May 2010

Okay, so it's been forever, but our family has been going through some serious stuff. Blah.
I'll just cut to the chase and say that Carl's grandpop had another stroke the week after Easter, was hospitalized for a week, and passed away the following week. His funeral was the following Thursday, so the whole 2 weeks were a whirlwind for our family. Obviously we were all upset, and with Debbie (Carl's mom) holding a power of attorney for Pop, she had to be present for a lot of the goings on at the hospital. This, in turn, resulted in me missing a lot of work since she's the one who watches the kids while Carl and I are working. Fortunately, my boss is really cool and understanding, so it wasn't an issue with him, but in the back of my mind I couldn't help but think of the brutal blow everything was going to have on my paycheck. I know, I know...and I don't resent or regret any of the time taken off to show respect to Pop and the family. But, given our current financial situation, every penny counts, and I knew this was going to add one more thing to my "stress" list.
Carl III is also HATING his new job at the landscape company. Aparently this place is the most unorganized business in the entire world! So, we're still sending his resume out to every job that looks appealing, so fingers crossed!

90 Degrees in April?!?!

Yes, you read that correctly. For the past 4 days we've been hovering around 90 degrees up here! That's bananas! This is hot even for my Floridian self! Whew!

I had the day off on Good Friday, so we took advantage of the beautiful day and hauled the kids off to the city to hit the zoo. Good idea, right? Well, the rest of Philadelphia thought so, too. We were 4 of 10 gazillion people there. Glad we went as early as we did, though, because the line to get off of the interstate to head to the zoo was backed up for miles when we left! The kids had a blast. That was the first time Paige had been since last summer, so it was cute to see her actually "get it" and get excited about the animals. Well, most animals. She freaked out a little when we got too close to the giant tortoise. Actually, now that I think about it, she seemed more impressed with the trees/landscaping than the animals. Ah, well...we had a good time.

We ended up taking the kids to the early mass on Easter Sunday, and they did suprisingly well! Paige spent the whole time flirting with the people in the pew behind us (which the people behind us were just eating up!), and Carl spent the whole service waiting for us to be splashed by holy water (at the renewing of the baptismal vows). After mass we went home and the kids napped for a little bit, then we headed to Carl's Aunt Patty's house for dinner and egg hunting. I have pics of that, but forgot to bring the cord with me to upload them from my camera, so you'll have to wait for those.

Carl III just got hired on with a pretty big tree/landscaping company up here, so that is a humongous relief! His interview was this morning, and after a mere 30 minutes he was hired!!! Hooray! It's less money than he was making with U.S. Roofing, but about the same as his unemployment brings in (which is working fine for us), but once he makes foreman (which is only a matter of a month or so) there will be no chance of seasonal lay-offs! WHOO-HOO!!! Add to that he's going to get benefits...awesome. This is such a huge weight lifted off of our shoulders! Let's all breath a huge sigh of relief together. WHEW!

