Happy Third Birthday Soren!

Dear Soren,

Today is your third birthday. You have been on this earth for 1095 days. And in that short time you have turned my world upside down, rocked it, and I could never imagine life without you.

Thank you for everything that you are. You are an AMAZING person, and you continue to amaze me every day we share together.

I love the fact that you can say the word Massachusetts, but you still yell out "COCK WITH ME, MOMMY!" in public, because you can't properly say the word "talk" yet.

I love the fact that you are an avid Angry Bird fan, and you have mastered many levels on your own without my help. Honestly kid, I suck at that game, and appreciate the fact you don't hound me when I tell you I can't help you unlock a new level.

I love the fact you willingly potty trained for M&M's almost a year ago, and you still think you should get chocolate every time you pee.... even if you don't make it.

I love the fact that every time you do go potty, you hop around in frantic circles in the living room yelling "PEE" while you try to get your pants down in time.

I love the fact you still have a furry fetish. At last count I believe you are up to 46 stuffed animals, 23 of which are puppies.

I love the fact you can now say "I wuff you, Mommy". I've been waiting for that moment ever since you were born.

I love that you can keep up with your brothers and sometimes even put them in their place. Just try and be careful not to bounce too hard on their faces when you wrestle them to the ground and sit on them to keep them there. If you break Ashes glasses again, I'm not going to be happy.

I love that your favorite food is broccoli and you even want it for breakfast. Sometimes I wonder if you're actually human due to that little quirk, but I'll take it.

I love the fact that you can count up to twenty but you freak out if I try to sing to you the Alphabet Song. Although to be fair, you freak out when I try to sing ever. You know kid, my voice isn't that bad. I can actually sing in tune.

I love the fact that each night that I tuck you in, you insist that I tuck you in "Pirate Style" arrrrh!

There is so much that I love about you. But most of all, I love seeing you happy, curious, determined, and loving your family. You are so loved and cherished by us all. Thank you for everything and keep it up. This year has been so much fun. I can't wait to see what you have in store for us this year.



     Love with all my heart,
                          Mom

Our New Family Hobby

While the fam was on vacation, J and I took the boys out to do something we used to do often BC: we took them out on the river. Normally, J and I would kayak every few weekends on the Concord River back in Massachusetts. We'd grab the boat and a picnic lunch, kayak down to the Old North Bridge ( where the Revolutionary War started up so many years ago), picnic on the battle field, then kayak back.

Since we have three kids, none of which have held a paddle in their life, we chose a canoe instead. Now, maybe I'm weird, but while I love to kayak, I hate canoing. It's a control thing. I hate having to work as a team in trying to keep the damn boat straight and not falter into the marsh. If I'm going to falter into the marsh I'LL be the one to do it on my own, thankyouverymuch. But it wasn't an option the first time around, and grudgingly I accepted the canoe paddle and insisted on steering.

We had a beautiful time together. No one got hurt. I kept us out of the marsh. And the boys fell in love with the water.

Floating down the Concord River

 

 We canoed to the Old North Bridge, following the journey J and I used to do before the boys were born, and initiated our kids into the tradition of eating on the battle field of freedom. J and I tried to impart historical knowledge to our boys as we sat there eating. Xavier was the only one semi interested. The other two kept looking for ducks to feed their bread crust to.

Xavier, Ashe, Soren posing on the Old North Bridge, Concord, MA

We finished up and headed back and when we reached the boat house, all three kids looked up to us and said "Again!" So the moment we got home we started pricing out kayaks.

Sadly, if we were to purchase kayaks for the family, it would cost us $1,000, not to mention a rack for the van, and how to safely balance them on one vehicle. So purchasing at this point is not an option.

So we started looking for places that rented them. And around our area, they are few and far between. But I did find one that was conveniently right up the road from us. I decided this morning that while the kids were at Grandma's. I would head over to check it out.

I grabbed a kayak for $6 an hour, hauled out into the lake and headed out. It was so peaceful, just drifting around the lakes perimeter. I was able to see some pretty nifty wildlife that I could sneak up to and catch on my phone camera

One of the two herons I spotted at Bond Park Cary, NC

This lazy ass turtle hung out catching rays while I snapped his photo. His siblings jumped ship.

The cool thing about this place is that we can all fit on two double kayaks as opposed to two double and a single. And the water is so shallow around the perimeter that even if the boys somehow tipped us over, it would only come to Soren's waist. So now I can't wait for the weekends so we can get out and continue this new tradition with the kids!

I'm Not Dead Yet

Hello my friends! I hope the past few weeks have been kind to you and yours. May you have had wonderful, coffee filled days, and relaxing alcohol filled evenings.

It's been a crazy few weeks here in SRMville. I've been on more airplanes in the past month than I have in five years, traveling to weddings and family vacations. But I'm home now, the kids are packed off to my moms for a few days and I am finally able to sit my ass down and catch up on blogging.

Since my last blog things have changed a bit, which, unfortunately, impacts my blogging time. For one thing, Soren no longer naps. And it's virtually impossible for me to sneak down and blog during the day as I used to. I've tried blogging a few times on my laptop but each time I've gotten half a blog done, somehow I get bumped by the kids racing around conquering the couch in their name, and I lose it. I realized that it was not conducive to my (or the kids) health to try and blog while they are vertical. However I hope that now with things calming down, and 2/3 of the kids heading to school in a couple weeks, I may find a time that works.

So what's been going on? Oh hell, where do I begin? We had two weddings to attend. I think I know only two more people who have not hitched the ball and chain, one of which is going to do so in October, the other being my brother who, I foresee, won't be taking such a huge leap for many years coming.

The entire family took their first trip on a plane together and we survived. Not only did we survive, but we kicked ass. The three kids did such an amazing job, and we weren't forced off the plane. For the record, gummy bears ROCK for getting rid of the preassure in kids ears when you are on a plane.

We headed to native land, a la Massachusetts, for a week of family and friend gatherings, and hitting our favorite haunts.

Xavier graduated fourth grade with flying colors. I mean, the boy kicked ass. We got his EOG (end of grade) test results back and he tested way beyond grade placement. He got the fifth grade teacher his special ed teacher wanted him to have, and he's excited to start school in a few weeks.

 Soren is about to turn three this week, which just floors me. It doesn't feel like it was three years ago on Father's Day that I was breaking J's bones as I squeezed his hands yelling "HAPPY FUCKING FATHER'S DAY SWEETIE!" We'll be having an Angry Bird birthday party this weekend with friends and family. I'll post photos next week. Since I last posted, the boys vocabulary has gone through the roof. We're done with two word sentences. We're now into full on paragraphs, and pronouncing words some adults have a hard time getting out of their mouths, And yet, he still has a hard time with some of the more simple words.

I missed all of you and the blogging world! It feels good to be back!