parks, parks. we love parks.

I am always looking for something free or cheap to do outside with the boys. This time of year we can find lots of places to go. My favorite things about living where we do include proximity to Indianapolis (15-20 minute drive to the heart of downtown on a good traffic day), great local restaurants and other businesses, and of course, the abundance of parks nearby.

Friday afternoon when I picked up the boys, it was obvious that rain was coming.  We stopped at one of our favorite parks on the way home. It's special to me because it was built with all kinds of kids in mind.  It's wheelchair accessible, brand new, rarely busy, and just the right size. It has plenty for the boys to do but isn't so spread out that I lose sight of one of them if they go separate ways.  When it's hot out, there are fun water features. Additionally, because it's wheelchair accessible, the playground area has that rubbery flooring stuff which means it's never muddy.

Saturday morning we got up and went to a very small local farmer's market. There isn't much there yet. Lots of plants. I'm looking forward to going back when I can buy tomatoes (not tomato plants) and corn on the cob. My green thumb is non-existent. There were plenty of delicious baked goods to take home though. 

Afterwards, on the spur of the moment, I wanted to take the boys to a park in the town where I work, 20 minutes away. Such a neat, big, wooded park. It was a nice morning so I was surprised again that practically no one else was there. 

I'm having a lot of fun getting to know my new 50mm 1.8 lens. 

Scared of swinging but not scared of heights...I'm so confused.

  

Exploring.

Ever seen a kid this big in the baby swings? Me either. Except for this one.

Afterwards we went to one of my favorite local restaurants and ate outside.  Tired boys. It's been such a fun day and Mother's Day weekend so far. 

Hope you are enjoying the weekend,

~C~

a (satur)day in the life

As a bonus challenge for the Catch The Moment 365 project I am participating in, it was proposed that everyone try documenting an entire day in photos.  We'll be linking these posts up via our hosts, Nurse Loves Farmer, Simply Stavish, and Behind the Camera and Dreaming.

So this is a pretty typical Saturday on a weekend where we have little or nothing planned.  You'll quickly see (as I did) how much our life revolves around eating and sleeping.

Saturday, March 1st.

MORNING:

Despite our pleading to not wake us up before Mr. Sunshine comes to visit, we were up and at 'em by 7am. They did a little shirtless marker play while I was fixing breakfast.  Saturday's breakfasts are usually pretty hearty and pretty tasty, too.  They gobbled up cheesy scrambled eggs, bacon, jelly biscuits, and blueberries.

After breakfast, I enjoyed a second cup of coffee while Ryan paid bills, the boys played, and I attempted to watch the news.

Typical laundry room scene if/when laundry doesn't get done during the week.  And it rarely does.

With the boys' first swim lesson at 11:30am, I decided around 9 that I better see if they had swimming trunks that fit.  It was a good opportunity to dump their disastrous sock & underwear drawer and do some organizing. 

Packed up and ready for the pool & gym. 

Knowing they'd be eating a later lunch, I gave the boys a big snack of cheese, graham crackers, ham bits, and juice before we left. 

Theo's excitement was beyond words. He couldn't wait to jump in and splash around! They both had fun.  They've got a lot of learning to do.  :) 

AFTERNOON:

Red beans and rice with smoked turkey sausage for lunch. They loved it! I fixed this for dinner Thursday night.  I'm always surprised when they like something new!

After some negotiations, we got them down for a late nap that didn't last very long. 

Meanwhile, Ryan finally took down our Christmas lights since A) the temp was above 0 and B) there wasn't a foot of snow on top of them. 

And I...

took advantage of the quiet and soaked in the boys' tub (our bathroom only has a shower).

The boys woke up shortly after I got out.  

EVENING:

Doing the dishes while cooking dinner and snapping a few pictures of Niko watching a squirrel. The boys were multi-tasking in the next room too, playing Legos and watching a cartoon.

Gyros for dinner:  Another unexpected hot hit with the boys.  Dee-licious!

An after dinner trip to Target ... 

that didn't end well.

This tantrum brought to you by a 45 minute nap and parents who declined to buy their kid a toy. My plans of going to Kroger after Target were delayed.  It was 8pm and we decided to just head back home.  I think it sets a bad precedent to buy kids toys every time you take them to the store...I mean, at some point they have to accept reality.  Saturday night, this was our reality.  We got some looks - some disapproving and some understanding nods - as we were leaving Target with a screaming kid but... oh well.  He was over it by the time we got home and (hopefully) learned a lesson that acting this way doesn't get him what he wants. 

Bedtime Stories around 8:30pm.

Once the boys had settled and were quiet, I left again to pick up a few groceries. 

It was pretty dead - I was in and out and back home before 10pm. 

A small bowl of cherry cobbler ice cream, Breaking Bad, and then bed around midnight.

And that's it - the play by play of a day in my life.  As I was trying to remember to take pics of just about everything that took place yesterday, it seemed like such a huge hassle. But for some reason, I'm kind of partial to this post.  I have a feeling these are the kinds of days that I will forget to remember. I'll remember the trips to Disney World and birthday parties, but I won't remember the details of random Saturdays that all seem to run together.  I might have to do this a few times a year.  Hope you enjoyed your day - and mine! 

xo,

~C~

more rambling - childcare update

Hard to believe it's been almost 6 months since The Babysitter of the Year told us she was quitting. Closing. Whatever.  That was truly one of the hardest things we've been through as parents.  Stressful. Unexpected. Struck fear in my heart and opened me up to a world of uncertainties and insecurities.  On July 1st, we took them both to a new in-home sitter and on August 7, Theo started attending Montessori pre-school three days a week.  

