No, I haven't given up on the new blog. We've been out of town for a while--Honey is already back in NJ, but Shmoo and I are still living the good life in TX. (Well, the good life that is unbearable heat and massive quantities of mosquitos!)

Actually, we've been extremely, massively spoiled. My parents took the kids and grandkids on a cruise for their 50th anniversary! We left from Galveston and went to Jamaica, Grand Cayman and Cozumel. It was soooo beautiful and so fun to be on the cruise with everyone. The pictures are going to have to wait til we get back to Jersey next week. It was amazing and I'm still suffering from post cruise depression ;)

After the cruise, Honey had to return to NJ immediately since he didn't truly have any vacation time earned yet. We were so glad that his new employers didn't have a problem with him going. Shmoo and I have been taking advantage of our extra time here by visiting with family, eating at Chickfila and seeing movies for less than half the price than we would have to pay in NJ. I went to see Wicked in Houston, which I LOVED LOVED LOVED! I didn't like the ending though; I really thought Elphaba should have died. Several people now dislike me for that opinion so I'll just go ahead and say that I wish Harry Potter would have "stayed" dead, too. Too many easy happy endings!

Anyway, we are happy to be here in TX where we have people to hang out with. New Jersey is lovely, fun, beautiful, and filled with stuff to do, but we are lonely there. We hope to remedy that situation in time as we become more involved with church (when we get assignments), school, activities, etc., but right now it's mostly just the three of us trying to keep each other company. It's a sad thing when you don't have anyone to put down as an emergency contact on your kid's school enrollment :(

On a more positive note, NJ is turning out to be much better than it is rumored to be! I guess I'm going to have to go up to the northern part of the state to see if it's ugly with rude people, cause we certainly aren't seeing that where we live. I am loving not pumping my own gas, there's no tax on clothes or shoes, and preschool is free! My parents just might disown me for my positive opinions about this Yankee state.

We love Storybook Land!

I'm pretty sure that I'll never complain about a lack of things to do here! Hubbie and Shmoo found Storybook Land online before we ever moved here and the moment we stepped foot in NJ, Shmoo was begging to go. I asked some local mamas about it...I wanted to make sure that it wasn't just a tourist trap. It got great recommendations for little kids, so we jumped on board with season passes.

It really is awesome! It's just down the street from us and it is perfect for kids in Shmoo's age range. It has (A LOT of) kid friendly rides, is almost completely shaded, is beautifully landscaped and clean and the ride operators are almost all retired grandmas/grandpas. You can bring in your own food/drinks and it's open almost all year round including Easter, Halloween and Christmas events. Since it's so close, we can go and spend a couple of hours and just run home when we get tired.

The Jersey Shore!

It probably goes without saying, but the Jersey Shore is sooo different than the TX Gulf Coast. There were lifeguards, clean beaches, no cars, no drinking, cool CLEAR water, and a lot of SAND. We went for the first time yesterday and had a great time. It's awesome that we could get there in about 15 mins, spend a couple of hours and come home. Hubbie hadn't been to the beach since he was a kid.

I about FREAKED OUT when I saw a jellyfish floating by, but then Hubbie saw a little kid holding one so I asked the lifeguards about them. They said that as long as they were the clear ones they didn't really sting. If you see a red one, that's a different story. Who knew? Still freaky though!

Deficient

Shmoo started crying at the kitchen table today while I was making his lunch.

Me: What's wrong? Why are you crying?

Shmoo: I don't have enough fingers to show someone when I turn fifteen! Waaaaaah! Waaaah!

Me: (Trying so hard not to laugh but not succeeding) Baby, you don't have enough fingers to show someone when you turn ELEVEN. But don't worry, when you get that old, you stop showing people with your fingers. You just tell them your age with your big boy words, ok?

Shmoo: (Sniffling) Ok, but it makes me really sad. (Sniff, sniff)

Fredward

This is Shmoo's favorite activity since we moved to NJ:

Everytime we come home he insists on being left outside. He rings the doorbell and my job is to answer the door and ask him, "Who are you?" To which he always responds, "I'm a visitor and my name is Fredward. What is your name?" I tell him my name and then the rest of the day he acts like a GUEST. We're on a first name basis here.

"Excuse me, where is the bathroom?" "Are there any toys I can play with here?" "Do you have any refreshments?" "Pardon me, I need to ....."

Anyway, it's funny. For 10 minutes.

Starting over again

Well, here we are again! Just so you know it's us:

Who could resist a cutie face like this? Not me. Except when he's asking for EVERYTHING everywhere.

I've recently remembered that I used to have a brain. The smart person in me figured out that one quarter could buy me a peaceful shopping trip. Just like all little kids, Shmoo (that's what we've called him since he was a baby) really really REALLY wants to have a quarter to put into the silly little machines at the entrance of grocery stores. It doesn't even matter what's in them. The machines could be selling a handful of bellybutton lint and he would still BEG for a quarter to use in it. When we walk into the store I give him a quarter to hold in his hot little hand to spend AFTER we're done. The ground rules:

1) If he whines more than once or throws any kind of fit, I get it back.

2) If he wants to "buy something" with it, he can give it back to me in exchange for the ONE item he wants. (This has NEVER happened. He would rather spend it in the machine. Maybe someday he'll get smart, too.)

The quarter is powerful. He hasn't had to give me back his quarter, his behavior is great and my shopping is quicker and more peaceful. Maybe some will say that I should just make him behave without the quarter. Well, here's a quarter for you. Call someone who cares :)