Simple stuff

We played at the park.  Freeze tag and hide and seek.  Lots of giggling and fun.  We explored a 'secret trail' in the woods.  Mitchell got a little scared and wanted Mama to hold him.  We looked for tadpoles in a creek and made new friends.  We had McDonalds for dinner 'cause it was easy.  The kids had a donut for dessert.  Evelyn practiced her cartwheels.  Mitch built a tower with Legos.  We colored pretty pictures and Mitch taped one to a wall. I let the kids sleep in my bed and I snuggled with them til they fell asleep.  I went easy on myself.  It's ok not to have a healthy dinner once in awhile, to skip the normal bedtime routine and let the laundry remain unfolded for a day.  Both kids just wanted to be with me tonight.  Life is short and childhood doesn't last very long.  I chose to enjoy it tonight.  

School Days

Time is just moving right along and both kids are really enjoying school.  I just can’t say enough good things about LCC.  The teachers and staff are so friendly and kind, and the kids have both learned so much already.

Evelyn loves kindergarten.  She’s working hard on her reading and she knows how to spell the colors of the rainbow plus a few more.  Her class uses songs and rhymes to help the kids remember and Evelyn spends a lot of time at home singing about what’s she’s learned.  She has R.E.D. folder (Read Every Day) and she gets a new book each week to read.  This books are short and repetitive, but they are exactly what she needs to learn.  It’s been wonderful to see her enthusiasm.  It’s interesting because her class will write words based on how they sound.  They are focused on learning the letter sounds and how letters sound together rather than actually spelling most of the time.  For example, Evelyn was drawing a picture of her and my mom.  She wrote ‘Evelyn and CeCe’.  She knew what the letters were and to her, that’s what Kiki sounded like.  We talked about how letters can sound different in different words.  We go the library a lot too because I want to keep encouraging her.  We get the Early Reader books and read them together each night.  She’s got sight words that she’s learning so when we read, I following the words with my finger and I stop on the sight words so that she can read them.  It’s been cool watching how much she has learned already in a month of school.  And it goes far beyond just reading.  She seems to be doing well in Math and enjoying having us ‘quiz’ her.  She’s learning Spanish and I’m already thanking my lucky stars that Pat and Grandma Rita can speak the language.  I think I need to get Rosetta Stone if I’m ever going to be able to help her with that!!  She really seems to love the S.T.E.M. (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) activities that they do in school.  The teachers pack a lot into the kids’ day, but it seems to be a good balance of learning and play.  They go outside at least twice a day and their activities are not all structured.  Pat and I have found that while Evelyn loves school, when we ask her about her day, she will usually just say it was ‘fine’.  It’s a little frustrating for us because we want to know what she did that day.  After school, however, there’s usually too much going on and I think she just gets distracted, not to mention that she’s tired from a long day.  A few times I’ve picked her up from school and taken her to Panera before we get Mitch.  We get a drink and a sweet treat and we just sit and talk.  I like to have that one-on-one time with her and I’ve come to find that it really means a lot to her too.  

Mitchell is doing well in school too.  He no longer cries at Drop Off according to Pat.  He’s working on his writing.  At this point, it’s mostly scribbles, but they do practice their names and they have a letter that they learn each week.  He talks about his friends a little, but he doesn’t know anyone’s name.  I see one of his teachers, Miss Teri, often when I pick up Evelyn from school.  She tells me that Mitch is doing great and is participating and talking and not giving them any issues.  Whew!  She said that they think he’s pretty funny.  He apparently told her in no uncertain terms to call him Mitchell, not Mitch.  We call him both names at home and it surprised me that he showed a preference for Mitchell.  He told his other teacher, Miss Kelly, that he was ‘a little bit nervous’ one day and when she asked him why, he said he didn’t know.  I can definitely see a change in him when it comes to other kids.  He’s never been as social as Evelyn, but since he’s started school I’ve seen him initiate social interactions with other kids.  What’s surprising to me is the he initiates them with the little boys much more than the little girls.  He has rarely shown a preference before now and I know a lot of it probably comes from school.  I remember the same thing happening with Evelyn when she started school.  The gender divide starts young!

