So here we sit, on the train to Philadelphia.  Ironically, as I loaded this page to write to you all, I got a push notification to my phone that there was a train collision in Connecticut.  As Tom said, “Not what you want to hear when you are on a train”.  Anyway, the only place we could find a place to sit together on this crowded evening commute from NYC to Philly was the quiet car.  Now any of you who have met my children will argue, that is not the place for us.  Behold, my family.  The wonder of technology, not even Tom is complaining that he is bored.

So, our trip to NYC was a whirlwind.  We saw and did a lot and Jackson’s feet and Tom’s arms sure are tired.  Let me take a pause here to say that Tom realized as we were waiting to push back from the gate in NC that he left his poster for his presentation at the baggage check gate OUTSIDE SECURITY.  He frantically rushed off the plane to talk to the gate agent who told him he had no time, when he explained it was his presentation poster, she was like, oh is it this poster, someone just brought it here.  Crisis averted, or Jenny would have had to bring a reprint.  Wouldn’t be an ATS trip without someone needing to bring something.

So where were we…we arrived Wednesday night, shortly before sunset and decided to head out on an adventure before we went to bed.  We had a short walk to Grand Central, Bryant Park, Times Square, and back to our hotel over by the East river.  It sure was an experience for us all.  Lily was unfazed by the traffic and hustle and bustle, Jackson proclaimed that “New York sure has a lot of smells” and neither of them seemed all that amazed by Times Square.

Thursday, we got up early and headed to the UN which was just blocks from where we were staying.  It was really neat to take the kids to.  We went to the UN post office and selected some postcards and mailed them with UN postage that is only good from the UN. It was really cool.  We also learned that Tinkerbell is the UN Ambassador of Green, making her the most earth friendly fairy we know!  Lily was amazed to see her on stamps and all over the UN building.  Jackson thought the flags were amazing, and we had fun finding permanent missions to the UN from various countries around NY.  We found India, Malaysia, Korea, United States, and Iraq’s.  I am sure we passed others, but with so much to see, they slipped right by.

Next up was back to Grand Central for a train ride to Battery Park.  As I was heading over to purchase our metrocard, I suddenly heard Lily crying.  She was about 30 feet away screaming and crying through a rush of people.  She had been standing right next to Tom, and his speculation is that she went to go play on the turnstile.  A NYPD officer rescued her from the stampede of people coming down the stairs and scolded Tom when he headed over to collect her.  Not as dramatic as it could have been, but scary nonetheless for the 20 seconds that the entire ordeal lasted.  Ironically, it was the officer that scared her the most.

Next up, Battery Park, where we got on the Staten Island ferry and headed out passed the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.  It was great to see the city from afar, and my kids never pass up a chance to be on the water.  Jackson thought it was amazing to see Liberty Island, and Tom and I thought it was nice to sit for a bit on the return ferry to Manhattan.

We wandered for a bit through lower Manhattan and then went to the 9/11 Memorial.  It really was amazing to see all the work that they are doing at the WTC.  The kids, of course, had no idea what it all meant, but Jackson started to get a small grasp of what it meant for him and the rest of the country.  Lily passed out on Tom’s shoulder and slept through most of it.  She awoke and saw the fountains and said, “Oh, yeah, let’s go see that!” I was explaining to Jackson that people have a memory of what they were doing that day, just as the generation before knows where they were for JFK, and the one before that for Pearl Harbor.  He questioned what event might be the one that he and Lily will always know where they were.  Hopefully, it is joyous.

On the walk out of the 9/11 Memorial, Tom saw this sign and laughed pretty hard at the qualifier:

After quite a bit of complaining and whining, we decided that we all needed a break so we headed back to Grand Central with the intent of going to the hotel.  Instead, we got some Ice Cream, went to check out the New York Public Library (briefly), sit in Bryant Park, and then headed to Brooklyn for pizza under the bridge.  We had a nice time and it was fun to see Manhattan from yet another angle.

We got the sillies out and played at the park on the water and then rode the ferry back to Manhattan where we were close enough to walk back to our hotel.  Given the choice of a cab over the bridge (Tom’s choice) or the ferry boat ride (the kids choice), Jackson and Lily’s love of water will always win out.  Jackson said it would be amazing to live on the East River and swim in it….I urged him not to try.

This morning we got up and decided to spend most of the day in Central Park.  The kids had a lot of fun seeing how big it was.  We rode on the carousel and they played at one of the parks 21 playgrounds for a long time.  Jackson must have climbed 30 rock piles.  Lily thought the squirrels were funny.  We had fun finding Bethesda Fountain and climbed to the top of Belvedere Castle.

Next stop, Serendipity’s.  I know, it’s cliche NYC, but so is almost everything else we did.  Plus it was hot, and the kids wanted ice cream, so we figure, the bigger the better.  Plus we all needed a break.  There was quite a wait, so we hung out on the sidewalk enjoying the gorgeous day, and the kids had a lot of fun just playing with each other.

