Making a Splash

For the first time this year, the boys wore shorts yesterday. And with a predicted high of 87 we also made plans to head up to the splash pad at our favorite outdoor mall area. We also decided if we saw Ben in the hall at school or outside the house then we would invite him to come along. Sure enough, on the way into school we saw him and E wasted no time in inviting his favorite neighbor.

I'd told the parents that we wouldn't be going till after Dalton's nap--around 3:00 in the afternoon. Apparently Ben was very excited and had been hanging out in his swim trunks asking if it was 3 o'clock yet all afternoon. :)

We drove up and Easton asked Ben if he wanted to hold hands while we walked from the car to the fountains. Dalton had to join in too, of course:

I can't help but wonder if all this time with Carson and Ben is preparing me for my own future with 3 little boys? :)

As soon as we got there, the kids were ready to go!












Have I mentioned Ben is a tad bossy? ;) Here he's telling Easton he can't run through just yet...

Why? I have no idea. That's just how it is when you're bossy (I would know). I guess he was wanting a head start?


It actually went much much better than our last afternoon with Ben. Partly because we were at the fountains and there was a lot less choices for Ben to be distracted with, although it sure didn't stop him from trying. First he came over and told me, "I'm not sure Easton and Dalton will last too long...that water is freezing!" However, the first one wrapping up in his towel was neither Easton nor Dalton. :) Later he decided to go to the play area next to the splash pad and asked E to join him...E is nice so he did. A time or two found Ben sitting next to me again and E asking, "Ben, why aren't you playing with me?" :( Dalton couldn't get enough of the water, though! Until he got a little chilly and curled up next to me on the warm towel...Easton said, "Awwwwww Dalton's so tired" and just rubbed and rubbed his brother's back:




It was a bit breezy and at one point the umbrella blew right off the table I was sitting at. Every single kid there was so lucky no one got nailed. However, unrelated to it all, Easton fell and skinned his knee and was on my lap screaming about it when a mall employee came by and was like, "Is he the one that got him by the umbrella?" I had to explain that no one got hit by the umbrella he'd just skinned his knee. The man offered a band-aid and whaddya know? E was somehow as good as new again. Band-aids are truly magical. I'm really glad he came by. I was seriously afraid we'd have to leave with the way E was carrying on and on. I keep bandaids in the diaper bag but it was back in the car. Luckily that man saved the afternoon!

A few times Ben would come to sit back by me complaining that he was hungry. I told him I hadn't brought any snacks but if he was absolutely starving I guessed we could head back home, hoping he would turn that offer down. But no...he took off to round up my boys and had no luck and I certainly wasn't going to help him! Ha! So then he started asking, "Could we maybe get some ice cream or something?" Ugh. However, the day brightened yet again when a woman walked by and told me Häagen-Dazs was giving away free scoops! I had read that on Money Saving Mom but it didn't click that there was one right there. As it was 4:00 in the afternoon I made a quick call to Ben's parents to see if it was okay with them and then we headed over to pick out our free ice cream!




What a treat!

We had to go back to rinse off in the fountains though...we weren't done playing!


There goes E!


Dah-din's turn!


'Bout time to wrap things up:


We went to the nearby restrooms to put on some dry clothes and drove home. Ben had my boys in hysterics on the way home which was really fun. I was glad things ended on a much more positive note for me than the last time with him. Hooray for a fun day! Easton was so worn out from all the fun in the sun that he just laid around the rest of the day and was begging to go to bed from about dinnertime on. :)

Some video before you go...

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Pre-Mother's Day

I guess I left out a couple of days leading up to my Mother's Day...such as Friday.

The boys and I went up to our favorite outdoor mall because I had some JCPenney's $10 off $10 "coupons" that were going to expire. That's like money! So I had to go use them. We had two so we went and spent one and planned to come back to spend the other at a second transaction. The boys were so good. We stopped for a snack and I liked D's pose on the bench:


Our "snack" was a chocolate covered caramel apple. I said, "This is really delicious, isn't it?" to Easton to which my fancy four year old replied, "It is indeed." :)

Then we headed off to catch a train:


The little mall has a rip off train where we each paid two bucks for them to drive us around in a little train...but this is why I forked over the money:




Not much in life more exciting than riding on a train when you're two and four:


Then it was off to the play area for a bit:








Easton climbing the "No Climbing" sign:


And sliding down like a fireman:




