For Lauren......

I read my friend Lauren's blog quite regularly. Her and her husband Brad have an adorable baby boy Ben.

Whenever I read her blog I can't help but be reminded of my own little Ruthie who you had to work overtime just to make smile! She was the most serious baby there was. She always had this look on her face. Simon would always say that she got her "Bitchy" look from me. You know the one, many of you have questioned what is wrong with that girl Molly who never smiles. My dear friend Nicole always said I have an unhappy resting face and therefore people always think I am mean or don't like them. I guess I need to focus more on smiling sometimes..... Or just keep people guessing.

Anyhoo, I have been thinking about all the funny pics I had of little miss serious to show Lauren that Lauren's little Ben has a long lost serious friend Ruthie.

Enjoy!

At 3 months. She doesn't find the humor in this shirt.

Ruthie was not interested in solids at first either.

At her Baptism. Way too serious. She was 6 months. And I was 3 months pregnant.

(That is another post for another day!)

Meeting Santa. Still same face! 7.5 months

8 months and walking around the house. Still same face.

My personal favorite meeting her little sister. Ruthie 1 year and 2 days. Lucy Martin 4 hours old.

Huh? How did I get to that........

So, Ruthie has been having a bad week for sleeping.

Sidenote: I know, I know, that I should not even complain when your kids go to bed every night and sleep for 11-12 hours in their own bed and are really rather good.

After our last week in Cleveland, Ruthie got off her routine BAD. She wanted to sleep in bed with us, was up until 10:30. (Her normal bedtime is 8:30) and the worst of it is that her night terrors really get out of control when she is off her schedule.

So, when she was upset today about not having a piggy bank for her "monies" I thought..... Here is my chance for a re-training opportunity! Together we made a poster with her name on it and 10 boxes. We talked about the importance of staying in her bed all night and not calling out for mommy and daddy unless it is an emergency. (We have a radio in her room so it is not like we can't tell what is going on the entire time anyway).

So each night before she goes to bed, she picks a flower sticker and takes it up and puts it on her shelf where she can't reach it. If mommy or daddy have to put her back in her bed, or come up to get yet another book, or glass of water (staller) then we will take her flower away. If she still has her flower in the morning she can put it on her poster. When she has collected 10 flowers on her poster she can go to Nordstrom's (In Cleveland, hello, people we live in B.F.E. so not near a Nordie's) and pick out her very own piggy bank and they will even put her name on it! She was totally sold!

So, in all the excitement I thought I could really go with it......I told her that once she gets her new piggy bank, when she is a good girl mommy and daddy can give her more monies to put in her piggy bank!


WOW, did I really just offer to pay my 3 year old if she is a good girl. I soo did not see that coming, at least not now.

Well, first night down and flower is still on the shelf and she is asleep. So, I guess the promise of the piggy bank may have some weight. Hey, I'll try anything once.....

Wait, this is motherhood, not college......does that still apply?

Cleveland Wedding

We were in Cleveland for a few days for a wedding of a family/friend. My mother has 2 best friends that we have grown up with their families/kids and I consider them to be way more than friends they are closer to us than most of our family. We spend holiday's together, they haven't missed a baptism or a birthday party for the kids and they are all so very important to us.

The church service was in the same church that Simon and I got married in almost 9 years ago, so that was kinda fun to see. It was a beautiful day, the bride looked amazing as well as the groom, the flowers were stunning, and the reception was amazing. Like a fairytale.



I knew that the night was going to be a winner when.....The photographer came around to take our table's picture and we thought we can't do something boring like just pose for the photographer....So we told her that in an hour and a half after we had our groove on meet us in the back corner and we are going to make a pyramid. We told the bride that we were going to do this and her response......"I love it! and I AM IN!!!!" So there were all three families of kids ranging in age from late late 30's to 29 in bridesmaid dresses, suits and dresses and wedding dresses, building a 14 person pyramid in the hallway of this reception. Good thing the videographer and the photographer caught it on film. Because unfortunately I did not. Real mature. One for the books for sure.