Tom felt like seeing Rockefeller Center so we headed down to see that.  Jackson insists that he has a fear of heights and since neither kid had a strong desire to go to the Top of the Rock, we saved our money, and the long line and wandered around.  Of course, no trip would be complete without Lego something.  And where else, but Rockefeller Center for a huge Lego store.  I begrudgingly went it, but there were some cool things, among them, a Lego NYC skyline with Batman at the top.  Can’t argue with that.  Oh, and Jackson’s favorite part was Darth Vader skating in the ice rink.

Next to the  Museum of Modern Art, just for me to take a peak in the gift shop.  Some of my favorite things over the years have come from there and so I wanted to check it out.  Oh, PS, Mom…the glasses you got me for my birthday were there.  Jackson found a really cool block set that has outlines of the famous city landmarks so you can create your own city skyline.  Really neat.

Last but not least, was a fabulous cab ride through the city on Friday at rush hour.  Totally reaffirming why we don’t, and never want, to live in Manhattan.  It was a great experience, but we were totally ready to leave and thoroughly exhausted after 2 1/2 days.  Next time will be longer, hopefully, and more slowly paced.

So there was a break here.  We had to get off of the train, more quickly than I realized and rather than finish the previous post and add pictures like nothing happened, I am just going to move forward and talk about our first day in Philly.

We arrived late last night, and upon arrival were told that our room, with a pullout for the kids, wasn’t ready and we would be put in a different room temporarily, with 2 doubles and a pullout for the night, and then we would move the next day.  So we get to the room, and it is lovely, but has no pullout couch, and looks like it hadn’t been cleaned since they renovated it (most of the hotel is under renovation to upgrade).  So we call down and they decide to move us to the Presidential Suite which was amazing!  2 rooms, the kids had their own bathroom, the foyer was larger than our bathroom back home.  It was certainly luxurious, but alas, only lasted the one night.  They said they would have left us if there wasn’t a wedding coming in tonight.  I guess they should have the nice room.

Anyway, so today we got up and had complimentary breakfast (thanks to the messup from last night) and headed out.  Tom was with us today and so we explored the historical aspects of the city.  We went and saw the Liberty Bell, which was really neat to see the history of how it cracked, and how they tried numerous times to repair it.  Also, Jackson thought it was just neat to touch the casting they had of it that was touchable.

Then off to the United States Mint.  Unfortunately, they weren’t printing today, but I guess on average they mint 20-30 million coins a day, 6 days a week.  On May 9th though, they had a record day with 34.9 million coins pressed.  The kids thought it was cool nonetheless, the best part was this little video game that you play trying to keep the coins from getting lost in the couch, fountains, wet concrete, etc.  Think frogger, with people and money.  Sorry, no photos in or around the Mint.  It was really interesting watching them try and explain that to a huge group of Chinese tourists who had about a million cameras and were snapping away.

We took a rest in front of the Constitution Center while we debated going in or not.  Decided it probably wasn’t high on the kids list of things to do.  After that a quick lunch in Franklin Square.  They had a park so the kids let loose and played for awhile.  They had fun running around and playing with other kids.  There was an Asian American festival going on as well so we watched the dragon parade for little ones.  Lily was not a fan.

PS…Mom, this is the outfit you just send for her and she is ADORABLE in it.  She begged to wear it today, and it looks really cute, even with tennis shoes.

Then we headed off to the Constitutional Park Visitor’s Center and met the best park ranger, Nancy.  She told us that all the national parks now have their own Junior Park Rangers and gave the kids age appropriate work to complete and that most of them having trading cards.  It was really neat.  Jackson’s revolved around what they learned at the various buildings, and Lily’s was mostly matching and circling various items.  They both earned their Ranger badges.  They also had another really cool thing with trading cards.  You got a trading card of the liberty bell to start and as you went on various tours and stopped at different buildings, you could have a park ranger quiz you for more trading cards with various people and places (Ben Franklin, Independence Hall, George Washington, etc).  Jackson had fun collecting almost all of them (there were like 21 in all) and learned a lot of interesting things.

We were really lucky and while we were standing in line talking with the ranger, they had a last minute cancellation of a tour for Independence Hall, which had sold out tickets for the whole week.  The best we could hope for were the limited number of tickets that are available at 8:30 each morning…not happening.  So we got a sweet score on that.  Jackson’s favorite part of the whole day was the Rising Sun Chair.  Google it if you don’t know what it is.

Next up, we went on a tour of the city on a double decker bus.  One of the neat things we have learned from visiting cities is that a lot of them have a thing called CityPass where you can get discounted admission to a lot of popular attractions.  The Philadelphia one includes on/off privileges for the tour busses at a variety of stops throughout the city.  It also has routes by all of the CityPass attractions, so it is perfect for us while we are here.

So, back to the story.  While we were getting ready to get on the bus, the sprinkle that we had been experiencing turned into a pretty steady rain, and we got SOAKED.  We chose not to see the Betsy Ross house in the rain, stayed on the bus past it and headed back to the bottom level of the bus and got off at the LOVE sign near our hotel.

