Tales of an overzealous Mom, volume 492

NOTE: This was supposed to post on Friday, but I forgot to hit "publish." Yay me! Birthday and Mother's Day post coming tomorrow!
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So my kids had a zoo trip Friday, which I couldn't go on, because of work. (Thank God Lester has a more flexible schedule!)

But I wanted to contribute something to the day, so I made sure to pack a delicious brown-bag lunch they'd love. For Dean, I went heavy on the jelly and light on the peanut butter. For Cary, both sides of the sandwich were spread with equal amounts of each. I made sure to include fruit snacks in with their grapes, because they think fruit snacks are candy. I found stickers of zoo animals and decorated their lunch bags with zebras, giraffes, tigers and toucans. And I made sure to freeze their fruit-and-veggie juice boxes overnight so they'd be nice and cold after hours of walking around the zoo.

Here's a photo Lester took of the boys having their lunch. Look closely. Dean is JUST about to be frustrated. And thirsty.

Because. The juiceboxes were still frozen.

For some reason, they gave the kids lunch at 10:45. Why? No one knows. If they'd eaten lunch at 12 or 12:30 like normal people, maybe there would have been more time for thawing.

But noooooo. 10:45.

The thing is, Lester said to me last night as I was packing the lunches to just put his water bottle and their juices in the fridge. That they'd be plenty cold. But did I listen? Noooo.

Instead, I imagined my kids -- tired from walking the miles and miles of the Baltimore Zoo, sweat rolling down their little temples from the hot sun -- taking that first, long sip of ice cold, refreshing juice and saying, "Man, that's cold. And so delicious. That Mom! She is the best! This sandwich is just right! These fruit snacks are such a treat! But this here cold juicebox? That just really takes the cake. We are so lucky!"

First of all, folks -- it's not even all that hot today. In fact, my poor boys are probably a little bit shiver-y in those shorts. (WHAT IS UP WITH THIS SPRING??) And they got to the zoo at 10 a.m., so I'm sure they weren't even close to being tired from walking around the zoo by the time the dinner bell rang at frikkin' 10:45 (in the MORNING).

So -- all my best-laid plans, thwarted. By too-early-lunches, chilly May days and not listening to my husband's suggestion.

Oh, and P.S. I made Lester a turkey sandwich with Monterey Jack cheese. Guess whose sandwich Cary wanted to eat? "I don't want peanut butter and jelly," he said. "I want a TURKEY sandwich."

Curses. Foiled again.

Weekend recap (Father of the Year and new member of the family!)

Highlights from this past weekend (which was packed, as usual):

1. The boys went to the zoo, to music class and to their twin cousins' birthday party. Fun, fun, fun!
2. Lester got deemed "Father of the Year" at the zoo.
3. The Davis family adopted a cat.

Here's the breakdown:

I had to go to a work session from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. for the charter school of which I'm on the board.
Saturday was the same day as the member picnic at the Maryland Zoo. I was sad that the kids wouldn't get to go because there was no way Lester was going to take all three kids by himself to the zoo, right? WRONG. Lester gamely wore Clair in an Ergo and pushed the boys in the double stroller, braving the heat and the crowds to make sure the kids got to go to the zoo.

So while I was doing this:

Writing policy on a beautiful day while my children are at the zoo without me.

The kids were getting to do this:

Giraffes!

Elephants!

Junk food! (Sidenote: Why doesn't Cary know how to eat a hot dog yet?)

I was very impressed with my can-do husband, let me tell you. But not half as impressed, apparently, as ALL THE PEOPLE at the zoo. Lester said he was like a local celebrity, walking around the zoo with twin toddlers and an infant in a carrier. No less than TWO DOZEN people stopped him to marvel at and compliment him, and ooooh and ahhhh over the sight of a man with all of his children! What a concept!

Listen, I was proud of him, too. Taking three small children out by yourself is no small feat. I don't take that lightly. But I know, beyond the shadow of a doubt, if any woman in all of America took all three of her children out somewhere, she'd barely even register with most folks, save a couple people who might say, "Boy, you've sure got your hands full, don'tya?"

Lester thought the whole thing was incredibly funny. He said if ever he needs an ego-boost, he's going to take the kids to the zoo again. We both had a good laugh at that.

And in other news,  I went to the local shelter intending to select a cute, furry little kitten for us to adopt and instead developed the biggest soft spot for a 3-year-old, scruffy old cat who'd been dumped by her owners. Among her many flaws:

• She was pregnant when she came to the shelter, so they had to abort the pregnancy. She seemed a little sad to me.
• She had been recovering from surgery, so wasn't really eating much, making her quite thin. Little bony thing!
• She's sneezy (Poor thing caught a cold in the shelter).
• She's dishwater brown and scraggly. Basically, she looks like an alley cat.

I'm not one of those people who goes around rescuing strays off the street. But being introduced to this poor, sad kitty made me want to bring her home and love on her and fatten her up.

And so now we have a new member of the family, Sara.

Doesn't she look so sad??? 

Originally, we thought we'd try to let the boys name the cat we chose, but I decided not to rename her, since she'd been through enough change.

Since she's been home, she's mostly been hiding in the basement. Everyone at the shelter says we got the sweetest cat ever, and so far, she does seem quite sweet, if a bit shy. Cary is fascinated by her; Dean is a little afraid of her. Every time Sara ventures upstairs, she gets freaked out by the boys' 2-year-old noise level, and runs away. So I'd say we have a ways to go before we're all one big, happy family.

But I hope she likes it at our little house. Yes it's loud. Yes, it's chaotic. No, we have no idea what we're doing. But we are very good at loving, little Sara, so I think, soon enough, you'll feel right at home.

