A Day at the Park

 

Going back to work part-time has been tougher than I thought. While I sincerely enjoy the adult interaction and challenge of a business development position, I constantly feel frazzled and behind on everything. Before starting work, I envisioned Tuesdays and Thursdays to be full of the things I used to do with the kids: trips to the park, library, zoo; time spent baking cookies or assembling puzzles. Unfortunately, that just hasn't happened.

Instead, I find myself catching up on laundry, housework, trips to the grocery, and other errands. Although I'm still spending those days with the kids, it's not the same. Last Thursday we finally got back into our old routine and spent the day at the park.

 

We packed a lunch and between bites the kids tortured daddy long legs and other defenseless creatures.

The kids played on the playground and learned that they are big enough to ride the see saw without my help now.

There were attempts at climbing trees, which probably would have been more successful had we chosen a larger tree. Hanging from the tree was just as fun for the kids.

Later, we took a walk and searched for leaves. We did this last year, too: Warner and Maren each got a bag to store all of the treasures they found along our walk. The tradition is to then take the leaves back home and decorate place mats with them.

 

 There were plenty of leaves to choose from and the kids thoroughly enjoyed playing in them.

 

 

  

I'm thankful for days like last Thursday. I'm also thankful for my job. So I'll continue to search for the right balance between work and mothering and the rest of life.

Happy Birthday, Warner

My little boy is five years old. It almost physically pains me to write that. Don't get me wrong. I am so proud of the little man Warner has become. But it feels like yesterday that he was born. I can still smell his newborn baby scent; feel his tiny fingers wrapped around mine; feel the exhaustion that comes with a newborn. It's just going really fast. I often ponder Ecclesiastes 3:11: "He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end". It makes me think when we struggle with time going too fast, kids growing to quickly, not having enough time to be with the people we love ... that's our spirit pointing to God's perfect plan of eternity. We may not understand it or even recognize the feeling, but our hearts are longing for home.

Anyway, I'm getting way off topic. Back to the birthday boy.

Superheros are Warner's newest thing, so a superhero party it was. I was excited because I had seen a bunch of adorable party ideas on Pinterest, so I was all set when the theme was chosen.

This was Warner's first "friend" birthday party. And besides my desire to throw exciting, cute, and perfect parties in general, I actually remember my fifth birthday party. So I added stress for myself thinking about the fact that Warner might some day remember this party, so I had to be sure it all went off without a hitch. I think all Warner cared about was making sure he had a Hulk cupcake topper for his cupcake and not Captain America, Thor, or Ironman. Easy enough.

All of the kids seemed to have a great time. Most of them enjoyed their superhero capes and masks as favors, and wore them around during the party. They "earned" their capes by completing the superhero tasks (games) we had planned. I also borrowed a friend's bounce house and that was a huge hit with the kids.

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The entire party was outside, which I've decided will definitely be a new tradition moving forward for all our birthday parties.

Warner got a ton of awesome presents. Between his friends and family, it was like Christmas. Most of the gifts were superhero (the Hulk specifically) themed. Kevin and I got him roller skates (he has asked for them for months) so that should be interesting.

On the morning of his actual birthday, the kids and I stopped at Dunkin Donuts before preschool for breakfast. Here are Warner's five year stats:

- 46 inches tall (95th percentile)
- Weighs 46 pounds (80th percentile)
- Favorite color: red
- Favorite food: cheeseburgers and candy
- Favorite tv show: Superhero Squad
- Favorite thing to do: ride his bike
- Favorite sport: basketball
- When he grows up, he wants to be a: teacher
- Best friends: Maren, Drew, and Riley

Happy birthday, little man!

Meet Sally Gingerbread

To say Maren is full of personality would be a huge understatement. As she grows older, her imagination and personality continue to develop, and it's often pretty hilarious to listen to what she comes up with. A great example is her stuffed animal dog.

The dog was actually mine when I was a child. It was my beloved puppy. In fact, my mother tells me that "puppy" was my first word, thanks to this stuffed animal. She didn't keep a ton of my childhood items, but since it was so special to me when I was young, she kept it. When we were in Texas this past winter, Maren found the puppy and asked to bring it home with her.