They also had across the street JFK Plaza which had a ton of oversized relic board game pieces scattered throughout.  The kids had fun with that, even in the rain.

Back at the hotel we got settled into our new hotel room.  Not as nice, but still ridiculously huge, and very comfortable.  Then went to Max Brennans for dinner.  If you have never  been, it truly is like Willy Wonka in a restaurant.  The kids were super excited to have chocolate for dinner.  Jackson had Crunchy Hot Chocolate and Chocolate Pizza with melted marshmallows and Lily had a grand time with her Hot Chocolate and Chocolate Waffle.  She even got a side of chocolate syrup to pour over her ice cream topping.  Both kids’ plates were littered with gummy bears.  You would have thought they were in heaven.

Back at the hotel, the sun is getting to set, and we are all in pajamas ready to have an early night to bed.  Stay tuned for more adventures!

After I got all done uploading photos this is what the kiddos looked like…

Good Night Philly!!

Mom,

1. you have always loved me
2. even when I was finding my way
3. you kept me safe
4. but gave me wings to fly away
5. you were active in my school when I was young
6. so you were always aware of what was going on
7. you gave me boundaries so I knew what was right
8. but always allowed me to put up a good fight
9. when I would struggle, I knew you were there
10. always with a word of care
11. when I was in need, you came right to my side
12. even though I often pushed you aside
13. my choices were mine, and for this I say thanks
14. even though you often knew I might tank
15. there were times, I knew, my priorities weren’t top
16. but I know your love for me never did stop
17. I grew and I grew and finally did flee
18. and for this, I am sure, you thought “Yes!, I am free!!”
19. our distance was separated by miles and miles
20. but when I knew I would see you, boy, would I smile
21. You said to my man, “Come into the light”
22. and when he didn’t run, I knew it was right
23. and through hard choices and turns of my new adult life
24. you were there to listen to all of the strife
25. as the time drew near for my own motherhood
26. by my side the whole time, with love you stood
27. and when my sweet son, and later daughter arrived
28. you were full of great joy and lovely sighs
29. you listen and knowingly chuckle as I say “I will never”
30. and always stifle the laugh when I say “why did I ever”
31. you taught me to love, to be the best I could be
32. and always had faith in me being me
33. for this I am grateful and want to say

CHEERS TO YOU ON THIS MOTHER’S DAY!

This was too cute to not share with the world.  While I was working at Jackson’s school, I came across a fairy tale book titled CinderLily.  So, of course we had to check it out. 

As you can see below, all of the scenes are done with pressed flowers on black velvet.  This happens to be something that Tom’s grandmother, Grams, has done for years.  She is truly masterful with it, and she enjoys doing it and it keeps her busy.  So I ordered a copy on Amazon and sent it to her after Tom told her about it recently.

She received the book last Wednesday, and my goodness she got right to work reinterpreting it.  The kids each received one in the mail yesterday.  Below you can see them.

Today, I brought them into the school to show the librarian and she was amazed.  Then, while having lunch with Jackson’s class, they told me that their story reader for today was out sick, so asked me if I could read before dismissal.  I agreed and decided to bring the book and cards in to show the kids and they were also amazed.  Several of them have decided to go home and start collecting flowers and create their own pictures.  I hope I have a chance to see some!  Hopefully, they don’t trash their mom’s gardens in the process!

Direct quote from my husband regarding dinner for tonight.  I had a county planning committee that I went about our neighborhood…long boring story for those that don’t live here.  Anyway, whipped this up before I left and stuck it in the oven with some rosemary potatoes, a microwavable bag of snap peas and left.

I guess the kids wolfed it down too.  So Jenny, this is here for you, because I know you are always looking for easy.  Mom, you can probably do it in a crockpot.  The rest of you, yes, I know you have all seen it on Pinterest and most of you have pinned it, but it is soooo good.

Super Yummy Chicken

Do you ever have one of those weeks where all of the individual parts of your life seem to converge upon each other in one cataclysmic explosion that creates a black hole and sucks you in for the ride of your life?  Welcome to the last week and half for me.

Let me give you a visual of how I am starting off this blog:

This my friends, is ruby red grapefruit vodka mixed with pineapple strawberry agua fresca…so good, like I am in the islands still.

So….last Sunday, after a trip to Costco, I started preparing food for Tom’s division’s journal club that we were to host on Wednesday night.  Think book club for physicians, only not good beach reads, rather journal articles dealing with pulmonary blah blah blah or critical care whatever.  But at least I made it my goal to have amazing food.  Set out to create a latin fiesta.  I was told to plan for 20-25 people.  Remember this number, it’s important.  I shot for 30 because I wanted some leftovers and we usually have dinner with the neighbors a couple times a week so figured this would be good fare with Cinco de Mayo upon us.

Here’s the menu for those who want it:

Braised Beef Shortribs Barbacoa

Green Chili Chicken  (this is the chicken from the won-tacos)

Corn and flour tortillas for filling up big and fat tacos

Chili Cheese Rice Casserole

Chili Rellenos

Refried Crockpot black beans (yeah, no fat and so good…huge shoutout to my Momma for this one!!)

