Saturday, July 26, 2008

Sitemeter Might Be Evil

I'm not sure what's so different this week versus any other but we have been visited by several countries far and wide in the last seven days, which both amazes me and creeps me out a bit. How about all of you? Do you use Sitemeter on your blog? And if so, does it make you uneasy when you check it or is it just me? Might be time for me to stop looking...

On a completely separate note...any chance any of you are going to go to the Blogher Reachout Tour in Boston in October? I was thinking about making the trip, but it'd be fun to know any of you might be there!

Thursday, July 24, 2008

We Think We Can Dance

Lucas and I were watching So You Think You Can Dance last night, and he got the great idea that we should dance along with the contestants and then also judge our performances. Turns out we can foxtrot, jitterbug, contemporary and hip hop extremely well...according to ourselves. We would plop on the couch between routines and say very dance-judge-esque things like..."Next time, we really need to BRING it!" "We need to GO HARD or get SENT HOME." "Those moves really BLEW ME AWAY." "That over-the-head flip was KILLER!" And every dance was the "BEST ONE OF THE SHOW SO FAR!"

We are either very lenient judges or we're phenomenal dancers. If you could have seen us in action, I'm sure you would agree...PHENOMENAL DANCERS!

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Who Knew?

We had some buddies over today! Some four year old buddies and some not-quite-yet-two year old buddies...to the tune of five kids running through our apartment playing and chasing and generally having a grand 'ole time. And I realized something. Five kids wouldn't be so bad. (Don't read anything into that, Aunt Mary...I know your heart has only just recovered! I'm not secretly yearning for four more children!) But I can completely see why some people do. They not only entertain each other, but they all genuinely like to play with trains and video games and water tables (unlike me who gets so over it after just the littlest while), and the more I thought about it...it seemed like less work. I know there would be more dishes and laundry and bath times, but the in-between-times must be pretty sweet. Although I'm not sure I could afford keep them all in ice pops...we were flying through the ice pops at record speeds. Good times! ;-)

Monday, July 21, 2008

Out With the Old

We're hooked on a new (to us) TV show lately, The Colbert Report, maybe you've heard of it? This is good news on a few fronts. First: I sort of, kind of, on occasion understand what other adults are talking about out in polite society (we're talking real live actual grownup talk here, folks!) Second: I no longer feel the burning urge need to leave the room while he watches TV. And last but not least...Mr. Colbert was nice enough to have Cookie Monster on the show, which has led Lucas to believe that "it's a kid show...but with really big words".

So much better than Dora.

Sunday, July 20, 2008

All For This Mediocre Picture

I was driving home from the movies last night (where I saw Mamma Mia, incidentally). I'm going to have to veer off topic for just a moment to say that, while I thought the movie was wonderful, every time Pierce Brosnan geared himself up to start belting out the words the entire audience would start to snicker. The man made an excellent 007...but the dude can not sing, making him an illogical choice for a musical's leading fella...just sayin'.


Anyway...on the way home I turned on to our road and saw the most magnificent looking fiery-red moon. Lucas was sound asleep in the back seat so I ran inside, grabbed my camera and headed back down the road to find the best place to take a picture. Since it was pitch black out, and traffic was still pretty heavy, I couldn't really find a good spot to pull over. I drove around for a few minutes and realized there was no safe place to stop so I drove back to our apartment. We live on a very heavily tree-lined street but there was just one little spot where I had a good shot at a decent picture. So at 10pm, dressed mostly in black, on a pitch black street with no street lamps, on the blind end of a curving road, I stood in the center of the street, held my breath and tried to get a good shot. Of course the shutter stayed open for so long that I thought for sure a car was going to strike me down...and all I got for my efforts was this lousy picture! I figured I had to post it, for all the effort it took to take it.

I know it doesn't look anything like a fiery moon...but let's just pretend, shall we?

Saturday, July 19, 2008

Like Totally

Totally is the word of the week. "Like, that is so totally totally cool!" is something that I've been hearing A LOT from my four year old. I would blame this on my fifteen year old brother, but honestly, he finds nothing on the planet cool right now, simply by virtue of being a fifteen year old guy. So instead I shall blame the Disney channel...'cause I can guarantee that I do not walk around say things like "totally cool".


Anyway...we spent the day at the park yesterday despite the temperature and it went a little something like this:
This was the only support beam at the park where the wording was upright...it made me start to wonder what else in the structure was built upside down or incorrectly. But I had a cold diet Pepsi in my hand and a good book to read so I let it go.
He is the picture of happiness...playing hide and seek with me is so TOTALLY fun when he is the person seeking...

And so TOTALLY NOT FUN when he is sought out before he's ready.

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Know What I Love?

Good friends with nice pools!

