Saturday, June 28, 2014

Crazy & Sweet

Life around here is so damn crazy sometimes. I mean, sometimes I think I am actually going to go crazy. Like, I need medication, crazy…but then, miraculously, I don’t and I start to think about all the sweet moments in my day. Sweet moments that I am absolutely paying attention to, moments that keep me sane, I’m sure.

For instance:

  • Zoe and Brandon headed to Fredericksburg this morning and are staying the night there and then hitting Kings Dominion tomorrow. As they were getting ready to leave, I was upstairs finishing up from my shower and putting away laundry. They were saying goodbye to everyone downstairs when I overheard Zoe say that she wasn’t leaving yet because she hadn’t said goodbye to me. They waited for me to come downstairs, gave me a hug and went on their way. It felt good knowing that they waited for me. Sweet.
  • Landon wasn’t too happy about having to mow the lawn this morning, but he did it anyways. He was a little grumpy, but I was being silly and was able to get a genuine smile and laugh out of him. He returned the favor by returning to his goofy, silly self and things brightened up for him. I love to see that kids sweet smile.
  • When we went out to eat tonight, Harper was the first to finish. (You can read that as: Harper didn’t eat anything.) He walked around the table to me and when I asked him what he was doing, he said he just wanted to sit on my lap. He doesn’t ask too often to sit on my lap so, of course, I pulled him up to sit with me. He didn’t want anything but to be with me; what’s sweeter than that?
  • It was my night to put Dakota to bed, which made her happy. She loves her dada, but she always wants me to put her to bed these days. It’s probably because I’m such a sucker and stay in her room forever with her, but I like spending that time with her, so I don’t mind. Tonight, as usual, I was trying to get her to settle down, so I closed my eyes and told her I was going to go to sleep. She pretended to be asleep for a minute, but then she started to wiggle around and then turned and gave me the sweetest little kiss. I said “I love you, Kota” and she said “Luh u, momma” and snuggled into my arms as I rocked her. Sweetie pie.

So, at night, when I’m rehashing the day in my mind, it’s those little moments that I want to think about. Those moments are what I want my dreams to be made of and the ones I want to draw from when the next round of crazy rolls around.

Wednesday, June 25, 2014

(Nearly) Wordless Wednesday

Last week when the three kids and I went to breakfast and the park I got lots of great pictures but never posted them…so, here they are!

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Kids on Scooters

The kids, Mema and I went to the skating rink again this Monday. I think if I keep taking them maybe they’ll see other kids riding their bikes/scooters/tricycles and be more interested in riding theirs. Dakota is more interested in it than Harper, but she really just wants to do what he does so I’ve gotta get him interested so she’ll follow suit.

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This week when we went, Harper wasn’t nervous like last time and he ran in and jumped on a scooter. He remembered liking it from last week, so that’s what he went for.

And, not to be outdone by her brother, Dakota hopped on a scooter too.

I would post video of Harper pedaling a tricycle (another first for him) but I am so annoying on the video that I don’t want anyone to have to listen to it, haha! I keep saying you CAN do it, like 50 jillion times and it’s entirely obnoxious.(I was just SOOO excited!) So, you’ll just have to take my word on it that he did in fact learn how to pedal this week. He did some backwards pedaling, but since there wasn’t a brake like on his bike, he didn’t get so discouraged and eventually figured out how to move forwards instead of backwards.

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So, I’m not completely sure, but I think this idea might work. Maybe surrounding them with kids riding bikes and stuff will encourage the idea? Maybe seeing how much fun the other kids are having will be enough to make Harper keep trying, I don’t know. But, we’ll keep going back and see what happens.

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Park and Pool Day

What. A. Day.

We were up and out the door early this morning because I had to meet another mom at the preschool to move files. It didn’t take up too long, so afterwards we went to a nearby park to play. (All 4 kids and went because we were going to the pool in Mema’s neighborhood afterwards.)

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We only stayed for about half an hour, and it was long enough. The temperature was decent but humidity was high, so it was time to go.

