If only it worked that way....

Matthew decided a few weeks ago that he wanted to be a Thunderbird. Not the Air Force Thunderbirds but the superheros from the 60's cartoon. :) But today he decided he also wants to be a Race Car Driver. He thought a minute about that and decided he'd be the race car driver AFTER he was a Thunderbird. "Mom" he says, "I can just say TRANSFORM! and I can change into any job I want!!". Ah, if only it worked that way. :)

Fall Boating

Well, last weekend was the official end to our summer. We took the boat out of the water. We left it in longer than we usually do. The summer was so rainy and cool, but September and October brought dry, warm weather so we tried to take advantage of it. Here are some pics from our last boating day of the year...

The foliage was beautiful, but not quite at peak yet.

The Captain at the helm...

First mate...

Giggle Boy (Matthew's new "superhero" name)

Tag, I'm it!!

I've been tagged by Roxanne @ The Parker Family blog! (Ooohh! my first tag!!)

10 Years ago I was:
1. Living in this same house!
2. Home with a 5 month old Alex.
3. Driving a green Honda Civic (great car, but hard to get a infant car seat in and out of.)
4. Just let go from my job b/c the office was closing (yes, only 2 months after returning from maternity leave.)
5. Wondering if I was cut out for motherhood.

5 things on today's To Do list:
1. Bring trash to the town dump.
2. Laundry, laundry, laundry
3. Enjoy some time with Alex since he only had a half day of school and Matthew didn't (although currently Alex is down the street playing with a friend, so #3 hasn't panned out so far.)
4. Do some work from home since I left early today. :(
5. Mow the lawn.

5 snacks I enjoy:
(can I put candy for all 5?) ;)
1. Tostitos Hint of Lime chips
2. Skittles
3. Animal crackers
4. candy corn
5. Starburst

5 things I would do if I were a millionaire:
1. Buy a house on Lake Winnipesaukee
2. Pay off all our debt.
3. Buy a BMW 2-door convertible for my "fun" car.
4. Save for the boys' college education.
5. Share some with family.

5 places I've lived:
1. Windham, NH
2. Rutland, VT
3. Burlington, IA
4. Kankakee, IL
Okay, so I only have 4 besides where we're living now...

5 jobs I've had:
1. Certified medical coder
2. Physical therapist
3. Clerk/pharmacy tech at family-owned business
(Sorry, only have 3!)

5 people I'm tagging:
1. Em @ Life, Liberty and the Pursuit
2. Michelle @ The Contini clan
3. Kerri @ 2Kids2Kats
4. Melissa @ Fly, Birdies,Fly
5. Shannon

He's trying

Heard in the car on the way to school:

A: " Mattie, can you say interesting."
M: some unintelligible form of "interesting"
A: " That was a good try! But it sounds like this: in-ter-est-ing."
M: tries again, but doesn't get very close
A: "Keep trying Mattie. You're really close!"
M: "Whatever" (complete with dismissive hand gesture)

Poor Alex, he was trying SO hard to be a good big brother! :)

Please excuse the soapbox

:ahem: Testing, testing...
Warning - soapbox post follows.
This is a post for all of you who are not raising children of all one gender. PLEASE think before you speak! Turn on your brain-to-mouth filters before you comment on other people's families.

I belong to a great group of moms who are raising all boys. We call ourselves the RAB moms. (love you girls!) As a collective group we have probably heard hundreds of rude comments about our boys. Some of these women have 3, 4, or more boys, which seems to make the comments that much worse. Here are some of my "favorite":

1. Are you going to try again for a girl? (Um, even if it was any of your business, I'd tell you that we would "try" again for a healthy baby.)

2. You must have your hands full with all those boys. (My fav response: If you think my hands are full, you should see my heart! But seriously why do people assume that boy families are disorganized, frantic, aggressive entities that are to be pitied?)

3. I'm so sorry (said in response when announcing baby's gender. And yes, this actually happened to me.)

And the latest gem that I over heard was a coworker commenting on how she was "SO disappointed" that her daughter-in-law was having a boy.

Why do people feel it's ok to comment on other families? It seems similar to the phenomenon of strangers touching your pregnant belly. Does the unwritten rule of personal space not apply to pregnant women?! Do basic manners go out the window when you see a family of all boys or all girls? Some of us have had to sort out some gender disappointment. Some of us always wanted all boys. Either way you're either bringing up a sore subject or you're going to get a RAB mama bear's dander up. :)

I can't imagine my life without Alex's quiet intelligence or Matthew's joyful exuberance. How would a girl fit into this mix? Well, our family will never find out because there will be no more babies for us. But I love our little family. Please people, be happy for me. I love being Queen of the Castle.

Happy Birthday Jake!

Today is Jake's 2nd birthday. Happy birthday to our "fuzzy baby"!! Jim went online last night to find a dog years to human years conversion and found out that 2 years in human years = 21 years in dog years. Alex is very upset that Jake is older than him. ;)

1st day of 5th grade!

Alex started school on Aug 27th. 5th grade!!! I was able to get a quick pic of him on the back deck that morning. Heaven forbid I try to take a pic at the bus stop! ;) He seems excited and came home that day and said he "really, really, really, really liked" his teacher. We'll see how the year progresses but so far, so good.