Farewell to my preschooler!

Last week was Vinnie's last week of preschool. I can not even believe he is going to be in kindergarten this fall!



He went to a very small home preschool program. They have a tradition that on the last day of preschool there is a party at the local park for dinner.


Vinnie with his teachers- Miss Marisol, Miss Tiffany, Miss Janice


There is a sweet little presentation for the "Happy Hearts" (the kids moving on to kinder)





Welcome to kindergarten!!

Time to cut down on Christopher's soda consumption

Christopher is a boy of many talents. Burping on demand is one of them. Seriously, after throwing back a sippy cup of anything, he can belt out burps you wouldn't believe could come from a baby. Just one of the joys living in a house full of boys.

He chose Mass this morning to display this talent. Loudly. Over and over. People were looking over at us and starting to giggle, which just egged him on some more.

At least everyone had shoes on.



"What? Burping at church? I would never do that! ;-) "

Remember my new running partner?

The pepper spray? Well, a couple of mornings ago I came home from my run and set it on the entry way table, then went upstairs and hopped into the shower. About 5 minutes later I hear a bunch of screaming (which in and of itself didn't make me even bat an eye) then Peter stuck his head in the bathroom and screamed that Zachary got pepper spray in his eyes. I started screaming and jumped out of the shower and went running down the hall. I have sprayed it before and know that a lot comes out and it is pretty powerful. I envisioned my oldest child, blind because I was careless and left it out. ( I was also wondering what the hell my 10 year old was doing playing with it!!) .

I grabbed Zach and threw him in the shower and started scrubbing him down like crazy. It was like the scene out of Silkwood when Meryl Streep gets contaminated in the nuclear plant (am I remembering that scene correctly?) I then got the story out of him. He picked it up (knowing it was my pepper spray mind you!), unlocked the switch and sprayed it on the wall. He panicked and tried cleaning it up with paper towels. He then rubbed his hands into his eyes. Not nearly as dramatic as a full spray in the face (thank God!!), but more excitement than I like on a monday morning before school.

My stomach turns just thinking about what could have happened. Christopher could have got his hands on it. Any of the boys' could have been sprayed in the face. All because of my carelessness.

Zach and I had a nice talk about touching things when you don't know what they can do.

He learned a big lesson that moning.

And so did I.

On motherhood

This morning I walked by the boys' bathroom and saw the sweetest thing. Joey was holding Christopher on the toilet so he could pee. Christopher had been running around naked since his shower, and apparently went up to Joey pointing down at himself and said "pee pee". (Now that in of itself is quite a story since he is not potty trained yet). Without missing a beat Joey brought him to the bathroom, put him up on the toilet, and was holding him while he went.

These are the moments that make being a mom worth it. Watching your children grow into compassionate, loving people. Big brothers who love and care about their little brothers enough to stop their games to help them out. Times like this actually make me feel like I am doing something right with these guys.



Thanks boys for being the most incredible kids a mom could ever ask for!!

And a happy Mother's day to everyone out there!

My new running partner

It is pepper spray with a handy little strap to use while running. Why the new running partner? Last week I was out running my favorite trail and had a little encounter that terrified me! About 10 feet in front of me a bobcat was walking along! (Actually, I am not quite sure what it was. I suppose it could have been a small mountain lion) I stopped cold as soon as I saw it. I had nowhere to go. There was a barb wire fence on one side of me and bushes dropping down to a creak on the other side. I don't even think the cat saw me as he scooted off into the bushes. I was afraid to move forward, thinking that it was going to leap out at me. I checked out the barb wire fence and was planning my escape, figuring that would do less damage to me. After a few minutes though I decided to just keep going. I scooted all the way up to the fence and walked as quickly as I could to the trail entrance (I was afraid running might get the cats attention). I vowed not to go back out onto that trail.

A few days later I was ready for another run, but I just hate running out on the streets! I figured since it was Saturday and later in the morning (the incident was at 6:30 in the morning on a Thursday. Not much foot traffic out there at that time) there would be people out there and I would be safe. I did carry my pepper spray though, and will carry it always while running now. As if pepper spray is going to stop a bobcat!