Homemade salsa and guacamole

toppings: pickeled onions, jalapenos, angel hair cabbage, sour cream, and cheese

Drinks:  homemade margaritas (Tom has THE BEST recipe) and pineapple strawberry agua fresca (from 3 pineapples and 4 lbs of strawberriers)

Dessert:  Tres Leches Coconut Cake (baked individually in jars) and topped with caramelized pineapple, mango and papaya

Yeah, I know, I might have taken on a bit much there, but anyone who has EVER eaten at my house knows there is always enough food and plenty of variety…that’s just how I roll.

The journal club of course was not scheduled until Wednesday night, so why the big jump on it you ask…well, here was the rest of my weeks “big projects” in addition to the little stuff that comes along, and routine life.

• The book fair started at Jackson school on Monday and I was set to help with that most days of the week including all day Wednesday and Thursday.
• PTA board meeting Monday night (did I mention I am the new secretary….oh, and we are starting a fundraiser for the school that allows parents to preorder back to school supplies in a kit to be ready for pickup on meet the teacher night…all teachers have to be on board and it is time critical to get the lists in by Wednesday to get order forms ready for step-up night)
• Piano lessons for Jackson
• Soccer practices for the last week on Tuesday and Thursday
• The last game of the soccer season was Saturday and the photographer who was scheduled to take pictures of the kids at their last game had a conflict so I had less than a week to find a photographer not booked already for the first weekend of May, you know peak wedding month in NC
• Book Fair Wednesday night from 5-7 for families (why yes, that is the same time as Tom’s department would be arriving)
• PTA meeting at 6:30 Wednesday night (this also coincides with both Tom’s journal club, and book fair
• Jackson scheduled to get 4 cavities filled and a sealant placed on his first permanent molar Friday morning.  4 cavities, 4 corners of his mouth, and a 4 hour appt with laughing gas and a numb mouth.
• Last day soccer games on the fields

So that about gives you a glimpse of the week.  I felt relatively comfortable Sunday afternoon with my progress and overall game to get through the week.  Especially with my plans for Wednesday.  Roo would come help at book fair with me and Pix was going to go down the street with the neighbor who she ADORES.  Check!  I am can be a successful multi-tasking, take it all on Mom!

Cue Lily, waking from her 4 hour nap (this is never a good thing BTW) with a RAGING ear infection.  Ugh, this is going to slow me down, as she prefers to be carried everywhere and never leave my side when she is sick.  But as that super prepared Mom, I got this covered.  Our other child, has fully prepared me for this.  Thanks to Jackson’s chronic ear infections, I have the anti-inflammatory, antibiotic drops, and we get her going on those.

The PTA board meeting Monday was very successful, not only did we make good progress on our agenda, but on the way home, I happened to mention the soccer problems I was having with finding a photographer to one of the other PTA board members who lives in the neighborhood.  Her husband had just worked with a woman who volunteered an entire day to shoot low income families at no cost and offered to reach out to her.  Unfortunately, she was unavailable,  but had a friend who was!  Hallelujah we have a winner!  Lisa Kelley of Raleigh and her partner Lindsey from Charlotte are LIFESAVERS!  We had a photographer and life would be good as long as I could find several board members to help control traffic on Saturday am while pictures were taken.  Afterall, we were throwing 2 photographers who have never shot for us before into the lion’s den of 26 teams and almost 200 kids ages 2-12 for 3 hours.

And then the other shoe drops.  THE MOST DREADED SOUND YOU WILL EVER HEAR IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT: “Mom, I just threw up all over my bed”  Sure enough, Jackson had come down with the stomach flu, on Tuesday night.  AKA…18 hours before the most over scheduled several hours of my most recent life.

The quarantining and clean up of vomit kept me busy most of the night and almost to lunchtime Wednesday.  Jackson wouldn’t be able to go help at the book fair, but instead would be banished to our room to watch TV while Tom had his meeting.  Fortunately, all worked out, and after 12 intense hours for Jackson, he felt better and went to school on Thursday.

So you know those 20-25 people I cooked for for 3 days intermittently while battling ear infections and stomach flu?  I walk through the door to find 8, that’s right 8, people sitting in my living room.  And we ate nothing but the above menu until last night, and so did the neighbors….  I might be ok if I never look at another taco again.

Friday was fun and early for us.  Jackson had to get up and eat a big breakfast because he wouldn’t be able to eat at all for the rest of the day until his mouth was 100% back to normal since they were doing both sides of his mouth.  Smoothies and milkshakes for lunch.  This is not a “downside” for a 7 year old.  When you are told you can have any smoothie or milkshake you want for lunch, you will buy into anything.  Including nitrous oxide and Novocaine.

Me: Jackson, they are going to give you some air to make you goofy.
Jackson: oh, like surgery
Me: yeah, but you won’t sleep, just get goofy
Jackson: I am goofy already
Me: you will get goofier
Lily: oh!, and Goofy is very tall
Jackson!!
Me: you won’t get taller
Lily and Jackson: (disappointedly)  oh…..

