Memorial Day 2012

We decided to skip a trip to the cabin, and work on projects around the house for Memorial weekend. The boys were a bit disappointed, but they will have plenty of time up north this summer. David put my window boxes on the house a few weeks ago and they needed to be filled. I found a picture on Pinterest and headed to Glei's on Thursday. I've never really bought flowers for our house, and so I am a beginner and needed some help. The customer service was horrible, and I walked out in tears. (It was that time of the month, if you know what I mean).

 On Friday, I had plans to meet my friend Sarah at Puddingstone Farm. I love to take the boys  to see all the farm animals. I think this year is our 3rd or 4th year going. Jake was at school, and being that he is almost 8, I knew he would have no interest in the animals. Even Tyler didn't show much enthusiasm. Thank goodness I still have Collin to share this tradition with! Although he cried and wanted nothing to do with the animals when I took him in the barn. I think all the chickens roaming around freaked him. He did like the bunnies and miniature horses outside though. Didn't take a single picture- yea me! After the Glei's fiasco, I was determined to fill my damn window boxes. After all, I had been wanting these for 5 long years and they needed to be filled! Puddingstone also has 3 greenhouses, so the owner and another employee helped me tremendously and did a wonderful job. I would highly recommend Puddingstone if you ever need flowers. They have a great selection and prices. I never realized how damn expensive flowers are! Especially when you have to fill 4 long window boxes!   Here is a sneak peek:

After Puddingstone, we went to get ice cream and then I spent the rest of the afternoon planting flowers. At dinnertime, my friend Keri came. She offered to watch the boys so David and I could go out for a date. We ran errands instead and went to The Hobbit, Tractor Supply, Menards, and then Ground Round for dinner. We wanted to eat outside, so we thought it would be a good choice. Not good at all. Yucky food, yucky atmosphere. After dinner we stopped by Chad and Lindsay's.

David had to finish up a few projects at the rental house, so he was gone most of the day on Saturday. I cleaned and made food because we had a few friends over later. It rained a bit during the day, but cleared up by the time everyone showed up. There were six adults and six kids, which was just enough to be borderline crazy, but it was fun.

 We made burgers/hotdogs, macaroni salad, watermelon, taco dip, chips, and brownies. I had fun catching up with Sarah and Jenna while we wrangled the kids. David, Jason, and Kevin did the grilling and beer drinking. After a bonfire and smores, we some kids to bed and some in front of a movie. Keri stopped by and us girls got a little crazy. Keri's flip flop broke, so we got some duck tape out to fix it.

I had to be up by 7:30 on Sunday because I was scheduled to do the church nursery. After church, David pressure washed the deck, one of the big jobs we had on our to-do list. We stained it a yucky brown color last summer, and it was already peeling up. It was a mess. The stain came off good, but it took about 5 hours to do the whole deck. Later, Grandma Dar came down for dinner. We had hotdogs again, baked beans, watermelon and french fries. After dinner, it was time for our favorite show as a family: AFV. At bedtime it was still hot, after being 90 for most of the day. The boys asked if they could sleep out on the trampoline.

It was the perfect night for it. The mosquitoes aren't too bad yet. They loved it and I was happy they got to do something fun while we had a "work weekend."

I was cranky on Memorial day and so were the boys. They stayed up late the previous 2 nights. I had no patience left and David had to fix a leak at the rental, so I was solo parenting again. By 11:30, I had had enough. I packed up the kids and picked up Grandma Dar. We went to McDonalds and had a picnic while we waited for the parade to start. Again, I took no pictures. Although it was hot again today-92! There was a nice breeze so it wasn't too bad at the parade. When we got home, David was sanding the deck. The boys laid down for a bit, before Grandma picked them back up to go swimming/ fishing at a friends house. David, Collin and I stayed back and cleaned up outside. It was a nice mix of work and play for the long weekend. It feels good to get some projects checked off, and have some fun with friends.

Good Life

There was nothing special, extraordinary, or unusual about today. It was just good. Just plain good. I woke up early enough to have coffee in peace. While I drank my coffee, I wondered where to escape while my house got cleaned. Once a month, I get a day off. Cleaning lady day is my day off. It is a guaranteed good day. I leave for 3 hours and come home to a magically clean house. Today, I had nothing of importance that I had to check off my usually long list of errands. Wander Target? The Library? I decided to head to Lowes. I know, lame. But, we have been wanting to re-finish our sticky, glitter covered, name carved it in, dull, cheap Hobby Lobby dining room table for at least 2 years. The few weekends we don't have anything to do, the thought of loading the kids in the car to get the supplies and then heading home to even start the project sounds daunting. With the weather being so unusually nice, I thought maybe we could squeeze this project out this weekend. Why not get a head start and get all the supplies?

