weekend fun and an extra day

It was a very summery weekend with temperatures in the 80s. Weird! I much prefer the cool fall weather, so hopefully we'll be back to that soon. On Saturday we all went to Celia's soccer practice. It might have been more fun if it hadn't been so hot, but Henry and I were just hanging around and it was too hot outside. There was a new playground for him to play on, and he really liked that, and we sat in the shady dugout on the baseball field for a while. I wanted to see Celia's soccer a little, so we went to watch the last ten minutes. We had lunch, the kids played on the playground for a while, and we went home. Chris and I were all worn out for the rest of the day! 

On Sunday we went to a place with a corn maze, corn crib, a couple rides and other fun stuff. It was fun, but again it was very hot outside. Definitely would have been more fun on a 60 degree day. The kids really like the corn crib. They could have stayed in there all day. We spent more than half an hour just in there.

I had noticed earlier that Henry felt warm, and then he didn't want any lunch and was really dragging as we walked around. He was very quiet, and I kept asking if he was okay and he would say yes. He did perk up a little for ice cream. But sure enough, when we got home I took his temperature and he had a fever of almost 102. Poor little guy. He spent the rest of the afternoon glued to either me or Chris. We rented the movie Cars, which we guessed Henry would like, and he sat for the entire thing. He didn't want dinner, and then fell asleep sitting in Chris's lap when Celia and I went up to take a shower. Poor little guy. So he slept from 6:15 to 8:15, and then we got him changed and put him to bed. We were afraid he wouldn't sleep well, but he slept through the night until 7:00 this morning.

Celia was so cute when she found out Henry was sick. She kept saying how cute Henry was, sleeping with Chris in the chair, and she really wanted to take a picture of them. She was concerned about how we would get him to bed, and as soon as she woke up this morning she asked how Henry did. She is such a sweet little mommy. I hate when Henry is sick, but it was cute that he fell asleep and reminded us a little of having a newborn. 

I cancelled my work appointments today, and had a bonus day at home with the little guy. Luckily, it seems like the worst is over for him. I took him to the doctor and he has Hand, Foot, and Mouth. His throat is sore, so he hasn't eaten much today. He started feeling a little warm before his nap and I have him some Motrin, but other than that he's been a pretty happy guy. We stopped at the store on the way home from the doctor, and got him popsicles and sauce pouches. He was so funny talking to people in the store. Someone would say hi to him, and he would say in a tiny little voice: "Hi. I'm Henwee." Haha.

I got some work done and prepped dinner during nap time, and then Henry and I went outside to wait for the bus. The kids played so well together outside that we stayed out until it was almost time for dinner. 

They have pretend houses under the magnolia tree, and they play in there for a long time. They collect berries and acorns in dishes, and pretend all kinds of things. They stay so busy. It will be hard when it's too cold to play outside every day. 

It's ended up being a very nice day "off". 

weekend in review

Just a little post on our weekend fun. My weekend starts on Fridays, which is awfully nice. Henry and I went to music class, which was kind of disastrous. He is very sensitive to loud sound, and I think this is why he gets upset and acts out during music class. I ordered a pair of loudness reducing headphones for him. Hopefully he will wear and like them next week. Otherwise, I am out of ideas and I don't think we'll be able to continue music classes. That would be really sad. Then my parents came, which is always nice.

A side story: Henry was coming down with a cold on Friday, and I was really dreading the week to come because he never sleeps well with a cold. I started giving him extra doses of elderberry syrup, we got his room really humid with the humidifier before bed, and put Vapo Rub on his chest and feet. Miraculously, he slept without a peep all night and woke up with no sign of a cold in the morning! I still can't believe it. 

Celia has soccer on Saturday mornings now and Chris is her coach, so they went to soccer and Henry and I stayed home. We went for a long walk, with me pushing him on his tricycle. We ended up going more than a mile, which is quite a bit with the tricycle. 

It was a beautiful day. We stayed outside in the yard until lunch time. Then Celia and I went grocery shopping and to the library in the afternoon while Henry napped. 

