Outside lite.

So lately Pauly and I have really been working on getting healthier. We've been watching our diets and exercising much more frequently. It's been great - we've both lost around 8 or 9 pounds and have become more fit because of our efforts. Besides all of the blah, blah, blah stuff about the weight loss junk that most people would normally say, I've found more things that have made me happy about my recent health sitch. First, most of our exercise has been taking place outdoors. This..is..great. I've never really considered myself "outdoorsy", but I'm totally NOT an indoorsy type either. I'd say I'm a girl who loves to be outside, with her makeup on, hair looking nice, and wearing a pretty decent get-up. I'm okay with getting a bit dirty, but I'll have nothing to do with getting super buggy, overly muddy, too sweaty, or, of course, killing/fishing/catching any type of animal. But the types of outdoor activities we've been doing all fall nicely into my Rules & Regulations, so it's been a blast. We've hiked, walked, rode and yes, wallowed through a few muddy trails. We've found nice new places to exercise and revisited some old haunts that are now back on our list of top places to frequent. All along, Zeke has been right by our side, covering every mile like a little trooper. He hikes and rides right along with us. It's actually pretty amazing the miles he has covered with his little legs. But he too just loves it. And along with an ever-so-slight loosening of my waistband, I'm feeling oh-so-much closer to my boys. I love spending this time with them. There's no sound of television in the background, no music, not much chattering. It's just the three of us out there...on the trails...enjoying each others' silence.

Schools and shindings.

The past few weeks have been madness for me. Since my current title in life is "Parental Technician", I've engrossed myself in all things Zeke. In doing this, I have been swallowed up by tons of, what I consider, HUGE decisions concerning his life. Of course I check in with Pauly here and there, since most of these decisions require financial backing and well, if I must disclose all truths, I guess he really is the Treasurer of this little Kane Company I'm running here. So, ideas get run by him, funding is secured, and I (in reality being the CEO & President of the corp.), funnel the money into what avenues I see fit. The biggest choice that had to be made recently was regarding Zeke's schooling. We finally decided where he fit in best and yesterday we received word that he was accepted. Whew...big weight off my shoulders. I now know where my kiddo will be next year and am thrilled about the prospects of him being able to settle into a great school for the foreseeable future.

The other all-encompassing item on my list was Zeke's 5th birthday celebration. Most years it's pretty easy-peasy stuff: call a moon bounce place, secure the date, get a cake and some pizzas and all kids involved are thrilled. But, alas, I'm raising a big-thinker here. Zeke wasn't content to have the typical bounce-o-rama gig this year. He wanted animals, live animals, and he wanted them in his own house, for him to pet and cuddle and feed. Oh. Live animals? My mind clicked into full gear and I searched for petting zoos. Once I started jotting down all of the details, I realized the scale of his request. Ummmm, what if it rained? I was completely fine with a yard full of farm animals (in fact, I was like a kid in a candy shop...), but the petting zoo owner told me that if it rained she could simply move it inside if I had a big enough room. Wait. What??? Like, inside my HOUSE? I'm uber-cool with having my dogs, my birds, my frogs, hamsters, fish, etc. hanging out in our digs. I kinda' draw the line at farm animals though. Even I...the lover of all things feathered, furry, and fishy...have my limits. This is my house we're talking about here, folks. Don't mess with a woman's abode. So, I had to arrange this whole soiree and pray for good weather. And pray. And pray. The day of Zeke's party arrived to a mixed bag of weather. It was to be sunny in the early part of the day, but rainy in the latter part. We were having the party at 2:00. Is 2:00 early or late??? I wasn't sure. But, to my distinct pleasure, the sun was out, the yard was gorgeous, and the animals were aplenty. Zeke was glowing with delight at all of the animals hanging out in our own backyard. We had tons of red and white balloons and tablecloths, hay bales scattered around, and cowboy and cowgirl hats for the kiddos. All of the kids got to feed and pet the farm animals and they each got turns taking a pony ride around our yard. It was so cool! We battled a big number five pinata and won - tons of candy rained down on the crowd - and followed it up by distributing goody bags that were actually red bandannas stuffed with all kinds of treats for the guests. By the end of the day we were exhausted and partied out - and just as we got all of our tables and chairs into the house the rain started to come down. And I was just fine with that. I snuggled my five-year -old up in my bed and we watched the video of his party that Pauly had shot. It was a great way to end the party day.