The magic of the cleaning lady starts with an already picked up house. This is the hard part. Having the house picked up (while the kids are there), including all the dishes, beds made, kids dressed and fed, and me ready to go all by 8:45am. This always starts "cleaning lady day" off with a tich of mad scramble stress, but it is soooo worth it my friends. Do a drop off on Ty and Collin and I were headed to Lowes. We even had time for a JoAnn stop and a quick Target. It to top it off, it was gorgeous outside.

For lunch, I set up the outdoor table for Ty and Collin ( I didn't want to mess up my floors, I need at least 1 hour to admire them before they get trashed). We grilled some hot dogs and ate outside. In March. Collin took his nap with the window open and Tyler and I  brought up the outdoor furniture and screens.

Jake came home from school and the boys played while I put screens in and washed windows. After Collin got up, we puttered around outside and then I started dinner. I was so looking forward this dinner, and had specifically planned due to the weather forecast. Steaks on the grill and foil pack potatoes. We threw in some frozen corn too. We ate our dinner outside with the background of the spring peepers in full symphony. And there's more- Girl Scout Peanut Butter Patty's for desert. I was feeling sorry for myself after eating those stupid cookies, because I had not been on the treadmill that day or any of the previous 5 days before this. Jake loves to play tag, so I did for about 3 minutes. Then I dug out the game Tag Tails and we ran around for another 3 minutes. I got bored soon after and quit. Jake asked to take a walk and that sounded boring too. I offered a bike ride and he agreed. We left Tyler because he still had training wheels and couldn't go up hills. That really pissed him off. While Jake, Collin and I were gone, David took Tyler to get his bike out of storage and practiced with him riding a two wheeler. He did great! Jake, Collin, and I had fun on our bike ride. I think I burned off some more cookie, and got to spend some time with just Jake.

Now the kids are in bed, this mama has documented the day, and the house is still clean. It's a good life. (Could have been better with a glass of wine).

Last Week

Last week, I switched Tyler to morning preschool. The afternoon schedule wasn't working for us anymore. And really, I wasn't thrilled about afternoon preschool anyway. This all happened because Tyler was signed up for the early 5's class at preschool, but it was only offered in the afternoon. I was willing to sacrifice afternoons if it meant he would be in the early 5's. But the school called me over the summer and said that they did not have enough kids to do the class, and he was now in the 4's class and the only available spot was the afternoon. Anyway, long story short- I had no choice. And I kind of liked it at first. I had visions of Collin napping while Tyler was at school and I would get 2 whole hours to myself! That only happened maybe a handful of times. Collin's nap schedule ended up being at 10 and 3:30. Collin was awake the whole afternoon and didn't nap until 3:30, right when Jake and Tyler got home. Now that Collin is older, he really only needs 1 nap and it needs to be in the afternoon, without having to be disturbed with pick up and drop off times.

 Each day started with me trying to schedule a nap, lunch, drop off times and then pick up times. I dreaded it, and I had a hard time planning it out because it didn't work! Finally I had a realization that Tyler really didn't  haven't to finish the year out. He could be a drop out preschooler. I told his teacher that day and she mentioned they may have a spot in the morning class. Perfect! I was worried about having him home all day, because the previous day when I had finally had enough of my crap schedule, I just didn't take him to school for that day. He spent the day asking me "mom, what can I do?" He was bored. Now, we are all happy. Not to mention he went from 4 days a week to 3 so it is less money, less driving, and more time with him. I wish I had done it sooner.

So Monday, I dropped Ty off at his new class. I thought it would be hard since it is so late in the year, but he was fine when I dropped him off, and the teacher told me he did great. I felt so bad doing all this switching around, but he told me he already made a new friend, Jack. Collin and I went grocery shopping, which I usually do on Mondays. I was way more energentic and alert being that I was still on my coffee buzz. It was so much easier shopping in the morning and I loved the feeling of getting it done in the morning and having the rest of my day to do whatever I needed. We picked up Ty, had lunch, Collin laid down for a one long nap, and I got my housework done.

