I'm thankful for CamMad

Tonight was one of those nights when I realized how thankful I am to have such wonderful children in my life. Today was not a gold-star type day at work. I don't like to use this blog to vent about work so I won't. I will say however that when I came home and saw how happy that CamMad was to see me I felt very thankful to know that people can still unconditionally love. Please don't read into that comment. Parent2 and I still love each other very much.

The comment more refers to the fact that my children help keep me centered and grounded. Even though things may not be great my outlook can change just being a part of their lives. The opposite occurs when things are going well for me, the kiderroos have the uncanny ability to bring back to reality really fast. Some days I may take this relationship for granted but I couldn't imagine my life without them being in it.

Anyway, Child1 each day shows me how much full-day kindergarten can really help give children every advantage they can in a NCLB world. Today we were working in a kindergarten workbook and we realized that this stuff is too easy. I guess a trip to the bookstore is in order so I can pick up a first grade workbook to keep up with Child1.

Child2 is doing better going to sleep. We haven't had the banging on the door (knock on wood) but now we are getting the waking up at 1 or 2 in the morning and not going to sleep unless Parent2 hangs out. The grass is never greener on the other side is oh so true.

Quote of the day: Author Unknown-Stay ahead of culture by creating the culture.

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Back to the grindstone...

Everybody in the CamMad household was back to the grindstone. I think it is safe to say that everyone was glad to be home. Child2 had a great day playing with the new tricycle and hanging out the older generations. Child1 enjoyed having structured activites and playing with children with the same or simliar age. The 'rents were glad to get back into a routine, albeit one that they would gladly shed in order to be home with CamMad.

This week the big events going on would be centered around Child1. The first one is Author's Night at school. I've attended a few Author's Nights and this will be a very different one, as a parent not a staff member. The other one is a project that Child1 wanted to undertake after hearing Grampy at his last service: Fillling a Bucket for Children in Latin America. There is a specific list that they request and it gets packed in a 5 gallon bucket and the bucket is sent off to Latin America where a child receives the bucket and is able to eat the equivalent of 30 meals. This is a big undertaking and one we are proud to do as a family. Child1's great grandfather is very proud as well.

My mind is not totally on the blog as it is a 24 night. Until tomorrow...

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Hibernation Final Roundup

It has been a nice hibernation but not a great one. CamMad had a busy week but the end of the hibernation we've been dealing with meltdown after meltdown but the public personna has kept the positive side out there. Here is the quick rundown:

Many visits to the "Mall" for a variety of reasons: books, vacuum cleaner, sanitzing wipes, etc.
Visited many cartoonish characters who intimidated Child1 by walking in the general area but Child2 wanted to stalk them
CamMad went to their first baseball game, which they won, and watched some good and bad Red Sox games on TV
Enjoyed the nice warm weather (okay not over the last couple of days)
Played with all of the cousins
Attended Grampy's "last" church service
Clean, clean, clean, did I mention clean
Baked a cake (sorry Sheepish if you were here you could have had some) and cookies
Tie-Dyed Shirts
Ate a lot of pizza

I'm sure I've left a lot of stuff out but that's why it is a quick rundown.

Good story of the day: After attending church service we thought we would get together with CamMad's cousin and family along with Grammy for lunch. We decided to go to Applebee's. We waited and waited and waited. We even went to be seated only to have another party be seated in front of us. After that embarrassing moment we would told a table is openning up and it should be 5 minutes. We waited for 15 minutes but to no avail. After 45 minutes of all of us waiting (total wait time for Grammy was 1 hour) we left for Pizzaria Uno's. When we got there we were seated immediately. Service was prompt and the food was hot. I don't think this type of service is typical of all Applebee's just that one. Grammy told us there will be some nasty letters (that is not a good sign for the manager of that branch).

Funny moment aka ADD moment: While watching The West Wing and seeing Donna starting "the talk" with Josh I realized that I'm a lot of Josh and Parent2 takes on the Donna role. Scarry for those of who you who know us.

Back to the grind tomorrow. Only 36 more school days until the extended hibernation starts up...

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Hibernation roundup

Sorry for the delay in between posts despite hibernation which should mean more time to blog but in this case that would not be true. Since my lost posting we've been busy getting the House on the Hill ready for the invasion of the cousins. We found out that the boys were coming a day earlier than we planned which meant we had to get the household ready. The quick pick up was not going to be allowed which means we had to clean (despite the nice weather outside). Despite the best efforts to procrastinate the house eventually got to a status of clean (albeit for a short time).

