The best game you've never heard of

This Christmas my Mom and I were looking for a game to play Christmas Eve. We glanced through the aisles at Target and Walmart and all the games looked the same. I had to be something that could entertain not only us but my teenage brothers as well.

And then we came upon Quelf.

Quelf is the best game ever. It is hilarious!! The cards are so off the wall and crazy! Like-


Lick Your Elbow. (Or lick someone else's elbow)



Balance a set of keys on your head until your next turn or pay the penalty.



Find a household object and use it as a Scuba for the rest of the game. (Yes...the choice of a hammer totally grossed me out too!)

I've drawn card where I had to recite a sonnet in my best Elvis voice or not say a word, but point to the sky and stare off into the distance until my next turn.

We always end up with sore sides from laughing so hard. Whoever thought up this game is completly insane....

and we totally love it!!

So if you ever see Quelf in the store and you want a good time (and it isn't a "dirty" game either!) then be sure to pick it up, get some a fun friends and I promise you'll have a good time.

I can't wait to play again!

Questions and doubts.

I wonder a lot, or shall I say every day, whether I am doing a good job with my boys. I'm sure every mom goes through this in their head. Some days, a lot of days, I feel like I'm failing them.

 Like I spend too much time yelling.

Not enough time playing.

Too much time running here and there.

Not enough time cuddling.

Am I raising 3 boys who will be respectful, caring human beings? 

Will they make the right choices when faced with the wrong ones?

How do I know I'm doing this right? Because I have no idea!

I watch Aiden struggle to make eye contact with people or keep a coherant conversation going. Someone will be talking to him and he won't look at them, or will change the conversation to something totally irrelevant. I watch him not get jokes or sarcasm. I watch him push himself on his peers in an attempt to be accepted. I watch him play by himself, perfectly content to be lost in his own lego world with his 1912 music playing in the background. Am I doing a good job for him?  I yell at him too much.  I don't have enough patience when dealing with his adhd. Is that hurting him?  When he grows up, is he going to remember me with love or just remember when I yelled? I have no idea anymore.  I love him more than life....why can't I be patient with him?

Or I watch Grady sitting in the backyard, alone in his little sandbox. He's perfectly happy with his new toy, but shouldn't I be there with him? Is it my fault he has delays?  Did I spend too much time on facebook and not enough time teaching him how to play?  What did I do wrong? Is my child going to struggle because I didn't spend enough time with him or because of some quirk in genetics?  I don't know. People say I've done such a good job because I've had him in EI and therapy since I noticed delays....but what if I caused them?

Some days I just feel like I'm not doing a good job at all. My boys are my life, I can't even express how much I love them. But is love enough? 

There's a lot of Mom's on my facebook that really make me feel like I'm doing a horrible job. Their kids are already being homeschooled, writing their names and drawing pictures or learning new languages. They balance being mom, teacher, wife and housekeeper all while being perfect and never breaking a sweat. Their kids never eat fast food or spaghetti O's. Their kids never seem to misbehave, because Mom sets the rules and everyone follows without a peep. They are perfect and normal. No adhd, aspbergers, developmental delays, body weakness, chronic cough, asthma, or a weak immune systems.

Sometimes I feel like I can't handle it all. I can't live up to those perfect Mom's.  My kids eat spaghetti O's...on a semi regular basis. They eat McDonals and love it. And they only speak english. They hate drawing and Grady can only barely form a "G". Next to those Mom's I feel like a total failure. After all, I don't hold a job. I'm with my kids 24/7. Shouldn't I be doing more?

But then I see Aiden's beautiful report card filled with straight A's. Or hear him play Amazing Grace with much skill. Or seeing his face light up when he gets new legos.

And Grady says something hilarious that keeps me giggling all day or has to run up and give me a big hug. Or smiles up at me and announces he's having "SO much fun!"

And Liam leans in to give me a sloppy, slobbery kiss on my hand as I push the cart through the store. And then my little squishy gives me his perfect grin because he's so proud of himself.

And I know....I may never, ever live up to the Super Mom's. I will always question myself and my skills as a mother...but for now, I think I'm doing an okay job.




I love you Aiden, Grady and Liam. More than you will ever know.

Cedar Point opening day 2012

Summer has officially begun! It's Cedar Point time!!

Like always, we arrived at opening, ready for a long day of fun!

The Whole crew! Grady, James, Liam, Paige and Aiden.


Liam was excited! About what....he didn't know!

Our first stop was to Millenium Force. It was down. But the adults and big kids decided to wait in line anyways, in hopes it would run soon.  I hung out with the little guys.