 

I’m so happy the kids are doing well in school and enjoying it.  We’ve been trying to participate in school events.  We went to Fall Fest and the Pancake Breakfast.  Both kids have fields trips in October and there are all sorts of Halloween shenanigans coming soon. 

Perfect imperfection

Ok... moment of truth...

Our house isn't perfect.  

There are scuff marks on the walls, stains on the carpet and crumbs on the kitchen floor.  Our glass storm door could use a hefty dose of Windex and my kids drew pictures in the dust on my night stand.  Our clean laundry is folded, but hasn't been put away yet (and some of it might actually still be in the dryer).  We've got weeds that we need to pull in the front yard and closets we should probably organize.  Our refrigerator has been on the fritz for at least a month and our kitchen table has definitely seen better days.  Our home isn't big or fancy.  And sometimes... I'm ashamed to admit...I get a little envious of other people.  I probably spend too much time on Instagram looking at other people's 'perfect' lives.  I know it's not all real, but gosh darn it - it feels like those people have it all together!  Their houses look pristine and I look see those pictures and think 'I wish...".  

I really don't like this about myself.  It's a fault in myself that I'm trying to change because I have absolutely no right to feel that way.  We're not rich and we may not live in a big house, but that's okay.  We have each other.   Our home is full of love.  It's full of life.  It's not perfect, but it's ours. 

The picture below is our refrigerator tonight.  It's a royal mess, but I can't bring myself to change a thing.  We have pictures of beautiful new babies and beloved family members.  There are multicolored alphabet letters, Halloween magnets and a smudged dry-erase calendar of our current events.  And there is artwork that my kids are so proud to hang up.  It's a mess, but each time I see it, I smile.  

 

My parents spent the first weekend at our home in a year and that is amazing. It's amazing!! If you would have asked me last January if this weekend was possible, I wouldn't have been able to answer.  Because I didn't know.  That's scary.  And it hurts.  But I have to put the fear and the pain aside and move forward because what choice is there?  Life goes on.  But that doesn't mean we should forget what we've learned...we can't lose sight of what's important.  

I'll probably always have a little bit of envy for those who live in big, beautiful houses and have 'more' than I do.  I think it's human nature to want 'more'.  But I try to remind myself of what is really important.  Family and friends.  Love and laughter.  Good health and hope.  I tell myself that it's not just those big things.  It's the snuggles, the giggles, the laughter and even the tears. We need to spend our time being grateful for what we have, not pining for things that we don't.  

My mom probably won't like that I posted the picture below of her.  She's not a huge fan of pictures of herself.  But I love it.  It's real and it's happy and it makes me tear up.  She is gorgeous and my little girl is so happy to be snuggled up and spending time with Kiki.  It's wonderful and PERFECT.  This moment is amazing and I'm so happy I could capture it.  It could have been different.  Life could have dealt us a different hand.

I guess my point is... sure you can hope for more in life.  But don't forget to be grateful for all of the blessings you've been given.  We may never have a mansion or a perfectly clean, 'showroom' kind of a house, but that's ok.  As long as we have each other - our family - we're good.  💗

Can't believe summer is over

It’s hard to believe it’s already the first day of fall.  Where did the summer go?!  Admittedly Autumn is my favorite season, but I’m still not ready to say goodbye to the warm, easy summer days.   

 This summer held so many firsts for Evelyn.  She lost her first tooth.  She stayed with Kiki and Pops for 5 nights all by herself.  She went to her first concert with Aunt Sha-Sha.  She went down a water slide and off the diving board all by herself (no puddle jumper!).  She went to her first summer day camp at the McConnell Arts Center.  Evelyn rode her first COTA bus (and slept through most of it).  She learned to pump her legs and make herself go on the swings.  She learned to tie her shoes in less than an hour (Thank you Grandma Rita for teaching her)!  And she continued her goal to make a new friend pretty much everywhere we go! :)

Our little buddy Mitch had an eventful summer as well.  He turned 3!   Mitchell got to ride the train at the zoo many times and he spent 5 days as an only child while Evie was in KY.  He went on a date night with Mama to Wendy’s and Emerald Fields park while Evie was a birthday party.  He swam like a fish and even took a trip down a little waterslide.  And perhaps the biggest thing of all – he learned to use the potty like a big boy!!