While, I usually like to follow my responsibilities at all things open bar and drink my fair share as well as the fair share of the other's not stepping up to the plate I managed to remain well under control and left that responsibility to Megan and Bridget. They never dissappoint. After the wedding reception ended they went to the hotel bar with the bride and groom and a contingent of after party participants and managed to get thrown out of there at 2am and their mother said that at 4am they still weren't home. Oh how I secretively wished I could have been there whooping it up! Although, I am sure that I would have been asleep on the bar. I guess this may mean I am getting ready to pass my torch on.....





Here are some pics....

Me and some cute guy I got to sit next to at the wedding.

Sister Katie, Me, Bridget and Megan

Our Parents......Mom, Mary (Megan and Bridget's mom), and Rosemarie (MOB)

Megan thinking she is on "American Beer" Idol

This picture was taken right about the same time that Simon was playing the air guitar with his leg......That would have been such a better photo than this.....Not that we aren't all cute.

Ruthie and Isabelle

Ruthie has been into babies for a while. So, while in Cleveland we went to my friend Kelly's house who has Jack who is 2 weeks younger than Lulu and Isabelle who is 7 months old. They all had a blast playing together but for sure the highlight for Ruthie was being with baby Isabelle.

When she held Isabelle, I was trying to explain to her that babies like to hear stories and so maybe she could tell her about soccer, or her Gammy and Ruthie say's "I know...." and starts singing songs. I didn't get "Twinkle, Twinkle" on record but this was the second song she sang.

***For this video you will have to turn volume up all the way as she was whispering to the baby......Also, it is kinda random but it doesn't sound like her voice but it still made me cry.

Happy Father's Day.

Simon got to spend his day at the library studying for school and a backyard barbecue with our neighbors. And the biggest treat of all...... A homemade ice cream cake.

notice how the girls can't take their eyes off the cake.

Happy Father's Day to the best father the girls could ever ask for.

Cake sidenote:
I would love to take the credit for this but I addapted it from my friend Trish's blog. So easy and so delish. (I changed the ice cream it called for to chocolate, vanilla and choc. chip. more kid friendly)

Your regular everyday kinda week.....

Lots of nothing too exciting here this week. Happen to have a few short stories and some pics to share.

First, I am not quite sure who's brilliant idea it was to give Lulu pudding. She can be such a big kid but when it comes to things she can put her hands in look out. I really need to get her finger painting. Especially so that she can do it outside and I can hose her down. The only reason she is so upset in these pics is.... A. She got caught and B. She was forced to stop and get in the tub.

Remember years ago when they made blue raspberry blow pops? They were totally my favorite and the girls when given the choice of any dum-dum flavor they pick blue everytime. I guess the apples didn't fall far from the tree.

At dinner one night it was just me and the girls and we were discussing that Ruthie wanted to be a firewoman when she grows up. I was telling her what a noble job that was and you can help people, and the fireman aren't too bad to look at either....(well maybe not that last part but I thought it) Lulu gets all excited and screams on the top of her lungs........ When I grow up I want to ride a bulldozer! She makes me so proud to be her mommy. Everyday!

We had an afternoon of horrible storms and the girls were feeling pretty lazy, so when Lulu woke up from her nap and Ruthie and I had already woken up from our nap. Oh yea, I don't even need to explain. I love me some nap. It is a great day when I can take a 2 hour nap. So Ruthie went upstairs and the girls just wanted to hang out in Lulu's crib, cuddle and read books. I am so sure they learned that from me. The only thing missing was a TV and some chips with the air conditioning cranking real love and some lazy time.

Lastly, and the most traumatizing for Simon....... We were taking the girls pictures in these absolutely lovey dresses hand made by my dear friend Kristen Perrier. I was trying to get them to smile with all the "look at me" and "say cheese" Ruthie looks right at me and Simon and screams PENIS'S and then gives us a huge grin. Simon was so distraught he still won't talk about it. Needless to say the photo shoot was cut short and these were the only pics we got.

Bison joins Team Bisson

Is that a Bison in your car? Why yes it is!!! Well, where are your passengers? The passengers of Simon and Lulu were literally trying to sit on my lap while I was driving the car and I had Ruthie on my lap as well.

