Dating Wesley

Today Wesley came to me and told me he wanted to take me out for a date. He said he wanted to go out to eat just me and him. Cool, I am down with that. I am a huge fan of "dating" your kids so that they learn how to treat (and be treated) by the people they will date in the future. Plus, it is a good way to get some one on one time. Also, I am hoping to get them into the habit of it so that when I am old and alone they will still come and take me out every once in a while.

I took a little nap this afternoon so Wesley got me up and told me that I needed to get ready so that we could go out. I asked him if he was going to get changed (he was wearing running pants and an Angry Birds t-shirt) but he told me, "No, this is what I am wearing. I can wear what I want. You can wear what whatever you want." Cool, I down with a casual date night. I then ask if he is going to pay for dinner. He says "Um, no, I need to save my money to buy the blue ninja (from Ninjago) but you can pay and show me how it's done." Okay.....

So we get ready, get in the car and I ask Wesley what he's in the mood for. He says "Burger King." This kid really believes that because the place is called Burger KING, it has the best burgers. I mean, it must if the it's run by a king, right? Riiiiiiiight. I talk him into Cheeburger Cheeburger instead. While we are there eating our food the family at the table behind Wesley has a fussy baby about Henry's age who is probably tired and obviously hungry. I am not judging because my kids have totally acted the way this baby did (throwing stuff, screaming, crying) when in the same situation. Been there and to show some sympathy I try to smile at them to know the baby is not bothering us at all. Just as I am doing that Wesley says (quite loudly) "And THAT is why you should leave your baby at home!". OMGosh....yeah, I don't know where he is getting that from. I shush him and remind him that he acted that way at that age too and to finish his meal so we can go.

After we finish up we head over to Target so shop around and walk off dinner and because I had a few items I needed to pick up. As we are leaving, Wesley asks if we can go to Starbucks when we are done paying to get a drink. He tells me it would be a nice way to end our date. I ask if he brought his money and if he is going to pay. He tells me no, he left his monies (no that is not a typo) at home but that I could pay but "don't worry Mommy, it will be good because it is part of our date. You will enjoy it. Isn't that nice of me? Don't I have good ideas?" Um, yeah. Your idea to take me on a date and have me pay for everything worked out GREAT for you. I remind him this will not work as well when he is actually dating a girl in the future. I am pretty sure he does not care right now about that.

Luckily I love the kid and I guess I will taking him out more often since his dating skills are obviously lacking. Hopefully by the time he goes on a real date it will go a bit better than this one did.

As you all know, Wesley birthday was on Tuesday and for his birthday we decided to take him out for lunch and a movie. The movie that he wanted to see was, of course, the newly re-released "Star Wars: The Phantom Menace-Episode I".

 I can still remember the first time I saw this movie in the movie theater. It was so big at the time my high school newspaper did an article on it (in fact, I still have a copy of that issue).  I was a senior in high school (or actually I had just graduated when it came out) and my boyfriend at the time (like all males at that time) *had* to go see it. So, like a good girlfriend I went with him. I had seen the original trilogy and I was very interested in seeing what made Darth Vader turn to the Dark Side. Of course, you get none of that in this movie and not having seen the original movies as a refresher on everything before I went I was a little lost as to how it fit into the whole series. This time around it was so much better to watch it for many reasons:

 1. It was Wesley's birthday present and it is fun to take your kids to do stuff you know they will love and are excited for.
2. It is the only movie in the prequels that does not have Hayden Christensen (AKA worst actor EVER) in them. His acting makes what would be a good movie barely tolerable. It is very hard to believe such a whiner ends up as Darth Vader. When those movies come out in 3D I will graciously agree to stay at home with Henry while C and Wesley have a father/son day out.
3. The movie does contain a REALLY good actor-Ewan McGregor. Even though he has horrible hair and is not standing in a field of daffodils (Steph C. you know exactly what I am talking about!):

4. I had already seen this movie about 5 billion times at home so I knew the story line and could focus on other stuff going in in the background and whatnot.
5. Knowing ahead of time what Jar-Jar Binks is going to say means you can tune him out thus making him less annoying. I actually laughed at some his slapstick actions this time around instead of being annoyed every time he opened his mouth. 
6. I had Wesley reassure me every time something was going to happen so I wouldn' t have to worry about the outcome ("Mommy, this is the race but don't worry, Anakin is going to win!"-sorry for spoilers to anyone who has been living under a rock for the past 11 years). 