We also spend time at the hospital with Kiki this summer.  I saw her as much as I could on the weekends.  The kids were able to visit her in the special Visitors Room behind glass.  It was harder for Mitch to connect than Evie.  He didn’t really understand why he couldn’t hug Kiki and he didn’t want to talk to her for very long on the phone in the room.  Evie, on the other hand, had no trouble carrying on a conversation.  She was so happy to see Kiki.  She even steamed up the glass with her breath and drew hearts for Kiki.   Before my mom went into the hospital, she got a few little gifts to give to the kids when they came to visit.  That’s so like her – thinking of her grandbabies even when she’s going through something huge and scary.  That part of the summer was definitely not the best, but we all tried to keep positive and focus on the good moments that we had.  The situation may have been difficult, but we tried to make the best of it.  Pops was a tremendous help with the kids on the weekends that we visited.  Oftentimes, Pat couldn’t make the trip because of work.  My dad (and all of my siblings) made it possible for me to have time with my mom without worrying about the kids.  It’s not easy being away (even if it is only two hours) and while I may not have had the quantity of time with my mom that I would have liked, I did have quality time.

So yeah, this summer had some difficult moments. But that’s not all it was.  It was also fun and laughter.  It was visits to the zoo, trips to the different parks in the area, ice cream cones and water balloon fights.  It was donuts on a Saturday morning and dinners on the patio.  It was movie nights and popcorn.  It was fireworks on the 4th of July and church festivals.  It was cousins playing and giggling together.  It was swimming at Sunlite Pool and riding rides at Coney Island.   It was hanging out with family around the pool and watching the kids swim.  It was pizza parties and cornhole in the backyard.  It was seeing a sunrise over the ocean in the beginning of summer and an eclipse darken the sky towards the end.   It was all this and so much more.  

When I was younger, I used to be in such a hurry for a season to end so we could get to ‘next great thing’.  Now though, I’m in no rush.  I want to enjoy the moments as they happen.  And while I do look forward to Autumn and all of the activities that take place, I’m trying to just enjoy the ‘now’.   Life can change in a moment so enjoy each moment that you’re given!

Park adventures

It’s very important to me that our kids spend time outdoors, away from IPads, TV and other technology.  We want our kids to be active and play.  We want them to experience their world in an unstructured way so they can learn to navigate it for themselves.  I enjoy playing with my kids sometimes, but I firmly believe that they need to learn to play by themselves and that someone should not have to be entertaining them constantly.  Some of the best parts of my childhood were the times spent playing in the backyard with neighbors and friends with very little parental involvement.  Our parents were there of course, but they were not constantly planning out every minute of every day.  Today our world is different and we would likely have CPS called on us if we dared let our kids play outside without us watching them at all times.  It’s very nerve-wracking to constantly feel like you’re going to get in trouble if you don’t have your eyes on your kids 110% of the time.  But I digress…

We like for the kids to be outside as much as possible.  We don’t have a swing set and we do not have plans to get one any time soon, if ever.  We are park and playground people.  I’ve been taking Evie for walks in the park since she was a month old.  I don’t have the opportunity for park walks much these days since at 5 & 3, neither kid wants anything to do with the stroller.   While I miss these walks, I don’t really want them sitting in a stroller anyway.  They are both old enough to walk and the point of the park at this age is not to sit around and be lazy anyway.  The point is to run around, play, explore and (hopefully) wear themselves out!

                                    

Parks require you to be somewhat social.  I’m not an incredibly outgoing person around people I don’t know, but the social aspect of a park really appeals to me.  You never know who you might meet at a park.  The area where we live is fairly diverse, especially in certain areas, and I really enjoy that.  Evelyn is my little social butterfly.  She loves the park because she loves making new friends.  She's not afraid to walk up to a child and say 'Hi – do you wanna play with me?’.  I love that about her!  Mitchell is slightly more reserved, but I’ve noticed him becoming more social since he’s started school.

