Most of our Sundays have become consumed with sports. We made it to church today and then Kaitlyn and I immediately got in the car to drive an hour to a lacrosse game. We got home and had 30 minutes before we had to leave for her soccer game. During all that time, Wade drove Alex to his lacrosse game. Someday soon I hope to get to see Alex play!
Grafton – Oak
Wade had a load of mulch delivered while we were all gone for break week. Some other chores/projects took longer than expected so the mulch sat untouched. Today was a gorgeous day and he was determined to get the pile off the driveway. Teague even offered up his services (probably in hopes of getting to drive the tractor), but help is help.
I am on the PTG board this year as treasurer. That also means a lot of work for many of our school and community events. One of those was the adult only Spring Fling, which was tonight. It was a night of food, music, raffles, and silent auctions.
Ben’s last foray into soccer showed us he probably wasn’t quite ready. (He spent a lot of time laying on the field, asking when the 30 minute lesson was over, and taking excessive water breaks.) It’s been a year and he seemed excited to give it another try.
He spent the morning talking about soccer and even wanted to get Little Ben dressed too. We showed up at soccer and the man immediately remembered Ben from last year. I shook my head in shame and he laughed. He told me he only remembers the really good and the really bad kids. I told him I knew exactly which one Ben was. I tried to be prepared with multiple layers but it’s hard to have fun in 40 degree windy temps. Ben did pretty well for about 25 minutes. The other 20 minutes most of the kids had a hard time. (Spring is taking it’s sweet time to arrive this year.)
The kids have loved their new swing set. Ben goes out to play all of the time – even by himself. Kaitlyn swings all of the time and is now attempting to learn how to cross the monkey bars.
Ben and I arranged a playdate for today. It was so nice to get out and spend the morning with friends!
Today was a full day! Ben had preschool but we still managed to play outside on the new swing set and make Mac & Cheese for lunch. Then it was a short nap before picking Kaitlyn up from school and rushing to swim lessons. Then those two were back on the swing set. The rope ladder came unattached and Kaitlyn was nice enough to hold it tight while Ben climbed up and down. Thankfully Daddy will be home tonight to come up with a new knot to keep it secure.
Then we had a second birthday celebration for me! That meant Mexican take-out, cake, and gifts. Teague was nice enough to take over my camera so I got more pictures of the evening than ever before.
Tonight I got a second birthday celebration!
Telling Dad all about his trip.
What happens when chaos finally arrives back home.
They were so excited to come home to a new swing set.
Today the boys and I loaded up and started our drive for KY.
These are off to the airport and a week with Granny and Pop in Memphis.
The morning starting extra early for Ben and I. He woke up at 5:30 saying his ear hurt. A cup of water seemed to help and he thankfully went back to sleep. Then the morning started a second time with two tired big boys and two excited little kids. We let everyone explore their Easter baskets for as long as we could before we started the mad dash to get ready for church.
As I put Ben in the shower, he started crying again and complaining about his ear. At this point, Wade and I readjusted our morning plans. He would meet his parents at church with three kids. I would find a Ready-care open and make sure Ben and his ears were ready to fly with Wade’s parents tomorrow to Memphis.
It took 4 ready-care facilities (that all had “open” listed on their websites) before I finally found one. The doctor was awesome. Ben had a the beginnings of an ear infection and left with a prescription. We headed home to cook Easter lunch.
After lunch we finally let the kids gather up the eggs in the yard. It rained most of last night and we had been waiting for everything to dry off and for it to warm up!
All of my kids love both their grandparents, but they definitely have that grandparent they would choose to spend all of their time with. Teague would spend every minute with Pop if he could. Tonight they got to talking and Teague would happily have skipped dinner if I would have let him continue his private conversation with Pop.
KitKat was hanging out in my office today when Ben decided to give her some love. KitKat must have enjoyed it because every time I turned around she was arching into his pets. Then Ben wanted to share his favorite lovey with her and she seemed content with that too.
I had offered my big kids extra iPad time for doing some extra chores. Then Kaitlyn and Ben wanted in on it so I had to scrounge up more chores. After all those chores were done, Kaitlyn asked if she could wash my car. I definitely wasn’t going to say no to that. She even got Teague to vacuum the inside. The funniest part of this is she when they were all done and Kaitlyn came inside she didn’t even want to use the iPad time she had earned…
I mentioned taking Kaitlyn and Alex shopping the other day. Kaitlyn was really excited to wear some of her new t-shirts and asked to do so also immediately when we came home. When she came downstairs in one of her new shirts, I had a sinking feeling. I hesitantly said, “Kaitlyn, that shirt looks too small.” She gets a relieved look on her face and says “I think so too. I had a lot of trouble getting it over my head.” I had her try one on in the store and it had looked fine so I was a little confused. I checked the tag and sure enough, it was size 2-3 instead of a 6-7. (Granted we had bought multiple colors/patterns, but I definitely messed up.) I have no idea how she got it on or how it doesn’t look even more tiny on her. The crazy part is she actually wanted to wear it for the rest of the day…
Lately KitKat joins Ben and I during the reading of books before nap time and then she sleeps with Ben all during nap time. I commented today during our books that KitKat must have other things to do since she didn’t join us. Imagine my surprise when I later turned on the monitor and saw that KitKat had joined Ben for the sleeping part of the nap.
