Making the Video

We want our kids to be creative. We want them to have great memories of our family coming together to do interesting, fun things. We want to believe we are those unique, exciting parents that all the other kids want to have. So today, with rain and thunderstorms forecast for Wilmington all day - we decided to make a movie with the kids.

Yes - a real movie. As in get out the old costumes and charge up the video camera. And yes, we know it sounds like a lot of work and no, we didn't think we'd actually accomplish what we set out to do. We're famous for coming up with grand ideas and then not following through. And trust me, our kids are enough to talk even the most determined person out of a good idea. But - this was a test. To see if we could work together as a team, cooperate, share ideas, and complete a plan without killing each other in the process. Charles was super excited and after all - it was raining.

We've been talking about making our own movie for a long time. As you may already know, we are big movie buffs. Especially the Spielberg action films - Jaws, Indiana Jones, Jurassic Park, Back to the Future, Close Encounters - the list goes on. We know every line and how kool would it be to star in our very own movie? Pretty kool right?

Well, let's just say they pay movie makers millions of dollars for a reason. Yes there were challenges. Yes there were budget constraints. Yes we had temperamental actors. But after six hours, three home made costumes and one silly script later, we made our first movie.

And I think we actually did accomplish what we set out to do. The boys had a blast digging up costumes, designing props and making up lines. Charles totally surprised us - adlibbing scenes we didn't even discuss. Dad did a fabulous job editing and adding music and sound effects and we spent an entire day hanging out with the kids with no video games, no cartoons and almost no yelling. Who said it coudn't be done? Score one for the parents.

So without further ado - Shaw Productions presents: Indiana Jones and the Wilmington Mummy. We hope you enjoy it. The kids had a blast. And who knows, in ten or twenty years this might be played on the Academy Awards as Charlie's first film - after he wins an award for Best Actor. :) Or maybe we'll just have a big bottle of wine and crack up laughing.

Oh and stay tuned. The next movie to be released - Pirates of Wilmington.

Missing Teeth

So Charles, my big mature boy - lost his two front teeth this week. Within one or two days of each other. I knew it was going to happen. They wiggled for months. Every morning he'd come in with a finger in the mouth saying, "Look Ma. This one is going to fall out any day now." Each night, I'd wiggle for him and tug a little until he reminded me that I "promised only one more time and now you've tugged like four times and it's not ready to come out so leave it alone until it's ready."

Well, this week, they were ready. Two in a row - just a day apart. Both front ones. Amazing. The scary thing is, even though this may seem like a momentus occasion in his growth, somehow this right of passage for him reminds me more than ever of just how little he really is.

There's just something about a kid with no teeth that makes them seem so small and helpless. I wasn't expecting that reaction from myself. Charles is our big boy. We've always held him to high standards - expecting probably more from him than he's even able to give at each age. And now, he seems so young. With his sweet slur of the "s" and "r" sounds. So innocent, packing his teeth in his hand-made tooth pillow and waiting on the tooth fairy. So fragile - asking me to cut his corn off the cob because the poor thing can't bite it off.

I'm sure it's because all of this time I've been in deep denial that Charles is even growing up. All this while, we worry about Nick and cater to his every little whim - of which there are many - and all this while my Charles has been secretly growing up - wiggling those teeth.

Well - have a look for yourself. Such a big, small boy. Good thing he's still a royal pain in the @## or I might cry every day just because I love him so much.

Race Cars, Planes and Other Manly Pursuits

Charles has reached the age where time with his Dad is a very important thing. He wants to talk about grease and wheels and physics and other such things that I can only hope to understand. This of course, is Ron's job. He gets it, he wants to talk about it, he enjoys sharing it with Charles. So this weekend I sent them off to the Coastal Carolina Air Show where noisy planes fly overhead, cockpits with complicated gadgets and shiny things beckon to them and seemingly famous race cars are ready for their closeups. That's really all I know about their guys day out and honestly,

I don't ask. As long as I get good pictures of Charles smiling in the

back of some winged machine and they both come home happy, tired and I get a quiet day alone with Nick - what more can a Mom ask for.

Nick Nack Turns 3!

Today was Nic Nac's birthday party. It's hard to say how we felt today - Ron and I are more and more relieved every day he gets bigger and stronger and smarter but at the same time, it's hard to see him grow and get older and more independent. Even though Nick is doing great, the passing of time is always a reminder that we might not always be this lucky. It makes us more grateful, it make us more scared, it makes us more confident and makes us more unsure. But no matter the uncertainties, I do know that I want Nick to have a fabulous birthday with lots of friends and activities and presents and the best cake ever. So we started with his favorite movie - Cars.

For everyone who's ever been to one of our birthdays you know that means Cars EVERYTHING! Cars balloons, plates, table cloths, toys, invitations and it wouldn't be complete without a kick @##, home made Lightening McQueen cake.

Nick has quite a few little friends from the neighborhood. They don't all know each other but they all came out to celebrate with Nick and they all seemed to have a great time together. It wasn't pool season yet but they ran around the yard, played in the playroom and listened to Mr. Mark, a musician friend of mine that came by and played guitar for them.