On a personal level, I love taking the kids to the park because it gets me out of the house.  It’s not that I mind playing in our own yard, but more often than not, the kids end up playing while I pull weeds or clean something.  It’s nice to step away from all of that.  I’ll usually snap a few pictures of the kids while they play on the playground, but I do not look at my phone while we are at the park.  I watch the kids, push them on the swings and sometimes even engage in a rousing game of Tag if it’s not too crowded.  As I said before, I’m not great at initiating a conversation with people that I don’t know, but at the park, there are often opportunities to connect with other parents.  

We are very lucky because the Northwest part of Columbus, where we live, is home to many fabulous parks.  We live within a few miles of at least 12 different parks.  Some are small, with just a few benches and some playground equipment.  Others have nature trails and lots of green space.  A couple are near the banks of the Scioto River.  I’ve recently made it my mission to visit a new park every week.  

 We went one recently in Dublin near the river called Scioto Trail Park.  The kids explored the riverbank, rolled down a hill, climbed a tree, performed on the stage and had a grand time.  We stumbled upon Deer Haven Nature Preserve during a drive a few Sundays ago.  It is such an awesome place.  We wandered through a trail in the woods and then took a stroll through the wetlands.  We met a man and his son that were catching some tadpoles and other things that grew and lived in the wetlands.  The man was high school science teacher and he was getting some samples to teach his class.  He took the time to show the kids what he found and explain a little bit about them.  They were enthralled.  I love going to Schiller Park when we are in German Village and over the summer we ventured to Homestead Park in Hilliard.  It’s gorgeous, but it was massive and crowded and I was a little overwhelmed trying to keep track of the kids by myself.  My little train lover Mitchell’s favorite park is a little further from home.  It’s the Choo-Choo park in Erlanger, KY.  I’m not even sure of the real name, but it has a train playground and real trains go by.  To Mitchell, that is heaven.  Evelyn is partial to Perry Park or as she calls it “the spinney park’.  It’s about a mile from our house and it has these things that you stand on while you make yourself spin around.  Evie likes to pretend she’s a figure skater or a ballerina.  And both kids enjoy the park next door to my parent’s house aka their neighbor’s swing set. 

Wherever we go, we try to have fun.  I’m looking forward to exploring some new parks soon!

Mitch is THREE!!

I neglected to post anything on Mitchell’s third birthday and I feel pretty guilty about that.   So…

 

HAPPY 3RD BIRTHDAY MITCH!

 

Better late than never right?!

                                                

How in the world is my baby boy THREE!!  We chose to have a very simple family party for him and it worked out perfectly.  Aunt Sha-Sha took Mitch to get donuts and then to the Choo-Choo park in Erlanger on the morning of his birthday.  She basically made his day before 10AM because he got to see two trains go by while licking the icing off of his chocolate donut.  He was allowed to open a present early, he had his favorite dinner (hamburgers) and he got to have a DQ ice cream cake for dessert! 

We also celebrated later with Grandma Rita at the Mohawk and a trip to the Fudge Haus.  We went out to dinner with Grandpa Tim and Grandma Katharine a week or so later, followed by a trip to the candy store, Rocket Fizz in the Short North.  He had a pretty sweet birthday (pun intended)!

                                                    

Three is a hard age.  He’s not a baby, but he’s not a BIG boy yet either.  He’s outspoken and full of never-ending energy.  He is seriously like the Energizer bunny.  He keeps going and going and going until he finally just drops.  He is almost always the first person awake in our house and when he’s up – it’s on!  I love that he has so much zest for life, but it can be a little exhausting.  He can be the most stubborn and hard-heading child in existence if he feels like it.  It’s trait that may come in handy as he gets older, but right now he uses it to drive us crazy.  However, even with all of this head-strong behavior, he remains one of the sweetest, most snuggly little guys I know.  He idolizes his big sister.  Sometimes it hard to tell because they do fight a lot.  But they are also besties and he wants to do almost everything that she does. 