Below are some of the comments that 7 year olds make when they are stoned:

Jackson: hey mom!! There are 2 if you!!! (After the nitrous started flowing)

 

Nurse: we are going to put this bite pillow in your mouth.

Jackson: that’s ok, I have one already, see? (Biting down)

Nurse: No, no, no!!! That’s your tongue!!!

Jackson: oh, it got big and fluffy!

 

Jackson: Hey, you are holding my hand (to the nurse)

Nurse:  Yeah, I am, I’m right here

Jackson: Like you are my girlfriend…

Nurse: Am I your girlfriend? (teasingly)

Jackson: Hey Mom!  My girlfriend can drive!!!

Jackson was such a trooper.  It was scheduled to last 4 hours because they figured it would take some time, but here he is just chilling and going with it.  It only took 2 hours and then he wanted to get right back home to change and go to school!  Amazing.  Doesn’t hurt I think he got to rub it in his classmates face that he got a smoothie for lunch and they didn’t…

Lily hung out patiently the whole time.  She built this little fortress for herself and sat and colored most of the time.  Tom suggested that we keep her locked in a fort most of the time.

Several things to note about this picture.  She color coded the pyramid.  In no way did I encourage or suggest this.  I am so proud of her!  Also, it was at this point I realized this new thing she does.  It is hard to tell, but she is using markers as little people climbing the stairs.  She has stopped referring to colors by their names, and instead by the princess they represent.  For example, “Mom, will you hand me Belle?”  translates to “Mom, will you please hand me my yellow marker?”  Here is what I have decoded so far so you know the next time you sit down to color with her and she asks for Rapunzel.

• Pink: Aurora
• Yellow: Belle
• Blue: Cinderella
• Purple: Rapunzel
• Green: Tiana
• Brown: Mulan or Pocahontas, she changes  (I assume this is not based on skin tone, but rather the dull costumes)
• Red: Ariel (counterwise, not based on her costume, but her hair color)
• White: Wedding Cinderella
• Black: Those Bitches (This I am deducing means “those witches” from Wizard of Oz)
• Orange: Jackson’s fito coder (Jackson’s favorite color)

So, we are now to Saturday.  Which in a word was EXHAUSTING.  None of the other board members were able to help with photo lineup and organization so I ran between 2 photographers and 8 impatient teams at a time trying to get everyone organized by height, age, who was taking individual pictures, who had a referee at the games, who was late for their game, etc.  I thought I might fall down at one point, but made it through.  Thank God by nature I am, as I was dubbed at age 2, Director of Everything.  It allowed me to shout at upwards of 100 people at a time as to where they needed to go and what they needed to do.

We got home and crashed Saturday afternoon and had a great time with all the neighbors Saturday night.  Tom demonstrated his manliness by heading out into the woods and cutting wood with a chainsaw for the firepit.  He has declared he wants one now.  Thank goodness Chris, next door, said Tom can borrow his anytime.  The 2 of them also headed out to see Iron Man 3 with the masses and the woman down the street.  Then back to our house for pizza, our one meal in the last week that didn’t revolve around the fiesta food.

Sunday morning we decided to have breakfast out for Mother’s Day a week early and went to one of our favorite places nearby that offers a brunch.  Jackson was skeptical, but ordered off the adult menu (something we got him started on while we were on the cruise and he has taken to, it keeps him from eating chicken nuggets and he is more open to try new things).  He chose an enormous plate of Blueberry French Toast with Vanilla Anglais. Below is a pretty accurate representation of what he looked like eating it.

Nope, we didn’t catch him in a blink.  His eyes are dropped and he is moaning at how good it is.

And, he didn’t eat for 9 hours….

But, even with all the crazy, the week was a lot of fun as a family and we got to decide and do some neat things.  Tom’s Grandma, Grams, as we call her, used to send Jackson worksheets with lots of activities and stickers.  Lily got her first one in the mail now that she is 3 and she LOVED IT!  Below is her completed one.  She didn’t want to write the numbers because in her words “I can’t draw the letters very good yet” But we have had a lot of fun looking and matching all of the stickers.  Thanks Grams!!!  Keep them coming, she is hooked!

Jackson received all green (his teachers way of tracking behavior) for the month of April.  This is a huge cause for celebration as we have come close, but never completed a month without a yellow day in the course of his education.  I am hoping his celebratory gift of Art2-D2 Guide to Drawing comes today.  He just finished reading Secrets of a Fortune Wookie, the 3rd book after Origami Yoda and Darth Paper Strikes Back.  I caught him Sunday night long after he was supposed to be in bed with all of the books splayed out on the floor making all of the hand puppets from all of the books.  The 4th book Jabba the Puppet comes out in August…won’t he be surprised to open the mail that day!  And for those of you who aren’t Star Wars fans (because the fans are thinking, that is so cool) you are probably thinking, OMG, that guy is making a TON of money.  True story….the series was the first books to sell out at the book fair, followed by everyones favorite Sideways Stories of Wayside School set.

