And the Grammy goes to...

Aidan.

For anyone that has had the pleasure of listening to my friend Aidan sing you know he's a natural. Music is in his blood. He is by nature part of the Roam family. My mother-in-law's family is the kind that does skits at holidays and family reunions. It's just who they are and I love them for it. I do not chose to participate because I do not have the natural talent or the desire to perform for an audience. My husband has it and apparently my son has it. Reese is a wildcard, so we'll wait and see with her.

We took a Music Together class with Aidan and Reese over a year ago and the instructor said that Aidan could be a drummer, he just has a natural sense of rhythm. He also loves to sing. He starts singing at random times and sometimes makes up his own songs. It makes me laugh out loud to hear his interpretation of what he thinks are the words to certain songs. His first album will include the following hits:

• Life is a Hallway
• Potty Like a Rock Star
• Mary was a Little Man
• Tinkle Tinkle Little Star

Eats, Shoots & Leaves

One of the "joys" of living in the county (that's St. Louis speak for the burbs) is yard work. Daryl and I have gone to great lengths to avoid this "joy" by living in the city. We are losing so many of our friends in the city because of their desperate want for a yard. I learned once again why I do not want a yard.

We are staying with Daryl's parents and tonight I raked leaves with Diana (aka Mimi), Aidan & Reese. Their home is beautiful and has a huge front and backyard with several trees - thank you Mr. Original Owner - we love ALL the trees and ALL the leaves!

Diana used the leaf blower the previous evening and bagged some of the leaves herself, but we had a lot more work to look forward to tonight. Aidan & Reese did what can only be described as a natural reflex - they jumped in the leaves over and over again. I loved watching their faces light up as they threw leaves, buried themselves in piles of leaves and kicked the leaves. Yes, I felt the "joy" that I described above, but the "joy" quickly faded as we continued to stuff brown bags after brown bag after brown bag with said leaves.

The neighbor took pity on us and offered to let us borrow her mulcher. As you've probably guessed, I've never used one of these contraptions (nor did I know one existed). Neighbor gave me a quick tutorial and I was sucking up those leaves and stuffing more bags.


Here I am in action. Notice my sunglasses are still on my head.

Reese, always the helper takes her raking very seriously.

Reese, like her mama feels that one cannot possibly bag leaves unless they have their sunglasses on.

It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!

I love Fall for so many reasons. I love the crisp jacket weather, the colors of the changing/falling leaves, pumpkins everywhere you look, candy corn, Halloween costumes, and the Halloween candy!

One of my favorite movies plays only at this time of year and I usually miss it on regular tv. I love "It's The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown." Yes, I realize that it is a 30 minute long cartoon, and it is a really bad movie. It is a classic and a big part of my childhood. Plus who couldn't love poor Linus waiting in the pumpkin patch all night waiting for the Great Pumpkin. Poor Blockhead!

The YMCA near my in-law's house was playing this beloved Halloween classic and had pumpkin painting before the movie. This sounded like a perfect way to spend a fall evening with Aidan & Reese.

Aidan, the artist paints his pumpkin.


Me and my fellow movie patrons enjoying popcorn.

Lisa and Finni met us at the Y for movie night. We thought it would be a cheap and easy night out with the kiddos. This was before we realized that the team setting up the movie screen arrived to set up at the time that the movie was scheduled to begin. They did set up and the movie finally began 20 minutes later than scheduled. As a mother who plans each outing with just enough snacks, entertainment, wipes, pullups/diapers, etc and as an event planner - these situations really burn my toast. Once the movie was going it turned out to be okay, but I knew we couldn't stay until the end and I was trying to determine my exit strategy. It was a double feature and the second movie was Monsters vs. Aliens, which they had just seen the previous evening because Daryl bought it for our movie collection. Lisa and Finni bolted after Charlie Brown and we stuck around for half of the second movie.

These are the moments that I am thankful for implementing the "5 minute warning" early on and making it a habit. For various situations, I always alert Aidan and Reese 5 minutes before something is about to happen and it works without incident about 90% of the time. This works for bedtime, leaving playgroup and apparently for departing a movie currently in progress. We made it out of there without a scene, made it back to Mimi & Pappy's house to put our freshly painted pumpkins on the front porch and went to bed.

