Friday, March 26, 2010

Well Hellooooo...

So, you know when you meet a new friend and it sounds like a great idea to get the kids together for a Playdate and you end up inviting them over for lunch and it seems perfect- until you realize you need to run around cleaning like a maniac because they have never been to your house before and you don't want to them to think you live in a messy, poop-scented Frat House that has been turned upside down by Twin Tornadoes... or is that just me??

Anyway...one of the mom's at the boys' preschool has become a great friend and we have gotten together on school mornings to have coffee and chat. She has a son the same age as the boys and a baby girl the same age as the Princess. And she usually sees me while the boys are in school. So, with one baby girl (who is usually sleeping while we chat) I appear to be mostly put together. I can sit and make somewhat coherent conversation and I can leisurely nurse the baby while relaxing and sipping yummy flavored coffees.

Well, the other day we decided to get together with all the kids and so we ended up at my house one afternoon when school got out. I spent 2 days cleaning the house and rearranging the toys in the playroom to make it seem as if we have enough space for 3 toddler boys to play. And I attempted to get through the 2 hours of lunch and play without appearing completely disheveled, unorganized and chaotic in general. The living room, kitchen, kids' rooms and bathroom were clean and the toy room looked great. And I had a simple, but great lunch of cheese quesadillas and apples planned with homemade cookies for dessert.

Well, the facade lasted about 10 glorious minutes. Then the boys were all jumping on the furniture while I made lunch, the baby started crying and wanted to be nursed, Luccio pooped his pants and all the kids basically declared pure hatred for quesadillas. And my friend's son opened the one off-limits "Messy Room" door aka my bedroom and revealed the mountain of laundry piles and baby equipment that I had attempted to hide.
And so we went with Plan B...

I defrosted milk for the Princess, boiled up some Kraft mac and cheese, and gave in to utter chaos that ensued. We ate, the kids spilled water and food and just about anything they could their hands on and my friend shoveled food into the kids' dishes trying to keep up with them while I changed poop diapers. And somewhere in the middle of it all my friend and I chatted about all of the important things in the life of a mom.

Everyone had fun and went home happy and sleepy. I wasn't sure, but I thought it went well enough that we would still be friends. I collapsed in an exhausted heap and napped while the kids napped that day.

Then my friend called a few days later because she had forgotten her baby carrier and needed it before we would see her at school again. She wanted to know if she could stop by and pick it up in about 15 minutes?? Hmm...no problem...

15 minutes?? I sprang into action and quickly moved the Laundry Mountain that I had been folding from the couch to the bedroom. I changed out of my raggy jammies and put on semi-decent comfy clothes. I threw toys in bins and wiped the kids faces. Not bad. And THEN - Luccio pooped and Cenzo insisted he needed the potty at that moment. And in 2 minutes time my house turned into a Frat House- with poop jokes and goofy laughing and a poop scent that could kill a small animal. I opened windows and the front door and got out my lemon/lavender spray and started spritzing. My friend suddenly appeared in the open doorway and saw me spraying down the living room. So I calmly went over the the door to say "Hello."

Luccio proceeded to tell her that he is potty training and if he goes poop on the potty we are going to have a "Poop Party." Which is true, but more info than we needed to share at the moment. She laughed and we chatted for a few minutes. Then Cenzo came out of the bathroom and joined the conversation.

My friend invited us over for lunch and a play date for next week and then she said she had to run cause the kids needed to get home for naps.

Just as I was about to breath a sigh of relief that the visit hadn't gone too badly, I looked down and realized Cenzo was standing next to me...
COMPLETELY NAKED!!!!

Well....

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Queen of the Castle


Today was Luccio's Special Day at Preschool. And it was not without the typical Bear drama. Each student can sign up for a special day. On that day, the child is the line leader, the flag holder, and has a special mat to sit on for Circle time. They can bring in a parent and a favorite toy or story and a special snack. They also wear a crown and the kids sing a song to them. It's too cute!!!