Mitchell is still a hard-core train enthusiast.  He puts his wooden train tracks together daily and he even sleeps with his engines.  He loves to go to the ‘big kid’ section of the library and check out books that have pictures of real trains.  He knows all of the kinds of trains and his current favorite is the ‘mom-o-rail’ (monorail).  Pops gave him some Train Documentary DVDs and he loves them!  He loves to go on the train at the zoo and is patiently awaiting the day he can go a real, true train. 

We love you so much Mitchell-Man and we can’t wait to watch you grow over the next year! 

 

Summer at the Pool

This was the first summer that we had a membership to the Worthington Pool and it was totally worth it.  The kids had a ball swimming, running around the Splash Pad and playing with friends.  Evelyn was an absolute fish!  She loved the waterslide, but her favorite thing was to go off the diving boards.  It brought back so many memories of my childhood summers at Triple E.  I'm already missing spending our evenings there and we cannot wait until next summer!!

Clippers Game

Over the summer we once again attempted to take our children to a baseball game.  I got 4 free tickets to see the Clippers play from work so we headed down there on a hot and sticky Wednesday evening.  In hindsight, we never should have attempted to go on such a hot evening, but the days we can go are limited because Pat works in the evenings.  Plus, it was Kids Eat Free night so we figured that it was worth going even if we only stayed a little while.

 

We had great seats courtesy of Kroger which were thankfully in the shade.  Unfortunately we got there a little too early.  The kids managed to finish their food before the game even started and begged for ice cream. Mitch and I trucked halfway around the ball park looking for Dippin Dots.  The ironic part was that there was a Dippin Dots stand literally right outside the entrance to our seats, but I didn’t see it until we got back.  The ice cream kept them quite for a little while and then all Mitch wanted to do was go out and play on the mechanical rides that they had.  He had seen them as we came in and his one track mind did not forget!  So mid-way through the 2^nd inning, I finally gave up trying to get Mitch to sit in his seat and took him out there.  Not even a half hour later, Evelyn and Pat appeared and we ended up just heading home. 

 

It wasn’t really the baseball experience I wanted, but we had fun.  Maybe next year we’ll make it to the 4^th inning!

CCT Summer Camp

Evelyn went to her first summer camp at the McConnell Arts Center.  It was a week-long ballet and theatre class that was Wizard of Oz themed and she LOVED it.  She’s really enjoyed being on stage and preforming – I think we may have a future diva on our hands!

Hilton Head 2017

We went on vacation this summer to Hilton Head Island with Grandpa Tim and Grandma Katharine and the Webb families.  This year we stayed in a house with everyone (8 adults and 6 kids) and it was fantastic.  There was a pool right there which was so convenient and perfect.  We loved getting to hang out with everyone and the kids got along great.  We took the kids on a Dolphin Tour one day which was really cool.  The captain even let the kids ‘drive’ the boat!  Pat and I had date night to celebrate his birthday and I even got to have a Girls Night Out with Britney and Diana.  I spend a quiet morning with coffee on the beach while Mitchell built sandcastles and Pat spent one afternoon with an old friend that he hadn’t seen in a few years.  It was a wonderful vacation fun of sunshine, laughter and happy memories.  Oh - and tons of delicious food!!😍🍳🍕🍲🥘🍨🎂🍿🍮🍦🍺🍷

                                         

              
                              

            
                       
                                   

Kidz Bop Concert

Labor Day Weekend

We had a fantastic weekend!  The weather definitely felt like Autumn on Friday and Saturday.  Friday night I somehow got the kids to bed at a decent time,  opened the windows to let in the breeze, lit a fall-scented candle and sat watching an old movie with a glass of wine.  It was the peace I needed after a hectic week!!