On Sunday we drove to Mount Wachusett for their Kidfest. Chris's parents met us there. The kids were excited to see them, and we had an extra couple of adults to help wrangle the kids. We stayed for a few hours, and before heading home Chris and I decided to drive up to the summit just for fun. I hadn't realized that Wachusett State Park was so nice and so extensive. It will be a nice place to hike with the kids when they get older. We all enjoyed the drive, and the air was nice and cool and fresh at the summit. Henry and Celia loved climbing the rocks. Henry had no fear whatsoever, and we really had to watch him. He was quite insulted that I insisted on spotting him as he leaped off of large rocks. And in the picture below, he refused to even look at the camera. He is so ridiculous sometimes. 

Wearing wolf ears!

We went home, the kids played outside, and we had dinner, baths and bedtime. Last week I took Celia to Children's Hospital for an appointment, and we had her kindergarten open house one evening. This week we have a normal week planned with no appointments or extra stuff to do. And hopefully no one will get a cold. I'm going to go crazy with elderberry syrup until spring! 

tuesdays are back

Now that school has started, Henry and I have a couple days at home without Celia each week. Celia was home with us during the summer, and I had forgotten how much easier it is to have just one child all day instead of two! Yesterday Celia started whining about not liking the morning bus, and that she didn't want to take it. She said it was too loud. Chris and I both stuck to our guns and said that she needed to try it at least for this week. Her morning ride is very short and she will probably get used to it, even if it is loud. She was happy to go to school this morning, and was excited for Henry to see her get on the bus. She asked me one more time if she had to go on the bus, and I said yes. And that was that. I think she was just a little nervous and was looking for some boundaries. She hopped right on that bus without a second of hesitation. And luckily, the bus was much quieter than it was last week. Maybe the driver had spoken to the kids, or maybe the first day excitement was over.

Henry and I went to run some errands. I picked up a used booster seat for Celia from another mom in town. I'm in a Facebook group for our town, and it's a great way to meet people, discuss town issues, get information, and also find and sell things. Then we went to get a few things at the store, and went to the library. I cannot get Henry to behave in the library, except in the children's room. If I take him upstairs so I can get a book for myself, he is loud and constantly running away from me and trying to go up or down the stairs. I guess for now I will only take him to the children's room. 

I told him to smile. But it kind of looks like he's trying to poop...

We went home and played, and had lunch. Henry wants to play with cars all the time. We are so tired of playing with cars! So I've been trying to steer him toward other activities- blocks, pretend, play dough, etc. After lunch I vacuumed while Henry played some more. I was really hoping that he'd nap, since he skipped a couple naps over the weekend. And he did! I had some time to start dinner and sit down for a while. I forgot how luxurious nap time is when Celia's at school and I get to be alone. Maybe I will even be able to blog regularly again. 

This is slightly random, but speaking of luxury, this candle smells amazing.  

Henry will wake up and maybe we'll play outside while we wait for the bus to come. 

big slides, birthdays, and boba

We have had a good day today. Chris was gone playing golf at 6 am, so I was with the kids pretty much all day. Things usually go best when I have something specific planned for the day, so this morning we went to play at an indoor playground. We were the first ones there and had it all to ourselves for the first half hour. The kids had a great time, and I must say the enormous blow up slide was pretty fun for me too. 

Celia is now very independent with everything there, and could do it all herself. Henry can do much more than before, but he was so cute because some things still scare him a little. He doesn't like the bouncy house and wanted to hold my hand when we first went in because the room was loud from the air compressors. Every time we got to the top of the big slide, he wanted to go down with me and would say, "Mommy, can I sit on your lap? Because I'm a little nervous." 

We went home and had lunch, and the kids played house with their dolls for a long time, and Henry had his nap. Chris was working from home, so he manned the baby monitor while Pita and I went out to secretly buy a few treats for Chris's birthday. After Henry's nap we went outside for one of our new favorite activities: Boba in the water table. This keeps them busy for such a long time. 

I puttered around the flower bed a little and sat for a while. The flowers are starting to be plentiful now. 

