Roller Derby

Over our "mid-winter break" last weekend we were getting a bit stir crazy being at home with all the snow. On Valentine's Day (Sunday) we decided to plan something fun.

Roller Skating.

Brennan has been asking to go for a few months now. Ever since a coupon to some roller skating rink was sent home in his folder from school. He wanted to try it and we were willing to let him try it.

We get to the Arlington Skatium and everyone gets their skates. We put them on and I carefully have the boys stand against a pillar so I could take a picture to document them in their skates.

That's when this event went on a downhill slide real quick. As you can see from the above photo....Brennan looks a bit unsure of himself and his ability to roller skate. Evan, on the other hand, has less experience as a 3 year so he does not yet fear the roller skating.

Immediately after this picture was taken - Brennan leans back on the pillar and his feet go out from under him and he falls smack on his butt. The kind that really hurts!!!

We get him to shake it off and just follow up with getting him on the rink. Bryan has Brennan, I have Evan. But, at this point, Brennan is already too afraid to try and listen to any instruction. He is just holding on to the wall for dear life.

We all make it around the rink 1 time...get off so they can play the Red Light, Green Light Game and we can watch the skater's technique. Evan makes his way over to the video games (with no help) and parks himself in a driving game. Bryan takes Brennan out for another spin and I'm stuck trying to pry Evan off the game - he stated that "he didn't want to skate. It's not fun."

Now, we have paid $24.78 for this fun experience - and I had planned on spending some time here to "get our money's worth". Ha!

I turn around in hopes to get Evan off the game one last time and he has peed his pants. It has trickled down his leg and into his skate. The bathroom is clear across the rink from where we are....and do I have a change of underwear and pants, no!!!!! Oh, yeah and I'm on roller skates, myself...it's not like I'm a champion skaters either.

We make it to the restroom in hopes there would be a hand dryer - nope. Nothing. So there we are stuck with pee pants and Brennan who is yowling out on the rink. I wave Bryan down he gets off the rink with Brennan (who is actually skating better, but not realizing it). I tried one more time with Brennan out on the rink - to no avail. He carried on and was in such fear of falling that he was paralyzed to try and would not even listen to direction.

We quickly changed or skates and got out of there. Epic Fail.

Both boys asleep in the car on the way home. Awesome.

Let it Snow!

Last week was Snowfest 2010! In North Texas it doesn't usually snow...with real snow or snow that stays for more than a day, or snow with which you can actually build a snowman. But last Thursday, February 11th, it snowed the ENTIRE day. The airport officially got 12 1/2 inches of snow.

School was cancelled on Friday, since DFW doesn't know what to do with all that snow and many people's power was out due to fallen branches on power lines or power lines breaking from the weight of all the snow.

It was beautiful snow.

It was snow that reminded me of growing up in Michigan. The days we would put our snowsuits, hats, scarves, mittens, and boots on and go sledding, ice skating, and playing ALL day in the stuff. I also remember shoveling snow off the driveway but I don't remember any days off from school...I'm sure there were. I just don't remember because it snowed every winter. You could count on it in Michigan. In Texas, there is usually a "snow" day but it is more like an ice day - not a foot of snow.

We built snow people - one in the backyard and one in a cul-de-sac near our house. It was definitely a winter wonderland.

It was such quiet snow - snow with no wind...it stayed right where it fell and didn't move. It was so peaceful and quiet the next morning. It made everyone slow down and take a breath.

It was also snow that caused destruction. In Texas, there are some trees that grow that just aren't meant to take the weight of a foot of heavy, wet snow. By Friday morning, the damage was starting to be apparent. We had some damage - but nothing too catastrophic.

An old live oak tree couldn't take the weight and lost a few branches right on our front porch. This was a definite stimulus to the tree trimming companies of DFW!

Most of the snow is melted now, it is a high of 60 today. But more snow is predicted for next week. We'll see what happens then.

I am Spoiled

It's my husband's fault, you know.

He spoils me everyday.

I sleep an extra 30 minutes while he gets up, lets the dog out, showers and gets dressed before he wakes me up with a kiss on the cheek.

I then can shower and get dressed and ready in peace while HE wakes the boys, makes breakfast and makes lunches for me, Brennan and himself.