We got to Mema’s house with an hour to kill before the pool opened so we made lunch for a picnic and then headed out.

The minute we got to the pool (11am) the kids were ready for lunch, so we ate and then hopped in the pool. I figured we’d only be there an hour or so, two at the most, but boy was I wrong! We ended up staying for 4 hours and I had to drag Harper and Landon out of the pool!

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Dakota was really happy about being in the pool this morning. She was hopping all over the place and giggling when we first got there. I decided to record her and wouldn’t you know, she fell down and went underwater! I couldn’t believe when she stood back up and went right back to playing! She didn’t cry at all! She ended up doing it more than once today and each time she was able to get up by herself and go right back to playing.

Poor Dakota was so tired. She passed out on the way home and cried and cried once she finally woke up. She doesn’t do too well without a nap…it sure makes me nervous about our upcoming trip to Disney.

Landon was in the deep end by himself while everyone else was taking a break so I went over to see what he was doing.

This was probably the best day we’ve had this summer yet. The kids were so happy and when they’re happy it sure makes the day nice. I think the change in scenery (Mema’s pool instead of ours) made the difference. There are a lot more people that go to her pools and that means lots of people to play with. Harper and Landon both made friends hence the reason I had to drag them home! Smile

 

I’m hoping for lots more days like this one!

Friday, June 20, 2014

Five on Friday

  • The three kids and I got up and out the door early this morning. We made a stop at Dunkin Donuts for breakfast then went to play at airplane park for a little bit. The kids were in a great mood and had a great time.
  • One morning this week I was trying to figure out what to feed Dakota. When I asked her what she wanted she kept saying “bopbee bopbee” and I was getting a little frustrated trying to figure out what that was. All of a sudden Harper says “when she says that she means sausage biscuit, mom!” (and he pronounces it “sauskit biscuit” which is quite a bit closer to the real thing and equally adorable) and I knew immediately he was right because I then remembered her saying it before. Phew. Good thing I’ve got my little helper here to figure these things out! Love that these two kiddo’s understand each other when I can’t!
  • Zoe, Brandon and Paige made it to Chicago without any problems. They were there by 7:45am our time, 6:45am their time. So, they pretty much flew.
  • Harper went to a birthday party for a preschool classmate today. The party was at non other than Rolly Pollies! He was so happy to go and he had a wonderful time playing! We just cannot stay away from that place.
  • We went to dinner at Red Robin tonight after the birthday party. Ever since Landon was little he wasn’t a big burger eater. He will eat one if we make it at home, but it’s never something he orders at a restaurant…until tonight. He, for the first time ever, ordered himself a cheeseburger! It was such a big deal I took a picture! :)
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Thursday, June 19, 2014

Seashells, Colors, Puppet Shows and Chicago

I decided we were staying home today. I didn’t have a clue what we were going to do, I just knew that I was sick of dragging the kids here, there and everywhere. It was a stormy kind of day anyways so it worked out perfectly.

Harper was a bit antsy first thing this morning so I handed him a box full of seashells to play with. It’s amazing how long something so simple can entertain him. There were lots of shells in that little box and he examined each one and placed each one on the tray I gave him. He talked and talked about them and told me little things he noticed. I think it was just over a half hours time when he finally got tired of it and declared that it had been hard work sorting out those shells and that he was done. :)

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While Harper was working with the shells, Dakota wanted to pull out the Hot Dots Jr. cards. We worked on the colors cards and she was happy with it for about 10 minutes which is pretty long for an almost 2 year old.

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When she finished with the Hot Dots game, she wanted to play with the color pie. It only lasted about 2 minutes and then we were off to something else.

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The rest of our day was spent playing inside with toys. We pulled out all kinds of things that we haven't seen in awhile and they were both pretty content all day long.