Finally, we decided to travel for the holidays.  We almost never travel for Thanksgiving and Christmas and are really excited to be with family for both this year!  We will be running in the 5k for the memory of Tom’s cousin, Austin and are really excited to be a part of the huge turnout.  Plus!  We get to have a white Christmas!  So stoked.  When I told Lily today about going home for Christmas (we were inventorying the holiday books in the library, calm down people, I’m not turning her into a super planner…..yet) She said, “Oh, Grandma and Grandpa have a hot pool, so we need to brings our suits, and they have rocks and flowers.  Oh, I bet they will have a Christmas tree.  But not Santa, I don’t like that guy.”  Nice to see that somethings stay the same, even when the rest is getting sucked into the dark black hole of life.

First off, let me start with a photo.  I came out of the house to find Jackson laying on the front porch finishing his second, yes second, chapter book of the day.  He loves to read, and now that he is firmly into chapter books, he just reads and reads and reads.

Ok, so since my last mid March post, life has spiraled out of control and for the first time in my lift, I feel like I am just hanging on for the ride.  This may come as a shock to many, especially my husband and mother, who think that I have a plan for everything, but alas, I let go, stopped planning, ran with what life gave me, and have decided that you all who do that are CRAZY!  Life is so much easier with a good calendar, lots of highlighters to keep it all straight, and a contingency for everything, and I mean everything.  For example, if I am murdered or die a strange death, I do NOT want Keith Morrison, aka the creepy guy, to do my Dateline story.  Plan for everything.

So, some catch up on where we have been and what we have been doing.  After my last post, which followed our whirlwind trip to Arizona to visit Tom’s grandmother and she passed away, we regrouped with a quick couple of weeks at home and set sail on our fabulous Eastern Caribbean cruise on the largest cruise ship in the world, the Oasis of the Seas.  No joke, this ship is amazing!  It had a central park with actual real growing trees, a synchronized diving show, a carousel, you name it, they had it.  4 different deck pools, 22 restaurants, and ice skating rink, zipline, manufactured wave pool for surfing and boogie boarding.  Seriously, try and think of something and this 19 story mammoth of a ship had it!

First of, we set sail with my mom and dad and had adjoining rooms with a shared balcony and it was like heaven.  The kids had a blast running between the rooms and it was nice to have them near to touch base and the beginning and end of the day for plans.

Our first stop was in Nassua, Bahamas and our little group split up.  Jackson and I went on a shore excursion with Mom and Dad out on a catamaran for about an hour and we set up over a reef for some snorkeling.  Jackson thought the catamaran was the best adventure.  I can still see his wind swept salty hair blowing as he sat at the bow watching the water.  He was a little less adventurous when it came to getting in the water.  The cove was quite choppy and he was a little alarmed at getting in without touching and letting the waves take him.  He has had a snorkel and mask for 2 years now that he plays with in the swimming pool, so he was familiar with that, but the anxiety of crashing water was too much for him.  At least he gave it 3 good tries, decided not to give up on snorkeling entirely, and had a blast otherwise.

I  love this photo below of Jackson and my dad.  I think that at heart, they are best friends.  Jackson could sit with him and not say a word but just “watch the world go by” for hours.  Lefties together forever!

While Jackson and I were out, Lily and Tom went on a glass bottomed and walled submarine to check out the marine life.  Lily still talks about all the colors of fish that she saw on her adventure with Daddy.

Next up, kid swap on our shore excursion in St. Thomas.  Jackson and Tom had a great adventure on a kayaking, hiking, beach snorkel outing.  Jackson geared up and has decided that he is a kayak lover and snorkeling is much easier when you can get your feet grounded in the water and swim out first.

Lily and I had a fun trip to a sea life sanctuary where we saw all kids of sea life.  The stingrays were really neat, but the sea turtles were the most amazing.  After that, we headed out the one of the pristine white beaches with clear aqua waters and spent the afternoon building sand castles and playing in the water.  Such an amazing time with my little girl that I will always remember.  I love watching my kids on the beach, for some reason, sand makes for perfect memories.

Last but not least, St Maarten, where we explored a butterfly farm and garden with Mom and Dad and the kids, and then headed to the French side of the island where it rained.  Not the best of explorations, but fun none the less.  Plus, Lily picked up a nice little rainbow dress, which she insists on wearing often, and Jackson acquired a proper walking stick which has become his new favorite hiking accessory.

The best part for Lily I think for the whole trip, well, for both kids actually, was getting to dress up every night for dinner.  Lily had 7 different nice dresses that I had been collecting through the year when they would go dirt cheap on clearance, and Jackson got to wear his suit and tie.  A sampling below…I wish I had gotten pics of them each night, but oh well, I enjoyed the moment instead.

