The Valley Girl, the Political Science Major, and the Curmudgeon

Hey Blogheads. If you are still out there, I commend you. Milk & O's has suffered immensely due to Mr. Mom's blogging laziness (i.e. eating bon-bons and watching Oprah) and Mrs. Dad's preference to spend the majority of her interweb time networking (i.e. MyFace postings, status updates, pokes, and other jargon I will never understand). Regardless, the FroderFive are alive and kickin'.


Ms. A is 6 going on 13. Life as a 1st grader seems good. She maintains her own unique sense of fashion, comedy, mannerisms, and stubbornness. Dance class continues to be her passion, but Mr. Mom got her out of her comfort zone by signing her up for two days of fastpitch softball clinic and one day of "Intro to Hockey" clinic. For each of the three days it took her about 15 minutes to observe, thoroughly assess the situation, and work up the appropriate level of fortitude to join in the action. Once doing so, she did very well in each of the activities, and Mr. Mom had a hard time keeping the smile off his face while watching (from a safe distance so as not to be seen by A, of course).

Mr. Mom and Mrs. Dad wish her life of academia would be a little more challenging, but her genius is so great that the elementary school curriculum is obviously inadequate. Is 2nd grade too early for admission to Harvard? Frequent trips to Boston would benefit Mr. Mom and his Union Oyster House (http://www.unionoysterhouse.com/) oyster-on-the-half-shell habit.

Ms. A is also picking up a second language, Valley Girl. She can fit the word "like" into any sentence at any time, and does so with recurring fervor. For good measure, Mr. Mom often gets a "Seriously Dad?!?" comment. Like, who needs Spanish or Mandarin when you, like, never go to Spainia or Mandarinistan? Also, Mrs. Dad got told the other day that her fireplace mantle decor was "lame". It was classic.

Mr. B is his same effervescent self. He turns 5 on Monday, and Mr. Mom is frequently battling bouts of the surreal nature. How can this little boy be 5? Shouldn't he be toddling around the house grunting, picking on his older sibling, and being the Master of Disaster? Well, I guess he still does all those things, albeit to a lesser degree. And he still sucks his thumb for good measure, but we are working hard on stopping that.

He is our extroverted social butterfly, and we love him for that. So do the ladies apparently. On 1/28/11 I was waiting for B to wash his hands before he said good-bye and headed off into his classroom. The mom of one of the girls from his class approached me to tell me that her daughter said the day before that "I love B with all my heart." It must be a brother-sister kind of love though because according to B, this other little Italian number, a mature kindergartner no less, told B that they "were to marry." Mr. Mom can't relate. I'm still trying to figure out how I tricked Mrs. Dad.

This is Mr. B's birthday extravaganza weekend, but alas one of his preferred guests probably won't make it. The other day, B found a nickel while getting into the truck, so we were talking about Thomas Jefferson, which segued into discussions of other presidents. After correctly telling me that George Washington was the first president and that Barack Obama was the current president, he paused and said, "I want to write Barack Obama a letter thanking him for being president. And I want to invite him to my birthday. He could president my party." I said, "Good idea B. We'll get right on that." I guess Obama may have considered such an invitation. That is unless B decided to have a tea party. Badumpump.

More so than Ms. A, Mr. B is openly enthused about the idea of playing sports. We had him signed up for "Sports Camp" at the posh Edina Family Center for December and January, and he played PhyEd-type games, while also being formally introduced to soccer, t-ball, football, and lacrosse. He loved it, and to see him run and play with such unbridled joy melted Mr. Mom's crusty old heart. However, one day when I asked B what his favorite thing to do at Sports Camp was, he gave the answer, "Have snack. Then play Animal Tag." Classic B.


Mr. C is an old man in the body of a 2 year old. We see a lot of this curmudgeon face shown here on the left. We also hear a lot of "No!" or "Mine!" Must be all that bad stay-at-home-dad parenting. Luckily C flashes that smile and unleashes that laugh just enough to offset it. We love going to "school" on Thursday mornings, even though it is lowly Eden Prairie ECFE and not the amazing, super, terrific Edina ECFE that A and B experienced with the former primary caregiver of FroFamily Inc. C is a hit in class. The other moms and the three teachers dig him, especially during song time. They are even warming up to the enigma that is Mr. Mom. Predictably I'm the only dad in class, but I kind of like it that way.

That should sufficiently whet your appetite for more Milk & O's and I promise to blog more regularly.

Mr. Mom out.