How's it going? 

It's going .... good.  The transition was hard and it took longer than I expected but I can say confidently now that things are good.  Am I glad now that it happened this way?  Not necessarily, no.  The boys still miss her. I miss her. I miss her kid. The boys still talk about her.  The current situation is that Dexter goes to the new sitter every day and Theo goes there on Mondays and Fridays.  Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday he is at school.  Not too long ago, after a day at the sitter, Theo was going on and on about his day and the fun that he'd had.  I asked him if he liked school and he said yes.  I asked him if he liked the new sitter and he said yes.  I felt my heart grow warmer as a peace settled over me.  Then, like a moron, I asked him if he had to choose, where he would go every single day. 

He paused, and then said "I would go back to E's because that's the best place for me.  I know that's the best place for me."  

And then my heart about shattered into a million pieces.  Months later, he's still missing her and wishing he could go back.  Me too, son.  That's not to say that I don't love his school.  I do. We do.  We all love his school.  His teacher loves him and has great things to say about his growth there.  I have noticed him growing up, acting older, since he started there.  I don't know if that's always a good thing, but I guess it was bound to happen one way or the other. I do believe that it's been good for him to be the youngest kid instead of the oldest.  He's learning about social cues and rules and expectations.  He's growing more independent.  It's been amazing to watch him change in a short time.  But it's still sad.  

Theo was having some behavior issues before this transition and I now deeply believe that it was due to being the oldest and possibly under-stimulated.  E suspected this and told me this the day she said she was closing.  I didn't want to hear it but the simple truth is that he's had a handful (or less) of issues since the switch.  Because of Theo's wacky antics, I really thought if anyone was going to struggle, it'd be him.  He can be downright rigid and stubborn and I knew how attached he was to her. I can only assume that Theo's ability to verbalize his thoughts and feelings helped him in a way that Dexter was not able to process. 

Dexter really struggled more (visibly) than Theo and much more than I expected.  There was a lot of crying every day at dropoff, clinging to me, and not wanting to go. Crying on the way there and begging not to go.  Saying he didn't like it there. Crying when I picked him up.  I spent quite a few of my drives to work in tears myself, thinking THIS SUCKS.  Stomachaches, wishing for nothing more than to be a stay at home mom.  I have nothing but kind words for the two ladies that care for him, but it's not the same personal experience that we had with E.  As soon as things started to settle initially, Theo started going to school and we had to go through a transition all over again.  The roughest part lasted about two months. But now here we are, almost 5 months into this and Dexter absolutely loves going there. 

This morning, on the way he says: 

No, that's not J's house.

No, that's not J's house.

No, that's not J's house.

No, that's not J's house. 

YAY! That's J's street!!

No, that's not J's house. 

No, that's not J's house. 

No, that's not J's house. 

YES! That's J's house!! 

I pulled in the driveway and reached into the back to unbuckle him from his seat and put his coat on before getting out of the warm, cozy car.  As soon as I unbuckled him, he hopped down from his seat and said:

That's okay, I go in by myself. Have a good day, mommy!  

Excuse me, two year old child?  I think I will continue to walk him in for a little while longer.  Anyway, about 3 out of 5 days a week I don't even get a hug from him because he's too busy running off to play with his friends and doesn't have time for me. I'll totally take that over the alternative.

xo,

~C~

fourth minute of fall photo dump

In the springtime, I have the boys outside at every given opportunity, just because I'm full of glee that winter has come to an end.  They love it, I love it, everything's peachy.  Then sometime in July or August, it gets so insanely hot that you can barely breathe while walking to the mailbox so you can forget about playing tag and running circles around the house.  The only way to play outside is in a pool or lake.  After that, there's about 5 minutes of nice, fall weather before blizzard season sets in for 9 months.  Okay, like 6. Fine, 4.  Or whatever.  Anyway, we're in the 4th minute of fall right now and I'm acutely aware that soon I will be right back in that there's-no-way-in-hell mode when asked to play outside.  

But now that Theo's engrossed in Legos and they are both obsessed with Disney movies, some days they don't even show any interest in playing outside. Lame.  So today when Dexter asked to play outside after we got home, I scrapped any plans for a decent dinner in exchange for spending the last hour of daylight with my baby boy outside. Theo enjoyed playing in the leaf pile I raked until he'd destroyed it, then he was pretty much pouting until I let him go inside to play Legos.  I checked on him intermittently before dragging Dex back in so I could pop those frozen corn dogs in the oven for dinner.  So what? They loved it.

Oh, and as Dexter and I were putting toys back in the garage, Theo opens the door and asks to go on a wagon ride.  I was happy to hear that he'd changed his mind, but told him it was too late. At least I did something I've been FAILING at lately - I remembered to grab my camera to capture a few cute fourth minute of fall moments.

The purest, sweetest, most innocent joy.

I guess I don't totally hate fall.

xo,
~C~