Testing my Patience...

Kris is out of town. So, guess what that means? Of course, murphy's law goes into full effect! If something can go wrong--it will. Liam is sick. And you all know what a joy he can be when he is sick. To make matters worse, my sitter called this evening and she is sick as well (probably caught it from Liam). So, this leaves me in a huge bind. It's the end of the semester, so I am busy, busy, busy and I HAVE TO BE IN CLASS!!! I have student conferences, finals, etc. So, this evening, I have been frantically calling everyone I know to find a sitter for tomorrow morning and evening.

When Kris goes of town, of course, everything is harder. Things are always hard, but it's hardER when he goes out of town and it's not just because he's gone. It's not just because every day at 5:30 I start getting antsy to talk to someone who uses correct grammar. I'm not sure why it makes that much of a difference. I care for the boys for 12 hours each day, but from 6-8 p.m., I am READY for someone else to take over and help me out. I swear it has to do more with me anticipating the things that could possibly go wrong when he is gone. And this just stresses me out more.

So today in anticipation of Kris being gone, I woke up in a grumpy mood. This means that my patience was thin to start with. This was compounded by the fact that my children screamed nonstop from 7 to 9 a.m. I am not joking or exaggerating this. Screamed Nonstop. At one point, I couldn't take it, so I did what all good moms do--I went in my room and closed the door and got on Facebook. (Don't worry, I knew my children were okay. They were standing outside of the door screaming). I screamed back--I am not coming out until you stop yelling!! Then, it got too quiet. As a mother of toddler, when it gets too quiet, you know something is up. I quietly peeked out my door to find this white paper all over the entire hallway and kitchen. My initial reaction was, "What the..." Then, I figured out what it was--saran wrap. Liam had unrolled an entire package of saran wrap. I was mildly annoyed at first, but it was too darn funny not to laugh. And to make matters even better, the boys proceeded to play with it (instead of screaming) for 30 minutes. I will buy a case of saran wrap if it keeps them busy!!

iPhone drop

These are some random pics that I have taken with my phone the past few months.


Liam never naps as long as Kale so we get creative. (He thinks if he is up everyone else should be too. ) This week we discovered he loves the piggy bank.


We finally finished the letters of Kale's name.


Is that a tampon my child Is playing with? Why yes it is! Whatever keeps them from crying!


We have been spending a time of time in the outdoors since the weather has been perfect!


Cool dude!





Kale made an abacus the other day. This activity is great to help with counting as well as fine motor skills. He had to put the beads on the pipe cleaners.











Kris and I went to see a Beatles tribute band a few weeks ago. They were just okay.





- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Happy Birthday, Kris!!

 April is a very popular month is our family for birthdays. I won't tell you how old Kris is, but he got a rather unfortunate birthday gift....he had to travel to Amarillo this week for work. Obviously not our favorite place to be. The entire time he has been there, he has been texting me about how terrible it is and how happy he is that we moved to Virginia.

 

While in Amarillo, one of the guys Kris used to work with there asked Kris if Virginia was more stressful. Kris said, "No, why?" The guy told Kris he had a noticeable amount of gray hair now. Uh-oh!

 Happy birthday, honey. You are wonderful husband and father. I couldn't ask for someone who supports me or spoils me more than you do. You are great father to our boys and a wonderful role model. We are so lucky to have you in our lives.

Kale's 3rd Birthday

For Kale's 3rd birthday we did a small little party at home with just us. I am over doing big huge parties for my kids (for now). It's a lot of work, they don't really enjoy it because they don't know what's going on, and it's a lot of stress for everyone.

 

Kale and I made cupcakes on Friday. He got to choose the colors for the frosting.

For having a "small little family party," the kid sure had lots of presents! We set everything up on his little table while he was napping. He was quite excited and still a little unsure of what was going on when he came downstairs.

Liam loved the balloons.

The first thing Kale did was play with the balloons. I asked him if he wanted to open his presents and he immediately replied with, "Yeah!"

 

He got lots of goodies. He received a t-ball set and a pair of shoes from grandma and grandpa Helling.