There were a few downsides though.It was in 3D. Now, normally I don't like to see 3D movies because:

1. You have to wear glasses.

2. It never looks like it is jumping out at you, it just always looks like the background is further away.

3. It gives me a headache. 

Also, they added a bunch of stuff to it and it made it quite a bit longer. Because the movie is slow on action anyway it had Wesley begging for a fast forward button. Ah, if only....

Overall, good experience. 

Happy Halloween!

I can't believe it's Halloween tonight and I haven't written a post in forever. I have been meaning too but it has been so busy aroudn here (lots of stuff to write about, but no time to do it!).

But for tonight I will focus on our Halloween this year. I was excited to take both of the boys trick or treating this year because last year they moved TOT up a day and we had no idea until the trick or treaters showed up at our door asking for candy as I was trying to put Henry to bed. We picked out their costumes in September so I could start working on them to make sure they would be finished by Halloween. They turned out great, they (well Wesley) decided to be a knight and a dragon. I tried to get Christopher to not be lame and be Justin Bieber this year but....he is lame. Sorry. Maybe next year. I will have to come up with a family costume and make him wear it. He did hand out candy to the kids though.

All of our decorations are packed up in our storage unit and we couldn't get to them so we had to improvise this year. We cut out paper bats (got the pattern from Country Living online) and hung them across the mirror in the dining room. We also hung up spider webs (they were supposed to glow in the dark but it is too light in here to see that). I had some table cloths from my mom and a cute Halloween banner I had picked up at Home Goods last year after Halloween (which is why it wasn't packed up with everything else!). And of course we had our pumpkins that we carved:

Storm Trooper pumpkin.

The Death Star. It should have more details but after already having two blisters from carving it  I was done! It did look cool though. I am glad I did it if only to prove to my husband that I could do it and that it could be done if you are not too lazy to do it. Just sayin'....

We also had two "regular" pumpkins (you know, the typical Jack-o-lantern faces) and a pumpkin with a "P" on it for our last initial.

We had our traditional spaghetti dinner (this year with Halloween shaped pasta) and then the boys got all dressed up to go out. This year Wesley got invited to go out trick or treating with one of the older boys in the neighborhood so we went around with him. Of course it started raining as soon we went out and did not stop all night. However, rain does not stop kids (or knights or dragons) so they went all night long until they had hit every home here handing out candy.

Cutest dragon ever (well, in my opinion anyway!).

Henry loved getting the candy but did not get the concept of putting it in his pumpkin for later. He would hold onto whatever candy was given to him until we got to the next home because he was SURE I was taking it from him to keep for myself. He was all about the lollipops this year.

Wesley and his friend Andrew anxious to get going!

Finally we made it home....Henry's tail was completely soaked, I could literally wring water out of it.

My little pumpkin butt. 

Taking stock.

Loot! You know in 20 years this picture will be awesome because they will want to remember all the kinds of candy they got back in the day and what it looked like back them. I am sure it will all be pretty much the same thing because this is pretty much what my candy stash looked like back in the day.

Important things I have taught my child.

This is the conversation I had with Wesley while getting him ready for school. He was putting on the Dallas Cowboys socks that his great-grandmother had bought for him as she is a big fan.

Me:"Wesley, do you know whose team is the Dallas Cowboys?"
Wesley: "No."
Me:"It's Hampaw's favorite team." (Hampaw is Christopher's dad).
Wesley: "Oh. Our team is the Ravens. That is who we root for."
Me: "Yup, that is right. Who else do we root for?"
Wesley: "Um.....NOT the Steelers. They are on the bottom of the list."

I am so proud of him right now. From what little I know about football, at least I have thought him one lesson really well: never root for the Steelers. Ever. That is why they are on the bottom of the list.

Epic post: Longest post EVER-Mr. & Mrs.-the Wedding!

You have seen the Bridal Shower and the one not-so-scandalous picture of the bachlorette party. Now, it is finally time for what I *know* you have all been waiting for: The Wedding!