We went to a wildlife park while on our mini vaca and while the girls loved every minute of it last year. They were not so into it this year. I must admit, it seems like it is something fun but when this huge beast is eating out of your car and then, breathing so heavily while you can't get away you start to hit a little bit of the panic button.

We fed, moose, zebra's and giraffe's along with a bunch of other animals and again, while it was certainly entertaining it is rather hard to take pictures while everyone is screaming like girls including your husband, and sitting on your lap and you are trying to drive a car all the while not running over any animals.

Ruthie also rode a pony twice since Lulu was not into it AT ALL. They also had camel rides and Ruthie was a little nervous and decided not to go. Which was fine by me since the camel was not really into the camel rides.

I am feeding this animal. Notice how Ruthie can't get away fast enough.

Yep, that is me feeding the Bison

Simon feeding the albino zebra.



Simon feeding the deer and Lulu trying to hide.



She loved the pony.

Great Wolf Lodge

We decided that we needed to take a mini family vaca before the craziness of the summer gets away from us. While we have our traditional week at the beach at the end of the summer this was a great way for the family to connect at the beginning of the season called....."Yes, your daddy loves you even though you are lucky if you only see him for 45 minutes a day. And please say an extra prayer that he doesn't get an ulcer from all this stress" ..... Or as the common folk call it "Summer". We planned this trip about a month ago when everyone was starting to get a little ansy about the way things were going to go this summer.

At our last year's beach week it rained 5 out of the 7 days we were there so we ended up at GWL. The girls loved it so we figured it would be a hit again. We also went to the one that was about 35 minutes from Cleveland so we were able to get some visitors. Gammy, Aunt Katie and then Grandpa and Kevin came the second day. Gammy offered to babysit one night so Simon and I could go to dinner....Where did we go? BW3's of course for wings and nachos and beer. We are so much fun.

Ruthie loved, loved, loved, everything about the lodge. The singing moose in the lobby, the shows, the slides, the outdoor pool, everything! Lulu would rather have spent the weekend hiding in the room watching TV. I mean seriously, saying that she spent 3 days in his arms does not do it justice.......She hangs on so tight to him that he can barely breathe. I often say that the only way she could get any closer to him would be to be in his butt crack! It took forever every day of coaxing her and begging and bribing just to get her off his lap and get her feet wet. But that is the amazing thing about 2 girls. They couldn't be any more different. We even discussed that we are giong to have to find things to do on vacation that Lulu would like. Simon commented that it would be a vacation of chocolate milk and sitting on the couch and watching TV.

We had such a fun time, tons of time at the waterpark. We went to an wildlife park where you get to feed the animals right from your car. The most important thing was that we were all together and we had a great time!

Ruthie watching the show

Ruthie floating around

Ruthie riding the slide and giving me the horns

Lulu

The one and only time we got her on the baby slide. We surpirsed her by picking her up and placing her on it.

Mackinac Island

Walking up to the Grand

View from the Garden

Front porch full of white rockers great for drinking and daydreaming

Simon and I managed to get away last week for a mini vacation. I say vacation as I did not have to cut anyone's food, change any diapers, or read any books aimed for the 2&3 year old set. Simon would like to call it work as he was at a conference all day and schmoozing at cocktail parties all night.

The conference was on Mackinac Island which is absolutely amazing. We had been there before for a board meeting 2 years ago and jumped at the chance to go again. Well, Simon has been there more again for work (so rough) and this was my second time. When the boss says the wife has to go, the wife has to go. Such a rough life I lead.


There are absolutely no cars on the Island. The only was to get around is by bike, horse or horse drawn carriage. The Grand is amazing and I always feel like I have stepped back in time. It is one of those hotels that after 6pm all men must be in coat and tie and all women must be in dresses. There is always a band playing for entertainment and the porch is so majestic to just sip a glass of wine listen to music and daydream. The food is amazing and I have literally been dreaming about their famous Pecan Ball since I was there 2 years ago. I highly reccomend this place for everyone to go to at least once.

