Bye-Bye Sippy Cups!

When Adlani was a baby I celebrated every milestone...the last can of formula I would ever buy, the last jar of baby food, each clothing size immediately boxed up and given away along with the bouncy seat, infant car seat & stroller frame, boppy pillow, slings, co-sleeper, crib bumpers, exersaucer, jolly jumper, etc. I was counting the days until the end of bottles, diapers, and double-daycare. Then, January 4th, 2006...it was the shock of a lifetime when we found out that Norah was on her way and we needed to get our stuff back!

So now we are celebrating the milestones again...and taking extra precautions if you know what I mean. Last week we reached a milestone that has never been reached in the Greenabderrazak household - the end of the sippy cups. We have had sippy cups cluttering up the glass cabinet for almost 8 years. The other day I just couldn't take them from the dishwasher to the cabinet one more time so I threw them all in a bag for one of the lucky recipients of our hand-me-downs. I felt so FREEEEEEE!!!!

With all that extra space in the glass cupboard I have plenty of room for the AWESOME snack containers I found at the Container Store. The top part goes in the freezer and the gel keeps drinks cold. There's a flip up straw thingie on the top, and the snack container screws onto the bottom. Each part can be used separately too - the snack container is threaded on the open end for the lid and the other end to attach to the cold cup.

I guess when it comes right down to it, they're not much different from sippy cups, BUT sometimes I fill the cold part with sangria so I can get through the bedtime routine with no spills. BRILLIANT!!

Here's where to buy your own sangria cups.

While I'm on the subject of sangria...several people have asked for my recipe recently so here it is again: 1 bottle of red wine (I use Rioja), 3 cups orange juice, 1/3 cup Triple Sec, 1/3 cup Apricot Brandy, 1/3 cup sugar - mix it up and pour over ice and fruit. Or directly into your new sangria cup. The ice and fruit just take up space.

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Magic Hour

After I read Firefly Summer I was hesitant to read any more Kristin Hannah books because the sobbing at the end is so embarrassing. Luckily, my friend Patti read some and said they weren't all as sad so I got a few more from the library. Some of them were a little too Danielle Steel-ish for my current taste (although I do still have my DS collection from the 80's), but I really liked Magic Hour.

When I first started reading the book I thought the story was a little far-fetched because it's about a little girl who lived with wolves. The book uses the term "feral child" so I looked up more about that on the internet and amazingly there are quite a few cases of feral children - not usually raised by animals these days but victims of severe neglect.

http://www.feralchildren.com/en/index.php
http://www.tampabay.com/specials/2008/reports/danielle/
http://www.oprah.com/article/oprahshow/20081016-tows-perry-book
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=7A26D7B616FED6F4&search_query=feral+child+genie

I found the book really interesting and I couldn't put it down. And I didn't cry at the end. Much.

From Publishers Weekly: Hannah's melodramatic 15th novel (after The Things We Do for Love) tells the addictive soap opera story of a feral child and the adults who rally to help her. The cast of stock characters is led by child psychiatrist Dr. Julia Cates, whose reputation was ruined when she failed to prevent a teen patient from staging a Columbine-style massacre. Her sister, Ellie Barton, a smalltown former homecoming queen–turned–chief of police, summons Julia from Los Angeles to their Pacific Northwest hometown of Rain Valley to take on the case of a mysterious lost child, who appeared one day on the edge of town, presumably raised by wolves. With the dashing doctor Dr. Max Cerrasin at her side, Julia works diligently to tame the mute girl, whom she names Alice. Max, like Julia, is running from demons of his own. Though she initially rebuffs his overtures ("When I love, I risk my heart. All or nothing," Julia declares), their romance inevitably blossoms while they work to solve the mystery of Alice's parentage. The novel's real love story, though, is the passion between Alice and Julia, and it's hard not to root for the vulnerable little Wolf Girl. (Mar.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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When I went to Amazon.com to get this review, the book recommendations for me were:
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Sippy Cups Are Not For Chardonnay
I Was A Really Good Mom Before I Had Kids
Naptime Is The New Happy Hour, and
I'd Trade My Husband for a Housekeeper

Shoud I be worried?
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Kindergarten Orientation

Last week Adlani and I attended kindergarten orientation and an awesome playdate just for the boys at Lana's house. Orientation was a much different experience than taking Aliya just two years ago. So many of Adlani's classmates from preschool are heading to kindergarten, and we've spent a lot of time at school so we're both familiar with the teachers, the staff, the building, and the program. We were hoping that he would have the same teacher Aliya had because we love her so much, but the teachers he has are wonderful too. I saw Aliya's teacher the next day and she said that she'd miss having us but that Sra. Gray is the perfect match for Adlani. Everyone loves her and she takes my Zumba class on Saturdays so I'll be able to get weekly updates. ;-)

The playdate was a lot of fun once we were all confident that they wouldn't kill each other. It was kind of like when you introduce a bunch of dogs and they go into statue-mode sniffing each others' butts and you hold your breath and wait to see what happens. Lana invited a few of us and told us to invite others that we knew so we ended up with 10 boys. Some of them knew each other and some didn't, but they rushed right in, turned every golf club and lacross stick into a weapon and started sword-fighting. I guess that's normal boy behavior because everyone joined in. Adlani ended up with a bruise on his nose from playing "Let's Lock Someone in the Shed" but they all survived and are ready to take kindergarten by storm.

