough to take a photo of the cake and Mason blowing out his candles. Which was a fun event, because jokingly I told Mason was going to use those trick candles on his cake and he then convinced me to actually use them. So two of them, no one knew which ones, were the trick ones and it took him a few tries to blow them out.

All in all, it was a fun day. I think it could have potentially been more chaotic, especially if more people were invited. I am learning that at this age most parents assume parties are drop off. I ran into this last year with Mason as well. I don't know about you, but I would not drop off my 4 or 5 year old preschooler at someones house for two hours, especially when I do not know them that well. Though this does not seem to be an issue for the majority of the parents at our preschool. A few of the kids got dropped off, which was fine, as we had a sufficient number of parents who did stay, but if it had been all 12 kids in my house just me and my husband, I would have lost it. Knowing this, and knowing it was only going to be expected for next year, Fred and I decided that future parties for Mason will be held somewhere other than our home.

I'm glad Mason had a great time with his friends, I'm glad he loved all the planning that went into it and I am especially glad I have gotten to see him grow from year to year. When it comes to transformations, this past year has been the biggest for him. Baby fat is gone, and his skills are expanding. With that, since he is learning to write, this year I am having him write his own Thank You notes. I created fill in the blank cards and he has been busy writing them out this week.

He has been doing such a great job, though I know even those few words are a challenge for him. I am so proud of my little man and the progress he has made in such a short amount of time. I'm not sure what I would do without his smile, laughter, sense of humor, logic and reasoning and all around truly caring spirit.

Thanks for Transforming my life buddy.

The training wheels are off

When we first got Mason his 16" inch bike because he was seriously outgrowing his 12", it was a struggle, and hit my fear nerve trying to get him to ride on both training wheels. He tended to favor one training wheel over the other and I was certain he was going to bite it when he sped through the turns on our cul-de-sac. So much, that my body would temporary seize in fear each time.

This was only back in April or May. So when Fred and Mason came running in the door this morning insisting they had a surprise, Mason was riding without training wheels, I was shocked. You mean the training wheels are off the bike? Oh, yes they were indeed.

Doesn't he just look so cool?

Occasionally, he'd fall down. But he'd get right back up.

but not before Sophie ran to his side to see if he was o.k.

Right now this is our fourth time outside to ride bikes. Clearly he is proud of himself, as he should be. Taking the training wheels off is a big step, and at only four years old no less. He never fails to amaze me. His courage and determination alone are inspiration for my own life.

As I sit here watching him, picking up speed with each passing lap around the cul-de-sac, maneuvering turns with precision, it is hard to believe that just a short week ago he was practicing how to just balance on the bike. Now he looks as if he's been riding this way for years, instead of 5 hours. Our neighbors son, who is around 7 years, sees Mason and joins him. They ride together in a, we're part of the same club, sort of silence. Then,"I really like your bike." "Yeah, it's Transformers." "I know, and your helmet is Bumblebee." "He's my favorite Transformer." "Mine too." "Really?" And their off again, riding side by side. He looks so different on two wheels.

I still cannot believe my four year old is riding his bike without training wheels and doing such an awesome job! I am beyond proud. Practically speechless. It is odd for a four year old to have mastered riding a bike without training wheels already, isn't it?

It must be the energon seeping into his veins.

That's my boy

Today while packing up the car after a trip to Costco, a proud momma moment happened.

The car next to us was pulling out of it's spot and of course Mason was observing it. I heard him mumble something in a low voice. The lady in the car had her window rolled down and she shouted out to me, "Did he just say BMW?"

I thought about it for a minute. Mason knows just about every car out there, especially taken with the BMW's at the moment and looking at her car I replied, "yes he did."

An amazed look on her face she asked, "how old is he?"

I smiled, "he's four."

She pointed out the window at Mason, smiling and shaking her head, "you're good," she said. And drove off.

"Mommy, that was a BMW." Mason had turned back to me excited.

I stood there, watching her drive away in her blue BMW, smiling so proudly.

Yup, that's my boy.

it's in his genes

Deep down we always knew this day would come.

Still, it's scary, because you are never quite prepared for that moment. When you are walking in the parking lot, holding your son's hand, suppressing the panic and fear as you make your way to the doctors office, and his little voice, gasping for air, pleads for you to slow down even though you are already walking slow.

