Sneak Peak at Spring!

It was so nice out this weekend-actually in the low 50s!! A HUGELY welcome change of scenery for this house of people who love to be outside in the warmer weather:) I dressed the kids in snow attire figuring maybe they'd want to play in it, which they did, but it ended up being so warm, the coats, etc. had to come off!

All that sun glare off the snow, meant sunglasses for our blue eyed boys.

 Snow Throwing...

This round didn't work out as well...

 He came out with snow in his mouth...thankfully he didn't mind:)

And the trucks were finally de-iced and put back  to work

A Snowy Winter

I don't know that we've had more snow than usual, but it has been a colder winter than in years past, and we've had more snow events...it's been almost on a weekly basis for the past month or so.  I take notice of these things because as a teacher, it effects when I go to work or not, and how late I have to work into the summer.  We finally have been able to get out in the snow without any sickness or bitterly cold temperatures deterring us.  After last week's snow Tucker and I were able to make a snowman, and today my mom watched the boys for a bit and they went to play again.  Tucker also gets to play on the playground in full snow attire at school so he's getting his fill.

Our neighbors are just the nicest-they literally go up and down the street snow blowing everyone's driveway who might need it. It has been such a huge help to those of us with just shovels this winter:)

Tucker and I playing and getting some fresh air from the stomach bug that attacked our house last week. We built "Frost the Turtle Shark".

Tucker likes to clean up his messes-at least for now- and is a big fan of the dust buster-he thinks it's a game I think!

 Brotherly love

Lots of happiness in this house:)

Brayden is getting so big!

 Snow days used to be filled with organizing, lounging, and whatever else I felt like doing. Now with two active children, I wake up and think, ok-how can we entertain ourselves when we can't leave the house today? I am so thankful that my children are pretty easily amused and can entertain themselves quite well. For the most part they get along well too so that's helpful. Yesterday was a fun filled and very pleasant snow day for our house!

We had a cinnamon French Toast that Max made for breakfast and then we did some crafts with crayons and stickers. Brayden is gaining more interest in this since he sees Tucker so interested. As much as Tucker can't sit still, he really likes to do crafts and color/paint. Then we went and played with a ton of toys in the basement. They got along great and I was able to get some work done!

I found an easy recipe awhile back for Cloud dough-which is basically knock off moon dough-a fluffier version of play dough. It was so easy and was just made of corn starch and conditioner. I added some food coloring and the boys had fun playing with cookie cutters and the dough for awhile.

Max made the kids snow-daes after lunch with sprinkles, etc. They loved it!

 And my healthy lunch of apples with Nutella clearly had to be shared as well.

After great naps, they finally watched a show and then we went to our neighbors for dinner! It was a successful snow day...but I think I'm done with them. I get ready for Spring right about this time every year...come soon March!

Lower the Bar

I bought my almost three year old son Cars Valentines for his class party at school. They were the perforated tear apart kind. I had him practice writing a T for his first name and then signed his name for him. His teachers asked that we not write who they were to so that the kids could deliver them easier (since 2 year olds can't read...at least not until another 15 years when that's the expectation). We attached the mini Lightning McQueen notepad and then he put the little heart sticker that came in the pack on each one.  And there you have it. Our stellar Valentines.

As I was trolling Facebook the night before his party I saw beautiful pictures of incredibly crafty Valentine's that many moms had helped (done for) their kids' class parties.  It got me thinking...when did we raise the bar for these things? When did moms decide, hey, I'm going to come up with an elaborately unnecessary craft, that I don't have the time or money to do, and I'm going to completely stress out about completing it at midnight the night before my child's Valentine's Party at school, when the stores sells (for much cheaper) a perfectly good option that has been used for centuries (ok years)?! (can you say extremely run on sentence!?)

If you are a mom who has the skill (which I clearly do not and desire (which I clearly also do not) to make these adorable (it's true, they are) Pinterest inspired crafts then I applaud you. I thank you! I appreciate the candy and goldfish and cookies that you gave my kid when all you got in return was a lousy notepad. I can also see many kids enjoying putting these elaborate things together with their parents and beaming with pride as they distribute them to their class. But I, the non-crafty, un-inspired mom chose to keep it simple, and in no way judge you if you do not.

Partly due to the fault of our schools (I am a teacher I can say this) we have completely overcomplicated things. When did we have to up the ante on Valentines? Or on birthday party favors?  Or on this hundredth day of school business? (Good news to elementary school moms-no one does this in middle school or high school! You're almost done with it!)

These are all very cute opportunities to celebrate and play in school or in life, which we frankly need more of, but maybe we could lower the bar. Let's give one cheesy favor at birthday parties instead of 10 cheesy ones. Lets get back to perforated or construction paper Valentines. And for the love, please don't ask me to count out 100 of anything for my kid on the 100th day of school. I'm already dreading this. I'm going to have to steal ideas from my current students of the simplest way to accomplish this.

