2009 March » Stop, Drop and Blog

Spring? Where?

Mar 202009

I’m grumpy today. Spring is supposed to be arriving. But it is currently 25 degrees (Farenheit!) outside. I know that March has temperamental weather but this seems ridiculous. I should shut my mouth before ten inches of snow fall on my lily sprouts.

Sprouts

We did get outside two days this week. You know, when it was seventy-five instead of twenty-five. I’m a better parent when we are able to get outside with regularity. The fresh air helps recharge my patience. The fresh air helps them use their energy appropriately. The sunshine not only gives us some necessary Vitamin D but makes us smile. There’s no smiling right now. Gray clouds are reminding us that we’re stuck inside today. Grumpypants on instead of Happyshorts.

The boys, of course, don’t understand. Two days ago, they were outside for two hours at a time. So why not today? LittleBrother stood at the back door and cried, “Siiiiiiiiiiiiiide,” for quite some time. BigBrother has asked no less than fifteen times if we can go outside after lunch. Apparently the answer of “no” is not acceptable. “It’s not raining,” he says. “It can’t be that cold, Mommy.” Sadly, it can be.

Soon, of course, I’ll be ranting about the over-bearing heat of mid-summer. (I actually hate heat. Also, hate and heat have the same letters. This is no coincidence.) I prefer spring and fall. I guess I can’t have it all. But, soon enough, we’ll be able to spend more time outside. Perhaps when the wind is blowing the general stink off of us, BigBrother will be able to avoid some germs. He’s gotten every bug from preschool this winter and if he gets one more ear infection, well, I don’t want to talk about it.

How’s Spring coming along your way? Please share pictures of sunshine with us today. We’re in need a of a pick-me-up.

Reason #590 Why Parenting Two is Hard

Parenting, Photography 7 Responses »

Mar 172009

I just wanted a picture of the two of them in their matching green shirts. I bought the shirts specifically for today, St. Patrick’s Day. To boot, BigBrother had his first ever experience with school pictures at preschool today (we’ll see how those turn out soon). And so, after school, I just wanted a picture of these two, together, in their matching shirts.

You can imagine how that went. Let’s see some highlights.

Here, BigBrother shows LittleBrother his “bebo” for some unknown reason.

Bebo

And then BigBrother tried to hold LittleBrother still. That went over poorly.

Not Holding Still

The rest of the series is a blurry mess of whining, crying, snot and general lack of participation. I won’t bore you with the lot of them. I did manage to get one nice one of BigBrother as he likes to say cheese right now.

Smiles

At least he seems happy, right?

But getting a good picture of LittleBrother, even by himself, is impossible at this stage in his life. He’s a constant blur of motion. Even with my fancy camera, I can’t catch him. He’s on the go, faster than I can manage. Someday I’ll have nice pictures of him as well. Probably just around the time that BigBrother decides that smiling for the camera is beneath him.

I want nice pictures of the two of them but it seems somewhat impossible. I’m going to have to start photoshopping pictures of them together. You know, if I can catch up with LittleBrother. I am somewhat jealous of parents who have pictures of their children all smiling nicely and looking in the same direction. I can’t seem to master it. Ever since LittleBrother has become upwardly mobile, I can’t do it. Someday maybe?

I did catch a nice candid moment of the two of them together. Even if LittleBrother is somewhat blurry.

Kiss

What you can’t see, or rather, hear, is LittleBrother whining. Apparently he didn’t want to be kissed.

Also? I am fully aware that my friends with three and more children have a harder battle to fight. I salute you parents of children more than two that somehow end up with three or more smiling faces on the front of your Christmas cards. I aspire to be like you someday.

Someday.

St. Patrick's Day Weekend in Pittsburgh

Living Life 7 Responses »

Mar 162009

We had a fabulous trip. The good news is that the crowd was not rowdy. In fact, as FireDad and I were discussing it, in our four years of attending the St. Patrick’s Day weekend festivities in Pittsburgh, we’ve only witnessed one fight. Pittsburgh news stations are also reporting that there were less arrests and citations this year: 6 physical arrests and 67 citations, down from 100 in 2008. Stay classy, Pittsburgh. (There was, however, a fatal shooting that looks like it will be under investigation for some time. But we never made it to the South Side.)

Personally, we saw some violations ourselves like the older gentleman that walked by with a glass of what I assume was gin and tonic. In a glass from the bar he had probably just left. So, a little theft and open container violation going on with that one. A short time later, a group walked by, pouring drinks into each other’s cups. Also, I can’t say if anyone I saw was actually underage but, well, they all made me feel old. That is all.

