Hangin'

My college roommate, Karen, was the first of my college friends to have a baby.  Some of my favorite memories are of Dayna and I making the trek from one end of New York State to the other to visit Karen and little Hannah.  While most girls our age would be out partying if they got together with their old college friends, the three of us would hang out in Karen's apartment, our sides splitting with laughter over whatever it was Hannah was doing to entertain us (ie, pulling on her hair whenever she heard a Hebrew term such as "mazel tov" or "Rosh Hashanah."  Guess you had to be there.).  After one solid laughter-induced ab workout, Karen looked at her daughter and said, "I'm so glad my kid can hang."  

"I'm so glad my kid can hang" has stuck with me ever since.  Thankfully, eleven years later, I have kids of my own who can hang.  Ryan and I aren't a couple who have date nights...while I consider myself to be a rather cheap date, factor in a babysitter's wages and you end up with an empty wallet.  But we have a lot of fun, and we include our kids in our fun.  They love movie nights at home, bike rides as far as their little legs will take them, and hearing live music at the oceanfront, even in the dead of winter.  Last weekend, while we were enjoying this:

and this:

Brynn and Camryn were enjoying this:

The band shown above would be The Deloreans, a local 80s cover band that's totally rad.  Brynn and Camryn have been warned that the next time we go see The Deloreans play, we'll be in full 80s attire.  And Kevin takes complete credit for that dude becoming Billy Idol, but that's neither here nor there.  The point is, my kids can hang.  

Not only can they hang when we create the fun for them, but they are ambassadors of their own fun as well.  I was overwhelmed by the number of techy toys in stores this past holiday season, and I texted Meghan, my go-to gal for all things educational, to see if there was anything in particular she thought my kids should have. Her professional opinion was forego all of it and foster my girls' imaginations.  Best.  Advice.  Ever.  Instead of zoning out playing games on gadgets, this is what happens in the Psimas house:

BMX practice.  In pajamas and dress shoes.

Staircase sledding with trash bags

Wildin' out dance party on Mom and Dad's bed.  I believe they've got the moves like Jagger.

I'm so glad my kids can hang.

No one likes a copycat

I'm going to be a jerk and steal the theme of my sister-in-law's blog for this one post.  Meghan is currently blogging about "Don'ts for mothers," which chronicles little tidbits of knowledge she's learning as she enjoys the journey that is raising another human being.  If you don't already follow her, you should.  It's a good read every time.  

My contribution to "Don'ts for Mothers" is this:  

Don't bother cleaning your house until your children move out of it.  It will only drive you bonkers.  Case in point:

BEFORE

AFTER

***Cue angels singing on high***

Brynn was minimally helpful cleaning up the playroom, and Camryn kept herself entertained looking through the books she was asked to put in their bin.  At one point, they were both just standing there, watching me.  Want to piss me off?  Stand there watching me while I clean up YOUR mess.  I snapped at them for doing nothing, so they decided to go upstairs and play instead.  While I was irritated I was doing this job alone, it was better than them just watching.  

Feeling good about what I had accomplished, it was onto the next task...vacuuming the bedrooms.  Up the stairs I went, only to find:

Ah yes, those would be the stuffed animals we put in that big pink tub to take upstairs instead of having them clutter up the playroom I just cleaned.  Completely defeated, I decided vacuuming will wait until tomorrow and went for a run.  F it.

The Pskiing Psimases

Last winter, Ryan and I took Brynn on a little ski trip.  Since Camryn was only 2 at the time, and the minimum age for ski school was 3, we decided to leave her behind with her grandparents.  When we started planning this year's trip, we got really excited because Camryn could join us this year and have as much fun in ski school as Brynn did last year...until we learned the minimum age is now 4.  Ugh!!!  There was no way we were leaving our little firecracker behind this year, so Ryan took one for the team and said he'd ski with her between his legs the whole time.  What a guy!

So off to Massanutten we went, teddies, Dream Lites, books, and Fancy in tow:

We made great time getting to the mountain, and immediately geared up for some fun in the snow:

We hung out in the teaching section for a while so Brynn could get reacquainted with skiing and Camryn could see what she was in for.  