He will then prepare a travel mug of coffee with just the right amount of French Vanilla Fat Free Creamer for me.

On cold mornings, he will start my car and turn the heat on so it is toasty warm inside.

On evenings when he can tell I've had it, he will entertain the boys, bathe them and get them ready for bed.

He will sit and watch ridiculous TV with me most evenings.

He actually enjoys walking around Target or Costco with me.

He lets me be weird and goofy and doesn't judge me for it. (At least, not out loud).

These are just a few of the reasons I am spoiled.

I appreciate every single one of them because I know that everyone is not as lucky as I am to have such an awesome husband and father to her kids.

Love you, Bryan!

Grocery Store Nightmares

Why is the Grocery Store such a nightmare?

Okay, why is the grocery store such a nightmare when you take your 2 kids?

I know this. Yet, for some unknown, non-sensical reason I attempt to take my kids with me to the grocery store. The oldest one is mostly okay - he stays relatively close by and helps put things in the cart on the third time I ask him (did you sense the sarcasm there?). It's the walking with the head down and standing in the way when I'm clearly turning the cart...can't he predict my next move with the cart?

And the cart...well, let's start there. Clearly, Brennan is too big to ride IN the cart. But, Evan wants to be like his big brother and walk too. But this is not yet an option as this will increase risk of running. So, I, on occasion, will opt for the giant cart with the race car attached to the front. In hopes this will entice the Preschooler to stay in the cart for an extended period of time. This ALWAYS back fires on me. As the car is closer to the ground and a faster means of escape.

Today, after work I had to pick the boys up from school. Duh. But - then I had to go grocery shopping. I have lists - e-mealz.com lists, grocery game lists and other essentials lists. Plus, I'm working with coupons in one hand and some in my purse. I had to go to the grocery store so there would be something for dinner that evening as everything we had was frozen rock solid in the freezer and it was 4:00. Surely, this could be a quick trip to Kroger, right? Wrong.

1. I attempt the giant car cart - epic failure. Evan immediately jumps out because he wants to "help". So then I look like a complete moron steering this monstrosity throughout the store with no child riding in it. I then look like more of a complete moron as I continuously say, "Evan get in the car....now....PLEASE"!

2. Produce section first - epic failure. The boys suddenly want a lesson in various types of fruits and vegetables - plus touch them all. (And why is the store soooo busy on a Tuesday afternoon?)

3. Lists - failure. This wasn't a complete "epic" failure because in the end I did save $20 something on my bill...plus everything for the week was under $100. BUT, the lists kept blowing out of my hand or cart having to stop and pick them up off the floor. Also, trying to juggle 3 lists and coupons was more than my overly-tired-why-am-I-doing-this-brain could handle.

4. Time - epic failure. Time was not on my side. This ended up not being a quick trip and when my time ran out - it really ran out. Meaning Evan decided to escape from the giant car cart and started running at full speed down the frozen food aisle and turning the corner. I attempt to push the giant car cart a little faster in hopes to catch up - but this blew my three lists on the floor, Brennan was dragging behind because he's still looking at his feet as he walks and the lady we kept passing on every other previous aisle says "oh, there he goes". Nice. Like I hadn't noticed. Maybe she could have stuck a leg out to trip him to help a Mommy out.

5. The Seatbelt - epic failure. I catch the little booger - after I almost knock down an end-cap display and strap him into the car cart seatbelt. This begins the yowling at the top of his lungs "OWWWW"! The kid is not hurt - but he is smart enough to know that he will get a bigger reaction if he acts like he is hurting. So, every person in the lunch meat section is staring at me like I'm ignoring my child's cries for help because he is in pain. I happen to see a Mom (who I had made cupcakes for her kids birthday once) and she says "Hi, how are you?" Not in the mood to play nice, I said "I've been better." (As shrill yells are coming from my car cart). She says back, "oh, yes, I hate taking the kids to the grocery store." Isn't she wise?