Then it was all downhill from there...we went back to JCPenney and Easton was awful...he was in the stroller, the 2 year old walking around like a normal, well-behaved child. I haven't quite seen Easton like that in public before and I wasn't quite sure what to do other than get out of there as fast as we could. He took off and threw both of his shoes and his hat, laughing manically all the while...no stern voice, threats of the punishments to come or being informed he was losing priveleges and prized possessions left and right did anything to correct his behavior. He was grabbing anything within reach (like clothes on the racks) and hanging on for dear life. He'd put his bare feet down in the stroller so that I couldn't push it and while I paid he scooted himself 10 feet away, again laughing hystericaly. When we got to the car he put his feet on ours and pushed himself backwards. I was beyond livid. We needed to stop by the grocery store but no way was I taking that boy anywhere but home. So, we had to ask J to stop and Easton had to go home for all his punishments, the stinker. No clue what got into him. I'm glad it's such a rare thing but I still wish I had known what to do. I couldn't exactly give him a time out in the store because he was in such a defiant mood that he would have taken off running...strapped into the stroller was our best bet. What a mess!

He's been better since then. We met my mom and Lauren early Saturday morning for breakfast. With church and my waiting till the last minute we were unable to get Mother's Day buffet reservations anywhere...not brunchy time and not lunchy time. Saturday is when Easton has swimming at 10:30 and we didn't want to miss that either because it's only 5 sessions. So, they met us at 8:30 at our favorite breakfast spot on Saturday instead:


We took this to show Easton how he looked like the Joker:


And Dalton's turning into a bit of a joker himself...he's perfected the eye roll:


Jason took Easton to swimming lessons and Dalton and I got dropped off back home to vaccuum and such. In the afternoon after quiet time and nap and lawn mowing we ran some family errands. One was to the toy store:




We showed Easton that his name is the brand on this box of baseballs and he thought he better take them with him:


Once we got home I made dinner and the guys worked on our basement shelves:


You've already heard about our Sunday so now you're caught up through the weekend. Till next time...

My Mother's Day

What a great day I had!

It started a tad too early when Jason and I woke up around 5:30 to some howling. After ruling out that it was one of our kids and sounded more like a cat, Jason went to see if it was our cat. Nope. Blitz was just walking around. So, Jason threw on some pants so he could go outside telling me with a smile, "You're lucky it's Mother's Day." Otherwise I guess he wouldn't have gone?

Anyway...the moaning cat heard him coming and took off and who knows why it was making such a racket? Eventually we were able to go back to sleep for a bit before it really was our kids calling for us at 7:00.

Jason brought them in to me for snuggling and went and got their juice and milk so I could just enjoy the cuddles. In an act of true kindness for Mother's Day, Easton had the idea that I pick the morning TV show. Awwwwwwww. I picked "Handy Manny". :) Jason and I showered and got ready for church...at one point E came up asking, "What can Daddy make you for breakfast?" I picked Pop-Tarts and chai. He got the boys dressed. Since we never did get to put them in their Easter shirts, yesterday was just as good a day as any for the matchy photo-ops:




I'm puffy in both of those since it's still so early in the morn...but D is such a stud in the top one and I like E better in the second one so I did a quick head switch and made that photo my new Facebook avatar. :)

I've got my 4 babies there...the two you can see, Wabie inside, and I've got 12 pearls around my neck and on my ears.

On the way to church...


As we drove I joked with Easton that he better not bus' his face up this year. On Mother's Day Eve last year he face planted on the sidewalk and chipped some teeth and banged his face up. I jinxed him.

Remember how Dalton had his finger smashed at church a few weeks ago? This time I got called out for my other kid and found him waiting for me in the church lobby with a bloody tissue on his mouth. Two grown ups were with him and a third came carrying an ice pack. Apparently he and a friend were racing back from the bathroom and E "kissed the door". His lip was cut but he seemed fine. Didn't even look like he'd been crying, and he said he hadn't. I gave him the option of going back to class or sitting quietly in the service with us and that's what he chose. He did suprisingly well. He just sat very very quietly on my lap and doodled. He even held the pen properly! He amazed us by drawing one of his pictures upside down. It's a stick figure but he drew it all upsidedown! Rather impressive!

Dalton had a rough time at church, he hasn't been the same since he hurt his fingers there. But everyone was happy again once we were all back together. We stopped at the grocery store for some dinner fixin's and then J ran in for some of my favorite sandwiches to bring home for lunch. Mmmmmmmmm.