Although we missed having family and friends from back home, at least Nick had a great time. He pretty much got every Cars toy imaginable, at least what he didn't already have (including McQueen bathing suit, towel, couch and suitcase for our upcoming trip to NY) and when it was time for cake, he didn't disappoint us. The video is below so you can see for yourself but it was the sweetest and most genuine smile I've ever seen. He's so appreciative of the people around him and the attention he receives - it's just a pleasure to be with him and watch him grow and experience things. Originally, and for these past couple of years, I've been sad that we are not closer to family so they can share our kids with us. But no matter who was there and wasn't there, or how many things he got, Nick is grateful and loving no matter what.

So here are a few moments from the party so you can see for yourself just how kool it is to be Nick and to be 3!

Bowling for Seven Year Olds

Because we live in stepfordville, North Carolina - otherwise known as the land of the perfect birthday parties - every kid here has a killer birthday party starting at age zero. Tea party parties, gymnastics parties, ceramics parties, jungle gym parties, bounce house parties, pirate-themed parties, magicians, musicians, ponies - you name it, we do it here. And of course, in true spoil-your-kid-rotten-because-you-never-had-anything-when-you-were-a-kid style - Charles had to have a killer party too. So we chose bowling. Charles loves to bowl (alot) and it gave us the chance to match the party with the perfect birthday present - what else but his own bowling ball.

So the short story is, these kids had a blast. More importantly, Charles had a blast. I could tell that he felt like a big kid, doing his own thing and for once, I actually let him. I didn't save "Charles, behave" or "Charles, stop being wacky." I just let him do his thing. Which was hard and most of all strange.

Strange to see him in this grown-up sort of environment. Here he was, turning 7, "hanging out" with his friends. It was nothing like the playdate style parties of years past where kids are forced together by their parents and encouraged to share, play games and not make trouble while Moms make small talk and busy themselves with the process of putting out plates, cutting cake and organizing the present opening. This was a bona fide PARTY and it really had nothing to do with me! The girls teamed up against the boys. Kids were high fiving each other when they did well and they even let me get a fantastic group picture (which I can't show here lest I have to ask every parent for permission to publish their kids photo on the web but if we're related and you want to see it - email me and I'll send it to you!). The bowling alley also had all the kids sign an old bowling pin that Charles now has in his room.

It was bittersweet to see my little man turning into a real young man, but very kool. I was the kool parent - who planned a kool party. Yeah me!

A Vist to the Pumpkin Farm

A "Date" At the Pumpkin Farm

So this fall we took a visit to our local Pumpkin Farm - Mike's Farm. It's a really nice place to visit - out in the boonies of North Carolina. We've gone for the past few years so it's kind of the beginning of new traditions for us here in North Carolina. We took Charlie's "friend" Logan with us and the three of them tore up the place. Logan and Charles met a goat they named "bobby" and even now as I write this a few months later - just for catch up - they still talk about going back to see him. We took a nice hayride to the pumpkin patch (which incidentally is really great for your back) and picked lovely pumpkins that we then waited 25 minutes to pay for - on line. All jokes aside we had a nice time and here are some pics of all the fun and money we spent. :)

Autumn in New York

I love the Fall. Back to school, start of the holiday season, cooler weather and all that stuff. But I’m always surprised to find that yet another year has past since September 11th. It’s a very vivid memory in my mind and a very personal topic for me and my family. You see, we’re New Yorkers.

My husband and I were born and raised in New York City and let me tell you there is no more beautiful place to experience autumn than in New York. The air is crisp, the skies are brilliant blue and the smell of burning firewood and the crackle of leaves awakens your senses from the humid numbness of a summer in the city. On September 11th, 2001, that all changed. As native New Yorkers, and also having spent a good chunk of my advertising career fighting my way up Madison Avenue, meeting clients down in the financial district, I have many fond memories of the World Trade Center as well. Visiting on class trips as a kid and then later having lunch on the plaza (yes, from a dirty water hot dog cart – Mmmmmm the best!). One year, there was a summer concert series held on the plaza and on a breezy September day, much like September 11th, I took the 9 train down to see Mary Chapin Carpenter. Long flowing hair, faded blue jeans and just a couple of backup musicians and she sounded absolutely wonderful. I met her in person that day and got her autograph right there beneath the shadow of the tallest buildings in New York City. That was almost 10 years ago and although it’s one of my favorite memories of the Twin Towers it somehow makes it all more difficult to move into the coming week – knowing that right where I stood, such an awful thing later happened.

I wasn’t in New York City on September 11th. Luck (or maybe something else) found me on I-95 heading North to my company’s Rhode Island office and all I could do was listen to the radio and hear reports from around the city as the Towers fell. When I heard about the first plane hitting, and then the second, quickly followed by reports from around the country of highjacked planes and the evacuation of major cities, I stopped at a parking lot of an empty movie theatre to call my husband on a pay phone. The sky was bright blue and there I was telling my husband to turn on the news because the country was under attack. We made a hasty plan for him to leave New York with our 9 month old son if he absolutely had to and where we would meet as I drove back towards home.

Well – it’s 6 years later and it’s all boiled down to individual accounts of ‘Where were you on September 11th’, that hardly ever come up anymore. Because I’m a New Yorker, I think about it often. We lost many friends that day. Firefighters we knew from the old neighborhood, business colleagues and classmates. I tell my kids about it. Charles, my 6 ½ year old, has seen photos and he knows that one day when we used to live in New York, some terrible people flew planes into the big buildings. On Tuesday, we’ll try to find a memorial service somewhere in town so that he can stop for a few minutes and remember. I’ll have a good cry but mostly I’ll just be missing Autumn in New York.