Naming Babies

I woke up early today and was thinking about what a daunting task it is to name children. It is something they are stuck with for the rest of their lives. You don't want to be too trendy but you can really get in trouble being too creative.

I really wanted to name Eion "Jack." But we decided against it as Jack and Jackson are in the top 10 of almost every English speaking country in the world. He will probably be very happy we decided against another front runner, Angus.

We got one name spot on. Maggie couldn't be anything but Maggie. Overall, I'm pretty happy with the names we chose. The only names that would suit Morrigan & Eion better are Her Highness and Detructo. Those probably fall under the too creative category.

Happy Memorial Day!

Hope everyone is having a great Memorial Day. We are having a great weekend! Tim's parents, Nancy & Doug (see picture) came to visit on Friday. We spent Saturday and Sunday at the pool and Tim & his Dad went golfing. The weather has been perfect, about 90 degrees with a little breeze. Yesterday Tim made a pork shoulder so we had "pig" (as the girls call it) for dinner. Yum!

Nancy & Doug went home this morning so we hit the gym and then went to the pool for what might be the greatest pool day ever. The kids all had a ball, the weather was perfect & to top it off, there was free beer! Our neighbor Troy won a hole in one contest & brought a keg over to the pool. Sadly, the little ones all had to nap so we had to leave after only one beer.

There was one minor mishap at the pool. Morrigan got hit in the nose by a frisbee. As a result, she had a bloody nose. Fortunately, our friend, Greg, who is an ENT doc, was on hand to take care of her. We had the bleeding stopped & she was pretty much good to go when the new pool manager (who seems like a bit of a spaz) came over to take charge. She immediately had Morrigan do the opposite of what Greg said & lean forward. Greg politely told her that he was a specialist in this area there was no need to bend over & that we had it under control. She quickly rebuffed him & said this was the way it was done at the pool. Take those years at medical school & go to hell!

We're off to our friends Hans & Ann's house for a cookout after naptime (ribs, more pig!) Have a safe and wonderful holiday!

The End of My Reign

This week marked the end of my reign as RAMA President. As you can see from the very large, goofy smile on my face, I am happy to have the year behind me! Sadly, this was actually the best picture from the installation luncheon. I had to speak allot & didn't think to get any nice, posed pictures. But I think my relief shows anyway. I am glad to be someone's lackey next year. My new job is label girl.

On an unrelated but highly amusing note, Tim has taught the kids that when they toot, they should say "I hear a barking spider." (Nice huh? Believe me, it wasn't my idea. I teach them things like: "Why don't we watch commercials?" "Because we don't want the man telling us what to buy.") Anyway, Maggie came into the kitchen this morning with her pj bottoms on her head & said "Look, I'm a barking spider!"

Lake Party Weekend

We're getting back to normal after a busy weekend here. We co-hosted a party at Smith Mountain Lake this past Saturday. Surprisingly, we had perfect weather. I am generally a weather curse when it comes to parties. Anytime I host, there is a blizzard or rainstorm. But it was clear, sunny skies on Saturday. Maybe the weather gods have changed their position on me!

Mom & Dad were here to watch the kids so we could stay at the lake. Which left us free for late night hot tubbing! One of the other hosts, Joe, had a birthday the next day. So naturally, we all gave him a bright orange bikini bathing suit complete with an "enhancement pouch." (Think miracle bra for the boys.) Though Joe declined to wear it, another guest swiped it without Joe's knowledge. He put it on, came flying out of the house, dove in the pool and then posed for pictures. Classic!

Happy Mother's Day Indeed

I'm going to have to call this Mother's Day downright crummy. Maggie is running a fever, Eion is sick (see details below), it has been raining all day and Tim has to work 7am to 7pm. But that being said, the first thing the girls said to me today was "Happy Mother's Day" and they both painted me pictures. None the less, with all the contributing factors, there will be liberal use of the tv today.

Tim was off this week Wednesday through Saturday and we were busy. Wednesday, I had a Mother's Day lunch at Maggie's school. The teachers made lunch and the Moms came in to eat with the kids. Maggie ate with me for 5 minutes and then asked to be excused so she could go play. I knew then how very much this meant to her.

Thursday, we hosted a cocktail party for my RAMA board. I absolutely could not bear another board meeting. This seemed to be a logical replacement to me! Much to my surprise, it turned out great! Mostly, I think it was due to Tim's excellent mojitos.

Friday morning we played tennis with friends. We still lose more than win but our record is improving. After that Tim was in "Tug for Tots," a local fundraiser. There are teams of ten and the are in tug of war contests. Tim was on the "Docs for Tots" team again this year. They made it to the second round which was better than most years. The team from the sheriff's department took them down. Those guys were big! One of the refs had to leave so I got to be a referee. It was fun but the shirt was as long as my tennis skirt so I looked like I was wearing a nightgown.

That night we went to a Squires party that had a great band and fun dancing. We were pretty tired Saturday but had soccer and two birthday parties to attend. Needless to say, we were in bed by 9 pm. [I split updates about the kids into a post for each of them.]