No school on Tuesday for Tyler, so we got Jake out the door, and I did some organizing around the house. I love organizing and cleaning stuff out. Today I tackled the hall closet and moved a ton of games the boys never play to the basement. I know they are done with them, but I still want to keep them for Collin. It makes it hard to get rid of things when I've got another boy coming through the ranks. I'm not really sure what else I did on Tuesday. It seems like it was raining. I think after Collin laid down, Ty and I headed to the basement so I could work out on the treadmill. I remember playing a round of Candyland too, because it got dug out of the closet.

It was really warm on Wednesday, so after I dropped Jake and Ty at their schools I decided to get the Gator out of storage. Ty had been asking for it a lot and it I figured we are hopefully done with winter. Collin and I washed it down while Ty was at school. I left it sitting out so he could see it from the van when we pulled in from the driveway. He spotted it when we were at the stop sign to our road, um, 75 yards away.

He drove that thing all day long. He waved to me when I was at the bedroom window and it is an image I wish I had caught with the camera, but I don't think it would have captured the happiness or the pure joy in this eyes. The funny thing is his knees are cramped into the dash, and he really has out grown it since last summer, but he still loves it. Collin on the other hand, has finally grown into it. Last fall his feet dangled, now they rest on floor. I can't keep Collin off it either. He throws major fits when he doesn't get a ride.

After Jake got home, the kids and I ran to the library and then made our first trip to the park for the spring. Collin climbed right up and went down the slide like he had been doing it for years.

I don't remember much about Thursday. Another day off for Tyler so I know we didn't have to go anywhere. David has early work meetings on Thursday and once the alarm went off, I couldn't go back to sleep. It was 5:45am. At 6:00, I decided to have coffee and then I decided why not get my showering done for the day in peace while the kids are still sleeping. Right in the middle of my quiet shower, I hear the pounding of feet coming through the hallway. When I peeked out, I was surprised to see Collin with them. The boys somehow manged to get him out of his crib. I spent the last 10 minutes of my shower trying to figure out how they got him out. When I went up to get clothes for him, I saw they had moved the glider against the crib and hoisted him out. By lunch, I was sooo sleepy. I quickly put Collin down and Tyler and I climbed into my bed. I was again thanking myself for switching to morning preschool, because normally I would have been leaving to drop him off at that point. Now we were snuggled up and it was raining out. We read a quick story and it was all I could do to keep my eyes open. I said "Tyler, I have to close my eyes for a minute." Just like my mom used to do to me. I think I had been asleep 2 minutes when I heard in a whisper "Mom." Seriously? "Mom- can I watch nerf shows on the computer?" Had I been in a right state of mind, I would have plunked him down in front of the tv for the duration of my nap. "No, Tyler go play" I told him. Fall asleep again. I was asleep maybe 3 minutes this time. "I'm all done!" This means Tyler went and laid a turd in the potty and I have to wipe him. The timing on this kid! I gave up on my nap. I really don't know the rest of the day after that, I was still too groggy to recall anything.

I was looking foward to Friday. That night I was invited to girls night at Duck Lake. We did a drop off at schools and Collin and I got some wine supplies for the weekend. My orginal plan was to drop the kids off at the in laws right after Jake got home, but I tried cramming a work-out, shower, pack myself, make brownies & rice krispie treats, and pack the kids all between 1-3pm. I left the house at 4:30 and didn't get out to the lake until 6. I had a great time having cocktails and talking with the other mommies. I really wish every weekend started that way.

I had to pick Collin up in the morning on Saturday so the older boys could do fun stuff with Grandma. By the time I got home, Collin and I had some lunch and he laid down. I spent the rest of the day cleaning up from my mad scramble out the door on Friday. After rounding the kids back up at 4:30, I made dinner and then we had a movie night planned for the boys.

We watched Where the Red Fern Grows. I didn't think it was all that great, but the kids liked seeing the characters we read about in the book. I love Collin in the background chillin in the bean bag. Of course, I cried again when the damn dogs died. He's an up close of Collin in the beanbag.

I love movie nights! An hour and a half I don't feel guilty about putting the kids in front of the tv. It's planned out and we all sit and watch a good movie as a family. Tylers next request is Puss In Boots, so we are going to try and squeeze that in next weekend.

I also love documenting our life by weeks. Although I hope that they are not all this long! I've been at this computer for hours. I can tell I haven't blogged in a while because I tend to ramble on about everything and every little detail.