It wasn't until recently that Maren named the dog. Up until a few months ago, it was simply her doggie. But one day she came to us and said "This is my doggie. Her name is Sally Gingerbread." Really? Sally Gingerbread? I have no idea where she came up with the name. But we love it. Totally Maren. And if we accidentally call her just Sally, Maren is quick to correct: "no, it's Sally Gingerbread. Not Sally".

Sally is a favorite toy, but Teddy and Blanket are still her favorites. She doesn't sleep with Sally Gingerbread like she does Teddy and Blanket, but often we have to find a special place for Sally to sleep at night. Sometimes it's the closet, sometimes it's Warner's room. One night she insisted Sally sleep on the rug in our entry way. You just never know with Maren.

Warner has yet to attach himself to something like Sally, Teddy, or Blanket. He takes toys around with him most places we go, but it's generally a different toy each time. It's probably for the best. Keeping up with Maren's stuff is hard enough. For a while it was a different toy car that Warner took with him everywhere. The other day Warner told me he "wasn't really into cars anymore". What is he into then, you might wonder? Superheros. All things Superhero.

Warner also loves coloring. He colors nearly every day, and is pretty darn good at it if I do say so myself. So you can imagine his delight when we were at Kroger (of all places) and they were handing out Avengers coloring pages. We scooped up a stack of the pages and decided to have a coloring party that night.

Kevin had recently bought a crayon tower that the kids are wild about. Add some popcorn and jammies and this little family was in heaven. Superheros, Sally Gingerbread stuffed animals, coloring ... my kids might be quirky, but they sure are the best.

Pumpkin Patch

What's fall without a trip to the pumpkin patch? After Warner's soccer game Saturday, we met the Whitakers somewhere between our homes (Dry Ridge) at Country Pumpkins. It was a cute little farm where we enjoyed the typical pumpkin patch activities: hay ride, corn maze, pumpkin picking, etc.

There were also a few activities that we weren't expecting - like face painting - that thrilled my kids. Ashley and Abby joined in the face painting fun as well.

Maren chose Hello Kitty.

Warner was Batman for the day.

Another surprise activity was their "barrel train" ride. It was really cute, and honestly Kevin and I were pretty disappointed the adults weren't allowed to ride.

 

We had a great time and came home with more pumpkins than I can ever remember getting. Hopefully a few will rot by Halloween. Otherwise, look for a blog post in a few weeks detailing a 24-hour pumpkin carving adventure.

 Happy fall!

Happy Birthday, Kevin!

We celebrated Kevin's birthday this week. I am not going to post how old my sweet husband is. I think we're to that point in our lives now. Sad.

Did you know that Coldstone Creamery has cupcakes? Yes, they do. We saw them months ago and Kevin mentioned he'd like to try them for his birthday. And I actually remembered this (very unlike me), which was a good thing because they were awesome.

 

 

Warner made Kevin a card all by himself. Well, I told him how to spell "Happy Birthday Kevin" but he did the rest. And yes, he chose "Kevin" instead of "Daddy". He insisted that Kevin's actual name is Kevin and not Daddy. So there you have it.

This probably does not melt your heart like it does mine, but you must admit it's a great card. He worked on it for close to an hour and when he showed it to me, I cried. The love I have for this kid almost physically hurts me. My favorite part? "Warner Love". Obviously he meant "Love, Warner" but he almost always writes it that way. I think I like Warner Love better anyway.

We got Kevin a new water bottle for his bike and a gift certificate to the bike shop to have his new (to him) bike tuned up. Oh, and the kids each chose some candy for him, but I think that was really because they wanted the candy themselves. Happy birthday, Kevin!

Bikes

We've been bike riding fools lately. I guess it started with Warner learning to ride without training wheels this past spring, followed by Maren mastering her "big girl bike" with training wheels this summer. In August I reclaimed my bike that Kevin's sister had borrowed while I was busy having children. Then a few weeks ago Kevin bought a friend's old mountain bike so he could join the fun. So now we all have a set of wheels. And we're crazy about riding around on them.