I've only known asthma as an outsider, observing those in my life who suffer from the disease. So when I reached down and picked up my son, carrying him into the building as fast as I could, I bit my lip hard, in order to fight back the tears. Step after step, I listened to the horrible wheezing and short, shallow breaths and thanked the lord that Fred was home to recognize the symptoms and know to call the doctor. Thankful that our pediatrician made time to see Mason.

This was yet another one of those most painful moments I've had to face over the last four years on this adventure called motherhood. Sitting in Walgreens, waiting for the albuterol, prednisolone and to become the owner of our very own nebulizer, I wondered how different his life would be from this day forward. Would I be paranoid every time he goes to school or my moms or anywhere I am not? Would I sit up all night listening to him breathe when he gets a simple cold? Will I worry about putting him in sports? Then I am reminded that Fred developed asthma around the age of 5 and he played soccer well into his adulthood. Now, I can't remember the last time he had an attack or I really worried about his breathing, thanks to Advair. This and the many, many friends who have children who are on nebulizers and they are living extremely active lives, playing t-ball and other sports.

Mason, having suffered through sitting still for the nebulizer treatments was non-stop at Taco Night. Running, jumping in the bounce house for hours, only sitting down long enough to eat some mac n cheese and cake before he was off again. You would have had no idea he was rushed to the doctors 24 hours before and almost passed out during the treatment because of the adult dose he needed.

I must remind myself that he is going to be fine. At this point, it is believed to be allergy related and since being on the prednisolone and claritin he hasn't needed to use the nebulizer in days. Which should make Sophie happy. She is terrified of the whole thing. The noise, the mask on Mason's face, she's concerned about her brother, which I find so endearing. We'll see how he does once off the steroid, come Wednesday. If he has another one, then we put him on preventative medicine. Seeing as Fred has asthma, as do his brothers, and that Mason had eczema as a baby and suffers from allergies it almost seems inevitable.

He will be able to live a normal life. I must keep repeating that to myself. Still I can't help but see him through different eyes. Life just feels totally different somehow. But as always in true Mason style, you'd never suspect a thing.

I got a feeling, that tonight's gonna be a good night

Saturday night we went to the the local VillageFest in our neighboring community. It wasn't our first experience at a carnival but to date it was the most memorable.

Entering fall and quite possibly the busiest time of year for us. Between birthdays, holidays, family visits and get together's, school events, NFL and any other local venues/events or happenings we'd like to attend, our weekends book up awfully fast. We barely seem to have time to breathe.

So, it was nice, after a gorgeous day of watching Daddy race at Summit Point, to spend some time with friends being silly, riding rides, getting messy with cotton candy and funnel cake and rocking in out to old school jams.

And can my kids rock it out or what? This scene had me cracking up almost all night.

Yeah, they take after me.

The gravity of a cavity

It went a little something like this.

Me asking anyone and everyone, when is the right time you are supposed to take your child to the dentist? And like most things, getting a variety of answers. Then inquiring upon my dental hygenist friends about the stains that showed up on Mason's two front teeth. Followed by me pleading with my husband to put our kids back on dental insurance because I was certain Mason was getting to that age. However it wasn't until I was filling out the many forms required for my son's preschool, and the question asking for his dentist being left empty, that I seriously decided that I needed to get on the ball.

So yesterday I did a lot of research, phone call inquires and debating in order to find the right dentist for my child. About an hour later I had an appointment scheduled with Little Pearls Dentistry for Children. I chose them mostly because they are in-network for our insurance but also because they seemed to really have the children's comfort and interests in the forefront.

That night, I prepped Mason for what to expect. To help ease any anxiety that I was sure he might have. This is where I really love the internet. Mason in my lap, I pointed out the picture of the dentist, he is going to count your teeth. And if you have any questions or concerns you can ask him, just like your teacher. O.K.? I also pointed out the pediatric dental assistants to which Mason asked, Do you think the girl in green will clean my teeth? I read him the many testimonials from patients. Yes, the children. Things like: ...they give you a puppet to hold and let you watch your favorite t.v. show! Dude I don't get to watch my favorite t.v. show at my dentist. That is sooooo cool! And off to bed he went with a promise to bring whatever car he wanted, to hold instead of the puppet.

I woke up today having high hopes. Later in the afternoon, I left to pick up Mason from school. Getting my running hug, as always, I asked if he was ready for the dentist. Unfortunately we hadn't grabbed a car before we left and he pleaded to stop at home to get one. Being located just up the road from our neighborhood, always a plus when appointments are close to home, I didn't see a problem. Car now in hand and Mason in high spirits, we were off to the dentist.