Let's lower the bar. Let's make our lives simpler. Hey, if we all do it then our kids won't feel left out and they won't know the difference:) Who's with me?! Underachievers unite:)

Breaking Point

We all have a different breaking point, and I'd humbly like to think that mine is pretty high when it comes to losing my patience. I work with kids-they do things that annoy adults all day long. It's part of their DNA or something-they can't help it.  Different ages just do different things to annoy teachers, but they all still accomplish the same goal. If I got annoyed with everything a student did, I'd be miserable all day long and none of the kids would like me because I'd always be mad.  I have a pretty high threshold when it comes to my kids usually too.

This week was a new test for me in the parenting realm:The stomach bug hit our house for the first time in our 34 months as parents.  I am beyond thankful that Max was not traveling this week. If that were the case, I would have snapped on Tuesday instead of Friday:) I've always felt that there are certain things that are rites of passage when it comes to parenting. Kind of like you enter a new phase or beat the level of the current phase once you encounter these different rites/events.  For example, having a mobile child is completely different than having a child that just sits there and cries quietly and coos, etc.  When your child says something embarrassing about a special needs person in public-rite of passage (got that one!). When you child announces that a larger woman has a baby in her belly (happened today, thank you Tucker)-rite of passage.  STOMACH BUG-RITE OF PASSAGE! So I finally got that one-another patch on my sash! Woo-freakin-hoo!  Let me recap our week, but first I would like to acknowledge that my ranting and complaining are mostly in jest. I do realize that my problems PALE in comparison to most of the worlds'.

Week in Review:
Sunday: Tucker complaining that his belly hurt. Nothing came of it...supposedly:)
Monday: 1:30am-Brayden making weird noises in bed. Max: Is he throwing up? Erin: No. We proceed to go back to sleep.
5:00am-Brayden coughing and making more hacking weird noises in bed. Now I'm thinking I should probably get up and make sure he didn't puke, well he did. We change the sheets, clean him up, and like quality parents do, got back in bad and tried to go back to bed.
20 minutes later, Brayden puked for the second of 8 times that morning.  We changed his sheets 4 or 5 times, I lost count. Poor little guy. First kid with the stomach bug. Boo. Lysol, wipe down everything, attempt to keep the kids separated. Lots of snow-no school for Tucker. Thankfully Max worked from home.
Tuesday: Brayden stopped throwing up on Tuesday morning at 10 so he was feeling much better. I went to work. This was a potentially normal day. I had a missions conference meeting soon after dinner and didn't get home until late. I made the executive decision not to plan for work Wednesday since every school district but mine had already cancelled for Wednesday.
Wednesday: This was a relatively lame day, thankfully! We played in the snow and did some other stuff that I can't remember:)
Thursday: 2:30 am. Tucker wakes up making strange noises, crying, "Mama I spit up". Yup. Puke all over his comforter. Poor kid was a little freaked out. He's never had the stomach bug before.  I clean him up, still somewhat hoping (in denial) that he just coughed a bunch and yaked, not that he has the bug. I try to go back to bed, I can't I'm wide awake. A bit later, he pukes again. Thankfully he managed to get it in the bowl that we left in his bed. Again, quality parenting. Well Tucker proceeded to throw up another 4 or 5 times, begged me to sleep in his bed, which I did for all of 5 minutes, wanted me to go back downstairs to my bed, I slept in the guest room...and by slept I mean I laid in bed and every time I just about fell asleep he needed something or threw up again.  I was exhausted. I got about 45 minutes in at 7 when Max woke up (I did tell him to sleep during the night, because I knew he'd not be so useful otherwise-love you!). This was supposed to be the busiest day of the week-6 different things to do-all but 2 got cancelled. Brayden had a 15 month well visit and I had to go to PT to get my orthopedics:) Good times. I did manage another hour nap after my appt.
Friday: This is the day. I Lost It. Max woke up feeling crappy. He hasn't thrown up thankfully, but feels really achey and tired, and has been confined to our room. Boys feel fine. I'm tired. My patience is done. Kids are sick of being in the house. I'm sick of being in the house. Kids are fighting, I can't even get a bowl of cereal, forget about the coffee. Kids are not listening. We managed a trip to Target and Panera with my mom. Although relatively good, Brayden managed to spill a puddle of milk in his seat in the stroller, and then dump a strawberry smoothie all over himself at lunch. Thankfully I travel with a change of clothes for Tucker (never know if he'll have an accident) that he could put on.
When we got home, he had his second of third huge blow out of the week. And I failed to mention the two times he puked all over his high chair tray at dinner, Tuesday and Thursday. Today was the day I lost it. I yelled at my kids. I yelled at my husband. I was done.
I just wanted a break. And I couldn't get one. I kept asking God, Why! Then nap time came. Ahh a few hours of freedom. I had to finish working on some scheduling things for the Missions Conference at Church and make some dessert for a women's retreat I was supposed to go to tonight and tomorrow.  Yeah. about that. Brayden decided screaming for 30 minutes would be a good way to start a nap. And tucker, well he decided never to start one. I. WAS. DONE.

