5 on Friday

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

5.  At dinner the other night, Marino announced, "My stomach is making noises like a sick cat."

4.  Marino woke me up at 2AM last week, saying "Mommy, wake up. I have something important to tell you." I asked if we could talk later and he said, "No! I have to tell you this. Ants are so important. They recycle our trash! If we didn't have ants, we'd be sitting on a mountain of trash!"

3.  Marino is very articulate, but he still has certain words he has trouble with. The latest one was the plural of mask. He referred to them as "mask-es." So adorable. Not many days of these cute pronunciations left.

2.  In the middle of a birthday party, Marino came over to me and said "Is that thing with the dolphin your secret?" I had no idea what he was referring to, but with some questioning, I found out he was referring to a picture in my bedroom from 8 years ago where a dolphin is giving me a kiss. I guess he thinks all kissing is a secret?

1.  The other day, Marino was pretending to be a doctor. He looked inside my ear and said "There's nothing in here but gassy molecules"

5 on Friday

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

5.  I go to the gym early, before the boys are awake. The other day I came home and Marino was awake and waiting at the top of the steps with his arms open, wanting a hug. 

4.  Marino uses strawberry or orange toothpaste and he is obsessed with having me smell his breath to make sure it smells like fruit. Seriously, he'll come downstairs, walk up to me and say "Smelling time!" The other morning morning he told me "My toothpaste wears off by the time I get to school. One time I had my friends smell my breath and it was ew! My breath stunk! Can you believe it? "

3.  When we got to school the other day, he asked his buddy Jace "do you like my logo tee? It's like a computer logo in real life."How does he know the word "logo" or that the pixilation in the logo is indicative of a computer? 

2. Marino and I had the following conversation the other night: 
Marino:  "Mommy, how did I get in your belly?" 
Me:  "Remember, you told me. The love energy?"  
Marino:  "Mommy, don't get mad but I just made that up. I wasn't lying, but I made it up." 

1.  The other night at bedtime, Marino asked me how people get viruses. Next he asked me what a computer virus was and how computers get them. Too complex of a conversation for bedtime!

5 on Friday

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

5. At bedtime the other day, Marino asked me about turning 18 and going to college. When I told him at that age he would want to move away and do his own thing, he started sobbing! "I don't want to leave you. Don't force me! I want to do my own thing and be here! I want to be with you every single day for another 100 years!" I calmed him down. A few minutes later he said "Mommy, I'm starting to cry again. But these are happy tears because I just love you so much!" 

4.  It's impossible to take yourself seriously when you're a mom. The other day, Marino announced, "Mommy, I'm smarter than you. Everything you say that's interesting, I already know."

3.  Marino had his last basketball game of the season last week. His buddy Sydney slept over the night before, so she came to the game with us. He kept looking at her all during the game and at half time, he ran over to her and said "Did you like that, Sydney?" 

2.  Marino was asking me for something the other day and I said, "Well, do you have any money?" He replied, "Does it look like I've got any money in these pockets?"

1.  Marino asked me to tape him and this is what he did...this boy is the biggest ham in the world! 

Fun in the Snow

Marino loves the snow. Presumably most kids like snow, but Marino REALLY likes it. He can't pass snow with out touching it. Or kicking it. Or stepping on it. No matter how many days we have snow on the ground. He just loves it.

The last 2 winters we had almost no snow, at least not enough to go sledding. This year we've had a couple of big snow storms, including one where we got 22 inches of snow! Marino was loving it. We headed over to the lake to go sledding after the snow stopped. Marino was so happy!

One of our neighbors made a "jump" on this hill for snowboarding. I went down the hill with Marino the first time we did this jump and, ouch! I'm too old to land that hard on my butt. Marino loved it though. 

                          

His thoughts on this jump? "That was EPIC!"

We finally made it to Whitetail Ski Resort to go snow tubing.  We went in the evening (6-8) and it was cold, but thankfully Evan and I invested in snowpants this year (why did we not do this before??) so we were all nice and toasty.  Our good buddies Jen, Matt, Sydney and Noah came with us.  Marino and Noah LOVED the tubing.  Sydney was not a fan.  I liked it but it was a bit scarier than I imagined! 

Looking down at the tubing lanes

Looking up at the tubing lanes. That's Evan finishing a run on his belly (scary!). 

After tubing we took the kids out to eat. These 3 are sooo silly together! 

We're enjoying the snow, but still ready for Spring.

Marino keeps asking when we can go to the pool! 

5 on Friday

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

5.  The other day, Marino stood on his trampoline and announced, "I'm a rocious." It took a few minutes to decipher he meant to say "ferocious." 

