Halloween Fun

Halloween was interesting this year. Grayson couldn't make up his mind all month about what he wanted to be for Halloween, so we waited until the last minute to pick up his costume. Final decision - a skeleton with chains on it. And I have no idea where that came from, but we found the costume rather quickly and then purchased light-weight chains from Home Depot, which I then sewed to the costume. He really liked it.

Our first night of trick-or-treating was in our neighborhood on Thursday night. We only lasted a half-hour. Unfortunately, Willie had scared Grayson earlier in the day with a mask and Grayson was petrified that he was going to put it back on, so we only made it through Brownsville. As soon as we arrived in Rohrersville, Grayson was done. He got back in the truck, took off his mask and gloves, and strapped himself into his carseat. Of course after we got home he wanted to go back out, but that wasn't going to happen.

Friday night was a small party at the local firehouse and Grayson enjoyed playing with his friends from church. But the real treat was Saturday night! We went down to Montgomery County stay with friends in a really neat neightborhood called Washington Grove. Grayson had a blast!! He enjoyed playing all afternoon with their children and then loved trick-or-treating, although it rained on us the entire time. Since we spent the night down there, Grayson was able to hang out the rest of the night and he really enjoyed himself. I think we have a new tradition!!

Soccer Mom, Season One - Almost Over

It's been an interesting couple of weeks. Grayson started soccer after Labor Day and overall he's enjoyed it. As for me, it's been painful at times, starting with his first game when he had had no nap, insisted on only playing goalie (which he had never practiced), and the game lasted an hour and a half because of all the breaks we had to take for the children. The game is only supposed to be 32 minutes long, by the way. It was the longest 32 minutes of my life!!

At practices he usually does much better and he listens to his coach pretty well. He's doing a great job at dribbling the ball, but has problems staying inside the field lines. Of course it doesn't help that the field is only a fraction of the size of a regular soccer field.

Tomorrow is his last game. I'm hoping he'll enjoy it and so will we. I've survived my first season as a soccer mom and I'm guessing I'll have many, many more. This brief season was a good way to slowly ease myself into the world of children's sports. I'm definitely not ready for the all-day marathon of games, but they will most likely be in my future.

We Tried It Again

Last Friday I took off my first day of work since I started back in February. I got together with a couple friends and we went to Baltimore to try the pirate ship that sails out of Fell's Point. I had hoped Grayson would enjoy himself more this time than he did last year when we went to the one in Annapolis. Unfortunately, I was wrong. He was miserable for most of the trip and I actually was disappointed with the experience as a whole. We barely left the ports of the Inner Harbor, so we really didn't get out into the water much and the storyline was a little less organized than the one in Annapolis. I don't think I would have been as disappointed with it if it hadn't cost so much money. Truly, the cost was completely ridiculous for the length of time we were out and the activities involved. Essentially, I don't recommend it as something to try because it's not worth the money.

This picture pretty much sums up Grayson's attitude during the trip...

The good news is that we spent the afternoon visiting Maria and Jay. Grayson had a blast playing with Paul and it was a nice, relaxing afternoon. Definitely not a day wasted off work.

Grayson With Paul Singing "We Will Rock You" by Queen

I'm a Horrible Blogger

I don't even know what to say. I know I haven't kept up on the blog at all and I've been reminded by some family members and friends, so I promise to do better.

So much has happened since the last post and to try to do a complete update would be impossible. In a nutshell, I'm really enjoying my job, although it can be quite stressful at times and honestly is the most stressful job I've ever had. Grayson is no longer at Dandelion. My sister was able to start watching him each day, so we took advantage of that opportunity. He gets a little more one-on-one time, but I think he has some problems throughout the day because he misses being around all the other kids. Right now he's only with his cousins each day. Starting in September, he'll be going to the preschool at our church and I'm really looking forward to that. He and I will get to know some of the children he'll grow up with and I will hopefully get to know some new families.