                                                

Saturday I headed south with the kids to celebrate GiGi Mitchell's 88th birthday.  It was a pool party, but it wasn't warm outside so no one, but my two crazy kiddos got in the (heated) pool at first. Regardless of the dreary weather, we had a fantastic time.  I loved getting to see my aunts, uncles and especially my cousins that I don't get to see often.  Everyone was such a huge help with my kids - something I truly appreciate.  I don't expect anyone to watch them, but it was so nice to have so much help!!  We had a little excitement when Morgans dog discovered a bunny burrow and 4 baby bunnies came flying out.  One of the managed to jump into the pool, but luckily Molly saved its life (unlike me who just stood there gawking like didn't have any sense!).  We managed to find two more bunnies, but Evelyn was so worried because we couldn't find the 4th one.  I reassured her that it was probably just scared and waiting for us to go so it could run back to its home.  I think I convinced her.  Thankfully my wonderful cousin Molly checked later and sent us a video and a picture to reassure Evie that all bunnies were in the burrow.  :)  Poor Avi-man was fighting a cold so we didn't get to see him.  And Kiki couldn't come because there were just too many people there.  Evie was pretty sad about that :(. But everyone who could make it came to celebrate my AMAZING grandma's birthday .  She certainly deserves to be celebrated because she is awesome!!! We love you Grandma/GiGi!

Sunday was a relax-and-hangout day with Kiki, Pops and Aunt Sha-Sha.  Kiki can't be around a lot of people so we went for a drive, stopped a small roadside farmers market and took a trip to the (nearly empty) train park.  We had Larosa's for dinner with a side of delicious watermelon and sat outside laughing, talking and listening to music.  We played 'Name the Tune', and the kids and I had relay races in the backyard (anything to wear them out!).  Later we watched the fireworks on TV.  It was so nice to just be together.  I wish Pat could have been there too, but he had a wedding (Congrats Tim and Carl!) and work.  

The picture below of Kiki and Evelyn makes me choke up a little.  Things could be so different and we are all SO grateful for every day, every laugh, every moment.  We really try to take nothing for granted.  

 

We headed back to Cbus this morning and the rest of the day was just spent relaxing and preparing for next week.

Happy Labor Day!!  

Zoo time

One of our favorite areas of the zoo is the aquarium.  Evie has a special place in her heart for sea creatures (I told you she's part fish)! She bonded with a sea turtle and touched a horseshoe crab.  Mitch got drenched at the splash pad and generally ran around acting like a wild animal.
Good times ;)

Kiki's Birthday

Recently we celebrated Kiki’s birthday.  It was a birthday that, truth be told, we were not sure we’d get the chance to celebrate with her back in January.  It’s been a long 8 months, but she made it.  We all made it.  She remains one the strongest and most positive people I know and if anyone deserved the chance to celebrate, it’s my mom.

                                           

She was still staying with Holly, but got permission from her doctor to made a ‘daytrip’ home to her own house.  We couldn’t have a big blow out, but we did have a little party for her.  Shannon made Great-Grandma Bessler’s (my mom’s grandma) special spaghetti sauce.  Adam whipped up some delicious Orange Dreamsicle cocktails.  Pat couldn’t make it to the party because of work, but he baked the birthday girl’s requested dessert – a hummingbird cake.  The house was decorated with streamers and balloons and the kids made Kiki a special birthday sign.  We had to keep the party small, but we surprised my mom and invited one special guest – my mom’s cousin Patty.  They screamed and hugged when they saw each other like they hadn’t seen each other in years when in reality it had only been a few months.  If you think that the screaming out of the ordinary, think again.  I have a vivid memory of them doing the same thing when they ran into each other at the Florence Mall.  It’s nice to know some things never change!

It ended up being the perfect evening to sit outside and just be together. I wish I would have taken more pictures, but I was too busy enjoying family time.  The kids ran around and we had a water balloon fight.  It got pretty intense there for a while and we all got soaked and did a lot of laughing.  Avi was cracking us up – he just kept throwing the balloons out of the pool and busting them as fast as we could make them!  After we dried off, we listened to some of Kiki’s favorite songs and did a little dancing.  As she got ready to go back to Holly’s, she told us that she really had a wonderful day.  A day where she could just sit and be happy and not worry about anything for a little while.

 Happy Birthday Kiki!  You are loved more than you know.