1,2,3

I swore I would NEVER be that parent who counts to their children when they want them to do something.  I'll be honest - it used to drive me nuts when I was in a public place and would witness a parent doing it....

"Tommy???  Come here, Tommy."

"NO!"

"Tommy?  ONE!!!!  TWO!!!!  TWO AND A QUARTER!!!!  TWO AND A HALF!!!!  Tommy???? If I get to three, you know what will happen!!!!"

BUT - I'm THAT parent now!  Because, IT WORKS!!!!!  Granted, I  haven't gotten to the "Two and a quarter, Two and a half" point, but that's because I don't have to!  I'm not kidding - if I want Alex to do something and he isn't doing it?  I just start counting and by the time I'm done with 2?  He's doing it! 

It started out as a fun game (you know, because I didn't want to be THAT parent).  So, I would make it playful and turn it more into a game of "I'm going to count to three and if you don't start walking upstairs, Mommy's going to carry you" and would then carry on with "1, 2, THREEE!!!!  (picture my voice starting low and then getting high as though I am pushing him on  swing or doing something else fun). And, he thought that was fun and would do whatever I wanted him to do.  Well, then, he started getting older and wiser and is no longer falling for the "1,2,THREE!!!!!" in a high pitched, fun voice thing.  So, now, I've started getting stern  - I've started being THAT parent.  But, man! It works. 

NOW - the only question is - what when will he figure out that I actually have no idea what in the hell I am going to do when and if I ever get to 3?  I guess we'll both figure that out when the time comes...

Confessions

I have a confession.  Well, two.  First of all, I know that it has been a while since I've posted on the blog.  It started out because I legitimately was pretty busy and just didn't have time and then? Well, then the blog turned into that friend who you haven't talked to in so long that you know that the next time you talk, the conversation will be really really long and because of that, you just never call because, really, who ever has time for a really really long conversation?  But, then, because you never call, the eventual conversation just keeps getting longer and longer and longer and really it is just a vicious circle is what it is.  SO, ANYWAY - that is how I was looking at this blog.  Now that it has been so long, I have way too much to talk about and WAY too many pictures to look through and to attempt to narrow down, so I was just avoiding it all together. 

Second confession?  I know that you will all be shocked to hear this, but I actually think that Fall is slowly taking over as my favorite season.  I know, I know. I have always been that beach/summer kind of girl.  BUT, I mean, how can you beat those crisp fall days and all of the activities that come along with them?????  And, trust me - living in New England?  We take full advantage of these activities. 

It started with the trip to this Country Day festival - that was the end of September.  I have pictures somewhere, but can't find them and this post will have plenty of pictures of other things, so you'll just have to trust me that it was fun, the kids were cute and we did the classic things like face painting, riding ponies and a hayride.

That was followed by apple and pumpkin picking at a small farm near us.  That was the first time that Alex has gone apple picking and he may never go again.  There happened to be a car there whose alarm kept going off (like, seriously 5 times during the hour that we were there) and of course, it took the owner a good 5-10 mins to run back to the car every time to turn off the alarm and for whatever reason, Alex freaked each time.  So, now, anytime we say we are doing anything remotely "fall like," he says, "no horn!  no horn!"  Poor kid.  That damn horn has scarred him for life.

That was followed by the local apple festival, which was on Josh's bday, which is October 8th and it happened to be EIGHTY DEGREES.  Yes, you read that correctly - 80 degrees in October.  It was great!  And, again, the festival was full of face painting (I swear - I should buy stock in face paints with how many times my kids have gotten theirs painted over the years)...

and a hayride

And, because we had apples coming out of our ears from the other apple picking day, we passed on the apple picking at the apple festival, which seems strange, but whatever.  If I had one more piece of apple bread, I was going to throw up, so the decision was made - no more apples.

