31
May
Today Alex was too cool for pictures.
31
May
What is truly amazing is for the amount of time these kids spend in the sandbox there is actually very little sand in my house.
31
May
Sometimes I see some adorable sibling moments.
30
May
The slip ‘n slide was a huge hit today!
30
May
The slip ‘n slide was a huge hit today!
30
May
Today we introduced Ben to the big slip ‘n slide.
30
May
Today was just warm enough to get out another water toy. Ben begged for the slip ‘n slide – having no idea what it was. All of the kids joined in and had a great time. Alex was going for style points and cracking us all up.
29
May
Dressed in their summer Sunday best.
29
May
Wade decided to up our outdoor movie game this year. He recently bought a new projector so he decided we needed a new setup for our projector too. He and Teague spent the afternoon building a stand for the screen and then the big boys invited friends over for a movie. (Those boys ate an entire tubs worth of candy – which normally lasts several movies – impressive!)
28
May
We attended our first B’nai Mitzvah today for one of Alex’s good friends.
(One of Alex’s other friends tagged along with us.)
28
May
The boys (all three) love avocado toast. This year they have learned to make it themselves.
28
May
Kaitlyn agreed to help make posters for the FunFair.
28
May
When I got home today, Ben had dressed himself in an Elmo hat, bunny ears, a vet coat, and two strips of tape on his forehead. (The chocolate around the mouth was a nice touch too.)
28
May
Most things have returned to normal in the last year, but birthday parties are still few and far between. Kaitlyn was so excited to have a birthday party this weekend and I rather enjoyed sitting and talking with the other mothers.
27
May
Alex showed up after school with a bunch of boys. (Ben was quite annoyed that he didn’t have any “brothers” of his own over to play with.)
27
May
The sneaky nap struck again.
27
May
This is not what we intended the rebounder to be used for, but Kaitlyn always has other ideas.
27
May
Ben was so excited when KitKat allowed some cuddling this morning.
27
May
Ben and I decided it had been much too long since we went hiking. He wanted the hike with big rocks so we headed to Purgatory. Ben love it and flew through the trail. He had grabbed a map at the beginning and was fascinated with it. I convinced him to to try a second trail and we also walked Charley’s Loop. Ben was worn out at the end but had just enough energy for the playground before we headed home for nap.
26
May
Alex truly loves the new spring to his rebounder. Every time I look out the window I see him practicing.
26
May
Teague’s class had a field trip today to Community Harvest. They planted seeds and plants for the local food banks.
26
May
Kaitlyn pulled out her recipes and did a little cooking for dinner tonight. Southern Ham Biscuits – delicious!
26
May
Ben has been picking out his own pajamas lately and having a lot of fun with the pattern combinations.
26
May
Ben had his last soccer lesson today. He was okay with going, but got grumpy pretty quick. I’m not sure how he will feel about soccer after this is all over, but he asked to play before it ever started and then ended the session just like last year – flat out in the middle of the field.
25
May
Ben’s preschool had a graduation ceremony and picnic this evening. We had a wonderful family evening before rushing Alex to lacrosse.
25
May
Ben made it through his school year and we are counting down the days till the big kids get out for summer!
25
May
Ben had his last day of school today:
Every year Ben’s preschool holds a graduation ceremony for all the kids that attend – whether they are returning next year or not. It is usually held at the Common, the families bring picnics, and sometimes there is music and bubbles. Tonight the location was different, but we had all the rest.
24
May
Alex has spent the current lacrosse season saying his feet hurt after every practice or game. At his yearly checkup, he mentioned it to his pediatrician and she set him up with a podiatrist. It turns out that Alex has flat feet and needs a little extra support in his shoes. Today he is getting molds for shoe inserts. Fingers crossed that this helps his feet!
24
May
Teague has been riding his bike to school everyday. I end up at the school many days for various reasons. It always makes me smile to see his bike parked in the bike rack.
24
May
Morning chaos.
24
May
I’m trying to teach Ben to read. We’ll see if he takes to it as well as Teague did. (I never even attempted to teach Alex or Kaitlyn for various reasons.)
23
May
Alex joined in the fun.
23
May
Evening truck ride around the yard. The kids love it.
23
May
The kids love an evening truck ride almost as much as a ride in the back of the tractor. It doesn’t hurt that Wade loves driving the kids around too!
22
May
Alex had a lacrosse today in insane heat (97 degrees). I was trying to convince him he needed to hydrate beforehand. He agreed to several glasses of water, some popsicles, and a gatorade.
22
May
Teague spent part of his afternoon helping Wade with the last of the mulch. I think a shower is definitely in order.
22
May
Today was supposed to reach the mid-90s so we broke out the pool.
22
May
Sandbox – everyday.
22
May
Today was hot. Very, very hot. We got out the pool, tried to blow it up, and realized it had a small hole. We stuck with it anyway and the kids did get to play in it, but the pool had a date with the trashcan after today. The kids had a short swim before Ben’s nap and then Kaitlyn and Teague played while Ben was napping. It was a day meant for the water.
21
May
The minute the kids heard it was going to be insanely hot today, they begged to get out one of our blow up water toys. Of course we said yes. What surprised me the most was that Alex joined in and then stayed for the entire time. The kids had a blast and I haven’t laughed so much in ages.
21
May
Summer is here!
21
May
Summer is here!
20
May
Wade has been pulling double duty lately in the parent department. I have been running in overdrive with a lot of school activities/meetings – both during school hours and evening meetings. Earlier this week, Wade came home to all the kids running wild in the house (I had already left for a meeting) and no plans for dinner. He handled it all, but several things seemed to all go wrong that night – he couldn’t mow because both mowers had issues, Alex’s helmet got broken at lacrosse, Alex’s gaming headset was chewed by the cat, and he discovered that Ben had taken a small piece of his paint sprayer from the tool bench and lost it in the yard.
Of all of them, the part with Ben was the worst. Ben has been told repeatedly not to touch tools on the work bench, but Ben is a notoriously poor listener. Wade had Ben look for the part, but it is small and Ben had no idea where he put it and our yard is quite large. The part can’t be replaced by itself and a new assembly was not inexpensive.
To salvage the day, Wade sat down and ordered a new paint sprayer assembly, a new headset for Alex, and fixed Alex’s lacrosse helmet. I came home to find everyone in bed and Wade having a bowl of ice cream and some alone time to try to restart his evening.
Fast forward to today, when the two littles and I are playing in the sandbox. Ben crawls under the slide and suddenly starts yelling in excitement. The crazy kid found Wade’s missing sprayer piece! Now Wade can return the new paint prayer assembly.
20
May
Hot dogs for dinner.
20
May
Hot dogs for dinner.
20
May
Hot dogs for dinner
19
May
Today was Soccer Thursday. I’ll admit that I was checking my email up until we got to the soccer field. I kept hoping to see that they had cancelled soccer on this yucky day, but no such luck. Ben was a trooper. He loved the games they played and stayed engaged the entire practice. (I was hiding under the one tree with a few leaves and wishing I had brought an umbrella instead of just wearing a rain coat.) We stuck it out till the end, but I was amused to note that the already diminished numbers were down by half before the practice was over.
19
May
Decisions are the worst.
19
May
Killing time till dinner and then electronics, but at least he’s showered and clean.
19
May
Someone snuck out of bed to watch a Celtics game with Dad.