James and Grady spent some time looking for ants and shaking muffleheads out of the tree!


Liam just had fun hanging out. He loved the roar of the roller coaster zooming by!


Finally it was time for some kid rides!!!



Waiting for the Motorcycles!


Grady was so excited that he's tall enough for the motorcycles!


WHEEE!!!!!


The only ride James put his hands up for!




The excitement was too much for Liam.  Actually he only took a few small naps. He loved watching everything and gummy grinning at everyone who walked by.


See ya!


The boys were SO excited for their roller coaster! They've been waiting since October for this. They rode the Junior Gemini 5 times in a row!









I wish I had more pictures but the day got away with me! But we have many, many trips to come so there will be much more.

I didn't see Aiden most of the day! He was off riding the big rides with Paige and George. We spent 13 hours in the park! Aiden rode Raptor for the first time and rode front seat in the dark.

We love going to the park and having fun. Our first day was great, with only a few bumps on Cedar Points part. The kids were great, the weather was beautiful and we can't wait to get back!

Just a swingin'

The weather had been very wild here in Ohio.  One day it's 80 degrees; 3 days later it's snowing. We've tried to take advantage of every nice day and spend some time outside. I really want the boys to enjoy playing in their yard. It's been a struggle to get Grady in the backyard. He'll play in the front for hours but it's allowed up there alone. But he is so anti-backyard.

So I've started bribing with a sandbox. It's been slow progress but progress. If I'm outside he does very well....but I can't always be out with him. Today was his best day. He went into the backyard by himself several times with me watching from the kitchen and played for a good amount of time. I was excited! Hopefully we can keep building on this!!
A few weeks ago, when we had another heat wave, I introduced Liam to sunglasses and swinging.



He LOVED the sunglasses. But wasn't too sure about the swing.



Grady decided to show him how it was done.



And then we got a few smiles!! He started enjoying the swing a bit more. We're working on full on excitement; just not quite there yet.  Liam's favorite outdoor activity is not swinging....but pulling up grass.

So here's to more warm days! More time pulling grass, digging rocks, riding bike and just swinging!

Happy Birthday....Lego style!

Aiden's two loves in this world are Legos and The Titanic. So of course, his 9th Birthday would be a Lego Theme!


We decorated his table by getting a plain white table cloth and buying a Lego scrapbook kit with stickers that we used as well as cutting out some words for extra decoration.


I found a mold for Lego blocks on Amazon and made chocolate Lego blocks.


I used Cheeze Whiz as glue to hold the tiny cheese pieces (cut with a fondant cutter) on the crackers to make it look like Lego blocks.


Aiden built a Lighthouse for his table. The big card is from the Lego Birthday Set I got off of Lego.com. In it every kid got a special Birthday Lego mini figure, a sheet with tips for Lego building, a Lego design paper and a Lego Builder License. I made the little Lego Head by spray painting a baby food jar (stage 2) yellow and my Mom drew the faces with sharpies.

Of course, we had to have Lego Jello! I made the circles in a seperate dish and then cut out the circles with a larger fondant cutter.


We were in luck that the party store had JUST gotten Lego City party supplies in!


For the gift bags I just bought plain red bags and glued on red circles to make it Lego-like. Inside were the gifts from the Lego Birthday Pack, the Lego Heads, Lego candy, home made Lego rings (legos glued on a ring) a homemade Lego Button and some Lego City toys.




And of course.....A Lego Cake! My Mom made this beautiful cake. Instead of Marshmallows to create the lego bumps (I am very anti marshmallow for little kids....) my Mom made cupcakes and cut the bottoms off to create this look.

And it HAD to be Orange!!






Happy Birthday Aiden! I hope you had a wonderful day!!!

9 Years Ago

9 years ago I was blessed with the best gift ever. On April 29th 2003, my son was born and I became a Mom. He has changed my life forever. Becoming a Mom is the best thing that has ever happened to me.
Aiden is such a wonderful boy. He's loving, kind and compassionate. He wakes up every morning with a smile on his face. This year his obsession with legos continues but he also loves everything to do with The Titanic.

He's doing amazing on his Chanter. He's so talented. Aiden's working hard at memorizing his music so he is ready for his competion in June.

And a little bit of bragging, but he is very smart! This year, Aiden has had all A's and has made either honor roll or high honor roll. Soon he will graduate from elementary school and become a middle schooler. It's hard to believe I will have a son in middle school already! He's very excited about the change.

The past 9 years have been such an adventure. He's changed and grown so much. I am so proud of him in everything he does. I can not wait to see what the future brings for my big guy. Whatever it is, I know it'll be great!