Maggie and the Movies

I took Maggie to see Ice Age 2 not too long ago. All was going well & she seemed happy. About halfway through the movie, Maggie asked me, "Where is the monkey?" The only other movie she has seen in the theaters is Curious George. I'm not sure if she thinks all theater movies have monkeys or if she just wanted to see that movie again.

She really seems to be growing up fast. She loves to go on lunch dates with me. At least once a week I leave Eion with Arlene and Maggie and I go to lunch and ice cream. She is even good enough to take to real restaurants (read: not McDonald's.) I have to be sure to leave lots of time for ice cream. Even the smallest scoop takes 45 minutes to eat!

The End of Soccer Season

In spite of the fact that she might be the worst player on the team and that the sport requires you to wear shorts, Morrigan was devastated by the end of soccer season. I am suspicious that she may like it only because her sister can't play yet.

At practice, they play a game called sailors and sharks. The sharks stand making two lines and the sailors have to run down between them. The sharks kick their balls at the sailors and if you are tagged, you become a shark. This goes on until everyone was a shark. Morrigan was always one of the very last people out. Budding soccer star you say? No, she just ran so slow that by the time she was in the sailors' range, they had kicked their balls already!

At the last game, the ball was kicked in her direction. It ended up behind her and Morrigan took off running, without the ball. We don't know if it was her intent, but it appeared she was running from it.

After soccer, she was off to a birthday pool party. Instead of goodie bags, each kid got a noodle (for those unfamiliar, a 4 foot long styrofoam floatation device) which all 30 children immediately proceeded to use as swords.

Morrigan had to take a "pals" test at school recently (it is some state-wide standardized test.) I felt like such a stage mom when I read the results. I was so proud that she was at the top or beyond the desired range on all the categories. Now Tim did tell me that before I let my head get too big, I should realize that one of the things being tested was "nursery rhyme awareness."

My Son the Parade Balloon

Poor Eion. On Saturday morning, he was a little feverish & pulling on his ear. I thought I was probably over-reacting but I took him into the doctor. He looked fine when I put him in the car. When we arrived at the doctor's, (5 minutes away) his eye was almost swelled shut! He actually looks good in the picture compared to what he looked like then. I was right about the ear infection but he had also developed periorbital cellulitis (an infection of the soft tissues around the eye.) So he had to get an antibiotic shot.

We went to the pharmacy to fill Eion's prescription & he started chattering his teeth & shaking all over. Back to the doctor's office. They think that was just his fever spiking again. When we got home, Eion was so lethargic that Tim was afraid to let him sleep alone. Now you know if Tim is that concerned, the little guy looked bad!

On top of everything else, E later broke out in a nasty rash & his right hand and foot swelled up. Benadryl to the rescue! He felt so rotten that he wasn't eating or drinking so we had to resort to one of Tim's favorite tricks, popsicles! He's much improved but still a bit cranky today.

Tim took Morrigan to soccer so Maggie was with me at the doctor's office too. She only had a runny nose but I thought as long as we are going, might as well look in her ears to be safe. He asked her if her ears hurt, she said yes. He asked her if her throat hurt, she said yes. Finally after a litany of complaints that could really only be explained away by catastrophic illness, he asked if her teeth itched. Answer was of course yes. Which brought him to the conclusion that it was probably just a runny nose!

Eion as Braveheart

Here's Eion at a birthday party we went to on Saturday. If dirty was a measure of fun, he had a fantastic time! The girls also had a ball. They all ate so many cookies that no one ended up having dinner. (Example #537 in the bad mommy list.) But Tim was working all weekend and I was not going to fight that fight.

On an unrelated note, I was at the grocery store today and they were playing Motley Crue. Now it wasn't Shout at the Devil or anything but when did any Crue become suitable for supermarkets? This is the band with concert t-shirts the said "Crue fans are the best f*ck all the rest." Which, by the by, if you were able to purchase the shirt at a European concert, was unedited. Can't believe I got rid of that one. We were going to see Motley Crue in March for Tim's birthday at the Roanoke Civic Center. We did not end up going as it would have been $175 for the two of us! For goodness sake, they haven't had a hit in 15 years.

This Saturday we have a birthday party to go to that is themed "Princess & Pirate Party." Tim is all over this one.

Book & Author

One of the last big hurdles for my RAMA year was Book & Author Dinner. It is a fundraiser where we have authors come and speak and sign books. I had to welcome everyone and introduce our emcee. Now I normally don't even have a spike in my heartrate when I speak in public. This was a room of 600 people and I was a bit nervous! But it went great. Once I got started, I felt pretty comfortable. We had Tess Gerritson, Stephen Frey, Martin Clark & Nikki Giovanni as our authors. The picture is with Stephen Frey. (For those keeping track, yes it is the brown dress again. I actually bought a new dress and Tim asked why I wasn't wearing the brown dress since I loved it so much. I told him I had already worn it and he said "Who are you? Princess Di?" Point taken.)

With this behind me, my reign as RAMA president is almost over! Thursday, we are hosting a cocktail party for my board. I couldn't bear to have another boring board meeting.