Best Kept Secret on the East Coast

So, got married.
Yep.

Made if official.

For those of you who have read my blog a long time or have known me through different groups or whatever know that I was married before and met Bobster quickly there after our separation.

Our courtship was short and sweet and almost exactly a year to the day that we met, our son was due.  Of course, Cheeks was a rather large baby, so he was taken 10 days early.

I digress.  We knew we would always get married but it just never seemed to happen.

So a few weeks ago we just decided it's high time to do it.
We told no one.

We picked a date.  Showed up. Got married.
It was over in about 5 mins.

I couldn't stop smiling though.
I was a very happy woman.
Cheeks told me we had to get married in a different room because the one we were in wasn't big enough.  Then he wanted cake.
He told me there is always cake at weddings.
True but not ours.

We ended up going to a quiet dinner with just Cheeks.
Tim is in Florida now & has been for quite some time.
Chris was with his mother for the weekend.

So no one knew. Our announcement was done on good ole Facebook.
A sign of modern times.

Tell me, have you ever kept a really good secret?

Wann Know What I Did Saturday Night?

I got wild.
I got crazy.

I got rid of the mom jeans

That's right.
I broke out the capris & went out.

Wait!  That's not the best news...I was sans kids and husband.

I know, you are thinking "Say it isn't so Meghan?"
It is.

I went out.
ALONE.
It was glorious.

Wondering how I partied?  I know you are so I won't keep you in suspense.

See, after spending the entire day by myself...I know, now you know why NJ is getting slammed with storms this week, my sister asked me to go to dinner and a movie.

Dinner!
Where I didn't order for anyone but me.
Where I didn't have to refer between kids or listen to my husband ref.
Where I almost ordered alcohol...almost...I didn't.

Then we hit up the movies.

Saw...

Very, very funny!
Then again I love me some Vince Vaughn.

Know what else?
I didn't have leave the theater once to take someone to pee.

Honestly I didn't know myself.
It was fantabulous.

Most of all, while I appreciated the time to myself, I realized that I miss my family when they aren't around.

There wasn't any chaos, no one asking me as soon as I sit to get them a drink, tie a shoe, look at this.  No one randomly giving me hugs and kisses.

I almost didn't know what to do with myself.

Almost.

Spring has Sprung

How do I know?
Easy.

The first day of flag football was today.

Check out our future NFLer

 

 

The picture quality isn't the best but I took them with my phone.

He had a blast.
Haddon Twp starts each season with skills day.
The coaches bring in the high school football players & put them through a series of exercises.

Can I just say what a difference a year makes?
And new medicine?
He paid attention, he didn't figit, the coach didn't have to talk to him one time and he had a blast.

Very proud of him!

What sports do your kids play?

Brrr...Really? You HAVE To Play This Sport?

I love my boys.
They are all there own person.

The middle one, he is a sports nut.
So much that he has decided Winter Deck Hockey is the sport for him.
Wouldn't be bad if we lived in Florida.

To say this past weekend was bone chilling cold was an understatement.

His team, The West Deptford Eagles, played a tournement in Somers Points, NJ.
All night Saturday.
All day Sunday.
And this evening.

Somers Point from our home in Jersey is over an hour away...down the shore as we like to say.

I did get some great action shots:

 

 

The Face Off...my favorite part of the game.

This kid plays with heart.
He was falling, sliding & even had his stick flung in the air by the other player.

His legs, elbows, knees and hips show his heart...with bangs, bruises and cuts ands scraps.
Sigh.

God knew what he was doing when he gave me boys, right?
RIGHT?

What sports do your kids play?

Everybody loves a parade...

Now that the holiday season is officially upon us, the festivities have kicked off.

The next town over from us had their official Christmas Parade today.
So we got on our winter coats, stopped at Mickey D's for some breakfast & off we went.

We parked in the speedline's parking lot (Speedline = elevated train that runs from NJ into Philly for commuters & shoppers) & walked about two blocks up.  We then hit the avenue & walked about three blocks down.

We had about 5 mins to spare.
Which was great because it was COLD!
Like 27 degrees with 90 mph winds...ok, fine, maybe not 90 mph but it felt like it.

Cheeks was ready for the parade but not the cold.

As every parade starts, here is the obligatory Veterans opening the parade.

Of course, there was many a marching band from all over the South Jersey area.

The motorcycle patrol always shows up & does a little routine.

No parade is complete with a few Mummers in the parade (if you do not know what a Mummer is, please leave me a comment & I shall explain)

I had more photos but sadly I am not too bright when it comes to my new smartphone & I deleted them before the email to my account went through so they never transferred.

Believe you me, there were floats & holiday characters.

