... 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.