6. The Checkout - epic failure. After 45 minutes of this self-inflicted torture I finally head to the checkout. There is 1 lane open with 5 customers all lined up (again, why is Kroger suddenly so busy?). Evan is still screaming and now attempting to escape. I have a basket full of stuff and I'm going to have to stand here forever?!!! They open another lane and kindly ask if I want to go first....after zipping over there, Evan has finally Houdini'd his way out of the seatbelt. He wants to help put things on the conveyor but he is so pissed he is chunking them and throwing them up there. I try and redirect him...but this causes him to take off out the front door of the store. I leave everything behind - as the checkout guy is asking me if I have a Kroger Card - and go running after him. He quickly found himself strapped into the cart part - but this causes even louder screams than before. "Jesus, God, just get me out of here!"

So, that sums up why I hate the grocery store. And just think - I still had to come home, unload the groceries, put them away and then start dinner.

I'm having a glass of wine now.

Food Experiments

If you are a parent of Toddler through School Age kid than you know that the food thing can be a challenge at times. Brennan was such an awesome eater as a baby. I made a LOT of his baby food from fresh produce in hopes that he would grow up to love fresh fruits and vegetables. His favorite was sweet potatoes! Now, the kid wouldn't put a sweet potato near his lips. Once he hit 2 years old and his independence started to take over he actually started having opinions - go figure! Brennan still does pretty good with eating but he likes your typical unhealthy fair - hamburgers, chicken tenders, mac 'n cheese, hot dogs, and his favorite - grilled cheese. He will eat apple sauce, pears, peaches, oranges, pineapples - but of the container variety that is covered in syrup. I tried to make myself feel better by purchasing the "light" syrup - but knew that it didn't replace the real thing. But, Brennan never liked sweets and still will not eat most cookies, candy, and cakes. . at least we have that going for us.

Anyways, I was reading in one of my favorite magazines Family Fun about a tip from a parent that said she tried doing food experiments to get her kids to try new foods. I knew this was the answer for Brennan. Brennan is a kid that needs ALL the facts before he tries something new. He wants to know all the details before just jumping in and taking anyone's word for it. Even pure logic wasn't good enough for him...example, "But Brennan, you like apple sauce, apple juice, cinnamon apples from Chili's, why won't you try an apple slice?" It just didn't work with him. Oh, AND he LOVES to do experiments! This was perfect! We talked the idea up to him and he chose to do apples as our first experiment. We went to the grocery store and found 10 different varieties of apples.

I got a big piece of butcher paper and divided it up into sections and we took our data on each apple. The way it looked, smelled, size, shape, color and taste. We even looked up info online about where it was grown and when it was discovered.

We then rated them if we liked it, it was okay or didn't like it. Brennan was gobbling up slice after slice of apple!!!! I about lost my mind. He decided he liked Honey Crisp and Golden Delicious apples the best and Granny Smith the least. I learned a lot as well...I learned that I hated Red Delicious, liked Granny Smith and loved Honey Crisp. And here's a picture of Brennan taking a bite out of his first apple at the age of 6. He now loves to eat apples for snack and will take them in his lunch....SUCCESS!!!!

Our second experiment Brennan chose to do was pears.

I think we also found 10 different varieties of pears and that was really fun. There are some really yummy pears out there and some that are not that great....for instance, you'd think that the French Butter Pear would be absolutely mouth watering. Nope, not at all. It was pretty gross. The asian pear tastes more like an apple and the Bartlett and Bosc are the most popular. We decided we liked the Bartlett and Red Bartlett the best.

Our next experiment included citrus fruit. 12 different varieties - from the largest Pummelo to the smallest kumquat. We liked the Ugli fruit, oranges and clementines the best. We invited some friends over for this experiment and we all learned about some new things that we liked. And tasting 12 different varieties of citrus in one night IS too much citrus!

We even got ambitious and tried a variety of dried fruits. Brennan was not as big a fan of the dried fruits - but it was still fun to go to Central Market's bulk food section and pick out 1 piece of each type of food. Nan joined us for this taste testing. And part of the experiment is that you have to try it even if you think you won't like it.

This has been such a success that we are going to keep running with this idea....tropical fruits, exotic fruits, stone fruits. Then move into the veggies.... Okay, so what are some of your ideas we could try?

Every night at dinner I cut up a piece of fruit and put it in the middle of the table. It has made me so happy to see Brennan grab for the fruit on the table first and say how delicious it is! Wow! It's just mind-blowing to me!