The Last Snowfall

We had a big snowfall the last weekend in February and I had a feeling it would probably be the last. I try to get out sledding at least once with the boys and had not done it yet. So, after dropping Jake off at school on Friday, we bundled up and got our sledding on. This was Collin's first time and he loved it. At first, Tyler and I took him half way up the hill, but after about 3 runs he was ready to go to the top. Tyler was with him at the top and got him going down, while I waited at the bottom to catch him. It was a beautiful morning- the sun was out and it wasn't too cold. I even ended up taking my coat off. We ended up being outside close to 2 hours. It was also perfect snowman making snow, so Tyler and I got to work and made a nice man of snow. The fresh air must have worked magic on Collin, he slept for 3 1/2 hours.

Saturday, David worked for most of the day. Jake had his boy scout pinewood derby, so I took the boys by myself. Everyone had family or at least their husband/wife there and I was feeling pretty lonely. It didn't help that I couldn't stop thinking about the previous years derby, which my dad attended. It was one of the few things he came to see Jake participate in. It was just one of those days. To top it off, Jake came in 4th every single race. He did not put much effort into constructing his car and it showed. I was disappointed that he didn't try harder. David didn't get home until close to 5. I hadn't done much with the boys except snap at them for most of the day. I left David with Collin and loaded up the boys for some sledding at Victory Hill in Albion. To keep my crappy day going, I made sure to get mad at David for not coming with us, even though he had just gotten home from work, and it would have been impossible to bring Collin along.

Once we got to the hill, I made sure to have a good time. I love taking the kids to do fun things. It beats being home trying to play whatever "pretend" thing they have going on. (I have no imagination and get bored fast). The hill wasn't busy at all and it wasn't too cold. We had a great time coming up with different combinations of sleds & riders. Around 6:30, it started to get dark, but the hill had lights. The boys thought it was so cool to sled at night. Everyone had gone home at that point so the hill was empty. Someone had constructed a jump out of a hay bale, but I was too chicken to try it with other adults around. Now that everyone was gone, I had my chance. I was a tich nervous, but did it anyway. I got pretty good air on it. The landing jarred my neck a bit. The boys hit it once or twice too. I laughed at them- I have a weird sense of humor and only laugh when someone falls. Jake somehow peed his pants soon after, so we left. I felt much better after we left. Just good bonding and laughing with my boys. A good ending to a crappy day.

We had to really make up for all the sledding we had missed out on at this point, so Sunday we took the kids back out sledding to the little hill behind our house. The pictures will sum everything up- no description needed.

I'm kinda glad David didn't go with us to Victory Hill, I would have been embarrassed by the weird faces he makes while sledding.

Where The Red Fern Grows

Jake and Tyler have been really into hunting lately, and Jake requested some hunting books from the library. Where The Red Fern Grows came  up in the library search I knew they would love it. We haven't read many long chapter books together, mostly Laura Ingalls books. I was really excited to get back into reading with them. Lately we've been doing books on CD at night because I needed a break from reading to them. Don't get me wrong, I love reading to the boys, but I've been reading to them since Jake was a baby, so after 7 years I needed a break and they have really enjoyed listening to Adventures in Odyssey anyway.

We started Red Fern way back in January and it took 6 weeks to get through it, but we did it. The boys loved it, especially Tyler. When Jake was at school he would ask me to read it to him, which I couldn't because Jake would miss what was happening in the story. He even would tell me I could just re-read the part later to Jake. Half way through the book, Tyler also asked me where all the pictures are, which I thought was funny. I told him he would just have to make the pictures in his head. At night, when I stopped reading, Tyler would call out "No Mama! Read more!"

I loved it when the boys would explain what was happening in the story to David. And half way through, Jake started asking for his own set of hunting dogs. The part I dreaded most was the end of the story, when the dogs die. I thought it would be hard for the boys to read a sad story, but it turns out it was harder for me than it was for the boys. I was the one crying as I read the pages. The boys just looked at me like I was crazy. One of the many differences between boys and girls I guess.

It was so nice to have a book read when the boys were bored or just needed some down time without always turning the TV on. I didn't just read it to them at night, we read on Sunday afternoons or after Jake got home from school. This was partly due to the fact that I didn't want to keep re-newing the book from the library and we would have never gotten through it just reading a few pages at night. But it turned out to be a great way to fill those times when they want TV. Now we can't wait to watch the Red Fern movie. We have a movie night planned for next weekend and it's one we are all looking foward to watching. We are also looking foward to the next chapter book. I have a long list full of books that I can't wait to read. Many of them are books I read as a kid, some are books I wish I had read as a kid. David and I decided to take turns reading, so I guess he will pick the next book.

