Summer Challenge

My two friends and I, Aubree and Jing Jing, have challenged ourselves. Ok, I started it and they are weak and cave to peer pressure, but regardless, we are doing this together! We are going to complete 100 scrapbook pages between Memorial Day and Labor Day weekends. I won't mention that we are each counting some work we did as early as Wednesday or Thursday before Memorial Day weekend, it was a looong weekend, ok? It is the general time frame we are going for. It is fun to egg each other on, watch the work we each create and have a little friendly competition. Especially with creative ladies like these.

So, here are the first 8 pages I managed to get done last weekend. I have 3 more finished, just not photographed and downloaded yet. I think if we keep each other motivated, 100 pages won't be that hard? Especially if you have seen the stash of supplies we have stock piled. We tend to encourage shopping as well....

Update: Seeking Counselor.

So, as predicted, Erin arrived home from school yesterday and as soon as she found out that Ira .... shall we say "Took care of the bird" she was PISSED! I was talking to him on the phone and she started yelling at him and was angry and he got the Very Mad Face and everything. Do I know my kids or what. And to think, she looks this sweet?

Haley, on the other hand, was rather matter-of-fact about the entire thing. Blase' if you will. She was proud of the fact that she did not tell anyone at school as daddy made her promise not to. Weekend Mermaid, School Day ELmer Fudd (I thought I thaw A Birdy? I did, I did!).

Ira told me that of everyone he spoke to over the course of the day told him the man was just not right. In his defense? If we lived in some parts of the country, the kids would have not only had their own real guns by now, he would have taken them turkey hunting already and taught them how to clean their own kill.

Just saying.
Maybe we should move to the Great Smoky Mountains. Or West Virginia.
Robins is the best we can do in Cherry Hill.

Years. Of. Therapy.

Strangely, this time I am not talking about me. My children. They will most likely need years of therapy. You see, their father is insane. He has an obsession. With birds. And killing them. Not all birds, just the 3 that have nested in my back porch. Where they proceed to shit all over the cushions and table and deck and everything. It is gross, dirty, disgusting and unsanitary. We eat there. The kids and dogs walk out there and then come in the. We have removed the nest, almost daily, just to have it rebuilt over night. The damn robin even laid her eggs on the wood beam with no nest!

So the birds have to go.

The other night, we were on the porch, and one of the cushions was literally PILED with bird poop. Did I mention this was the day after I had spent hours out int eh sun scrubbing the cushions with soap and water and a scrub brush to put them out for the season? No? well, it was. And this cushion had little piles of bird poop. All. Over. It. Gross. There were these two sparrow like birds. Asleep on the wire over head. Ira picked up a small bottle of Gatorade someone left on the porch. He threw it. Would you believe he hit the sleeping bird? Yeah, I wouldn't have either. Until he held up a headless bird at the kitchen window.

Yup. Headless.

Now, here is the part where my kids need therapy. The next morning? Erin asked if he kept the bird so she could see it. Serious. She was mad he didn't wake her up to see it. (He asked, I wouldn't let him, by the way)

Next weekend, birds (well, 2 out of the 3) are still around. Things. Get. Serious. Ira goes to the hunting store and buys an automatic bee bee gun. Thing shoots like 100 pellets in a nano-second.

Bird doesn't stand a chance.

Kids are running in the house all weekend yelling, "Daddy! Get your gun! The birds are her! You gotta kill them!"

Something is wrong with this. Normal children do not behave this way.

This morning I get a text message from Ira.

The Robin is dead.

I call him on my break. He said he saw the Robin and he grabbed the gun (he keeps the pellets out of it and the CO2 canister out of it all in different places, no way the kids can get to it) and puts it together and sits on the porch. There is dirt and bird crap every place. The thing built its nest. Again. For the 478th time.

He sits an waits. The robin hops down from his nest. Mocking my husband. He hops across the concrete patio and .... DT-DT-DT-DT-DT-DT-DT-DT-DT-DT-DT-DT-DT-DT! His accuracy may not be true, but with an automatic weapon, just a sweep of the hand and the bird is gone.

Ira goes inside to get something to clean up the remains. He comes out and there is Haley. Kicking the bird with her shoe.

"I just wanted to see if it was still moving!"

When did she get so grown up?

Monday night was Haley's cheerleading show. Before that, I took the girls to dinner to meet two of Haley's friends and their moms at a pizza place. Ira met us there. From there, we went right to the show, where Haley and her cheerleading class did an OUTSTANDING job. They performed at the annual meeting for the JCC and were a fabulous success. I felt sorry for whoever had to talk after them. Just adorable.