Birthdays

I had a really nice birthday this year. After our traditional birthday family breakfast of cinnamon rolls (from a can) and opening presents, I had a fun day at work. I mentioned reading my Kindle in a previous post, and this was my gift from Mike and the kids. I also bought myself a "work birthday present" that I had coveted for a very long time- shiny, black patent Dansk surgical clogs, style: Petrol! They look like an oil spill. I looked down at my feet all day and smiled. I didn't want to put on shoe covers and cover their beauty, but common sense took over, as they wouldn't be as beautiful splattered with blood. After work, Mike had a neighborhood girl come over to babysit, and we met Mark and Danielle at Mozza Mia for dinner. It was supposed to be a crazy night, where Mark would drive us all around in the minivan so we could get whipped into an intoxicated frenzy, but we ended up meeting them at the restaurant, as it snowed quite a bit on my birthday. Danielle had a long, stressful, traffic-filled drive to her sisters to drop off the boys, and we had to get a Morgan/Coke for her straight away to ease the tension of the night. The craziness will have to be postponed, maybe for Danielle's birthday in April, since we all sputtered out pretty early (led by Danielle, but eagerly embraced by me), and called it a night after dinner.

Next up, B's birthday. We already have his party booked at a nearby nature center. We are going to have a critter hunt. I think he will really enjoy it. We are doing the 'green party' where they provide all of the plates, cups, etc. instead of buying disposable party ware. I'm excited to hear who he would like to invite to his party. I can't believe our little boy is turning 5! Weaning him from thumb sucking has been quite the battle, and I can't say we're anywhere near cessation, but I do think he's cut down some. And he's been dry at night for a very long time. He still doesn't like to do fine motor things like snap his jeans, or pull on his socks, or take off his shirt, but part of that is his personality, I think, as he likes the attention and closeness when we are helping him with these things. I can't imagine what the next school year in Kindergarten will bring...

Hopeful

I think things are finally looking up, in terms of my social life. Throughout this winter, I've felt like everyone else is out doing fun things, and I am stuck at home, with the world passing me by. In actuality, I bet everyone else is at home much of the time too, but it made my sorry-for-myself mood more dramatic to think that the world was having a fantastic time without me.
On Friday night, one of the neighborhood women with kids of similar ages to mine invited a small group to her house for wine and appetizers. We had such a fun time, and it was so nice to walk down the street right after the kids were in bed, and be there! I really hope to start doing more with the neighbors, and stop feeling like the 'new neighbors.' It's been a year already after all. It will be a great group to socialize with, even with the kids included, once the weather warms up again.
Saturday, A had another birthday party. I headed down to Apple Valley with the boys to visit Becky at her new home, and meet her 5 month old daughter, baby J. This was something that needed to happen, since we hadn't seen each other since our last birthday, when we went out to eat together and she shared that she was pregnant. Mike and A came down after the birthday party, and we had a nice dinner. The kids were all playing so nicely that we stayed out a few hours past bedtime.
On Sunday, I volunteered in the nursery at church (as part of the arrangement for dropping Colin off at nursery each Sunday). I shouldn't have to do it more than 4 or 5 times a year, and it wasn't as bad as I was imagining. After lunch, we went to see Sesame Street Live, Elmo's Healthy Heroes downtown. One of my docs gave us tickets, and we had a great view of the stage. We all really enjoyed the show, and popcorn, and cotton candy. This was the first time that we'd ever done one of these big productions, and it was a positive experience. It was so fun to watch the kids more than the show, to see the rapt attention and delight in their faces. After we got home from the show, and everyone got set up for napping, I went to Dick's to look at yoga clothes, then wandered through Target, and headed to the club with my Kindle and rode the stationary bike. It was amazing how just a few hours recharged me and put me in a great mood.

Christmas 2010- Photos

Christmas Eve in PL, and a few from Christmas morning.

Macy's 8th Floor

This year we found the perfect time to see the holiday display at Macy's (Dayton's for life...). We went on the day before Thanksgiving, and walked straight in. It was a little weird meeting up with Santa when it was still November, but great to not stand in line with whiny kids. (The kids all had a wonderful time, and no one was whiny, even when the cheeseballs packed for snack ran out!) The display this year had a theme of 'Day in the Life of an Elf' and we all really enjoyed it. We also had fun taking the light rail downtown.

Happy Birthday, C!

