Dinner with Darth

You've never really dined until you've dined with an Emperor. And now we can say that we have DINED in PUBLIC with Darth Vader. He was really into Darth back in October for Halloween, but kind of traded that obsession in for super heros. But now, Darth is back with a vengeance. He dug out his costume and wore it all weekend. He begged to wear it to dinner on Saturday night and when I initially said no, these big crocodile tears came rolling down his cheek. I couldn't stand seeing him so heartbroken, so I gave in, because it really is just a costume. He wasn't asking for a tattoo or a piercing or to jump out of a plane. (But, if and when he does ask, I will tell him no, that he got to wear his Halloween costume to dinner, thereby rendering all future requests null and void.) So, we took Darth in all of his glory to Red's Icehouse on Shem Creek. We got lots of looks, a few chuckles and probably some head shaking. When the hostess asked us if there were three of us, Mark replied, "yes, 2 adults and 1 emperor." It went right over her head. She didn't crack a smile. Once we are seated, Finn looks around and says, "oh, I forgot my light saver."

This little episode brings to mind another one . . . many, many years ago, when my sister insisted on wearing her gold, ruffled Belle costume (from Beauty and the Beast, you know the one) over her jeans and sweatshirt and her click-clack plastic heels everywhere we went. The grocery store, the drugstore, to pick me up from school, you name the place and she wore the dress. I have also been guilty of going out decked out in various dress-up outfits, namely an old pink chiffon nightgown that had once been my mom's. When someone asked my dad why he took me out in public dressed like that, he responded, "you try and take it off of her." Oh dad, I now know the feeling! 

Ready for our Sunday morning dog walk

On our way to Ace Hardware

At dinner

Garden School Activities

One of the many fun things about Finn's school is that they dedicate one entire week to each student. They call it their "special week" and it's kind of like it's your birthday  . . . all week long, minus the presents. Thank goodness it is only one week! Finn thought his special week at school translated to a special week at home and that he got to act and do whatever he wanted. I told his teachers next time that had to space it out. We had birthday, Christmas and his special week all back to back. Needless to say, some of us began suffering from a wee bit of 'finn-fatigue.' All joking aside, he had a really fun week and I love how the teachers and students (and us parents too) bend over backwards to make each kid feel special and celebrate his or her unique qualities. They keep to their regular schedule, so it was all about timing and sneaking fun things to do in between their normal daily activities. One day I read "If You Give A Dog A Donut" (because the If You Give series is one of Finn's favorites!) to the class and we all munched on munchkin donuts. One day we made super hero masks because he is really into super heros right now. One day I put together a slide show of pictures of Finn from a little baby all the way to the present and set it to fun songs that he likes to sing. He LOVED seeing pictures of himself and the class loved watching a "movie" on the iPad. Finally, we brought Finn's favorite meal to share with all of his classmates for lunch. Can ya guess what that could be? Chick-Fil-A nuggets and fruit. He had lots of fun celebrating himself and I enjoyed being with him and all of his friends at school.

A room full of super heros and their designer super hero masks

Kicking off the parade: who knew Chinese New Year was such a big deal?

Cutest little dragon

It only took three laps around for him to notice me

Before and After: Laundry Room

I have been whining about painting for what seems like months and I haven't anything to show for it, so you are probably beginning to think I am telling a big fat tale. In truth, I was hoping to wait until we had one room completely finished to start posting pictures, but I don't think that will ever happen, so here we go. 

Parts of this house date back to 1904. It has great bones and lots of character (real estate speak for old) and parts have been updated within the past 10 years, but it still needed a minor facelift in order to make it ours. I grew up in an old house and it seemed like my parents were always renovating, working, tear down, patching up, moving around. I can vividly remember telling them that I will never, ever live in an old house again. Clearly, with that statement I made over 20 years ago, I sealed my fate as a future old-home owner. When we moved in, I was so excited to get started. Because we've rented for 7+ years (even more if you count the time before we got married), I have never painted a room, selected a paint color, a finish, anything. I was so excited to get started. Fast forward six months and if I never see another paint brush again, I will be a happy woman. But I digress. 

I never would have imagined that our first project in our new house would be a laundry room. That is so boring! The house already had two laundry "rooms" so to speak. A stackable one in the kitchen and a full size one in the basement. But here was the problem. 1. It was in the kitchen 2. You could do about 2 towels per load 3. Each cycle took well over an hour 4. The dryer wasn't vented correctly which made a hot kitchen even hotter 5. You couldn't reach the basement laundry from inside--you had to go outside to get to it. 6. DId I mention the fact that you could do about 2 towels at a time? With a messy little boy, a dog and all of the sand and sea, that just wasn't going to work. Laundry is a big part of my life. So, we made the decision to sacrifice a half bathroom on the main floor and turn it into a laundry room. Fast forward a few months . . . BEST DECISION EVER!

