Where are the Reindeer?

Last night we had our Christmas camping event with the camping club. Santa always visits and brings the kiddos a gift. This year Matthew was so excited he could hardly contain himself. He was all grins, ear to ear. After the gift giving (Matthew received a Transformer by the way) Santa left. Matthew noticed he left and ran out after him saying, almost frantically, "I have to see the reindeer. Hurry, hurry, I have to see the reindeer!" He actually followed him and would have followed him around the corner had I not stopped him. I told Matthew that he couldn't follow Santa because it woud take away from the reindeer magic. Then all the way back to the trailer he talked nonstop about Santa, flying reindeer, and how he almost saw Santa's reindeer. I just love that kid!

Ah, The Movies

So I finally had time to take the kids to see Beezus and Ramona today. Natalie has been wanting to go since the movie came out but we just could never find the time. It was originally just going to be a girls day event but several weeks ago Matthew expressed interest in seeing the movie too. And boy am I glad that I took him! Out of all the wonderful messages in that movie (which was very good by the way - a good, wholesome feel-good movie), the one that made the most impact on the boy was...when Ramona squeezed toothpaste all over the sink! I should've known that I was in trouble when, during the movie, Matthew looked at me and said, "I'm going to do that!" And I said quietly, "You'd better not." Matthew smiled and said, "Just kidding!" I am sure it will come as no surprise then that when Natalie went in to brush her teeth she found a big, blue gooey mess in the sink! Yes, Matthew did try that at home! Crazy kid! Of course he was very apologetic and didn't find it as funny as he did in the movies today as he was cleaning it up! But, hey, it that's the worst thing he mimics, I can live with that!

Life's a Beach

I haven't really blogged in awhile. I've found that even during summer vacation I have a pretty busy lifestyle. Early in our summer we took a trip to Massachusetts to visit family as well as have a last family get together before my sister moved abroad. The first week was spent in Cape Cod in an old but renovated beach house about a mile from the most wonderful beach. Now, normally I am not a beach person, but there I could have (and we practically did) gone every day. It was so peaceful and so relaxing. The water was calm so there was no fear of the little ones getting tumbled by a wave or swept out to sea. I was perfectly content to wade through the water to assist Matthew in finding hermit crabs or Natalie in her search for periwinkles. Even Ryan spent hours on the sand building huge sand fortresses with the kids.

Now if you know us, you probably didn't even think we liked the beach. We certainly don't go very often and if we do, we don't last very long. Here the beaches are hot and crowded. The sand feels gritty and the waves are too big for little ones. Last summer we went to Silver Strand Beach and we probably didn't even last two hours. Every time the kids went near the water my heartrate picked up. It was just not the relaxing beach experience that I enjoy.

This summer was completely different. It was floods of memories and nostalgia of the beach trips I had as a child. It made me (and even Ryan) long for a summer cottage of our own. How wonderful it would be if every summer could be spent on Cape Cod? I would love to give my children the experiences I had growing up. Until then, I'll hang on to the wonderful memories we made this summer and continue to play the lottery.

Growing up!

Last night we had dinner with my sister and her family at a Mexican restaurant. It was outdoor seating and a large group of high school students wer?e seated by us. It was obvious that they were going to the prom as they were all dressed up. We left at the same time they did and we watched them board a charter bus. Natalie was pointing out the dresses she liked. Here's the conversation we had after they left.
Natalie: Mommy, will I get to go to a prom some day?
Me: Yes, someday when you're older and you have a nice boy to take you.
Natalie: Not a mean boy, right?
Me: Definitely not. I won't let you go with a mean boy.
Natalie: Why do I have to go with a boy?
Me: Well someday you might want to.
Natalie: (with utter disbelief) Really?

My sweet little punkin!

All the Single Ice..

Matthew: What's a single ice?
Me: A what?
Matthew: A single ice? starts humming Beyonce's All the Single Ladies...
Me: Ohhh. What's your favorite song?
Matthew: All the Single Ice. What's does single ice mean?
Me: What do you think it means?
Matthew: I think it means beautiful and I think it's a chipmunk.

The Things Kids Say

As I put Matthew to bed tonight I explained to him that I have to go back to work tomorrow so I might be gone before he wakes up. "No, I don't want you to," he said and then, "Why?" I told him that I had to make money and he quickly responded, "How about I give you a dollar?" Ah, my sweet little boy.

Kidisms

Today while we driving to Natalie's dance class I was reminding the kids of the room cleaning that had to happen before sleepover night. I told them that they could clean after school on Thursday and on Friday afternoon. Matthew said, "Mommy, I can't clean tomorrow. I have too many things to do." I asked him what he had to do, thinking he'd say that he had school. Instead he replied, "I have to draw and make some pictures and then color."

A little bit later we were talking about school and why it's important. Matthew asked, "Why do we have to go to school anyway." So, I fielded that question to Natalie. I said, "Natalie, tell your brother why do we have to go to school." She replied, "Well, at school the teacher tells you things and then you have to memorize them."