Wingman.

Now I understand why you see some little boys that have hair down their back...long enough to make them look like girls.
There is something horrifying about cutting off their first sweet little curls.
Curls that you know will probably never grow back.

I get it.

Tom says we need to think about cutting the wee man's hair.
But I just can not stand to part with his wonky little baby wings and curls.
I love the crazy Baby Einstein look.





It will probbaly take him to be mistaken for an "Erica" before I send him to have his lovely locks trimmed.
Besides, the boy looks kinda cute in piggies! (I kid Dad!)

My not so cheery leader!

When we had the opportunity to take Cheerleading, Ava jumped at it!
(a surprise to all of us as the only jumping she really likes to do is when playing a Wii game).
But I knew she was extraordinarily loud and articulate, so I thought
"why not?"

Of course this needed to be documented.
Ava. My serious souled Flava.
Ever intense-faced Mava.

A cheery cheerleader?

Well, she may not be the most zealous, nor cheery of leaders, but she gets points for focus.
And being the most serious cheerleader ever.
I can't quite find the words to describe her serious little face while she takes her class, I think the pictures are enough.





...and this was about as Bananas as she would get in her "GO BANANAS!" cheer.


But the girl can jump!


I find it odd that she actually enjoys going to these cheerleading sessions even though she keeps that serious little face the whole time...but that's the thing about Ava, you just never know...

I may not understand Ava, nor her exhausting and ever-intense little soul.
But I adore this girl and all the flava she brings into my world.

Snow Day!

Also known as "Stay home-play-watch-movies-bake-cookies-mess-your-room-danceydance" Day!
Our third snow day this winter. Apparently this is quite a bit for this area, but I am sure it's because the gods are mocking me and thought it would be a riot to make my first winter back in Ohio a doozy.
Good times.
Good flippin' cold times.

So we spent the morning playing in the playroom.

Writing on the windows with our window markers.


Which in retrospect might not have been a very good idea to teach Eric.
(don't worry they are non-toxic).



playing some Wii,


baking some cookies,



Eric just left a path of destruction whereever he went.
So much so ,that we are now thinking of changing his name to "Destructo".
(although he plays the part of adorable and stationary son in the photos.)


(please note that he is in fact sitting ON the train table).

I am once again reminded of all the little things that make our day.
And I am looking forward to our next snow day (as long as it's not tomorrow). I don't think I could take two of these in a row.

Nothing fancy, just get dancey!

We were blessed with a three day weekend. And we enjoyed it.
No big plans. No grand visits, nor visitors.
Just us.

And I can say with sureness, I enjoyed it.
I am happy being a homebody. I am happy puttering. I am happy laying on the floor with my kids and coloring or doing puzzles or just dancing!

This was the biggest hit with Bryn and Ava this past Christmas...we received the game Just Dance. I highly recommend it anyone with kids.
In fact, I think it would also be a lot of fun with some friends after a few drinks too. (since we all know Jill doesn't hit a dance floor without a shot of something)

The girls will dance their little hearts away for almost hours. So I don't feel too bad letting them play Wii for so long because they are actually moving around and being active. (and mine are mini-tornados)
I have fun watching and sometimes trying my hand at a dance or two...but when you are repeatedly in last place to a couple half pints, it kinda takes your dancey confidence away.

They even use the ottoman as a makeshift stage. And although I haven't caught him on camera yet, Eric makes a mighty fine back up dancer!

Brrrr.

We had a 2 hour delay for school today.
That means Bryn got to stay home 2 extra hours before the bus came to pick her up.

I love 2 hour delays because it's the best of both worlds.
You get to sleep in AND they still go to school.

But what made this 2 hour delay such a memorable one, was what my oldest did with her time.
She asked me whether she could go outside and shovel the driveway.
Of course I said yes, knowing full well she'd be back inside in minutes because it was so cold outside and our driveway is expansive.