I am not going to lie, the first 4 days, mostly ended with Jackson upset that everyone oohed and aahed over how cute Lily looked in her dresses and how she was a princess….Super side note, on the first night, Lily kept lifting her dress way up high (think “I see London, I see France, I see Lily’s underpants” high).  It took us a bit to understand that she was holding her dress like a princess.  Let me explain, I princess will hold her dress with either one hand out to the side, to pull it up off of the ground, or with two hands gently raised in front.  This is how a proper princess behaves, we have been told, and she is consistent with walking this way with EVERY dress.  If I was a better Mom, I would have gotten some cute shots of her climbing stairs, but alas, all I got was this one kinda from the side photo (with the boys checking out the telescope above the bridge of the ship in the background)

Anyway, where was I, oh yes, Jackson was in a tizzy about all the compliments that Lily was getting, like out right pouting, stomping, and crying.  He just didn’t understand, and the Tom had one of the greatest paternal “ah-ha” moments of all.  He explained that boys clothes are boring, and that no one compliment boys because there clothes are so boring (except for Tom’s purple mod tie, he gets compliments on that ALL THE TIME!).  Alas, Jackson spent the last three days telling Lily anytime she was complimented “Lily, they say that because you look like a princess and my clothes are boring” and he was totally ok with it.  Below he is looking like a perfect sailing gentleman though.

Jackson had a great time on the ice skating rink.  It was one of the things that he most wanted to do, but it wasn’t open very often for open skate because they had an ice show that was done to some Hans Christian Andersson’s fairy tales, very cool, but they wanted to keep the ice nice for the show.  On the last sea day, Jackson got his chance.  He was hesitant at first.

Then got the hang of it.

And finally, was adored, as usual, by his sister, whose feet were just too small for skates.

We had a great time hanging out on the deck around the pools too.  Lily’s favorite was a playground pool with lots to climb on and working water guns that unfortunately could also shoot at the parents in deck chairs.

Jackson thought that the “whirlpool” was the best.  It was basically a huge over-sized fish tank with a current and glass walls that the kids loved to play in.  When he wasn’t in that, he was almost guaranteed to be in a hot tub.

Lily also has become one of “those girls”.  You know the ones, that huddle under 15 towels because the beach is too cold for them.  She likes to wrap up, put a towel over her head and just chill.  Look for her outline under the towel, she would sit like that for an hour!

By the end of the trip, well, by about day 2 actually, the kids were thoroughly exhausted.  Here are some pics of them passed out in the cabin of the ship.  Yes, that is Lily hanging off of the bed completely asleep in the second picture.  I have no idea how long she was like that before we woke up, but she stayed that way for at least another 30 minutes after I took the photo.

We got back late the night before Easter, and the next afternoon we had an egg hunt with the neighbors.  Lily felt it needed to be a formal affair.  Jackson was cool with whatever.  At any rate they had a lot of fun, and were relieved that the Easter bunny didn’t skip us just because we got back so late.

Once recovered from our fabulous trip, life got serious with soccer.  As we near the end of the season, I am grateful to have to healthy active kids who love to play, and ability to be active in there journey.  But man am I looking forward to having my Tuesday and Thursday afternoons and evenings back and my Saturday mornings once again unstructured.

The kids have made great strides though.  Lily is very protective of her ball and is an assertive player, just like her brother, and has a lot of fun.  She can even name for you all 14 kids on her team if you ask, and tell you which ones are her friends, and which ones are just kids.  Yes, the hierarchy of who we know and how they fall into our lives has begun.  I hope I can survive the next 15 years with her.

Jackson has really become a great defensive player and is already starting to talk about when he can be on the travel teams.  I don’t know if my life is ready for that, but hopefully by then, Tom will be done and we will be more able to help schlep around.

I  love this picture below that we got today of the kids playing after Lily’s soccer game, before Jackson’s started.  We actually should have left already and got entranced in the conversation we were having with friends and looked up to catch this.  One of the moments that makes your heart sing as a parent.

Some of our other goings on have been mostly centered around the house, school, and fun.  One afternoon, I decided to build a fire pit.  Kinda impromptu, although I had been mulling the idea around for quite sometime.  Tom was gone for the weekend, and I asked the teenage boy who lives next door if he wanted to help.  This is our result.  It holds a mean fire!

We also got furniture for our screened porch.  I feel like a real southerner now that I have an outdoor living space.  It isn’t finished.  We need to rescreen the sun shade, the outdoor rug hasn’t come yet, and I am going to make more throw cushions out of the bolt of fabric sitting on the couch, but so far it is a comfortable start that we have taken great advantage of.

Jackson has been quite busy at school.  He had a field trip to the planetarium and got to partake in one of the science experiments.  They also had an Earth Day play that was super cute.

Lily is definitely getting into arts and crafts and for the most part, has stopped coloring on herself.

Note the rainbow colored handle on the umbrella.

Lily has been having fun playing with her best friend Braden from next door.  I was able to capture this quick photo of them having a snack in the box fort they played with.  She of course is wearing one of her cruise dresses, because why not.

So that, wraps it up for now, and I think gives you all an idea of where we have been, and what we have been up to.  Life is settling back into a routine now that I have ditched the “roll with it mentality” and am back to scheduling life for sanity’s sake.

