Fun Days

Family photo at our church's festival a few weeks ago

The last full week of summer vacation is over.  I'm not saying my kids were perfect this summer, and there were definitely times when they drove me bonkers, but we had a really good summer.  And if they don't start acting like little shits this week, I'm going to be very, very sad when they go to school.  I'm not sure what's gotten into them this summer, being all sweet and lovable more than their normal percentage of time.  But they could help their mom out a little by making me want to send them off to school in a few days.  I know they have it in them :)

 

That would be Casey

 

Good fun!

 

That would be Emily in her own sack next to Tom.  I did not want her going in her own sack for fear she would break her leg or not go down as fast as Tom.   I tried to shut this idea down big time....

 

....but then we wouldn't have had this when they were finished - pure joy :)

Last weekend was Tom's birthday.  I won't out him here on his age, when the girls read this one day, they can do the math to know which birthday we celebrated.  His birthday was on Saturday, which is his usual golf day, and he shot in the 70's for his special day!  We'll just call that my gift to him.  I was somewhat responsible, right?  I mean if I wasn't such an amazing wife who actually doesn't mind that her husband golfs every Saturday morning while I'm at home with 2 young kids, 70's wouldn't have happened.  Yeah, so you're welcome, honey :)  Hope we made your special day a good one!

The green sprinkles were Emily's idea.  The pink candles were Casey's idea.  I don't think Tom was surprised that there would be pink somewhere on his cake with these girls in the house!

 

Anyhow, while he was gone golfing, I was hurrying to make and decorate a (pretty clever) cake and make an appetizer for him to snack on while he watched the golf tournament on TV (that is what he wanted to do for his birthday - drink beer and watch golf.  Pretty easy to please in my opinion; I'm much more demanding on my birthday :).  And in the process of cutting lettuce, I managed to cut off a small chunk of the tip of my thumb.  As I was looking at the knife in my thumb on the cutting board, 3 things very quickly went through my mind: 1) Again?!?  2) Hmm? It doesn't hurt.  3) That's a lot of blood, and because I've cut my fingers before, I know I have a tendency to pass out at this.  So I called our neighbor, Jolene, to come over and look at it for me to determine if I needed stitches because I refused to look at it, knowing I was home along with the girls and didn't want to pass out in front of them.  No stitches required AND she stayed to finish the appetizer and clean up all the dishes for me!!!  Just in time for Tom to come home!

 

Happy Birthday hugs!

 

Sunday, we hired a sitter for Emily and Tom and I took Casey to a Reds' game.  A day with just our big girl.  Despite Casey stressing out the entire game about the possibility of fireworks (after 16 ear infections and tubes in her ears, she can't handle loud noises- it's a huge source of anxiety for her), Casey declared the day to be awesome!!  We had great seats and arrived early enough to get a free book and a picture with Rosie Red!  And UDF ice cream in a plastic Reds hat is a must at a game.

 

Casey and Rosie Red

 

I love these daddy/daughter shots.  I get them as often as I can.  One day, I'm going create a little memory book of just pictures of Tom holding hands with the girls.

This week we finally bought all of the school supplies on the girls' lists.  (For the first time, glue sticks and crayons didn't make the list!)  We went to the zoo with friends on the most perfect, amazing weather day!  And another day we went up to Dayton to visit my cousin, Jean, and her 3 daughters.  Fun times with fun friends and family for sure this past week!

See the tigers exactly 4 inches behind them?  Emily is NOT happy about this.  She, in fact, was scared of most of the animals at the zoo.

 

I love this picture because of the colors and the size of the bear in proximity to the kids.  Also, Emily is scared of the polar bear and I love how Casey's hand is on her back. 

 

Sillies

 

Add caption

 

I am certain one day in the future when we look back at this blog, we will see a consistent theme for me in the year 2013 - the weather.  After unseasonably cool temperatures this summer, the forecast for the first two days of school is 90 degrees.  Nice.  Last week it was in the 70's and too chilly for the pool and this week it's going to warm up, so we'll be logging some pool time before the big first day.  Maybe the girls will start acting like the little punks I know they can be and I won't be so sad to pack up the backpacks and slap them on their butts on the way out the door to school.
 
Come on, girls, get me here.  I know you can do it :)

Little Things

 

Oh the little things.  The little things can set me off into a mom temper tantrum over messy bedrooms.  The little things like good morning hugs between sisters can go un-noticed each day as just part of the routine.  And then the little things like welcome home parties and honest, child-like questions can just melt my mom heart like no body's business.  There's no rhyme or reason as to when the little things will hit me and how I will interpret them. 

