Hey Mamas

This song is seriously GREAT and I am thinking it might be my summer song. 
It just might make cleaning toilets fun!  Seriously.  Give it a listen.



Hey Mamas,

It is Friday! Yes it is.

And you deserve to have a wonderful three day weekend.
Whether it be chillin' at home with your immediates.
Hosting a houseful of family or friends.
Road tripping it with the car packed and stacked.
Or working when the office is a wee bit more quiet and you can get more done (that would be what the love of my life is going to be doing and oh, how I am craving for this crazy time to be over for him).

While he is doing his thing though we are hosting my family here.
We will have tents pupped in the basement or outside.
Children will be shuffled about to make room for others whom we love dearly.
And the food will be enjoyed, the wine poured, the beer cooler always stocked, and the games will be played....and maybe a little horse race money will be worn. Oh and trains...there will be some serious train playing going on with our cousin Eli.

This culminates the last full week of Kindergarten in our house. We have two short weeks left. And I am anticipating the morning of the 10th when we don't have to get out of the house at any particular time. As I listen to that song up above I have some serious confidence revving through my body saying - YOU GO MAMA! You pack up that crew of littles and trek the 6 hours to my parents for a week of fun. Summer is just around the corner.

Boys hairs cut.
Mama's bangs trimmed.
Sydney's diaper changed.
Fridge stocked - mostly.
Wine glass sitting ready to be filled - just as soon as I finish making guest beds cozy.

Can't wait! Make it a Memory-filled Memorial Day weekend.

Love to you and yours....
Sarah

WE LOVE LEGOS!

 An opportunity showed up in our mailbox a few weeks ago...advertising for this thing called Lego Kids Fest. It was going to be taking place at the convention center in Minneapolis. Tickets were a splurge...the question...do we fork over the money for something we weren't sure would be worth it. We decided to go for it - since Legos are a favorite toy in our house. And boy are we glad that we did it.

It. WAS. AWESOME.

So last Sunday we hiked downtown for a morning of Lego craziness.

Right away when we entered we walked up to an area where they were having a building competition. The guy grabbed up Charley and Henry and paired them with another brother team and away they built...for three minutes.

They battled against some older guys that built extreme but part of the challenge was passing the board with the tower from teammate to teammate to place on the judging table. Well the older more extreme towers didn't survive this part of the challenge. So guess who won!

Yeppers - the youngest team. Their tower was a good 19 and a half inches tall. By the way they had 3 minutes to build.

They won small Star Wars Lego ship kits.  They were pretty excited...I know it doesn't show by Henry's zoned out face :)

 There was so much to see...

I think there were over 40 life size characters and things.  All the Star Wars guys were a hit for our family.

There were places to build cars to race...

They had murals to add to.  They gave you a small piece to put together and then you got to add it to the board.  Really cool.

They had a HUGE map of the United States.  Next to it they had building stations where you got to design a piece of the map.  I couldn't capture the whole map because it was so big.  You can see the walking path that is left open for the workers to get around to add your piece.  Henry and I worked on a piece that had a H and a C on it.  Charley worked on his own piece.

 

There were other stations where you got to build things like this dog.

Each child proudly wore their tag around their neck. 

And where was Sydney through all of this...

She was here...

and here...

and here...

and here...

So...if Lego KidsFest rolls into your area...and you are wondering if it is worth it...as we left I heard Ed say, "Let's do this again next year if it returns."  Our tickets were for a 6 hour specified time period.  Due to my vertigo, the ages of our kids, etc...we only spent 3 hours there and still felt we had gotten our money worth.  The crowd was just right...not too crowded but not to empty either.  There was so much more I could have shared but this post is long enough. 

If your kids love legos....I can't imagine how it wouldn't be worth it to see bins and piles mounded about free for the building.  There was a pile on the floor where the kids could just crawl all over and build.  HUGE. 

How do you feel about what happened yesterday?

How are you feeling about the end of Oprah?

I am feeling like Sydney looks..

furrowed brow...

wondering...

what's going to happen next?

