December 26

Hope you all had a joyful holiday!

Remember me?

I know it's been a while. We've had quite a week... three holiday class party (that I volunteered to plan - what was I thinking!?!), a brownies holiday party, playgroup holiday party, brownies retirement home caroling (yes, separate from the holiday party)... shopping, wrapping, getting ready for out of town visitors over the weekend... it's been a whirlwind of pre-Christmas exhaustion.

But now it's Monday. The kids are home on break and we have no company for now... and while I have cookies to bake for Josh's office party, a smidge of wrapping left to complete, and a run to the grocery store on the agenda for today, it feels eerily un-busy compared to what we've been juggling.

Wishing everyone a MERRY CHRISTMAS!

(And, as promised, some pics from Riley's gymnastics holiday performance!)...

'Tis the season to be busy!

Forgive my lack of blogging... but this may just be the BUSIEST holiday season I can remember. With three children and their activities, school, parties, sports, it's been hard to keep up. Add to that Josh's new position at AIG and travel over Thanksgiving and my family fun night planning, and we're about 2 weeks behind schedule where Christmas is concerned. I'm sure it will all get done, as it always does, but it's crunch-time.

In other news, Quinn made the transition to his new big boy bed last week. He's been fantastic. Here are a couple of cute pics.

I'll have more pictures shortly... some of Riley at her gymnastics holiday performance that i haven't downloaded yet but are adorable!

... and now - Christmas!

Did you hear that? That big sigh? Oh that was me. Because my family fun night event is OVER! After lots of work and hours and phone calls and planning and math (ticket sales, deposits, making sure we stay under budget - and people, math is NOT my strong suit), and decorating, and shopping, and runningback and forth to the school almost everyday... it's OVER! And even better, it was another huge success. I am patting myself (and Shanna!) on the back for this one...

So now I move onto Christmas.

What we've been up to...

Let's see... Quinn's Thanksgiving Day program at school, Wiggles Live!, a visit to the firestation with the playgroup, a night out in Columbus with my best friends from high school, and a trip to see Santa.

And now we rest... NOT... because we also have Bascomb Family Fun Night (why did I volunteer to chair this position for the pta again!?!), Christmas shopping and baking, holiday parties for school and cub scouts/brownies, Riley's holiday gymnastics performance, Conor's basketball games, Josh's new position at AIG, and our general crazy life. :)

Catching my breath

Wow - it's been a whirlwind November at our house. I can hardly believe we'll be heading north to celebrate Thanksgiving in just 10 days!!!

Conor has finished up his baseball season and started basketball. Riley is still focused on gymnastics, and Quinn is FINALLY potty-trained! Life is good! I'm busy with my first Bascomb family fun night event of the year (I co-chair) and staying busy with our playgroup and book club, and running as usual.

And in case you think I have it all under control, I'm sharing a picture of Quinn I took this morning. I heard him yell "mom, help me" and this is what I found.

RAK

Kristen, this is a random (well sort of random) act of kindness in response to your blog... my gift to the world today is a smile at my expense. So here you go.

Josh was the "mystery" reader in Conor's class today, so he was at the school and came home earlier than he normally would. Quinn was napping, so in honor of the BEAUTIFUL day, I decided to take Nesta for a nice walk. I was armed with a poop bag and a leash, and off we went. Well, of course, about oh 1 minute into our walk, the poop bag was full. Oh well, happily I continue to stroll along, talking to my mom on my cell phone as I walk, poop bag bouncing all around in my hand. Until things started to get stinky... like abnormally stinky for a closed and tied bag of dog poop. I continue to chat with my mom and look down. Oh my.

Of course, in my pantry STOCKED with stupid plastic bags that I don't throw away, I picked the one with a hole in it... and my half-hour of walking with this plastic bag filled with dog poop with a hole in it has bounced back and forth onto my pant legs for the entire time. I was covered in dog poop and about a mile from my house. The horror. The fear - please don't let someone I know walk by enjoying this beautiful fall day and want to stop to chat.

