Another Sick Day

Oliver has a cold. He didn't eat much of anything yesterday and I couldn't get him to drink much either. He ran a fever last night which apparently wiped him out because he slept from 7 pm last night until 11 am today!! I kept checking on him every 30 minutes so I was happy when I was finally greeted with an awake and smiling Oliver (that was a big change from yesterday when he was so lethargic and kept telling us all he didn't like us and that he was "grouchy").

Oliver fell asleep in the car at school pick-up. I knew he was really sick. The kid rarely sleeps in the car.

Oliver had three specific requests, which I happily obliged-
1. Lemonade with ice in a regular cup (i.e. no sippy cup)
2. Cow yogurt (no idea why he feels the need to specify that it be cow yogurt, but he does)
3. A Nutella sandwich (he did request doughnuts first but he then asked for the sandwich when I told him we don't have doughnuts and the kid has barely eaten in 2 days so I agreed to Nutella)

Here's hoping that this means he's on the mend. He had to miss his last day of pre-school celebration today.

Feeling better after sleeping for 16 hours.

Does Mother Nature Hate Me?

It's my turn to host for Recipe Club. I don't have a dining room (well, I do, but we use it as a family room) and not enough space to seat 10 comfortably. Lucky for me it is a BBQ theme and I had planned to host it outside. Until....

This morning the forecast called for 10% rain. As of 5 p.m., the weather forecast was 80% rain.
That means 100% chance of rearranging some furniture.

Last time we had plans for a big, evening outdoor party, we had a massive downpour, the electricity went out and the police came to the house wanting to know why we were having a party on such a horrible night.

And did I mention our wedding? It was outdoors. It was 108 degrees at 7 p.m.--the start of our wedding. The forecast also called for a slight chance of rain. Luckily, it didn't rain. BUT it was HOT.

Yea, Mother Nature doesn't like me hosting outdoor parties.

You can see Oliver on the couch in the background. I pushed it into what we use for a dining room.

Nothing like bringing it indoors. Ignore the pile of furniture in the other room ladies.

Update: No rain afterall last night. Now I think the weatherman hates me. ;)

Memorial Day Weekend 2012

Memorial Day started early for us this weekend. Matt had to have a medical test done in the city and took the day off Friday. The test was over by 10:30 a.m. and he was back home by the time Oliver was out of pre-school.

Friday, Saturday and Sunday were overcast days and much of Friday and Saturday were rainy. You would decide to do something outside and then a brief downpour would come. We hung around the house and ran a few errands on those days. Monday proved to be the best, if not warmest, day of the weekend which was great because that was the day we had scheduled to pick up Matt's go-kart, a DD2. It was also the day Chloe was going to get to test out a Micromax kart,  which is another class up in kart racing from the one she currently competes in.

We spent the entire day at the track Monday. Oliver and I hung out in the RV with the dogs most of the time, we would venture out to play or watch Matt & Chloe on the track.

Oliver sitting in the bleachers with his sister's iPad (his wasn't good enough) watching a movie.

Matt had lots of fun in his kart and Chloe loved testing out the Micromax. It goes considerably faster than her kid kart and she didn't want to drive her kart after she drove the Micro. The track owner told us that Chloe did the best moving from a kid kart to a Micro of any kid he's ever seen.

Chloe, with Matt in the background. We had to use a noodle (the orange thing behind Chloe), three pads and pedal extenders to push her up a bit in the Micro so she could easily reach the pedals.

Taking on her Dad.

Matt tests out his new kart, an Arrow DD2.

Chloe loved driving the Micro.

Racer Chloe.

Oliver gives Daddy a hug and tells him "good job!".

I don't know if she's going racing or if she's looking for a fight? Matt and I cracked up at this photo.

We also had some off-track excitement. There has been a little safety pin sitting on the counter of the kitchen in the RV. I assumed it was for racing, Matt didn't know it was there. Long story short, thanks to Oliver we discovered it was the safety pin to the fire extinguisher in the RV. Its the type of fire extinguisher that sprays a fine mist of choking powder...on everything. Oliver only "bumped" into the extinguisher setting it off, but we had to evacuate for several minutes to let the dust settle and then I got to spend some time wiping down the back half of the RV. Now that we know what that little pin was, it's firmly put back in its place to prevent another accidental spraying.