What am I going to turn on when I need a boost of inspiration and perspective?

Who is going to make me think about how I eat, take care of myself, my family, and the environment.  Who will inspire what to read and help me  become aware of issues that are out there in the world...

Now I know that it is all out there. I can read the paper, watch the news, search the web...but I LOVED how Oprah put her twist on things, summed it up in her Oprah way, with her excitement and emotion, and it sat there, on my DVR waiting for a little chunk of me time when the house had settled and there was nothing else that needed tending to, at that given moment.  I loved how I could count on her being there.  

So I am pondering...

They can only rerun her shows for so long. 

Who will be there.

Who? 

Check this post out!

Paddling..Spinning...Flying...

 When you talk to most moms these days they will say...Ugh, May is just so busy and it is flying by.  The calendars are overwhelmingly busy with the end of the school year fast approaching.  Spring sports are now in full swing.  The weather is nicer so outside play and parks are drawing friends to gather.  Kids are dirty and that means bathes have to happen nightly rather than every other night or so.  Everyone is worn out, sun kissed, but wanting to not settle down for any down time.  It is just busy. 

And lately I feel like I am paddling so hard to stay afloat and just can't get into a nice rhythm that allows me to feel like "not a failure."  We have been eating far too many hot dogs and frozen pizzas.  The kids drawers are empty and the laundry baskets are too full.  Ed scrounges for a pair of clean work pants.  I forget that I have children arriving at my house relying on me to be there.  The boys are pushing limits and challenging our parenting skills. 

My list of errands grows...making meals for friends, getting packages in the mail, reading books that have come in at the library (not to mention the pile I have borrowed from friends), paying bills, answering emails, getting my online class homework done, buying end of the year teacher gifts, getting the boys haircut, getting my bangs trimmed, and the list goes on and on.  It is like running through the non moving sprinkler and getting sprayed in the face and not having it swing in the other direction to give you a chance to breathe. 

But yet, life is wonderful and fun.  It is full of spur of the moment adventures...like the clouds clearing, the humidity rising, and the moment you turn on the sprinkler for the first time this season.  Henry loved it.  Our days continue to be filled with play dates and outings.  Last week I overdid it and things were too scheduled.  And I think it all culminated on Saturday morning when I woke up with Vertigo...which got officially diagnosed on Monday.  I swore that I would not schedule any play dates or outings this week and take the week as it came...however, then I had Dr. appointments to get to on Monday and Tuesday and bam - the week filled up and once again I am paddling. 

So May has us running and paddling and literally spinning (vertigo) crazy at times.  But it is a blast!  And it is fun!  But it is also overwhelming.  It makes me really look forward to summer.  Not having to be anywhere.  I have really not scheduled us for much this summer...an occasional tennis lesson and then a park program for Charley twice a week...if he feels like it and the beach isn't calling.  I can't wait to not have to get out the door for school. I do worry about the boys being entertained and expelling their energy on a daily basis.  But I think that their ages and stages are ready to jive for a summer full of outside play, spur of the moment fun, and relaxed living. 

So as May wraps up we end Henry's class today.  We get ready for my whole family's arrival on Friday night.  We continue to push through an overwhelming and stressful month of work for Ed ultimately leaving us craving moments with daddy.  But we have nothing but gratitude for health, wealth, happiness, friends, family, and nights that leave us all crashing early.  The green grass, the bare feet, the scraped knees, dirty fingernails, red cheeks, and sticky Popsicle hands and faces are worth the paddling...Surviving May and looking forward to the summer moments come June. 

And note...Henry still swings that left arm with force and strength when he races about. 

And I am SO loving my photography online class and I am starting to feel more and more confident with my DSLR camera...however, the colors are still surprising me...notice the grass in all these shots are different colors.   I am taking chances and playing with the aperture, white balance, manual mode...etc.  So it leaves things a little off from picture. 

Mama and Daddy's playdate...