To help get the house clean we had to find a replacement for the vacuum cleaner. Here is a picture of what we settled on:Doesn't this look like a real winner?
Parent2 said after the first vacuuming, "The cleaner makes it appear we have a new carpet." I might have said the cleaner made the carpet look less worn.

The boys arrived this afternoon and the first task was play outside enjoying the nice spring weather. After everyone got the initial energy out we made tie-dyed t-shirts. Sheepish might have done a better job with her dying of the tanks but it entertained the kids. Pictures will be forthcoming. We ate a lot of food for dinner and the kids played some more before going to bed very late on the CamMad clock. In fact, Child2 went to sleep during the final half-hour of Survivor despite no nap. Can we say "conditions are right for a meltdown tomorrow"?

I keep telling myself 36 more school days and I can enjoy these types of days more often....

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The Curse of CEC

Today was one of those days as a parent you tell yourself "it's for the kids." Today we went to Chuck E. Cheese. Fortunately CamMad's parents went with the unified front. We went as a family and met up with CamMad's cousin and Aunt. The short of it: the kids had a great time.

The aftermath of CEC was not pretty. Child2 only took a 5 minute or so nap. Child1 got so worked up that the meltdowns started shortly after we got home. The rest of the day was spent keeping the little ones calm which wasn't easy. The only good side was the fact that they went to sleep quickly and easily tonight.

Hopefully this is not how the rest of hibernation will go.

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The First Official Day of Hibernation

The weekend is gone and today starts the spring hibernation in ernst. Today was one of those days where I could take stock on a few things that I've let slide over the last few weeks, watch the Red Sox and Boston Marathon, and play with CamMad. Parent2 spent the late morning and afternoon at work and catching up with a friend which gave me the opportunity to have the undivided attention of CamMad.

I hate writing this for the wrath I'm about to face but CamMad spent a lot of time playing with each other and only involving me for short spurts. I have a funny feeling if Parent2 was home the clingons would have been like velcro on felt. During the nap time routine Child1 and I watched a little Red Sox while eating lunch and got to spend some quality time doing stuff around the house. By the time that Child2 woke up and we got things together to head to the local playground Parent2 came home. I hope that Parent2 doesn't think I waiting until that point to go but that's how things turned out. We went as a family and had a great time. Again our timing worked out because it rained shortly after we left.

We (okay I'm) hoping that we are able to keep the night-time routine as similar as we can to help the transition from hibernation time to school time. Tonight worked!!!! One down and a few more to go.

Tomorrow's agenda: Chuck E. Cheese, vacuum shopping, haircut, and continuing to cross off projects at home. Doesn't that sound like a winner? Eventually we, as a family, can work up to trips to far away places.

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Vacuum Clean RIP 1998-2006

It is with a deep heart and great sorrow that I report the demise of the CamMad vacuum cleaner. The vacuum cleaner was bought with a gift card from the wedding of CamMad's parents. The vacuum cleaner lived a long and usefull life. The couple of years were trying after it suffered a dabilatating separation as the power rod came apart. The final moments was spent squealing in agony. At that point it was decided to put the cleaner out of it's misery.

In lieu of flowers a donation to the CamMad family will be accepted. Services will be held on Wednesday at the town's Transfer Station. There will be no wake or viewing hours. The family is going to try to move on as quickly as they can as they will shop for a replacement on Tuesday.

Another Great Saturday

Today was another one of those full Saturdays that is starting to become a tradition for CamMad. This morning CamMad made their Easter eggs. Sheepish had planned on joining us but the Sheep need to rest and get well for the hibernation. The eggs came out very nice.

We only had one accident with the coloring liquid. Fortunately we did the coloring in the kitchen with a tile floor instead of the carpet. Next we had to find a replacement for Sheepish at the baseball game. Who should we call on?

The only one who needed to get out of the house more than CamMad was CamMad's Grandmother. The story behind why she would need to get out is too long to explain. Maybe I will explain it another time. Anyway she was up for the challenge. We arrived at the park early to get everything set and help adjust CamMad for the experience. The first stop had to be the souvenir shop. Child2 picked up a hat to join the rest of the family and Child1 received a pen in the shape of a baseball bat. Next stop our seats.