Unfortunately, Cheeks hands were frozen & the wind was whipping so hard he asked to leave.

We did not get to see the finale, the big bang, the man in the red suit, Santa.

That's ok because he got to come home & play Wii.  Mom of the year, I am.

Tell me what kicks off the festivities in your neck of the woods?

Tidbits of Weeked Life

Spontaneous was the word for the past weekend.
Usually I crash when I get home on Fridays.
This week, I came through the door, Bobster had already ordered dinner (Panzarottis...he's a groumet ya know) & I was like, lets go.

We took the kids:

Bowling.
Snazzy shoe.
The photo doesn't do the shoe justice.
It was neon orange & yellow.
Love.

Then while ChrisBob practiced (more on why he practices in a later post), I let Cheeks:

Seriously, it's like a drug.
I could probably leave him there for days on end, as long as the quarters do not run out he's golden.

Now in case you think we leave all the fun the little one, ChrisBob took his older brother's gig as the Great Clips mascot for the weekend.

Two mascots in one family...we are thrilled!

Great Clips today...Philly Phanatic tomorrow.

Sunday this area was inundated with rain.
While Cheeks & I stayed home & the oldest worked, ChrisBob & his dad went someone & did something.

You will just have to wait for a future post about that...it's exciting!!

How was your weekend?

Hair Today, Gone Tomor...Today

I did it.

I couldn't take it anymore.

The hot flashes.

Getting caught under my arms.

Laying heavily on my back.

Knots.

Having to put it up to keep my face from getting warm during the hot flashes.

Finding cool clips for it.

It had to go.

So today, I went from looking like this:

To looking like this:

And the back looks like this:

These are possibly the worst photos of me EVER but the point is the hair.

The hair peeps.

Focus!

I went to the Nana's salon & donated my hair to Locks of Love.

Good organization with such an awesome cause...how could I not?

I haven't had hair this short since 10th grade.

That was a really, really, really long time ago.

I love it tho.

It dried in no time & was pretty easy to do.

No that I got the weight off my hair, I just need to get the weight off my body.

....Update....

Pink tint hides a multitude of sins, doesn't it.
I think that's why pink is my signature color!!!


That little guy in the pic with me.
He is down for the count...with the stomach virus.


It's gross...not gonna lie.
I have a new found respect for the Nana.


Hopefully he will be the only one that gets it.
Poor kid.
He doesn't understand & keeps telling me he's sorry.


At least he didn't pray to Jesus to make it stop like myself.
I was little.
It's all I knew.


On a better note see this good looking kid:

He got a job!
The angels are singing & that's why NJ is having the weather it's having. :>)


He is a dishwasher/busboy at a local restaurant.  Works weekends & so far, the owner loves him!
Now if we could just get him to do dishes at home.  LOL


What is going on in your neck of the woods?

I spy....

Today we finally gave into Cheeks persistant requests to go into the city of Philadelphia.

He can see the skyline from the park...yes, we live that close.

So we rode around, looking at the big skyscrapers, searching for the new LDS temple being built, you know, all the good stuff.

As we turned down one street we hard loud music.

Then a man stopped traffic with us being the first car in line.

It was for an impromptu Mummers parade.
Well just one Mummers group but impressive none the less:

Have you ever just done something for the heck of it & come across something neat in the interium?

LMK!

Haunted Houses

A little pre-Halloween festivities with the Cheekers.
Brownie Haunted Houses.

Which is his?
Which is mine?

Also please imagine they are right side up.

Block Par-tay

I do have to say my town puts on quite the block party.
What's even nicer?
I don't have to drive any where because I open up my door & kablam! There it is!

Like the ferris wheel, about 100 feet from my front door.  It was the first thing we did:

The the boys waited in line for laser tag.  The older one "slaughtered" the little one.

Next up, let's slide down the Cars slide

or do a little rock climbing

Of course we need to go on the merry go round then hit up the moon bounce

Finally a little face painting & the day is done

So what did you do this weekend?

Irene's Aftermath

Cheeks & I went for a walk today. It was windy but the temperature was divine. I only had my cell phone & thankfully in our little area we fared pretty well in the wake of Hurricane Irene. This is the back of the pump house at our pool:

Here's the splash pool that I have shown pics of before.

Finally the tree across the street from our house, closer to the lake.

Things could have been so much worse. I am thankful they were not. How did your area fare?

Enough is Enough

Do not be fooled, this is NOT a picture of Bobster in all his glory.
Looks just like him I know!

I digress.
Enough is enough with the weather here in NJ.

First an earthquake, then a hurricane with tornado watches.
Someone obviously pissed off Zeus or Mother Nature.

I'm not sure which.

We've had enough.
Bring back the hot, humid, dog days of summer & let's call it even...m'kay?