On Friday we had another couple over to make sushi. The boys love seeing Katie and Casey when they come over to hang out. But this time, to make the sushi making part of the night possible and smooth, our plan was to have the boys in bed before they arrived.

So Friday night the boys knew that Casey and Katie were going to be coming over and I wanted them to help clean up their toys and get to bed promptly.

I explained that mommies and daddies get to have playdates with their friends too sometimes. Just like they had a number of playdates last week. Charley paused, thought about that, and then he seemed to get it. The boys went to bed wonderfully and we were elbow deep in sushi rice by 7:30!

It was the perfect end to the week. Thanks Casey and Katie for bringing all the fixings and coming over to hang out and gobble up sushi.

So at Henry's class last week the parent discussion revolved around keeping the spark in your marriage and carving time out for your relationship. And this is one of the ways that Ed and I spend time together...we make dinner AFTER the boys are in bed. Right now, getting a babysitter just isn't something that will work for us...with Sydney and all. But we both know how important it is for us to make time for each other.

How do you stay connected with your partner? How do you make sure that you still have fun with your "better half" in the midst of the parenting chaos that these years are made of? What are your cheap date ideas?

The Infamous ....Jack!

Many of you "real life" friends and family who have spent time with us in the last few months know that Henry talks about his buddy "Jack" a whole heck of a lot.  You see, Charley has two good friends at school named Jack and Ben.  Charley talks about them and has had them over to our house to play.  Henry also has two boys in his class, Jack and Ben.  And just like Charley he started talking about Jack a whole bunch after Christmas. 

During Henry's class there was no interaction with Jack because Jack is 4 and pretty quiet.  And Henry is pretty shy yet.  Henry would watch Jack.  You could tell he wanted to be friends with Jack but if I tried to help him connect with Jack, well, Henry would just kind of slink behind me and hide. 

However, at home Henry confidently tells us all, random facts about Jack.  (Jack has a superman bank too.  Jack's birthday is in October.  Jack doesn't like blueberries too.  That looks like Jack's car.)   At first I wondered if he really knew all these things - maybe they talked during gym time when I wasn't there.  But then it got to be such odd facts that I knew he was making it up.  (Jack is watching this movie right now too.  Jack is going to Grandma Barbs too.  I saw Jack's room.  Jack has that toy.)  Jack became more of an imaginary friend. 

So recently I asked his teacher if she could try and connect them during the teacher separation class because I had made a playdate the following day and it would be nice if they would know of each other.  She said it took 2 minutes and they were off.  And ever since he is out the door 20 minutes before it is time to go to class because he said, in his own words, "I Can't wait to play with my Jack.  I love Jack." 

Jack has come over to play with his mom and sister.  And recently we ventured to the zoo for the morning with Jack and his family and another fun family in our class.  Henry was in heaven.  You can see it in his happy cheeks.

He is so proud to have his first friend of his own making.  Henry is blessed with many good friends, but they have all come into his life because of Charley or because of mama friend connections.  This buddy Jack is someone Henry knows, and Charley hasn't met yet.  This is Henry's friend. 

Another amazing fact that once again proves what a kind big brother Charley is.....when Charley comes home and tells us something interesting about one of his friends, then Henry has to pipe in and tell some exaggerated very unlikely fact about his friend Jack.  And the coolest thing...Charley listens and nods but never says anything about it being untrue.  Sometimes he looks over at me with a little grin and shakes his head but he has NEVER made Henry feel silly about his stories. 

Here are a few shots from our recent zoo outing.  I know that some of you have been curious if this little Jack really exists.  Here he is...

And let's not forget Miss Sydney.  She is along for the ride...along with mama's latte.

Links I Love

How to Shrug off the Burden of Doing it All - Loved this.

In Which We Are Not Invisible - something about this post caused me to pause.

I need some Regrouping.

This is on the agenda for Henry and mama time next week when we are regrouping and home.

