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Riley’s first day of school - 7/2008

Colin’s first day of school - 7/2006

Posted on July 1st, 2008 by Shirley
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Just started to potty train Riley with the Huggies pull-ups.  The overnites have Toy Story characters on them.  It’s hard to keep a straight face when your 2-year old son points down at his crotch and says, “Look Mommy! Woody!”

Posted on June 1st, 2008 by Shirley
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So when I picked up Colin from school this afternoon, the principal pulled me aside and told me that she had something to share with me about what Colin did today.

I braced myself for the typical parent-principal “talk”. Did Colin punch someone (something he did on Monday, giving a kid a bloody nose)? Or perhaps he was disrupting the classroom during circle time?

“Colin pee’d in a trash can.”

“Umm…Come again? Did Colin have an accident? I must have heard wrong, because it sounded like you said he pee’d in a trash can.”

She chuckles and repeats, “Yep, he pee’d right into the trash can inside the bathroom.”

So I go to my son and we have this conversation:

Me: Colin, what did you do today at school that was wrong?
Colin: I pee-pee’d in a trash can.
Me: Now why would you do a thing like that?
Colin: Because there was no 3 toilets in the bathroom.
Me: What was wrong with the 2 toilets?
Colin: Because Nathan was using 1 toilet and Taylor was using 1 toilet, and there was no 3 toilets.
It finally made sense. Charlie and I had ingrained into our son’s head that peeing in his pants was wrong, but we had never mentioned anything about peeing in a trash can being a no-no.

So Colin got off with peeing in a trash can without any punishment outside of a little lecture on his grammar.

Silly boy.

Btw, did I mention how much I love Riley’s dimples?

Posted on March 27th, 2008 by Shirley
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After Super Tuesday….

Charlie: Arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Colin: What’s wrong Daddy?
Charlie: There’s going to be a woman president and it’s going to be a Clinton.
Colin: Oh.
A few moments later…
Colin: Mommy, is Clinton a bad word?
Me: In our household it is.
So after watching an episode of “Throwdown with Bobby Flay” last Thursday featuring Auntie Em’s famous red velvet cupcakes, I decided to bring the family to the Eagle Rock establishment for breakfast this morning.  Of course, I was not the only avid foodnetwork watcher with that idea.  The tiny little restaurant was packed, so I ordered a red velvet cupcake (for me and hubby to share) and two mini chocolate cupcakes for the boys to go.  After grabbing breakfast down the street at Pat and Lorraine’s (”Reservoir Dogs” was filmed there!), we headed home to sample the goodies we picked up.

I would have to say that I was a little disappointed in the red velvet cupcake.  The frosting was amazing, but the cake was…meh…I didn’t think it had enough cocoa flavor to it.  The boys, however, were less discriminate. Chocolate frosting on a chocolate cake with rainbow sprinkles? I can’t imagine a better combo for them.

Posted on March 2nd, 2008 by Shirley
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Charlie: Let’s wait til our kids are a bit older before we go on our next vacation.  How about when Riley turns 21?

Just got back from a 2-day Sea World/Legoland trips with the boys.  Spent the first day at Sea World, spent the night at the Hilton Torrey Pines Golf Resort, and then finished off the trip with a day at Legoland.

The boys had a blast, but Charlie and I are exhausted.  We are getting freakin’ old and it shows.  It’s showing so much that I was contemplating photoshopping our trip pics to get rid of my tired eyes and wrinkly skin.  Pretty pathetic.  Charlie made the point that I look old because I am old, but there’s solace in knowing that I’m married to him and he will always think I’m hot no matter how wrinkly I get. I didn’t know if I should be slapping him or hugging him for that comment. I did neither, because I was still exhausted from the trip and both options required too much physical activity.

But on the bright side, my boys are adorable!

Colin crawling around at the Sea World playground.

Riley working diligently on his “Tower of Power” at Legoland.

Colin earning his driver’s license at Legoland.

At the end of a long day, Riley cuddles up to his new best friend.

Colin and Daddy acting silly.

Posted on December 29th, 2007 by Shirley
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Colin: So Mommy, did you bring back presents?
Riley: Mama! TV!
(The first words that popped out of my kids’ mouths when they saw me after our trip from Jamaica.)

Got back from Jamaica late last night (thanks for the ride, Phil!).  Feels weird being back.  Charlie said I looked like I was in a daze all day today.  I’m trying to snap out of my funk.
Our 4-day mini-vacation was incredible.  Was going to write a lengthy review, but since I’m still feeling a bit off, I’ll just summarize:

1) The resort we stayed at was amazing.  With less than 15 guests at the resort, (and that’s with it being sold out for the time that we were there!),  you’re guaranteed personalized service.  Everyone knows you by name there. 
2) Charlie thought that his massage therapist was hot.
3) I had a mini-crush on the lifeguard.
4) I tipped over our kayak while trying to avoid crashing into a cave wall.
5) Charlie nearly drowned from fatique while swimming in the ocean (we stayed poolside afterwards).
6) I tested out the resort’s motto “ask, and you shall receive”, by requesting a lobster tail for dessert (and they even served it with a smile!).

Some pics:

Getting ready for lunch cliffside.

My lobster dinner the first night we were there.

The view from our bedroom window.

