Flower Hill Softball Game

Last weekend we met up with Evan's high school friends and their families for a softball game/bbq/playdate. The field was at the perfect location - directly next to a playground, so the younger kids were entertained. We had a great time. I really think baseball may end up being Marino's sport. He didn't miss a pitch!

Learning to cover the bases with Daddy...

Most of the group

Evan teaching Raiden how to hit the ball

Playground equipment is a lot more fun when you make it more dangerous!

Evan and his good friends:  Brian, Ishmael and Rahsaan

Marino and Aaron - sharing dirt

5 on Friday

As always, here are 5 special reasons I am loving my boy this week: 

5. Ever since I came home from Dallas, Marino tells me several times a day "Mommy, I missed you at the airpork." (airpork = airport)

4. Montessori school has been great for teaching Marino to be polite. The other day, he asked me to turn on a specific song. After I turned it on, he said "Thanks, Mommy. That was really nice of you."

3. As I've mentioned before, Marino likes to give us "scripts" in our daily life.  These tend to be self-serving. The other day he said "Mommy, can you say 'Marino, you can come lay with me in my bed'?"

2. Marino was watching tv the other day and asked me "Mommy? How did that place get so creepy?"

1. Have you seen the commercial for Plaque Blast?  They show it during Marino's current favorite show (Transformers Rescue Bots). Out of no where when I was putting him to bed the other night, he said "Mommy, dog's breath is very very gross."

Playdate in New Jersey

My dear friend Jen's mother, Ellen, passed away from pancreatic cancer right before I left for Dallas.  This was sad on so many levels - she was truly a loving mother, grandmother and wife and I know Jen's life will be very different without her.  It just breaks my heart.  If you're interested in learning more about pancreatic cancer, Ellen or how you can help, please visit this link.

I wanted to do something to help, so I asked Jen if she would like me to take the kids during the funeral. Marino and I headed up to NJ, got Sydney and Noah and headed over to Sonia's house to play with her girls.

As you can see, it didn't take long for Cat and Sydney to bond!

Practicing ballet together

Princess dress up - of course!

Two sweet princesses - I love this!

Cat told me this is her "princess face"

My boy loves hats!

It was chilly, but we had to take a trip to the playground.

Sweetheart Siena

Slide trains are the best!

I brought these little foam planes back from Dallas for the kids. 

They had a lot of fun with them (while they lasted).

We had a great time and the kids got along great. Sydney was really interested in Alana and had lots of questions for Sonia about taking care of the baby. It was pretty adorable.

I love this picture (Noah was napping).

March 2012 Trip to Dallas

The first weekend in March, my mother and I went to Dallas to visit my brother and sister-in-law. Both of them turned 40 in the last month, and we wanted to celebrate with them. As I've mentioned before, my brother is battling a very aggressive cancer. Thankfully, he is feeling a lot better than when I saw him in December and he was in wonderful spirits when we were there.

It was fun to get to spend time alone with my mom. Every time we get together these days, we have Marino with us, so it was nice to spend some time with just the two of us. The first day we were there, we took a walk on the Redding Trail in Addison.  This is such an innovative idea...the city built a trail along the power lines. So, they took this underutilized space and made it into a functional and beautiful park, complete with running/walking/biking trails, public gathering spaces (with shade), a great playground (with shaded picnic tables). I went back the next morning for a run there - I just loved it!

We went to Addison Circle Park the next beautiful day. I love love Addison! It's very well planned - everything is very intentional - from the art deco street lights to the public art to the outdoor gathering spaces, its a walking planning lesson!

Here's a picture of my mom with some public art. The sculpture is not amazingly attractive, but you can see it from a mile away, so it creates an identity for Addison. Isn't my mom cute?

Here we are facing the other side of the park. It was a gorgeous day - perfect weather for a walk!

Closer picture of the sculpture and the streetscape. 

Great mix of daytime and nighttime businesses and public seating.

Beautiful park with great tree cover - it felt like we were somewhere more exotic than Texas!

Who needs a fence when you can create public seating instead?

Brendan wanted to check out the Cavanaugh Flight Museum for his birthday. It was good trip for us, since it was a manageable size with lots of cool things to check out.

Holly and Brendan - so nice to see him up and happy!

Holly and her sister (and our family lifesaver) Sally making new friends...

My big bro and I

Brendan and Holly's new dog, Mona. We took her to a great dog park and she was in heaven.

It was a great trip and wonderful to spend time with my family.  

Marino did great without me, in spite of recovering from strep throat.

Jazzy Storytime & Playdate with Ryan

I have mentioned, without elaborating, that I've been doing a preschool-oriented storytime at a local independent bookstore. I really love reading aloud and its a fun thing for Marino and I to do together. It also gives me an opportunity to be creative.

The last storytime had a Jazz/Mardi Gras theme. I started out by playing the kids the song "When We're Human" from the Princess and the Frog soundtrack as a way to orient them to the concept of jazz music. I talked a bit about Mardi Gras and New Orleans. I read This Jazz Man by Karen Ehrhardt (this is one of Marino and my favorite books). I then played the audiobook of CD of Jazz Fly by Matthew Gollub and "read along" using the physical book. The kids LOVED the Jazz Fly CD and they all got up and started dancing as it played. It was really fun to watch them get so excited!

After the stories, I played the rest of the Princess and the Frog soundtrack, and we made Mardi Gras masks using random art supplies I had (plastic masks were sold in 3 packs at Michael's). I had feathers, foam stickers, glitter glue and pom poms for the kids to use for their masks. They really enjoyed the craft, and showing them off when they were done.

Here's a few pictures of the kids and their creations.

Marino's mask was a bit scary to me...it looked like a swarm of bees was attacking him, but he was quite proud of it.

After storytime, my friend Robyn and her boys Ryan and Matthew came over for lunch and playtime. Ryan and Marino got along great - they especially enjoyed wrestling and throwing each other off the couch. Little boys are like baby deer locking horns with their rough play!

How cute is Ryan? Here he said "Hey, I'm going to make a silly face. Take a picture!"
Two handsome boys!
Double silly faces

5 on Friday

As always, here are 5 special reasons I am loving my boy this week:

5. I'm obsessed with taking pictures. This has been an obsession since I was 14, so everyone in my life is fairly used to it and complies. Marino has been a stickler, though, and generally not willing to smile or pose for pictures. That is, until the past month, when he not only is willing to pose, but will ASK ME TO TAKE HIS PICTURE!! This is the greatest thing ever for me. Below is just one of the many pictures this month where he said "Mommy, take a picture of me! CHEESE!"
4. The other day, we watched some short video where kids talked about their bedrooms. After, Marino told me "my room is my special place. I just love it!"

3. Last weekend his friend Ryan came over to play. After he left, Marino said "I love Ryan. He's like my brother."

2. Marino has gotten really good at expressing himself. If he can't remember the name of something, he'll describe it until you understand him. For instance, the other day he was trying to talk about Peter Pan, but couldn't remember his name. "He's a boy, he flies, he has a green hat and a green shirt..." He also described pudding to me the other day "It's white, you eat it with a spoon, it's cold..." and jello "it's red and shaky."

1. Marino likes to play this game where he starts saying "I love you" and then gets more and more effusive as time goes on. When he runs out of superlatives, he just starts throwing nonsense out there. Last night when I was putting him to bed, he said "Mommy, I love you so-ey, so-ey, so-ey much-ey!"