Happy Campers

Ava and her daddy just headed out for a Y-Princesses weekend at Camp Seafarer. I'm kind of jealous. I love camp. And that's kind of weird, considering that I am not the least bit outdoorsy (maybe I'll tell you about the monthlong NOLS trip I took in college. Summary: I lasted one night.)

I had a harder time saying goodbye than I thought I would. But I'll be happy for the sibling banter to take a rest for a couple of days. There's a high level of it these days. 

Back to camp. A ton of Ava's close friends are already coming up on their second year of going to summer camp overnight. The first time I went, it was the summer after fourth grade. I was nine, and turned ten later that summer. I went for three weeks, but knew tons of girls who were there. The camp I went to was a little on the rustic side. For instance, there was a pool, but it was filled with lake water. Ewww. And there were snakes. There was also a lake, and there was a brook that ran behind our cabin. You could hear it running at night. That's probably why our cabin was called "Brookside." I think we ate food that was all raised/grown on the camp's farm. Pretty cool. They were totally rocking the farm-to-table movement before it was even in our lexicon. 

The mountain camp was nice, but maybe a little on the earthy side for my taste. It was green before it was cool to go green. Nothing wrong with that, but just not really my cup of tea. For the next three years, it was on to Camp Thunderbird, located on Lake Wylie. That was more like it. Skiing, sailing, swimming.....and not too rustic. I still have the best memories of it, and would just love for my kids to have similar camp memories.

So, back to Ava. As I said, a good portion of her buddies go to camp. Many went for a week last year, and are moving on to two weeks this year. I guess I should count my dollars blessings that Ava doesn't want to go, because I'm sure the day will come - all too soon - when she is happier to be with her friends than with her daddy and me. But at the same time, I think it would be a huge confidence boost for her to be kind of independent for a few days. 

Then again, one week of overnight camp would pretty much eat up my entire summer activity budget. 

Oh, and that earthy camp I went to? I heard they have chlorinated water in the pool now. Welcome to the 2000s, folks. 

Weekend Wrap-Up

What a fast weekend. I guess that means it was a good one, right? Davis had his first t-ball game Friday afternoon. Not sure about his ability on the diamond, but he sure did look cute in his uniform. Ava was a proud big sis:

This sweet picture was taken before the all-out brawl that D got into on second base. I wish I had a picture. It was nuts. Luckily, Morgan was there and yanked Davis out of the game for the remainder of the inning. 

After all that, I picked up a couple of McDonald's Happy Meals for the kids (hello, mom of the year!). I assisted in feeding and bathing, then headed over to a good friend's house for wine and dessert. Perfect end to the week. 

Saturday started with a cardio tennis clinic at 7:15am (too early, but fun), then a little shopping (mostly for Morgan and the kids), and a family lunch outdoors. Ava had a playdate, and our house was really quiet when Davis actually took a nap. We grilled kabobs for dinner, which the kids were disgusted by. That was fine, since it meant more for the adults.

Speaking of kabobs, and meat, Ava declared yesterday that she wants to be a vegetarian. She said she thought that eating animals isn't very nice. Then I cooked breakfast for their dinner last night, and she asked for thirds of bacon. I guess she doesn't regard pigs as highly as other animals. Apparently, her inspiration did not come from reading Charlotte's Web.

Speaking of food, I have the slow cooker chicken Gyro recipe cooking right now. I'll let you know how it it. Pretty sure you can't go wrong stuffing chicken into bread and then smothering it with tzatziki sauce. I actually have a meal plan for the whole week. Well, at least Monday-Thursday. Can you believe it? It only involves eating out one time. 

Kudos to me.

Lazy, or Just Busy?

Friends, I confess that I have cooked only one time this week. Two times if you count the rotisserie chicken I got from Harris Teeter on Monday night. We've had kids' activities the last two nights, and Davis has a T-ball game this evening. No way am I getting home after 6:30 and starting to cook.

I gotta know - what do y'all do for meals on your busy week? My wallet and my waistline need a break from eating out. And my kids need better meals, too.