But before we ate...more pictures...and presents!

Me and the boy who made me a mom:


Trying to get that winning, not-so-puffy shot:






Time for presents!


I got a maternity tank top and pair of shorts...the shirt is perfect and the shorts would be perfect if this was 9 years ago. The label was confusing, I guess, and it said 27/4. The 27 is the European size apparently and the 4 is what I wore when I married Ben. Ha ha ha! Jason said he even held them up and thought that, if anything, they might be a little big on me. Sweet man. I'm neither a 27 nor a 4...so I'll be having to exchange those. :)

I also got a remedy for my crazy cravings!

Non-alcholic beer! Now, yes, there is technically still "less that half of a percent" of alcohol in there but goodness, that's about as much alcohol as you'd get from eating bread or some fruit juices. Some things just produce alcohol...so I'm okay with it.


We had our sandwiches and the boys had their quiet time/naps. That was the only part of the day where I really had to be a parent...Dalton just wouldn't go down easily and Easton had a quiet time issue. Both boys ended up in time outs. Jason was spoiling me all day long but at that point in time he was on the phone with his mom and so I had to do some Mom stuff myself a bit. But for the rest of the day I just got to enjoy the benefits and love without any of the work. No diapers. No cooking. No cleaning.

For dinner Jason grilled burgers. We invited my mom and Lauren up to join us as well. My mom made my day even better when she said, "You're the only person I know who loses weight when they're pregnant". I said, "Really?" although I can maybe see that I've lost elsewhere in my body because my belly sure is growing yet I'm not gaining weight. I'll take it! :)

We had an enjoyable dinner followed by cherry cobbler a la mode. The N.A. beer I sipped with my burger was about the best thing I've had in a LONG time. Mmmmmmmmmmmm. My boys were crazy climbing all over Gramoo and Lauren like they hadn't just seen them the day before! Goobers. We bid them good night after a bit and got the boys ready for bed. Usually I get out the p.j.'s and run the bath and get their rooms set for the night but Jason did all that and I was the one to get to read them a pre-bath story and cuddled in Easton's bed with both of them for songs and stories after bath.

These guys are very good to me! It was a fantastic day!

Bossy Boy

So as I mentioned, we had Ben with us again yesterday. In the morning, Easton (and Ben) had school so Dalton and I continued with our Thursday traditions of breakfast out followed by AussieRoo and usually a bit of shopping. This time we went to a really cool school supply store that I had no idea was right by us. I went to find Easton a pencil grip to try to encourage him to hold his writing utensils properly. I think he's the only kid in his class that still holds them wrong. Anyway...

When the time came, we went to pick up the bigger boys. Ben's class was dismissd before Easton's class had even come in from outside! So, Ben and Dalton hung in the hall with me while we waited. Mrs. L, the assistant teacher, came out to let me know that Easton had gotten some sand thrown in his eye and she thought she'd washed all of it out with running water but to keep an eye on it. Great.

I got a little more scoop from Easton later that he was trying to make sand castles with Lily but Brock was trying to ruin them and threw sand at him. I'm not sure what other part Easton might have had in it, and he's not telling me much about how it all went down but you could see little marks around his eye from where some sand had likely hit and his eye just looked irritated but he said he never cried, that Mrs. L helped him, that Brock had to say sorry and couldn't play in the sandbox any more but that Brock is still his best friend and they like to do puzzles together. :(

Mostly Easton was just too excited that Ben was going to be hanging out with us. I loaded all three boys into the car...rather easily, I might add. Ben's booster seat fit just fine in with the other two seats. Whew. So, we decided to head to McDonald's where I got to practice keeping track of 3 running boys who didn't do much of the same things at the same time. It wasn't bad at all, though...whew! Ben was the hardest one because he has a different idea of appropriate personal space and would just stand and stare at other tables from time to time...or squeeze in between two tables when he should just go around. If it was my own boys I would've said something like, "Maybe you should walk around this way" but whatever. He wasn't hurting anyone. Just different than what I'm used to, you know?