So I walked in record time, back home, to Josh who I thought just might pee his pants when I showed him my jeans and told him the story.

Later at dinner, I said something, and he looked at me and said "okay poopy pants." The kids think it's awfully funny. For me it was just awful. So instead of hiding in my shame, I'm coming out with it. Can't get much kinder than this - I know you're laughing, whoever you are. :)

Happy Birthday to Conor!!!

8 years ago today I was tired - really, really tired... but also ecstatic and beside myself with joy. Conor was born at 3:32am on October 30, 2000 after a long, long (like 36+ hours long) and tiring (did I mention that yet!?!) labor. From day one, he has been a gift. He is truly a happy kid. He is always smiling with those dimples and big brown eyes and truly enjoying life. I couldn't be a prouder mom. Conor was always amazing - he could walk and talk and do everything months before those darn baby books ever said he would. Life has come easy to Conor. He is so smart and curious and a voracious learner. He's a kind, polite person who cares about others and is thoughtful and loving. He excels at sports. He golfs, he plays baseball like it's nobody's business, he is good at most everything he tries. He's artistic, he's musical. He is just the all-american boy. And just to let you know I'm being fair here - he isn't perfect (close, but not quite)... you should see him dance. Yikes.

Conor's birthday - take 2

Wow - what a weekend. Friday after gymnastics, Riley had a "fall party" to go to, followed up with a trip to the movie theatre to see HSM3 and a sleepover at her friend's house. On Saturday, Conor had practice at the batting cages (his game was cancelled), an end of season baseball party, and his own birthday party/sleepover. Josh took the boys to Dave and Buster's for some fun (read: to wear them out!), and then they were back here for cake and ice cream, movies, late night doritos (which, I might add, were ALL over the playroom floor this morning), lots of guitar-hero and wii competitions, a HUGE breakfast this morning, and we are currently getting ready to head to Conor's make-up baseball game from yesterday.

I need a weekend to recover from my weekend...

Conor's birthday - take 1

Last weekend, with my mom and Josh's dad both visiting, we had an early birthday celebration for Conor, who turns 8 next week. We made a pokeball cake (this is pokemon speak for... well, I have no idea) and he got an ipod, an ipod stereo/docking station, and a bunch of new games for his nintendo ds. All in all not a bad birthday with a week still left to go! This weekend he's having a few friends over for some Dave and Buster's fun and a sleepover... God help us.

The real story

Yesterday was a BUSY day here. Tanglewood Farms in the morning and basketball tryouts (for Conor) after school, so I didn't have time to post the funny story that went along with the pictures yesterday... notice there were NO pictures of Quinn feeding the animals.

Well let me tell you what happens when there are ten or so two year olds holding buckets of bread among a gaggle baby goats. The goats GO CRAZY - leaping, jumping, frightening the poor two year olds into hysterics. Now let me tell you what happens when the moms scoop up the children and the buckets and try to get out and into the next pen... the goats follow, squeezing past moms and crying children, still trying to get the stinkin' bread. It was hilarious. Picture normally put-together (or so we like to think) stay at home moms trying to outsmart some rascally goats... it involved lifting some over the fence to each other (and I'm talking goats people, not kids), holding them back with our legs as we tried to get the rest of the moms and kids through the gate, lots of crying children climbing up legs. Oh my. Did I mention how tired I was when we got home!?!

Luckily the pigs, sheep, cows, horses, chickens, etc. were not so frisky. Only the goats. Beware of the goats.