Why is there so much grass exposed, you ask?  That would be because it was 62 degrees when we got out of the car.  Camryn had a few runs going down the bunny slope with Ryan, then we decided to let her go on her own.  I was too busy chasing her down to get any pictures, but she flew down that hill!  When I caught up with her, she was giggling hysterically and telling me she wanted to keep going "really, really, really, really, really fast!"  I was happy to oblige and gave her another shove.  Even when she fell, she couldn't stop giggling.  By sundown, we decided to call it a day and head back to the hotel, excited about what was in store for the next day.

While I have to put my neuroses aside and convince myself of the cleanliness of hotel rooms, my children love them.  They love running down the halls, jumping on the beds, and swimming in the frigid indoor pools.  While I did not partake in any aquatic activities (I was too busy watching Ray Rice and the Ravens make Tom Brady look stupid...just sayin), I enjoyed a pizza party with my favorites after a successful first day on the slopes:

The next day, Brynn went off to ski school and Ryan and I hit one of the green trails with Camryn.  At this point, all picture taking devices were dead.  Awesome.  We were able to get some video, but don't ask me to figure out how to share it!  We got to see Brynn in action with her class, and once she got rid of the dead weight of some of the ahem...less-apt kids, there was no catching up to her:

The photo is blurry because the kid was a blur the rest of the afternoon.  On the ski lift, I asked her if she was going to beat me down the hill.  Her reply?  "Heck yeah!"  And she did.  I was forced to go faster than I have ever gone in my two days worth of experience on a snowboard just to keep up with her.  I was so impressed with how fearless she was, which made me have to dig a little deeper and just go for it myself.  Kids, man...they challenge you in more ways than one!  

The girls enjoyed the first night's pizza party so much, we let them have another the next night.  We hit the hay a little earlier on night #2, and it wasn't long before both kiddos were fast asleep.  After a quick breakfast at the hotel the next morning, we got dressed:

And headed back to the slopes for what we hoped would be a fun session before going home.  However, we learned that this:

plus this:

equals this:

Brynn's face was no better, she just got away before I could snap the picture.  Between frigid temps, biting winds, and man made snow being blown in your face, our girls had had enough before we even got off the ski lift.  We were able to coax them through one run down the mountain with the promise of hot chocolate at the bottom, but they were not happy about it.  What can I say, these girls are used to having their toes warm in the sand, not frostbitten in ski boots!  They were troopers though, and I'm so proud of how well they did trying something new.  We'll definitely plan for another trip next year, when I'm sure I'll have two little speed demons to chase down a mountain!

Unicorns and rainbows

My poor kids.  They are the inspiration for so much of what I do, yet they have to wait the longest to get some Fancy of their own.  Take these lap desks, for instance:

I first bought them because I thought my kids would love to have a little place to sit and color or do homework anywhere in the house.  Check my receipt...I bought them in September.  Until tonight, I had made over a dozen of these desks for customers or to give as gifts for the girls' friends and cousins, but I had yet to Fancy them up for my own kids.  Shame on me!  

So finally tonight at dinner, I asked Brynn what she'd like me to draw on her blue lap desk.  "A unicorn and a rainbow" was her response.  A unicorn???  Should have known she'd throw a challenge my way.  I feel way more pressure to produce my best work for my own kids...after all, I'm going to have to look at it every single day!  If I didn't get this right, I'd be so annoyed with myself every time I looked at that desk.  Thanks to Google, I found a cute image of a unicorn that I was able to replicate without so much as a single curse word.  I think I nailed it for my sweet girl, and I can't wait for her to see it in the morning:

Lap desks like Brynn's come in a variety of colors and are available for purchase for $15.  Pair them with a pencil case for a unique and useful gift for kids of all ages.  Message me on Facebook or email me at karen.psimas@yahoo.com to place an order.  

Three's Company

While I am not willing to commit to a full blown Project 52 this year, I will try my best to blog a little bit more than I did the second half of 2012.  Here's my first attempt of 2013, which will almost certainly be interrupted by a trip to the bus stop and some kindergarten homework.

As you may have read in my last post, I ended 2012 with a 10 day staycation, holed up with my three favorite blonde haired, blue eyed people that I had neglected while being Fancy all fall and until Christmas.  This leisurely pace has continued through the first week of January, and now I have a third little person along for the ride sometimes.  

