Opening Day of "Fun Season"

Yesterday was gorgeous!  Finally I had a day at home with perfect weather.  I decided that as soon as Matt came home from school I would take them both to the playground.  There are several playgrounds within walking distance of our apartment and the closest one got new equipment that I hadn't seen yet.  Eric had taken them on one of those freakishly nice days we'd had at the end of winter, but I still wanted to check it out for myself.  When Matt got off the bus I told him that we were skipping his homework until later.  It was about 3:45 and I figured we had plenty of time to play.  We could get home around 5 and he could do his homework while I cooked dinner, which I'd have plenty of time to do before Eric got home from work.  He was pretty excited, especially since it's been so wet this week.  So off we went!

I was pretty impressed when I got my first look at the new equipment.  It's got a tree house theme going on and it's pretty cool.  It only has one slide, but it's the biggest twisty slide I've ever seen.  The equipment really isn't meant for kids under five, and there's no alternative toddler friendly equipment aside from a swing set that has those baby bucket swings.  Lucas is pretty coordinated, so he wasn't deterred from climbing all the way to the top of that bad boy and sliding down over and over.

Matt taught Lucas how to climb up the slide, but he never quite made it to the top.  And, yes, instead of reprimanding them for going up the slide, I stood around and took pictures.  We were the only ones there.  And kids are kids, ok?  If they were interfering with a child trying to come down, yes, of course I would step in.  Otherwise, I let them be.  I very clearly remember a little girl with dark brown hair and dimples who very much loved to climb up slides.  And the little girl in me would feel like a hypocrite if I tried to stop my boys.

Ok, this... this was a supervised collision.  It only works when the big boy is at the bottom and the little boy is coming down.

Anyway, we had a great time, and the boys got to let out some pent up energy and be really silly together.                                Boys being silly--->

I love this picture!  I'm so surprised that it came out as well as it did because I had to use my old camera (my "good" camera is missing its battery), which doesn't have any special features or settings, and yet there isn't any blurring.

I feel like the "fun season" has officially started now and I'm so ready to go on adventures with the kids!  Tomorrow night is Spring Fun Night at the elementary school and the Farmers' Market is on Saturday and, miraculously, I'm off of work and will be able to take them.  The weather is supposed to stay gorgeous, so we'll be having lots of fun the next couple of days!

Wordless Wednesday: Portrait of the Queen Mother

The Wow Factor- a Mothers' Day post

Mothers' Day is not about jewelry.  It's not about a day at the spa.  It's not about lunch at a fancy restaurant or even breakfast in bed.

I'm embarrassed when I see moms complaining about a lack of "wow" on Mothers' Day.  Usually they have small children, so what they're really complaining about are their husbands.  What do you mean you didn't get anything.  Look at your children!  How many quiet hours have you spent blissfully rocking your newborns?  How many raspberries have you blown onto their fat tummies?  How many games of peek-a-boo have you played with your enthusiastic toddlers?  How much joy have your children given you?

~*~

Last week was mostly wet.  Today it is raining again.  This weekend though?  This weekend was gorgeous!  Absolute perfect weather, and I had to work.  My mother-in-law came down on Saturday and Matthew spent the night with her, so on Mothers' Day morning I didn't get to see him.  Eric and I made coffee and cinnamon rolls before I had to leave for work.  He gave Lucas a card to give me, which was really cute.

Then it was off to work, where I got a surprise.  All of the mothers working yesterday were presented with a pink carnation and baby's breath to pin to their lanyards.  It was a thoughtful and unexpected gesture, but that's how they are, and it's one of the reasons why I love working for Kohl's, although I don't know if it's a nationwide standard or it's just the great people at my own store.

When I got home, Matt was there and he said Happy Mothers' Day to me.  I found out that earlier in the day when Nana dropped him off he had been practicing on his bike and he made the entire length of the sidewalk without anyone holding the seat.  Twice.  I was so proud!

After dinner I called my own mom.  She spent the day with her mom and one of her sisters.  They all went out to lunch.  I wish I could have been there.  I miss my mom terribly and I often think of moving back down to Florida just to be with her, but we hated living there.  Hopefully I will see her this summer.

So, that was my understated Mothers' Day.  There was no big "WOW!" to it, but there didn't need to be.  I got my hugs and kisses.  I had a nice conversation catching up for the week with my mom.  What more do I really need?  

What's Your Kid's Favorite Toy?

These are Luke's recent favorite.  He plays with these things every single day!  We have four and a bunch of accessories.  We had been keeping one up on the top shelf of their closet, just because three seemed to be more than enough and I figured keeping one extra in case we somehow lost all of the other pieces was a good idea. 

Lucas didn't like that idea.  Their closet has built in cubbies running up the middle, kind of like a single stack of cubeicals that support the top shelf.  I caught him at the very top trying to get that unopened Mr. Potato Head!  He climbed right up them like a ladder, pulled down the box and dropped it to the floor, and climbed back down all on his own.  I wish I had a video of this little monkey in action!  It was pretty impressive!  After that I figured he deserved the prize.

What do your kids love playing with?  What's their go to toy?  Share with me!

What's Been Going On

I just wish my life had a tiny bit of stability!!

So Eric didn't get the job at TMobile.  They never called him back.  He *did* however get an offer from a warehouse.  He interviewed for that on a Friday and they asked him to start the following Tuesday.  So I went to Kohl's and had all of my weekday shifts covered by other people so that he could start this M-F shift.  The day before he was supposed to start (this was last Monday) they called and told him that the guy he was supposed to be replacing had decided not to leave after all.  FML right? 

He ended up getting an interview for KMart and getting the job over there pending background checks.  When he came home from the interview he was pretty upset.  KMart isn't going to help get us out of our financial hole. 

Yesterday he got a call from the warehouse that didn't need him.  Someone broke their wrist or something and they wanted him to come in today and work for a few weeks.  If he does good they said they'd keep him. 

So guess where he is today.. at WORK!  For the first time since September!  KMart hasn't called back with his start date yet so he's thinking of working both.  He doesn't quite trust the warehouse to keep him even if he busts his butt for them, so he wants something to fall back on.

A much needed, but small and shaky, victory!