Such a Slacker

I know, I know.  It's been awhile.  And quite honestly, I'd really like to be taking a nap right now instead of writing.

Also, I feel like I should be preparing for the impending storm, but instead I'm watching Days of Our Lives while the kids nap.  Taylor creeps me out.  She has such big eyes.  And now you know my dirty daytime TV secret: I love me some Days.

So, what's new...  LOVING the new van.  Other than the fact that I can't park it for crap, it's amazing.  Molly & Emmett love the DVD player.  Molly especially loves her "earmuffs" - the headphones that she gets to listen to her movies on.  She does still need a van, something involving her license plate letters "FMV".

The first thing we did with the new van was take a vacation to Boston.  We went to the beach, the New England Aquarium and the Boston Children's Museum.  The kids loved Wingaersheek Beach in Gloucester, MA.  It's on Cape Ann, north of Boston, so the water isn't too warm but it's the perfect family beach.  There was really calm water, water with a bit of waves and great rocks to climb on and around.  Even always-cautious Molly got out on the rocks.  And there's food, restrooms & showers.  The aquarium was crazy-busy, but so neat.  They have a new shark & ray touch-tank that was incredible.  Dozens of rays swimming around and if you held your hand still, they would come up and touch it.  I don't really know how to describe how they feel - kind of like raw chicken...  If you go, let me recommend not wiggling your fingers.  The little boy next to me did it right after they made the announcement not to and a ray gave him a nibble.  On Fridays they have a little kids classroom experience.  Molly got to touch live jellyfish ("they feel like water") and learn about turtles.  The Children's Museum was super-fun.  They have a bubble room, which I think was the kids' favorite, but they really enjoyed everything.

So that's what's new with us.  Hope you're all well and you all survive Hurricane Irene intact!

NEW CAR!!!

So excited - I cannot wait to pick up my new car on Wednesday.

We're getting a 2011 Honda Odyssey in Smokey Metallic Topaz (aka dark brown).  It will have a DVD player for the kids & power everything for Mommy.

And we get to pick it up just in time for our trip to Boston.  I cannot wait to go to the New England Aquarium on Friday and the Boston Children's Museum on Saturday.  I hope the kids are as excited as I am.

Off to dinner - hooray for taco night!

Date Night!

Sometimes my husband's job is wonderful.  Tonight we get date night - a free movie and drinks & snacks beforehand.  Granted, the movie is the new Planet of the Apes, but it's free so I'm game.  And it has James Franco - I'll have something yummy to look at.  Mostly I'm excited for a night out with Michael.  I feel like it's been awhile.

For those of you who aren't parents - treasure your time to yourselves.  And if you're going to be a parent soon - go out.  I know you feel like crap, but get out.  You have no idea how hard it is to get a date once the little ones are here.  I'm not complaining, I love the kids, but once they're here, you really appreciate and value time as a couple.

Counting down the minutes!

Big Truck Day

Do you live in the Capital District?  Do you have a toddler?  Then you're crazy if you don't go to Big Truck Day - in theory.

Big Truck Day is a parking lot full of every conceivable big truck.  Buses, construction vehicles, a police car (with a police dog!), etc.  It's fantastic.  There's a cupcake bus (with cupcakes - thank you, http://bettiescakes.com/), ice cream, food for sale.  There are people making balloon animals and a bouncy house.  Sounds perfect, right?

Almost.  Because it's always the most humid day in the world.  We've been twice and as much as the kids love it, I feel like I'm going to die about 30 minutes into the 2 hours that we're there.  If the kids had wanted to stay on the CDTA bus the entire time, I would've stayed there.  Why, you ask?  Because the lovely bus driver left it on with the A/C going.  Bless that man.

I would also like to point out to the crappy school bus driver that she needs a better attitude.  Toddlers love your bus - let them sit in the driver's seat.  Last year's guy was letting them jump out the back emergency door.  It was fantastic.

In the end, it's always a fun day for the kids.  And that's what counts, right?  Besides, I got a red velvet cupcake - yum!

Anyway, here are a couple pictures of my monkeys being cute - thank you to Christina for getting the cutest pictures of them:

Behind the Name

You may be wondering why I would name a blog about my family "Make Yourself Useful."  You can thank Molly for that one.  A couple weeks ago, she was playing with Michael and out of the blue she said, "Dad, you go in a time out and then make yourself useful."  And then we both tried not to laugh, so of course she kept saying it.  The whole time, we're trying to figure out where she picked that line up, because it's actually not something either of us says.  As I was getting her pajamas on that night, she said to me, "I made you laugh.  I told Daddy to make himself useful like Fiona said to Shrek."  Aaahhhh... Thank you, Cameron Diaz.

Have I mentioned that she's two?  I can't wait to see what her teachers think when she starts preschool this fall.

I'm not sure I want Emmett to start talking.

Let's Start This Thing

I keep trying to think of something "big" to start off my first post.  And not getting very far, so I'll just start with what this blog will really be about - my everyday adventures with Molly & Emmett.

One of my favorite things right now is watching the two of them interact.  Now that E is one and M is almost 3, they're really beginning to play... like today, when E fell on her and they both just started laughing.  They have the same laugh, so when they really get going, it's contagious.  And yes, sometimes they fight like cats & dogs, but I'm going to enjoy the fact that they genuinely like each other - you know, before they turn into teenagers.