We had to be carefull where we picked our seats because we wanted to see everything but close enough to exits in that "just in case" situations. We picked some seats on the the third base side so we could see into the Sea Dogs dugout.

Next up and probably most important to many...food!

We ate well for CamMad's first experience there was pizza, hot dogs, fish sandwiches, french fries, and soda. That was the first go around. Child1 devoured the pizza and fries and Child2 found out that fish sandwhiches weren't that bad. The second go around was dessert. Dessert was Fried Dough and Sea Dog Biscuit. Yummy.

The game wasn't the most exciting or well executed game but it was entertaining. The Sea Dogs hit two homeruns and the Mets scored three runs. The final score was Sea Dogs 6 Mets 3. There was an incident during the game when the benches cleared and we had to explain to CamMad that everything was going to be okay while the fans behind us chanted "fight, fight".

Child2 never really took a nap and by the eighth inning the grumpier, tired side came out. We decided to leave at the bottom of the eighth inning. Before we left Parent2 took Child2 to see Slugger, unfortunately I couldn't get the camera out in time but it was a cute interaction. Anyway we went out front to take our picture with the statue of Slugger and as we took a family picture the rain started. As they finished the game in a steady rain we drove home fairly dry.

After dropping Grammy off we made our way home. As we got further away from Grammy's house we noticed less and less signs of rain. By the time we got home the sun was shinning and CamMad got a chance to play outside for an hour or so while I was getting the house ready for the Easter bunny.

All in all this was a great family day. If this is any indication of the fun we're going to have during hibernation week then why do I want to go back to work?

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Hibernation time is here, yea us

The CamMad family has made it to hibernation. I can know start to relax. There is still a lot of work to be done but at least now I can set somewhat of a schedule to get it done.

Today was a good day for CamMad. Parent2 was able to spend the day with Child1. The day was tiring for Parent2 but there is a greater appreciation for primary teachers. The funny fact is that Parent2 fell asleep before Child1 and possible before Child2. Early in the day I found 5 tickets to tomorrow's SeaDogs game. Once I was able to track down the story and found out that they would not be used at all if I didn't take them.

Tomorrow CamMad will be at their first baseball game. The whole family is excited about the fact. We are going to try to make a whole day around the game. Tomorrow there should be full of good blogging material.

Till tomorrow with a more complete recap of events...good night and good hibernation.

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Am I going to be perpetually on the treadmill?

Sorry for the delay between postings. There has been a lot going on at work and I'm still trying to play catchup. Here is the quick rundown for those of you keeping score at home!

Child1 took the Spell-A-Thon test. I don't know if the child got the advanced words yet or not. I believe so but I haven't had time to ask. Tonight we sign up Child1 for another gymnastics session so we will have more stories and less Thursday afternoon/evenings available for the family.

Child2 is happy and enjoying life. The child gets to spend a lot of time playing outside and having fun!

The 'rents are tired and holding on till hibernation! Officially Parent2 is on vacation but will spend the day with Child1 at school. Hiberation will be a test of rest versus entertainment for the children. Which side will win? Only time will tell but hopefully both sides can win.

That's enough info to whet the appetite as more will come this weekend.

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Study habits start early

We are getting Child1 ready for the annual Spell-A-Thon at the school. The child decided to upgrade the world list, yeah you for taking the challenge. We've been spending the last few days helping the child to do their very best. It has been cute watching as the child has been preparing. We've tried our best to help instill that do your very best every time attitude. Good luck to you tomorrow and we are proud of you!

Child2 can be a stubborn little one. All day today the wee-little one has been driving Grammy and GG crazy with the idea that the boys are coming to visit. It is actually funny that someone us besides the 'rents gets to deal with the perseverating attitude that little ones possess.

It was very nice to come home to 1. daylight 2. warm weather 3. children who want to be outside. It is very hard to balance the upkeep of a home with the opportunity to be outside and play with your children. Thankfully I've got summers to take some of the guilt away.

If you haven't noticed tonight I'm not very motivated with blogging so I going to cut my loses and try it again tomorrow. Good night everyone!

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A full weekend

Let me start of this blog entry with a medical update. Child1 is doing fine. The little one does not seem to have come up with the exact same cold that has inflicted the rest of the family. The coughing seems to have settled down for the rest of us with the exception of mornings but that is much better than how it was for the last couple of weeks.

