Ever "misplaced" your child?

Up until last week I could proudly say "Not me"! Well, guess what? ME (and mammy; had to throw that in there for good measure) It's the day before I run a 5k for the 1st time with a knee that has been less than cooperative, so I'm more than nervous about finishing it and I decide I need a new shirt to wear. "Mammy, feel like running some errands with Ky and me?" Sure she says and I bet she wishes now she stayed home to catch Days of Our Lives! Dick's sporting goods at the Mall, huge store, mall and parking lot entrance and we are poking around. Kyle USUALLY stays close and has never been the kind of kid to wonder or bolt so of course I have my eye on him while we are walking through clothing racks. I lost site of him in the time it takes to look down at your radio station in the car and then back up at the road. THIS IS NOT AN EXAGGERATION "Ky, Kyle, K...y..l..e" Where the heck did he go as I assuming I'll spot him any second now because, come on, how far could he have gotten in 2SECONDS!!!! "KYLE, KYLLLLLLEEEE" my steps are much faster and its been around 15 seconds at this point...Mammy is on the search as well and we both head in different directions...her towards the mall entrance and me towards the parking lot. At this point around 30 seconds or so PURE PANIC sets in...I've had panic attacks for quite a bit of my life, but I have NEVER felt like this. You know how people say sometimes that your life flashes before your eyes? I had no idea someone brain to conjure up so many scenarios in such a short amount of time. I pictured him being dragged in the parking lot with a stranger (he is VERY trusting of people), his face on milk cartons, lost and alone, wandering into the mall into a sea of people and I am frantic. SCREAMING his name, yelling to Lulu who's also screaming for him "Do you see him, do you hear him" "KYLE ANSWER MOMMY, WHERE ARE YOU?" The few people around me who worked in the store DID NOTHING! NOTHING NOTHING NOTHING! I didn't have time to be pissed about it that moment, but ARE YOU KIDDING? I don't care if you think I'm a lunatic parent who should have been watching her kid better, but he's lost and you're going to continue to fold clothes? Anyway - after a VERY LONG 2 minutes I can hear him.....I hear his voice and it's like someone started my heart again. I rush to the sound of his voices yelling for him to keep calling me and he's playing golf. Yup, you read that correctly.....putting the fake green in Dick's Pro shop. Mammy and I were beyond crying...we had to catch our breath and be so thankful that none of those sickening thoughts..........ugh. "Kyle did you hear us, where were you?" "Were you scared" "No mama, I was right here, I wanted to play golf!" Oh the innocence! Then he tells me later on "Mama why did you get lost today in the store?" The single most frightening moment of my life. All I can think of is Adam Walsh and he was picked of by some psycho in the same scenario. Predators would have had a field day with us. I don't mock or criticise those who choose to put there children on leashes anymore. I plan to never feel that panic again.

Sunday - Fun Day

I just came up with that, pretty cool huh? Or..no...wait that was the Bangles that coined that phrase "I wish it were Sunday....cuz that's my fun day" Anywho, Roger Williams zoo was the destination and honestly...it's overrated! I've been to a couple of zoo's, as you know, and this one is all kinds of commercialized. They don't even have a lion, I mean come on, no lion?! And, they once had a polar bear and still advertise with it...but guess what? NO polar bear. It was a great day none the less because we were together, but next time we want to hang with some creatures of the wild we'll be spending $6 a person at Capron Park and savings lots of money not having to avoid every corner where they are selling crap. The butterfly exhibit was 1/2 as interesting as the one at Franklin park and they didn't even have blue morpho's, we know because Kyle asked the fella working the exhibit. It was beautiful day with the sun shining and we continued to enjoy ourselves once we arrived at home. The cousins were home next door, KK, Kallie and Dylan and Kyle can't get enough of them these days. We played outside and had a cookout under the garage during a rainshower. When the sun shown through after a 1/2 hour or so we got to see the most beautiful rainbow I've seen in years! There were two, one on top of the other and it was a complete 1/2 moon stretching from one side of the sky to the next. I'd bet there was a pot of gold at the end too! After enjoying the rainbow, we enjoyed the rain puddles. I took the kids over to the school and let them go wild in the puddles. It was so much fun, I felt like a kid again. Certainly was a fun day, "I don't hafta runday....just another manic Monday"

"ROY G BIV" anyone?

"KK, Kallie, Dylan and Kyle circa 2009 reliving the memories of Matt, Erin, Benny, Leo, Stevie and Kristie circa 1985 in the same 2 yards raisin' hell"

"so beautiful"


"we don't mess around, I say we don't mess around"

we found and jumped in every single puddle at the school across the street

"rrrrrrrrrrrribit"

"oh yeah, did I forget to mention the 2 exhibits that we didn't plan on at the zoo...where's waldo?"