We were greeted by a waterfall and fish tank as soon we walked in and were surprised with a Thomas train table around the corner. So while I filled out the necessary paperwork, Mason played with the train table while Sophie watched from the stroller. Once done, Mason got to choose a movie from a long list, he chose Aladdin, and holding on to my hand for comfort we headed to the back.

Holding tight to my hand, I placed Mason into the chair and the dental assistant promptly put on the movie. She was so great with Mason. Showing him the toothbrush she was going to use, how it worked and letting him touch it. Helping him put on sunglasses to shield his eyes from the light she needed to use to see in his mouth. I'm Dana by the way. I don't think I told you that. She worked as I stood in the background. The only issue Mason had was with the flavor we chose for him, raspberry. I don't like that, he said. The feeling? Does it tickle? Or the flavor? The flavor. Second time around he chose orange and liked it much better. I want orange every time o.k. mommy? Duly noted buddy.

He sat there so still, listening to her and following her directions when asked to open wider or chomp on the saliva ejector (yeah, I had to look that one up). I was so very proud of him. Do you mind if I take pictures? Camera at the ready. Go ahead. SWEET! Click. Click. Click. Enter Dr. Mike. He sat down, asked if there were any concerns on our end and started counting Mason's teeth. I turned my attention to Sophie, who was modeling excellent behavior herself. One of the nurses had given her a plush dolphin and she was showing it off, all smiles. So he is missing a tooth on the bottom. My attention shot back to the doctor. What? From what I was told this is not uncommon. Turns out instead of the normal four he only has three, missing an incisor. Sometimes the baby tooth just doesn't erupt. Nothing to do at this point but later on an x-ray will be necessary to see if an adult tooth is there or not.

Still trying to absorb the realization of my son missing a tooth (and the fact that I had no idea) I was hit with the news of a cavity. Crap. Really? No I didn't say that out loud but it's what I thought. And felt. The stain in between his two front teeth on the top, yup it's a cavity. And now I feel like such a failure as mother. While I have not taken very good care of my own teeth I really wanted to do better for my children. Still it is what it is, and I have to just accept it and move on. So I was told that we need to use a fluoride toothpaste and place a dab on the front and back on his teeth before bedtime. They said we could choose to separate the teeth to loosen the space between them to help. Not sure if I am comfortable with that. I'm not sure what it all entails, maybe sedation or numbing with a needle. Both of which would not go over well with Mason and cause him to fear the dentist in the future. So I guess we'll try the fluoride and see in six months how that goes. There was no mention of a filling or anything, so I guess it's not that bad but still it is a cavity. It was mentioned to stay away from foods with carbohydrates like goldfish and I seriously looked at the doctor like he was insane. He wants me to keep carbohydrates away from a three year old? Or he said to make sure to brush after he eats those foods. Realistically, I'm not thinking about brushing his teeth that many times a day and quite honestly he isn't in my presence for a whole three hours where he gets snacks. So honestly I don't see that happening too much.

I'm sure I'll be thought of as a horrible mother now because I don't brush my child's teeth more than just at bedtime but seriously I'm doing the best I can with strong personalities. I barely have enough time to get my son out of bed, fight with him to eat breakfast and then get dressed before heading out the door for carpool. And be on time. So to add tooth brushing on top of it is like, OH MY GOD, adding fuel to the fire. My daughter, I try to brush her teeth with the gum brush thing but, HELLO, she BITES MY FINGER and bites it hard. So bad that I have cried, certain she drew blood. You can bet I think twice before sticking any finger back in that death trap. But still I find myself so distraught over their heath, and now especially their teeth.

I went into this dental visit feeling hopeful that Mason would once again impress me with his coping skills, which in true fashion he did, but I left feeling depressed and concerned and a complete failure as a mother over a simple cavity and non-existent tooth.

*sigh*

Motherhood.

just a note: my husband so proudly came up with the title and I just had to give him credit. (Bet you didn't think you'd see me write that did you, babe?)

New Beginnings

With the first week of school now under our belt, I can look back upon the myriad of emotions and thoughts I experienced leading up to this moment that has turned me into a parent of a preschooler. I am officially the mother of a preschooler. Yeah, it still doesn't feel normal for me to make that statement. It seemed like just yesterday he was my baby boy, learning to walk and uttering simple phrases. Today he is strapping on his backpack and excitedly thinking about what he might do during his time at school. But, for sure this is our life.

