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Snowmageddon Part 3

February 9, 2010

The above only sounds like a cheesy movie.  Although I love the snow, I think that nature could have given us a week to get the snow off the road before it happened all over again.  Homework tonight with Ryan was harder than it has been in months.  I think the loss of structure to his week is making focusing and getting the job done hard for him.  Heck it is hard for everyone.

My husband is going to work from home tomorrow.  That should prove interesting since our living room is directly over his office, and I will be trying to entertain two kids at the same time he is working.

I tried to play in the snow yesterday and the sole fell off my boot and the leather was all rotten.  Since all retailers here are pretending it is spring already there are no boots in the stores but I could buy a fetching pair of sandals.  I hear sandals are the next winter footwear.

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Password Protect

February 8, 2010

If you are not related to me feel free to email me at punkymama.jo@gmail.com for the password.  Thanks

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Protected: I Must Have Been a Really Bad In Another Life

February 8, 2010

This post is password protected. To view it please enter your password below:


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No Football for us

February 7, 2010

We went to a neighbors house for a homemade pizza dinner.  We were invited with another couple and we all have boys between the ages of 3 1/2 years old and 8 years old. In total there were six boys running about.  The parents chatted about all kinds of things and after a dinner we went home.  After I got home I turned the TV on and noticed it was Super Bowl Sunday.  I had completely forgotten about it and so had the rest of the people at the get together.

Exactly the way it should be in my book.

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SNOWMAGEDDON (for Paula and Al)

February 6, 2010

It is truly snowmageddon here.  We have 27.7 inches of snow in the city of Philadelphia.  It has been a glorious day.  My husband and I have been working a lot and way too often on weekends.  We have been forced by weather to slow down, just be all together, and we are so happy.  He took the kids out a couple of times and the snow was up to Aaron’s chest!  My lovely sweet husband let me sleep in this morning and let me take a three-hour afternoon nap.  I am more caught up on sleep than I have been in months.  Colors are sharper and my patience is at an all time high.

Here are some pictures of the snowmaggdon.  These were taken at 8am this morning.  It snowed another 8 inches after these photos were taken.

Now for the gratuitous kids pics taken at the Zoo on MLK day.  It was a rare warm winter day, we had lunch outside and had a great day.  It was amazing. I love my best friend brothers.

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Don’t Forget Friday

February 5, 2010

WOW Friday again and to list the things not to forget.

1.  Today Ryan had his most successful play date inside someone elses house.  He was great.  I got to chat with the Mom in typical play date fashion and both boys were amazing.  I cried as we walked home from the date and as I told my husband about it. We did something completely ordinary which was impossible a year ago.   I have enjoyed Ryan being 6 more than I can say.

2.  Aaron has taken to dancing around naked singing kids songs punk rock style like in the Punk Farm books.  It is the most ridiculous thing ever!

Just two tonight.  I am so tired from working last night and getting up earlier than normal.

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The Snow Panic Has Begun!!

February 4, 2010

We are scheduled for a snowstorm this weekend and full on panic has begun.  Milk, eggs, and bread is flying off the shelves.  Something I find weird is soymilk also flies off the shelves which sucks for Aaron.

Personally, I love the snow.  I live on a hill, it keeps my workaholic ghost husband home, and the kids get nice and tired sledding. It is win win around here.  I hope it snows, long, hard and deep…….oopss This is a family blog!

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Pure Joy

February 3, 2010

When I was pregnant with Ryan, people were very fast to tell me how my life was over, how that kids were so hard, and all other negative things that had me scared to death.  I remember when I went into labor driving to the hospital when  in the middle of the night shaking in my boots because of all the negatives to come.
What people did not tell about was the pure joy of having a baby.  My kids put me through my paces some days and getting Aaron out to school this morning had me pulling out my hair but I still would not trade him for anything.  I love waking up to them coming into our bedroom for morning hugs all warm and sleepy eyed.
I love that as the part-time working parent I get to have a childhood summer vacation all over again.  It is like a do-over of childhood except I can drive, make decisions, and have a beer now and then.   I love the activities of the summer or school vacations, the long hikes in the woods where I become Princess Mommy and my knights bear long bamboo sticks to fend off all real and imaginary attackers, we get to go to the pool whenever we feel like, and sleep in if we want.  I feel like my summers are punctuated by going to work and then back to the action of having fun.
45 days…

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46 Days

February 2, 2010

This afternoon after Ryan ” busted out” his homework, I could feel the kids settling into a sedentary afternoon.  The snow smell was in the air, it was damp, overcast and cold.  Everything inside me screamed NOOOOOOOOO.  I decided right then we needed a Scooter Adventure, cold or not.  I got the boys all bundled up with hats under their bike helmets and gloves.  The boys are city trained to stop at corners so they scootered and waited, scootered and waited.  When we got down to the train station we tried to wait for a train to pass but we got cold.  We then went behind a building we pass almost daily.  Tucked way behind the building was a huge old metal shed used for some kind of construction equipment.  It had all kinds of cool found objects around and a gently sloping hill so that the black top around this large building became our personal raceway for about a half hour.  I got cold so we moved on.  We then found a gaggle of girls who knew Ryan and were calling to him across the street.  We chatted with them and they were all giggling at Ryan. It was hilarious.  Then we found Ryan’s friend K from his class.  It was just so fun to hang with K, his Mom, and his sister on the edge of the woods just chatting.

It took us almost an hour and forty-five minutes to walk around the neighborhood.  We found a secret scooter spot and met up with friends. Spring is not 46 days away, it feels like it is here today.

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An Unusual Bar Story

February 1, 2010

On Saturday night I did not want to be at work.  I came in and immediately wanted to leave.  It was snowing and the bar was empty.  I was standing at the end of the bar at about 7pm, looking out the door at the falling snow.  An occasional regular who  I have known for years, asked me what I was so sad about.   I told him I was missing putting my little ones to bed, singing the monster songs, and smelling their freshly washed heads.  He replied quickly, I have a daughter.  I looked at him quizzically and said,  huh?

He told me a story of being a young teenaged Dad of a single mom.  The very Catholic parents of his girlfriend were very upset when he would not marry their daughter when they were 16 and she was pregnant.  When the baby girl was born he struggled to stay in the baby’s life but things were different almost 30 years ago and Dad’s didn’t have as many rights. His single Mom was entrenched with her own custody battle and did not have the money to help with his.  So slowly his girlfriends parents forced my friend, ML out of his daughter M’s life.  He and his Mom tried but they were stonewalled by the Catholic grandparents for years.

My friend told me last month his daughter found him on the internet.  They have been emailing back and forth more than once a day since the new year.  She knows how controlling her now dead grandparents were.  He said they were discussing meeting soon and his excitement.  He told me of her creative side and how they look exactly alike.  He spoke of sharing tastes in music, literature, and food.  He was so looking forward to building a relationship with her.

About twenty minutes later my friend moved to the other side of the bar.  He called me over and introduced his daughter!   I exclaimed, we were just talking about you! She was out with some friends and they just happened upon the bar where her Dad was hanging out.  They hugged and hugged, and talked into the night.  As they hugged I had to retreat to the back of the bar and cry.  What an emotional night!  She looked exactly like ML and even wore the same exact glasses.  It was crazy.

After she left, ML told me he was never going to let her go again.  He wanted to be there for all the first she has left in her life.  He kept talking with tears in his eyes.  Soon after he left to process the events of the evening. It was so nice to watch a family undo the wrongs of the past and reconnect.  It is a night that  I will not forget for a long time.