I.N.K.

This was our first trip to the Interactive Neighborhood for Kids!  I loved it just as much as I thought I would.  If only this had been around when I was a kid.  I would have asked to go every week I'm sure.

Cam down on the farm

Maeve filling up her shopping cart

This is what Cam tried out at the hospital

Maeve painting her fingernails

Cam and Maeve got to try out all kinds of stuff.   There was a grocery store, diner, music store, dentist, bank, salon, farm, hospital, school, and even a plane and police car!  Wow!  You know I wanted to plunge right into imagination too.  It was such a neat place.  Hope to go back soon.

CoCo Goes to Kindergarten

Part of being the student of the week means that your pet can come for a visit on Fridays.  Well, nothing would do but for our old CoCo Bean to come to class.  (Actually, Cam wanted Clayton and Carson to come too.  I don't think he thinks of them as pets, but he knows they are awesome and he would like to show them off to his friends!)

Moo and Doo loaded up the Bean and the Baby Girl to head to MBES.  Although it was a bit warm, Bean had to wear his sweater so that his old-age moles wouldn't scare the young children!  He was very patient and even got to come visit some third graders too.

Before leaving, he almost got in a little scrap with a dog who is a frequent visitor to one of the other kindergarten classes.  That Bean! - Really can't take him anywhere!

Much thanks to Moo and Doo who make the impossible possible on too many occasions to count.

SuperDooper Six

Cam has been counting down his birthday since his last birthday.  He loves getting older.  I think he feels like he is catching up to his boys.  This year we decided to do a combined birthday blast at Disney World.  So, that meant no big parties (less planning on my part for sure), but I couldn't let the day just go by.

One of the baloons that hung on his doorway.  The special 6 sticker compliments of Melissa.

Our bedroom is Cam's morning dressing room.  Had to decorate it too!

So, Cam had a special day from morning till night.  The day began with morning presents.  He tore into the three presents we had for him (one from each of us).  His daddy took him for a special before school breakfast.  Then, I ate pizza with him at lunch and helped him pass out his cookie pops to his class.  After school, CG picked him up, which is always a special treat.  When I got to her house to get them, he started asking about who all might be coming to our house tonight.  I tried to let him down gently, but as far as I knew, no one was coming.  He couldn't understand why everybody wasn't coming to our house for a birthday dinner.

Cam and his cookie pop

Little did he know, we were planning a little surprise for him.  This is something he had requested several times throughout the year: "Mom, I want a surprise party.  You should plan a surprise party for me."  I kept insisting that is he told me how to do a surprise party for him, that it wouldn't be much of a surprise.

The Family Dinner

When we went home, he was a little on the sad side because his daddy was at baseball, and as far as he knew, the three of us would be the only ones at home to help him continue his celebration.  He was feeling a little pitiful for himself.  He said, "Mama, you could have made dinner for everyone."  I played along and said, "I had not planned to make anything. What could make now?"  His quick response was, "Hamburger Helper!"  I told him that we would just go meet Daddy after his practice at the cheese dip store. He was very disappointed with this.  He really didn't want to leave the house just in case someone came by to wish him a happy birthday.

After going around to welcome his guests, he started to tear into presents.

I must say the pressure to reveal the surprise almost got the best of me.  However, I held strong under the most severe pressure.  In the car on the way, he was looking out the window and he said, "All I really wanted was a family dinner."  Poor thing!  He was experiencing his first ever birthday disappointment.

All of the Little Guests

Posing with his cake.  

Needless to say, we when arrived at the restaurant, he was thrilled to see a huge table of "family" sitting with his dad.  He was grinning from ear to ear and seemed to be pleasantly surprised with his surprise party. I was a little nervous about this part because he doesn't always do well without knowing what it coming. When we returned home that night, he said, "That was the best party for a six year old!"  Another successful celebration!

Showing out....just like his daddy!

Helpers x2

We are settling into our new routine that comes with baseball season.  If this is any indication, this might just be our best one yet.  Although it is crazy just getting in the door some days with our many bags and then trying putting something nutritious in their mouths and call it supper, I do think I have more help than I accounted for this season.

Just before Cam's birthday, I was actually thinking of putting off the last step to the cookie pop decorating.  I could just envision crumbled cookies and a mess of sprinkles everywhere.  Sometimes I just don't give them much credit.  I had the best little helpers.  Cam and Maeve carefully iced each cookie.  Then I added the sprinkles.  Our assembly line proved to be very productive.  And they loved doing such a big, grown-up thing like icing cookies.

Perhaps my days of waiting till bedtime to accomplish my tasks are becoming not necessary.  I might can actually go to bed when they do.  

