What a week we had!!

Last week our babysitter was on vacation.  I ended up taking two days off work, Pat took a day (and worked that night) and the kids spent time with their grandparents for two of the days.  It ended up being a really awesome week and I think our kids had a great time (I know I did!).    They love getting to spend time with their amazing grandparents and they had so many adventures – The Audubon, the Zoo and COSI all in one week!

On Wednesday, Aunt Holly and Avi came to visit.  We loaded up the kids and headed to the zoo.  The kids were good most of the time, but we did have one incident right before we left when Evie decided to throw an epic mega-fit because she didn't get her way.  It was embarrassing and stressful for me and I really hope I handled it right. We got out of there as quickly as possible and I’m pretty sure she was asleep before we even got out of the parking lot.  Three year olds are more work (and more love) that I ever imagined!  As soon as she woke up from her nap, she said “Sorry Mama for throwing a fit…Do you still like me?” Ugh!  That’s her new thing – Do you like me?  Pat and I try and explain that we love her no matter what, but we do not like her behavior sometimes.  I remember being a kid and thinking the same thing when I would do something wrong.  Now that I’m a parent, I know that nothing could ever make me stop loving my kids.  Even on their worst days, I love my babies more than anything.

Pat stayed home with kids on Thursday.  He told me that he asked Evie what she wanted to do and she said that all she wanted was to stay home with him and play.  Pat happily obliged.  We’re so busy so much of the time that sometimes it’s really nice to just stay home.  The kids and Pat had a great day!  Friday, I was off work again so I took the kids to COSI.  It had been awhile since we’d been there.  In fact, I’m not even sure Mitch was walking the last time we went.  I figured we’d stay for an hour – 1-1/2 hours tops.  We were there for almost three hours!  It really is the neatest place and we had a lot of fun.  Both kids enjoyed the Kids Space, but Mitch especially enjoyed it because it was all new to him.  He was running and climbing and having a grand time.  It’s hard to believe that Evie wasn’t even walking at this age.  She didn’t walk until she was 15 months old.  Mitch started walking at 9.5 months and now there is no stopping him!  Wherever Evie goes, Mitchell wants to go too.  It’s so cute (most of the time anyway).  I love babies, but it’s wonderful to have two kids that can actually play together.  It makes me glad that we had them fairly close together. 

After COSI, we went home and just enjoyed the rest of the day.  It was such a gorgeous day and we spent most of the afternoon and evening in our backyard playing.  We ordered pizza and even ate outside.  It was wonderful and relaxing and the perfect way to start the weekend!  

On Saturday, Dan and Nicole came to town.  It’s been awhile since we’ve seen them and they’d never met Mitchell before.  Both kids acted shy at first, but they warmed up by the end of evening thank goodness!  We started Sunday off with a walk and play time at the park and then we saw Uncle Dan and Aunt Nicole again the next morning at brunch.  We didn't really get to talk to them much with all the commotion.  It’s a little crazy with 11 adults and 4 kids (under 5yrs) at a restaurant! Amazingly, the children were all fairly well-behaved and for once I felt like I got to join in a little in the conversations around me.  At one point, Mitch insisted on getting down out of the highchair.  Normally, this is not something that we do in a restaurant if we can help it, but he was blocked in by all the chairs so I got him out.  He played a little, tried to escape (and got his head stuck) and finally sat down on the ground and looked through some books that I brought.  It was pretty cute and I’m so happy he likes to ‘read’! 

We ended the weekend with a cookout with some friends that work with Pat.  It was hot and humid outside, but the kids had fun playing with the water table and running through the sprinkler.  By the end of the day, we were all happily exhausted. 

Life is good.

How is it August already?!

Life has been rolling right along right now.  Days pass in a blur and I honestly cannot believe it’s already August.  We’ve got a lot to look forward to this month (like Evie starting preschool…Eek!).  I also want try and fit in some more summer activities like going to a Columbus Clippers game, letting the kids play in the fountains at the Scioto Mile, exploring the Columbus Commons, hitting a few more festivals, and hopefully enjoying some pool time.  Working full time makes it difficult to find time to do it all, but I think my kids have had a fun summer so far. 

Last weekend Evie had fun catching fireflies in my parent’s backyard.  We headed downtown to check out The Banks on Saturday afternoon and the kids had a great time riding the carousel and splashing in the fountains.  Sunday, Evie helped Pops make blueberry pancakes.  After breakfast, we went to visit G.G. Ruth and go fishing.  Evie was so excited that she helped Pop catch 3 fish!  She was pretty upset when we had to leave G.G.’s house and she was even more upset when we decided to pack up and head home right when we got back to Kiki and Pops.  I felt so bad because she seemed so heartbroken that we had to leave.  But Mitchell had fallen asleep in the car and we opted to just get on the road rather than wake him up.  Both kids were pretty tried and slept most of the way home.  

