Question

Brother Bear had a internet chat last night with his Cousin Bear. They were giggling and talking and having and absolute blast. At one point, Brother Bear ran out of the computer room to fetch something he wanted to show his Cousin Bear.

Later that evening, I returned to the computer room and found this:

Here's my question: Am I being invaded or protected?

With all the books, games, movies and lego creations around here, I should know the answer. But, honestly, unless they are Luke, Leia, Hans, Yoda or Darth Vader, THEY ALL LOOK ALIKE TO ME.

This is my life, Cyberbears.

Seven!

Seven!

Oh my heaven!

When did you get old enough to be SEVEN YEARS? I just can't believe it! Now, I wasn't quite lucid when they brought you into this world, so someone had to give me photographic evidence of the moment you entered this world:

I guess I'll have to trust it...

Brother Bear, It seems like yesterday that we brought you home all tiny and soft and placed you in this cradle hand-made by your grandparent bears:

And now, now you are a BOY cub. There's no more baby cub left.

You've grown so much over the past year.

Not as much physically, but in character.

You grew in courage, facing an uncomfortable surgery you didn't want.

You grew in strength, managing the post-op pain and rehab.

You grew in maturity, learning the ropes at school and on the playground.

You grew in compassion, finding ways to give to others with what little you have.

You grew in humor, learning how to tell jokes and master a well timed physical pratfall.

These are stats the doctor won't measure at your 7 year checkup. But rest assured, we've observed them. We cherish them.

We love you.

Our first.

Our boy.

Happy Birthday Brother Bear!

Head first into trouble

These two bear cubs are going to make their Mama Bears' fur go grey. Not that any of you would know because, well, there are treatments for that condition. But know that, underneath all the treatment, it's full on grey 'cause of these two-twos.

But you know what? They are worth every penny we might spend on treatment!

Sales Cub of the Year

How

can

you

say

no?

I certainly can't.

Looks like we'll be eating LOTS of popcorn this year..

Downhill slide

I'm a runner bear. (Those of you who know me well just said a collective, "duh!?!"). Anyway, I'm currently training for my 13th marathon and (most days) loving it.

As a marathon running bear, I sometimes battle something called ITBS. It's no big deal if you know what the symptoms are, and keep them in check. After 12 marathons, I know the symptoms well. I also know that, for me, the key to keeping ITBS at bay is stretching.

Thus, every day after my run, I take a moment to do some simple yoga poses that help stretch my IT Band. Now, normally when I do yoga I'm in yoga pants which tend to cover your legs. But when I'm doing these particular stretches, I'm still in my running shorts.

So the other day, I was in a quiet corner of the gym dutifully stretching and enjoying a nice "downward facing dog" pose. Whilst there, I got a hairbrained idea to take a look at my legs, instead of the floor as I normally do.

Bad idea.

When I looked at my legs, I let out an audible cry. For this is what I saw:

(I have been assured that no elephants were injured during the taking of this picture)

Okay. So maybe I exaggerated a little. That's what I felt like I saw. here's what I really saw:

(Rest assured, no Mama Bears were injured during the taking of this picture. A stunt camera-bear was employed)

But seriously, look at those knees. Do you see now why I gasped? Apparently the elasticity of my leg skin has a lifetime warranty of 37.5 years. WHY DIDN'T ANYONE WARN ME? I want my money back! Goes to show that you just don't realize how valuable skin elasticity really is until you NO LONGER HAVE IT!

I'm currently researching (read: google searching 'til my eyes turn red) knee skin lifts. Until then it's bermudas, capris and long pants for me. (I'm now realizing why culottes were all the fashion craze amongst the Mama Bears when I was a cub). I'm contemplating bringing the burqa to main street fashion.

Sigh. They really mean it when they call it the "downhill slide" don't they?

************************************

Author's Post Script:

• It's not often that I get a chance to google search "elephant knee/leg pictures", "downward facing dog", "culottes" and "burqa" in one day. Let's just say that I might have wasted valuable Mama Bear time clicking and giggling today.
• I still can't believe I posted a picture of my nekked legs for all you Cyber Bears to see. Go easy with your comments please. Can't you see I'm fragile?
• I'm pretty sure that after this post, I've officially landed myself on some sort of government blog-watch list. Consider yourself warned.

I want my Hillbilly baby back!

Thanks to a mom/teacher bear known for her love of pulling teeth (why someone would love that, I have no earthly idea), Brother Bear's "tooth that just wouldn't come looth" was wrestled free last night at church. It wasn't without drama, or more blood than any of us would have preferred, but a visit from the tooth fairy seems to have eased all the pain!

I'm glad that the choking hazard is now gone from his mouth. However, I'm watching my precious baby shrink away with each subsequent tooth. I must admit that while the new smile is pretty darn cute, looking at it also makes me a little weepy. It's nothing but big teeth, braces and smelly socks from here on out.

So tonight, I cuddled him extra hard while I had the chance. It's my right as a Mama Bear! Right?

Hillbilly hello!

Alternately titled, "The tooth that just wouldn't come looth"...

Brother Bear has a loose tooth that has been hanging by a thread - literally - since Friday. I was certain that our corn on the cob with dinner on Friday would do the trick. Nope. This is one stubborn tooth.

Oh, and did I mention that I refuse to be a part of ripping a tooth from my sweet, innocent bear cub's mouth?

So, we wiggle and we wait and we wiggle some more. And we might also giggle a little every time we try to have a conversation with this:

Does anyone hear banjo music?

Accessorizing

"It's what all the ladies who lunch are wearing now, dahling!"

Viral

Below is a "viral video" I hope my bear cubs never see. I think I aged a year watching it (while thinking about how Brother Bear would find this soooooo fun). Gulp.