After playing for awhile we packed back up into the car to drive through the drive through. I thought that would be much easier than having the 3 kids running around the place while I waited to order and receive food. Ben asked for a 9 piece nuggets. He's barely 6! I'm lucky if Easton can eat 2 nuggets so I just got Ben the 6 piece Mighty Kids meal (which he ate 4.5). He asked for a Diet Coke to go with it! I had to call his mom to see if that would be okay...and it was. All parents are different, eh? :)

Easton asked for nuggets as well and (strangely) I'm always happy to give my kids McDonald's if they want it. And Easton ate two nuggets with no promise of a reward or treat or coaxing or anything! Impressive! This was back at home where we brought the food to eat. After lunch I got Dalton down for his nap and the bigger boys and I tried to find some things to do.

Ben asked to do an art project so we got one out...some foamie animals The Alabamaws had sent once upon a time. Ben must not do a lot of projects...he doesn't seem to have quite the same abilities or attention span for certain things as Easton. So, Easton and I did these (E's is the giraffe, mine is the monkey):


And this was as far as Ben got on his elephant:


Instead he wandered in to watch some TV and he rinsed out an empty jug of milk to put back in the milk box on the porch where he found a package he wanted to open and he mostly just did other random things. Again, not bad or wrong, just very different from what I'm used to.


He came back over and decided he needed to help Easton with his giraffe and said, "Okay Easton, do you want small, medium, or large dots?" To which Easton thoughtfully considered, "I think small would be nice" (which I just thought was so cute of him to say it like that) and then Bossy Ben said, "No, no one looking at your project will be able to see that, you want the bigger ones." :( I felt bad for E even though he was just like, "Oh, okay." I asked Ben if he wanted to make his own giraffe so that they could each make theirs just how they wanted. He said yes and put one sticker on before moving along to something else again.

Well then Ben wanted to play Mario Kart on the Wii...Easton didn't really want to but again went along with it. But, Ben cannot get the hang of it and would say, "I don't want to play anymore" so Easton would take over for him then Ben would see how easy it seemed to be for Easton and say, "I can do it now!" and reach for the controller which every time Easton would let him have back only for it to happen again and again. I don't want E to be a pushover at all, but I also liked how polite he was being to our guest.

Then, Ben wanted to go outside and play ball with me. I tossed around the football with him and he might not have mad skillz on the Wii or foam crafts but dude can throw a football like I couldn't believe. I was seriously impressed. But again, felt bad for Easton who wanted to play with his friend. Easton was suggesting all kinds of games and Ben was like, "I'm hot, I just want to sit in the shade":


Easton trying to get Ben to chase him :(


Just look at my sweet boy:


Then it was back inside for some board games. We kept playing what Ben wanted to play since he was our guest. I'd say something like, "How 'bout we let Ben go first since he's our guest?" and then Ben picked up on it and would use it to get his way like, "I get to pick since I'm the guest." Grrrrr. But still, Easton continued to be a great sport so I started changing the rules to "Easton you get to go first this time since Ben went first last time" just so he didn't feel completely trampled on by our "guest".

It really wasn't all bad like I'm sure I'm making it sound...Easton did have fun and hopefully didn't feel too bossed around or anything. He never acted put out. Those were just things I noticed that made my heart both sad and proud. I was pretty glad when his mom walked over to get him, though...but Ben didn't want to leave! :)

Man, I was a bossy bossy kid so I like how I'm getting a taste of what I must've been like. Yikes! I want my kids to be able to stand up for themselves when it matters but also be willing to be good natured about other people insisting on being a little more assertive than they are. But I certainly don't want them being bullied...what a fine line this is. Figuring it out as I go, I guess.

For dinner, Jason wasn't going to be home, and Easton wanted to eat outside. It was fine with me. I've been looking on Craigslist for a little tot picnic table for them but for the prices many people are asking I'd rather just buy them a brand new one! Oh well. They were happy to sit on the porch in the meantime:


Then came the evening's entertainment of watching the ants hard at work dragging the boys' crumbs back to their homes. Soooooooooo fun to bug watch!!! Daddy came home just in time for a few ants, games, baths, and bed.

And this morning the boys ate their breakfast outside again:


Then we rushed off to my appointment with the ENT. My hearing has been improving but the last few days I could hear fluid in my ear so the family practice doctor decided to refer me to the ENT. Jason came to watch the boys in the waiting room for a bit but had to run off to a meeting so I had to bring the boys in with me while they did an audiology test. Sure enough...my hearing is diminished in the left ear and I can't hear the higher frequencies with that ear at all...but there is no evidence of nerve damage or inner ear damage which she was wanting to check for since I'd had a pretty bad infection. Unfortunately, in adults she said the fluid can take a long time to completely drain away in there...like up to a month! So, I'm just going to have to live with it for a month (if it lasts that long) and then go back. However, it's already improved a lot, thank goodness!

