The day after returning from vacation is
always a tough one. I think everyone is tired and we all need a
break, from life and each other. Unfortunately when “we all”
includes a 2yr old and a 4yr old, there are no breaks! We came
home to a clean house yesterday, which was nice, and after just
a few hours of us (including lawn mowing and grocery shopping)
the place is a disaster again! We got through the day and
tomorrow is a daycare day so that will be a bit of a break, for
me anyway. I realized today that I probably get spoiled by
having family around to pay attention to the kids during the
day, so when we get back and I’m on duty full-time again, it’s
exhausting! :) Anyway, time now for dinner!
Monthly Archives: June 2009
Photos from Franklin
just got back from a long weekend in Franklin. It was a good
time. We had a long drive home though and not one of our better
trips, so now I’m exhausted. I know everyone is eagerly
awaiting photos though, so here are a few.
see Up in 3D at the theater. Our second attempt at the theater
and this time we made it all the way to the end! I don’t think
the movie is aimed at 2 and 4yr olds though. There were
definitely some scary scenes and at one point I took the kids
out for a few minute because they seemed scared. For the last
half hour or so Eve sat on my lap and asked every few minutes
if it was time to go home yet. But she’s a trooper and made it
all the way through. I wanted to take a picture of everyone
wearing their 3D glasses (everyone except Lex, who refused to
wear them) but the previews had already started and it didn’t
seem appropriate. So here is a picture of Eve wearing the
glasses while she “drives” after the movie. She liked the
glasses a lot and alternated between wearing them on her head
and on her belly, equally amused by both :)
of screen time this weekend :) Here they are with Uncle B,
learning to play Mema’s favorite computer game.
hat to try on.
looking forward to for weeks now. Playing with the Hess truck
collection. These trucks were Barney’s when he was a kid and
Lex LOVES them.
up my photography efforts with Lex lately. This should have
been beautiful, trees, bright colors, etc, but he saw the
camera and did his paparazzi dodging move. Mom says maybe he’s
tired of having his picture taken (we must have many hundreds
of thousands of pictures of this kid by now) but I say he’s
young and had better get used to it! :) He says nothing, just
runs away.
work with the markers. I wish I had turned on the video camera
here because she did some crazy moves in an effort to get into
a comfortable laying down position. She seemed to have the end
goal in mind, but just wasn’t sure how to maneuver her body
properly. It was hysterical. Anyway, she loves coloring with
markers. Notice how well she holds the pen? She likes to
“write” with little squiggles and lines. Lex does the same
thing and calls it his “fancy writing.” At this rate she may be
writing before he does!
his Starfall games. They are good for his brain at least. I
just like his pose and ease with the computer, all while
sitting on a booster seat! :)
ordered at one table, were at a different table when the
waitress delivered drinks, and ended up at the counter by the
time she brought the food out. Luckily she was nice and the
place was small and empty.
A self portrait
Asleep at 7:15!!
Do you all like when I share every detail
of the day? :) After my cranky post earlier I let the kids get
up with no naps. I thought it would be a slow afternoon, but
maybe an early bedtime. I got lucky! The afternoon wasn’t bad,
Eve fussed and used her baby talk (drives me crazy!) a lot, but
Lex zoned out into playdoh for about an hour and then cleaned
it all up afterwards! After a calm dinner (only spilled two
cups of milk, not too bad!) and a nice bath, we packed the
suitcase, read stories, brushed teeth and went to bed. All by
7pm :) I laid down with Lex, as usual, and a very tired Eve
started bouncing in her bed. Lex and I discussed how
frustrating it was that she won’t be quiet and I gave him the
option of me staying with him and ignorning her, or me going to
lay down with her instead and hopefully keeping her quiet. He
said, “go keep her quiet!” So I did. I cuddled with Eve and
talked her through relaxing her body. I told her to relax her
legs because they have worked hard all day. I said how they
carried her around and climbed the ladders at the playground,
and ran up the stairs, etc. When she stopped bouncing her legs
I moved on to her arms, then all the way up the body to her
eyes and finally her ears. Believe it or not, it worked! After
about 5 minutes she was calm and still and within 10 she was
asleep!!! Maybe that’s our secret! Or maybe no naps… but I’m
not ready for that yet, especially since Lex still wants them!