Ms. Z had prepped Luccio so he knew what Special Day was all about. Last night Hubby made Spider Man cupcakes with him. And this morning I went to school with him. We were all very excited. The morning went well.

Until we arrived in the school parking lot.

Then Luccio decided to have a meltdown. It was sparked by the fact that Isabella went to Stregga's house for the morning so I could go to school. Luccio thought the baby was coming with us and was VERY disappointed that she was not, so he cried and cried. Then a friendly mom from the group graciously offered to help me in with the kids and cupcakes etc. But, Luccio didn't want the nice Mom or ANYONE to speak to him. Great. The he fell in the parking lot and scraped his knee. When I picked him up to clean him off, I realized he also had pooped his pants. Thankfully he was wearing a Pull-Up!!! So we dropped off the cupcakes and scurried to the bathroom to "freshen" him up.

When we returned he still had a grumpy attitude, but Ms. Z and the other teachers went on with the morning business and he eventually went on to play with his friends.

When he was given his Special Day crown, that lifted his mood!! He was all smiles from that moment on. He proudly held the flag while everyone said The Pledge. He loved being line leader and he could hardly wait to share his cupcakes. He really enjoyed his day!!

Nothing was sweeter than his friends all singing the Special Day song to him!!! He was beaming!

My absolute favorite moment of the day was when Luccio was given his crown and one little friend ran up and said. "It's your special day Luccio! You are the Queen of the Castle!!!


Sunday, March 14, 2010

Blue Eyes


Twins have a Rock Star quality about them. They are fun, messy, have tantrums, and enjoy celebrity status when out in public!! People always stop us to comment. When the boys were younger it didn't surprise me because even though they look nothing alike, with matching clothes and carseats it was obvious they were twins. Now that they are older it takes people longer to ask, but usually when they see 2 kids close in age and wearing matching or coordinating jackets, the questions start. Are they identical is the most popular question. I usually just look at the person for moment to see if they are joking and hen I say, "Uh, no." In fact, they couldn't;t be more fraternal looking. Opposites right down to their belly buttons, Luccio has an "outie" and Cenzo has an "innie."

When we added a third bundle of joy to our family I wondered what that would be like. Being the younger sibling of Rock Stars may not have been easy for a third boy, but since we had a Princess, she has her own celebrity status when we go out. She is a girlie-girl with pink and brown coordinating carseats, stroller and blankets. Her outfits are always matching and her earrings add some major sparkle. But, what stands out most is her blue eyes!

I have found that having blue eyes is equal to the twin phenomenon. People stop and stare and comment about her eyes all the time. The number one question is "Will they stay blue?"
I always think - Umm...let me get my crystal ball and I will get back to you!
But, I do hope they will stay, they are gorgeous!!!

I didn't realize just how many times the Blue Eyes have been the topic of conversation until one morning Luccio said to me, "I have blue eyes." At first I didn't know what he was talking about. But, he repeated it to me. As I stared into his chocolate brown eyes I realized what he meant. He understood Blue Eyes are something special, worthy of conversation, attractive to people.
And so at every opportunity he tells people "I have blue eyes." And people look at me like I should spend more time teaching him his colors.

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Nutty McNutsalot

So, we had a new tenant in the house over the winter, Mr. Nutty McNutsalot. At first we didn't realize Nutty was moving in with us. About a month ago, I had heard noises when I was sitting in the living room. Hubby convinced me it was "the window rattling." Really?? Hmmm...it was a windy winter, we have old windows, seemed to make sense. Sort of. Except the noise seemed to be coming from the ceiling and running back in forth from the kitchen to the living room over my head!!!! Those who know me or who read this blog regularly know I am NOT a fan of furry wildlife, especially in my house. So when I heard "the windows rattling" more often I got nervous. I called Mr. Tim, the professional exterminator that I signed us up with last year when it was suspected a mouse was in my house. Back then, poor Mr. Tim came over to find me standing on my kitchen chair with my kids and bags packed up to move out until the Beast was caught. He tried to reason with me that one suspected mouse in a basement doesn't require me to move out, but clearly he was not thinking straight!