We had previously met his teacher two weeks earlier during a scheduled home visit. This is something I love about this school. Taking the time and making the extra effort to meet each student individually before the start of the school year. It really helped put some of my anxiety and fears to rest and I think for Mason as well. To have that chance to get acquainted with his teacher in a comfortable, familiar setting. So things aren't totally new the moment he walked in the first day. They discussed cars and our impending trip to the beach. His class are the Zebras, so she brought him a mask to color and then took his picture with it on. Gave him an assignment to decorate a place mat to bring in on his first day and generally left us all with a good feeling and high hopes for the year. We liked her.

Tuesday morning arrived all too early. In reality it was 7am and I'm sure most people would have been up for a few hours already. Woke up the kids, served breakfast, got everyone ready and headed out the door. I thought I'd be a ball of nerves this first day, ending with me in tears as I drove off without him. Having been through orientation the previous day I felt pretty confident things would be O.K.

We toured his classroom, found the picture his teacher took during the home visit, handed in his place mat full of everything he likes including photos of all of us. Even his teacher was impressed with his work. She was also impressed with Mason's brilliant memory when he commented to her, "I didn't see your car. The red Toyota corolla." That was because she parked somewhere else. Oh he makes me proud sometimes, that smart son of mine.

It ended with the parents heading out to the playground pavilion to be welcomed into the 2010-2011 school year and regaled with the schools awesome achievements, while Mason and his classmates spent some time with their teacher. I was pleasantly surprised and quite relieved when his teacher told us he did great.

I can't say that I didn't feel a little twinge or have some tears creep up as I watched my almost four year old, without fear or trepidation, walk hand in hand with the administrator and disappear into the school. Instead, I drove away feeling optimistic and grateful for holding it together in front of Mason. Eyes still dry, I rewarded myself with a Pumpkin Spice Latte and spent the rest of the morning catching up with an old friend and taking a much needed shower.

It was definitely a different dynamic in the house with Mason gone. A slower pace and A LOT quieter. Though I found my mind wandering to questions of how he was adapting to his new environment. Did he miss me? Is he playing well with his classmates? Is he following directions? Is he happy? Is he making friends? When I pick him up will he tell me he had fun and likes school? I didn't have to wait long for my answers.

Three hours isn't much time in the grand scheme and before I knew it I was in the car headed back to car pool. Highly anticipating what I would find. I wasn't excited about the massive line of cars that stretched out into the street (especially compared to the fast drop off that morning). However, finding Mason amongst the crowd of kids was well worth that wait. And seriously, I almost lost it for real. Feeling the tears well up and the cry rise up into my throat, sitting there in the car pool line waiting my turn, watching my son holding and swinging hands with his teacher. It was the pride I felt, for my son, for myself as his mother, knowing how much he has changed in just a short amount of time. Thinking, how grown up he looks with back pack on.

He never ceases to amaze me, this little man of mine. How well he adapts to situations I panic over and how calm and easy he finds solutions to everything. The rest of the week I parked my car and walked up to his school to get him. Per his request, but after the long line I sat in the first day, I was happy to do it. And the big running hug (usually reserved for daddy) I was guaranteed, yeah I really enjoy that.

Tomorrow night is Back to School night and I really can't wait to hear all about the things they do in class, see things Mason has created and hear how well he is performing. Now matter what I hear tomorrow though, it can't beat the sweet little voice tell me when I ask, "Did you have a good time at school today?"

"I have a good time every day, mommy." Yeah I think we made the right choice.

1. Standing in front of the school sign, 2. Orientation Day, 3. Reading his name tag, 4. Walking to class with daddy, 5. hanging up backpack on his very own hook, 6. pointing out his name for attendance, 7. Discovering the rice box, 8. His classroom, 9. The helping hands and weather board -he is the door holder, 10. showing us the potty, 11. Pose with Mommy before leaving, 12. ready for school, 13. Pose with little sister on first day, 14. Car pool, 15. Waiting in carpool for drop off, 16. drop off, 17. My brave big boy headed off to first day of preschool, 18. Pick up, 19. Walk up pick up, 20. Waiting to be picked up, 21. He caught my eye, 22. after the running hug, walking back to the car, 23. getting in the car, 24. end of week one

Summer Adventures: Great Country Farms

We finally made it out to Great Country Farms. Though the night before Fred arrived home from a week long trip to California and Mason, so desperate to see and spend time with daddy, did not want to go. I expected as much and had to talk up all the cool things, including picking blackberries and peaches, just to get him to put on his clothes. However once in the car, and at the Farm he got real excited.