Meet Jude.  He's my 9 week old nephew, and his parents have entrusted me with his care while they both save the world, sometimes literally.  Big mistake.  Huge.  This is the baby they left:

This is the baby he became under my supervision:

File under "Blackmail."  But really, three has been a charm.  It took a while for me to be ok with ending my run of reproduction after two, and I was a little bit worried that spending so much time with a teeny little guy would make my ovaries yearn for another.  So far, this hasn't been the case.  I am loving the smiles, the coos, and the snuggles, and I think I get to enjoy it even more because I know I'm on the clock.  The time I am responsible for keeping this child happy is finite.  I don't have to worry if he'll sleep through the night.  I don't have to potty train him.  I don't have to save for his education.  I don't even have to worry if he knocks up his girlfriend in high school (I might actually encourage this...by the time Jude is in high school, I might need the business!).  I just get to enjoy him while he's little and watch him grow up with my own kids, who fight over who gets to help me more with Jude duties (and doodies...they come running when I say he pooped):

  Jude is my little bonus baby, and I'm so glad I get to hang out with him as much as I do.  My uterus can chill...its work here is done.

Project 52: Weeks 28-52

Ok, so maybe 2012's Project 52 turned into more of a Project 27, but I'm gonna look at this glass of blog as being more than half full.  If I remember correctly, I spent the last few weeks of summer enjoying the surf, sand, and my sweets way too much to be bound to a computer for any length of time:

We had the East party of five come stay with us for a long weekend, and the cuteness scale measured off the charts during their visit:

Dayna came to visit...TWICE!!!  Once on a solo mission, and another time with Michel:

We celebrated Camryn's 3rd birthday, as if this kid needed any more reasons to be a wackadoodle:

We celebrated the impending arrival of a new little man, whose name was yet to be made public at the time of Meghan's baby shower:

We drove a solid 1200 miles round trip to celebrate the blessed union of Sir Timothy and Lady Haylie in great state of Rhode Island (which is neither a road nor an island...discuss):

We even got to spend some more time with the Easts and sneak in a visit to Playland on the way home from Rhode Island:

The end of summer was mourned with a race a swore I'd never do...

...and I think I passed the half marathon bug along to Ryan in the process.  Training through the heat of the summer was brutal (although not as brutal as abstaining from alcohol the night before my long runs!), but I'm so glad I did it.  I was pleased with my time on that dreadfully hot and humid morning, and I can cross that race off my list.

The fall brought Brynn's first day of kindergarten and Camryn's first day of preschool (and a tearful day for Mommy!):

We enjoyed a Psimas family picnic, supporting Aunt Elizabeth as she ran for a seat on the City Council in Portsmouth (which she won, duh):

We did a little storm chasing as Superstorm Sandy brushed past us:

We finally got to meet the girls' newest cousin, Jude:

We celebrated Brynn's 6th birthday with a visit from the Cox family:

Brynn and I now wear matching boots:

Brynn has shown an outstanding adjustment to her new school, and earned herself the first Star Student of the Week in her class (shortly after she lost her first tooth!):

I was very. Very. Fancy:

I started 2012 in piss-poor shape, but finished strong with my best race to date:

Last but not least, we spent Week 52 of 2012 with the greatest staycation this family has ever seen (mainly because we've never let ourselves do this before!).  We celebrated an early Christmas with the Rafterys, followed by Christmas Eve with the Psimases (and Rafterys, and Murphys, and McIntyres!), followed by seven days of being on the No-Plans Plan.  We followed no schedule.  We stuck to no bedtimes.  We played games and watched movies and drank good beer by a roaring fire almost nightly.  The girls played with their dollhouse, cars, teddies, and Dream Lites by day, and had sleepovers in each other's rooms by night (putting both mattresses on Brynn's bedroom floor was a HUGE hit).  They had our undivided attention all week, and it felt so good to be a "yes" mom instead of a "hang on, mommy just has to do a zillion things first" mom.  If we didn't make time to see you, our sincere apologies...we blew off people and parties to do absolutely nothing, and it was just what we all needed. 

I haven't yet decided if there will be another installment of Project 52 in 2013, as I'd hate to set myself up for failure, but I look forward to starting this new year refreshed and energized instead of ragged and exhausted. Cheers to health, happiness, and a whole lotta Fancy in 2013!