This was followed by a pumpkin tour at a local park.  It is a pretty cool event - there are over 1000 jack-o-lanterns that are carved and lit up and they set them up on a path through the woods.  We did this last year with our friends, Caroline and Jake, and their two kids and had a great time, so we kept the tradition going again this year.  Caroline had gotten the kids a craft to work on at her house before hand, so we started with that and then had dinner there before the tour,which was very nice.

THEN, this last weekend, we went to a corn maze, which was really fun.  Avery really got into it and was bound and determined to find the bridge, which of course, half the time, was about 2 feet away from us, in clear site, yet, when we tried to get to it, we somehow ended up a good 20 feet away from it. But, we eventually got there (and got out of the maze for that matter).  Alex wasn't feeling all that well that day, so he spent most of the day in my arms and I spent most of the day convincing him that there would be no freaking horn at the corn maze...

 This picture was taken approximately 2 second prior to the train taking off and Alex realizing that Mama wasn't coming with them.  Poor Avery - when we asked how it was when they got back, her comment was, "Fine, but he screamed in my ear for like the entire time!"  He wasn't crying when they came back, so apparently he got over it at some point.

That afternoon, we finally got around to carving the pumpkins that we had gotten a few weeks earlier...

And, the finished products...I'll admit, if it were up to me, I would have left the marker out of the equation, but I'm trying my best to fully support Avery's creative side, so both pumpkins have hair and the word Holland on them. 

And, that my friends is the full recap of our fall so far.  I can't imagine we could possibly find any other apples or pumpkins to pick or any other corn mazes to walk through, or a husband who would agree to any more money being spent on face painting,  but if we do, you better believe you will hear about it and you will see it through 100 more pictures.  Until then...

Al's Latest...

No idea where this came from, but he came home the other night saying it and it is pretty freaking funny if you ask me...

"Alex Lightyear"

So, I think that I mentioned it briefly, but we're having a bit of an issue with Avery not taking naps while at school.  I will say that she is not 100% to blame.  For whatever reason, they only give the kids 40 mins to come in from outside, get their bedding, calm down enough to the point where they will fall asleep and then to take the actual nap.  Clearly this isn't enough time.  When I asked the teacher about it, she informed me that the principal wants to focus more on the academics this year, so she decided to start the special activities (i.e., library, art, music, foreign languages, etc) at 1:30 this year vs. 2:00, as it has been in the past. Don't get me wrong - I am all about those special activities.  However, when it interferes with my child's nap time and as a result, she falls asleep on the way home only to be in a horrible mood every night?  I think that the library can wait for another 30 mins.  AND, not only does she come home in a horrible mood every night, but I just recently read an article on the importance of sleep for toddlers and how, if they don't get enough sleep, it can effect them developmentally.  Great.  My kid will be able to speak french, but her growth will be stunted because she isn't getting enough sleep.  I explained to the teacher that I think that the principal needs to accompany Josh on his drive home with Avery and once she witnesses the meltdown, she may change her mind on these "special activities."  The teacher agreed.  I have yet to make the call extending the invite. 

ANYWAY - while I don't think that they are giving the kids enough time, I do think that, if she really tried, she could squeeze in some sort of a nap.  However, from what it sounds like, Avery is too concerned with a) the fact that she knows that she doesn't have much time to nap and b) the fact that apparently other kids aren't napping and "are keeping her awake."  So, because of all of this, she isn't even attempting to nap.  That said, we had the discussion with her the other night that, if she doesn't start to at least TRY to nap every day, she will be punished.  The conversation went something like this...

Avery - "What will happen to me if I don't try to sleep?"

Mom - "We will start taking away one toy each night."

Avery - "Like, what toys?"

Mom - "Well, we'll probably start with your baby dolls."

Dad - "And, then, we'll start to take away your purses."

Avery - "Are you going to take ALL of my toys away?"

Mom -"Well, yes - if you don't start trying to nap, we will eventually take all of your toys away."

Avery - "Even my brother?????"

She has a point.  We clearly can't take her brother away.  Although, up until that point, I was not aware that apparently, she thinks of her brother as a toy.  Poor Al.