The Long Week

What did we do all week while Brandon was out of town?  Let’s see:

Sunday night we had Veggie Tales movie night with popcorn.

Monday Abby and I went to the grocery while Gavin went to preschool.

After nap we went to the library. 

We came home with a few books.  By “a few” I mean 38.

Tuesday morning I woke up to this.  Gavin had set up camp and a battle of knights in the hallway.

After breakfast we met friends for a play date and picnic at the park. 

While Abby napped I worked on some yard work while Gavin hovered and chattered constantly.  He sure has a lot on his mind.

Tuesday night we went to dinner with our friends Katie and Emily for kids eat free night at Max and Erma’s.

 

Katie and Emily showed Abby how to play the drums with straw paper.

Wednesday morning we went to school for closing picnics.  It was Gavin’s final day of preschool.

He had his picture taken with his buddies.

The kids played on the playground one last time.

And of course one last class photo.

After preschool I needed to run an errand at Easton.  I decided to surprise Gavin and take him to the Lego store for the first time.  He picked out a dino set as a celebratory gift for finishing two great years of preschool.

Yes Abby did have shoes.  She removed them in the Lego store and I decided some battles aren’t worth fighting so I put them away.

We also made funfetti cookies on Wednesday.  They turned out so-so.  It was my first go at them and they are supposed to be softer.  I made them a little crisper.  Oh well, there’s always next time.

On Thursday we met Grammy and (surprise!) Poppy at the conservatory.  We didn’t know Poppy had the day off and that we’d get to see him too.

Neither of them wanted to cooperate for a camera facing picture but this turned out just as well.

There was some splashing at the fountain. 

Abby did not like being in the “volcano.”  She asked Poppy for lots of “nuggles” today.  She not only asks for “nuggles” when she wants to snuggle but also when she wants to be carried.

Abby asked Grammy for plenty of “nuggles” too. 

Gavin liked how his voice echoed in this cave-like structure.

The fish are always a hit with the kids.

We had quite a busy week.  This mom is tired and ready for a serious break.  Quiet time would be awesome.  Apparently Gavin is worn out too.  He looks about how I feel.  And yet, not one day this week would he nap.    

Back to work for me tomorrow and it is likely that answering 911 calls will loads more relaxing than this past week has been.  We had some good times and some not so good times.  But we’ve made it.   

May Fun

Enjoy some photos of our recent goings-on!

Gavin and Abby wanted to buy some cookies at the grocery store.  I said, “Hey how about we make them instead?!”  So we made sugar cookies on May 1.  Abby has sort of helped in the past but not at all like her brother used to.  Now that two of them are involved in the whole dumping of ingredients and mixing it all together, the situation gets a little dicey.  This was the first time that I’ve really let Abby help.  Her brother was otherwise occupied so I didn’t have to deal with the fighting and pushing that typically ensues when they are both involved.

“Hey look!  A robin!”  This is what we heard from someone walking behind us at the zoo last week.  I said to Brandon, “Or maybe a cardinal.  You know, the state bird.”  People never cease to amaze me. 

Our kids have a thing with winter footwear.  They didn’t get to wear winter footwear this year because of the mild weather.  On May 4 while the weather was at least 80, the kids decided after having a bath and putting on their PJs that it would be fun to wear their boots.  While blurry, this photo shows them trying to get their boots to light up by stomping on the floor.

Oh yes, this picture, complete with NERF gun, SWAT mittens, police hat, Batman boots, and monkey PJs will definitely make an appearance during Gavin’s teenage years.

And this picture, with Abby’s darling princess dress and winter boots will make an appearance during her teenage years as well.

We went to OSU on May 8 because the circus was coming to town and Brandon told us that they would be having a parade to the Schottenstein Center from Grandview that  would go right past the police department.  So, I took the kids and we set up a blanket and waited for the parade.

The road wasn’t shut down until right when the parade was coming down the road so I had strict rules about Abby sitting on my lap and Gavin not going further than the front of our blanket.  Abby is so fast that to catch her is sometimes next to impossible.  I didn’t want her making a run for the street!