Tanglewood Farm

Today we went to a little petting zoo with Quinn's playgroup. Here are some cute pics:

A reminder

The past few days have been tiring and trying. I'm working on potty-training Quinn - it's slow going but we've made some progress. Then yesterday, I went to put him down for a nap (generally a non-issue) and he had a full-blown tantrum. I thought he'd resign himself to the fact and lay down and go to sleep, but he didn't. To make it worse, his yells went from angry to afraid. I could just tell something was wrong. I opened the door to his room, and lo and behold he had one leg over the top of the crib and was stuck that way... trying to escape. Thankfully he is not small and agile, or he would have toppled right over the side and onto the floor. So I spent the rest of the afternoon looking for big boy beds online, on the phone, etc. I guess I am in denial that he is nearly 2 1/2.

So anyhoo... it was a long, difficult day... and I was feeling kind of mopey that my baby is not so much a baby anymore.

This morning was a little crazy as well. I had a pta meeting, some errands to run, and I had planned to go to Conor's book fair at school at 11am. I forgot to remind him as he left this morning that I would be there. So at 10:55, I went to the media center and waited for his class to come in. When I saw him walk in, I could tell that he had been crying - not red-faced, puffy, hysterical crying - but he was teary and just sad-looking. When he saw me, he ran over with a HUGE smile and threw his arms around my waist. Apparently, he thought I had forgotten about the book fair because I didn't mention it to him this morning and he was sad because he assumed I wouldn't be there.

Even though I hate that he was worried for even five minutes that I'd be a no-show, it was a nice reminder that even my nearly eight year old needs and wants his mom still...

It's a GIRL...

In light of the fact that Riley is the only girl (and will remain the only girl in our family), that she NEVER asks for anything (whereas Conor has lists for the next 15 years worth of Christmas and Birthday presents), that she loves animals and is so sweet and nurturing with anyone or anything smaller than herself, we broke down and got her a kitten. Here are some pictures of her and Isabella (or as she likes to call her "Izzy-girl")...

Autumn Fun

Some pictures of us at Berry Patch Farms with the Hasslers on Sunday.

Thankful Thursday... btw, completely stealing, I mean borrowing, this idea from others

Today I am thankful for...

* The beautiful fall weather - it's just perfect.
* Kellie calling to tell me how cute Quinn was walking into his classroom today and staying for a while to spy on him and give me the goods.
* Josh might be able to get on an earlier flight and make it home for a late dinner with us (or maybe I should be thankful that he WANTS to come home on an earlier flight just so he can be home for dinner).
* Having the Hasslers over Saturday night for chili and football and then pumpkin-picking on Sunday.
* Riley's curls with the attitude to match.
* Conor's baseball game being at 10:30am on Saturday so it doesn't interfere with Quinn's nap, so kow he will be in good humor and I can actually watch and cheer instead of keeping Quinn occupied and distracted the whole time.
* Learning Express gift wraps all presents for free - which made my birthday present shopping for R's friend that much easier today.
* That my oldest (in length of time not in age!) and dearest friend is having another BABY! :)


And of course, I'm thankful it's almost Friday.

A day in the life of Quinn

6:30am wake up... mommy comes running, picks me up from crib with hugs and kisses
8am... brother and sister leave for school; I pick out my own outfit - my favorite - Buckeyes jersey or as I call it "football shirt"
8:15am... carpet cleaner arrives; i put on my fireman hat and yell "hi" to him whenever i can peek and catch a glimpse
10am... playgroup day - we meet friends at Eagle Watch park - for two hours I enjoy the BEAUTIFUL fall day with my mom and my buddies
12pm... home for lunch with mom
1pm... almost forgot we have to bring snack to school tomorrow... quick trip to Kroger.... mom is a sucker because when we walk by the bakery and I yell "donut!", she buys one for me... I sit in the green car (my color choice for the day) cart and happily eat my donut while she picks up a few things
1:30pm... home again - time for a nap
currently 3:44... still napping

Truly if I could bottle Quinn up and keep him this age - this sweet, funny, great company, MOSTLY happy little guy - I would do it in a heartbeat. Every day with him is a gift.

Riley

This morning, while making Conor's bed, I found a note to left to him by his secret admirer... it read "Conor, I think you are the best person in this whole family. Love, your secret special family member"...