Looking through my photos, I realized that along with lots of things, I failed to blog about Colin's birthday. We had a party with the theme of balls- footballs, basketballs, baseballs- Colin loves them all. And that boy has got an arm! He has a way of throwing a ball at you from point blank range that is cute and scary at the same time. I'm happy to report that our television screen is still intact. The thing I would like to remember about this birthday was how Colin savored his birthday gifts. He would inspect the wrapped box, then gingerly peel the tape from one of the side flaps, then repeat on the other side, before sliding the present out of the paper- it was hilarious to watch our two year old hold the whole room of guests in suspense, while he stopped just short of folding the wrapping paper as he unwrapped his presents.

Seventies Stylin'!

These are just a few pictures we took at home before Mark's party. I need to get some copies of the photos taken at the party, to help memorialize such a fun night.

Hello? Is Anybody Still There?

Poor, poor blog. We've been going through a rough patch, blogging-wise, not life-wise. Life has been pretty wonderful, actually, which is probably inversely proportional to the speed of my blog updating. So, here is a super speedy rehash of the last few months of 2010. As well as a renewed effort to blog more frequently in 2011...

1. NOVEMBER

Seventies Redeux- Danielle hosted an awesome 1970's themed party for Mark's 40th birthday. Mike had a full beard leading up to the party, and accessorized his polyester with a 1970's era mustache. It was pretty freaky, and while it was fun for the night, I was glad to see the razor come out the next day.

Thanksgiving was a wonderfully low-key event. Bridget and Steve were on their rotation with the in-laws, so it was just the five of us at Mom and Dad's. We had a great meal, and a really relaxing day in P.L.

2. DECEMBER

I was fortunate to have some PTO to burn, so it was nice taking off some days in early December for Christmas shopping (as well as the week of Thanksgiving). Thanks to G and G for watching the kids, so Mike and I could have a really productive day. We were able to swing through the old neighborhood and have a nice lunch at Blackbird, in its new location- 38th and Nicollet! I definitely would like to plan a shopping day sans kids next December.

Bridget and Steve joined us in celebrating Mike's birthday this year. We went to the new Psycho Suzy's for a drink, before heading to Jax for too decadent of a meal. I hope next time, Bridget will be able to enjoy her meal.

We had a really terrific Christmas this year. Colin really got into opening presents, and it was so fun to watch him rip off a corner of wrapping paper, and squeal in delight, as if he knew what he was opening. The tree went up the weekend after Thanksgiving, and the elves came to our house quite early this year, to check in and report back to Santa that we were ready for his visit. However, such an early visit from the elves made for a long wait until the Big Day.

I had fun making batches of cookies, so I was ready with a cookie plate whenever we went for a visit somewhere. I made cardamom cookies, almond triangles, molasses cookies, pumpkin cookies, double chocolate cherry cookies, and orange/dark chocolate dipped cookies. I really enjoyed the cardamoms and plan on making them again for sure, and the molasses cookies were also a hit.

I gave Mike a package of Gopher Basketball tickets for his birthday this year, and the first game was against South Dakota on 12/23. Mom and Dad graciously agreed to let the kids sleep over, so we dropped them off, went to the game, and went back to our house childless, to wrap presents, and then sleep in a bit on Christmas Eve morning. I think that was hands-down Mike's favorite Christmas present.

We tried Christmas mass at Pax this year, since St. Mike's has always been so packed, and while we were relegated to the downstairs gymnasium, it didn't feel as chaotic and useless as past years in P.L. Steve stayed home with Laurel, and had dinner all ready to go when we arrived back home.

Favorite toys opened this year included Annalise's soccer cleats, ball, and shin guards. She looked so grown up when she tried it all on. Now we have to find a soccer league... Bennett handled the disappointment well of his Cars Piston Cup racetrack not working. Mike got it all set up, only to find it wasn't working. After depleting our supply of D batteries, I schlepped to the Super America in my pajama pants to buy their overpriced D batteries, and was disappointed to find that it was not a problem with batteries, but with the toy itself. Once we got it exchanged at Toys R Us the next week and set up all over again, all the kids had a lot of fun with it. Colin doesn't really have a standout favorite toy, although he probably enjoyed the goofball that Santa brought him, because it was immediately available, fun to touch, and ready to throw at unsuspecting family members not ready to catch it at close range/high velocity.

We had fun playing in our pajamas Christmas morning, and didn't head to Okabena until late afternoon. We had Christmas on Sunday morning, and headed back home on Sunday night. We had to get home, as A and B both had swim camp Monday through Thursday the last week of the year. It was fun to be at home that week, able to watch swimming lessons, and see so much of the kids and Mike, but of course I wasn't as productive as I would have liked.

I don't want to chance getting this post erased, as I've hit the "add photos" button several times without anything happening, so I will just get this posted, and add photos later. I really will, I promise!