Life At The Circus

The time is 11:45pm.  One tired hubby is doing his best to fall asleep so he can get up the next morning and go to work and provide for his family.  Meanwhile his “endearing wife” keeps him awake chattering away about the fun festivities she has planned for the following week. Because he is a good man, he kindly listens as I tell him about National Pancake Day and why it is celebrated, when I know that truthfully, he wants nothing more than to roll over and fall asleep.   OK so maybe there is one thing he’d like more than that, but I can guarantee you it had nothing to do with pancake day… In case any of you, like me, get a little too excited over totally frivolous holidays, I thought I’d share with you the fun plans we have for this week at the circus.  While the circus dad patiently listened to my mid night ramblings, he couldn’t quite match my childlike enthusiasm.   It really is the little things that make me giddy. Did you know that Tuesday ...

Ever since I saw the movie Space Camp , it’s been a desire of mine to see a space shuttle launch, up close and in person.  I’m not a space nut or anything, but I do find the whole concept of space travel fascinating.  And while I don’t have a technical bucket list, so to say, if I did, seeing a launch in person would most definitely be on that list.   Which, is why we switched our vacation plans around last fall and took our family to Florida , to try and see the last launch of the Space Shuttle Discovery and one of the last U.S. space shuttle launches ever. But, as I wrote about back in November , the Discovery experienced some technical difficulties which postponed the launch until February 24, 2011.  Can you imagine if we had waited it out?  Can you say “Longest Camping Trip Ever!”  or “Mama is going bananas!”?? I am a friend of the KSC on face book and I have been following the updates since last summer.  (OK, so maybe I am a little of a ...

Reading has not come without its share of battles and tears for my son.  Last year, he truly HATED to read and it was such a struggle for us.  I at times found myself wondering if I was really meeting his needs by homeschooling.  Part of me kept telling myself, “He is a boy.  He’ll get it, it just takes time.  Don’t worry.”  But another part said, “Am I doing a good enough job?  Should I push more?  Should I put him in school instead?”  I tried all sorts of ways to make it more fun (like cramming my 9 month preggo body onto the floor of our closet).  I also started using incentives… like “read 10 books and you get a date with mom.”  (Hello frappuchinos!)  This worked some, but honestly, sometimes 10 books seemed like too loft of a goal. I then stumbled across a carrot which worked wonderfully. Gum He and his sisters got a piece of gum if he read a book that day.  This worked well b/c the girls became instant encour...

I love that my 3 yr old will happily dress herself in the morning, without even needing to be told.  I need, however,  to work with her on not wearing clashing patterns...  checkered meets stripes…meets polka dots… Oh My!! Apparently, I also need to have the “less is more” discussion with her on make up application.  Unless of course she plans to be a clown when she grows up.  And yes, if you were wondering… I did in fact let her leave the house this way b/c A.  I thought her sense of style (or lack there of) was precious.. B.  We were running late and I didn’t have time to engage in the ward robe battle. C.  We were going to a friends house for art class, which even though this meant we’d see 8 other families worth of kids, some how in my head it didn’t count as going out in public …makes me wonder which one of us will get more mileage out of these pictures in the black mail category… me as I show her future boy friends her ...

Without having to pay thousands of dollars to fly to the Caribbean for a few days, we in the Maryland area were blessed with a week of spring weather in February.  And the Circus kids and I soaked up every precious minute of it.  I had my kids outside as much as possible this week.  Biking, Swinging, Picnicking, digging, and wading… Rumor has it snow could fall here next week.  And while I really want to whine and complain, begging for spring, I must remember that it is February 18th and we went barefoot today.  We were given a gift… a vacation from the norm.  I will say thanks for our reprieve and cling to the hope that soon enough we will have many more weeks like this one.

I truly am in awe of George Lucas.  Seriously, the man was a genius.  My son is obsessed and I mean OBSESSED with Star Wars these days.  Literally, every question out of his mouth has to do with Star Wars.  When he watches the movies, I swear he is studying them… entranced by every detail.  You think I am exaggerating, but I promise you, I am not.  The boy eats drinks, sleeps Star Wars. And, he isn’t alone… there is a whole cult following of Star Wars junkies. Which is what has me in awe.  The movie first premiered over 30 years ago.  30 years ago. We are living in a whole new world, a world of cell phones, internet, google… and yet this very same movie is captivating the minds and imaginations of children to a near cult like following… It’s not just like the movie is followed by guys who watched it as kids and  enjoy reminiscing.  Though it is, it is also followed by children who are watching it with fresh eyes and fal...

Well, it’s over… another great football season has has come to an end.  While the ending wasn’t quite as sweet as I wanted, it was to be honest, a WHOLE lot better than I thought it would be when the season started.  I never dreamed in August that we’d be having a Steelers party in February. Looking back, it was a great season.  We had a ton of fun cheering for our boys in black and gold.  We had several family gatherings at our place to watch the game.  I went on a date with my dad to Pittsburgh to watch a game at Bettis’ Grille 36.  We even orchestrated our schedule so that we were in hotels for the 2 games that occurred during our family vacation.  It was quite fun parading around our Disney Hotel in our Steelers jerseys.  Scott and I went to an actual home game with my dad in December.  And, we had a fabulous play off run, culminating with a Superbowl Party! As we left my parents house early Monday afternoon, we had the thought to t...

We’ve been playing the song on repeat for weeks and now the day is here.  Pittsburgh isn’t going to the Super Bowl anymore they are AT the Superbowl!  And we are ready to cheer them on for their 7th Superbowl victory! Even our dog Maggie is sporting the black and gold today! GO STEELERS!!!!!!

A few weeks ago my FIL approached me about running in a local half marathon with him at the beginning of March.  Because I seem to require a race to motivate me to run, I was eager to accept.  However, it only left me about 7 weeks to prepare and I was not in running shape, having only run a handful of times since my son’s birth last June.  I found some training guides online (both of which suggested 12 weeks to prepare) and spent a good amount of time face booking and e-mailing with a friend about my strategy.  I’ve pretty much settled into 2 short runs a week and one long run on the weekend, with the distances for both increasing each week.  This week my short runs are 4.5 miles and my long run will be 7 miles.  By the week prior to the race I will be up to 10 miles for my long run and I believe 5 miles for my short runs.   This is the first time I have trained for a race using a treadmill.  I know it isn’t exactly like running on the r...

Some of you may remember my post last December (as in 2009) in which I shared one of Scott’s moments of sheer brilliance at the dinner table.  Well, I feel the need to tell you that 13 months later and my kids are STILL eating their vegetables to spite their Daddy.  I am sure this says something of their character… for which we must spend some time rectifying, but meanwhile my mean spirited little children are eagerly gobbling up their vegetables.  I had no idea it would last this long.  I thought for sure after a few weeks it would get old.    My son quickly caught on to the game, even quietly telling Daddy one day he knows it’s just a game he plays to get them to eat their vegetables… and still he’ll play along.  (much like Santa Claus) The game is def best suited to my competitive second born.  I have seen her literally gagging as she tries to down her vegetables just so she can show daddy “ha, ha I cleaned my plate… your not going ...