Swift kick in the pants

I came across this today... a lesson for how to be with your children. Makes BIG things (such as the crappy economy, AIG's woes, wondering if there will be a presidential debate, the fact that nearly every gas station in metro Atlanta is out of gas and the ones that aren't are charging a ridiculous amount) seem unimportant and small... and the LITTLE things (like Conor, Riley, and Quinn) seem very wonderfully big and important. Just as it should be.

Be there. Say yes as often as possible. Let them bang on pots and pans. If they’re cranky, put them in water. Realize how important it is to be a child. Go to the movie theatre in your pajamas. Read books out loud with joy. Invent. Remember how small they really are. Giggle. Giggle a lot. Surprise them. Say no when necessary. Teach feelings. Heal your own inner child. Learn about parenting. Hug trees together. Make loving safe. Bake a cake and eat it with no hands. Go find elephants and kiss them. Plan to build a rocket ship. Imagine yourself magic. Makes lots of forts with blankets. Let your angel fly. Reveal your own dreams. Search out the positive. Keep the gleam in your eye. Write letters to God. Encourage silly. Plant licorice in your garden. Open up. Stop yelling. Express your love. A lot! Speak kindly. Paint their tennis shoes. Handle with care. Always remember ~ Children are miraculous

E-Bay

Conor is now smarter, cooler, and more computer savvy than myself (as if this was ever in question). He placed a bid on e-bay for what he claims is a very rare pokemon card. I'll have to take his word for that, because I'm a bit of a pokemon illiterate. So when he won, he paid Josh the $.92 and his card is now being shipped.

Circus Fun

Some pictures of the gang at the circus Friday night...

TGI (almost) F

It's hard to believe it's only Thursday. This MAY have been one of the longest weeks I can remember. For now, we think Josh's job and company (AIG, as most of you know) are safe. We don't know what tomorrow will bring, but we are thinking positive and taking it one day at a time.

On the homefront, it's been great having the kids at home for a week. We laid low most of the time, although the last 24 hours have been a little nutty. Yesterday Riley received a call from her friend Madison asking if she could play. A couple hours later, they called to see if she could also spend the night. As we were driving over there to drop off a "sleepover bag" for her, we passed Conor's good friend's house and saw his dad outside. We stopped to chat and ended up taking Jax with us to dinner and then back to our house to spend the night. This morning we traded kids (took Jax home and picked up Riley) and headed to the park to meet other friends. Conor and Riley each had a playdate after the park too - Conor's friend Jared came home with us and Riley went home with Jenna. I finally have only my three back at my house, and we're looking forward to a nice weekend together, which includes Halloween costume-shopping and a surprise trip to the circus tomorrow night!

Potty training is not over by a long shot, but we're getting there... one day at a time (I guess that is my mantra for the week).

TGIF (close enough!)!

Still potty-training...

Yep, we're still potty-training. I think this may be a slow and laborious process.

The silver lining (which has NOTHING whatsoever to do with potty training but has me smiling)?!? The WIGGLES are coming to Atlanta! The joy!

As many of you know, Quinn is well... a Wiggles-aholic. He is going to be Murray for Halloween (his favorite wiggle, because he carries the guitar), and now he will get to see the Wiggles sing and dance, live in concert. Seriously, I'm so excited for him, I can hardly stand it. November 16 (yes, also the same day as my half-marathon!), Wiggles - here we come!

Potty-training

It's fall break for us this week... no school, no plans. This is a good thing for us, as we have taken WAY TOO many trips in the last year (Disneyworld, Hilton Head, TX, NC, Ohio - twice... lots of traveling!). So my goal for the week (besides some down time, obviously) is to potty train Quinn.

Conor and Riley were a snap. Both of them were potty trained within weeks of their second birthdays. Quinn is now pushing 2 years and 5 mos and no success. But I'm determined (and my determination is now closely rivaling Quinn's stubborn refusal). Yesterday was semi-successful... and I'm hoping for an even better today. I'll keep you posted. And I'll have to share a picture of Quinn in his cute little underwear. I'll save that for tomorrow.