"Momma and baby Kenya"

Memorial Day

The salt water boat just didn't have the juice to take us to sea yesterday, so we opted for the fresh water boat (that I actually prefer because it's relaxing and I could read a little). Kyle was cranky Maggee when we told him we were leaving because his favorite people in the universe we playing in the yard and he can't bare to leave them; KK, Kallie & Dylan. We eventually convinced him that hanging with his parents for the day could possibly be a good time. With his 1 bandaged finger in the air (scissors accident from the AM) and tears in his eyes he hopped into the truck and pouted all the way to the Lake. We get to the lake and the boat ramp looked like a fiesta. Matt had told me stories about the foolish people who think it's a good idea to have a cookout on the boat ramp and I assumed there were a couple of people roaming around the area.....NOPE, there were (and I'm not exaggerating) 10-15 families with MANY children all set up around the ramp....little kids running in and out of the water directly in front of the trucks loading boats into and out of the water. They had beach chairs 9 inches from the trucks and people had grills going, music bumping on top of the trailers/trucks parked in the lot. You seriously couldn't find a safer place for you kids to play and have a cookout? It was like we were on display loading the boat. It'll take a while for me to figure out the logic there. Anyway, we had a great day on the water. Kyle got comfy on the boat rather quickly, caught some fish, did some swimming and even pooped over the side of the boat! Hey, potty training waits for no bathroom :) The day continued to be great when we got home to the kids in the yard and Erin & Eddy hosting a volleyball/bad mitten game! Matt cooked on the grill and Kyle and I had a beautiful walk late night listening to the sounds of the coming summer! Pics to follow, left the camera in Matt's truck :)It's safe to wear white pants and shoes too, right?

Thanks to all the men & woman who have allowed this day to be....

LOOK AT THE SIZE OF THIS KID!

34 lb demon these days!

5 weeks since my last post?

Where the hell have I been? Not far, but can't figure out why I haven't had SOMETHING important to talk about in 5 weeks? Let's see....maybe I'll bullet point some stuff and go from there....

• trip to the Barr's


• baby Jocelyn May Healy born!


• pet squirrel


• potty trained Kyle


• Mother's Day in Boston to see Spring Awakening


• nonstop coughing, sneezing


• planting flowers & veggies


• training for a 5k (and then hurting my knee)


• trip (or 2) to the zoo ( I know, shocker!)


• trip to FLA with Auntie Sara

Ok, I can work with this list!

Matt had a great idea, let's get Kyle a pet hampster. I did not feel it was a great idea. All I could see was more work for me. He'd love to play with it and squeeze it and chase it around the house and then I'd be stuck with the dirty work and let's face it, I don't like to clean up after the dog and cats we have now. Matt found it a great opportunity bring home a different kind of pet when a 10 year old girl called batguys to report she found a baby squirrel who had fallen from the nest. I almost strangle him when he came through the door with a cage and a rodent for a pet for Kyle. And then I bottle fed the little tiny thing and fell in love. Of course, he knew that would have gotten me! Fast forward to yesterday when the thing got out of the cage and even Matt and his employee Josh couldn't catch it! It had been very friendly and fun and after the chase it got spooked and starting acting mean. Matt and I sat Kyle down last night and explained that his Mommy & Daddy called and they miss him and would like us to let him go into the woods to be with them. Kyle protested a bit announcing "but he's my pet bubby" Then he realized how much he'd miss his mommy and daddy and agreed. "Bye bye bubby!"

Kyle is potty trained! Just like I thought it would be wwIII getting rid of the deet, I dreaded potty training. Kyle has no interest and then I let him go naked around the house and he gets to pick a pee pee tree outside. The pee pee tree did the trick! Boys love to pee outside! It's amazing how smoothly its gone. He does "pee pee in the potty" (in singsong and you all know it) and hasn't had many accidents. We braved trips to stores and everything and he's great with telling me if he has to go. Sometimes he "has to pee soooo bad" which cracks me up. A month ago he fought me tooth and nail telling me "I don't want to be a big boy" about it and now he's doing great. The aim we are working on, but who am I to complain!

Erin, Kara, Kyle and I took a kayaking trip on The Taunton River that we still plan to write a children's book about. Our greatest marketable idea's always seem to come from a kayak! We saw a seal within moments of our departure and tons of wildlife along the trip. Cows, a giant snapping turtle, a huge bull, many birds including crazy psycho nesting geese. We were chased out of an area by a wild and angry mamma goose. I mean her feathers were ruffled and she was pissed. Kara nearly crapped her pants and if Matt hadn't been calling my phone at that exact moment I would have had video of the event for sure. Needless to say we were forced to respect her nesting area and took another route. We were on the water for 3 hours and Kyle really enjoyed it and was well behaved. We ended the day in the backyard with all the kids, freeze pops and some bad mitten.

Visit to the Barr's for Easter weekend and Nana Cill joined us! Found the coolest Barnyard playground ever, actually there was only 1 main attraction for all of us. The bull riding chairs! These things rocked and defined gravity in a strange way too. We all had a turn. Great time at the playground and we got to spend time with Nana G for her birthday. Sweetest woman I've ever met, Laura's technical nana, but she loves me too! (lol) It was a great visit and we had a ton of laughs! LOVE those kids!