He also is starting soccer in the fall. He seems excited about it, but we'll see how it goes. They are allowing him to play a year early since he'll be four in November. I'm hoping he'll learn a little structure and find a good way to release all his energy. He really wants to play baseball, which I'm dreading, but luckily I have a few more years before that begins!!

Otherwise, things are going well. We've been enjoying the summer, especially since the days have been on the cool side, and Grayson's favorite thing to do is ride his "truck" (aka Gator) around the yard. I'm amazed that something so simple can keep him occupied for so long, but I'm definitely not complaining!!

Where to Even Begin?

It's definitely been a while, but I'm finding my time to get on the computer limited nowadays and when I am home from work, I don't really feel like staring at my computer very much. As for updates, our family has really been enjoying the new life that my job has brought to us. I love going to work, Grayson loves going to school, and our time together is much more valuable. Now that the weather is getting nicer, it has been even better.

Easter was great for us. Grayson enjoyed his non-traditional Easter basket filled with a Wall-E toy, Mickey Mouse, and coloring books. He also had a good time hunting eggs and eating the candy he got from school and church.
He's still full of activity and non-stop action. Just before Easter, I took him to my friend's restaurant, Volt, for a story-time treat and he had so much sugar I thought he was going to explode. I've never seen him so hyped-up. At one point, I actually saw a literal interpretation of bouncing off the walls as he and his friends were jumping all around the room. After we left there, we decided to go to dinner with our friends and the meltdowns began as the sugar started to wear off. Overall, though, we had a blast and Grayson really enjoyed himself.

A Whole New World

We've had lots of new adventures these past few weeks. I've now been at my job for a little over a month and I'm starting to get comfortable with the place. The people are great, I'm beginning to feel confident in my HR skills again, and I'm now in a good routine.

Grayson is really enjoying being with the older kids at his school and his teacher noticed a difference in him immediately. The reports I'm getting each day seem to be a little more constructive, such as when they wrote in their journals one day, so I feel like he's starting to learn a little. I still don't think it's quite to the level he was experiencing at his previous school, but we'll see.

I'm also noticing that as a family, we're more productive. Since Dominic is often off work on a weekday, he's able to run errands and get things done around the house, so this is a great relief off me, especially since my workdays are extremely busy. We're also enjoying our time together on the weekends. Recently with the nice weather, we were outside on the play yard together. It was a really nice day.

I have also decided to explore a new business opportunity. Sadly, Learning is an Art went out of business, but they introduced me to another direct sales company called emagineGreen. If you get the chance, please take a look at my website. The company's goal is to educate individuals on simple ways each person can help preserve the environment. It's something that has always been important to me, so I felt it was a good fit. Please let me know if you're interested in getting more information!

Diving Right In

These past few weeks have gone pretty well. The first week of full-time work, while also coming home and doing "Mom" stuff was pretty tough, but I just needed to get used to the new routine. Each day, I'm working non-stop, but I'm enjoying it. I really like the people I'm working with and I see a lot of potential in my company and what I'm doing. I still feel behind and like I'm playing "catch up," not to mention the fact that I walked into a bit of a mess (just as an example, items for employee files haven't been filed since last summer and are just piled up around the office), but I've only really been in the job for two weeks, so I think it's going okay. I survived processing my first payroll this week with no errors, at least not on my part, and for that I'm quite grateful!!

Grayson is loving the new school. I'm not sure he's learning too much, which upsets me a bit, but he's having a blast. At his old school, they had already gone through the entire alphabet and were working on learning numbers. In his new class, they haven't even started either. This week there's going to be a change and he is moving into a class with older children. I'm hoping this will make a difference. We'll see. Considering I didn't really get to do any research on a school, I'm quite happy with the place.

Change is Coming

This past week has brought a lot of changes. Back in December I decided I was ready to return to work full time. It took a lot of soul searching and discussion with family and friends, but it felt like the right thing to do. I started applying for jobs at that time and received a job offer last week. They asked me to start on Monday, so in just a few days I had to prepare myself for work and get Grayson ready for a new school.