While we were in town, a lot of people commented on how much Mitchell had changed since the last time.  He comprehends so much more these days and sometimes I forget that he’s not even 14 months old yet.  He will answer you when you ask him a question.  If you say “Mitch do you want a drink?” he’ll nod and say “Uh huh”.  He definitely lets you know when he wants something and when you give it to him, he will say “Thank you”.  Pat told me that the other night, while I was out, he asked Mitchell if he was ready for bed and Mitch nodded.  Then, after rocking him for a few minutes, Pat asked Mitch if he was ready to lie down in the crib and Mitchell nodded.  So Pat laid him down and Mitchell went to sleep.  Just like that.  I wish it were that easy all the time!  He is saying more and more words and, though we can’t understand it all, it’s clear that Mitchell knows what he’s saying.  I think that this sudden speech and comprehension explosion has a direct correlation to his recent obsession with books.  We didn’t think any kid could love books as much as Evie, but Mitchell may give her a run for her money.  We read him no less than three books each night before bed. When I need to get something done, I can put Mitchell in his crib with a few books and he will be perfectly content.  He’ll sit downstairs and look through books, then bring them to us, plop down on our lap and demand that we read to him.  For all of his love of books, however, he usually doesn’t sit still for long.  He’s running, climbing, rolling and playing all the time these days.  He’s learning to build towers with his blocks and he’s starting to tinker with things to see how they work.  I have it on good authority that his daddy used to be the same way.  He’s loves his big sister and follows her around constantly. 

This brings me to Evelyn.  My girl is such a good big sister to Mitchell.  She had honestly surpassed all of our expectations.  Yes, she gets jealous and loses patience with him at times, but usually she is the sweetest, most loving big sister ever.   She truly amazes me daily, not only because of her awesome big sister skills, but because she is so darn smart.  She loves learning and her mind is a sponge these days.  Out of the blue the other day, she looked at me and said “Mama…do you know that a worm has 5 hearts?  And the butterflies eat with their feet?”  Umm…ok.  She went to the History Museum with Grandma Rita and she’s still talking about the mastodon bones she saw and how all the animals and trees there were petrified (We chose not to correct her about the animals.  She can learn about taxidermy another day).  She doesn’t forget much and she loves sharing her knowledge with others.  She just loves to learn. Awhile back, she spent most of one evening looking up foxes with my dad on the IPad and learning more about them and she’s practically an expert now.  All of this makes me excited for her to start preschool.  I think (hope) she’s going to love it!

Here’s a few pictures from the past week…

A Weekend of Fun

After a very wet start to summer, it was nice to have some sunshiny days last week.  We've been trying to take advantage of it and spend some time outdoors.  

We've had our usual visits to the park and long walks around the neighborhood.   Just being able to be outside and really have it feel like summer was wonderful!  On Friday, Evie went to Grandma Rita’s house for a day of adventure.  She got to go to the History Museum and see some really cool stuff.  She learned a lot and had a lot to tell me when she got home that day about why animals are extinct.  She got to try on lots of Grandma Rita’s fancy jewelry, have lunch at Daddy’s restaurant and get a yummy treat from the Fudge Haus.  She was worn out by the time she got home!

Friday evening Pat and I decided to take the kids down to campus and go to Friday Night Lights at Ohio Stadium.  It ended up being a really perfect evening.  Pat got experience Ohio Stadium with his kids for the first time and it was kind of awesome.  Both kids seemed a little awed by the sheer size of the stadium.  They absolutely loved getting to explore a little and Evie was even semi-interested in what was going on down on the field.  We even made a stop to Buckeye Grove before heading home.

Saturday I took the kids to the Powell Splash Pad at Village Park.  I’d heard about it, but this was the first time I've even taken the kids.  It was so cool!  There were water fountains, a water tunnel and tons contraptions that sprayed water.  Evie and Mitch had a lot of fun.  Especially Evie.  I don’t think she stopped moving for at least an hour straight!  I cannot wait to take the kids back.  It’s so convenient and not overly big so it was easy for me to keep an eye on Evie while chasing after Mitch. 

On Sunday, we met up with Rita and her brother Stephen who is in town visiting.  After dinner at The Mohawk, Grandma Rita, Uncle Stephen and Evie all tired their hands at hula hooping.  Grandma Rita is definitely a pro and I think Evie was both impressed and jealous.  Evie also got to try using a 'singing bowl'.  Fun times!

We had a great weekend.  Fingers crossed that the weather is great again this week so we can have some more adventures!

Family and Festival Fun!

We've had a lot of fun with our families recently.  The kids have enjoyed spending time with all of their grandparents..we are so blessed to have them in our lives!