The Lesser of 2 Evils

Okay, let me explain the title of this post. I am completely torn between taking the kids with me to the Easter Vigil service which is Saturday night at 8pm or getting them up and braving the 8-bajillion people that will be at Easter Sunday mass the following morning. The upside of the vigil is that it's at 8pm, so the odds of one or both kids falling asleep are greatly in my favor. Also, it's really visually interesting what with the Easter fire, getting candles to hold, etc. so they'd be entertained a bit more than usual. The downside is it's at 8pm, so if the little punks don't sleep they'll be total...well...punks. Plus, having gone to the vigil solo the past couple of years, I don't remember seeing many kids there, so if they do make noise, it will be REALLY amplified. The downside of the Easter Sunday mass is the 8-bajillion people, half of whom will be under the age of 10 and all hopped-up on jelly beans! Ugh! Ah, well...I think I'll play it by ear and see how they're acting on Saturday to let that be the deciding factor.
Our trip to Baltimore was good. We got up before God on Saturday morning and enjoyed a quiet cup of coffee before waking up the kids and getting them dressed and in the car. When Mapquesting directions to Ken's house, I did a search for Waffle Houses between PA and Baltimore and, TA-DA, I found one on the way!!! So, I had the best hash browns I've had since I moved north of the Mason Dixon Line, and we hit the road again. All in all the trip took about 2 hours, so we were in Baltimore around 7:30 or 8am. We hung out at Ken and Beth's for a little bit and Ooooh'd and Aaaaah'd over little Zoe (totally adorable...and SO quiet!). Then, we grabbed the strollers and hit the park. We did a lap around a great park near their house (which brought to my attention how ridiculously out of shape I am as I was panting by the time we finished), and headed back to their house so Paige and Zoe could take a nap. Then, we hit a nice area by the water and just strolled around (again, more walking, more aching!). We hit the road to head back home around 6:00pm hoping the kids would sleep the whole way home, then we could just toss them into bed and hit the hay ourselves...silly us. Would you believe those little monsters (neither of whom took a decent nap that day and both got up about an hour earlier than usual) stayed awake until we were 10 minutes from home?!?! By that time I was like, "Hell, no! Stay awake! Stay awake! You're going to change into jammies, go potty, then go to sleep." Ugh. It was a fun, exhausting day.

March Madness---and I'm not talkin' about basketball!

WHEW! I cannot believe that it's already the last week of March! It's been a total whirlwind with the Rudegeairs this month.

We started off with Carl IV's 3rd birthday which was a lot of fun. We just had people over to our house for pizza and cake. It was a good time. The kid gets more presents in one birthday than I think I did over my entire childhood! It's obscene! But, he also plays with EVERYTHING so at least none of it's going to waste.

Things have been picking up for me at work (Thank God!). Carl III's still unemployed and being Mr.Mom, but we have a few irons in the fire, so hopefully something comes up soon.

Last week we decided to trash all of Paige's pacifiers, which is a total non-issue to her...until bedtime. I had no idea she would become so dependent on a stupid piece of silicone to help soothe herself to sleep or I never would've given her one! Ah, well...better to take it away now than to go through what my sister is currently. Her daughter is almost 2, and they just took hers away and are having a hard time because she can ask for it! At least Paige can't scream the word "BINKY" to me. :)

This past Saturday Carl IV's nursery school hosted an Easter Egg hunt which we took the kids to. It was really cute, but I think they were a little overwhelmed by the number of kids that came. It seemed like it was 30 kids and 29 eggs, if you know what I mean. They didn't have the ages broken up very well, either (3 & under in one hunt...so I've got my 1-year-old going up against her 3-year-old brother for candy?! She's going to get the shaft...whatever). All in all they handled everything well, though.

We're heading to Baltimore to visit one of Carl III's best friends and his wife and new baby next weekend. Hopefully the weather cooperates so we can see some of the city! Fingers crossed!

BAM-MOM!