Whatever it was, I’m enjoying the peace and quiet
tonight!
Sleepless
What happened to my good sleeper?!?!
Whereas Lex (after 4yrs!) is finally getting good at the sleep
thing, even taking naps again (yay!), Eve has decided to give
up on it all together. She was always my reliable sleeper. What
happened?! We fought with Lex all through the years and I was
so hoping to avoid toddler sleep battles with Eve… but alas,
I find myself fighting the fight :( Sooo aggravating! She’ll
nap, usually, after awhile, but at night she’s up for HOURS,
bouncing around and keeping Lex awake. We put her to bed at the
usual 7:30ish and for the past week or so she’s been awake past
10pm each night. One night it was past 11pm! Just awake,
bouncing around, making noise. He will eventually fall asleep,
but I know if she was quiet he’d be out much quicker. Blah!!! I
want sleepers!!!
Overdue congrats!
I think I failed to publicly
congratulate my dear little sister for some recent achievements
:) Rosy, or Nurse Collier, got her nursing degree last month
and passed the NCLEX (right?) last week. Yay Rosy!!! Now she
has signed herself up for several more years of schooling to
become Doctor Nurse Rosy! :)
Ready for a break
We knew going in to this month that it was
going to be a tough one. Alan has been working lots of hours
because his company is moving to a new office soon and he’s got
a lot of responsibilities for the move. I also had four
Pampered Chef shows (three in a row last week!) and am working
two days a week and taking the kids to swimming lessons two
days a week. We knew it would be a tough one and I am VERY
ready for a calm July! For those who haven’t heard, I’ve
decided to quit Pampered Chef for now. It’s fun, mostly, but
too much for my life right now. My boss at work today asked if
I wanted to switch to full-time (a position opened up just
today) and I was happy to say no :) I’m ready for some down
time! We’re looking forward to a relaxing, do-nothing weekend
in Franklin then back to the schedule, this time minus swim
lessons and Pampered Chef. Hoping to make it to the lake soon
and into our backyard for some gardening and lawn mowing!
Exciting. Ok, I’m rambling now. VERY tired :) Gonna go eat some
delish mac and cheese I made tonight and then off to bed.
Tomorrow, after work, is my final Pampered Chef show!
A good night’s sleep
Kids sleep in the funniest ways. A few
days ago Eve woke up in the night crying, so Alan brought her
in the bed with us. At some point in the morning she wriggled
out of my arms and on to the floor. She didn’t fall, so much as
put herself on the floor. I peaked over at her a few times and
she was sleeping happily on the floor. After awhile I got up,
but she kept sleeping! She ended up waking up at 10:30am! I
checked to make sure she was breathing a few times and was
pretty sure she would wake up in confusion and tears. Much to
my surprise she woke up very happy. I found her still laying on
the floor, giggling and happily snuggling doggie.
Dairy Days
A local Co-op holds an event each year
called Dairy Days. They have vendors (local farms) come with
samples of of their dairy products and there are games for the
kids and horse drawn wagon rides and stuff. I’ve seen the ads
each year, but this is the first time we actually made got
there. It was fun. We ate lots of ice cream and greek yogurt. I
even had a root beer float, which I haven’t had in ages! Then
we went home and had salad for lunch! :)
the face painting booth. The lady actually stamped her face and
colored it in with marker, so the whole thing went pretty
quickly.
seem to sure about it either!
disappointment of the day. I showed Lex the ad in the paper
while we had breakfast (to get him excited and motivated to get
dressed and leave the house!) and he got super excited about
the hay rides. He was eager to play in the hay (like a book we
have). When we got there all he wanted to do was find the hay
rides, bypassing ice cream and all. We stopped at a cookie
booth and he grabbed a cookie, but held on to it until the hay
ride. We finally found the hay ride and Lex stopped short when
he noticed there was NO HAY! It was just horse drawn wagon
rides. He was not amused and it took a little cajoling to even
get him in the wagon.
ice cream? Really they did :) I think the sun is in their eyes,
or the ice cream is cold, or something. Really they did enjoy
the ice cream!
Yogurt. We sat and watched a magician while they ate.
my camera lately because the picture doesn’t match what I saw
in the view finder. I saw a lot more of her eyes and hat. She’s
adorable anyway.