Honesty

Monday was the first day of school (first grade) for Brother Bear. So last week, many of the other First Grade Mama Bears decided it would be a good idea to get back in the swing of things by doing a few practice runs of getting to school at 7:50 a.m. Thus, Thursday and Friday of last week, we planned early morning play dates at the school.

Now might be a good time to mention one of my favorite things of summer is we don't have to be anywhere at 7:50 a.m.

I prepped Brother Bear and he was beyond excited. Thrilled. Because, well, the last 5 days of summer were....challenging around our house. I told him I would wake him at 6:45 a.m. Thursday morning and we would go through our whole routine (sans the uniform) and be at school at 7:50 a.m. for a play date.

So, Thursday morning, I'm awakened from my deep slumber at 7:20 a.m. by Papa Bear saying, "I have to go to work now..." Turns out, Brother Bear had woken up on his own, dressed, and eaten breakfast with Papa Bear. All while I was hibernating and ignoring my very annoying alarm clock. Needless to say, I had egg on my face and we did not make the play date.

Thursday evening over dinner Brother Bear and I discussed how on Friday we were really going to do a "dry run". We were going to do all of our morning routine and get to school no later than 7:50 a.m. Because, this was our last day to test and see if we could do it. Plus, there would be friends.

Brother Bear's response to me?

"Sure, Mama Bear! Well, assuming that you wake up of course!"

I could do with a little less honesty around here sometimes...

Two..

Two years ago today, I was enjoying my very quiet morning. Papa Bear was on a long run, and Brother Bear was still sleeping. I watched the sun rise, relaxed a little, and made out my very long list of to-dos for the day.

And - in an instant - my list of to-dos changed to one thing: bring Sugar Bear into the world!!

----------

Two years ago today, you gave me a wonderful surprise.

Two years ago today, I fell in love again.

In that short span of time, you've taught me much...

My "lists" and to-dos aren't important. They can wait.

The joy of life with a newborn.

Sibling love is a beautiful thing.

How to be more relaxed this time.

I love that every sentence you say end with an exclamation point.

I love your passion...well, mostly.

I love your sparkly eyes and the way you work a crowd.

You are my sunshine, Sugar Bear.

For a while, I wasn't sure you would grace our lives.

Oh, how blessed I am that you did!

Love,

Mama Bear

Survival Techniques

We got a last minute call tonight that Papa Bear would be working late. I decided that I didn't want to "cook" a full dinner for the cubs. So I pulled a rabbit out of the hat:

The Babysitter Dinner.

Oh, don't tell me you don't know what I'm talking about! You have a grand date night planned, and the last thing you want to do is stand over the stove all dressed up for the evening. So instead, you whip up something really easy and call it "dinner". And you always have it on hand - just in case.

Mine is: hot dogs, pasta, and grapes (or insert other seasonal fruit we have on hand at the time). No judging Cyber Bears. I used to put together a really healthy impressive meal for the babysitter but then I had an epiphany: She doesn't care. Rather freeing, I must say. And since we have a babysitter about every - oh - 6 months or so, my cubs aren't too nutritionally deprived. Because every other night, I feed them all organic, free range, nutritionist approved, gourmet meals.

Ahem.

So, what's your go-to Babysitter Dinner?

Don't tell me you don't have one.

I know better.

Excuse me?

It's the dead heat of summer. This Mama Bear is hot, tired, out of fun ideas, and, did I mention hot? So, at 4:00 p.m. this afternoon, I decided to load the cubs up and take them to the grocery store. "It's an adventure!" "There'll be cookies!" (yes, I AM that Mama Bear!)

Since I use coupons and bargain shop (not to mention I'm trying to drive the behemoth kiddie grocery cart) it takes a while to get through all the aisles. The cubs are relatively well behaved during the shopping experience. Then it came time for checkout. As it is impossible for me to be in two places at one time, checkout becomes a little more tricky. I'm trying to pay, answer the checker's coupon questions, and keep an eye on the cubs. Not an easy task.

Apparently, the natives got a little more restless than the bagger would prefer. I thought - given the circumstances - they'd done pretty well.

So, the bagger helps me to the car and starts unloading the groceries. I get the cubs buckled in and then go to the back of the van to help her unload the rest of the groceries.

And then she said, "You need to teach them how to behave."

OH. YES. SHE. DID.

Cyberbears, it took EVERY FIBER OF MY FURRY BODY to keep myself from becoming tomorrow's headlines.

What I wanted to say? "Hey lady, I don't tell you how to bag my groceries, how 'bout you do the same with me?"

What I actually said? "Thank you very much. I think I have it from here."

I'm outta grace for the day. She literally did me in. Not a drop left. It's 5:56, Papa Bear gets home at 6:00 p.m. and I'm hiding from the cubs until then.

When does school start?

Pasta. It's what's for dinner!

Beating the heat and keeping a six year old bear cub busy require a lot of creativity! This summer, during Sugar Bear's nap time, Brother Bear and I have been experimenting with cooking. Surprisingly enough, most of the recipes he selects require sugar. And butter. And chocolate. Not so good for our waistlines around here...

Now that he is getting more "experienced" in the kitchen, I thought it would be fun to let him make dinner for the family. And, since it feels like the surface of the sun these days, I thought pasta salad would be a great way to start. (Thank you, Highlights Magazine for the recipe!).

Yes, I gave him a knife. Scariest part of the whole experience!

Mama Bear definitely supervised this part!

Vegetables! Oh my!

Stir well.

And, voila! Dinner is served

(with fresh cantaloupe plucked from our garden as a side!)

It would have been even better if either of the cubs had actually eaten the salad he created. Sigh. Oh well!

(Oh, and for those of you concerned, it was NOT topless dinner night at the Four Bears Den! Brother Bear was recently out of the pool, thus, the shirtless attire.)