Family Fun

This weekend was pretty laid back.  Saturday morning we took a family trip to the playground where James seemed most to enjoy running laps around the equipment where there was a ramp and an archway (up the ramp, over the arch, up the ramp, over the arch, round and round....).  

Well, I should say that is what he spent the most time doing.  He actually looked most delighted going on the biggest slide.

We then took a little trip to Barnes & Noble for some potty books (which are his new faves) before going home for lunch & his nap.  Last night was boys' night in and I went out in NYC with some of my running teammates.  So fun!

This morning Daddy & James had more "guy time" while Mommy got to sleep in (Thanks, Dan!).  Then we headed up to Grandpa & Grandma's for lunch.  Dan & I went to a bunch of Open Houses while James napped then we all headed back home.  Now it's Dan's turn for a night out for Poker Night. 

Happy Memorial Day!

For a few years we hosted a Memorial Day barbeque.  Dan would spend the day before prepping the marinade, meat and rub for smoked ribs and/or pulled pork.  He'd get up early the day of the party to start the meat, and our pals would come over sometime in the afternoon for yummy food, cold beverages and competitive horseshoes & badminton.  

This year (last Monday) we decided to forgo the pork and stick with the more traditional (and easy) burgers & hot dogs.  And the doors opened at 10.  We had a kiddie pool and James's slide (which we hooked up to the hose for the first time-- fun!) in the yard, and James's trucks on the deck.  

The weather was PERFECT and the company was fantastic.  James had a blast playing with Sophie (3 1/2), Jack (3), Ava (18 months) and Jolie (19 months).  When all the toddlers began turning into pumpkins, everyone headed home for naps, and things were cleared out by 2:30 (which is about when things would be getting started in the past)!

*You can click on the slideshow to see it larger.*

Classic Peg!

We had such a great time last week hosting Auntie Peg/Maggie.  James seems to do better saying Maggie (it sounds something like, "Ma-me").

She arrived on Saturday morning (May 16th), and Dan & James picked her up from the airport.  They all got back to Maywood in time to cheer me to the finish (and victory) at the Maywood Run.  After James's nap, we hit the Bergen Co. zoo then Grandpa & Grandma's for dinner.  They watched James that evening so that Dan & I could take Maggie to the cool Lafayette Theater in Suffern to see Star Trek.  Fun!

After church on Sunday, we enjoyed mimosas by the fire (it was chilly!) and made a cheesecake (this time it turned out better than the Mothers' Day cake had).  Delish!

Monday was chilly again, so we took James to the Children's Museum.  He had lots of fun playing with different exhibits with Maggie.  After lunch he completely conked out for a long nap.  Tuesday we took Maggie with us to music class, then had lunch with Daddy at Kinchley's (followed by another marathon nap).  Wednesday was swim lessons, a picnic at the park and a visit to the ever-improving Bergen Mall before reluctantly taking Maggie back to the airport.

It was SO FUN having Maggie here.  She's got mad skills when it comes to childcare (James napped like a CHAMP for her, and went to bed easily at night as well.  Plus she's good with playing, feeding,...).  Plus, there was plenty of good grown-up time together too-- good drinks, good company, good laughs (and we appreciate her putting up with some of the silly television we wanted to view).

We miss you, Ma-me! We can't wait to see you again... the beach should be so much fun!

REAL Housewife of New Jersey

Alright, so I don't live in Franklin Lakes, but I am in Bergen County, and I am a housewife.  So what was my day like yesterday?

Alarm went off at 5:00, and I was outside running by 5:08.  No, it isn't a vanity, weight-loss thing like a certain television housewife (and let's be honest, I'm pretty sure could beat Danielle in a foot race with one leg tied behind my back), but rather speedwork in preparation for a 10K in less than two weeks.  Back home to find James playing with Daddy.  I took a quick shower before nursing James, then Dan headed off for gym & work.  

Off to the kitchen.  Brewed coffee, made cream o' wheat for James, toasted a bagel for myself, fed James, glanced over the paper, delighted in coffee, cleaned James....

Got James dressed and read him Ferdinand, by request, three times.  Then packed the diaper bag with snacks & a cup of milk and headed out the door.  Managed to get James into the car (when all he really wanted to do was go on the slide) and drove to our music class.  Got there a little early (!) so was able to walk up and down the full flight of stairs two and a half times holding James's hand (he's LOVING stairs lately).  Dancing, playing rhythm instruments and singing for 45 minutes with James and other Real New Jersey Housewives & their toddlers.  Then another few trips down & up the staircase.  Sat in the car with James while he had his snack.  Drove home and carried a sleeping toddler inside.

After dealing with the hysterics of waking up from an unscheduled nap, I fed James lunch, tried to get him to take his regularly scheduled nap, checked email, paid bills, balanced the checkbook (do the ladies on Bravo do that?)....  

Headed out to the nearest running store for two new pairs of shoes (and used a coupon!) and heaved a huge sigh of relief that we had enough leftovers from Memorial Day that I didn't have to do anything for dinner.  Spent a bit of time getting organized for the next day's tutoring while James played with his trucks. 

Dinner with James and Dan.  Then cleaned the kitchen and living room while Dan put James to bed.  Finally, I settled on the couch to watch a DVD we'd borrowed from the library followed, of course, by this week's episode of Housewives on Bravo....

Puppy Love

James is getting pretty good with animal names. This morning he "read" Eric Carle's The Very Busy Spider to me.  It went something like this:

"Moo!  Moo! . . . horse. . . goat. . . Snort! Snort! pig. . . dog- Woof! Woof!. . . cat. . .Whoo!  Whoo!"

He has many stuffed animals, and today after lunch was being very affectionate with the dog.  

Cuddle Buddies

So lately, when I go to check on James at nap time, he's cuddled up with one of his stuffed animals. Nowadays there are two bears and his bunny in the crib with him at all times; sometimes a pig, elephant, lamb or other creature joins the fun as well.

Moments ago I found him thusly:

A bear in each arm (so cute!) and one sock off. I somehow managed to get the blanket that he's partially on top of over his cute little backside.


Also, he's been getting reacquainted with the lamb that Uncle P & Auntie Ali gave him at Baptism last year. He can say, "lamb" and does so enthusiastically.


This morning at breakfast, Daddy put the lamb on his head. James found this amusing, then said, "hat! hat!" when he had the lamb back in his clutches. We were happy to help him achieve his goals.

Happy Mothers' Day to Me!

Even though my dear, darling husband woke up with a fever of 100 point something, he created a wonderful day for me. I fed James and took him for a little run then got cleaned up and went to church, so that Dan could get some sleep.

When we got home, Dan was up and feeling better (yea, Ibuprofin!) and had started getting things ready for our dinner. After James had lunch and went down for his nap (which Dan oversaw-- THANKS!), I enjoyed a fantastic homemade latte. Then Grandpa & Grandma came over. We enjoyed a DELICIOUS bottle of champagne (made even better in good crystal) and conversation while Dan & his dad cooked.

James got up and we had a little Mothers' Day photo shoot by the azaleas before eating a WONDERFUL dinner of shrimp and grits (made better on fine china and eaten with silver). Yes, this was good and authentic-- Anson Mills grits and SC shrimp. Yum! Grandma even got James to eat his dinner of salmon and rice. Dessert was a homemade cheesecake. Nice.

James & Dan gave me a gorgeous bouquet of gerbers and some new running socks and a running hat. After the grands left, James and I had some good cuddles and read books then Daddy put him to sleep. Finished the day with ice cream and Amazing Race. Life is good.