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This Train Is Being Taken Out of Service

Sherry and the kids are visiting for a few days this week and because of the crappy weather we decided to hang out at home instead of going to camp. I'm pretty sure I would have gone into a fugue state and wandered off if we were stuck in 600 square feet with 6 kids, the dog, and no Ben to take over so Sherry and I can escape.
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Yesterday we went to the aquarium and since there were so many of us I had the brilliant idea that we should drive to Riverside and take the T. When we got on the train, Hannah (13YO) said that her stomach hurt but I figured she'd get over it (nurturing is not my strong suit). About half-way into the trip I looked at Hannah and she had her hand over her mouth and that "I'm gonna hurl!" look in her eyes. Instead of accepting the obvious I asked for verification ("Are you going to throw up?") Yup. Right in the aisle beside the front seat, directly behind the driver and in the path of every person who boarded the train. "Watch out. Look out. Don't step there. Watch out." Every stop.
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I have to say, the T driver was extremely professional and nice about it. He radioed someone to get on at a future stop and clean it up but apparently that guy was avoiding us so we kept going all the way to Government Center. Most of the occupants of our car found other seats to escape from the smell of cheese, which the kids kept commenting on. When we arrived at Government Center we heard the announcement, "This train is being taken out of service. Please excuse any inconvenience." When Ben came home from work and the kids rushed to tell him that Hannah puked on the train, he said, "I know. I heard it on the news that there was a delay on the Green Line because Hannah threw up." My only regret is that I didn't capture the moment on film to share with you.
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After the excitement of the train ride the aquarium was a little anti-climactic since we've been there quite a few times this year, but the kids still enjoyed it. We had lunch at Joe's and spent some time at the playground so Hannah could start digesting her lunch, and then went back to Government Center by way of Faneuil Hall and got back on the horse. A woman on the T platform asked us if we were sisters which happens almost every time we leave the house together. We made it home without incident and had a Mexican schmorgasbord for dinner.
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Today we went to two separate movies at the same time - Up and Night at the Museum 2. Sherry and I had dinner at Samba to celebrate her birthday, and an after-dinner-drink at the British Beer Works, where they DO NOT have karaoke on Wednesday nights. I think that's false advertising.
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One Last Frog Post

Well, was actually a toad, and I know you're probably getting sick of hearing about frogs but there are some cute pictures.

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Ben has been playing soccer with a coed team on Sundays, along with Pam, Ted, and Michelle. At their game a couple of weeks ago we found a toad and the kids played with it until I had to rescue the poor thing from certain death from squeezure or jumping from the relative height of a 20-story building.

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I have to say, Ben is a good soccer player. He grew up playing soccer every day and he's still got the moves. There's a mix of skill levels on the team though, so I don't think they've won a game yet.

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Some members of the team take it a little more seriously than others, and at the game where we found the toad, one of the guys got a yellow card and came off the field swearing and kicking things. He kicked his bag and flopped down next to us in a full-out temper tantrum. Adlani was standing next to me, literally 4 feet from the guy, and he said (loud and clear and with enthusiasm), "WOW! I guess that guy's REALLY mad!" Everyone around us was trying not to laugh but it was priceless.

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Free the Froglets!!!

Well, it took quite a few emails and a couple of phone calls but I finally got "unofficial" permission to release the froglets to the wild. The Massachusetts Audubon Society identified Tiny Green as a woodfrog before his untimely death, and woodfrogs are native to Massachusetts.
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Apparently it's also illegal to sell woodfrog eggs over the internet so I contacted the distributor to find out why their packing slip said that the froglets needed to be "destroyed" and give them a heads-up that the MAS was about to drop the bomb on them. The woman there couldn't have been nicer, and she said that they don't coordinate which shipment goes to which location and whether what they're shipping is native to that area, so that's why their info says not to release them.
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Then I called the Needham Science Center to find out where the froglets would like to live, and although she couldn't give me official permission to release them because they might have a fungus or something from being in the lab, she told me that they like sheltered ponds.
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Aliya and I took the first batch last week, and we found a great new home for them in Farm Pond across the street from the school. My shoe got sucked off when I stepped in a swampy area disguised as a safe place to step, but at least it wasn't quicksand. I used to have nightmares about quicksand as a kid. The other two classes wanted to keep their tadpoles until the last day of school, so I released the rest in the rain on Monday.
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I don't know how long they'll survive in their new home but it's better than euthanizing them. What's a new pair of Merrills when lives are at stake?