Kyle and I took the 1st nice day of the year and hit Scusset beach! I thought we might have been crazy going in long pants and sweatshirts to play in the sand, but we were not alone. There were a lot of people there. And Ky tried out his moves on some older girls.....they worked! They were eating him up and he helped them build a sandcastle.

Kyle experienced the mall carnival (if you could even call it a carnival because the food sucked) but there were def carny's so gotta give 'em that! He loved the Ferris wheel , wasn't even a little bit nervous on it. He rode the train all by himself and won a "marvelous" pink crayon from the strongman game. We loaded him up on cotton candy, fried dough and soda and called it a day. East Taunton fiesta is SOOOooooooo much better!

Mother's Day! SO MUCH FUN! It's been so long since the 4 of us spent a day together that I literally can't remember when or where it might have been. Mom, Laura, Kell and I hit the Colonial theatre in Boston for a show; Spring Awakening! The show was incredible and I've got a new musical playlist running through my brain these days (thanks Lau!). "We laughed, we cried, we blah blah blah" We really did though and we grabbed some dinner after. Couldn't have been a better day.

*please note my beautiful pink scarf, courtesy of Kyle James! He insisted on getting me a pink scarf and a peanut butter & jelly sandwich. I got 2 scarves and a delicious sandwich :)

Kyle has allergies, I can't help but feel responsible because the Dr. said it is genetics. I suffered with asthma and allergies my whole life and now my little bubba has it. He's literally been coughing for 4 months. I really wish that I was exaggerating, but I'm not. It went from the dry winter cough with 2 humidifiers running in his room to the post nasal drip hacking cough all night long. Of course this doesn't help the sleeping situation, nor does it help him being prone to puking because the coughing fits often end in "Mamma I gotta puke". Claritin for my little bugger, hope it helps!

I love working in the garden. (I'll post some pics later because I foolishly took a whole bunch of pics and realized my memory card was still hooked up to the computer, not in the camera and today its raining) This will be our 5th summer in this house and my gardens are starting to look like I intended. My mother always loved to garden and work in the yard and I've inherited that trait. In fact, Mom helped me plant the vegetable garden this year. My proudest moment of the gardening season will be when we pick the 1st of the corn that I've grown from seed! I've never been able to start the plants in the house and successfully transplant them to the ground. This year has been a successful one so far and we have corn, squash, green beans (Kyle's already had the 1st bean) cucumbers, green peppers, tomatoes started indoors from seed and transplanted to the garden. Having Erin help in the yard this year is so great too! She's planted some tomatoes, kale, peppers and a ton of sunflowers that are all taking off! The flowers are all coming along beautifully as well. I love seeing the perennials coming up and bursting to life as the spring turns to summer. Erin, mammy and I are trying to revive a long been abandoned garden on her side this year. We've run into A LOT of poison ivy, thank goodness neither of us are really allergic. But, that is a work in progress and I'll report in a couple of years when we have it under control. Have I mentioned how WONDERFUL it is having Erin & Eddy living next door? Well, it is.

I will be running/jogging/dragging my ass on a 5K on June 6th. Its my second run but my 1st was about 5 years ago and I vowed to train for this one. Which I was doing and doing well. Then, the chins splints arrived and I pushed through it and the knee went out which I've never has happen and just as the knee healed this week I headed back to the gym but while putting Ky into the car, I pulled my back. Yup, I'm falling apart. Regardless, I'm still doing the 5k on June 6th. Matt promised to carry me with a broken leg across the finish line if that's what it takes to complete it, so get ready for some back breaking work my darlin'! Aside from all the ailments, I think I'll do well because I may not be training to run, but I have been keeping strong. Its a personal goal...so wish me luck.

Trip to FLA with Auntie Sara was a BLAST. The flight was just me & Ky and he was excellent. Even the turbulence had him laughing like we were on a roller coaster, of course the woman in front of us with her head between her knees wasn't a fan of the "woo hooo's" coming from our seats. We landed and were greeted by Mo & Sara and some MUCH needed sun. In 4 days time we managed to swim, beach, playground, sox spring training, water park, bike ride, beach again, relax, LAUGH and catch some ray's. Kyle did excellent swimming and was VERY well behaved the entire trip.

We visited Capron Park Zoo 3 times in the course of 2 weeks because they had a lion cub that I wanted to steal and bring home with us. Taja; the most adorable little lion and I really bonded through a 4 inch sheet of glass. He loved me, he really did! If I had been 2 weeks earlier I could have sat in a circle with him and played and rolled around with him. Literally one of my dreams, I would LOVE to do that! And then take him home and have him sleep in my bed. Friggin' love lions. We went back with Trinity & Marie while Trin was on vacation and had a great day!





***Sidenote - I have developed a very unhealthy obsession with the Twilight saga and all things Edward***