While Simon did have to spend most of his days in conference's I got to spend the day with Simon's boss's wife. She is so lovey and I truly enjoy spending time with her. She has 3 daughters older than me and they all have kids around our girls ages so we talk alot about grandkids and kids and she loves to horseback ride as she has 5 hourse of her own. So one day we rented horses and rode around through the island.

The cocktail receptions at night were amazing, I swear one night I was going to have to pull Simon away from the Sushi bar when he tried to climb on top of it! Just kidding, but you don't want to come in between Simon and his Sushi. We were able to meet some pretty important us senators and have good conversations with some interesting people. Although, by the end of night 2, I turned to Simon and said "Do you think we can leave, go to a bar order beer and nacho's and watch a game on TV?" I guess sometimes you can dress me up but you just can't take me out. Maybe that was right after I was introduced to a high powered person from the governor's office and he says to me...."So, what do you do?" and I said, well, I have a 2 year old and a 3 year old and a husband that is gone alot for work so that is my full time job" and he says.... No lie...... "So basically nothing" and I said well....."Not nothing if you count watching TV and eating bon-bons as nothing" Again, you can dress me up but you can't take me out. Jerk!!!! Another post for another day.

Anyhoo, the last day was the day we had planned on renting bikes and taking pictures. We woke up got dressed went downstairs and it was raining like I have never seen it rain and it was 48*. Needless to say, we took some horse drawn carriages and decided to leave early. These are the pics from a couple of years ago. The place hasn't changed a bit.

All in all, great time, There is no one on earth I would rather be stuck in a car with for 8 hours and on a conference trip with than my one and only BFF and husband.

Horse drawn carriage

luggage cart to the ferries

Quick pics of the chicks....

We were meeting our neighbors for dinner tonight while Simon was at the library studying. Ruthie was so excited she went and picked out and got herself dressed in her favorite froggy shirt and froggy socks. I couldn't help but take some pics of her and Lulu as they were being lovey on the front porch watching the rain.

Lulu a.k.a "Dude"

Ruthie totally looks like Simon in these pictures.

And for those of you who think that it is so easy to get great shots all the time and that they always smile and look at the camera. This is more like the many shots on my camera.

You can call me dude......

Lulu has been funny lately. Since she could talk if anyone ever called her Lucy, she would say "No, I Lulu!" She won't even answer to Lucy. So, out of the blue the last few weeks she changed to Lucy. Which is an absolute first. So today I said to her..... "Do you want me to call you Lulu or Lucy" she thought long and hard about it and replies back.......

"You can call me dude"

Tagged.....

I was tagged by Lauren, and because she is awesome I will share some random factoids about myself. I know these get old, but I really enjoy learning random things about my friends so I hope I don't disappoint.

1. What was I doing 10 years ago?
- living in Jersey with my friends Ken and Ian, working full time at Camp. Simon was still sorting out his Visa to move to the US and I was gearing up for a fun summer at Camp Cayuga.

2. 5 things on my to do list today.
- Make cookies for our neighbors that just moved in (done, with the help of Ruthie)
- Shred some junk mail and bills (How many credit cards apps can one person really get in a day? I think I got 10 last week. Gotta love a recession)
- Take a nap
- play with the girls
- Make dinner at some point.

3. Snacks I enjoy?
- Is Beer a snack?
- Nachos (fave food)
- Cool Ranch Doritos
- Almonds
- Edamames

4. Things I'd do if I was a millionaire.
- I would rent out a cruise ship and take all my friends and family for a huge great vaca.
- Pay off all my families debt (school, house, cars)
- Give away a large chunk of it to some favorite charities
- Buy a vacation home on Lake Erie big enough for all our family and friends to visit whenever.
- We have actually talked about this, we wouldn't quick jobs or buy big houses. We would continue what we are doing. We could be the millionaires next door.

5. Places I have lived.
- Lakewood, Ohio
- Bay Village, Ohio
- Honesdale, PA (7 summers, totally countable)
- Hackettstown, NJ
- Columbus, Ohio (Worthington, Ohio still our favorite)
- Michigan


There you have it. Off to take my nap.