As we left the JCC, Haley realized she lost her jacket. We knew she didn't bring it into the JCC so she must have left it at dinner. Back to the pizza place we went.... kids!

When we pulled into the parking lot, Erin said she would run in.

Really?

Ira and I sat and watched her go in the door. Now, the place has all glass windows, so we could see her and watch what she did. This is a pizza place I have been going to since I was, what, 14 I think? She went to the table where we sat and looked under all the benches. No jacket.

What would she do?

We watched.

She walked up to the counter.

She waited her turn.

We saw her talking to the very big, more than a little gruff and loud Italian-pizza-guy-behind-the-counter-named-Joey (Imagine that?) We saw Joey look around. We saw Joey hand Erin something. We saw Erin smile, say thank you and come skipping out the door with her sister's jacket. Joey smiled at us and waved over his head as she skipped away. He's a dad too. I know.

We were shocked.

She is 8 years old? How is she grown up enough to have the confidence to walk into a restaurant, look for the jacket, ask at the counter that is very over her head, and come skipping out? She didn't know we could see her the whole way?

When Erin got in the car, she was laughing. She told us that is was funny because at first she didn't see the jacket. It was inside out and the inside is white and it was with some white towels so she didn't even know it was there, even though the jacket is pink. The man had to look a few times and then he laughed when he found it. She was so proud of herself.

Erin has always been so independent. Always so willing to do things on her own. It shouldn't surprise me. She is my adventurous child. The one willing to do things.

This moment was just one of those that hit me. She really isn't a little kid any more. My little girl is growing up.

How did that happen?

All Grown Up

No posts for a month, then two in a day. Its a Festivus Miracle!

This deserved being shared right away. Haley had some remarkable news for me when I picked her up today from school. She couldn't wait to show me as soon as we got home. I won't spoil the surprise, I will let her show you.

{It's 3 tissue slide show, if you ask me.}

Please Excuse My Absence.

"Mommy! You are ALWAYS on your computer! Get off your computer and spend TIME WITH YOUR CHILDREN!"

This is what Haley said to me one day after school way back in April. Kind of hit me pretty hard. We had gotten in to this routine, you see. We came home, unpacked bags, checked mail, made snacks... then I got on the computer and the kids played. We were in the same room, but we were not together, I suppose.

And it took a 5 year old to make me realize it.

So I have not blogged for about a month.
I am going to try again. Hopefully I can do better. It is almost summer, so I will have all the time I need during the day to read the gazillion blogs I love and not neglect my children :o) I hope....

Cooking for 462 people... or 24. Feels the same.

I have the biggest house in the family. A big family. A very extended family. SO when there is a holiday, it is at my house. Of course, a holiday, or just a random Sunday in the summer, is any reason for us to gather. We no not discriminate. If someone in my family has met you once, and you are not busy on such an occasion, you are invited.

And I will feed you.

This is how it turns out that I was cooking for 247 people for Passover Dinner on Saturday. No, Passover was not Saturday, but my family decided the calendar was not convenient. Niece in college, people working, kids have school, yadda-yadda-yadda... we made it Saturday night.

To keep my kids busy while I cooked, for 2 days, we colored "Passover" Eggs. Not exactly kosher, but effective.










Like the little faces and hats? I swear, the one with the black hat is a little Hasidic Jew-Egg. The kids kept yelling "Merry Eggs-mas"! It was hysterical.


This is what 462 people looks like in my dining room plus 2 more tables added on extending into my living room. You can't even see the people all the way in the back. I am not that good of a photographer and I didn't have the super zoom long distance lens to get people 87 yards away.



We celebrated Ira's Rachael's and Lindsay's birthdays. With kosher-for-passover cakes. They were.... interesting. But it's the thought that counts, right?


Here is the entire crew on the couch, thanks to the self-timer function!



And this is what my kitchen looked like when everyone left. You can't see the dishwasher is full or the pile of dirty towels on the floor.

The Curious Incident About the 5 Year Old and The Dogs in the Middle of the Night.

The other night I went to bed, by myself. Not unusual. Ira was working, and the dogs were each in bed with one of the girls.

I woke up at 3:30 a.m. and I was not alone. I had the Hounds of Hell all curled up in bed with me.

And Haley sitting on me.

Daddy, still at work.

"Mommy. I need help."

"Wuz-a-matter-its-the-middle-of-the-night?" {whining invloved from mommy, not child here}

"It's cold, and the damn dogs are hogging all the blankets."

"Oh."

mommy rolls dog over, pulls out some quilt and tucks child in.

"That better?"

"Yes, thank you. mommy"

Always polite, even at three a.m.

