Letters from Home

The mind of a seven-year-old is apparently a funny place - a place where the things that matter are candy and show and tell. I can't stop reading this little note and laughing at the line, "you were so sweet when you got me peanut butter cups."Truth be told, I had completely forgotten about putting together that show and tell project more than a year ago.

I'm feeling a little sentimental this week as Sean gets ready to deploy for the year. I know that not everyone is lucky enough to have siblings, that some of you have lost siblings, and that some of you may not get along with the siblings you do have - but I consider myself blessed to have such funny, thoughtful, little brothers.

So tell me, if you have siblings, what is your favorite memory together?

Homegrown

Though I don’t live at home any longer, I still enjoy the benefits of our family garden none the less. I’ve been meaning to share with you a zucchini lasagna recipe I made last week using only home grown zucchini and spinach but my time has been monopolized with photography jobs, working six days a week, and preparing for my trip.

Despite my busy to-do list, I snuck in a lot of time at my parents house this week since the north east's heat streak has kept my little city home at above 89 degrees (until today, when it finally cooled to a reasonable 83). Tonight, after sneaking in last minute first-year portraits for the daughter of a  high school friend, I came home to enjoy the air conditioning, a home cooked dinner and my favorite part, time with Aiden. (Though he’s now taken with singing clever songs about zombies.. Oh. My.)

Right before the sun finally set around 8:30, we snuck out into the garden for a few handfuls of sweet peas and blackberries. As usual, rows of corn have grown up to shadow the other crops which include eggplant, zucchini, leaf lettuce, cucumbers, and snap peas. Now, I’m snuggled up the living room with a hint of sunburn and apparently, a fever. If it weren’t for the Business and Society exam I need to finish by 8 a.m., perhaps I’d share that lasagna recipe... but for now, here’s a sneak peek to show you just how great a family garden can be. (Check back early this week for the recipe!)

Rainy Days

It seems as though the weather only has two options in the last few weeks - unbearably hot, or unbearably rainy. With my trip to Montana drawing closer and closer, I made plans to spend the day with Aiden. Lately, I’ve found myself spending most of my time at home alone, doing homework, tying up loose ends before my trip, cleaning..  So at first, I had an extensive list of options for our day and couldn’t seem to decide on any one choice - the zoo, the swimming pool, the beach. But then, the weather forecast changed and as you know, we were left with a wet, muggy, summer day (just another reason I’m leaving for the summer). Instead of our grandiose outdoor plans, Aiden and I settled for a day of painting at Color Me Mine, followed by a chinese buffet lunch (Aiden’s favorite) and his first trip to Sweet Frog.

Given the extensive options of pottery pieces to chose from - ranging from piggy banks in the shape of baseballs to ruffle edged tea pots - Aiden chose an army tank and me? A coffee mug. If you know anything about my youngest brother, it’s that he loves anything military or camoflauge. Combine it with art and you have a great way to spend nearly three hours on a rainy day. I chose to paint my mug, which will be the host to many cups of hot tea this summer, in a tribal pattern. Looking at the unfinished version, you may question if I ever took art classes - and let me promise you, I did - but an inpatient seven-year old calls for rushed designs. And the best part? When you’re drawing straight lines and he’s constantly kicking under the table. But hey, I’m sure I’ll be missing those kicks and silly never ending stories soon enough. I’m trying to figure out how to safely transport said mug to Montana so that I can think of my day with Aiden each morning. We’ll see.

In other news, I also managed to finally make a trip to the store for much needed makeup and even managed to clean the entire house, tonight. (The rain is good for some things, after all.) And while I’m glad to have accomplished some required tasks and to have gained the well deserved x’s on my to-do list, tonight I’m just feeling thankful for time spent with my own family this week - and Trevor’s.

I’m also feeling anxious (if you know me, you probably realized that when I mentioned cleaning the house) because tomorrow kicks off a busy fifteen day count down until my plane leaves Philadelphia once again. With a more than full work schedule, two summer courses, an internship interview, a newborn babe to snuggle, and multiple photography sessions to do, I’m hoping that these next two weeks will simply fly by.

Better Late Than Never

Though Aiden turned seven on April 5th, holiday weekends, school schedules and chilly weather pushed his birthday party back until this Sunday when somehow, things aligned with thirty party guests, sunny weather and the right amount of cupcakes.

After tossing around ideas for a party at Chuck E Cheese or the roller skating rink, we somehow convinced Aiden that an outdoor party would be a better option. He was more easily convinced when we insisted that a Lego theme could be involved. If there's one thing you must understand about Aiden, it's that he goes through obsessive phases. Firetrucks. Army. I was content to throw a Lego party this time around.