I sit here now, writing my rant, drinking my wine, and THANKFULLY, watching the delayed feed of the IF:Gathering going on.  I had a crappy week. Yet, as always, I am so encouraged that I am loved by God. That the God of the Universe, loves me, and actually cares that my week sucks. He understands that I lost my patience. He wanted me to give grace the way that he gives it to us when we so don't deserve it, but he gets when I am not strong enough. Then he reminds me that I AM strong enough, when He has my back. I am encouraged. And I'm praying that I can avoid this sickness and go to this event with my friends tomorrow to continue to be encouraged and to fellowship with other women who want to learn more about, and be encouraged and filled with joy about how great our God is. And to talk about, What IF? What IF we lived with joy, grace, and shared the love of God? What IF? What IF I had to undergo this week of torture so that I could see just where my breaking point is, and work to push it that much further. My kids deserve more patience:) Oh I pray that I don't get sick...too much to do this weekend! But if it comes, Saturday would be better than Sunday.

Oh Boy!

It's been a few weeks since an update...life gets busy sometimes:) Over the past few weeks we've had lots of Max-away-time, lots of snow, and lots of fun! Here's our January update.

The boys had a blast at their friend's Anabel's birthday party!

Tucker sorta learned what it means when something dies...Bye Bye Tu-Tu-Squirmy:(

Max was gone for a week and a half...with a weekend home in between so we had lots of quality time together:)

We needed to practice appropriate jumping...not that this totally is. But Tucker was jumping in Brayden's crib one morning and right after I told him to stop, he flipped head first out the side of it and landed with his head stuck in a basket on the floor. He was fine, it was funny, but we don't need to repeat it.  Brayden wanted to follow suit a couple weeks later...he was jumping on a little kid IKEA chair and as I was telling him to stop (in the middle of changing a Tucker poop), he flipped off the side backwards also.  Crazy boys...or really Clumsy boys!

 Celebrating Poppy's birthday!

Brayden enjoying the snow:)

On Max's second trip, he got stuck coming home because of the snow storm. We went to my parents for a little distraction and change of scenery. Tucker loves to jump off the bed and have my mom and dad chase him and bury him under the bed.

Brayden is a funny and squarely little boy. He, like Tucker, gets into everything! This is one of his cute mellow moments:)

 Max really wanted the boys to get haircuts...Brayden screamed through most of his so he didn't get much cut, but they still look cute:)

 We went to the library with William and Sarah! The Fairfield library is awesome and has a huge children's floor...and a built in exercise class when I have to chase two kids around in opposite directions! I was sweating! I was so thankful for this one room where they were confined...we milked that for as long as we could!

 We have had a very cold January with a few warmer days sprinkled in. We have tried our best to take advantage of ALL of them! Brayden had croup twice in a couple weeks-right before and then after Christmas.  We were so sick of being stuck in the house that he was going crazy when he finally got outside...and apparently wanted to go under the shed for some strange reason?!?!

Another built in fitness class is the Bounce place I took both boys to with my friend and her son. I definitely lost Tucker a few times.  Thankfully he's pretty self sufficient there and is a great climber so he can do all the stuff.

Brayden on the other hand, was more interested in attacking the video games...

For as erratic and crazy as Tucker can be at times, he is also very particular...kinda like Max. If he spills on the table, he likes to clean it up-or have someone clean it up, and he enjoys lining things up. If something has "a place" he wants it to always find its way back there. And so, I give you, the truck line up!

The boys get a long much of the time, and the fight part of the time, and they actually love on each other the rest of the time. These cute moments are so dear to me!

These pictures are all out of order, but anyways, Max got stuck in Nashville, as mentioned above, and the district I work in rarely cancels school. So Wednesday morning I had to get up super early, shovel the driveway before the kids got up, and then get ready for work (thankfully there was a delay). I was a little proud of my multi-tasking:) I took a super lame picture of my shoveling work for Max! I'm well aware of the lameness of this all:)

When Max finally got home, the boys were so happy to see him!

These moments of play together are getting less and less rare. I love it!

This weirdo his houdini when he sleeps! Found him like this on multiple occasions!

Hungry??

We took a family trip to the Maritime Center! Both kids loved it!

Brayden is such a cutie! He is certainly a fiery red-head but he's also the cute and cuddly one:)

One of Tucker's friends from school had a little birthday party for all of the kids in his class. It was fun to see them all interact!

Brayden doesn't have a ton of friends his age that we play with, but Willa is one of them:) She is so cute and laughs at everything and I was amazed at how well they played with each other.

On one of the nice days this week we went for a walk and when we came back, this big hawk was in our front tree! Tucker keeps calling it a mohawk, which is so stinking cute. And when the Super Bowl was on and people were talking about the Seahawks, he kept telling people that the Seahawk was in our front yard!

Tucker typically takes 2-3 hour naps. But lately, he's been boycotting a couple naps per week. Last Saturday I went up to get him and I found him like this-asleep under the covers at the end of his bed. What a nut!

Before the two snow storms this week we had a bit of snow left to play with-enough for Addie and Sienna to have a snowball fight with Max!

This kid wanted to ride the scooter...a few more years for that buddy!

Even though they got killed, we were big Bronco fans!

Brayden woke up with the stomach bug Monday morning...poor little guy threw up 8 times in 5 hours:( We tried to quarantine him once he felt better...but he was one snuggly and sleepy guy all morning. Thankfully he's better!

And there you have January/beginning of February!!