Once everyone arrived, we headed in the direction of the kids playground and barnyard. First up was the thankfully, perfectly shaded play area. Fully equipped with spider web rope climbs

and wooden tractors to climb and slide down.

The kids were having a great time and we all got to take a break from the heat. I met a new fellow momma and hopeful friend whose daughter is about the same age as Mason. The first thing I heard her ask her mom was for a snack. And continued for a while. It made me chuckle to know that my son is not the only one who wants to snack ALL DAY LONG. Fellow snackies unite!

Next we headed in the direction of the barnyard but found the corn box and detoured that way. What a good choice that was because it was hours of entertainment. Well at least it felt like it. Such a relief to us to be able to sit and relax while watching the enjoyment of the kids getting along and playing nice.

It was also covered so there was shade and a nice breeze and the right amount of adirondack chairs for us to sit in. This is the life. Sophie, though, not so much.

She got tired of sitting in the stroller so I brought her in to sit on my lap. She tried so hard to get into that corn pit, it must have looked like so much fun to her. But one attempt to put them in her mouth and right back up she went. And not all too happy about it either. She flailed, and squirmed, and whined and fussed. Just about throwing one of her tantrums. I kept telling her, "wait another year. Or even a few months. When you're not putting anything and everything into your mouth and you too can play." Though I'm not sure that reassurance helped much. It also could have been crankiness due to it being right in the middle of her nap time and awfully close to lunch.

Once lunchtime arrived, we had to drag the kids out of the corn pit and made our way to one of the many pavilions around the farm to set up. The kids were fascinated with the random chicken running around. Trying to feed him pieces of corn they found stuck in various parts of their shoes and clothes. Except Nathan. He was scared.

I figured since we were out and with friends and doing things, Mason would actually sit and eat his lunch. I was mistaken. I had to repeatedly tell him to sit and eat his peanut butter and jelly which he had asked me to make for lunch. Even threaten to take a stone away. Yes, we have started back up with the stone jar and earning bag of matchbox cars. At least I wasn't the only one having trouble getting my child to listen and cooperate.

While the rest of us finished up our lunch, Mason and James were playing, and at times ran off to where we couldn't see them, or James would fall, or Mason tackle him and he would whine or James and Sophie would just cry or whine for no particular reason; and it was hard for us to keep it together and not want to scream at them to just SIT DOWN AND SHUT UP!

Clearly the kids were anxious to get back to the activities of the farm, so we packed up as fast as we could, sanitized our hands and were on our way.

We hit the barnyard first, where the kids got to stick their heads in the cardboard cutouts and be dogs, pigs, sheep and cows. We met a donkey named Sophia, some baby lambs which lead to the retelling of the Mommy getting attacked my goats at the animal park story, and once again ran into the anatomy of a certain animal and scratched our heads wondering WHAT IS IT WITH US AND ANIMAL GENITALIA BEING PRESENT?

Next to the barnyard was a small concrete circle with these roller things on them. I had no idea what they were. Some sort of twist cart or something. Emily knew though and was trying to explain how they work. Instead she said, "I'll show you" and hopped on one. It was the funniest damn thing to see her scooting around on that contraption, all the kids following her, wanting a turn. Finally they got one.

I think Mason's was broken because he didn't go very far compared to the others.

As you can see in the first picture of Emily and the kids, there are stairs in the background. Those stairs lead to a tube slide. One of many on the grounds of the farm. However that particular one seemed awfully big for the kids. Looking around we found another, slightly smaller slide and subsequently ushered the kids in that direction.

Mason followed the group up the stairs, insisting I follow. I was skeptical about him actually going down the slide. Two years ago he LOVED, L-O-V-E-D, slides and it seemed the bigger the better. Once he was two, and the closer he got to three he developed a fear of slides and swings and that fear grew and grew. Once at top, we watched one by one as the others went down and just as I suspected, he freaked. I finally convinced him to ride down in my lap and to ensure he would be scarred anymore than he already was, I purposely slowed us down. It must have worked because he raced back up the stairs yelling back at me that he wanted to go down alone. But once again, at the top his fear set in and I had to sit at the bottom coaxing him to come down, ensuring him that he would not get hurt, that I would catch him. Eventually he came down and the smile on his face said it all.