Lucas can be, how shall I say this politely...afraid of his own shadow, at times. This, of course, extends to the swimming pool. He has many lovely qualities, that boy of mine, but grace in the water is not one of them. I have tried a dozen different "flotation devices" to help him get accustomed to the water. I use air quotes for the words "flotation" and "device" because he continues to sink like a stone no mater what sort of inflatable thing I strap to his body. But I have finally found a winner! And it cost me all of a dollar at the Christmas Tree Shop. Wish I'd found it prior to buying the expensive swim suit, or the life jacket, or the arm floaties. Oh well...today I had the pleasure of watching him swim BY HIMSELF which is ever so much more fun than walking him in circles around the pool while he tries to climb up my side like a tree monkey. We might be able to check "learn to swim" of our list of things to do this summer if it keeps up!

Saturday, July 12, 2008

'Bout Time

We finally had a nice day...not so hot that it could wilt the grass, not too cold for shorts...perfect. He hopped on his trike and I strapped on my camera and we were off.
We had kids shrieking at the tops of their lungs and chasing bubbles straight into the next town trying for the chance to pop one...the darn breeze is your mortal enemy if you're under three feet.
Rocking the tricycle...and yes I know he's big enough to ride a bike (and then some) but he prefers his trike. He told me he'll try riding his bike again when he's six. I very much doubt he'll still fit on it's little frame by then, but whatever.
And it's always more fun to ride when you're getting chased by a buddy!
Pooped out after a day of fun...drinking water...not like me (who guzzled diet Pepsi all the way home. What?! Diet Pepsi is TOTALLY part of a healthy diet...and no one can tell me different.)

Thursday, July 10, 2008

I'd Surely Love Summer the Best...


...if it weren't for all that darn heat.
(The two blurs on the edges are my son and his buddy and the lights in the middle are their sparklers.)

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Love It

I just called my Mom's house to check in on my son. He got on the phone and talked a million miles a minute about something they had done. I couldn't really tell you what it was about...I didn't catch most of it. If I were there in person, I know I would have understood everything, but over the phone...I missed most of it. Then he blows me a kiss and hands the phone over to my Mom.

"He totally got that story exactly right...he didn't miss a thing!" she tells me. And I LOVE that. I love that she knows him so well, and totally gets him, and that she understood all of that rapid rambling as a true account of their afternoon. I'm filing this away in my memory under All the Reasons I Love My Mother.

Monday, July 7, 2008

Too Hot

I know we wait all winter for summer to finally grace us with it's presence, but this is ridiculous. I can't live in this kind of heat. I just get sweaty and grouchy and all of my clothes stick to me and the kid wants to climb all over me...and, and, and. Bah! Not fun. It was 92 degrees today and it was literally too hot to go outside without melting into a sad puddle of goo. We New Englander's do not fair well in this soupy hot mess...or maybe it's just me.

Because of the heat, we stayed inside today next to the air conditioner like the sane people do. Which was fine for the first couple of hours, until we both got bored. Or, maybe I should say, until Lucas got bored and I got treated to an hour's long string of "look at meeeeeee's!" and "watch what I can dooooooooooooooooos!" I can only say "that's AMAZING, HONEY!" just so many times when all he's doing is jumping from one foot to another or spinning a circle. It was almost a treat to get to go to work. Except to go to work I had to step outside of my house...did I mention the heat????

I shouldn't complain...the move where he layed on his side with his feet in the air really was quite amazing.

Saturday, July 5, 2008

Fireworks!







Next time I'll bring a tripod...it was hard sitting still with such a slow shutter speed...but I think they still came out pretty well. Hope you all had a fabulous 4th of July!

Waiting for Fireworks to Begin...


Friday, July 4, 2008

Motherly Advice...Misunderstood

We were driving down the road today and Lucas saw a guy drive by on a motorcycle.

Him: Hey! When I grow up I'm gonna drive a motorcycle! No wait! No wait, no wait! When I grow up I'm gonna ride a skateboard!

Me: Really? Because I think you'd pick up more chicks on a motorcycle.

Him: (Long pause) Why would I want to do that? Pick up chicks on a motorcycle? I don't even like chicken!

Ahhh...someday he'll appreciate all of my good advice...maybe when he's seven or eight. Four seems a bit young.

In other news...I got to do a guest blog for Single Minded Women! Exciting and fancy!

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

He Finds a New Best Friend Around Every Corner

We were waiting at my mom's house today for the phone company to come install a line and they were hours late. I know, it's shocking! But, eventually the guy did show up in a big white truck with a bucket and made Luke's day. Lucas was out there asking his name before he even had a chance to put on his fluorescent orange vest. His name was Mike, by the way, and my kid made sure to supervise his every move. Mike is a lucky guy to such rapt attention, let me tell you. I had to keep gently reminding Lucas that sitting on Mike's lap to watch his work was not conducive to Mike getting any done. On the flip side, Mike now has a new best friend.