My dad spent the month of August with us helping us get moved in and started work on some of the many, many projects we have lined up ahead of us. He is great at demolition--ripping out a bathroom and built-in shelving in the front of the room! We combined some of the space to make the laundry a little bigger and to have room for a utility sink. He re-wired and re-plumbed to accommodate the washer/dryer. While pulling the old ceiling down, we discovered the original bead board underneath, so we decided to use bead board all over, in keeping with the character of the house. Mark and Dad put up bead board in the newly built room, re-built the door frame and installed the washer/dryer and utility sink. Then the paint crew (yours truly) arrived to finish the job. The basics are in there, but I have yet to decorate it. It looks like such a small room, and it is, but it was such a beast of a project. With that one under our belt, we were ready for more! Much, much more to follow. Thanks to my dad for all of his help. 

Before: Half bathroom and built-in bookshelves off of the master bedroom. Sunglasses are required to view paint color!

During: Demolition of wall and bookcase, removal of sink & door

After: Brand spanking new washer/dryer and utility sink in the left corner. We added a shelf on top and switched the side that the door hangs on. Such a dream! Best part is that it is right off of the MBR and at the bottom of the stairs, so dirty clothes don't have to travel too far.

Fresh off the Pages of GQ Magazine

Finn picked out his outfit today. Notice how well the finger-less bat gloves coordinate with the too-short camouflage pants. This ensemble is accentuated by the ever so stylish buck-toothed monster hat on top. You may be asking yourself where was I when all of these "stunners" were being selected? I was there and I made him take off the frog sandals that he wanted to wear. A line has to be drawn somewhere people and I draw it at socks with sandals. Hey, it wasn't his finest looking moment but he was so proud of himself I couldn't rain on his parade. Choose your battles! 

Even Lily is embarrassed of/for him

Lance Armstrong He's Not

The Good Wife is a repeat tonight, so that means more blogging for me tonight. Santa brought Finn a bike. And Finn was super excited about his bike . . . until he realized it was hard to ride said bike. So sometimes he is excited to ride and sometimes he is not so excited. But, being the bad mom that I am, I make him ride his bike anyway. He usually musters up enough energy and excitement to get somewhere. . . it's the getting home part that is a royal pain. See example A. He rode his bike to school on this particular day. He was so excited to show his friends and his teachers. Going back was a different story. It took us at least half an hour to go 3 blocks at his break neck speed, but we made it. He'll be ready for the Tour de France in about 5 or make that 50 years! 

New Year Assortment

My dad told me I was slacking off on my blog. So, in order to keep the natives happy, I will combine several posts into one. I have been slacking off, it's true. There are lots of reasons--technical difficulties (hello new blogger interface?), slow-moving computer, having a paint brush permanently glued to my hand. In all honesty, I have lost a little of the motivation to catalog every adventure, story and hilariously inappropriate comment that my little love makes. Call me a bad mom, but I'm just keeping it real, folks. Anyway, I will try and work through my technical issues and work on a better blogging schedule. Until then, this is for you, dad.

With more than two weeks off for Christmas, we had LOTS of free time. And fortunately, so did our friends. We had play dates at our house where Finn and his buddies got to try out his new swing set. We made several trips to the Aquarium and even saw The Polar Express in 4D.

Finn and his buddy Easton lunching at Taco Mamacita

Here is a great shot of Finn and Mary Daniel building their Lego village. Uncle Danny was in a terrible hunting accident on Christmas Eve and spent more than two weeks in the hospital. Finn and I went over to check on him and the rest of the Stokes gang. Finn got some quality time with Mary Daniel and Mimi and Bop while I went to the hospital. Danny is home now and doing much better but can still benefit from your prayers, so please remember the Stokes family.

This is our boardwalk on a normal day .  . .

And this is the same boardwalk on New Year's Day. Everyone is headed down to the beach for the Polar Bear Plunge. There were hundreds of people, and i would even say a thousand. It was packed!

 

These "plungers" got off easy this year. The weather was beautiful and was in the low 70's.

Next year, we are doing the plunge. . . so make sure you hold me to this. Or at least, hold Finn to it. He will go swimming in anything.

Every kind of costume you could imagine. Finn was fond of the spiderman. I sort of liked the Borat in the neon green mankini myself!

I was grossly unprepared this year. I had no idea how big this event had gotten. I won't make the same mistake next time. We will have a big partay . . . heck, you are all invited, but you have to do the plunge with us!

Here is my "superstar" on his bicycle. Isn't he a cutie? He is making progress  . . . SLOW progress. Which you will see later.

Awww, I love these pictures. "Snoring" as he calls it, on his night night. He'll give you lessons if you want . . . because there is a proper technique that must be followed in order to get the full night night effect. Do you see how loved this blanket is? A while back, after watching Toy Story 3 (where Andy leaves his toys to go to college, sniff, sniff) Finn looks at me with this serious expression and says, "mama, can I take night night to college with me?" And I said, "of course night night can go to college with you. Night night and your mama can go to college with you."