We also decided on a team name and I designed a logo. After much debate on a name, we chose semi-charmed, its also the name of our boat. The colors are a combo of Matt's racing colors (orange and blue) and Chloe's racing colors (bright pink, black and neon green). I also set up our own channel on YouTube called Semi-Charmed Racing for our racing videos. Yea, we're that into karting.

A New 'do for Oliver

We went a little crazy at the barbers and gave Oliver a pseudo Mohawk. It's too cute!! It's super short on the sides and long down the center.

Momma's New Ride

It was goodbye to this




And "hello" to this




Matt brought it home Thursday evening. Oliver was asleep and this morning was the first he saw of the new car. He exclaimed, "Oh, we got new tvs!" Yes, the car means a movie.


It's a pretty cool car. Lots of gadgets....








We have a three day weekend to figure it all out.





Matt also brought me flowers. I feel like a spoiled girl!!!

Chloe Takes 1st Place

My weekend as crew chief was a resounding success as Chloe took first place in kid kart competition.

Matt was at Mid-Ohio racing with the Porsche club and I was at the helm for four days. Chloe was begging about driving at the first night kart race of the season and we didn't want to disappoint her. Logistically, it was going to be tough because Matt had my Navigator and I wouldn't be able to pack everybody and everything into the convertible. So, I totally went all out and made an executive decision to rent a SUV for the weekend to haul the kids and the dogs up to the track for the weekend. The only problem was, how do I get Chloe on the track and watch a rambunctious two-year old at the same time?  Matt had called the track owner to see if we could enlist some help in getting Chloe on the track. I am usually pre-occupied with Oliver, who isn't allowed in the paddock for obvious reasons, and don't know the ins and outs of kart racing (like starting the motor). Luckily, we had two nice, young men volunteer to help Chloe. So, in the end, we had a car to get us all to the track and help when we got there.

Oliver in the RV, with the dogs, playing on his sisters iPad. It was a hot day Saturday and the heat really wore Oliver out.

Oliver watching Chloe race while enjoying an ice pop to beat the heat.

We arrived on Saturday around lunchtime and Chloe's pit crew, Chris and Steven were ready and waiting to unload Chloe's kart, check everything out and get her on the track for warm-ups. The race was very relaxed this weekend as there was a big kart race in south Jersey, many of the usuals were not in attendance, but Chloe's kid kart group had three participants.

Chloe in the paddock with her kart.

Chloe and Chris, who was such a fantastic help,  prepping for the race.

Chloe has really improved her times. When she first began she would go around the circuit in just over 1 minute. On Saturday, he best lap time was 51.8 seconds, about a 10 second a lap improvement when she started racing.

Record of Chloe's best lap times that I texted to Matt.

Chloe drove fantastically, I got to see her pass for the first time, and she was really giving it her all as she spun out several times. In the second heat of the races, Chloe spun out and the chain came off. It took the track crew several minutes to put the chain back on and restart Chloe's kart. She was 3 laps down when she got back out but she fought back and when the checkered flag came out she had made up two laps and finished one lap down.

Chloe and her "competition"--aka her best track pals.

Chloe overtakes.

Widening the gap.

In the end, Chloe came in 1st place and had her first competitive kid kart race. Everybody at the track was so impressed with her driving and improvement. Matt was a proud father, keeping abreast of all the happenings through text message and in between his track time at Mid-Ohio.

The awards ceremony. Chloe takes 1st prize.

We stayed the night at the track. Oliver went to bed, Chloe watched the dirt kart races at the track adjacent to OVRP with her karting pals and I took the dogs for a walk. Lizzie went off-leash and flushed out some deer and caused Flash, who was on the leash, to make a fast and furious dash, pulling me off balance and catching my foot in a hole and twisting my ankle. Its sprained and sore, but manageable.

