Our Day Trip To The Beach

Today my cousin Sandy and I took my kids to the beach. It was a well deserved trip considering what happened last time we tried this. (Last time about 10 mins after we got there it started to downpour, so hard it stung. Christian was screaming, Courtney was buried in the sand and we were all soaked running like manics to the car carrying crazy heavy bags full of soaked towels. Then when we finally get to the car and head out we sat in traffic for over an hour just to get off the island. A distance that should have taken us about one and a half minutes. And to top it all off, the sun came out shining bright while we were sitting in traffic. It wasn't the best beach trip, to say the least.) Today was a whole other story. We got there nice and early, there wasn't a cloud in the sky, and it was a much nicer beach! No boardwalk full of shops screaming "Spend every penny you've got!" haha. Lifeguards that actually paid attention to the water and the people in it. We played in the sand together digging holes, making "castles" (though they didn't look much like castles haha), burying our feet and burying Ryan and Courtney. We buried their legs and turned Ryan into a seahorse and Courtney into a mermaid (again, sand is not my 1st choice in artistic mediums). haha. The older two were hopping waves w/ their Aunt Sandy while Christian and I were playing in the shallow part of the water and making friends w/ the other kids on the beach (depending on what beach toys they had... Christian. haha) And although the beach was pretty packed come the afternoon, it still wasn't chaotic. It was mainly families or people just relaxing or playing one sport or another. None of those drunk obnoxious people you try to hide from your kids. All in all it was a pretty great day w/ my kids at the beach. Other than a few kinks in the road, which for any parent is unavoidable no matter the situation, or the fact that I'm red as a lobster (yes I slopped the sunblock on my son and completely forgot about myself, big surprise), the day was perfect.

The Big Conspiracy

I was truly convinced that everyone was just too busy for me this year. To be quite honest, I didn't mind at all. I mean, what mother of 3 wouldn't appreciate a nice semi-relaxing birthday, one without all the duties that come along with hosting a party. I've hosted like 57 bazillion holidays/ birthdays, showers etc. since we bought our house. So I really did appreciate just my kids, faux husband and father being here for my birthday. Everyone else called and wished me a happy birthday and that was plenty. When my brother called he invited us for dinner the next night since he couldn't make it to my house for my birthday. Of course i accepted, if I get out of cooking for a night who am I to argue? haha. I was also convinced a few weeks ago that everyone was trying to plan a surprise something for me, but I nipped that in the bud real quick. After that, again totally convinced that they couldn't pull off a surprise party, and thought they had given up on the idea. Yes, I was sadly mistaken. As I walked into my brothers house and everyone yelled "Surprise!", I was speechless. Although I was so sure that I didn't want a surprise party, I was wrong. I was very thankful for everyone being there, it was a great surprise after all.

My Birthday

Today is my birthday. It's funny how everything in life is so contradictory, even something simple as a birthday. One minute it feels like just another day of cleaning, cooking and refereeing, only w/ a cake at the end of the day. The next minute I seem to get all sorts of nostalgic at the simplest things, looking at my Dads face and wondering if he's thinking back 25 years. Looking in the mirror and realizing that I'm far from where I'd thought I'd ever be, and so very happy about it. I'm having a war w/ my two oldest children to see who can blow out the trick candles first while my youngest thinks he's being sneaky fingering the cake (and so delighted that hes getting away w/ it, might i add)! And as all this is going on I'm thinking enjoy these wonderful birthdays of mine, while my kids are young and excited about it (and me), because no matter how many stars I wish on, how many eyelashes fall on my cheek, how many coins I toss in the fountain, or how many candles I blow out I'll never get this day back. Regardless of the number of times throughout the day I may get so frustrated that my face looks as though it might explode, at the end of the night I sit in my silent house and remember how lucky I am, for everything, and I am grateful. (Even if my sons potty training may not be going exactly as I planned. But at least he's enjoying picking out a new pair of big boy undies every 2 hours! haha) Here's to another bickering, screaming, demanding, exhausting day, full of the laughing, loving, and mayhem that is my life! (and i love it!)Christian is convinced that its his birthday like 27 times a year!

Aww, the Pop-pop loves them!Our happy family

My Early Birthday Gift

A few weeks ago my camera of 4 years decided that it finally had enough of all the abuse from us. The banging, dropping, tossing it in my bag or car or table, splitting open and slamming it back together finally took a toll. Any one who knows me, or any parent for that matter, knows that i could not possibly survive this world full of picturesque moments without a camera. A wedding, unnecessary, a dentist visit for myself, unheard of, but life without my camera, unbearable. So that's what i wanted for my birthday. Last night we, as a family, went out to look at cameras for my birthday gift. I found one that I liked, and it was reasonably priced. HD, 10.1 mp, as apposed to my old 4 mp. 12x optical zoom and 5x digital zoom, my old camera only having 3x digital zoom. There's a whole list of upgrades. Let the picture taking and memory capturing begin! Yay! Here's a few of the pics I took just trying it out.

Im a Blog Virgin

I've never "blogged" before, but Maggy suggested it as a good way to keep people updated and stay connected. So i figured I'd try to start it right away before i forgot or got caught up in a heap of poo covered toddler sheets. Ready or not here I blog. ha ha, i know I'm stupid.