Posted on November 23rd, 2007 by Shirley
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Me: Colin, what are you eating?
Colin: My booger.
Me: Stop that now!
[long pause with finger extended]
Colin: Can I put my booger back in my nose?
Me: Um…No. Let me get you a tissue.
[pops the whole thing  in his mouth]
Colin: Mommy, I do not need a tissue. The booger is gone.

Posted on November 7th, 2007 by Shirley
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[Overheard at the Halloween Party at Colin’s Preschool]
Kid #1[dressed as Obi Wan, and talking to a kid in a Spiderman costume ]: Hey! You don’t belong here!
Kid #2 [dressed as Luke Skywalker]: Yeah, you’re not dressed in Star Wars!
[Meanwhile, on the other side of the classroom…]
Kid #3: Haha! Kevin doesn’t have a halloween bucket! He has to use a garbage bag!
Kevin: Yes I do! It’s in my cubby! [starts to cry…]

I love opportunities to see Colin interact with his classmates.  Don’t know why, but it’s just so important to me to know that my boys will grow up to be socially accepted by their peers.  I don’t want them to be popular.  I just don’t want them to be the kid that everyone picks last to be on their kickball team. You know what I’m talking about.  The kid that gets cards on Valentine’s Day only because the teacher insisted that they get distributed to everyone in the class or not at all. The kid that ends up playing a prop at the school play.
It breaks my heart whenever Colin comes home and tells me that no one wants to play with him. As a mother, I need to know if this is true. Colin tends to be a bit melodramatic at times, so I can’t always believe what he tells me (Last night, he spent 30 minutes moping around his bedroom, telling me how sad he was. Found out his depression was caused by Tivo prematurely cutting the end to a Batman episode). So getting to hang out with him and his friends for an hour inside the classroom was very eye-opening.
First off, I would have to say that I was initially disappointed in Colin’s costume choice, but since we agreed that he was old enough to make that decision himself, we went ahead and got him the beyond-cheesy, very commercial Power Ranger suit (don’t call it a costume, or Colin will get mad. It’s a “suit”) that he picked out. I wanted him in something a bit custom and unique. But after seeing the commotion he caused when he walked into the classroom, I knew that my son did good.
“Wow! Check out Colin! He’s a blue power ranger! Super cool!”
“Colin! Can I see your laser gun? Please?”
“Did you see Colin? He’s a power ranger!”
“That’s awesome Colin!”
The kids that came in very creative costumes got ooh’s and awww’s from parents and teachers, but didn’t get even so much as a second glance from any of the kids. Colin was a superstar in his $20 Target-bought polyester suit.
So after one hour of hearing kids say “Can I sit next to you, Colin?” and the like, I’ve come to the conclusion that I have nothing to worry about.

At least not until plastic laser guns are no longer impressive to the ladies.

Posted on November 4th, 2007 by Shirley
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Colin [rubbing my belly]: Mommy, when is your baby going to hatch?

They say kids are brutally honest and Colin is no exception to that rule.  I’ve gained 8 pounds in the last two months, and although Charlie thinks my little growing pot belly is cute (”more to love”),  my son likens it to me being in my 2nd trimester.  He’s excited at the prospect of having a little sister.  I’m afraid to tell him that there’s not going to be another addition to the family.  Mommy’s just been a bit overzealous with the Halloween candy.

I’ve been, in the past, very good with maintaining my weight.  Losing my pregnancy weight after Colin and Riley was a snap.  But losing weight and keeping a slim figure are two entirely different things.  A few months after Riley was born, I decided to shop for my interim wardrobe (clothes to wear while I worked my way to fitting into my old clothes).  Hit Banana Republic and was pleasantly surprised that I was the same size as before my two pregnancies!  Armed with this knowledge, I dug up my old clothes and tried them on. 

I couldn’t even pull my pants up beyond my hips. 

“Vanity sizing,” my sister-in-law explains to me.  Apparently, sometime between the birth of Colin and now, most major clothing manufacturers decided that Americans didn’t need to lose weight.  All they had to do is adjust the sizes up so that we can be more comfortable with our growing pot bellies.

“It’s true,” my waif of a sister laments, “I can’t even fit into a size 0 anymore”.  Since negative sizes have not hit the market yet, she resorts to shopping at Gap Kids.

As for me, I just need to suck it up and admit that I will never be as skinny as I used to be.  It’s time to toss my old size 4 wardrobe and buy a new size 4 wardrobe.

All I have to do now is let Colin know that it’s just going to be him and Riley for quite some time and I’ll be all set.

Posted on October 30th, 2007 by Shirley
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Me: Ow! Stop kicking me Colin!
Colin: I’m not kicking you mommy. I’m just putting my foot on your leg again and again.
[Charlie is dreading the day he hears “Daddy, I didn’t have sexual relations with that woman” from Colin.]

Not sure if anyone remembers, but I posted pics up of our half bath that I started working on a few months back. Well, as of today, the bathroom is finally done! 

The before pic:

The after pics:

Charlie didn’t believe that I could do it, and chastised me for starting a project that he thought I didn’t have the time to finish, but I showed him.  All it took was a little hard work, a little patience, and a few grand to my contractor and it was done.  Piece of cake.

Posted on October 22nd, 2007 by Shirley
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