This morning we stayed at the track to watch Super Moto. The kids were riveted. Oliver even clapped and cheered. I may go above and beyond to get my kid to the go-kart race, but there's no way either of my kids are doing this....

Not on your life. What you don't see in this picture is the ambulance sitting 20 feet to the right of the racetrack.

The Week in Review

We celebrated Mother's Day at the track last Sunday. Chloe had a kart race on Saturday, we stayed overnight and went for breakfast in the morning and returned to the track for some more karting. It was good family time eventhough it wasn't my first choice for a Mother's Day location.

Matt is away this weekend driving with the club at Mid-Ohio and it's just me and the kids. The weather has been fantastic, great for cruising around in a convertible. Oliver and I ran some errands Friday and stopped for a slurpee, which he enjoyed, especially the spoon straw.

Chloe has another club kart race this weekend and I will taking her to the track by myself. Luckily, we've enlisted the help from some people to assist in getting the kart running and putting Chloe on the track. While I am there to see Chloe race, I am usually preoccupied by a two-year old who has to remain out of the paddock, so I am not completely aware of all the ins and outs of karting. Thankfully, the track owners, workers and other parents are super-nice and offered to help. This could go super-smooth or could be a collosal cluster with me as the crew chief this weekend. We shall see....

The Power of Peer Pressure

It's monkey see, monkey do around here. I had to document Oliver eating seaweed. He apparently loves it as much as his sister, which is shocking since this is a kid who FREAKS out if a vegetable lands on his plate. We ordered a supreme pizza this weekend and he had a meltdown because there were "disgusting" things on his pizza (better known to non-picky eaters as onions, bell peppers and tomatoes).

I am more than aware that his pickiness is just an attempt to exert his own will over his food choices. This is the kid who scarfed down pureed ratatouille as a baby--his favorite, so I know he has a palate for vegetables. And now, I am documenting it with some photos of the little guy and his seaweed.

The kids love this stuff, I don't. How anyone can snub their nose at broccoli, brussel sprouts, green beans and the like and then shove this in their mouth is a mystery to me.

A Day at the Races

This weekend we went to Warrenton, VA for the Virginia Gold Cup. Its always held on the same day as the Kentucky Derby. The weekend was all planned out and we were attending as guests of Oliver's godfather, Tom. Tom's company hosts many people for the weekend and has a tent by the track, complete with food and drink.

The rain held off until after the races on Saturday which made for a fantastic weekend. The only downfall of the weekend was the traffic around D.C. Terrible. Worst traffic I have ever seen. Every road clogged.

We stayed the weekend at a B&B/Inn complete with its own horse stables. It proved to be a great place to take some nice photos of the kids.  The countryside is lovely, so pleasant.

I wrote in some detail about choosing our outfits. Of course, Oliver was a hit and everyone knew him by the time the weekend was over. However, it wasn't always for the best reasons he was known. He doesn't do well in crowds of people, especially when he has to miss a nap. Chloe instantly made a friend as soon as we arrived at the weekend's first activity, a birthday party on Friday night. The weekend for Chloe was one play date with her new pal Taylor. Bright pink seemed to be the chosen color and Tom's wife and I were dressed almost identically, same color & cut of dress and even hats from the same hat maker with the same flowers. Too funny.

Lots of photos were taken and professional photographers were present too. I am sharing the photos I took, hopefully I can get the other photos taken during the weekend and will share those later.

Chloe in front of the Inn.

Chloe & Oliver (with horse in the background) at the stables at the inn.

Chloe doing her fashion pose. She kept doing this!

Matt, Chloe & Oliver in front of the stables.

Matt & Oliver decked out in VV--I am sending this one in for the catalog.

The horse in the stables at the inn. He was very curious.

Oliver modeling for VV.

Chloe added the tie to her VV outfit.

We were driven in style all weekend.

The kids in the limo on the way to the races.

A photo looking across the track from where we parked.

There were several races with different classes. The big race was the gold cup.

Chloe and her new pal hanging out in the tent.