Pie Day

My children and my parents have created this weekly ritual that they like to call "Pie Day". Just as the name implies, on Wednesdays after school they go and they eat pie (except for Ryan, who has Italian Wedding cookies, but what can I say, he's my little paesan). I think everyone at the restaurant looks forward to pie day as much as the boys do. Once when my parents were on vacation, I took them, and I swear they were greeted much in the same way that Norm was greeted when he entered Cheers. Occasionally they even have special guests join them. Once they ate pie with a Texas Ranger and even one of Sam's teachers came. Today their cousin, Lilly, got to join them to celebrate her first day of kindergarten! So if you ever get a hankering for pie around 3:00 on a Wednesday, head on over to John's Restaurant on Westinghouse Blvd.. They are a fun and interesting group, but I can't promise that you won't leave just a tad bit more confused than when you got there.

School Days

No more lazy days and carefree summer nights. It was rise and shine today for the first day of school. Although neither of the boys seem excited at the prospect of another long school year, they both seemed to enjoy their day and their teachers. From here on out, our days will begin to get busy again, with the start of Scouts and CCD very soon, and they are continuing with Karate. They test for their blue belts this week. Not to mention that Sam has decided that he wants to be the next Michael Phelps and start swimming lessons. And as we wrap up the boating and wakeboarding season, we move right into dirtbikes. Ryan should start riding more this year, so hopefully that will give me some Sundays to myself. Sometimes just getting everyone fed, bathed, and in bed at a decent time seems like an impossible task.

Scott is in Atlanta for a few days at a continuing ed class, so I am going to watch the Democratic National Convention in peace tonight. It should be quite a pleasant change to not have to listen to Mr. Libertarian's comments and moans after each speech:).

More Time With Grandpa

I must begin this post with a disclaimer. Some of the activities that my children took part in this weekend were not approved or condoned by me. So please don't tsk-tsk me or think that I encourage any of this. I'm just Mom, why would anyone listen to me?

Sam and Ryan, along with cousin, Trace, had a campout at Grandpa's this Saturday Night. The General put 2nd Lt. Sam in charge of these manuevers, with Ryan and Trace as his Troops. This put Sam on fire duty, and the General challenged him to keep the fire going all night. As you can see from the pictures, he took this challenge seriously. They roasted hotdogs and marshmallows over the fire, ate watermelon, and consumed massive quantities of soda (most of which contained caffiene, I'm sure). Then the three little ones took to the tent for lights out...ALONE. That's right, no adults, just Sam, to make sure everyone made it through the night. He is a Cub Scout after all. In the morning they ate a huge army breakfast.

Thankfully, they are back at home, safe and sound. Tomorrow the adventure begins on another school year.

Our Family Secret

Today I am coming clean with our family's deep, dark secret. I refuse to keep this hidden behind closed doors any longer. Here goes....I have raised a WRESTLEMANIAC. Yes, it's true. My sweet little Ryan is a WWE Superstar wannabe. I realized when we were at Wal-Mart (where else?) the other day, looking for a CD of WWE entrance theme songs, that we had passed the point of no return and there was no saving him. We put on the CD as soon as we got back to the car, and played some bizarre version of Redneck Name That Tune. He could name each of the 17 theme songs within about 2 notes. It was a proud, proud moment. I also just ordered a John Cena outfit for him for Halloween, which probably put me on some pretty weird marketing lists. So if anyone reading this is familiar with the terms Chain Gang Army, WOOOOO, Degeneration X, 619 or knows the nicknames The Animal, HBK, or The Deadman, than be proud and join me on the dark side....we have cookies!!

Summer winding down

Today we spent the day with the kid's friends, Lauren and Alex. Their mom, my friend Darnell, is a teacher, and teachers went back to school today, so they came to hang out with us while she was at work. This sort of marked the beginning of the end of the Summer of 2008. We had a great summer day though. I made the kids turn off the Wii and come outside, where I tought them a simple joy from my childhood....the game of "Kick the Can." They really seemed to enjoy it and I felt like I was back in Jersey circa 1976.

We really had a great summer, with many trips to the pool, Carowinds and the water park, riding bikes, boating at the lake, and just hanging out. We made special excursions to the Raptor Center, the Scheile Museum and Planeterium, Latta Plantation, and ice skating. We also had a great time at the annual "Separ Family Beach trip" where we got to spend time with Grandma, Grandpa, Aunts, Uncles, and cousins, Trace and Lilly. There were a couple of things that we planned but didn't get to during the summer, but that gives us some Fall events to look forward to.

Sam reached a goal

So Sam finally completed a goal he has been working towards all summer. He has now rode on every ride at Carowinds. We completed the last two rides, The Borg and The Drop Zone, this past week. We waited over an hour to ride the Borg, which is completely unheard of for us. Usually if there is any kind of line the kids say "forget it". But he knew his time was limited with summer coming to a close and he had to get it done, so we did the wait. He says it was totally worth it. Later he watched a show on the travel network about roller coasters around the world, and has several that he thinks we should go try out. Isn't is nice to be a kid and think that things should happen just because you want them to.

Spending the day with Grandpa

This is what my children look like when they spend the day with Grandpa a/k/a "The General". Since Grandma was in Florida this past week, Sam and Ryan spent Wednesday with the General. In six short hours they managed to purchase and put up a tent, reinforce their fire pit, eat two meals, loose my phone, and plan PT exercises for when their cousin, Trace, comes to stay next week. They plan to "whip his butt into shape." They tell me this is good, clean, all-american fun, but I don't know.

Here We Go

Okay, so in an attempt to drag me into the 21st century, Sam and Ryan have insisted that we have a family blog. Life with two very energetic boys, a job, and a husband who has way more to do than he will ever have time for, can get crazy sometimes. We have a great life, and this will be our way to share some part of it with those we care about.