Even if doing so meant creating poster board games and three dozen lego themed cupcakes.. during a weekend already filled with completing a six-hundred page marketing research report and another group project. But like they say, you work well under pressure.

And the cupcakes? They were a hit. 

The lego candy on top? Not so much.

Though Aiden would later admit his fears that no one would be at his party, attendance was certainly not a problem. At the last minute, I found myself counting and recounting cupcakes and ice cream dishes, hoping there would be enough. Then, there was a last second trip for bar-b-que chips. But somehow, at the end of a hot-dog feast (Aiden's only real request), there was still food left uneaten.. and cupcakes, too. 

The real problem turned out to be how to sooth the hurt feelings of the seven year old who lost every party game. Or appeasing Aiden when the Hot Chelle Rae Pandora station played something that simply wasn't by Hot Chelle Rae.. And then there was the real problem of Pandora deciding to play every inappropriate song it could muster for our game of Hot Potato.

Thankfully, we were prepared to handle the challenges of the day with a park onsite, fun prizes for those who did win, and an opportunity for silly photos, too.

 

And in the end, with plenty of friends to share his day with, and plenty of gifts to open afterwards, I don't think Aiden minded the fact that his party was belated by twenty-four days.

After all, it's better late than never.
(Just ask Sean.)

Kite Flying

Easter has never been my favorite holiday. As a kid, I didn't like chocolate, and I most definitely did not like wearing tights, dresses or itchy Easter hats. Needless to say, I didn't look forward to a holiday filled with milk chocolate rabbits and posing for pictures in that uncomfortable attire. As I've gotten older, Easter hasn't really grown on me, either. It seems to be the most low-key of the holidays, and at least Barnes and Noble was open, so I suppose it isn't a terrible holiday. 

This year, I tagged along to an egg hunt with Aiden. Or as he'd more accurately call it, an egg scramble - there's no hunting to do when eggs are just thrown across the grass, or cleverly placed on a picnic table top, just out of reach. Aiden seems to take after me with things like egg hunts - logically deciding where to run first, then spending all that time to gather just a few eggs and at the end, to accidentally dump the few he had from his basket. As the family next to us said, it was just so nice of him to share.

On Sunday, I wasn't home for the grand opening of the Easter basket but I was told that there wasn't much excitement about the whole thing. And hours later, I had to beg Aiden to even come outside to play. We tried catch, frisbee, hula hooping, jump roping. Most of which were unsuccessful.. as I said, he definitely takes after me when it comes to coordination.

Ultimately, the winning toy turned out to be a $2 kite we chose as a last minute addition. I had been craving to fly a kite since my trip to the beach and it turned out to be just as fabulous as I had envisioned it. Yes, it would have been better on the sand, next to the ocean, with no telephone wires to beware of but it was fabulous none the less.

And Aiden seemed to enjoy it, too.

Snapshots: Seven.

It's hard to believe that my baby brother turned seven today. A year ago, I wrote him his first birthday blog post - appropriately entitled "Six." I wrote about how he loved the Backstreet Boys & the Beatles, how he could fit into my t-shirts, how he was obsessed with his perfectly combed hair style, how he learned to read road signs. Most of those things have remained - except for his hair care routine. But the most important thing from that blog post was when I said "happy birthday to my favorite little boy in the world." Those words still hold true except perhaps, he's my favorite boy, not little boy, in the world.

This year... Aiden fell in love with Ninjago, finally stopped wearing all camouflage, let us buy him toys other than army men, learned to play xbox, began first grade, started reading kid's chapter books, didn't stop eating Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, lost his first teeth, wore his hair with a rat-tail, became obsessed with legos, learned to love sleepovers at his sister's apartment and did all the other things that smelly, sticky, six year olds boys do.

But now he's seven.

(And we hope that means an end to being smelly and sticky.)

I'm never leaving my bed.

I don't know how many times I've said the words "I'm never leaving my bed" in the past sixteen hours but as more hours pass, the more sure I become of that fact. Though I'm sick with a wealth of bizarre problems most days of my life, I never seem to catch anything contagious. The last time I had the flu? A cold? It seems that until I catch one of the two, enough time passes to allow me to forget just how terrible I am at being sick. I whine. I cry. I beg my boyfriend to buy my tissues. I have to call off work. I sleep, a lot. And today? That's exactly what I'm doing.