How is the weather in your neck of the woods been?

This is how we roll...

Start your day with a little face painting at the farmers market.

End it with a dip in the pool!

How do you roll on the weekends?

Curious George Live!!!

How did you spend your weekend?
Well this past Saturday I took Cheeks & my friend & her little princess to see Curious George Live!

You can barely make it out but the monkey is dancing with an Italian Chef in the pic.

My camera is broken so all I had was my phone.
Sigh.
I know, I know, the pic couldn't be any worse.

So the show was really cute.
Despite me hating that darn monkey the show was entertaining.
I don't know who played the monkey but OH MY! that person is very limber.
Swinging from here to there & jumping & dancin.
Whew!
I was exhausted just watching it.

The kids had a good time.
Although all thru the show they kept saying it's over & then when it was they wanted to see it again.

It was about an hour or so long with a 15 minute intermission.
Definitely worth taking the kids too.

I'd like to thank Comcast who provided me with the tickets to see the show.

What did you do this weekend?

Weekend Update

Sorry for the quality of the pic but if you look below the waist you will see someone is covered in mud.
MUD!

We were outback & I emptied his buggy that was full of water.
This instantly made a ginormous puddle.
Being a typical boy, Cheeks was enamored with the mud.
So being the good mom that I am, I let him have @ it!

He was running & jumping & sliding in the mud puddle.
We then went out front so he could roll down the "mountain" as he calls it.
The front yard has an incline.

Later we sauntered across the street.
He promptly found the biggest stick & almost took my eye out with it.
I felt like that darn kid from "A Christmas Movie"
Then, much to my disgust, he found a praying mantis to play with.
He grabbed it off the tree & threw it to the ground then tried to step on it.
Don't worry I told him not to kill it, it was a good bug.
Secretly inside I was hoping he tore it's head off & that he didn't want to hand it to me.
I would have screamed like the little girl I am & took off for the hills.
I hate bugs.
HATE!!!!!!!!!!!

We are also working on Cheeks potty mouth.
It appears he favors the word B*tch & said it at daycare on Friday.
Not once
BUT
Twice.
Nice!

Maybe I should put soap in his mouth?
Any suggestions?

He is definitely a little mimic.
I called him when he was in his room over the weekedn.
He came to the top of the steps, stopped & yelled:
"What do you want?"
Um, sorry, what do I want?!
I do this to Bobster all the time.
Time to start changing that!

What do your kids mimic?
Are they facinated by bugs like mine?
Tell me it's a phase!

Late!

Weekend Update

A lil glimpse into our weekend.
We swung on the swings ~ Look at the glee on those faces!
Avert your eyes from the monster pushing the adorable child! (I usually look decent...I decided to just get up & go & you can tell in this pic!!)

We slid down the slides.

We played in the water & got wet.

Then we stopped @ Cabana.

Why?

Being the great parents we are, we allowed the boys to have ice cream for lunch....well, custard really.

Lunch is served!

What did you do this weekend?

Late!

How to keep an almost 3 yo occupied

First things first, you start off on a Thursday night taking him to the local pizza joint to pick up a pie.
He decides he wants to eat there & has a fit when you try to leave.
Thus resulting in him slamming his head on the concrete floor.
Then the owner, speaking in Italian & reeking of beer, rushing over with ice to put on the screaming child's noggin b/c it he is now growing a second head out of his forehead.
As you can see in the picture, over the right side of his eyes, is a lovely shade of green.

The bump has gone down but he managed to hit it twice more in the same spot over the weekend.
Sigh.

Anyway, you keep the child occupied by taking him to the races!!

Look at the excitement on his face!

What is that green stuff you ask?

Well he drinks Crayola water. A lovely green shade. Taste like rotten fruit roll ups but he loves it! And he gets his water in.

Of course being at the races, someone had to experience driving a FAAAST truck.

Look at him go!

He actually had a blast & helped cheer on his Uncle Chucky.

He was good as gold.

Then slept late the next morning.

Of course, he conned me into buying him 2 race cars at $5 a piece

&
letting him have popcorn for dinner.

I think I deserve mother of the year award for that.

What did you do this weekend?

Late!

Monday, Monday, I would sing the rest of the lyrics but um, I don't know them

Here we are.

Survivors of July 4th, 2009.

Whew!

Made it through.


Lots of time spent outdoors since the weather couldn't have been more perfect.


Got to go see Fireworks.

Everytime one would go off as it ended Cheeks would yell "Do it again!"

Cheeks got to spend lots of time with Brandon, my sister's boyfriend's son. He is about 8 months older than Cheeks.

Finally we topped of the holiday with some chocolate covered pretzels.

Why so serious?

How was your weekend?

Late!