Friday Leftovers

It's Friday.  We had a good week.  But I totally over scheduled us.  Next week - the calendar is going to be less penciled in...except for this and this and this and this.  May is a busy month.  Fun.  But busy.  Yesterday I ended up feeling overwhelmed by about 2:30pm.  I just felt like the whole day was spent thinking about the next thing instead of enjoying the present moment.  But we survived and I even made myself leave the house at 7:45 to go grocery shopping all by myself and it was wonderful. 

I got/gave three hugs from friends yesterday.  Hugging helps.

Today we have an hour and a half oil change plus other stuff appointment.  I actually enjoy these kinds of outings with my kids because it allows me to just sit and focus on them while we wait.  I bring my bag of tricks and just let my body relax, breathe, and enjoy them.  It will be Sydney and Henry today and I plan on holding Sydney the entire time.  I hope she is ready for some solid mama time. 

I stopped watching Grey's Anatomy but caught 5 minutes of it last night during the season finale...I want to talk to someone who watches...do you?

I fell behind with my blogging this week.  I hope to grab an hour or two this weekend.  But my online classes have me feeling guilty if I sit down at the computer and am not doing my homework.  So I just avoid it. 

It has been beautiful all week.  Today and tomorrow it is supposed to rain which is fine by me.  Rain slows me down.  However, I have the kiddos tomorrow morning as "solo mama" and Charley has a soccer game at 8:30am.  So if it is raining - that will up the degree of difficulty immensely. 

Charley has a rollerskating birthday party this weekend.  He has been rollerskating once in his life when he was 4 and it wasn't good.  Ed is going to go along to help.  Love that he will do that. 

Sydney still sleeping like a champ.  Her little thighs are now what we would call pork chops and they are seriously delicious. 

My mom emailed me this week a collection of snippets from letters she wrote her good friend when she was in the trenches of being a stay at home mom.  It was like reading her blog or her email in box.  It was hilarious and insightful.  I wonder all the time what she did and felt when she was doing what I am doing.  And to know she spent her morning rolling socks into balls with my sister, reading books, and putting up with my middle school know it all attitude makes me smile. 

Couch is mounded with laundry, house is littered in piles of clutter, kitchen counter is loaded with dirty dishes, camera is full of pictures from the week, I have several chapters of reading for my classes, and 80 kindergarten graduation certificates to fill out and roll and tie.  So this afternoon...that's what I am doing.  Because this evening we have some friends coming over to make sushi and I am looking forward to a glass of wine, some raw fish, and some fun catching up.  Boys will be in bed by 7:02, and not a minute later.  

Every home owner has the project list. Not the one that is full of things that are do-able or must be done tasks. I am talking the redo, tear down, gut, change up, list...the list you might choose one item from to attempt to tackle once a year. Right now we have our master bathroom gutted. And it is all my fault that it sits at a standstill. I am not someone who is good at picking out all the little things. I need direction and choices. I am also not very good at giving my husband time to work on the project. Anyways...let's get back to the point.

One of the things on our list will be to relandscape our yard - SOMEDAY. Someday we will have help to determine which plants and bushes will do well and look just right. Or someday we will have the time and energy to read and learn so we can figure it out on our own. But for now, I have enough on my plate just opening up a cookbook to read what I should pile on my troops' dinner plates.

My point...this year the boys AND Sydney ventured to the flower store. We picked out a few different kinds...these stinky flowers because the rabbits don't like them.

And of course some "snap dragons" because the boys have big expectations for those buggers.

And we returned home and got our hands in the dirt and planted. I started out trying to guide them on where to place the flowers and then I realized - I am a mom of two boys who are kneeling here with me and helping and learning. And why not let them just go for it. So I let them dig and plant wherever they thought and followed behind making sure they were placed deep enough and were planted strong enough. So we'll go with it and I will post a picture in a few weeks of the outcome.

Meanwhile, while the boys planted, Miss Sydney sat kicking and vibrating in her little chair. Finally, dozing off on this glorious spring day. I was in heaven. Life couldn't have been better - scratch that...if my allergies could have not played a role in the afternoon - that would have been bliss!