Last days of maternity leave recap

Clair had a better night last night (only woke up once to eat) and so I am not as catatonic as I was yesterday.

Whew, thank the LORD!

But I'm still sorta getting into the swing of things at work, so I don't have time to really, really post like I'd like. I really wanted to post my checklist (which looks pretty good, actually!)  Instead, I'll post a couple photos from our zoo trip on Friday, which is what we did to commemorate my last (week)day of maternity leave!

Dean looking at the zebras!

Cary looking at the hippos! (Despite the photographic evidence to the contrary, the boys were not dressed alike. The two shirts were different colors and very different on the front!)

The whole family. As you well know by now, my children do not smile for pictures. But trust me: They LOVED the zoo!

And I'll also post a photo of me in my badass red jeans, which I wore Sunday night to go see NEW EDITION with my friends!!!!!! (Seriously, people, I am a New Edition NUT! I have all the albums, even the single of their very first song ever, which came out on vinyl -- hellloooo! -- before the actual album came out in 1983. Yes, I have that. And their Greatest Hits albums. And their Christmas album. And their sucky "Under the Blue Moon" album. I have them all. Know all the songs. Would follow them around like a Dead Head if they performed more often. I am sick. My kids are gonna hate me for forcing them to hear New Edition songs all throughout their childhood!)

True "Candy Girls" for LIFE!

 And, I will say that the boys were SO excited to see Michelle when she came in yesterday morning. Cary, surprisingly, was moved so much, he kept hugging her and hugging her! Dean threw her a little bit of shade, of course (just like he did when they came to visit me when I was in the hospital, holding Clair in my arms), but then he was back to adoring her within minutes. She said the day went really well, and she wasn't frazzled at all having all three kids all by herself all day long.

This makes me SO happy, folks. More than the smile that Clair gave me when she saw me. More than the extra love and hugs I got from the boys yesterday evening. More than getting in the bed and being fast asleep at 9:30 (halleluiah!) Because this means that maybe, just maybe, she won't quit on me! :-)

The zoo and a Hurricane in one weekend

I have been MIA for no good reason, other than that I have been hiding in my house, huddled in a corner, wondering what to make of the fact that we had an earthquake and a friggin' hurricane in the same week!

Surely this can mean nothing good!

Actually, neither the quake nor Hurricane Irene did much damage in our little corner of the world, so I'm truthfully thanking God for small blessings, like electricity and gutters that work pretty decently. The hurricane has wreaked havoc in other parts of the East Coast, though, so I have to try to remember to pray for those folks who lost homes, memories, electricity (still!) or even loved ones, in some cases. I also would like to pray that we have an event-free rest of the summer and fall, please. Unlike my mother, who lives for disasters, I am not cut out for them.

Anyway, here's what we've been up to since last we met.

I had Friday off because Michelle had doctor's appointments, so I decided to take the boys to the Maryland Zoo. They've been before, but this was my first time taking them by myself. I imagined a beautiful day, strolling through the zoo, leisurely talking about all the animals, and maybe even treating the boys to soft serve for the first time.

And it WAS a beautiful day -- sunny and clear, albeit a little warmer than I'd expected. All the animals were out (the boys really liked the giraffes) and Dean thought soft serve was the best. thing. ever. (Can't argue with that).

But I had forgotten about one thing: the Maryland Zoo is a sprawling campus of hills, hills and more hills. Pushing 50+ pounds of baby up and down dozens of hills in the heat of the summer, while also being 3 months pregnant?? NOT a good look.
I was huffing and puffing; my legs were aching; my back and neck were hurting; and I seriously considered paying some nice young man to push the stroller back to the zoo entrance for me. That's how desperate I was.

But I managed to make it all the way through! And I felt a real sense of accomplishment. I was exhausted and sweaty and sore afterward, but the boys enjoyed themselves. And since we spent the next two days holed up in the house because of the hurricane, I was really glad we ventured out together.

Just me and my boys.


Bonus: Pics of Cary petting a goat at the zoo. (Dean refused to get out of my arms!)

Here's Cary tentatively approaching the goat.


He's gonna touch him! He's gonna do it! He's smiling! This is so much fun!


And then, he was so confident, he moved on to pet yet another goat! This one's name was Frankie.


I was so proud of my little sweetie! Maybe Dean will try again next time.

The rest of the weekend, as I said, was spent on Hurricane watch. I was supposed to be a single mom this weekend, because Lester had a wedding to go to in Ohio, but he skipped the wedding when the news of the impending hurricane kept getting grimmer and grimmer. I told him he could go to the wedding, and we'd be OK, but he said he just couldn't fathom being so far away from home while his pregnant wife and two baby boys were braving it out in a hurricane without him. And that was also something I couldn't argue with. Plus, I was REALLY glad he was there.

Even though we mostly got a LOT of rain and some VERY scary wind gusts, it turned out to be pretty much only that in our neighborhood. Thank God. But it was really bad elsewhere even just a mile or so away -- downed trees and flying fences and cars being washed away. So, it could have been worse, and if it had've been, it would have been quite difficult without him there. And besides, I just really like having my lovebug around. (Especially when it's rainy and ominous and the boys go to bed and we can cuddle up and watch a movie -- which we did).

The boys were a little freaked out and also fascinated by the intensity of the rain, but they slept peacefully through the night, and by Sunday, things had cleared up considerably, and we even went out on the porch to get some sun and some air.

Overall, we had a good weekend. We survived Hurricane Irene; I survived the obstacle course that is the Maryland Zoo; and life is good in the Davis household.

Thank the Lord.