We met back up with Jason after awhile to grab smoothies before driving home for nap and Q.T. Friday is "textile day" for laundry and normally I'll pull sheets off a bed to wash them and then I put them right back on...saves filling up the baskets with dirty sheets from 3 beds and also saves on trying to wrestle with attempting to fold a fitted sheet... But anyway, since it's getting so warm it was time to be done with E's flannel sheets and just put on his regular sheets...but since I didn't have to wash the flannel right away Easton and I made him a little flannel sheet fort for his quiet time:


From the sounds of it, he's really enjoying it up there...quietly. :) Perhaps I should go play too!

Kids Say the Darndest Things

We've got our neighbor Ben here with us all afternoon again today. His mom had to go into the office and his dad is on a business trip so we offered to hang with him. Therefore, I'm not sure I'd be able to do a "real" blog so here is another fun one for you...

Instead of saying, "Tell you a secret" Eastie says, "Give you a whisper".

After attempting to piece together a part of a puzzle I'd urged him to try, E found the pieces fit and declared, "Well, whaddya know!?!?"

One night Dalton was holding out his little fist like he wanted to bump knuckles and he was saying something that none of us could understand. Easton wondered if maybe Dalton was saying "knuckles" in Spanish. :)

I discovered that Dalton had opened the entertainment center, ejected a DVD, put in a new one correctly and closed it back up all by himself and shared my shock over it all with Easton who attested, "He's a big boy alright!"

After our recent bunk bed browsing Easton asked, "Why do we have to get bunk beds again?" We explained that Wabie would be needing Dalton's crib and Easton thought that when it's time to switch maybe Dalton could say, "Good-bye, old crib...Helloooooooooo, bunk bed!"

Seis de Mayo

With yesterday being Cinco de Mayo, I guess Easton learned a little something about it in school. When he got home he let me know that we should be having a fiesta. I picked out some fiesta-y foods...quesadillas for the kids and J and I had chicken burritos. We all had some frozen virgin margaritas and Easton picked out "fiesta brownies" because the brownies had sprinkles on them.

Dalton loved 'em, that's for sure:


After dinner Easton informed us we'd be playing "How Low Can You Go" a.k.a. the limbo. We had a fun little time before baths.

This morning Carson arrived at his bright and early 6 a.m. The boys entertained him and themselves by running around his bouncy seat while our muffins baked:




And get used to seeing me in these clothes...I still have zero shorts to wear this summer and just a few pairs of capris. These being one of the pairs:


They're comfy and all but my belly is just too high, I guess...they're super baggy in the crotchal area and bum so they look kinda weird...see? I probably wouldn't have paid for them but it's harder to complain when they were free to me! :) Another pair of capris I have are pocketless denim capris. I'll be having Jason judge them for me later to see if the lack of pockets just makes my bum look too darn wide. Several people have offered to loan me summery maternity stuff...I just haven't gotten any of it yet. But the mention of possible borrowed clothes has kept me from buying any bottoms of my own. I did, however, buy myself this little top at my favorite second hand store...Jason said he could see it quickly becoming a summer staple...it's so "me":

I had to take that picture to see if it was too tight-looking across the basoomas...anyone? And what's with my hands-on-hips pose for both these pictures? I'm a dork.

Anyway, we're having fun with Carson today...he's in a happier mood than I think I've ever seen him in. Perhaps it's because he's becoming mobile. He scooched himself right under the couch:




Dalton decided it would be funny to join him and Easton ended up under there soon after:


Yeah, I could definitely handle life if three boys is in my future. :)

Bidding War?

No pictures and not much to report...let's see...Easton's school is doing an "art auction" as a fundraiser where they make you bid on your own kid's artwork so they can get you to give them a little money.

Easton did his contribution that day Jason was obserserving the class so we knew it was going to be a drawing of me and E on a recent trip to the park. I got to see it today and was shocked to see there was already a bid on his drawing! None of the other kids had any bids that weren't from their own parents. I joked to Mrs. M, "Who's been bidding on my kid's art???" and she said, "Oh, that was Mrs. P (she teaches another class)...she loved the name of it...did you notice?"

He'd called it "Mommy is My Friend". Awwww. So then I had to outbid Mrs. P and I just hope she doesn't come back to drive the price up. :)