Anyway, after 2 weeks of windows rattling I decided to have Mr. Tim take a look in the attic. And wouldn't ya know it, the windows left behind a poop trail after they rattled. Hubby was still skeptical. But, Mr. Tim assured us a squirrel had in fact moved in and liked our attic so much he decided to build a nest and stay a while. Fantastic.

Now, Mr. Tim tried telling me that the squirrel was NOT going to dig holes through the ceiling and come into the house. He was just going to build a nest and play with the exposed wiring in our attic, but since we have working smoke detectors that shouldn't be a problem. Oh great, that's better.

Needless to say I started sleeping with a light on. Not a small nightlight either, a nice bright lamp. Hubby wasn't too happy about that or about the $350 estimate Mr. Tim gave us for removing the squirrel. Apparently "nuisance wildlife" is not covered on our service plan as they require special techniques to remove and "dispose"of.

So Hubby decided he would move Nutty out himself. I told him he had 1 week and then I was calling Mr Tim back. I figured even a super squirrel couldn't dig his way through my ceiling in one week, but I wasn't chancing any longer than that!!!

And so the meeting of the minds began. It was Nutty versus Hubby.

First, Hubby "foamed" the hole outside where the squirrel was coming in.
One point for Hubby. Two days passed and Nutty was not heard from!! WOO HOOO
BUT, Mr. Tim had suggested getting a screen and some metal to reinforce the hole, apparently Nutty likes to chew foam so the metal would keep him out. Hubby kept meaning to get to the hardware store, but didn't. He underestimated Nutty. After 48 hours he was back!! And running over my bedroom while I tried to sleep. Not helpful!!

Hubby stepped up the endeavors. One night on the way home from work he stopped to get screening and metal and all kinds of supplies and worked on patching the hole.
He forgot to get a drill though and therefore couldn't;t finish the job, but thought it would be "good enough" until he could a drill. 24 hours later-Nutty was back!!!

So- Hubby got tougher. He got a drill, put more foam and a screen and who knows what else and filled in the entrance to Nutty't apartment. Woo Hoo!!! Progress!!

The only problem....Nutty was inside the attic. So yeah, now Nutty was trapped in the attic with no way of escaping through the bullet proof screen Hubby had installed.

Hubby got traps.

After a couple days of being stuck in the attic my cousin, Sammi worried that Nutty would starve. But, I assured her. Nutty was well fed. He ate every bit of the bait that Hubby left in the traps for him. Without ever setting off the trap. Nice!

We were beginning to get attached to Nutty. Proud of him in fact for being so darn smart. We surely had the smartest squirrel EVER. Not only could he eat through foam, build nests and run marathons, he could tip over traps with over once getting caught. After 2 days the only thing Hubby caught in the traps was his own hand. Twice.

Now to be outdone by a squirrel, Hubby persisted. And patience payed off!! I heard Nutty one afternoon. And then I didn't. When Hubby came home that night he went into the attic with a flashlight and a garbage bag ready to do battle.

Let's just say that Hubby was the victor!!!! WOO HOO!!!! I have never been prouder. He was so brave!!! He battled that ferocious, furry genius and won!!

I had to be given as few details on the battle as possible because I needed to be able to return to sleeping with the lights off for all of our sanity. But, I was extremely impressed with Hubby's wit and skills when it came to capturing wildlife. And though I may have been a doubter in the beginning and might have even made fun of some of his tactics, I have to say Hubby was right! It was so much more satisfying to have Nutty out of the house for way less than $350. Extermination is a lucrative business.

Mr. McNutsalot you made our winter interesting. But, I am glad to see you gone. And may all of your friends be warned!!