Okay, I know I shouldn't make fun of the way my (almost) 3-year-old talks, but it's so stinkin' cute the way he pronounces certain words I just can't resist! For instance, Grandmom is "Bam-mom," huge is "HOOOJ," Aunt Leah is "Aunt Wee-yuh"...you get the picture. Also, his little spin on what he calls certain things is adorable. Paige is not just Paige. No, sir. She's "Paige-y." And our enormous dog (he's half Alaskan Malamute, half German Shepard...and thinks he's a poodle!) is named Gregory (after the last street we lived in before leaving Florida), but Carl IV insists on calling him "Big Horse," because he heard my mother-in-law refer to him as such. Freakin' cracks me up! Imagine a 3-year-old yelling across the house, "Here, Big Horse! Where Big Horse is?" The kid's a nut.
Alright, enough of that. Onto what the whole family has been up to.
I have decided to make more of an effort to get everybody together to go to mass again. I admit, we have been severely slacking in this area lately. It's just such a pain to get the kids to be quiet for an entire hour. I called our church and they do not have a cry-room or a nursery! What the hell?! So, we're going to have to be "those people" with "those kids" during mass, because that's the only way that the little boogers are going to learn what's expected of them during mass. So, to all parishoners of MDP, I apologize in advance for the chatty kiddos in the front...that's us. But, seeing as we have no alternative, please keep your dirty looks to yourself, I'm doing the best I can.
We have also been making more of an effort to eat dinner together as a family at our dinner table. We had a habit of feeding the kids early in the kitchen and Carl III and I would just eat on the couch a little later. I remember growing up we always ate dinner together, and it's a really important thing to instill in your kids. That is "family" time, and it needs to be something that we stick to. So, wish us luck, but so far so good!
Carl IV's 3rd birthday is rapidly aproaching and he found out that they're going to have a party for him at his school...big mistake. He won't shut up about it. Out of the blue he'll turn to me and say, "Mommy, guess what! My birfday come up soooooon! I have party and presents and ice cream!" It's cute the first, say, 12 times...the following bajillion...not so much.

Valentine's Day (a few days late)

Valentine's Day was on a Sunday this year, and Carl IV's nursery school was supposed to have their party last Thursday. The kid was so excited at the mere thought of a party with candy that he was SERIOUSLY let-down when school was cancelled on Thursday because of the blizzard. Fortunately they had the party yesterday, and let me tell you...Carl IV gave out the coolest Valentines by-far! I got 8 Transformer's mini-boxes of chocolates at Target for 99¢ each. Normally I would've just bought a box of the little cards and taped lollipops to them, but I figured I would take advantage of him being in such a small class and get the good ones this time. Hmph. Apparently I was the only parent who felt that way. Ah, well...he was really excited and they got to paint the bags to hold all their goodies, they made cards for mom & dad (really cute!) and glued stuff all over hearts that the teachers cut out of construction paper.
Paige and Carl IV both got haircuts on Sunday, and let me tell you...they've never looked cuter! I was really impressed by Paige holding it together for her 1st haircut experience. She was so captivated by the huge mirrors (my daughter is SO narcissistic)!
We're prepping for Carl IV's 3rd birthday which is in about 3 weeks. I can't think about it for too long or I start to get teary. My little man is turning into...well...a little man! 3 is officially a little boy. Not a toddler. Not a baby. He is a little boy now. Hard to believe this time 3 years ago I was begging my O.B. to induce me because I was convinced I was going to have a humongous kid. "But you're measuring perfectly normal, Dominique. He's not going to be that big." Ha! Goes to show you how accurate their measurements are. The monster was 10lbs 3oz! Still weird to think of myself as a mom, but the mom of a 3 year old...whoa.
Carl III is still unemployed. He's still waiting to hear from the water company up here, and heard through the grape vine that his step-dad's brother (who is pretty high up at the company) was putting in a good word, so we shall see.
I, on the other hand, just had my 1 year review at work, and got a raise! Whoo-hoo!!!
Today is Ash Wednesday (1st day of Lent), so I would like to say farewell to meat on Fridays. It's been nice having you around, and know that you will be missed. See you in a little over a month.

Snow...AGAIN!

Friday night 2/5/2010 into Saturday 2/6/2010 the Philadelphia area got upwards of 2 feet of snow. Okay, I can handle that. After all, I am aware of the fact that it is February in Pennsylvania. But, another 2 feet less than a week later?! COME ON!! That's a bit much.

We've had 2 blizzard condition storms in 4 days. Whew! That's a lot of flippin' snow!

These snow days have, however, given me a lot of time to browse the web looking for money-saving tips/blogs because I am absolutely disgusted by how much money groceries cost. I found a really good one and figured I'd share. It's called 'Cha-Ching on a Shoestring.' I'm adding their button to my blog because a lot of the coupons are good nationwide and not just in our local stores in the Northeast.