Sophie and I got a girl's day out today. Victoria had a slumber party and Josiah went to Six Flags with his bestest friend in the whole wide world.

I had to track down a movie theatre in the area that was still playing the American Girl Doll movie. Seems it got bumped from a bunch of theatres because of The Dark Knight. I had been promising her all week we would go. Most of the showings were too early. I finally found one in Annapolis that was showing at 4:10pm.

I got everyone else to where they were going and we headed out. I was super excited because there is an Amish market AND a Whole Foods in the same shopping center. I needed more truffles (Yes, I finished off the box I bought Monday night, but in my defense I shared with the kids, my mom, my sister in law, and broke them out on TV Thursday.) and wanted to grab some creme fraiche since no local store sells it.

The movie was good, but a bit of a tear jerker. Not once, not twice, but like 5 times at least. The Great Depression was definitely depressing. The cool thing was almost every group that came in consisted of a mom, some kids, and a great grandma (at least, I'm assuming it was a great grandma, they all looked like my Mom-Mom). There was even an elderly couple by themselves. I couldn't help but think that my Mom-Mom would've enjoyed it, considering she lived through the Great Depression herself.

After the movie we hit up Whole Foods. I bought my truffles and creme fraiche. I also picked up some cute grocery bags that were made from recycled plastic bottles. I love me some reusable bags. I hate plastic grocery bags with a vengence. They always seem to multiply and it's gotten to the point that I feel horribly guilty throwing them away knowing they are just going to sit in a landfill somewhere. The hardest thing is making sure I remember to take my bags into the grocery store when I shop.

On the way home, Sophie was dropping hints about going to dinner at Sakura, a Japanese hibachi restaurant. I was trying to steer her toward a local Korean restaurant, even reminding her that Jon and Kate Plus 8 just made Korean food. She could have some just like they made. She wasn't buying it though.

Steve got home shortly after us, and was like, let's go to Sakura, without Soph ever saying a word. Needless to say, she was thrilled. She was also thrilled to find she is too old for the kid's menu, so she got an adult portion. Nothing like a good dinner and enough leftovers for lunch the next day. Knowing Sophie, she may just break it out for breakfast.  

So, anyway, I'm rambling. Soph's in bed, so Steve and I are going to curl up and watch a movie.

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

What question do you hate being asked?

"Are they all yours?" in reference to the kids when people find out this is my second marriage. Yes, they are all mine.  So what if I didn't give birth to some of them, they are mine thank you very much. From the moment I met Ashley and Alex, I knew they were mine, just as the three I gave birth to.

It is usually followed up by "Which ones are yours and which ones are Steve's?". The reason I hate this question is because the kids are usually within earshot. I don't know. It just seems rude to ask when the kids are around. I realize we are a blended family, I'm not trying to hide that fact and don't pretend that we aren't. I just don't like being asked when the kids are around.

Then there is the lovely, "Are you going to have any kids of your own?" like the kids we already have aren't good enough. I wouldn't mind, "Are you done having kids? Do you want any more?" It's the "of your own" that gets me.

Ok, that was 3 questions, and I could go on, so I better stop. Obviously, the qotd has hit a nerve. Heh.

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

The kids and I packed up early today and headed to the beach. We didn't make it yesterday. Some of the kids were in desperate need of bathing suits so it was Target and hotel pool day. It was also Ash's birthday, so she got to pick dinner. She went for chinese and lucky for us there was a PF Changs nearby (double pan fried noodles are the best!).

We stopped at a different Target to pick up buckets and shovels so we could play on the beach. There are a plethora of seashells to dig through on the white sand. Keeps the kids occupied for hours.

The kids and I arrived at the beach around 10am. We plopped down our towels and other junk and staked our claim on the beach, then headed for the water. Seriously, it's so warm you can just wade right in. We could even see our feet, unlike the Maryland beaches I grew up playing on. We also discovered that Clearwater Beach has a ton of fish in the water, just swimming around your feet.

I'm not much into tanning (note pale skin in various pictures on my blog), so I spent most of the day in the water with the kids. During one of my breaks, I was sitting on my towel, watching the kids play in the waves. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a seagull. He was eyeing up a shell. Then I noticed the shell was moving. I jumped up, shooed the seagull away and rescued the hermit crab from becoming lunch.

The kids came up and checked him out. I let him sit on the sand beside me for a bit. The seagull watched from a distance and attempted to come in a couple of times and snag him. These seagulls aren't very shy down here in Florida. Finally, I told Ashley to take the crab down to the water, where he'd be safe.

Later on, the kids were hungry and I started dealing out sandwiches. Ashley took hers out of the baggie. Suddenly a flurry of seagulls flew overhead. Ashley yelled, "Hey!"

I looked over at her. She had a stunned look on her face. "That seagull took my sandwich!" Sure enough, the seagulls were fighting over a sandwich a little way down the beach from us.

"I only took one bite." She lamented.

"Were you holding it up?" I thought maybe she was teasing them when they snagged it.

"No, I had it right here. I took a bite, then I felt feet on my head and they took it!"

We all burst out laughing at the thought of a seagull landing on Ashley's head to grab her sandwich right out of her hand. Guess it was payback for returning the hermit crab safely to the water for me!

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

Two nights ago I was in New York City. Now I'm in Tampa. And we drove to both places. I'm too lazy to figure out how many miles I've traveled this weekend, but I can assure you it was a lot.

Steve had planned on taking the entire family to Tampa for his business trip, but then they told him they didn't need him to go. So he planned an impromptu trip to NYC to see "Phantom of the Opera". The girls are currently obsessed with it, and the boys like it too. What's not to like about a phantom right? Sure there's kissing and love, but there is a murderous phantom. He made the reservations, bought the tickets, went to work on Friday where they told him Tampa was back on. Heh.