We can honestly say that we had a full weekend. Yesterday we spent the day babysitting CamMad's cousin while mom and dad caught up on work and getting ready for the new edition to the family. We came home for a little while and turned around to see the rest of CamMad's cousins. It was great to see the relatives from Mass. It was the first time we had everyone together since fourth of July. Wow that was a long time ago.

Today was a restfull morning as we were all out late and up very late compared to the normal routine. We did a little bit of housework (ugh). Child1 went to a birthday party to one of the neighbors down the street. Child2 was invited but stayed home due to the nap!

This week represents the last week before a week of hibernation. The 'rents talk about the social calendar for CamMad during the hibernation week and our goal is to keep CamMad busy but not overdue it with the adults. We shall see. Child1 is looking forward to Friday when 'rent2 is the special guest volunteer. My personal view is let's just survive the week.

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The social butterflies...

Let me start off by giving the health update: Child1 is resting comfortably. Most of the day was spent in bed. We're hoping to return to a normal schedule tomorrow. On the other hand my cough has subsided but I had an attack while driving this afternoon that I wasn't sure if I was going to black out, throw up, or lose focus and get into an accident. Fortunately none of those options played out.

The social butterflies, CamMad, are popular people today. The relatives from Mass. want to see us on their way up to the a skiing weekend (I was hoping they wanted a golfing weekend). On separate emails and phone calls each relative wanted to get together. Looks like dinner at the diner!

Sheepish was remarking about the time shift. She thought it was December based on the weather this morning not April. I couldn't agree more. I told her that hibernation is not too far off (one week) and the extended hibernation is only 40-someodd school days (42 for CamMad and I). Keep the faith and April Fool's Day has come and gone!

It had to happen sometime...

Child1 caught the bug that has hampered the CamMad house for the last month or so. The kid is a real trooper. Hopefully the cough will not follow for everyone's sake. While we are on the topic of coughs, my cough is only bad when I'm laying down.

I can't believe it snowed today. Granted it will be gone tomorrow but still come on I had fully accepted that the snow was gone until the end of 06. No more I say!

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Another Quiet Day in CamMad-land

Today was another quiet day. Mind you I'm not complaining. The children had a good day at play and school. The time change is really starting to hit home but by the weekend they should be back on schedule. The weather prevented the kids to go outside so we had some quality time that focused on burning some of that necessary energy. It's hard to believe that tomorrow is Wednesday. Hopefully CamMad will provide some quality material to blog about in the coming days.

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Okay I didn't see this one coming...

24 gave me a great curve tonight. I bought the whole Vice-President thing hook line and sinker only to be dupped. I totally bought that the President was this country bumpkin who couldn't lead the country with a map and a GPS unit. This curve will provide a great setup for the next last few hours of the day.

Life, Death, and Taxes in CamMad-land

There are only a few things that are guaranteed in life: life, death, and taxes. Well the taxes part is done for before the April 15th deadline. Thanks to CamMad and all of the expenses that go with children we've pulled down another refund.

Things have been slow in the world of CamMad. Child2 and Parent2 stayed home today due to the cold that Child2 picked up. Child2 seems to be a magnet for colds and they seem to last a little longer. It will be very nice when everyone is healthy again. The big question is, "when will it happen?"

Today was the start of the Red Sox season and the whole family got into the spirit of the day. Child1 wore the Red Sox outfit to celebrate the day. Parent2 and Child2 got to watch the opening pitch. They also stopped by work and delivered my shirt for afterwork! All that good karma paid off with a win! Now we are rooting for the A's to beat up on the Yankees.

Until tomorrow...

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Our day at the Mall

A gorgeous morning with the temperatures in the 50's and how do you think CamMad spent the day, outside. Nope. At someone's house? Nope! CamMad spent the day at the Mall. We packed a lot into the day. We started off with the breakfast of champions: donut holes from Dunkin Donuts. Those morsals of donut-gooeyness were well received as we made the trek to the Mall.

The first store we went to: Dick's Sporting Goods. The goal: Replace that Johnny Damon t-shirt for a Big Papi t-shirt for Child1. Did we find what we were looking for? Not quite but we had fun anyway because Child1 and I got to practice our putting at the putting range set up in the store. Next stop: Borders!