But the girl totally surprised me. Not only did she make a good dent in shoveling the driveway (for Daddy to help finish later), but she actually did all the sidewalk in front of our house!
We live on a huge corner lot, so that's A LOT of sidewalk to shovel!
(I don;t even think I could manage to finish it)...or at least that's what we need to let Tom continue to believe!

Needless to say, I am proud of my little snow bunny.
She totally delivered and scored a hot cocoa with as many marshmallows as her little heart desired. (oh and a few bucks too).

I now realize why we had kids in the first place.
I think next, we will work on some floor scrubbing.

Wonder if I should worry?

Bryn had an assignment at school this week...they were learning how to write their own "How To" Instruction Books.
You know, How to ride a bike or go swimming or make a sandwich.
Well, this is what Bryn brought home on her sheet of ideas.
Do you see the problem??


I laughed out loud when I first saw this. Funny ha ha. Right?
Then became a little, nay, a lot worried- Where did she get THAT idea??
I mentioned it to Tom who had been spending a little more time with the kids, but he was clueless too. (and thought it was rather hilarious and half hopeful that maybe she would be able to pay for college tuition on day).
Not funny ha-ha, Tom.

So I asked her when she got home, where she got her ideas.
And her answer, although not very exciting was innocent enough.
She said the idea came from when they play downstairs in the basement and they swing around the support poles until they got dizzy.
Whew. Good enough for me.
Crisis overted until she is at least 18.

I am hanging onto this one because its a keeper and I think it may come in handy one day as a good life lesson,
as good laugh,
or a good piece of black mail.

Hey Florida- we can still BBQ year round too!

Leave it to my better half.
Not rain, nor snow, nor sleet, nor freeze your tooshie temperatures could keep this man away from his old skool charcoal BBQ.
(my only wish was that the snow was still on the ground to really prove my point)

And to top it off, my daughters think this is totally normal.
I think I am going to need a drink (or ten) this week.

I'd like a re-do on 2011 please.

It's what...5 days into 2011 and already I have heard of so much sadness and loss. And to top it off, we finally had our first ER visit after 3 kids.
Of course the culprit was Hurricane Eric (as if I needed to clarify).

It all started Tuesday when I noticed the little man was feeling warm on and off all day. He woke up about 10pm (which rarely happens) crying.
He was warm and by the bark of his cough I suspected he had croup.
Crappy, cruddy croup.
So, we went outside in cold air to help calm his little bark.
I then noticed the wee man was feeling pretty warm, so I gave him some Motrin (just in case).
This is when he started to convulse. His eyes rolled back into his head.
I knew what was going on, a febrile seizure, but I drew blank and panicked.

Tom (my usual voice of reason) was still at work, so in authentic Jill "In a Fizz" style, I ran to the neighbors house at midnight with a convulsing little one when I saw they were still up.
They helped to calm me down and call 911.
It felt like hours as I watched helplessly as Eric shook and gasped.
Finally, he stopped and lay on the floor looking eerily quiet and disconnected.
My worst-case scenerio mind thought he was going into a coma....the paramedics assured me he was fine now.

I got to ride in the ambulance with my not-so-happy camper, as neighbor M went to our place so the girls would not be alone and throw some wild party.
(and did you know that if you have a baby on your lap, they actually buckle you into the stretcher? I think that should be on everyone's bucket list.

Once at the hospital, I knew Eric was okay. Just a little shaken up
(excuse the pun) and feeling croupy.
I continued to be "THAT Mom" in the ER with all my crazy "what ifs" and "now whats?"
At one point a sweet nurse asked me if she could "get me anything", and my only answer was "I'd love a valium".
No luck. Just some bubbles to blow to entertain Eric.
We were out within 1.5 hours and home again by 2:30am. Of course I did not sleep much as the baby monitor was on full volume and I had to check on the wee man about 3 times in 3 hours, cause that's the brand of crazy I am.
Tom actually slept on the floor beside Eric's room. And although I was pretty sure it wasn't neccessary, I was so glad he was in there with him. (and I have a feeling this will be happening for awhile)

So January 5th 2011, ended up a pretty sucky day for Family Bennett.
But on the bright side, I got to ride in an ambulance (WITH sirens), I finally added the ER notch to my Mama-hood belt, and I realized just how awesome our new neighbor friends are to us.