Yes, I said interpret them, because as a mom there are about 100 different factors that can make me go from ignoring stuff on the floor to being a screaming nutjob over toys covering the floor of bedrooms.  Any given day, those factors can make me join in and make good mornings a group hug for all of us or prod someone to just stop hugging and eat their breakfast already (I'm not making it up - Emily does wake up each morning and gives Casey the biggest good morning hug and they stand there embracing for at least 20 seconds, which in sister time is a long time).  And the little parties that consist of paper and markers, or the questions that are only one of 746 in a day, can be met with a pat on the head or a full mind and body presence that I actually make time for.  Either I really am a nutjob or I'm just another busy mom in this world. :)

 

But it really is the little things that can end up being big things if I let them.  And I promise, I'm not here to pretend that I capture little things and drink up their magic all the time like some super magical mom.  I don't ever want Casey and Emily to look back at my blog one day and think I've painted a false picture of our lives - typically, I just try to write down our reality here without dwelling on the negative.  There are many, many times when the little things become a pain in the rear.  And it's usually only grandmas that have the reflective experience to know that the little things are the most important.  I guess moms tend to just loose them in the shuffle.  For whatever reason, though, little things had my attention this week.

 

I've been gone a couple of times in the last few weeks, for like 4 or 5 hours at a time, for a work project.  Not a big deal; the girls love sitters.  Monday, we had the rare treat of my parents being in town and they watched the girls for me in the morning.  When I got home (at noon, not like 5:30p.m.) the table was set with a table cloth (blanket) and snacks were in bowls (tupperware) for me to enjoy.  The girls cut up paper and threw lots of confetti at me in celebration of my return and Casey had made and hung up a Welcome Home sign. 

A choice to how to interpret this scene:  1) I've seen the cat sleep on that blanket that is currently covering the kitchen table and I have tons of little pieces of paper to clean up now.  or  2) This is really adorable and sweet that they missed me and had so much fun putting on a party for me, so soak it up.   #2 all the way.  The girls and I couldn't hug each other enough and they were so excited about it all.  And I like to think me being fully present with them for this makes up a little bit for almost giving Emily a beat down in Wal-Mart the other day.  (Not literally!!)

Casey had a friend sleep over the other night and they were up until "one-something" in the morning.  (their definition of keeping track of time).  After waking up at 6:40, she kept telling me the next day that her body felt funny.  After a mandatory nap (which she thinks is the worst form of torture I can put her through), she explained her legs, arms and eyes felt very heavy and her whole self felt fuzzy.  She didn't like this feeling and wasn't sure why she was felt so funny.  Of course, she was just exhausted and waaaay tired, but it really was so sweet how she didn't know why her bones felt so heavy. We had some snuggle time while I explained that her body just needed rest and I couldn't help but think about how innocent and childlike this all was.  And I found myself soaking this random moment up.  She'll be 9 this fall and these little moments will happen less and less I fear.

 

On Friday Tom took off work and we brought the girls downtown for a few hours.  It's really a shame that we are fortunate enough to live so close to a big city and expose the girls to it so little.  I hope to change that in the future.  Growing up where the nearest shopping mall was a 30 minute drive away, I won't let myself take for granted the opportunities that are so near to us here.  So Friday we went to the top of the Carew Tower, the (now) second tallest building in Cincinnati.  There is an observation deck up there and even on a hazy day, we could still see all the buildings, stadiums, trains, river, and hills around us.  Casey said on a 0-10 fun scale it was a 7. 

 

It was a very cloudy and hazy day

What did Casey find that was so cool?

.... a rooftop swimming pool is cool!

Next we just went to the really great playground at Sawyer Point.  Tucked under the I-471 bridge, it's an 'accessible' playground where I don't have to worry about Emily falling off the ledge of a tall platform.  That doesn't mean it is boring - there are tons of walkways and bridges and 'every-kid'-friendly activities to enjoy. 

 

 

 

 

 

This is a shot of part of the playground - it's pretty big!

 

 

After playground was lunch on the river in Kentucky, which is where the best view of Cincinnati is from.  We don't let our kids get out of their seats to run around at the dinner table at home or at restaurants, so when Emily got up out of her chair, it was absolutely priceless that at that exact moment one of the paddle boats on the Ohio river blew it's mammoth horn.  She froze, and by the look on her face, I'm surprised she didn't pee her pants.  While frozen in fear, I told her that is what happens if she gets out of her seat, and with diners at the other tables laughing at my parenting (or there lack of..), she ran back to her seat.  It was a lovely lunch on the riverfront :)

 

It wasn't a big planned day out, at least not for Tom and I, but the girls thought it was a pretty cool way to spend the day.  Like I said - it's the little things.  We've got a week and a half before Casey starts school and we will be filling them with little things that I hope will be just fun memories.  Some will take effort and maybe a little money, but I'll make sure we have fun doing nothing or just a little something.  I don't think we need to, nor do I want our girls to expect, that we have to have something big planned all the time.  I want us to just be happy together, whatever we're doing.  I'm sure some little things will get missed and other things, that should be little things, will be made into big things because I'm interpreting them to be annoying instead of adorable.  That's just reality, I guess.

Speaking of reality - this is a real family picture :)

By the way, yesterday Casey randomly told me that I'm better at making little things fun (like eating lunch on a blanket in the yard or dancing in the stands at swim championships to make her laugh and not be nervous) and daddy's better at making big things fun (like taking her to the circus or to Reds' games).  Kind of funny she's thinking about the little things, too.  Guess we must be doing something a little right :)

Chowing down on gummy worms - this picture makes me laugh.