My little brother Kyle got married over Labor Day weekend. He had been married a whole week! My little brother, a married man! That makes me......so old. I still can picture Kyle as a little baby. He didn't learn to talk properly until he was about 4 because I talked and did everything for him. He was my baby before I knew what it was like to have real babies of my own. And now he is married. At least I held it together a bit better than my mom who was broke down and cried through most of the ceremony (although you would have too had you seen Kyle trying to hold it together when he watched Ashley walk down the aisle! Talk about a tear jerker!).

The whole wedding weekend was crazy busy! It started Thursday night with a final "Last Night" for Ashley. Plans changed about 5 times before the day was over but basically we all (the bridesmaids and a couple other friends)  dressed up in black dresses, played some games then all went out to dinner to a place called Jalapenos, which is a fantastic little restaurant in Annapolis. They have a $5 tapas menu on Thursday night so we all ordered and shared and had a good time. Here we (well, most of us) are:

Ok, so *some* people didn't get the message that we were supposed to be wearing black dresses even though it said it clearly on the invite that everyone got. Oh well. I got my dress for $24 at Target, it is actually very classy looking and normally I don't have a phantom baby bump going on. Terrible picture of me from that angle. Oh well.

Then, Friday was the rehearsal dinner. My parents were in charge of the rehearsal dinner. First we went to the Marriott (downtown Annapolis-more on that place later) for the ceremony walk through. I will let the pictures do the talking.

Christopher keeping Henry occupied.

Awww, we are so cute. 

Ashley and Kyle. So in love. 

Where is Wesley? Not where he is supposed to be! 

My brother Brad (the best man) and his girlfriend Lauren. 

The Three Amigos-Kyle, Brad and me. I cannot picture my life or a big event without these guys! 

Ready for the big day!

Walking the red, er, white carpet. Look at me in the background,   such a mom!

After all that practice we headed up to Park Place to their party room for the dinner. My mother in law who has done a lot of catering did the party for us. The food was fantastic and I am not just saying that because she is  my mother in law (trust me on that one). There was homemade Chex mix (my brother's favorite) cheeses, fruits, crackers. Then there was pear and walnut salad with gorgonzola cheese and a champagne vinaigrette, roasted potatoes, beef tenderloin, grilled chicken, and rolls. Everything was excellent, even Ashley's parents were saying they thought it would be better than what was going to be served for dinner at the wedding (crab cakes and filet mignon!). There was a bar set up with wine, home brewed beer, iced tea and water. The room look beautiful too, very nicely decorated. Everyone had a good time. 

Kyle, digging into the Chex Mix.

Henry giving Ashley's dad and brother a taste of what the future will be like with grandkids around. 

Hilarious picture of Lauren.

My cousin Matthew, Wesley and my brother Seth. They reserved the table for  themselves and no one else was allowed to sit there. 

Henry, using his charms to catch the ladies. 

Alex, Anna, Candace and Amanda. Partners in crime and other bridesmaids. 

Mom and Kyle. 

Awwwwww......

Me and my parents. Obviously my dad did not the get the dress code memo. 

Brad and I. 

Saturday was the wedding and the day started with Mom and I getting our hair done (we picked up the flower girl too, my cousin Caroline. My mom almost forgot to pick her up in our frazzled attempts to get out of the house and where we needed to be. After hair and make up (airbrushed-way expensive but it looked fabulous!) we headed home (ok we totally stopped at Chick-a-leg first) and then went home, gathered up the boys (and the men) and headed off to the hotel to get ready. 