The glass is always half full my friend.
Bring it 2011.

(as you can see, someone is still feeling a bit on the grumpy side, and despite the many times I thought about ebaying Eric, and the girls for that matter, last night reminded me why I probably won't.
Hug your kids extra tight today!

The re-cap (part 2)

...okay. So now that brings us to the whole Thanksgiving through the holidays.

Thanksgiving was quiet, but nice as we were able to drive to my parents house for some turkey. (much better than the previous 14 hour road trip to FL).
We played, Eric and his beloved Aunt Sam hung out...



The girls got to enjoy their first snow! (well, not really their first, but they were so little when we last saw snow that they don't remember it)



Tom got re-aquainted with snow removal, while I supervised. A lot.


And in case we missed you on the Christmas Card List, this was the picture we used. (which I have to note was a fluke pic taken one day as the three were sitting in the kitchen waiting to be fed.)
Three kids, looking at the camera at the same time.
I think that is a first. Ever.

Once December rolled around, we were once again surprised to have our elf, Christopher come back to visit us.
I love that we started this tradition. I think Christopher watching over the girls may have even been more incentive on being good than the threat of Santa.
But this year, we turned it up a notch and Christopher played some naughty pranks as well.



Then there was Christmas.
I love this time of year.
I love the glow of the tree and the lights.



I love the anticipation of the kids.


This year was especially fun as the girls each went and got us real presents (well for $5 or less).
Oddly enough, the one gift that really pulled at my heartstrings and made me cry, was a simple book Bryn made called "My Mom and Me".
It was all things cute we do, but the last page was a doozy.
It said something like "I like to end the day with my Mom"...and that sentence alone was the sweetest one I ever read.
Sometimes the goods far, far outweigh the bads.
And the bonus lesson here: The best gifts are not from a store.
You are welcome! (no extra charge for the extra moral lesson).


I think the gifts were a hit.
They all seemed pretty happy with their loot. And we cut back quite a bit this year. Now I know to aim for less.




Poor Tom was feeling not so festive after working his wonky hours all through the holiday...but he managed to try and be there.


Our New Years was rather quiet too. Tom had to head into work, but managed to hold off until after a midnight smooch!
A couple of new friends were able to come over and eat and try to survive a gaggle of giggley kids that I thought would be a good idea to feed more sugar and make their own sundaes. (sorry about that)
It was crazy, it was chaos, it was nice.




Good bye 2010. You were a roller coaster of a year.
But I am grateful the have my loved ones healthy and near.
My glass is always full.

...and to re-cap (1 of 2 parts)

I am just going to do a fast forward on the last half of 2010. Mosty through pictures because I am lazy and as always short on time...and I think the pictures say more than I ever could.

When we were last left with the In A Fizz blog, I believe Eric was 9 months and we had just settled into our new house in Ohio.

Since then..

We enjoyed some summertime fun. The girls learned just what a Slip N Slide was...although it became an extreme sport as Tom rigged it just enough that they actually went in flight when they hit the small pool at the end!





We spent some time up at Tom's parent's farm. The girls and Tom camped out in a tent back in the fields, while Eric and I roughed it in the farm house.








We celebrated the first birthday of my sweet little hurricane. Which is an accurate description now that the little dude is mobile.









Halloween with my Halloweenies!
Ava "I'm a Leopard Kitty" Bennett


Bryn the "Peacock Princess".


My baby bull.





We also enjoyed our first real "fall" for a few years. While we were living in Florida, I missed all the colors and smells of a northern fall. Ohio did not disappoint.
Fall is Florida really isn't the same. They just call it January.









And next time, we'll continue with the holidays!!! I just can't sit here long enough to write the world's longest post.