Happy birthday Zeke. You're the light of my life, kiddo.

I don't think God minds if I do..

It's quiet here. Well, except for the chirping and cooing of the ten thousand birds I've accumulated over the past 3 months. But, aside from the bird noises, it's quiet. And it's been quiet for a while. Zeke went to test out his new school. He's there for FOUR WHOLE HOURS. That's a long time in my world. Usually I drop him off at 12:30, get home by 1, then leave to go back and get him by about 2:30. So, by the time I'm done catching my breath, it's time to get back in the car, basically. But today is different. Today I'm clock-watching. I'm nervous and jittery. And I'm even dreadfully low on caffeine. The jitters are of the natural sort. I just want my baby to be...okay. He was brave when I left him. He wiped his tears and joined the other boys. He actually looked like he was on the brink of having fun. I, on the other hand, walked out of there thinking that every step I took away from those school doors was a major step away from my little boy. A step further from being able to help him if he needed it, a step further from reaching out and hugging him if he felt lonely or scared, and a step further away from completely kicking someone's ass if they hurt a hair on his head. But that's just the "Philly Side" of me coming out (Mare, you know what I mean...). I just feel very far, far away from Zeke right now. But I also feel like maybe he's in a good place. A place filled with love and learning and mostly, God. And that's just how I want my kid to grow up.

But I'm not above kicking ass if need be.

Absence makes you love me more. I think.

I'm not EVEN going to go into making excuses for why I'm so behind on posting. I've been busy. Just busy. I'll post pictures to keep my crazy, enormous fan base up-to-date on our lives over here at 3's Co. But for now, here's a quick synopsis of what's been happenin':



Zeke and I have listened to and met Matthew Ryan on the 10 Show, Pauly and I had a great date night at the Tin Angel in Philly when Matthew Ryan played a show there the same night, my family and I celebrated my Mom's birthday at Bucca di Beppo with a ginormous pasta dinner (yum!), Zeke's doves have procreated YET AGAIN making our total count coming in at a whopping 6 doves, Zeke still enjoys his hot tubby at night with bubbles and pretends he's Bubble Boy (see picture), all three of us enjoyed a quick trip to the gorgeous Longwood Gardens, Zeke and I joined Mom Mom Mare at the College for a show with Taiko drummers and dancers from Tamagawa University in Japan, we're in bigtime planning mode for Zeke's 5th birthday party which has taken on the theme of Backyard Barn - Welcome to the Kane Zoo (complete with travelling petting zoo and pony rides), Zeke went to the dentist for his semi-annual checkup and his big boy teeth are visible via x-ray but definitely not ready to come in yet (guess he'll be looking like a hockey player for another year or so), I'm on a mission to lose a few lbs. so by default that means Pauly is too, we haven't yet decided on a summer vacation - I'm torn between going somewhere amazingly exotic/educational or just jumping on the ridiculous Disney cruise and schlepping around in flip-flops and sunglasses with Mickey Mouse for a week (Zeke's pick, of course), we've searched high and low and contemplated schools for Zeke for Fall '10 and think we've found the perfect place for him, Zeke took a week of swim lessons and all he got out of it was a disgusting bacterial infection on his arm requiring oral antibiotics (I was one angry momma), and finally I've continued to clean up after all these pets I've somehow acquired over the past few months. Lucky I'm not opposed to poop patrol or this house would drown in it...

As you can see, it's been eventful. And that's just a sampling of the happenings. Check the pix for now and I'll try to post more often. But don't hold me to it - the warm Spring air keeps me away from the keyboard now.