Today was the first day in a long, long, long time that wasn’t jam packed with activities, events, travel, life and loss for our family.  My kids have been so exhausted they slept until 11am.  Granted, that was including the time changed, but for real.  My kids went to bed at 8 (sleep at 9) and slept for a full 13 hours.  I didn’t even think that was possible!!  That is what tired kiddos look like.

So, backtracking three and a half weeks. Sadly, Tom’s grandmother was diagnosed with metastatic stage IV lung cancer on Valentine’s Day.  She had been in pain for a long time, and is now resting in peace.  This started the pace for the last several weeks.  Suddenly, we were ready to start taking a trip to Arizona to visit her, and the rest of the family, on very short notice.  What an exhausting trip it was too…we left after spending 5 hours on the soccer fields, a 2 hour car drive, and a dinner time take-off followed by 8 1/2 hours of air travel.  Ugh, needless to say we were exhausted, before the hard part even began!

We were glad that she was able to return to her home several days before we arrived.  This was what she wanted, and we were glad to see that she was comfortable.  What a spark she has always been.  Her death was on her own terms and was as sparky as any could be.

When we arrived, she was still rather with it and the kids enjoyed spending several days with her.  Jackson was terrified to see her, but once he did and realized she looked as he remembered, there was no fear, just fun.  He was excited to see Tom’s aunt as well.  He kept asking, “Is Carolyn going to be there, she is really funny!”  For my usually shier one, he took a liking to the pair of them right away.

On our third day in AZ, Tom’s grandma took a turn and we could tell that she was preparing for death.  We had spend several days laughing, creating stories, and sharing memories.  After her nap one day, she woke disoriented and more vacant.  The next morning the “death rattle” started.  We knew it was coming.  I have to say, death brings out the very best and the very worst in all who are around it.  There are moments that will make me smile forever.  I am glad to have spent the whole day with her on her last full, good, lucid day.  It was a hoot and she kept calling it “ladies day”  There were also some of the most tragic, ugly, horrible, cruel moments of human nature I couldn’t even have created in my wildest dreams and hope to never experience again.

This is the first grandparent that Tom and I have known that has passed.  It was definitely an experience that has allowed us to decide what we want, and what we absolutely don’t want with our own journey.  Also, lung cancer is a long, ugly, death, and for Tom, who has seen a lot of respiratory death, he claims this was the longest battle he has seen.  She fought for 72 long hours before finding her peace.  Always a spark, and not ready to go.

Fortunately, we have a lot of family in Arizona, so the kids had ample time to visit with all of our family and had some fun nights with their cousins while the grownups tended to illnesses.  I say this plural, as Tom’s other grandmother had a brief, but ultimately, scare with her health.  At one point both Tom and I, as well as his parents, were split across town. Huge shout outs to my cousins Chris, Megan, and Courtney, who I always knew would repay the love of me taking care of them when they were little, and provided my kiddos with the love and fun they needed.  Also, my mom, who is always there for me, no matter what or when I need it.  You are the best!  And Grams, for her cookies that kept us contented and warm on sugar the whole way home.  Glad you are doing better and we were glad we got to spend a morning with you!

Back home in NC, it has been great to finally shake the winter off and get back outside moving with the kids and having fun.  They say that North Carolina is the southern part of heaven, and yesterday and today couldn’t have been a better demonstration.  Gorgeous Carolina blue skies, with not a cloud in the sky, 65 degrees, and slight breeze.  After arriving home about 10 hours before we needed to on the soccer fields, we headed out to both kids games.  Poor Lily, who caught something while in AZ and has been febrile, coughing, and on occasion vomiting for 5 days, pleaded to go home, and Tom relented.  Jackson’s team had one of the best games they have ever played.  They are usually down by quite a bit.  The other teams have bigger players, and lets be honest, most of them have coaches who have played the game.  What I lack in skill, I hope to make up with fun and enthusiasm.  Anyway, they played one of the top tier teams and at one point were even up.  This was the team we played last last season and lost to them thoroughly 17-2.  Yesterday, my kiddos held their own with a score of 7-9.  Jackson said as we were leaving that Gramama must have been watching us from heaven and helping him block the ball from going in the goal.

On some brighter less exhausting notes:

We traveled for a week to AZ and Lily made it in underwear!  Just 4 accidents, and they all occurred in the same 2 days.  They happened to be the 2 that I was most consumed with Gramama and stopped checking on her as much.

Jackson was a dream to travel with and was so helpful.  He even helped keep his sister calm and made her feel better when she was sick in AZ.

Costco is a disaster on Sunday’s at 1.  I will return to my usual Tuesday at 10am trips.

Hook is just as good a movie with your kids, as it was when you were a kid.  Both kids are thoroughly transfixed by it and Jackson readily cheers on the lost boys.  Lily is confused as to why Tinkerbell has red hair and doesn’t wear green in the movie though.  Marketing works….way to nail the secret Disney.

That’s all for now…sure to be more as my brain settles back into normal.