We are on vacation now for the next week! 

long weekend

A big storm came through here on Friday, which meant our plans to go to the 4th of July Red Sox game didn't work out. But we got 2 1/2 inches of rain, which was desperately needed. I'd still love to get a few more good rain storms in the next couple weeks. On Saturday morning the humidity was gone, and it was gloriously sunny, cool and breezy. I went for an 8 mile run! It was so beautiful outside. Chris took the kids to the playground while I was running. Then we played outside until lunch.

They were pretending that Henry was a baby, and Celia was his Mommy. This was his bed, with a pillow of pine needles and a leaf. I love that they're starting to do more pretend play outside, using things they find out there.

Before lunch, Chris's parents arrived with Kyla (our niece). They stayed for the rest of the day, and the kids had a great time playing together.

Today was another beautiful day. I went for a short 3 mile run. Was planning on four miles, but it was a very hilly route and my legs were tired from yesterday. Then Chris got ready to go play golf. Henry was being a real stinker, and it was difficult getting him dressed and fed. I wanted to take the kids to the playground. Chris left and we finally got out of the house and spent more than an hour at the playground. The kids would have stayed longer, but it was lunch time. They were playing really well together.

Pita and I made cookies during Henry's nap, and we cooked boba to play with in the water table. After Henry woke up we headed back outside. The kids played well together again (this was a lucky day!) and I sat and read a magazine. Chris got home and I went in to make dinner.

Now a work week, and then we are on vacation next week!

summer tuesdays

Things have been busy here since summer started, with schedules changing a bit. This week is hot and humid. I opened a window this morning to let cooler air in, and immediately closed it again because it wasn't any better outside. I also haven't written in a while because I feel like almost every day is a battle with the kids. I guess we still have a while to go before we're free from the whining, yelling and tantruming stages they're both in at once. It's really fun. It's also very frustrating because Celia and Henry are perfect angels whenever we go out anywhere. They're angels at school and daycare. They are perfectly lovely (most of the time) when we have them one-on-one. But put them together, and bam! Instant fighting, whining, tantruming. And in my mind, the bad behavior overpowers everything else and I'm just exhausted. I can't always enjoy the good moments because I'm exhausted from the yelling and crying that happened earlier, and I'm waiting for the next round to begin. Anyway... Yesterday I had both kids at home. I knew it would be good to get them out of the house so we made an early trip to Target. Then we went to Debi's house because one of the daycare dads is a firefighter and was bringing a fire truck for the kids to see. We even went for a ride. 

So that was fun, and then we went home to play in the sprinkler. I thought this would be a fun activity that wouldn't lead to fighting. I was wrong, of course. I'm not sure if they had a good time or not, since they would be having fun one minute and then whining, yelling, or fighting the next. Ridiculous. It took fifteen minutes just to get them ready to go out. Celia had a full on, kicking around on the floor tantrum because she didn't want to wear the bathing suit I had for her. Isn't 5 1/2 way too old for that? And I call myself a child development expert... So she had a time out, which is the only way to demonstrate to her that her behavior really does need to stop, and we finally made it outside. 

We had lunch, Henry cried/fake cried for a half hour in his room instead of napping, we watched a couple tv shows to have some down time, and Chris was home so we went to eat dinner at Wegman's. The kids were happy as clams when we were out, of course. 

We went home and they rode their bikes for a while, and got ready for bed. The past two evenings we've gone for a walk/ride after dinner and it's nice. I push Henry on his tricycle and he tries to pedal a little, and Chris helps Celia with her bike. So, we ended up all surviving the day unscathed (except for Mommy's nerves- ha!) and we will live to see more days just like it. 

june first

Well, if this wasn't the perfect day for June first, I don't know what was...

It was a warm and sunny weekend. We were outside as much as possible. The kids are thrilled to spend their days digging in dirt, riding bikes, and looking for caterpillars and inchworms. We spent time playing at both neighbors' houses, went for a walk, and Celia got her first bike and spent a lot of time practicing on it. I puttered around the yard, pulling weeds and watering plants, mowing the lawn. So far June's looking good.

spring carnival and solo shopping

We've been having beautiful spring weather here. The kids love playing outside.