The band we saw at the Red Star Tavern was pretty darn awesome. They played music from the 80′s, 90′s and whatever you want to call this decade. I sang and danced and had a few beers (none of the green variety). We had a late, light supper. All in all, we had a great time. Kind of bummed that we missed the parade due to my practice but I think we’ll live.

We have a few pictures to share. This one is for Julie Gong.

Really?

We found that plastered to the bricks in Market Square while walking around on Sunday morning. We were amused. Apparently Mayor Luke felt a little vain this St. Patrick’s Day?

And a nice macro of my Primanti Brothers sammich, consumed on Sunday for lunch.

Mmm

And a nice picture of us with bellies full of Primanti Brothers sammiches.

Full

All in all, it was a great time. We slept wonderfully in the swanky bed in our swanky hotel room. We took our time driving back home. And we felt happy as pie when we picked up the boys. We’re lucky we felt refreshed because last night wasn’t a night that involved a lot of sleep thanks to leftover teething issues, a possible eye infection and a possible ear infection. But a weekend away like this always reminds us that we’re lucky to have the family that we do.

Now when is our family vacation? (Answer: camping in July, beach in August. All seem far away.)

Reading is So Important and So... A GIVEAWAY!

contests 43 Responses »

Mar 132009

We’re a reading family. I always have my nose in a book (even if it is a horribly cheesy book that features teenage vampire love). FireDad loves to read. And it seems we’re raising two little readers as well. If you could glimpse at my living room floor right now, you might think a library had blown up. But, no, we have just finished up an evening read-a-thon. I’ll clean it up soon. I promise. But the mess was worth it. Watching LittleBrother’s vocabulary expand in front of my face fills me with pride. And watching BigBrother’s brain make connections and his imagination sore through the pages of a book, well, it makes me melt. And so we’re proud to bring you this post… and giveaway!

To help get the word out about National Reading Month (March), we’re participating in a giveaway with Leap Frog! That’s right. Leap Frog! A huge favorite in our house!

Tag Reader The prize is a Leap Frog TagReader bundle that includes Dr. Seuss’ Cat in the Hat and Green Eggs and Ham. It also comes with a story called Ozzie & Mack. If you’ve got a child in the 4-8 year age range (or surrounding ages) who is working on readking skills, this is definitely something you want to pick up. Don’t believe me? Check out this comprehensive review. But, as a real quick overview, it’s basically a pen (no ink!) that helps your children learn to read. (Did any of you have something similar in the 80′s? Because I did. But this is cooler.) It can hold up to five books. And there are bunches of compatible books! Win!

So, how do you win? What’s the catch?

First off, I want you to visit the Leap Frog Reading Pledge and pledge to read some hours with your children. (Or grandchildren. Or siblings. Or what have you.) The point of this giveaway is to raise awareness about the fact that it is National Reading Month and to inspire parents to read with their children. It’s just so important to read with your kids. I know that FireDad and I both have such a love of reading because our parents took the time to read with us.

Okay, now that I trust you have made a pledge to read (which involves a coupon for you for $10 off TagReader systems and books…), here are the steps to enter.

1. Read this great review (includes pros and cons) of the TagReader system.

2. Come back to my post here and tell me in a comment what you expect will benefit your child the most with the Leap Frog TagReader system. You may do this once.

You want some extra entries?

3. Tweet this giveaway on your twitter stream and bring me back the individual URL of your tweet (found by clicking on the time that you posted your tweet). Post it as a new, individual comment. You may do this once. Please copy/paste this tweet: It’s National Reading Month! Celebrate by entering to win a Leap Frog TagReader at Stop, Drop & Blog! http://tinyurl.com/SDBtag

4. Blog about it on your blog, linking back to this post! Include a link to the review in your blog post, please! After doing some, come back to my post here and post it as a new, individual comment. You may do this once.

5. Use other social media (facebook, digg, stumbleupon, etc) to link this post. After doing so, please return to this post with the username and link (if applicaple) to your shared link in a new, individual comment. You may do this once per social media engine.

The contest is open now through March 26, 2009 at 12:00pm EDT. At that point, this post will close to new comments and a winner will be picked via random.org. One winner will be chosen and contacted via email. Winner will have 12 hours to reply or another winner will be chosen. Winner must reside in the United States. Winning will be shipping straight from vendor. (Meaning, I don’t have it in house!)

[Thanks to Leap Frog for the chance to participate in something as awesome as National Reading Month. And thanks to Christy Matte for such an amazing review.]

Updated at 4:01pm, March 26, 2009: Winner Amanda, chosen by the random.org number generator, has accepted the prize. Thank you all for your entries. Now get to reading with those kids!