Collin- 12 months

My baby is a year old! I really can't believe it, especially since he still looks like a baby to me. He only has his two bottom teeth, so he still has that toothless grin that gives him that baby look. Both Jake and Tyler had their top and bottom teeth before they turned one. Having front teeth instantly gives them a toddler look. Collin already has that third baby pace down-SLOW. He also isn't even close to walking, and both the other boys were walking before their 1 st Birthday. But he is cute, healthy, and happy so I can't complain.

We spent most of July at the cabin. Everybody loves it, especially the boys, so why not! We spent the first week of July up north, came home for 5 days and then went back up for  another week.

It was fun to see Collin playing and crawling all over. Last summer when we went up, he was only a few weeks old, so he slept. This summer he is all over the place, mostly in the sand and water. Being up north, Collin also gets lots of attention from Nana, so I get a chance to hang with the bigger boys. He likes it.

And, he gets to see his Daddy more, because the second time we went up, David took his vacation and spent the week with us.

Collin is also loving having his two brothers home this summer. He loves to play and be with them.

They all loved playing with "feely goopy" and playing in the swimming pool together.

He also gets Gator rides with Tyler. I still can't believe how good the boys are with him.

At one year, Collin:

• loves to climb the stairs
• loves to shut doors
• will give a hug if you are fake or real crying
• waves bye
• says momma and dadda
• loves to pet the kitty and does it nicely!
• is starting to point
• eats everything, but is starting to be picky like no bananas, or potatoes unless mashed
• loves hotdogs, cheese, peaches, strawberries, bluberries, pancakes, graham crackers, and scrambled eggs
• drops his sippy cup at least 5-6 times during a meal
• puts anything he can find in his mouth
• uses his right pointy finger to guide his left thumb to his mouth
• still takes 2 naps one at 10:30 and one at 3:30
• loves to play on beds and dive into the pillows
• weighs 21#12oz. and is 29 1/2 inches tall
• loves to chase the balls, especially the beach ball
• is starting to push trucks along with his hand
• will walk behind a cart to walk and can steer it

Collin-11 months

I am so tired of being behind on these month updates! I refuse to quit now, I only have 1 left before Collin turns one. These last few months have been the most fun yet, so I have to remember them while I can.

We have been very busy with usual summer activites and I am adjusting to having 3 kids home full time. On top of all this craziness, Collin decided to start crawling! It was shortly after he turned 10 months, and I was seriously wondering if he was ever going to.

Even after 2 kids these milestones are still exciting and fun to watch. It's crazy how they just start crawling all of a sudden.

I've been trying to look back to see what we did for the month of June. Jake turned 7 so planning and having his party took up one week.
Then I spent another week cleaning out the house to get ready for a major garage sale I had with some friends. It was a lot of work. Thankfully my mom came and helped me with the kids.

I've been trying to do some fun summer activites with the older boys, just little things like talking walks and bike rides, growing tadpoles, planting the garden, and library summer programs. That's about all I can handle. I've been getting some fun pictures of Collin while we have been playing.

I love my baby boys blue eyes.

And of course David celebrated Father's Day with his 3 boys. Wow, he has his work cut out being a role model for 3 BOYS. He is really good with them and is a great dad. We'll check back when they are teenagers though.

Tyler is still being big brother of the year. Every morning he wanders into Collins room and gets in his crib and talks or plays with him. I listen in through the monitor and secretly thank Tyler for giving me an extra 15 minutes to lay in bed. It has been soooo nice not having to rush out the door each morning and sleeping in until 8, and staying in our jammies until 2:00pm ooops, I mean 9:00am.
Collin also learned to wave bye, *note to self must get picture of him waving. He is also really close to pulling himself up. I love when they learn to do it and you walk in to get them out of their crib one morning and there they are standing up in their bed. It is shocking and cute all at the same time.

Of course our third child is the one who loves to put things in his mouth. I can't even begin to list the random things I have found in his mouth. Of course Jake and Tyler have a million small toys especially those damn Legos. It is exhausting keeping tabs on this mobile guy.

Out of the three, Collin gets our baby of the year award. He has been the easy baby we've had. Of course any baby would seem like a good baby after having Tyler. But Collin doesn't make a peep. If he starts getting distressed, he pops his thumb in and he is good to go. If it is really bad, he puts his other hand up to be sure the thumb does not come out under any circumstances. We can take him anywhere and he is content as long as his thumb is accessible. He still isn't much for playing toys- he likes to watch his brothers, crawl around, go outside, take stroller rides, take baths, eat, and sleep. Between 2 naps a day and eating, he doesn't have much free time anyway.