Up, Up and Away

One of my favorite things about living in St. Louis is the Great Forest Park Balloon Race! This year we finally made it to the best part of all, the Friday night before the race they light all the balloons and you can walk right up to them. We packed snacks and met some of our favorite people for a picnic under the balloons.

Our crew.

Jameson enjoyed the balloon glow too!

All lit up

Double Agent Reese

I'm convinced that my children lead double lives. They have one life when they are at home and another when they are at daycare. They eat different foods, they act differently, they have their own friends, they have their own lives that I know nothing about.

When Reese was about a year old I was dropping her off at daycare at breakfast time. Her teacher put her in the highchair and brought her a banana. I told teacher that Reese doesn't eat bananas - because I've been giving her bananas for months and she would take one bite, make a disgusted face and then throw the banana on the floor. Her teacher proceeds to tell me that Reese always eats bananas. I watched as Reese ate the banana. Great, not only do I feel like a jerk, but it is clear that I do not even know my child. I take this moment to ask if Reese also eats other fruit, beef, hotdogs, vegetables, etc. Teacher responds with yes, yes, yes and yes. "Reese eats whatever we put on her plate."

There goes my nomination for "Mother of the Year."

Now fast-forward to present day. Reese is 2 years old and has graduated to the 2 year old classroom where they focus on potty-training. She is starting to take an interest in going potty, so I'm thinking that in a few months we can start training her. I purchase Cinderella and Elmo big girl underwear, I put the potty chair out and encourage her to sit on the potty (sometime she goes and we clap), I dusted off the "Elmo Goes Potty" video. I felt prepared to start potty training, I just needed to talk to her teachers and see if they would be on board.

While dropping off Reese, I brought up the "Project Potty Training" idea to Reese's teacher. I reminder her how helpful she was with Aidan's training and asked if they would be ready to start training Reese in a few weeks. I expressed to her that Reese wants to start using the potty and I was ready if they were. Teacher tells me that Reese uses the potty at school already. She marches into the bathroom on her own and pulls down her pants.

Another nomination for "Mother of the Year."

I sent Reese to daycare with her Cinderella underwear the following Monday.

Lady of Leisure - The Sequel

September 15, 2009 -

Once again, I am a lady of leisure - a little more than one year later that the last time I was laid off. The economy being what it is I am not as confident as I was the last time that my "dream job" is just waiting for me right around the corner. I'm trying to be positive and I know that this downturn will lead to something great, but when that "something great" is nowhere in sight, it is really hard to maintain the positive outlook.

The one positive is that I will get to spend more time with Aidan & Reese. They will no longer be in daycare and in a few weeks I am officially a Stay At Home Mom. This is a role that I never thought I would play. I have no training and there is no career path. I have no clue how to do this job, but I will take lessons from my other mom-friends who are very successful at this and I will have tons of on the job training. My career goals for this job - enjoy this precious time with my children, help them grow and prepare them for the future. I hope I get a good review.

Oh Brother, Where Art Thou...

It was a great surprise to get a phone call from my brother at 3pm on Sunday, the day before Labor Day to let me know he was coming to St. Louis - that evening! Yikes! As someone who likes to be prepared for guests, I rushed around my house tidying up and prepared to fire up the vacuum while I was still on the phone with him getting what little details I could from him.

My brother Gideon and his girlfriend Heather arrived late that same day and we got together for dinner at the diner across from our apartment on Tuesday night. I was so thankful for this opportunity to get to know him and Heather better. We've lost touch over the years and it was so nice to be able to have one-on-one time with them. Aidan and Reese also loved spending time with them. Aidan won Heather over and convinced her to read him a story over and over and over again.

Heather and Aidan. Heather must have read that book 3 times.


Reese with nursery that my sister Emily gave her for Chanukkah last year. We couldn't get it home from Chicago, so Gideon & Heather brought it with them.

Gideon and Heather spent the week sight-seeing in St. Louis and Daryl & I had dinner with them again on Friday night - this time without the kids. We at a delicious Italian/Greek restaurant and had Gyro Pizza (a combo that I never even imagined). It was so delicious, it literally changed my life.

During our dinner, Gid & Heather told us about how they met, talked about the future and I really got to know them better. Daryl and I could both see how good Gid & Heather are together. I'm so happy for them.