Now, are you ready for my not so nice rant about the service at the Marriott in downtown Annapolis? Here is goes. First, when I called to book a room (they were reserving rooms for people who were with the wedding because they were super booked that weekend) they told me that no rooms were available (and yes I told them I was with the wedding) and that the closest they could get me was 15 miles away at another Marriott. I told them that wouldn't work because I had two small children, one of which was in the wedding and we needed a room for the younger one since I was hiring a babysitter to stay with him until we got back from the wedding.  Her response? "Good luck with that." What the Heck? I just said (very sarcastically, I know, mature) "Thanks for all your help." hung up, called the bride who went all Bridezilla on them and guess what? There were still plenty of rooms available for the wedding party. So, we get our room and the baby sitter arranged and everything was good to go. The only other issue is that we asked (actually it was my aunt to who asked) if we could have a room next to my aunt and uncle because they had their two children (who are 12 and 7) and she was ok with leaving them next door if the sitter was going to be there while they were sleeping in case they needed something or there was an emergency. They (the people at the Marriott) gave us a hard time over it but said they would see what they could do. Fine, great. We were really nice to them over this whole thing and they were quite rude back. So, there I am checking in and we were told that since we were part of the wedding party and needed to be ready early for pictures we could check in earlier than the 3 PM time slot that was normally given. By the time we made it there is was almost 3 anyway so I didn't think it would be much of in issues. I go to the desk and give the lady my name. Almost immediately she says "Oh yeah. You are the one who was requesting a room next to someone else." And not in a nice way either. Like I was totally being irritating and screwing up her whole life for asking for this and she could not *believe* she had to deal with me. Then she tells me, "There is a room next door but it's not ready yet. Would you be willing to take a room down the hall?" Ok, it's almost 3, the room should be ready by now anyway. If there is a room next door then I do not want a room down the hall. I explain about the babysitter situation and say we would really like that room, we are willing to wait to check in so we can have it, how long will it take? She tells me (in a very snotty voice) "I don't know how long it will take."   Sheesh lady, I am only asking to try to make your job easier, I will get the kids dressed in my aunt's room and when our room is ready come back down and check in! By this time my  husband is impatiently waiting with our luggage and two kids (who are VERY excited to be in a hotel and going a little nuts) is signaling to me "what is the hold up?" and I am trying to keep him at bay because I don't want him unleashing his fury on this woman and risking the chance of never getting a hotel room (not that she didn't deserve it but if you are a mom you sometimes know it is better to do what you have to do and suck it up to get that room for your kids so you can have some sanity). Anyway, she finally tells me it will be 10 minutes and she can check us in now to "save time". I hand her our bank card and she says "Don't you have a real credit card to use?". Um, really? Our bank card is not good enough? She explains that it will be a double charge (I don't understand why she couldn't run it as credit anyway) that would even out in the end but she didn't want to cause us a "financial hardship". Um, really? Way to say you think we look like we can't afford this place rude lady who knows nothing about us. Maybe because we don't run up debt on credit cards we have tons of cash in our account and can afford to buy the whole freaking hotel. At this point Christopher does come up and says to the lady "Is our card not good enough? Run it." so she does, then *magically* our room is ready and we head up. Only to find that our TV doesn't work (which never got fixed, our poor babysitter had to sit there with nothing to watch and nothing to read but "shop Annapolis"-which is why you should always bring a book!). Next door at my aunt and uncle's place their closet door got locked shut and they couldn't open it and maintence had to literally take the door off and they never came back to fix that either. Let me just say, I would NOT recommend playing almost $300 a night to stay at the Marriott in Annapolis. There was WAY better places for cheaper or just nicer for the same amount. 

Anyway, enough griping (although  I needed to get that out). The rest of the night went well. The wedding was beautiful even though I think the wedding coordinator there could have done a MUCH better job (she left at 9 PM and the wedding wasn't over until 10. There was serious drama that happened at the end-which I will tell later-that she should have been there for). She never told us about the special room with drink and appetizers for the wedding party they had set up, the whole "walk in and be announced" part of the evening was very confusing-no one knew where to go- and she totally took the marriage certificate and ran off with it (why?! What need did she have for it? Not her job!) and the mother of the bride had to track her down and get it. I did have a blast, dancing, drinking, eating, (although I did not get a chance to eat the $1000+ dollar cake. Ah, regrets...).  Also, my Aunt Karen told my (12 year old) cousin that there was a cousin on the other side of the family who was kinda homely but needed a dance partner and it would have to be him and that her name was "Nay-Nay". Matthew, being on edge of girls are "eh" to "I like girls" spent most of the evening trying to figure out who she was and how to avoid her, a story which it perpetuated by often saying "Uh oh, I think Nay-Nay is on her way over here-you had better run!" I did manage to get him out on the dance floor for some fist pumping action later on. :) He did not understand how I could dance all night-ah the stamina of a mom who had had too many sleepless nights only to get up and do it all again the next day! Overall we had a fantastic time. Again, I will let the pictures speak for themselves because I am really sure you are tired of my writing by now! I will try to pick only favorites (which is like a million of them). 

Mr. GQ-Wesley looking sharp in his tux!

Christopher and Henry's shoes.