Last Saturday was one of the best days our little family has enjoyed. After Warner's soccer game, we loaded up all four bikes in the van (side note: I am sort of over having a minivan. Well I was actually never a huge fan to begin with, but am happy we had one when our kids were small. However, now that I know we can fit all four bikes in the back of our van, AND the van is paid for, I'm thinking it's a pretty great automobile. So perhaps I'll be a minivan momma for a while longer still). We drove to Newport on the Levee and after having gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches at Tom + Chee (wow, that probably deserves a whole blog post itself - YUM), we hopped on our bikes and headed for the Purple People Bridge. 

We rode over the river and headed to Sawyer Point to play. The kids did the playground thing for a while, then we hopped on our bikes again and hit up a bit of the trails along the river, then headed back over the bridge and called it a day. The kids did awesome. I had to help Maren up the hill of the bridge on the Ohio side of the river, but other than that, the kids rode without assistance. They were safe on the sidewalks near cars, and thought riding over the river was the coolest ever (me too!).

And this happened on the way back home:

Kevin has also taken to mountain biking with his new set of wheels. Turns out we have an amazing park just minutes from our home that has miles and miles of mountain biking trails. He has gone out a few times with friends and then talked me into joining him yesterday. 

We were actually child-less Friday night and Saturday morning. Our good friends had Warner and Maren over for a sleepover with their kids. Everyone had a blast - well, perhaps everyone but our friends who were up with four children ages 3 to 6 at 6:15am Saturday morning. 

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed mountain biking! Other than fearing for my life a few times (this is why I run; less chance of head injury), it was great. The trails were much more narrow than I had imagined and extra bumpy. But really fun.

Warner constantly rides his bike in the grass and "off roads" any chance he gets, so I am confident he will join Kevin on the trails as soon as he's old enough. I've always believed - perhaps from my own childhood - that families that play together stay together (cheesy, I know).  I'm hopeful that biking will be one of the activities we enjoy together for many years to come.

Preschool

It's that time of year again. Preschool time. It always feels like the kids start preschool so late because the grade-school kids start weeks before preschool around here. The kids' first day was the Wednesday after Labor Day this year.

They were (as usual) over the top excited to start school. Since their neighborhood friends had already begun school, they had been asking for weeks when it was their turn to go. The morning of their first day Warner and Maren were up at the crack of dawn, with clothes on, teeth brushed, and backpacks on. They were ready 30 minutes before we needed to leave the house, so you can imagine how slowly that last half hour lasted before we left. Maren ate breakfast with her backpack on. I think she did that last year, too.

I had another outfit picked out for Maren. It was a little watermelon dress that was not only adorable, but also more appropriate for the 80+ degree weather forecasted that day. Maren however, seeing her new fall "school clothes" in her dresser, did not understand why she couldn't wear her new stuff. Not being one to argue with a three year old at 7am on her first day of school, Maren won.

 

Warner has a slight obsession with ties. We got him one a few months ago for a wedding and he has since wanted to wear one on a variety of occasions - most frequently to church. I think he likes ties because Kevin wears one to work every day. That and everyone comments on the tie whenever he wears one. So, for weeks he had planned to wear a tie for the first day of school. And who am I to stop my little man from looking so stinking adorable? Really. Adorable.

The kids marched into Lakeside Preschool like they owned the place. Maren is thrilled to have Mrs. Kemp just like Warner did last year. Warner has Mrs. Eubanks - the same teacher he had two years ago during his first year of preschool. They love school, which is a good thing since they're both going three days a week this year.

I started a new adventure myself when the kids started back to school: working part-time. I am incredibly blessed to have joined Ingage Partners as their Business Development Manager. I'm working with an old colleague and good friend from my days in IT consulting at Software Architects and couldn't be happier. After dropping the kids off at school, I now drive to Hyde Park to work with adults until 4pm on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. The kids come home from school with my friend who watches them until I get home. Tuesdays and Thursdays are still mommy/kid days and I feel it's quite possibly the best arrangement of all time.

Here's to hoping we continue to settle into our new school/work/life schedule and have a great year.