Oh...about twenty-two years ago, I made a bet with my brother Tom that there was no way I was going to college.  At the time, he was 17-18 deciding which school to attend and I was 10-11 convinced school was for the birds.  I remember the conversation like it was yesterday with me desperately looking for a reason why on earth Tom would willingly go to college.  I was absolutely positive my Mom was forcing him to go, but he assured me he was going on his own choosing.  I still did not buy it and said without a doubt that I would never attend school after twelfth grade!  I was so confident, I wagered my entire savings with Tom...luckily I only had a dollar to my name at the time (that video arcade addiction was a killer).  Well, as you can all guess, I lost the bet, although I don't think I ever paid Tom his winnings (hopefully he's not reading this and demanding interest).

I was completely reminded of this story a couple nights ago because Josh and I had quite the round about discussion leaving him in an all out balling session.  I have to admit, I think it was mostly because of the fact he was way over tired and had had an extremely busy day.  But for those of you that know Josh, he is 100% into power tools, outdoor tools, lawn tools, etc.  I was laying in bed with him discussing how great 'our power tools' are and he was in the middle of making fun of Tom again about not being able to start a lawn mower way back when.... [More]

Whoa, we've got a couple of addicts on our hands.  I thought I loved movies (at least before we had children - now who has time??), but Josh and Audrey put me to shame.  Back in February, our house was decimated by the Flu.  Somehow I avoided it, but Audrey, Josh and Ann all got hit with it and were rendered useless for varying numbers of days.  It was definitely a tough couple of weeks, with puke stains all over everything.  I swear, just when you think a kid is getting over it, they want to eat something bright red (marinara) or in Audrey's case, black and purple (a birthday cake) and then they do it.  Just when you are complacent and not on your toes to run them to a bathroom, they launch puke from one end of the room to the other. We even had to go out to Target and buy a new Hoover vacuum to try and 'contain' the spreading stains.  And to this day, we'll hear Josh ask, "Can I play with the puke vacuum?" and if we answer no, "Can I play with the dirt vacuum?"  Think Hoover would like that categorization?  Puke Vacuums versus Dirt Vacuums.  All I know is that Josh better still like to vacuum in a couple years when we are 'making' him do it!

Anyway, the point being, for those two weeks of down time when someone caused Ann, Josh and Audrey to be 'pinned' at home, we let them watch movies because they literally couldn't move a muscle.  They just vegged on the couch waiting to throw up.  Well, after two, three, four movies a day during that period, we are now out of control.  Is there a "Watch To Many Movies Anonymous" group we can get these two into?  Not that we find time to watch TV, but I find it strange that they refuse to watch regular television (even cartoons).  They want feature length movies or nothing!  Audrey was easily sitting through an entire film with complete concentration at 20-24 months.  I am still trying to figure out if that is a good thing (meaning she's smart) or a bad thing (we are letting her watch TV in the first place).  I do say that I think it's fun to be able to take the kids to a theatre (they obviously love it) and not have to completely 'entertain' Josh and/or Audrey.... [More]

So a lot of people know, but I thought I'd make it official...we have baby #3 on the way.  It has been confirmed it's a boy.  Thank God I say, after hearing plenty of horror stories about raising daughters from Mom's in the PAIIR class Josh and I were in - along with witnessing plenty of drama first hand from Aud's already).  So now we just have to think up a name that we like.  Ann had picked a name I really liked for a girl that almost persuaded me to the 'dark side' - wanting a girl over a boy (Sydney Grace), but alas another boy it is.  Josh and Audrey want either "Luke Skywalker Aney" or "Harry Potter Aney"...having a hard time convincing them that we can't use those names.  I'm sure one day they'll forgive us for not choosing one of them.

Ann is due on October 18th and is just getting past morning sickness...another rough pregnancy similar to Audrey's (that's why Ann was convinced it was a girl).  And no sooner did the morning sickness end, the 6-7 bathroom breaks a night begin, but it'll all be worth it!

As a matter of fact, Ann's morning sickness was so bad that the kids started to play a 'game'.  For a while, every day at some point or another, they'd both go into the bathroom, stick their heads in the toilet and fake gag and spit.  I'd ask them what they are doing and they'd happily respond, "We are at the puke factory"...that sounds like a sweet place I'd think to myself.