The one meal I did cook was a hit - fish tacos. So easy. And a hit with all. I used panko breaded tilapia from Trader Joe's. It was good, but the same thing from Costco is a little better. Anyway, I cooked the fish, then whipped up a little guacamole, warmed up some black beans, and, voila, dinner. In 25 minutes. Sorry I don't have a picture - it just all got devoured.

As for these busy evenings, I just don't know what to make. I try so hard with the crock pot, but I am just not a fan of slow-cooker meals. I think they all taste the same. I could also go without meat most nights, and I haven't found any great vegetarian options for the slow cooker. I think when you combine a bunch of canned ingredients and let them simmer all day, it just starts to taste like mush.

I did come across this one on Pinterest, which looks a little more promising:

I'll try it out next week and let you know.

Also, did you see that my all-time fave was chosen as People Magazine's Most Beautiful Woman?

Evidently, lots of people can't stand her. I personally kind of appreciate her overt snobbishness, and the fact that she doesn't pretend to be just like the rest of us.

Happy weekend!

Monday Musings

Lord have mercy, am I glad to see Monday. I know, I know. Crazy. But Morgan has been traveling on and off for 2 weeks, and I was so happy for his return yesterday. I don't really mind doing the single parenting thing during the week, but I hate it when I have to do it over a weekend. The kids and I had planned to spend the weekend in Northern Virginia with my sister, but then the weather wasn't going to be great, and I wasn't looking forward to spending 9-10 hours in the car with the kids. So, trip postponed.

Morgan returned yesterday and handed over some cold hard cash - my cut of his golf trip winnings. What's a girl to do with cash in hand? Shop, of course. I was looking forward to some me time, but I knew Ava would love to have some special girl time, so I took her along. It was the best time I've had with her in a long time. We've been at odds a lot lately, and I think the shopping trip was just the therapy we needed. We even tried on semi-matching stripes at J.Crew:

That dress might have come home with me. J.Crew was kind enough to offer 25% off your whole purchase yesterday. Happy surprise.

Gap was also generous, giving us 30% off. They have some pretty cute stuff right now, including these items:

Striped shorts

maxi dress

Ava got a few things - mostly just some basic tees. She doesn't need much, but definitely needed some basics. She's between sizes in a lot of stuff, so it's hard. Do you buy big and hope maybe she can wear it next year, or wear what fits now, but with no room to grow? 

We finished off our shopping excursion with a trip to Barnes and Noble. We both just read a few books in store. I think I'm going to re-read Gatsby before the movie comes out. I think Leonardo DiCaprio is the perfect choice to play Jay Gatsby.

I also read the first couple of chapters of the book The Dinner. I'm pretty intrigued by it, but it's gotten fairly mixed reviews on Amazon. If you've read it, let me know how it was. 

Happy Monday!

Breaks, Birthday Party, and a Meal Not Finished

Happy Spring, my friends. Now that spring break has come and gone, the weather has finally decided to warm up and act like it's April. The kids and I survived our long spring break, and it was actually pretty fun. We stayed just busy enough. We had a few days at the beach, a few days at home, a birthday, and a little help from the grandparents here and there. I loved not having a morning routine. Relaxing mornings are the best. Of course, when yesterday came, and it was time for everyone to get back to school, I wasn't complaining.

Davis had his birthday party over the weekend. We kept it small. He insisted that Ava be the only invited girl, so we just had the boys from his class and a couple of other friends. That made it easy. We had a local guy named Coach Scott come over and run the party.

I keep telling him now that he's 4, I really expect the 3-year-old behavior to be gone. So far, he's about 50/50 on that. "Stupid" and "idiot" are still among his favorite words. We've entered the questions phase, too. Today, in the car, these are the ones I got:

"Mommy, how do we talk?"
"Mommy, how do we go poop?"
"Mommy, how do we go pee?"
"Mommy, where did we get our house?"

And, at the same time, he seems to be bringing Ava down to his level of antics and humor. I guess it's a lowest common denominator, thing, but she is often behaving like a 4 year old herself. Mealtime, for instance, is terrible lately. My kids have apparently forgotten every manners lesson I have ever taught them. Davis will start doing something silly, and Ava breaks into hysterical and uncontrollable giggles, which just encourages Davis. Then I call them down and they laugh even harder. By then I'm just mad. Tonight, I ended up exiling Ava into the playroom (nee dining room) where she had to finish her meal alone at the kids' play table. They were unscathed by my punishment, and just proceeded to yell 'hi' to one another. After a threat or 2, I deemed that dinner was over and removed their plates from their tables. They won't starve.