One are one good looking couple! Now if only I could get him to smile in uniform! 

My Henry-Bear. Baby tux for $20.  You can't say no to that! 

Family photo. What is Christopher doing with his hand? Any Henry is trying to escape so he can dance. 

My Uncle Randy, my dad, my Aunt Sue and me. 

Trying to catch Bear as he runs off again.

Announcing: Mom and Matt. 

Me and Danny, Ashley's brother. Since Kyle could not have me walk down with Brad (the best man and our brother) he chose the next best thing for his sister-his brother in law. I love how protective my brothers are considering I am married and my husband was there. 

What you can't hear in this picture is my husband yelling "Watch your hands!" to Danny-poor guy! 

First dance to Adele's "Make you feel my love".

Party animal Henry.  Please not that Puppy is wearing a tie-he had to get dressed up too!  Also, in the background is Wesley dancing with his aunt (yeah, I said aunt) Kaelee. Every time he would dance with the flower girl she would cut in! 

Mom and Matt. 

Mother/Son dance. Kyle picked the song "Momma" by BoyztoMen. I seriously do not know how mom got through that song without crying the whole time (because my mom is a big crier, she sobbed through the whole father/daughter dance at my wedding). But it makes me think of when my boys will get married and doing the same thing with them and then I get teary eyed. Although I am seriously considering having them play the "imperial March" for Wesley-or at least the first few bars to get a laugh in so maybe I won't cry so much. Maybe. 

Christopher talking to Ashley. I just like the action shot here.

Oh, so quick note on the end of the night drama. They were supposed to light and send off about 40 chinese lanterns into the night sky at the end of their wedding. Marriott said it was ok. However, someone let their off early, it almost lit an awning below on fire and then hotel management showed up and the police and fire marshall- no one at the hotel had cleared it with the fire marshall. And got fined. It sucked because only about 10 or so got sent off and they were SO pretty (think of the scene in "Tangled" but with less lights). I was so sad for them that they couldn't light the rest of them off. Many people thought they were seeing UFO's. Oh well. Otherwise it was a great night and we partied for quite a while afterwards I actually have some great stories about that (like Aunt Karen spilling all the water in her cooler out in the lobby and then us running to the elevator to not get in trouble). But there are many I can't share (sorry, they are good but I don't want to end anyone's career-I will let your minds wander with that one-ha ha ha). 

Now, brunch, the day after. What? You thought we would be done by now? I did warn you it would be the LONGEST POST EVER. Ok, I will keep is short and simple. We did Brunch at Galway Bay off Maryland Ave. If you are even in Annapolis, check it out, it is a great little place off the main path. Good drinks, good food, good people. It is where Christopher saw me for the first time. Anyway, a bunch of family showed up and Henry tried to drink everyone's Bailey's and coffee and bloody mary's. All in all a good end and a nice way to spend a little more time with family. 

Henry in his tie shirt with his new Aunt Ashley. 

Mr. & Mrs. 

My mom looking thoughtful and Anne.

Action shot of Grandad. Good thing he moves really slow. 

Me and my Mommom. Note that my hair has barley moved. Everyone else's hair was long gone but mine was still in place-I just added a headband. Guess I got my money's worth. 

Me and K-Dog.

Ha ha-Christopher.

Ok, better. 

Brad and Lauren joined us.

Anne and Chris.

Mom and Matt.

Henry, Aunt Karen, Caroline, and Uncle Jimmy.

Danny and Kyle. I love Matthew in the background, cracks me up. 

Danny, Kyle, Matthew and Matt.

Ok, the only person I know here is Anna, this is Ashley's family. 

Brad and I. Oh, and check out my fabulous earrings. They are from the 1850's,  almost 3 carrots of real diamonds. My mother in law got them out of the safe for me to wear for the wedding. They are absolutely beautiful! I can't wait to have the chance to wear them again. :)

All in all it was a good wedding. My brother is very happily married and I could not ask for a better sister in law. She has made him into the man I always knew he could be and I look forward to seeing them grow as a couple, as a family (yep, I am already excited for future nieces and nephews although I hope they wait a few years. Or maybe I can have my last at the same time Ashley has her first. That would be cool too.) Congratulations Ashley and Kyle! My wish for your life together is this: May there be such a oneness between you that when one weeps, the other will taste salt. May there be many happy years to come!