My stomach hasn't felt quite right since last week but on Monday, I woke up and could hardly crawl out of bed and drag myself to work. Yesterday? I never made it to my Research Methods class. Today? Today, I'm not leaving my bed.

The boyfriend hasn't been feeling well either so we decided that it'd be a great idea to eat nothing but fruits and vegetables for three days, starting last night. After somehow braving snow tubing (more on that later), I wanted nothing more than to crawl in bed but Trevor insisted on a grocery store trip before hand. Somehow, in my sick delirium, I couldn't find my wallet anywhere (turns out it was in my bag.. on the top.. right where I put it.. and looked for it) so that meant a trip back to the grocery store for me this morning. But first, I took three Advil, my heart medicine and begged for a Benedryl but before I had time to be upset about the third, I was asleep. This morning, I woke up feeling even worse. I snuggled Buddy until Trevor was down showering then I called off work and headed to buy myself some fruit and vegetables of my own.

For some strange reason, the registers at Giant were not working and after completing all my grocery shopping, standing in line sniffling, sneezing and eyes watering for forty minutes, I ended up having to put everything back and head across the street to Weis where my shopping cart was quickly filled with two cantaloupes, two pineapples, three oranges, three gala apples, three overly-ripe bananas, two boxes cherry tomatoes, a head of broccoli, an enormous head of cauliflower, a big bag of spinach, baby carrots, and a little foam basket of mushrooms. Plus, a container of Simply Orange juice with pulp. (Trevor hates pulp.)

Perhaps I wouldn't feel quite as terrible if I hadn't braved the cold and wind for a free trip snow tubing. Since I had to do laundry anyway, I figured I might as well go for at least a few photographs to send to Sean. So, it was decided.

At first, I thought it would be easy to spot Aiden headed down the hill - he and my dad were covered in camoflauge. What I didn't realize soon enough was that so was everyone else. It was free tubing night for Warrington Township, after all.

That also meant running into plenty of Aiden's friends - all girls, of course. It took much negotiating to figure out how five six-year-olds would be able to tube together. For whatever reason, I volunteered to take two of them down the hill but after realizing just how icy the conditions were, I begged for help. Plus, my mom had to say "don't let them tip out of their tubes!," just before we were about to go.

One trip down the hill was all that I needed to quench my thirst for adventure and snow. Besides, I wasn't nearly patient enough for the "magic carpet" ride to the top, and the line of people waiting for tubes was quickly growing. Instead, we took cover in the lodge with hot chocolate and brownies, of course.

There are talks of returning for another snow tubing adventure, Trevor in tow but for now? I've got two exams to study for, a project to start and finish (today), vegetables to eat, a box of tissues to use, and a few naps to take.

Milkshakes & Apple Dumplings

While the real purpose of the Pennsylvania Farm Show may be to teach about what is going on in the world of agriculture in our state, everyone I know goes for the milkshakes, the apple dumplings and occasionally I hear it has something to do with petting an alpaca, watching baby ducks on a slide, or seeing a real rodeo. With a rodeo in my backyard at home, I find myself more enamored with the milkshakes and apple dumplings, if I'm being honest. 

This was Aiden's first visit to the farm show and if you asked him for his favorite parts, the list would likely include riding the shuttle bus, drinking apple cider, watching square dancing and petting the alpacas. (The kid has a thing for alpacas.) 

Despite being too intelligent for the kids map we pressured him to follow and surprisingly brewing a case of walking pneumonia, he was a trooper. He tried not to be rude to the crazy bee lady. He guessed correctly when a man at the apple stand asked him what type of apple was pictured (not that Hana or I would know... but the answer was York.) He placed bets on which color square dancers would win the round. And he only asked "can we leave yet" approximately 642 times that night.

More than anything, the farm show just made me miss Sean. With a Marines tent hosting a pull-up competition, numerous girls wearing pink camouflage sweatshirts (he'd love that, I just know it), guys decked out in hunting boots and wearing real tree hats - it was Sean turned into a huge agricultural celebration.

In case you were wondering, he's gained 15 pounds, got in trouble for drinking chocolate milk at an inappropriate time, is being investigated for a position working for the president, has avoided the plague of pneumonia which is taking over Parris Island and has only managed to write me three letters.

We coped by looking at baby ducks.



Despite the absurd traffic, overcrowded food courts and dusty rodeo arena - we had a good time. It was a much needed visit with my baby brother and best friend, a much desired break from homework, a good way to forget the heart monitor taped to my chest, and a great day to celebrate Aiden's lack of his two front teeth.

He suggested making them into a necklace if anyone's interested.
After all, why else would mom's buy teeth from underneath pillows?