Ben and I ended up with a free afternoon so we decided to make cookies. Ben requested cookies with M&Ms so we found a recipe and got to work. I was feeling in the baking spirit so after we made the cookies, I decided to use up the banana in my freezer and made a triple batch of chocolate chip banana bread (I freeze loaves for future use) and also a batch of chocolate chip pumpkin bread. The big kids were quite happy to come home from school today!
Ben and I decided to spend this glorious day hiking. We tried out a new place – Callahan State Park – and had a wonderful morning exploring.
Kaitlyn took over the kitchen yesterday and cooked all afternoon. She made a Funfetti cake, chicken club sandwiches, and a caesar dip with veggies. The rule in our house is you try everything. They were all new recipes and some we liked more than others, but Kaitlyn did an awesome job!
Who knew when we moved to the Northeast we would pick up a new sport for the kids? Kaitlyn did an intro to lacrosse last year and this year is on a real team with games. She seems to enjoy the sport. We were getting her ready this morning and realized we didn’t have any black pants clean so we went with bright pink. That turned out to be a great mistake because it made her very easy to spot on the field.
Our local ice cream place opened yesterday. The kids were super excited and begging to go. We attempted to go and couldn’t even get in the parking lot so we promised the kids a trip today. As we were getting in the car, Alex suddenly announced he was running and would beat us there. Then he was off. We all got a kick out of watching for him as we drove. He didn’t quite beat us, but it was close.
The kids are pretty much guaranteed to be outside if Wade is. Today Wade was determined to work on our rock wall. The town plows the sidewalks when it snows and the plow always hits our wall and pulls out rocks. Every spring we spend time rebuilding the wall.
Kaitlyn has been spending every free minute outside. Ben often joins her. I was pleasantly surprised when I looked up and saw that Alex had joined in the fun this afternoon. He was chasing the two little ones with a power ranger gun and a water gun. Ben and Kaitlyn thought this was hilarious. I thought the moment was too good to pass up without taking pictures.
Having big kids just gets better and better. Time got away from me tonight and suddenly I was short on time for making dinner. I needed to be cooking and also needed a quick run to the grocery. I jokingly asked Alex to go. The boys have been walking to a nearby gas station for the last year but it wouldn’t have what I needed. The grocery store is close but a little too far to walk, or so I thought. Alex quickly said he could do it and off he went. It was amazing! I finished cooking about the time he reappeared with lettuce, tomato, and avocado!
I had promised Teague another skiing trip for his birthday but it took me a while to come through. Today I finally followed through. I knew the mountain was only one two more weekends and we had a great day. There was less snow, and fewer runs open, but nobody on the mountain! Pros and cons. We had a great time!
Our local firemen and policemen held an event today to hand out bike helmets. I invited all of the kids, but wasn’t surprised when only Ben and Kaitlyn wanted to join me. We got the new helmets and then spent quite a while touring the firetruck, police car, and the police motorcycle. The kids loved it!
Today was crazy hair day and Kaitlyn really wanted to participate. We weren’t smart enough to plan ahead so we were limited by the materials we had on hand. With a little help from Pinterest, we came up with putting her hair in a bun and using ribbon and cellophane to make her hair look like a piece of candy. It wasn’t Pinterest-worthy, but it turned out pretty well.
KitKat got a new pillow for Christmas but it’s never quite found a home. It recently ended up in my office and today KitKat spent the entire day right by my side. It was pretty sweet to have her snoozing beside me all day while I worked.
Ben and I agreed that this day needed cookies. We decided on Rice Krispie treats with M&Ms. Yum!
When we moved into our house, the barn had a tetherball pole. It’s been a couple of years, so we finally decided to put it to use. Wade bought a ball and finally dug a hole. The kids loved having a new game in the yard and I loved having everyone outside.
This actually happened a few weeks ago in church, but it took me a while to get the video. We sent the kids up front for children’s church and Pastor John brought out his puppet. My youngest two would not leave the puppet alone. They were touching it and fiddling with Pastor John’s robes. I’m thinking, why can’t my kids just sit quietly. Then Ben looked towards the back of the church and I saw the exact moment he realized there was a monitor and he was on camera. He took full advantage and treated everyone to his bootie dance. I was no longer embarrassed by the fact that he was messing with Pastor John’s puppet. Now he is forever known as the child that danced in front of church. Pastor John referenced that dance throughout the entire service – long after the kids were escorted downstairs for Sunday school. I also had numerous people I had never met, including the preschool director, come up and introduce themselves and ask about Ben…
Ben and I decided today was the perfect day for a hike. Ben is a very active 4 year old, but he is also pretty much in it for the snacks. He couldn’t wait to pack his backpack full of snacks. He picked the trail – the duck walk. We’ve walked this many times before, but today, we found a part of the trail we’ve always missed and walked much, much farther than before. Ben didn’t complain, didn’t have to stop to eat, and carried his pack then entire way. Obviously a 4 year old is a much improved hiker over a 3 year old!