Up again he went. Over and over and each time he laughed and smiled more. Eventually everyone took a turn. Even Sophie. She laughed and smiled. So down again we went. So happy she didn't cry and thinking once again that maybe Mason has been able to get past his fear of slides. I suppose we'll have to wait till the fall and Pumkinville to find out for sure.

While Mason went down the slide, one more time, the others found their way back to the corn bin and we joined them. The day was winding down, we were getting tired and enjoyed the rest, the cool breeze, and simple conversation.

Time to say good-bye to good friends and a long eventful day. But not before I snapped a few pictures of butterflies.

Pack the kids up in the car, put on Curious George, because it is a long trip, and head out of the parking lot.

Noooooooo! I DON'T WANT TO LEAVE! I WANT TO GO BERRY PICKING!!!

I had totally forgot that we hadn't gone berry picking until we were heading back to the car. But since everyone was too tired to stay and heading home he would forget. I should have known, my little elephant, the one who never forgets a single thing promised to him. I couldn't resist the wails and pleads to do the berry picking I so very much talked up to convince him to come today. So I quickly turned around and headed back into the parking lot.

Situating Sophie into the Ergo, I took Mason by the hand and headed back into the Country Store in search of the berry fields. After getting direction and halfway to the vines, I realized I didn't have anything to put the berries in. *sigh* As I got closer I saw that not many ripe berries were left anyway. Plus, I'm not a big fan of black berries and wasn't sure Mason would be either. But in we headed anyway.

Look Mom, I found one.

I'm not sure if it was the fact that we were hot and tired, I could barely keep my eyes open for the drive home. Or the nostalgia of picking berries having worn off since we do this in our backyard every night with raspberries, tomatoes, peppers, etc. But after two or three, we made our way back to the car, sweaty and Mason not wanting to walk anymore. Lets just say both kiddos took exceptionally good naps after passing out in the car.

I think we will try this berry picking thing again. However, next year we will come during strawberry or blueberry season when it is more exciting and something we would actually enjoy eating.

Summer Adventures: Mill Recreation Center

Shortly after Sophie was born we were invited to go to the Mills Recreation Center pool by our good friends, the Poonawalas.

I remember it being a whole lot of fun. Mason especially, loving the fountains at the entrance to the big pool. He kept running in and out of them, laughing, splashing and genuinely happy. I remember leaving that day wishing that our neighborhood pool was as cool as this one. I remember coming home, downloading and editing the photos and writing a post about our day. Though it seems to have disappeared from my blog. Disappointed and bummed that I lost those memories and wallowing in my confusion as to how it happened.

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A year later, we found ourselves here again. The original plan for our outing this week was to head to Great Country Farms and do some berry picking. Now wouldn't that be fun for the kids? However, the insane heat stuck around and our plans changed. It was voted to go to one of our neighborhood pools. Late Monday night Ginger came to our rescue with 5 passes to her pool. Since she lives in Ashburn Village she gets access to all the pools in that neighborhood. Mills Recreation Center being one of them.

Tuesday morning we packed up the thousands of pounds of gear (baby floats, sun hat, towels, swim diapers, sunscreen, water, snacks, etc.) and drove the short distance to the pool in order to meet our friends by 11am.

Sophie of course fell asleep in the car so I let her rest a bit while unpacking and waiting for the rest of the group.

The day ended up being not so hot and perfect weather for berry picking, but still it was a good time had by all at the pool.

While the kids played in the kiddie pool, we ordered pizza for lunch. You know I don't know why I never thought of it before, but when Amy put her daughter in the baby float in the kiddie pool, it seemed the coolest idea ever. One that I think I'll be doing again and again, on my solo trips to our pool. Sophie LOVED it. Being able to walk around and explore by herself around the pool. Mason even joined in and pushed her around for a bit.

The pizzas arrived and we took a break for lunch. While feeding Sophie her Lunchables Jr. I noticed her nodding off while trying to put the mini crackers in her mouth and missing. It was so cute, everyone started taking pictures. She was then passed out for the next hour if not at least 45 minutes.

