Reptile Considerations...

Charlie's obsession with all critters scaly has gotten to the point where we are actually considering getting him a reptile of some sort. The reasoning is something like, maybe if he has a pet reptile he will not spend all his time in the bushes looking for reptiles or on YouTube looking at people looking for reptiles...

So I have narrowed down the field of contenders to three reptile choices after doing some research on the Internet and talking to the guy at the pet store. Here they are for your review and vote. As you will see, they all have their pros and cons...

Corn Snake:
Pros - They're the cheapest.
They are docile
They don't get very big.
They're fairly low maintenance.
You only need to feed them once a week.
Cons - They eat mice. Frozen mice, that you have to dethaw and then fluff up with a hair dryer to make them look more... alive.
Their tanks need to be scrubbed thoroughly once a week to prevent salmonella.
They're escape artists.
Did I mention they eat mice?
They live for far too long, 20 or 30 years.

Bearded Dragon:
Pros -
They like being handled and are very docile.
They're hardy and pretty low maintenance.
They live about 7 years, a much more reasonable amount of time.
They don't get too big.
Cons - They need to be fed live crickets about every other day. Crickets, as in chirp... Chirp... Crickets.
Iguana:
Pros - They are vegetarians, eating fruit and veggies and - hallelujah - iguana chow.
It is apparently pretty easy to accidentally kill them as babies. Something tells me I am supposed to put this under the cons, but I can't quite bring myself to.
Cons - They get freaking HUGE, eventually requiring a LARGE terrarium.

So go ahead and submit your vote! And before you ask, Charlie is thoroughly uninterested in box turtles (sigh.)

Memorial Day 2012

Katie and Jason invited us over for a BBQ this afternoon; we had a great time & the kids warmed up surprisingly well to Snoop, the family dog. We had a great afternoon and PERFECT summer weather for a barbecue! Here are some pictures:

A Day of Doctors Appointments

I had the day off today, and spent it going to various doctors appointments. First stop was to get my first mammogram, after which I had two appointments at Tufts Medical Center for my varicose veins. The vascular surgeon at Tufts is scheduling me for a thermal ablation procedure for both legs, which should clear up the problems associated with the varicose veins (pain, swelling and the lovely rash I have had on my right leg for months, which, as I had suspected, is also due to the varicose veins.) The procedure itself doesn't sound too terrible and is done under local anesthesia. He does them on Mondays and said I should be fine to be back at work Friday or Saturday. So as of now I am just waiting for the office to do the insurance pre-approval thing and call me to schedule it, probably for some time in July. Another fun thing to look forward to this summer!

Six Year Check Up

Charlie had his six year well visit today. He measured in at 49 1/2 inches tall (97th percentile) and 61 lbs (96th percentile.) His doctor said that if he continues as he has been, she expects him to be about 6'4". She also said that while his BMI classifies him as overweight, that it is not accurate for children who are extremely tall and that his weight is fine. Otherwise, since Charle has been doing fine in school and has been pretty healthy this year, it was a fairly uneventful well visit. He didn't even need a shot, which he actually complained bitterly about, since he had been hoping to get a toy ;)

New Bed

Our new bed was delivered this morning! I am extremely excited to finally have a king sized bed but am a little nervous about the new mattress; it is a tempur-pedic so apparently it requires about 8 weeks to break in, during which time, according to the salesperson, we can expect to wake up "a little sore". Since we were already waking up a little sore with our old mattress, I am hoping this will not be much of an adjustment ;) After the eight week break in period we are supposed to be getting a wonderful night's sleep, so I'll keep you posted ;)

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Nothing Like A Sunday Afternoon...

... Spent catching salamanders with Dad.

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Good Way To Ruin Your Diet

Fried twinkie sundae and beer.

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What Happens When Both Kids Are Up Before 6am On A Saturday

Mike takes them to Blue Hills looking for snakes...

To the mall...

And to the pool... All before noon.

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Expensive Day Off

I took an impromptu day off today, because our building is in state survey this week and there is nothing I hate worse than tiptoe-ing around all week trying not to make eye contact with a surveyor, who might or might not stop me and ask me where the nearest AED is located or who knows what else. So since we were slow, I graciously volunteered to take a day off. Mike decided at the last minute to take the day off as well, and although I had no ambitions other than to maybe walk to Starbucks for a latte, this changed when I saw a Jordan's Furniture commercial which reminded me that this is the last week of their red sox promotion. Because you get a coupon for 20% of your purchase price this week towards a future purchase, I decided that if we were actually ever going to replace our ten year old mattress and upgrade to a king bed now would be the time to do it because a) how often do we get a chance to shop without the kids and b) the 20% back would be enough to cover a bed for Amelia, who will be transitioning out of her crib by the end of the year (god help us). So consequently we have a king sleigh bed and tempurpedic mattress, complete with tempurpedic pillows, being delivered at some point on Tuesday, which I am extremely excited for! Although it should be an interesting experience because apparently the tempurpedic mattresses come with an odor that you have to air out of them first, and also it takes about eight weeks to break them in, during which time you may as well be sleeping on a rock. But after you air them out and break them in you are gauranteed a wonderful night's sleep ;) We also walked away with a $600 coupon towards Amelia's bed and the chance that just MAYBE our entire purchase will be free if a red sox player can get it together enough to hit the baseball on the Jordan's Furniture sign in the outfield any time after July 16th and the end of the regular season...

Dear Neighbors:

Yes I know Charlie loves snakes, but trust me, you didn't have to leave a flattened dead snake on our back porch railing for him. Even he thought it was pretty grosss.

Thank You.

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Haircuts & Lollipops

Amelia enjoyed her first real haircut so much that when it was over she made the hair dresser use the blow dryer on her (entirely unnecessarily) and when it was over she threw a huge temper tantrum saying 'I want to do it again!!'

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Mothers Day 2012

We celebrated Mother's Day up on the lake with Grammy and Grampy and had a super day! Charlie and Mike got to do their first fishing of the season -- Charlie caught about 15 fish and has even learned to bait his own hooks and take the fish off the hooks, too. Way to go, Charlie! We also had ANOTHER birthday cake for Charlie complete with a special order candle that shot fire works, twirled around, opened up like a flower, and sang happy birthday!

Here are some pictures.

Only Charlie...

Would tell me he's going outside to look for salamanders and actually come back with one...

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We Have A Yellow Belt!

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Technology Generation

Cape Codder

We had a great time with Grandma and Grandpa at the Cape Codder Resort and Spa this weekend! The kids enjoyed the indoor wave pool & water slides, and Charlie & Mike also braved the outdoor heated pool after dinner even though it had to have been all of 50 degrees out. After Amelia went to bed Grandma and Grandpa babysat her while Mike & Charlie & I roasted marshmallows and made s'mores at the bonfire, which they have every night -- yum! I didn't manage to get any pics at the pool but here is Charlie with a very burnt marhmallow (just the way we like them!) at the bonfire.

Three Girls

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Birthday Video

Happy Birthday Charlie!!

More pictures and video to follow as the birthday celebration continues throughout the weekend ;)

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