Our refrigerator has died for the second time in three years. The first time, Wade took it apart, diagnosed the problem, ordered the part, and was able to fix it. We knew almost immediately that something was still wrong. Either the replacement part was faulty or we had a bigger issue. However, the refrigerator was cooling so we decided to deal with it another day.
This went on for at least a year. Our luck ran out last week. Thankfully it was winter, so we moved most of the food to the basement refrigerator and the unheated sunroom. I deep cleaned the fridge and Wade worked on diagnosing the actual problem. With the help of the internet, he found that our particular refrigerator has a documented problem with its cooling fans. They tend to only last 1-2 years, which is what we have experienced. Thankfully, we can order then online and I have an experienced handyman that installs them for free.
Ben was so excited when KitKat jumped up on his bed as I was reading him a book at nap time. We were both shocked when she stayed even after I left the room. I came back up once to take a picture and wish I had come again when Ben was actually sleeping. KitKat stayed the entire afternoon – even after Ben woke up and came downstairs.
I’m not sure it is here to last, but we finally have some warmer weather. Kaitlyn especially seems to enjoy it and is spending every minute outside that she can.
We had a change of plans last week in terms of orthodontics. Teague has had an appliance in for a while and they were doing a checkup. He’s lost quite a few teeth lately and at this evaluation, they gave us the choice of pulling quite a few permanent teeth down the road or moving straight to braces and using those to create extra space.
I had permanent teeth pulled to make space and decided we would try the braces route. Teague got braces today and should have them for 2-2.5 years, much longer than Alex, but here’s hoping it all goes smoothly and he gets to keep all his permanent teeth!
Ben came home from school today with a container of bubbles. We both forgot about it till nap time. Then I was able to put him off with “after nap.” After nap, it was cold and getting dark. I couldn’t believe he still wanted to put on all his snow gear and go outside just to blow bubbles. I honestly wasn’t even sure he knew how to blow bubbles. He went outside by himself and proved me wrong. He had an awesome time blowing bubbles all by himself in the cold, semi-darkness.
Ben has been begging to do his own experiments. He came to me with his own experiment cards and we managed to do two experiments this morning – determining which liquid cleaned a dirty penny better (lemon juice or water) and trying to mix oil and water. Ben loved using the tools from the boxes most of all!
Somehow my kids got it into their heads to make puppets. Thankfully they were happy with paper bag puppets. They colored all morning on these and I wonder why I never thought of this before?
I definitely didn’t teach him this, but he does this with everything he eats in a bowl – cereal, ice cream, yogurt. Of course, this is my kid that loves all food so probably he just doesn’t want to miss a bite/lick.
After Kaitlyn lost her top front tooth, we realized the other top tooth was loose. In fact, it was really loose. However, Kaitlyn hates to lose teeth so I haven’t been checking it nightly yet. Imagine everyone’s surprise, especially Kaitlyn’s, when the tooth came out in her bagel this morning! That was the most stress-free tooth removal we have ever had.
It’s hard to get away with much in a house with so many people. Kaitlyn came running in to tell me that Ben was drawing on the walls. I went to investigate and Ben was acting the little angel. Pretty quickly he fessed up to drawing with a pen. (My initial fear was that he had found a sharpie somewhere.) He showed me where he had drawn and it was only an ink pen on a small part of baseboard. I handed him a magic eraser and told him to clean. He did a decent job.
We got more snow and the kids were so excited to get out and play.
Wade randomly brings home grocery items from work. Last week it was a bag of lemons and a bag of apples. We don’t naturally eat a lot of lemons so they sat around for a while before he decided to make homemade lemonade. We also decided to make apple crisp tonight. The kids don’t necessarily love it, but it’s one of Wade and my’s favorites.
Kaitlyn loves sticker books. These paint by sticker books are her favorite. I’m pretty sure she has done at least 5 or 6 at this point. My favorite is her method. She fills her hand with stickers but seems to always remember which sticker goes with which number.
Ben saw Kaitlyn’s pink cowboy hat this morning and has worn it all day. My favorite is when he finally added the pink sleep mask and it made the perfect bad guy bandana. By the time dinner rolled around, Kaitlyn was joining in on the fun.
Ben has been working hard to finish up learning his letters. (If you’ll remember he started learning them over two years ago, but we never quite finished.) He has quite a bit of trouble with E and F, but at some point, he realized that he knows the letters in his name. Then he realized that he can say those letters out loud and something clicks. I finally caught it on video.