Just in case...

There is a family in our neighborhood who I don't know well but see at the baseball fields and the pool often. I attaching a link to their story, just in case anyone would like to help them.

http://www.davisgoestochina.com/Home_Page.html

Introducing - The X Monkeys

Today, I heard a lot of noise coming from Riley's room. Loud noise is not uncommon in this house, so unless somone is screaming in pain or crying, I tune it out for the most part... until Riley yelled downstairs "Mom, come up. We have a surprise for you." So I went up.

I was then introduced to the X-Monkeys, which is apparently a new band consisting of - you guessed it - Conor (on drums - really overturned books on the floor and some snazzy Aerosmith drumsticks) and Riley (lead vocals). They currently have two songs, neither of which is long but both are creative and cute.

But my favorite part was that after my private concert, Conor looked at me and said "We've decided on a money jar"... I wasn't sure what he meant by that but he proceeded to explain that this way they wouldn't actually CHARGE for performances, but when we have company at holidays, etc. they would just leave their money jar out. Grandparents beware!

The weekend

It was a baseball-filled weekend for our family. Saturday was Conor's first game. His team lost (which was a bummer!), but Conor scored two out of their four runs. Sunday was "girl scout day" at the Braves. So Josh stayed home with Quinn, and I (bravely - no pun intended) took Conor, Riley, and one of Riley's brownie friends, Madison, to meet up with a few other girls from her troop for a long, HOT, sunny day at Turner Field.

Destination: Relaxation

As many of you know, I like a good getaway as much as the next person, but I also have an "I miss my kids and worry about them and wish I could kiss them goodnight" complex, which has often made it difficult for me to unwind and enjoy myself. In light of this, Josh and I decided to revamp our original 10-year anniversary (in January) plans to go somewhere far, far away and exotic on a long vacation, for a couple shorter, mini-vacations over the year. Our first is this week. We're heading out on Wednesday for the Ritz Carlton Lodge and Resort at Reynolds Plantation in Lake Oconee. I've heard it's beautiful. I look forward to 48 hours of pampering. We're staying on the Concierge Level, I have a half-day at the spa booked for Thursday, and we have a private "chiminea (am I even spelling that right!?!) dinner" booked one night, where you have your own personal chef and relax in adirondack (again with the spelling, what do you expect from an english major?) chairs by the fire while your meal is prepared. Other than that, I plan on doing some reading, lounging by the pool, going for runs on the grounds, and just plain relaxing (with several phone calls to check on my wee-ones of course)... baby steps.

My boyfriend(s)...

Watch what you say in front of your children...

Just giving you a friendly word of advice.

Last night at dinner, just as the waitress came to take our drink orders, Riley looks up, points, and says "Mom, there's your boyfriend".

It took me a moment to realize she was pointing at the tv, and that she was actually talking about Grady Sizemore (very cute, very young Indians player on whom I might have a slight, school-girl crush).

However, short of stammering an explanation to the bewildered waitress, I just let it go and Josh and I CRACKED UP as she walked away.

This is not the first time either. About a year ago, Riley pointed out another boyfriend of mine (Dr. McDreamy) on the cover of People magazine at the grocery store.

Lucky me with all these boyfriends.

1st grade

Riley has taken first grade by storm. We are so proud of her. She has aced every one of her pre-spelling tests, moved on to the challenge words, and then aced them. She is her teacher's helper, always running things to the office or helping other kids. We received a letter home last week that she was referred to the gifted teachers for testing, which she began this week.

In light of this, I wanted to do something small to show her how proud we are of her and how well she is doing. Like most (all) girls her age, she loves The Jonas Brothers and their new cd came out recently. Last night at dinner, we told her what a great job she has done so far in 1st grade and said that for a special treat, I would pick up the new cd and have it home for her today after school.