Example # 648 of how we screw up as parents.

My oldest daughter, Erin, is a slob. She doesn't put away anything. She drops things on the floor where she is and there they stay.

My daughter, Haley, is the anti-Erin. She will stop what she is doing to go upstairs and put her sneakers away. No one taught her this. I swear. No. Wire. Coat hangers. Involved.

The girls each have their own bedroom. Without me telling which belongs to which girl, you could figure it out from the above statement.

The cleaning lady left my house at 4:00 on Monday. At 8:30 as we tucked the girls in to bed, Erin's room was a disaster. Clothes on the floor, papers all over her desk, stuffed animals and blankets EVERY WHERE. We had not even been home much of the night.

Haley's Room? Pristine.

It is who they are.

As my husband tucked Haley in to bed, he told her, "Don't ever turn into your sister. She's a mess."

To which Haley replied"

"That's because mommy screwed up with her. I won't ever be like that."

So I suppose I have over emphasized the lesson of "Learn from your mistakes" to my children a little too much, ya think?

My First Blind Date. Ever.

I am 36 years old. My husband and I will be married 15 years this summer. We dated 5 years before that. (I will pause now for you to get some paper and pencil, or click on your computer's calculator function... go ahead, you can do it.... Got your math done now?)

Now that you have figured out we have been together since I was 16 and in high school together..... Last night was my first blind-date, so to speak. Ever!

Her name was Jing Jing. And no, she is not a Panda Bear.

My friend Aubree and I belong to this scrapbook kit-of-the-month club and talk on the on-line bulletin boards. {Ok, we are dorks. We are ok with that.} We met Jing Jing there about 2 years ago. We have chatted with her and emailed ever since. She is this completely awesome scrapbooker and so funny and we just love her. She seems like the kind of person you could just be great friends with... if she didn't live in Minnesota.

Turns out she was going to be in Philadelphia for a work conference this week. So we arranged to meet her for dinner.

It was a threesome-blind date. Ooh-la-la!

Here was the plan. We would meet in the lobby of her hotel, and go someplace for dinner. Well, I knew she was a small Chinese woman with short hair. She teased me in emails that she would be the one waving a paper trimmer around.

My husband questions if she was an ax murderer. No, silly, then she would have said she would be waving an AX around, not a paper trimmer! Men!

So, I search the hotel for a friendly little Chinese lady with short hair, and sneakers (from a picture she posted of her travels of the city earlier in the day). I was literally stalking every Asian woman with short hair in the hotel lobby checking out their shoes. I am surprised security didn't toss me out? I finally found her.

She is AWESOME! She is FUNNY! She is a bundle of energy and she doesn't even drink coffee! She can eat her weight worth of Italian food! She can not operate a cell phone and doesn't do Facebook or Twitter, and she is an IT person? She could have been my new BFF right up to the no texting thing. I must be in communications with my peeps at all times. Ask Aubree. We jam each others in boxes on a daily basis. Jing Jing, we will work on you. Come to the dark side!

How cool is it that this obsessive hobby of mine brought me yet another wonderful new friend?

Aubree and I had such a great time. We took Jing Jing to Magiano's for dinner, across from the hotel. They serve huge piles of food (HOLY BUCKETS!) and we ate until we could hardly walk. And we talked. And we laughed. And laughed. And laughed. Like only scrappers can do.

We stepped outside to take a picture {3 scrapbookers, together. DUH! You had to know that was coming!} So I stood in place while Aubree and Jing Jing set up their cameras. When three unsuspecting men walked by wearing the conference badges from the same conference Jing Jing was attending, she asked if they would mid helping us with a few pictures.

Absolutely! They say. The guys all proceed to huddle around me, put their arms around me, the one guy even kissed me on the side of the head! I am thinking they had hit the bar pretty hard at the cocktail reception..... So, Aubree and Jing Jing did what scrappers do best. They took pictures.

I don't know how we didn't pee our pants it was so funny!

So we get the guys to be serious, give them our cameras and get all set up. They say, "One, Two, Three.." and then run. Away. With our camera. LAUGHING!

We completely lost it then.

So, they come back, we try again, and they finally take a picture. Being oh so careful to capture the moment, we ask them to take another, just in case.

The one guy turns the camera around and takes his own picture!

Listen, buddy, we have you on film, and we know what conference you are attending.

We. Will. Find you.

Anyway, photo ops aside, it was just awesome. Like spending the night with a long lost friend you didn't even know you had.

But now, I do.


***I was not able to post the pictures because AUBREE AND JING JING DID NOT SEND THEM TO ME!