So 4 hours up to NYC on Friday. I never imagined my kids would be excited to get dressed up and go to the theatre. American Girl store, dinner and the theatre crammed in. Saturday morning, Toys R Us and some random souvenir shops to find Phantom stuff for Victoria. Saturday afternoon, 4 hours back to Maryland. Then frenzied clothes washing, house cleaning, and pool prepping. Sunday, back on the road and in Tampa by 11pm. Craziness. We even crammed in dinner at Cracker Barrel.

Tomorrow it's Ashley's 10th birthday. We'll spend most of the day at the beach on the gorgeous white sand. I'll have to track down a cake at some point.

I'll leave it up to Steve to post the pictures from New York City. I'm tired and it's way past my bedtime.

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

So, I'm in the kitchen, bleary eyed, pouring myself a second cup of coffee, getting ready to make Steve's lunch. It's a little after 7am. The house is quiet and all the kids are still in bed. I'm exhausted and considering going back to bed after I send Steve off to work.

Josiah, the eight year old, wanders into the kitchen, wrapped in a blanket (I really need to find him a robe!). I'm thinking to myself, 'This kid is such an early riser. I can never seem to get any quiet time before he's up and out of bed, no matter what day of the week'. He looks at the clock. "7 o'clock?!? I set my alarm for 6:30!"

Here I thought I would be able to catch a day a week to sleep in during the summer break. Yeah, I think I'd like to have a talk with whoever came up with putting an alarm clock on that Nintendo DS!

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

Things I loathe

• Waking up late and having to take a cold shower due to poor shower scheduling
• Messy kitchens
• Homework time after school
• Laundry
• Reading Treasure Island outloud for hours (and summarizing) because of inadequate teaching
• People who talk the talk, but don't walk the walk
• Spending 5 1/2 hours of my Saturday in a car dealership

Things I love

• A husband that keeps himself in shape for me
• Breakfast and coffee with friends
• My new shiny black minivan (I got to pick this one out all by myself!)
• Naming my new shiny black minivan (Victoria gave it the best name a minivan has ever had)
• 87% dark chocolate
• Breakfast by the pound at McKay's, a small local grocery store (french toast and scrapple for $.84, mmmmm)
• My special mix CD Steve made, each song handpicked for me
• Handwritten notes
• Egg salad sandwiches
• Clean kitchens
• Seeing my teenagers studying together for an upcoming test
• Driving with the moonroof open and my windows down
• Baseball caps and ponytails when you don't have time to do your hair
• Baby bunnies and baby cockatiels (not mine, but I got to look at them)
• Reading funny cards and laughing with Victoria
• Kids that not only can behave in a restaurant, but in a car dealership for 5 1/2 hours (Seriously, they deserve an award.) 

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

So, yeah, here are the pictures I promised the other day. They are all on Steve's computer, so I had to wait til he was home and not using it. Since Steve gave a pretty good run down of our trip, I'm just going to post some of my favorite pictures that he didn't use.

First up, the BK by our hotel had this breakfast special I'd never seen up here in the North.

Only in the south

They don't have monster sized cans of Boiled Peanuts up here either.

Mmmm Boiled Peanuts

We had to ride on 2 ferries on our trip up the North Carolina coast. The first one was a little long, 2 1/2 hours, but we managed to entertain ourselves.

Tori and Josiah on the ferry

Steve up close

Steve feeding the gull

Almost to the island

We stayed overnight on Ocracoke Island. It is this little bitty island that you can only get to by ferry. We stayed at a quaint old motel, Blackbeard's Lodge. Sadly, this is the only picture I have of the place since Steve took all the other ones for his blog.

Blackbeard's lobby

Pesto scallops with bacon

Soph and the feral cat

Jane and the feral duck

Kids and the lighthouse

Ferry Ride from Ocracoke Island to Cape Hatteras, 3/08

Josiah and the dead osprey

About to build us some bears

Josiah and the dinosaur he didn't get

Victoria stuffing her bear

Meeting Jamie and DeWitte

So there you have it. Spring break is over and school is back in session. Back to the same old same old. I'm just glad I have times like these to look back on when the days seem long and start running into each other!

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

Yo! Gabba Gabba Party In My Tummy

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

I have such a love/hate relationship with that dumb button on my alarm clock. Sure it lets me get a bit more sleep, but it also makes me 9 minutes later than I wanted to be in the first place. Maybe I wouldn't be tempted to stay in bed longer if I didn't have a warm snuggly husband next to me. I think I'll give him a good push out of bed tomorrow morning to see if that helps.

Speaking of alarm clocks, the kids have discovered them. Victoria bought one awhile back, no big deal. Now the younger kids have discovered that their Nintendo DSs have alarm clocks. Kinda cool on school days, having them wake themselves up. Not so cool on the weekends when one child sets it for 6am and decides everyone else needs to get up with them.

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

Love it or hate it, many of you lost an hour of sleep last night due to Daylight Saving Time? Worth It? Do you like it more/less now that Daylight Saving Time occurs earlier (and later) in the year?

I love having more daylight. I hate feeling like crap because my body thinks it got up at 4am even though the clock said 5am. I've had 3 cups of coffee this morning, a cup of green tea, a glass of Emergen-C, and a bowl of Total all in a vain effort to get some energy.

It's also frustrating because the younger kids tend to go to bed later because they have a hard time going to sleep when it's still light out. Although they tend to play outside more, so that's a good thing. They get all their energy out and aren't inside bouncing off the walls and running down the hallway. They were feeling the effects of the time change this morning. I could tell they were dragging this morning, but their attitudes were good for the most part.

Read and post comments | Send to a friend