Sibling Resemblence

I rarely think that they look that much alike, but you can see that they are siblings in these pictures.

Evie gets her sense of style from me. J

And look at Mitch’s eyes!  Are they gray?  Green?  Hazel?  I still think they’ll be brown eventually.

I mean what are the chances that two left-handed people, neither of which have green eyes, would have two right-handed, green-eyed kids?  We’re not 100% sure if Mitch will be right-handed, but it’s kind of looking that way.  Pat is somewhat ambidextrous so maybe he will be like his daddy.

Left-handed people make up 10% of the population.

Only about 2% of the world’s population has green eyes.

4th of July Weekend was a blast

Evie started off her weekend early – with a slumber party at Grandma Rita’s house!  It was the first time she’d ever slept over there so it was big deal.  For all of us.  I’m not ashamed to admit that I had little bit of a teary-eyed moment as I watched them drive away from our house on Thursday evening.  My baby girl is big enough to go on sleepovers!  When did this happen?!  I’m sure some people would think I’m ridiculous to feel emotional about it.  I know plenty of parents with kids Evie’s age that have been sleeping over their grandparents’ houses for ages and would tell me it’s no big deal.  I’m sure eventually we will get to that point.  But this was only the 2^nd time I’ve ever spent a night away from Evie (well, 3^rd if you count the nights that I was in the hospital after having Mitch) so I was a little bit apprehensive.  Evie, however, didn’t show the slightest bit of apprehension.  She had an awesome time.  She called me before bed to tell me about her adventures - dinner at the Mohawk, followed by a cookie from the Fudge House and wine (and water) on the porch with Grandma Rita and her friends.  The next day they had Evie’s favorite breakfast (bacon and eggs), went on a nature walk, went shopping and had lunch at Daddy’s restaurant, Barcelona.  Evie was on cloud 9 by the time she got home on Friday afternoon.  I took advantage of an Evie-free (and work-free) day to spend some one-on-one time with our resident boy wonder, Mitchell.  I don’t get to do that often and I enjoyed every second.  He is such a loveable, good little boy.  He’s your stereotypical wild child at times, running into things, body slamming the dog and doing his best to completely destroy a room.  But mixed into the chaos are moments of complete sweetness.  He can be so affectionate at times. He’ll be playing like crazy and then suddenly come over and plop down on your lap and want to snuggle.  We spent our day rolling around in our pajamas, playing with blocks, books and trucks.  It was wonderful and the perfect way to start the weekend.

The good time didn’t end there.  My parents came up on Friday night and got a hotel room.  We had pool and pizza party on Friday evening and then Evie got to have another sleepover with Kiki and Pops!  We picked them all up on Saturday morning and headed to Dublin 4^th of July parade.  This was the first time we’ve ever taken the kids to a parade and they loved it.  Evie got lots of candy and loved watching all of the cars, floats horses and dancers go by.  We had a prime seat, ride on the curb.  Then about halfway through, Evie decided she had enough candy and she wanted to stand back where Pops, Daddy and Mitchell.  

After the parade, we headed back to the hotel and continued our pool party.  Aunt Sha-Sha drove up and Grandma Rita came by too!  It was an absolutely gorgeous day outside and Evie and Mitch really loved the water.   

After a day of swimming, we had dinner and headed to the Worthington Fireworks with Grandpa Tim, Grandma Katherine and the rest of the family.  Mitch so unimpressed that he slept through the entire fireworks show, but Evie had a blast. She was so excited she could hardly sit still!  

The night ended with a third sleepover for Evie. When I went to the hotel to pick her up the next morning, Evie excited to tell me that Pops had “found” a bed in the couch in the hotel room and she was slept there with Aunt Sha-Sha. If only it was that easy to make everyone happy!

Our weekend ended with a quiet Sunday at home.  Evie and I snuggled on the couch and watched a movie, Pat spent some quality time with Mitchell and then we all took a walk and went to the park.  Pretty perfect!

Prayers for Avi

Prayers for my sweet nephew!

Sweet Avi is having surgery today.  He’s at the best hospital and I trust that everything will be fine.  But it’s still a nerve-wracking time for our family – especially his parents.  Hopefully by this time tomorrow, he will be recovering in the comfort of his own home.  I cannot wait to see him this weekend and kiss his sweet face!

 Whenever I’m faced with a situation that is out of my control, I pray.  So today I’m praying that Avram’s guardian angels are with him, his parents and all of the medical professionals that will care for him today.

For Avi…

Angel of God,

My guardian dear,

To whom God’s love, commits me here,

Ever this day be at my side,

To light and guard and rule and guide.

Amen.

UPDATE:  Avi is out of surgery.  He did great and is with his mommy and daddy now!