After lunch we headed into the big pool where the boys ran and splashed through the fountains and chased and kicked and threw the ball they found nearby. Unfortunately, the rough surface of the walk areas made perfect little circle cuts on Mason's big toes causing him to bleed and shed a few tears. Especially when I tried to put on band-aids. Though a few little scrapes, bruises and cuts won't slow down my tough little guy. He didn't want to leave, neither did James, so while the rest of the group left around 2:30pm we stayed a little longer. Borrowing a squirt gun from the lost and found, thinking we should get some for our beach trip, and subsequently changing our minds once squirted in the face.

Again I left the pool wishing ours was a little more kid friendly, meaning toddler/preschool age like The Mills, and a little less like your average, traditional neighborhood pool. I guess you can't have everything, and that's why we have good friends who are willing to bring us to their kick ass pool for a fun playdate.

I love my friends.

Summer Adventures: Free Movie & Fountain

We attempted to go to the Free Family Film Festival happening at Regal Cinemas all over the area last week but on the way got a phone call to have a play date with Mason's best friend. Since soccer class is no longer is session they haven't seen each other in a few weeks, so we did a u-turn and had the best marathon, 8 hour, play date that ended in tears because neither wanted Mason to go home. Don't you just love it when your kids have so much they are devastated when it has to end?

Anyway, Mason had been asking me about going to the movies since then and seeing that they only play the free movies on Tuesday and Wednesday, I needed to do it this week or I'd never hear the end of it.

Now, anyone with more than one child knows that it is extremely difficult if not near impossible to get them ready and out the door on time for anything. Tuesday morning was no different. I struggled to get us all fed, dressed, lunches made and packed, swim gear packed, out the door, in the car and on the road in time to make it to the 10am show. I had planned to leave around 9ish to make it the half hour trip to the theatre. Like always we got on the road late and didn't pull into the parking lot until a little after 10am. Grab the Ergo, put Sophie in it, take Mason's hand and head into the theatre. I realize now that for something like this, is it very important to get there early. The place was packed and dark and the only seats we found were close to the front. Not ideal but we got there. Movie had already started and I didn't think about it much but when I read Charlotte's Web, I immediately thought of the cartoon that I grew up watching. Not remembering that a while back they remade the movie and it was no longer a cartoon. So boy did that cause trouble when Charlotte was introduced. I curbed my fear for Mason, in case he was watching my reaction, but I still heard his little voice say, "Mommy I want to go. I don't like the spider." I tried to see if he would get passed it but he really had no interest in watching and kept asking to go, so up we left. Me sighing in relief that I didn't shell out sixteen some odd dollars just to walk out after two minutes. I asked why he didn't like and he said it was dark and then asked about the fountain. A-ha I think that was the real reason he couldn't sit still he wanted to immediately head to the fountain. Hey, if I was a kid I would too.

So back in the car, change into our swim wear and off we go to Fairfax Corner. It had rained the previous day and was supposed to rain at some point that day so it was a bit overcast and thankfully not as hot as it had been. We were not the only ones with the idea, it seemed a Mom's play group had met there for some water fun as well. So it was their kids and mine.

Mason was apprehensive at first, like anything new, then quickly engaged and totally reminded me of our trip to Mills Recreation Center last year with his best friend. In and out of the fountain, getting soaked, sticking his face over them, laughing, asking me to join him and when I did, got soaked because I didn't realize I was standing over top one of the holes. Screaming with shock and then laughing. Mason took a few spills but like the tough guy he is, got right back up and kept running and smiling.

The Big Sploosh, which Mason called it when all the streams of water came out at once and full force, shooting high into the air. The giggles and oh, the smiles. The simple, pure joy on his face. Sophie was the opposite. Not a big fan, crying when I held her in the water, but I think that was due to it being her nap time. Though after a quick picnic lunch Mason was back out running around with the other boys and I sat with Sophie on the edge and she started to feel more secure. Bouncing up and down, standing, smiling, clapping and overall enjoying herself. I can see that she might have been intimidated by the big steams of water shooting out of the ground. Even if the baby half her size was crawling around amidst the whole chaos and loving it. In due time. She is more picky and lets face it, high-maintenance compared to her brother.

Anyway you look at it, it was an awesome day full of fun and laughter. And I'm pretty sure we'll be heading back that way before the summer ends.

Summer Adventures: Neighborhood Pool

No summer can be complete with out a few trips to the neighborhood pool. When we first moved to this community two years ago, Mason was a year and a half and having had no pool in our previous neighborhood, we went almost every day. Something I have missed. The logistics of taking two kids to the pool by myself, more or less intimidating. However, I decided not to let my fear get in the way of a good time this summer. So I packed up all the swim stuff; towels, sunscreen, floaties, hats, toys, water, snacks, etc. and off we went.

