Monday, March 30, 2015

Tired Toddlers and Full Hearts

We have some funny pictures this weekend and some great moments that we captured on film- I was excited to write our blog this weekend, so I hope you enjoy reading it.

Our weekend was busier than normal with some exciting goings on that we took part in, but it started with a low key Friday night. I got home from work and we decided to take the kids out for Mexican food (something that is becoming a bit of a tradition at our house). We enjoyed eating dinner, but the kids had the most fun waiting for the table. We found a little nook and let the kids play- here's a sneak peek into their laugh-fest.


 I also managed to snap a picture of Harper and her daddy while we were waiting for the bill.
Saturday morning I went to the gym to finish out a competition I'd been doing each week for the last few weeks. Tony brought the kids up to watch me do a simple, but exhausting workout; I felt like I was working hard but not making much headway, and then I looked up and saw Harper clapping for me and smiling at me, and I couldn't help but smile back and get to work. It was wonderful to have my family there cheering me on. I didn't take any pictures of the kids this week, but here are some pictures from the kids playing at the gym two weeks ago after the competition- these are the pictures that Tony took and sorted through. 




Saturday afternoon we had a celebratory lunch after the competition and Jack and Harper got to tag along as the only kids at a table of 15 adults. H & J  were so well behaved and I was impressed with their patience while we waited on our food. In fact, the kids did so well at lunch that we decided a trip to the park was in store for the kiddos. So, after our "rest time" (I say rest because they did not take a nap) we had snacks and headed to meet friends at a new park we'd never been to. The weather was beautiful and the kids were clad in shorts and t-shirts as they explored the play structure and climbed up and down stairs, slid down slides, and ran all over the park. While we had a good time, the heat was a factor (I can't imagine what the 100 plus degrees this summer will feel like), and the kids would sit down at the top of a slide and declare "too hot" and then walk back down the steps. When did they get to be so big and express so much?

Sunday morning we woke up to two happy kiddos singing and playing in their beds. Harper immediately asked for pancakes for breakfast, so I set out to make breakfast while the kids played with Tony. We ran errands in the morning and wore the kids out enough to take a good nap before hitting up the most exciting event of the weekend, the Easter egg hunt at a local church. The kids had never hunted eggs before, but they picked it up quickly were thrilled to find that the eggs had prizes in them. 




After hunting eggs, we stopped off at the bounce house. Jack was so excited to jump that he didn't even mind the bigger kids jumping around him. Harper was not as confident, and she stayed in the bounce house for only a few minutes before bailing out to look through her Easter egg prizes one more time. Meanwhile, I had to coax Jack out of the bounce house after Tony and Harper had gotten in line for the petting zoo.


The petting zoo turned out to be fun for all four of us. The kids got to pet goats, ducks, guinea pigs, piglets, bunny rabbits, and chicks. Each time Jack would pet an animal, he would squeal with delight and grin so wide that you could see all this teeth. Harper got to do two things that we bright spots: she got to hold a chicken, and she got to brush a piglet. I'm not sure she was 100% sold on the chicken or the piglet, but she did have a good time while she was in the petting zoo.




Needless to say, the kids were ready to head to bed on Sunday night and they slept well. Tony and I both rolled into bed early as well; we were tired, but our hearts were so full that it made the busy pace of the weekend well worth it...totally worth it.

Sunday, March 22, 2015

What We've Been Up To This Week

After two weeks that had snow days and then a whole week off for spring break, this last week seemed to be such a long work week, but the kids and Tony and I did some fun things, so those were our bright spots.

I'll start with our weekend last weekend that included our St. Patty's Day celebration- just a little bit early. Saturday morning (last Saturday), the kids and I got up early and grabbed a quick smoothie for breakfast and then we bundled up and ran a 5K race with our friends. I was pleased that I finished the race- I hadn't run a 5K while pushing the kids before...ever. It was also great to have a running buddy to chat with while we ran. Around mile 1.5, Jack started yelling "Up! UP! I want up now!!!" So, I had to convince him to stay in the stroller- thankfully, there were people running with dogs, so we spent the last 1.5 miles looking for doggies and Jack stayed put.