Riley, who unlike Conor, is not one to ask for material things very often, was super-excited... at first. Then she got a little quiet. So I said "is there something else small you'd rather have?'

She said "no"... and then "well maybe".

Of course, I said "just tell me what it is, we can do something else instead", to which she replied "a new dog".

Um, not exactly what I was thinking.

And Conor's version...

I got such a kick out of Riley's answer, that I decided to ask Conor what he thought Jesus looked like. His description: brown curly hair, glasses, and a brown jacket.

Seriously folks!?!

In their defense, when I was little, I always imagined he looked somewhat like Shaggy from Scooby-Doo but with a white robe. Weird?

What do George Michael and Jesus have in common?

Tonight Riley asked me if I knew what Jesus looked like. Of course, I answered "no, not exactly", but I had to ask what SHE thought he looked like.

This was her answer... "Well, I think he wears little white shorts and a white t-shirt."... hmmm.

I'm picturing George Michael circa the Wham days (remember the video to "Wake me up before you go-go"?).

Yikes.

Go Buckeyes!

In honor of the first game of the season (less than two weeks - woo-hoo!), here is a picture of my future Buckeyes...

It took until now...

... before I could write this post.

Well, without crying, that is.

Because this was Quinn's first week of preschool.

He's a big boy - in the 2 year old class two mornings a week.

And - he loves it.

I, on the other hand, have not adjusted quite as well.

There has been lots (and lots) of crying (just ask Josh).

But I'm doing better.

Donations are currently being accepted for anticipated therapy I will need for kindergarten. Thanks in advance.

:) Just kidding... sort of.

Riley, the skeptic

Thank you, thank you, thank you Lord... Riley finally lost that darn tooth last night. So the toothfairy (aka Josh) left her treat under her pillow last night (okay 5am when I reminded him as I got up to run - yes, I run that early, and yes I am that crazy)... you may wonder why I didn't just do it myself. Think hard. Not graceful, known to trip over my own feet. You got it. He snuck in and out in mere seconds and gave me the thumbs up. Anyways, I should have just done it myself because this was what happened when she woke up...

Riley: Guess what? The tooth fairy left my money and she even left me my tooth. She only takes the first one. (this is true in our house, too hard to also try to feel under a pillow and find a teeny-tiny tooth in the dark without waking said child)

Josh and I (not in unison, but you get the point): Wow! Awesome!

Josh goes upstairs and Riley looks at me.

Riley: Well, I'm pretty sure I ACTUALLY saw dad put something under my pillow and not the tooth fairy.

Me (trying not to make eye contact): Oh, you must have had a dream that it was daddy putting it under your pillow when it was really the tooth fairy.

Riley: Um, well I wasn't really asleep so I think it was him. I saw him closing the door.

Gulp.

Me (nervously laughing now): Well maybe the tooth fairy used her magical powers so she would just look like daddy.

Conor (poor sweet gullible Conor who will believe in everything until he is 18): The tooth fairy DOES have magical powers you know.

We dropped it, but she knows - and she knows I know... you can't pull one over on Riley. But I thought it was sweet that she tried to spare Josh in all his tooth fairy glory.

And just for effect, look at her cute toothless smile...

Guilty as charged...

With the big kids off at school, Quinn and I are left to our own devices for the day. Today that meant grocery shopping and then yardwork (read: Quinn bringing out a bucket of cars to play with outside and mommy doing yardwork in the 97 degree heat)... we came inside to cool down and have a drink. I found Quinn curled up on the chair with his sippy cup and Riley's beloved baby. I'm burning the evidence (after I post it of course), because if Riley knew Quinn had his hands on her baby, there'd be trouble.

And speaking of Riley, the tooth fairy is officially on alert. She has a tooth dangling on by - well, it's nothing short of a miracle, because it twists and turns in ways not ever witnessed by man.

1st day of school 2008-2009

And they're off...