The absolute theme of the party was "Cars." This is Kale's new "thing." Most of his gifts centered around cars somehow--his toys, new PJ's, even Cars shoes! He also got lots of money from family members. He was really excited to get the money and wanted to carry it around outside. He finally agreed to let mom keep it and put it into his college fund.

I feared that it would take 6 months for him to believe that he was "3." I repeatedly told him he was 3 and then asked, "how old are you?" He would reply with, "two!" After a few days, he finally got it.

My parents got Kale a bike and a season pass to the zoo. He has been admiring "big boy" bikes for some time. The big boys that live across the street have bikes. When he first got on his new bike, he struggled to pedal it, but in no time, he had it down. Each day this week, we trekked up and down the street on bike rides. One of the funny things that Kale does--when he gets off his bike, he pushes it on the ground on its side, even though it has training wheels. The big boys across the street never use their kick stands, so he thinks that is what you are supposed to do with a bike when you get off.

 

Mom was making sure the bike worked correctly. Kale was screaming the entire time because he was afraid I would break his bike.

 

After riding the bike, we took Kale's T-ball set in the backyard. He really enjoys any type of sport, so this was right up his alley. We are still trying to get him to bat with both hands, but we will get there.

 

Great grandma Marie tried to show Kale how it was done

!

Sunday Brunch

Last Sunday, while my mom and grandma were visiting, we went out for Sunday brunch. We went to a wonderful restaurant called the Boathouse, it's right on the water and only a few miles from our house. Kris and I have only been there once for dinner, but we really enjoyed it, so decided to go for brunch.

 

Before brunch, we took some bread and went down to feed the ducks. As you know, I am terrified all of feathered animals, so I stood back and took pictures. The ducks and geese are so tame because people feed them constantly. They come right up to you. One of the geese kept hissing at us and it totally freaked me out. Kris kicked him and made him go away. The squirrels are also very tame and will come right up to you for bread.

 

Liam wore one of my favorite outfits. I love this little seersucker suspender outfit. We didn't get a really good photo, but he looked adorable.

We ate a DELICIOUS brunch out on the patio. I mean the food was so, so good!! A guitarist was playing music while we ate. We had a few mimosas...it was so relaxing. :)

It was very, very sunny out so we had the pull a hat out, so that Liam didn't get a sunburned face. We put sunscreen on both boys, but not on momma. I am the one who ended up getting another little burn.

3 generations

Super Liam!!

There was a park by the restaurant, so we went to play after brunch.

A good time was had by all. I think we will have to make this a Sunday tradition.

 

A Fun Weekend

This weekend was Kale's birthday weekend. We also received a visit from Gram Debbie and Great Grandma Marie. It was wonderful to see my mom and grandmother.

Mom and Grandma arrived on Thursday afternoon after many airport delays. On Friday, we relaxed, did a little shopping, and Kale and I made his birthday cupcakes.

I love this picture of Liam...my mom has a great camera so she was our photographer all weekend. I downloaded her pictures before she left. :)

The weather this weekend was perfect, not too hot and not too cold. Nice 70 degree temperatures all weekend long. We enjoyed lots and lots of time on the covered patio and outside. I somehow did manage to get a little sunburned though...

 

On Saturday we journeyed to Maymont to the children's petting farm. I have been wanting to go to Maymont since we first moved here. With the weather being so nice this weekend, it was the perfect Saturday. We enjoyed the scenery and the boys loved the animals. At some point in time, I want to go back and see more of the property. It appears to be a very large space.

Many flowers and plants were blooming. In a few weeks, I am sure it will be even more beautiful. We took the wagon but neither of the boys really wanted to ride in the wagon. Kale walked and Liam rode on Kris' shoulders.

Grandma Marie did a great job walking around Maymont. It was more spread out than I thought, but she really hung in there with us!

We found this really neat tree that had a low hanging branch. Kris tried to climb up and sit on it, but it wasn't quite low enough. We put both boys up on the branch for a picture.

 

After Maymont, we went to a nearby park for a picnic lunch. The boys ran around and played ball and Liam loved picking up the small sticks he found on the ground.

 

I have a ton more pictures from this weekend so more to come soon!