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She Cracks Herself Up

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Here's a link to the original video in case you missed it: http://lockmommy.blogspot.com/2009/05/miss-personality.html

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Don't Stand So Close To Me

I really don't get it. Why does every single person who arrives late for Zumba stand right next to me?! I'm sure it has to do with my habit of standing in the last row to the instructor's left, but it's SO ANNOYING! When someone comes in late, I puff up in my best frilled lizard impression and flail all of my appendages around to scare them off, but they head directly for me! Why is that?!

At least I know I'm not the only one who has this pet peeve. The other day I heard a woman talking before class about a woman who came to yoga and put her mat a few inches away from hers. She was going on and on about how much it pissed her off and then she admitted that it happened 9 years ago!

I am tempted to start standing up front next to Tara and Rachel, but then I'd have to look at myself in the mirror the whole time. At the risk of having all 423 of you show up, there's an awesome class on Sunday mornings at 9:30 at the Ballet Space, and nobody ever stands next to me when they come in late. The instructor is one of my absolute favorites - Ali Struyk (http://www.zumbawithali.com/). If you buy a card for 10 classes, they are $10 each. She also offers a 20-class card for $160, or a single class for $14. Well worth it!

PS. Ali has a mix on iTunes of the music that she uses in class. I think you need to have iTunes installed on your computer, and here's the link to her mix: http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewIMix?id=320207981
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Caution: You may break out into pelvic circles at a backyard barbecue if you hear the song from your favorite routine. I'm not saying that I've done that, but it could happen.
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Happy Fathers Day!!

Yesterday we took our annual Fathers Day trip to Ogunquit, Maine. It was a little chilly when we arrived but either the weather turned or we acclimated, and the kids even ended up in the freezing cold water for a few minutes. We bought a kite and eventually had success getting it up in the air. After 3 hours on the beach we went to an early dinner at Jackies Too followed by a short walk on the Marginal Way.

While we were hanging out on a bench and throwing rocks at the rocks (nobody could reach the water), a wedding party showed up and started conducting a wedding. It kind of reminded me of our wedding on a pier on Turks and Caicos, where resort guests stood off at a respectful distance gawking and a dive boat unloaded during the vows.

We ended the day with ice cream at "Tom & Jerry's" (Adlani's version of "Ben & Jerry's") and headed home. Everyone was exhausted...especially me!

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Soccer Highlights

Here are two short clips of Aliya's assist and goal in last week's game. It's hard to believe she has come from the little girl who stood in the center of the field and chewed on her hair (until we cut it off) to such a strong member of the team. This was a great win for the Absolutes, because the star of the other team wasn't being very sportsmanlike.


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Try Before You Buy

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Research Fair

A couple of weeks ago, Aliya's school had their annual research fair. Aliya's projects were on penguins and walruses. The penguin habitat turned out great, thanks to Auntie Rachael and Vanessa helping with the Sculpey penguins and the iceberg in a plastic shoebox. It pays to have friends and relatives with advanced degrees in art.

We went to the classroom and the kids were so cute...each sitting next to their project and an empty chair, patiently waiting for a parent to come over so they could explain their research. The projects were in Spanish so the kids translated the hard words for me. One little boy, Leif, told me all about how the baby penguins eat the throw-up from the parents. When I said that was gross, he said, "It's not gross if you're a baby penguin. They LIKE fish throw-up!" We had to cut the visit short because Norah wouldn't keep her hands off the projects. The other day, someone I don't know approached me at the Y and said, "I saw you the other day crossing the street with 3 kids hanging off of you." That's the story of my life.



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Just Another Soccer Saturday

Last Saturday was the last day of soccer for Aliya and Adlani, and it was also Adlani's soccer party and a pool party for the Fireballs which we crashed since we are Fireballs alumni.

This is the list I made to get us through the day:

7:45 - Lori to Zumba with water bottle
8:45 - Ben and 3 kids to Adlani's game with 2 water bottles, uniforms, and balls
9:30 - Lori to Adlani's game with chair, snacks, and sunscreen
10:45 - Ben and 1 kid home to pee
11:00 - Lori and 2 kids to Adlani's party with chocolate chip cookies
11:15 - Ben and 1 kid to Aliya's game with water bottle
11:45 - Lori and 1 kid to Aliya's game with camera
1:00 - Lori and 2 kids to Adlani's party
1:00 - Ben to BJ's for hot dogs and then home
2:00 - Lori and 3 kids home from party - shower and make sangria
2:45 - Ben, Lori, and 3 kids to pool party with sangria, hot dogs, towels & bathing suits
8:00 - Everyone home to bed






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