Here comes the parade now!

The elephants were cute holding each other’s tails.

After the elephants, the horses walked by.

And there goes the “parade.”  The kids wanted more.  I think everyone was surprised that the parade consisted only of elephants and horses.  Oh, I can’t forget the protestors walking along with the animals holding signs about animal abuse.  So I guess there was more to the parade than just elephants and horses, we even saw protestors too!  Lucky us!

That’s what we’ve been up to through the early part of May.  School is almost out and we have a year break from preschool!  We’re hoping to come up with some fun things to do and see this summer.  I look forward to more adventures and sharing them here with pictures.

Happy mother's day!

Gavin invited me to school for mom’s teas on May 11.

Each child came out individually with a flower they made and brought us back into the classroom.  Once all of the moms were in the room the kids lined up to sing us a song.  They learned the signs to go with the song and they did a great job.

Mrs. Rysavy read a book about a mommy elephant who wanted just five minutes to herself but her three children would not leave her alone.  This sounds strangely familiar.

The kids made flower pots and place holders.  They also made magnets with painted puzzle pieces that were the frame of the magnet.  In the middle was, “Love you to pieces!” 

Gavin and I were so excited to spend some time together, just the two of us. 

The kids drew pictures of why their mom is special.  Thankfully this year it wasn’t a picture about me killing ants.   See last year’s post about mom’s teas and you’ll see what I am referring to.

I’m not entirely sure what this is all about but I think he said something about a tornado.  Gavin is obsessed with tornadoes.

I enjoyed my last mom’s tea with Gavin and hope they have more when Abby goes to preschool.

Happy mother’s day to all the moms!

The Big Reveal

The moment you have all been waiting for…Abby’s room reveal.

Before

After

Abby was so excited to check out her new room.  She and Gavin had spent the weekend at Grammy and Poppy’s house so we could get all of the work done.  We never would have accomplished everything we did if the kids had been home. 

With great anticipation she opens the door.

Abby explored everything.  She opened every door, drawer, and bin. 

She climbed into her bed repeatedly and dove into her animals to “nuggle.”

Little Miss didn’t want to leave her room after that.  She was not pleased when we had to pull her out to go do other things.  It’s taken some adjusting to get her used to sleeping in her bed.  Some days she won’t nap.  Last night at 1am she was screaming.  I went into her room and she was sitting in her bed with her nesting blocks crying.  At some point she got out of bed and pulled the blocks out of her toy drawers.  This new independence has resulted in a lack of sleep some nights. 

We’ve also done some work on the office.

Before

After

We are thrilled with the more organized, less cluttered look.  We replaced the brass chandelier that we didn’t like with the new light fixture.  The photo canvasses on the wall are photos we took at Hocking Hills last year.  All of the furniture is the same color now and the huge rack of DVDs has vanished to the basement.  We are thrilled with how it turned out.

All of the rearranging of rooms upstairs has resulted in the need to rearrange the basement.  We spent all of Sunday the weekend we were sans kids cleaning out the basement.  Again.  We just did it last year.  But, we needed a place to put the furniture for Abby’s room.  It was a huge project but it’s finished and we have more space in our basement than when we started so that’s great.  All of the upstairs carpets have been cleaned.  The kids toy boxes were cleaned, reorganized, and destroyed again when the kids got home.  The vinyl floors downstairs were cleaned with the heavy duty stuff that I won’t use when the kids are around.  We were very busy to say the least.  The couch in the living room had the stripes from where I vacuumed it when I cleaned the house for about three days because we were so occupied with projects we never sat down.

Things are settling back down a bit now that the projects have been completed.  We are still contending with school, soccer, work, and of course two crazy kids.  We’ll get birthday/anniversary thank you notes out soon, hopefully.  We’re also in the process of planning Gavin’s birthday party.  We’re doing a kid party this year with Gavin’s friends from school and we don’t plan to do a big bash at the house as we have in years past.  It seems that most invitees to the usual parties aren’t going to be available anyway.       

I hope everyone enjoyed finally seeing the pictures of all of our hard work!  Have a great weekend!