Tonight before bed Harper asked if we could do a puppet show instead of read books. It ended up that Zoe came up and did a puppet show for him and then he wanted to do one for us. He was having a hard time thinking of what he could say though and pretty much just mumbled to himself. :) But, here’s a little bit of video I got…

And, finally, Zoe, Brandon and Paige (Brandon’s sister) left tonight around 8pm for Chicago. Brandon’s family makes the drive out there once every year in the summer and this year Zoe got to go as well. They have lots of family out there and Brandon’s grandparents are celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary too. Zoe is so excited to go to Chicago! For what, I don’t know, but I sure hope it lives up to her expectations!

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Good Bye 7th Grade

I can’t believe I forgot to post that yesterday was Landon’s last day of 7th grade! It was such a non event. He got up (late) and was running behind all morning. I tried to get a picture of him before he left, but because he was late, he was still trying to eat breakfast when it was time for him to go. So, the pictures I got weren’t great.

I do love this one though because you can see his little brother’s head at the bottom of the photo. Harper and Dakota both gave him a big hug and kiss before he headed out, something they like to do most mornings. (Dakota’s my real hugger and kisser, but Harper likes to give out some lovins every once in awhile as well.)

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When Landon came home he acted like it was just any other day. He was  wet though and when I asked him why he explained that his bus driver had given each kid a water gun when they got on the bus and let them have a water gun fight all the way home! What an awesome bus driver, right?! He said it was so fun and that everyone was soaked.

He also told me that he wasn’t that excited about school being out because he was going to miss seeing his friends every day. So far though, I don’t think he’s missed anything because he’s been keeping busy hanging out with the kids in the neighborhood. They played kickball last night and tonight he was out for hours playing wiffle ball. I hope his summer turns out to be a great one and that he doesn’t miss his friends too much.

Cannot believe I’ve got another kid on the cusp of high school. One more year and he’ll be in the home stretch. I’m proud and sad…you know the story.

Bumper Boats

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Going to the pool at night with the kids has really been nice. The kids are happy to go down there to play for a bit and it’s been so hot that the water is the perfect way to cool off. Wednesday night we decided to just order pizza and have it delivered to the pool. That was way easier than dragging dinner down there! 

I love the pictures of Harper feeding Dakota pieces of pizza! They’re just cute like that.

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Of course, since we’re down there so much, we had to get a few more toys for the kids to use.One night we were down there we saw a boy with a motorized boat that squirted water and I knew right then that my kids would love one of their own. So, this week, I ran out to Sams club and bought one.

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The two littles shared pretty well the first day but I figured why not have two…so, the next morning I ran back up to Sams to pick up their very last one. I when I say ran, I mean drove, but you know what I mean. ;) So now they both have their own little boats to drive around the pool squirting everyone in sight.

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Dakota decided she was brave enough to run and jump to me in the pool that night too. She did it several times and I kept letting her go a little further each time, but never completely under. I don’t want to scare her off, but I sure would like for her to get used to the idea of going all the way under water. Harper is really afraid to go underwater and he wouldn’t even try jumping. Not even when I told him I’d hold his hand while he jumped. He did it once, but he didn’t love it. We REALLY need to get him in lessons so that he’ll get over his fear and learn to love the water and swimming. 

Monday, June 16, 2014

Dinner at the Pool

“Poolside dinner tonight?” was the text I got from Tony this morning. It was a hot day here, in the low 90’s, so I thought it sounded like a great idea. As soon as he got home he started cooking while I got our stuff together to swim. The two little’s were anxious to get to the pool so we headed down and Tony met us there a little later.

Dinner was simple; sandwiches,chips and pasta salad with leftover brownies for dessert. The kids loved eating out by the pool and the weather couldn’t have been more agreeable. It was so great in fact, that we plan to repeat the whole process tomorrow! (Zoe didn’t come with us tonight because she wanted to see the USA v. Ghana soccer match.)

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After dinner we got back into the pool to play for a bit. It was lovely.

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April Fools Pranks

The two little kids made me laugh yesterday morning.  I was upstairs getting things ready for school when I heard them talking about how ...