Honestly is wasn't that bad. It was pretty manageable. Mason in his arm floaties and Sophie in the jet ski baby float, we navigated the big pool just fine. I think it helped that we were like the only ones there. At 11am. Still it was fun for us. Mason enjoys the baby pool more and I don't have to hold onto him or keep such a close eye and it makes things easier. I will definitely do it again. Though maybe at a later time, not so close to Sophie's nap time since she totally got cranky pants attitude and then fell asleep on my shoulder.

This summer we also decided to try out swim lessons for Mason. He had his first last Thursday.

Other than the fact that we, the coach and I, had to bribe him with a popsicle and car he did pretty good. Though agreeing to a swim lesson at 8am, what was I thinking?

He was scared at first, especially with a stranger and mommy night right there with him but after a while he warmed up and the fear lessened. Enough to even lay flat on his back and float with out reaching for me and my heart breaking from the fear in his eyes. I don't think it helped that he was still pretty tired, being that he just woke up and I shoved a tiny amount of food down his throat before shuffling us off to the pool. He eventually started to get the kicking and making splashes big enough to get me wet standing on the sidelines. Though the part he kept talking about was the blowing bubbles like candles on a birthday cake. So silly.

I am hoping we can continue. Help build his confidence and security especially when mommy is absent and really enjoy and learn something. He said he wanted to do it again and that's a good sign. I'm pretty sure he'll like it, once he gets used to it.

Fun with Photo Booth.

Every once in a while we sit down and get goofy with Photo Booth on my Mac. Sophie just likes to look at herself and Mason likes to make funny faces. I like seeing what we can capture in three seconds. It never disappoints.

Easter.

Easter is one of those holidays that I enjoyed as a child. A small child, like elementary school. As I got older is was one of those holidays that fell by the wayside as the nostalgia for dyed eggs and hunting for them wore off. Now that I am older and have a family of my own this holiday has made it's way back onto the list of ones we celebrate. We hadn't really done the Easter thing till last year.

This year, Mason being three I felt it was time to try dyed eggs. Mason couldn't wait for the day to arrive. I had found a neat technique on this website for dying eggs and wanted to give it a try. It seemed simple enough. So Saturday we got the supplies together and sat down to dye our eggs. However it turned out to be more of a pain than she let on. It was extremely difficult to peel the punched images from the freezer paper. With an impatient three year old the process seemed to take years. Our end result was not as great as the author of the Lolly Chops blog. I guess I didn't press down the images hard enough because on some the dye bled, leaving the images not as sharp, but altogether not bad. Besides he's three. He's not expecting the Mona Lisa or anything.

and here is a close up of a few that came out more distinct because of the dark color.

Easter morning could not have arrived fast enough. Mason having begged if the eggs are ready since we dyed them. And anyone who is a parent of a toddler knows how incessantly they ask about things and how quickly that becomes the most annoying thing. My parents and sister arrived early to watch him search for eggs.

He had a blast. We hid plastic eggs from last year around the house which he instantly found a few as soon as he woke up. However the egg hunt outside with the real eggs was the best. That silly Easter Bunny kept hiding eggs in the dirt. If I haven't mentioned this before, Mason has never liked to get dirty since he was a baby. He's improved much since then but still some things just aren't meant to get dirty. Silly Easter Bunny!

He was happy to see Bertie Bus in his basket as he had just mentioned the day before that he wanted this particular Thomas the Tank Engine character. (Shhh, don't tell him but it was from the stash of trains I bought a year ago during a 50% of sale at A.C. Moore. We'll just let him think the Easter Bunny is that good).

The rest of the day was spent hanging out. We enjoyed tasty Chicken Parmesan Bundles, courtesy of Kraft Foods, with green beans and mashed potatoes. It was really simple to make and I even used my brand new micro cooker from Pampered Chef (thank you to my MIL). Never ones to waste a beautiful day we even broke out the Bounce House (thank you very much to our neighbors who so graciously offered it to us for free when they moved) to give it a trial run.

We might have had just a little bit of fun. Mason jumped in it till his face turned bright red, huffing and puffing and probably on the verge of passing out. I call him my Energizer Bunny. He keeps going and going.....

I'm highly anticipating next year when Sophie can join in on all the fun. In the words of The Fresh Beats, What a great day!