After the race, the kids got to spend some time playing in the bounce house- their first time ever in a bounce house. Harper wasn't quite sure what to think between the bouncing floor and the other kids running around, but Jack jumped in and did not want to come out. In fact, every time I asked him to come out of the bounce house, he would run to the back corner where I couldn't get him. I finally had to get the girl working the bounce house to climb in and get him- I think Jack has found something that he digs.

Jack also has a new hobby- drumming. This boy has been drumming on the walls, the stairs, the laundry basket, and this is a picture Tony took of Jack on his new perch where he likes to drum. He's sitting on the grill cart of the play kitchen and banging on the kitchen with his feet in the shelves- maybe he's the next John Bonham? Who knows!

This week, thankfully, the sun came out for a few hours one day- the rain has been okay, but I'm ready for sun- so the kids and I went outside to play. We have some new neighbors next door who happened to be out, so while I talked to the neighbors, the kids spent their time digging in the mulch in the flowerbed. I was so happy to be out in the sun that I didn't even care- it was bath night anyway :)


This weekend we spent some quality time together as a family, and it has been really nice to have some down time with each other. Friday night we set out to have some Mexican food for dinner, but after trying three restaurants with long wait times, we needed up eating some rotisserie chicken, and the kids had a pretty good dinner- Jack really liked the corn.


Saturday morning Tony went up to our gym to take pictures of a competition, so the kids and I went to the grocery store and then we went to cheer on the last heat of the competition. Harper and Jack love to run around the gym, so they were happy when the weights were all cleaned up and people started heading out and they could have some fun. Jack was very excited about playing basketball with some of the big guys. More pictures of the gym to follow when Tony gets them all edited.



Our weekend was rounded out with a fun Sunday morning breakfast with friends that had us asking for a table for 8- 4 kids and 4 adults. We certainly had the biggest table in the place, but our kids were so great. In fact, a woman stopped by our table on the way out to tell us how well behaved she thought our kids were- what a great compliment for them.


After breakfast we ran some errands, one of which was picking up a few things at the grocery store. We stopped by a store that has kids carts, and we let Harper and Jack each get a cart- they were so excited to be able to walk around the grocery store. Both kids tried to put all sorts of strange things in the cart (chili mac anyone?), but we managed to get out of the store with only 2 things that weren't on the list originally (vanilla wafers and hot chocolate)- not too bad.



When we got home today, we played outside in the sunshine. We let the kids push their jeeps and walk around the whole block. Harper made the entire walk pushing her jeep- Jack rode for a while and then ran in front of Tony giving his jeep a good push once in a while.




After playing outside we made a birthday cake for Ms. Durinda's birthday this week- the kids were thrilled to get to help and throughly enjoyed getting to lick the beaters.


So, that's been our week. In addition to our outings, Tony and I have been craving up all week listening to the new things that the kids say. They are so funny! Abby was looking at a cat sitting on our porch (scat cat!) and Harper was trying to get around Abby to get a block; she said "cuse me, Abby" and then tapped her until Abby moved. Harper was also face timing my mom today while Harper "cooked" at her play kitchen. She made some soup that she wanted to my mom to try and told Nana "Open Wide!" while she held the spoon up to the phone- I love that smart girl!

Jack has been funny with his requests- "more tickle right now!" or  when I was chasing him and picked him up, he squealed "put me down right now!" and then followed with "more chasin'!"  This boy did have a super meltdown Saturday after a short nap. We tried to get him to get ready to go run errands, and Jack laid on the floor and screamed for 10-15 minutes. Both Tony and I talked to him and he would calm down for a little bit, but then would throw a tantrum again. Thankfully, he got himself together; after calming down and sitting in my lap for a little while, he was back to his smiley self. I hope he always keeps that big grin- I love that happy boy!