On Sunday we went to a little carnival in our town. The kids had a great time. There was only one ride that Henry could go on. It was a little train. He wanted to go on more rides, but was happy just walking around and playing a couple games. Celia was able to go on a few rides.

We played a horse race game that only cost a few dollars, and since we were the only ones playing we were guaranteed a prize. The man running the game was so nice, and after Celia picked out an animal he gave us a second one for Henry that he couldn't give out because it had gotten a bit dirty. The kids were thrilled. Then we got soft serve. It was the first time we've given Henry ice cream, and he thought it was the best thing that had ever happened to him. I tried to get a picture, but Henry was either looking at his ice cream or eat ice cream in every one.

When we got home, Celia set up all the chairs, the little slide, and other outdoor toys and had a pretend fair with rides. It was adorable.

I've figured out a good time for grocery shopping, for now until our summer schedule begins. I've started going during the week, when I can go alone. It's amazing. It's like taking a vacation. I get a fancy coffee drink. I go to the store. It isn't crowded and I don't have any kids, so I sail right through. Then I pick up Celia from school, and we go home and put the groceries away before getting Henry.

Speaking of the summer schedule, I'm realizing it's only a few weeks away. Wow.

Henry and I have had a good day today. We played outside this morning, and Henry has played with the Little People a lot. He wanted to help me make muffins, so we did that too. He really likes helping in the kitchen now. Going to get Celia from school after nap time, and then we will have more time to play outside!

playing hooky

There is an outbreak of lice at Celia's school, and since I don't work on Tuesdays we kept Celia home today to reduce her chances of getting them. Kids are getting checked daily and being sent home with lice, and they had to clean the school and it's just disgusting. It turned out to be a good day for her to be home, because it's beautiful outside. Celia and Henry played Peter Rabbit for quite a while first thing. Henry pretends to be Peter and keeps getting into trouble, and Celia pretends to be Flopsy and is very well behaved. Then we went to do an errand, and got home with about an hour to play outside before lunch. The kids played really well together, walking around the yard and collecting things in buckets. I did some raking, and then got my camera to take a few pictures.

We went inside for lunch, and then Celia wanted to play in her room. She played upstairs and Henry helped me make healthy truffles (navy beans, cocoa, maple syrup, peanut butter). He really likes to help in the kitchen now, and it's a good activity for us. Henry's napping, I have an art activity for later that could possibly end in disaster, and then we can play outside more.

catching up

We've had a very busy few weeks, with April vacation and all kinds of events.

We went away to the Cape for a weekend, and then Celia went to stay with Nana and Grandpa for part of her school vacation. I was able to get some things done at home. I wanted to do a lot of gardening, but the weather was cold and rainy. I'm now somewhat caught up, having planted everything that needs to be planted for now. The magnolia is in bloom, and we have some spring flowers out. 

I've been running a bit more, and would like to get in good enough shape to train for a half in the fall. We'll see... Went for my first run in shorts (probably my only run in shorts ever again, since it was back to 40 degrees again the next day). Broke out the fanny pack for some longer runs. Hopefully will do a 6 or 7 miler this weekend. 

Henry was sick with a fever, coughing and sneezing for most of last week. My work week was messed up by that, and it was not the ideal return from vacation. Now I have a cold. 

Last weekend, I went to a reunion for the Wheaton Chorale's 25th anniversary of being co-ed. My people were there. The best group of people in the world, and I got to spend a whole day with them. We rehearsed, ate, walked around campus and talked and reminisced, sang in a concert, went out to dinner and pretended we were back in Italy. Amazing day. I miss my Wheaton days. 

Today we went to an event at the zoo. It was a fundraiser for cystic fibrosis. Our whole daycare was part of a team walking there. We got to walk around the zoo, see the three new baby giraffes, and the kids loved playing on the playground and going on a couple rides. 

Henry wanted to touch all the animals. He has no concept of danger. Luckily there is an area with goats we can touch.

I've been trying to switch my grocery shopping day to a week day, and for some reason it's completely thrown me off with meal planning and planning what groceries we need. I also can't figure out what day is the best to go. Anyway, planning to go tomorrow since I know I have some time. 

Time to head outside and play.