4. My mom and stepfather came to visit us a couple weeks ago. They asked Marino if he wanted to go to mass with them. "No, they just have peace songs there," he said.  They asked again and he said, "No, it's too fancy."

3. I took Marino to the dentist for a checkup this week. Here's some quotes from that visit: 

"It smells like shots in here. Are you going to give me a shot?" 

::mid-cleaning:: "Can you wait a minute? I just need to breathe." ::takes deep, meditative breaths:: 

"Do you have wifi in here?"  

2. The other day in the car, Marino rolled up his pant leg and showed me his calf. "Check out my leg guns" he said.

1. Evan and Marino have been watching old shows of Voltron and Transformers (from the 80s) on Netflix. They both love it. The other day in the car, Marino said, "Mommy, can you turn down the music? Did you know Voltron is the king of robots? And he defends the galaxy from evil robot shadow menaces, like Laser Beak. Ok, I'm done talking. Turn the music up, please."

Pictures of recent fun times....

Monster Mini-Golf with Jace and Landyn

Marino and Landyn love Chipotle!

Marino and his cousin, Raiden, on Super Bowl Sunday

"Look, Mommy. Take my picture, I'm being cute with Max!"

With Captain Planet at the DC Car Show

Playdate with old pals

Fun with family in New Jersey

These two are double trouble - Marino and Josiah

We went to The Pop Shop - the best restaurant, especially if you are on a gluten-free or vegan diet!!

Visiting with aunties and besties in NJ and celebrating Cat's 6th birthday

Marino adores Sabrina's boyfriend, Steven. He wrestles and punches him every chance he gets. 

Happy Birthday, Cat!

The kids love Sabrina!

My forever friends

5 on Friday

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

5. The other day, Marino asked "Mommy, can you come over here and snuggle with me?" When I came over for snuggles I said, "Aw, you love Mommy! I'm the best Mommy, right?"  He said "Mommy, if you get me a snack, then I will call you that."

4.  Marino has been asking for an umbrella, so I finally got him one (Spider-Man).  He was more excited about this gift than anything I've given him before.  Every day he says "Mommy, I love my umbrella. I can't believe you got this for me. You're the best!" He then said, "Mommy, can you make it rain so I can use this?" I told him no and he said, "Why? You're not a scientist?"

3. At bedtime the other night, Marino said, "Mommy, you're like my life-sized stuffed animal."

2.  The other day I got out of the shower and Marino sniffed me.  He said, "Mommy, you smell like ice cream mixed with grossness."

1.  I go to physical therapy to try and stop some of the inflammation in my neck and shoulders that my neurologist thinks contributes to my migraines.  Marino goes with me sometimes if I have an early morning appointment.  The other day we drove by the PT office while Marino's cousin, Landyn, was with us. "There's the physical therapy building," said Marino.  "That's where I go and watch tv and my mommy lays down and her friend Amy hurts her." I get deep tissue massages there and they often are painful; Amy and I had a good laugh when I told her this story.

One more! In the car the other day, Marino was drawing on his Doodle Pro. "Look, I drew a polar bear wearing the cone of shame" he said!

5 on Friday

I've been so neglectful of the blog...I just can't keep up with blogging about everything anymore.  However, I do want to keep up with the funny moments as best I can, so after a long absence, here is a new list of 5 reasons I am loving my boy this week: 

5.  The other day Marino asked, "Mommy, did you marry Daddy so that I would be gorgeous?"
Me:  "Why, do you think Daddy is gorgeous?"
Marino:  "Well, maybe he was when you married him."

4.  We went to a birthday party at Croydon Creek Nature Center last weekend (very cool).  Some gems from Marino while we were there...

Croydon Creek Staffer:   "Can anyone tell me a kind of reptile?"
Marino:  "A T-Rex!"

Croydon Creek Staffer, brings out a turtle:  "This is Daisy."
Marino:  "Oh, that's the girl turtle that really likes me. No, seriously, she likes me."

Croydon Creek Staffer:  "Ok, I have one more animal to bring out that you can touch."
Marino:  "Please be a snake, please be a snake."

3.  Last week, Marino read his first entire book!  It took 2 days and was not easy, but he did it!  However, this seems to have gone to his head.  Over the weekend, Marino announced to Evan and I that he is the smartest person in our house. "Remember, I read a whole book last week? Hello, smartest one in the house here."

2.  The other day, Max was having a seizure.  Marino was very sweet and comforting him.  He said "It's ok, Max, just calm down. Let your brain reload."

1. Marino came with me to physical therapy yesterday. He asked the therapist,"Can you scoot my chair closer to my mommy so she won't feel alone?"