Which is the other change...Grayson will be switching schools on Monday. I'm a little nervous, as much as I couldn't stand how often Grayson's school closed due to weather, I knew he was learning a lot with his teacher. I really do like the new school we chose, but it seems the class he's joining is a little behind compared to what Grayson has been studying. Plus, I think he's the oldest kid in the class. I know he's going to like all the activities and outside play, but this will also be the first time he's away from me all day long on a regular basis. Hopefully all will go well.

I took this picture to mark his last day with the old school. Here come the changes, we better get ready!!

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

Or should I say Dad. Yes, Grayson has decided we are no longer "Mommy" and "Daddy," but now just simply Mom and Dad. It's been a little strange to me. I know he's getting older, but for goodness sake, he's only three!! I didn't really expect he would jump away from the mommy-terminology so quickly. But I digress, this post is supposed to be about Dominic's birthday.
Dominic turned 35 on January 29th. Yep, he has moved into a new demographic. We hosted a birthday party with family for the Super Bowl. This was extra special thanks to the Steelers win - Dominic's favorite team. Poor Dominic was picked on all night by almost everyone since they were rooting against the Steelers just to bug him, but when most everyone left after half time (which was a startling performance by Bruce Springstein, I wasn't quite sure how to feel about it) and only a few remained, it got much better.

Grayson had a blast as well. He wore the Steelers jersey he got last year for Christmas with his football uniform and had fun playing with his cousins. He didn't learn quick enough to stay away from the TV during the game, but by the end of the night he had it figured out - "Dad does not want me near the television screaming and running around while his football team is playing." A good lesson to learn.

All in all, a good night!

Snow Day!!

Poor Grayson. He's never been allowed to play in the snow. It's not that I have issues with going outside when it's snowing. I actually really enjoy it, I find it peaceful. But, every year I haven't been able to justify purchasing new snow boots and snow clothes every year (and it would have been every year, he hasn't slowed down when it comes to getting bigger) on the chance that it may snow enough for him to go out and play. So far I've been right. We really hadn't gotten enough snow each year to justify the expense.

This year he was given a pair of snow pants for free. They are HUGE, which is good because he'll grow into them for years, but I could still make them fit. As for boots, I still haven't bought him a new pair, but he has a pair of water proof boots, so I could double up his socks to keep his feet warm.

And so it goes...he got all bundled up and was very excited. After he got dressed, I got myself ready. I then grabbed my camera for this momentous occasion. I go to take a picture of him all dressed and the battery died. Yes, my wonderful camera that gets amazing pictures was dead. Luckily, we still have our old digital camera, so I grabbed that one.

Grayson really did enjoy the snow. We weren't outside for very long - maybe 30 minutes - but he had a blast. I think the only reason he wanted to come inside was because his hands were cold and he wanted to drink the hot chocolate I had promised. He enjoyed that too. Overall it was a good experience and I think I'll invest in some snow boots for next year. I'll just get them extra-large so they can last a little while!!

Happy New Year!!

Happy 2009 everyone!! I hope it's a great year for you all. 2008 brought a lot for us - remodeling our home, Grayson started preschool, I started working from home with Learning is an Art, etc. I'm eager to see what the new year will bring.

We said goodbye to 2008 and hello to 2009 with another great party at my sister's house last night. It was the perfect way to cap off our year and this was the first time Grayson was a true "participant." He was up until after 1:00 AM because he insisted on not sleeping at her place. He actually slept in until after 9:30 this morning. That has never, ever happened.

Christmas this year was a ton of fun. Grayson really enjoyed himself and his gifts. This was the first year he really "got it." I don't think I ever realized how much work goes into creating the magic of Christmas, but it was worth it. I was completely exhausted by the end of the day - between going to church the night before and singing, to getting all the presents out on my own after Grayson went to bed (Dominic was working all night), then preparing all the food for the family, trying to entertain over 30 people, and then ending the day at my Aunt Dee Dee's house - I was beat!!
I hope everyone has had a wonderful holiday season and has a lot to look forward to in the coming year. Good luck with your new year's resolutions!!