Maybe I just need to send them to boot camp for the summer?

FOUR!

Today, my youngest child turns 4. It's a cliche to say he's growing up too fast, but he's growing up too fast. He's stubborn, bright, headstrong, but, at the end of the day, sweet as can be. Here's my little birthday letter to him:

Dear Davis,

Today, you turn four. It seems like only a few weeks ago that I brought you home from the hospital, just a little 8 pound baby boy. You were pretty chilled out as a baby - we had no idea of the wildness brewing inside of you!

These days, you are all boy. You adore Star Wars, Spider-Man, and turning anything into a gun. One minute you're a cuddly little boy, the next, you're squirming away from me, ready for the next adventure. You're at once adorable and frustrating, pushing my mommy limits like nobody's business.

You love sports, and that was evident from the get-go. In fact, you love anything that keeps you on the go. You would live outside if you could.

You're a good little brother. You and Ava fight like any siblings, but I see the way you look at her. You think she's the coolest. And when she actually comes down from her 7 year old world to play with you, you are thrilled. I can't wait to see how close the two of you are when you grow up, and I'm so happy that you have each other.

You insist on wearing what you want to wear, and I've just about given up the battle. We've gone from smocked longalls to Superheroes and athletic shorts in a really short time. I guess I have to let you be you, though. I may protest, but I secretly like that you know what you want. It will serve you well when you grow up.

You are so energetic, and I can't always keep up. You are the reason I am so exhausted at night. You talk NONSTOP. You are smart, curious and spirited. You wear me out, but I love you anyway. It's amazing that I can spend a day fussing at you for breaking every rule we have, but at the end of the day, I look at your sweet face, and feel nothing but love for you.

You made us a family of four, and we can't imagine things any other way. 

Oh, and be warned - whoever you marry is going to have to be pretty darn perfect, because I can't give you up to just anyone. 

Love,

Mommy

Ten Things for Thursday

Just a list of what's up around here lately:

1. As I mentioned on Facebook the other day, my kids aren't really overscheduled, but I think I am. Meaning, I am in the car all the time picking up or dropping off one child or another. This will all be easier in 18 months when they are in the same school, on the same schedule. Until then, I live in my car.

2. I blame the aforementioned on said car being a trash can on wheels little messy.

3. I also blame the aforementioned on the house being a little messy. And maybe that's why the laundry keeps piling up. Or, it could be because instead of putting clothes away, Ava has figured out that it's easier for her to put them in the laundry basket, regardless of how dirty they actually are.

4. I am obsessed with Instagram, and am guilting of posting way too often. Apologies if you follow me. But not really.

5. If Spring doesn't hurry up and get here, I am booking a tropical vacation, stat. I nearly froze on the tennis court this morning.

6. Davis is not waiting for spring. He is wearing shorts every day. And on the rare day I can convince him to wear pants to school, he changes as soon as he gets home. Also, everyday I tell my self I'm not going to fight him on clothing, and everyday, I get all bent out of shape and try to talk some sense into him. If he'd want to wear his cute crewcuts shorts all the time, I could get on board with it. But it's "sports shorts" (his term) that he wants. Ugh. Next thing you know, he's going to want some black Nike Elite socks to go with them.

7. Ava's new bunk bed has made me seriously lazy about washing/changing her sheets. That bed is so damn hard to make up. I will not shame myself by telling you how long it's really been since they were changed. It's bad, though. Really bad.

8. Even though I'm ready for spring, I'm not ready for bathing suit weather. Ick.

9. Ava and I got in an argument last night about swim team. I say she's doing it again, she says she's not. What's the appropriate amount to push your kids in such things? I think I'm going to win out on this one. It's $50, which, as a friend of mine said, is the best bargain you can get for 2 months of swim lessons.

10. I have officially gone back into selling real estate. I didn't think I'd ever do it, but here I am, eating my words, and feeling pretty excited about it. So, Raleigh friends, please send a little business my way!
(Shameless self-promotion).