Skate Night

Cam looked forward to Mother-Son Skate Night for weeks before the event.  I thought he was looking forward to it so much because it was on the eve of his birthday.  I am not much of a skater (actually not one at all...never have been one) and since I was still recuperating for my classroom wipe-out injury, I decided definitely to spare us both insult and injury.  Luckily, Nonna came to the rescue and enjoyed some rink time with her favorite little McCullers.

Ready to break in his new skates

Come to find out, he must have been looking forward to it because of his serious skating skills!  He was so impressive for a six year old.  It wasn't his first time skating, but it was my first time seeing him skate.  (Yep.  I still avoid it like the plague.  Only his Uncle Tommy and Kim have taken him before.)  Nonna let him open an early birthday present before coming so he was sporting his very own skates!  He had so much fun!  He fell many times but nothing too serious.  He would get right back up and at it.

Eager to get out on the rink - didn't even need a buddy

I have a hard time believing that my child has skating abilities.  He definitely didn't get those from his mother!

No skates on this mama's feet!

Full Swing

We have enjoyed our six months with Tony.  After this weekend, we enter into the "Daddy's at baseball mode."  From now until the end of June, (yes, the next six months) baseball season will be in full swing.  It will take awhile to get adjusted to our nightly routine without him.  What will we scrounge up for a measly supper for just the three of us?  Tony is typically the mastermind behind our meals.  Who will be the tag-team homework helper and bath giver?  Who will distract them from their crankiness with silly games?

Despite his minor quirks that rub me the wrong way at times, his Daddy-mode is something that is unmatched.  Most people don't get to see the way he lures our children into the darkness to gaze at the stars whenever we arrive home from a late night adventure.  The three of them will stand in the driveway and look up at all the stars.  It reminds me to slow down and just take time to be in awe.  While they look at the stars, I look at them and am reminded how truly blessed I am with my sweet little family.

I love when Cam wants to give him a "bro hug"  or begs to put on a little spray of "smell good"  so he can smell just like his Daddy.  Just recently Tony and Maeve have been giving each other dramatic kisses.  They will start from far off with their lips poked out saying, "Muuuuuuuuuuuuuaaaaaaaaah!" when they end with a big, loud smack on the the lips.

Our house will definitely not be the same around here and will feel empty and routineless.  When it warms up for the ball season, we'll start into our new ballfield routine just to get a glimpse of Daddy.

2012 - The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

I know that the old cliche "in the blink of an eye" is true each time I look at my children.  With a new year comes birthdays right around the corner.  Before I know it, my two little ones won't be little at all.  So, this year, I want to soak them up and love them through each stage: the good, the bad, and even the ugly.

The good about Cam right now is that he is so independent.  He can totally do the nighttime routine all by himself.  He showers and dresses all by himself.  The only thing he requests from me is to get his underwear and socks.  Maeve's good comes in those moments when she is acting out her pretend life.  We love to see her cock her baby doll on her hip and tell her baby, "You are heavy today!" and give it a sweet kiss on the top of the head.    With everything she says and does, we realize that we are always on her radar.  That, in itself, makes us want to be extra good examples.

The bad stuff now is really not all that bad.  There is one thing that really sticks out in my mind as yucky.  This is the constant bickering that exists in the evenings between the two of them.  It usually starts in the car on the way home from wherever I pick them up.  The almost six year old picks a fight with his unsuspecting sister.  When I say pick, I mean nit-pick. He will say something like, "Maeve, do you have school tomorrow?" when he knows indeed that she doesn't.  She answers, "Yes!" because she is two and has no need to keep up with the days.  She also says yes because she loves school and she would really like to go everyday like her big brother does.  Then the arguing begins.  Cam will say, "No you don't.  You don't have school tomorrow. Tomorrow is Friday."  Then Maeve will come back at him and say, "Yes! I do, Cam!" And it goes back and forth like that until I stop the madness.  Like I said....bad!  Extra bad for a mother who has spent the entire day with a similar kind of bickering that goes on in a classroom full of eight year olds.

The ugly.  Well, let's just say the potty has been very ugly.  We realize now that potty training with Cam was just about as wonderful as it could possibly be because we have now seen the other side - I am talking record-breaking wonderful!  After seven months of trying just about every trick known, from pee-pee pezz to the potty app, we think we can finally see the light - or should I say - throw in the towel!  (Actually this was the first completely accident free day yet!)  Crossing my fingers that the pack of Pull-Ups I last bought really was the last.

Here's to a year full of it all!  (No, not the diapers.)  A year full of the good, the bad, and even a little bit of ugly.