The funny thing about going to Borders was the fact I got nothing for myself. CamMad got some magazines and books. I got Parent2 a new puzzle book. Parent2 also picked up a book for the classroom. Don't feel sorry for me I've got four books I haven't gotten to yet not to mention months of magazines that I need to catch up on. Next stop: Sports Authority.

Here we were making attempt number 2 trying to get our Red Sox equipment. Due to the fact that we were about to enter the Mall we decided it would be best to put out the portable travel device. The only problem with the portable travel device is they don't like escalators and the store is on the second floor! Solution: elevator ride. Did I mention that Child1 doesn't like elevators? We made it to the store and quickly realized that they haven't received their supplies for the season. Off to the next store!

Not so fast, we need to get off the second floor. We get to the elevator and wait for a little bit and I noticed that Child1 was getting antsy. I offer to take the child down the escalator and meet the elevator on the ground floor. We take the escalator down and go to the elevator. When we get there we see that the door is open and locked. This isn't good! We decide to go up and tell the rest of the family. Before we could get on the up escalator we see the rest of the family coming down the escalator. Did I mention that Parent2 has a slight fear of the escalator with the getting on and off part? Well, there is a slight apprehension there. Picture this: Parent2 in one hand holding Child2 and the other hand holding the portable transportation device. This was a recipie for disaster! By the time I could get around Child1 , who was like a deer staring at headlights, I was able to help with the process of getting off the escalator.

The details may have been slightly enhanced for the sake of entertainment purposes but the actions are accurate.

Now we are ready for the next store but now we decide to spilt up I took Child1 and Parent2 took Child2. My group went to Olympia Sports bound and possessed to get that t-shirt. The other group went to Children's Place with the idea of getting a sweater for Child1's spring dress. Did the other group stick to the plan? Nooooooooo but I don't blame them. They went ahead and started getting stuff for CamMad's new cousin that is on the way. We didn't exactly stick to the plan either. We went ahead and got the replacement shirt and new shirts for everyone else in the family plus 2 hats for Child1 and I. We are ready for opening day! Just remember there are 2 teams we cheer for: the Red Sox and the team playing the Yankees!

After that we made our way through different stores in the Mall, including KBToys, Cingular, Best Buy, and the Disney Store without buying anything. Going to Linens N Things was a different story. Our trip into LnT started off innocently enough, we were looking for a comforter cover for the down comforter that I got Parent2 back in January. We found one that would work and then i took Child1 to look at Yankee Candles. That was the start of a very expensive splurge. We found some nice scents that I was told that I had to follow the rest of the family. When we stopped we found the ottoman that matches our living room set. We said we should get it, especially when we thought it was $60. I went to cash out and I found out it was $100. A little more than we anticipated. At that point we were like "if this is not a perfect match we will send it back." Off to Build-A-Bear!

We look at some nice outfits for the stuffed animals the CamMad has accumulated over the last couple years. We decide on a Cheering outfit for Mitch (yes Mitch is a girl!) over the Red Sox uniform. After that we leave for another store and we see the picture area with the Easter Bunny. This is when I knew we were getting close to meltdown time. Child1 wanted in the worst way to have a picture taken with the Easter Bunny. It took both of the 'rents to put on the sales pitch of the day but we made it without any blood nor tears shed!

Our last store: JCPenney. Today was one of the regular "Big Big Sales". I didn't see anything I had to buy. Maybe that was due to the $ spent at Olympia Sports and LnT but nothing called my name. The same could not be said by Parent2 and clothes for CamMad. CamMad ended up with some nice clothes at a reasonable price so I'm not going to complain nor embelish the details.

We make our way to the car to check out the loot. Parent2 started to take a fancy to the hat that Child1 had gotten earlier in the day! (A little forshadowing for those who care) After a quick stop at the gas station and Panera bakery for some bagels in the AM we decided to head home. The ride home found Parent2 and Child2 falling asleep. Parent2 had the baseball hat on. At one point Child1, the rightful owner, said "Can I have my hat back?" While driving I carefully took the hat off of the head of the sleeping parent and gave it back to the rightful owner without waking Parent2. Cutting the story short...Parent2 wants to make a trip tomorrow to get a hat to call their own.

All in all today was a very nice day and not because we spent money and bought things. We had a nice day because everyone was together and had a great time! Now Child2 is slightly under the weather. We're hoping a quick recovery as well as we are hoping that Sosa has a quick recovery.