Pushing My Boundaries

I am not a "crafty" person. Not in the least. Sometimes, with the help of Pinterest and very detailed step-by-step instructions I like to attempt crafty things, but not often. And craft projects with the boys? Ha. Even the "super easy and kid-friendly" crafts would take me longer to set up (and clean up) than I could expect the craft to keep my boys' attentions. Not to mention the fact that I'd probably have to go to the store to get any supplies (my craft supplies are pretty much limited to paper, crayons, a few paints, and adult scissors). However, I know the value of a good craft project for building creativity, and I know craft projects tend to develop lots of good fine motor skills, so I'm trying to make a conscious effort to do them more often--no matter how much "work" it may be for me.

Since my car was still in the shop and we were stuck in the house for the second day in a row, I decided to flex my craft muscles yesterday and let the boys have some fun with paint. In the bathtub. And it was actually pretty awesome. They were entertained for almost a solid thirty minutes, and other than the fact that Garrett tried to eat some paint, there weren't really any snafus. This definitely has "rainy day" activity written all over it--and who knows, may I'll get really wild next time and give them some paper to decorate as well!

In other news, my car is fixed and ready to be picked up. I'm glad to have a vehicle back, although I was kind of hoping this would be the impetus we needed to actually go out and get the van we've been talking about getting for months. I know it's good that we weren't "forced" into getting the van and now we can take our time shopping around when we do actually start shopping (probably not for a few more months since we just put a couple hundred dollars into repairs for my car), but I'm kind of just ready to be done with the whole thing. Oh well. All in good time.

Weekend Review, Easter Style

Hope you all had a blessed Easter weekend! Ours was nothing if not busy--but we did our best to enjoy every minute of it!

Even though Darrell works for a Catholic hospital system, they don't get any time off on Good Friday (boo!) and since the Good Friday service at our church is too late to take the boys too (double boo!), Friday night was basically just a normal weeknight in this house. Saturday was when the fun started, though. After swim lessons, Darrell took the boys to my parent's house so he and I could have our first (but certainly not last) Date Day. Well, technically, first I went shopping with my sister-in-law for a few hours while Darrell got a few chores done around the house, but then Date Day started! Even though Mother Nature decided to dump snow on us (again!), Darrell and I jumped in the car and headed out for lunch followed by a handful of errands--the liquor store, Menards, Kohls, Target, and the grocery store. Nothing glamorous in the least (welcome to life as a parent!), but it was so.nice. to just go out and run errands without worrying about getting the boys in and out of the car seats (especially in the snow!), without worrying about nap schedules, without worrying about having snacks, without worrying about potential meltdowns, without really worrying about anything at all. We even got done a full hour before we had to go pick the boys up, so we relaxed on the couch with some Netflix and then I got dinner started while Darrell braved the snowy/slushy roads to get the boys. The rest of the night was pretty low-key: dinner, baths, bedtime (for the littles), food prep for Easter, a little more Netflix (we are this.close to finishing "How I Met Your Mother"), and then bedtime for us.

Easter Sunday started with breakfast at church (of course, the boys had round one of breakfast at the house because naturally they were up early and NEEDED to eat as soon as they woke up), followed by church and then lunch with my parents, siblings, and their spouses. The adults attempted to play a few hands of cards while the boys napped, but William decided he only needed a 45-minute nap (probably because Grandpa promised to watch Thomas with him after his nap), so we didn't get much card-playing done. Instead, we sat around and socialized while the boys ran around and kept us entertained. Oh, and the Easter bunny paid a visit to my parent's house, and my boys' reactions to their baskets is so fitting of their personalities. When William found his basket, he immediately grabbed the Thomas the Train toy out of it and left the rest of the basket in its hiding spot. Garrett, however, immediately grabbed one of the food pouches out of his basket and pretty much ignored the toy (and everything else in the basket). And of course, we attempted to take a nice family picture, but, well, things don't always work out the way you plan with two young boys.

At least William is smiling even if his eyes are closed, right? Sigh.

 And even though this next picture is from today, the ordeal that is being documented started on Easter Sunday, so I figured I'd go ahead and share it anyway.

Highlight of the morning for William and Garrett? Watching my car being towed. Lowlight of the weekend for Darrell and me? Discovering Easter morning that my car won't start (after we've already buckled both boys into their car seats). No word yet on what the problem is, but since we were already planning to get a van sometime this calendar year, if it isn't a fairly quick (and cheap) fix, we probably won't bother repairing it. Not sure what that means the interim will look like, though, since we haven't exactly started shopping for vans and I'm not very confident driving Darrell's stick shift... But I guess we'll cross that bridge when/if we get to it!

Seriously

Seriously. Go home Spring, you are massively drunk. Although at least this is a super pretty snow and not nearly as windy as it was on Wednesday, but still. Not cool Mother Nature.

Welcome to Spring

Not Pictured: Lovely 30+ mph winds

Go home Spring. You're drunk.

Weekend Review

Do you ever get to the end of the weekend and wonder where in the heck the weekend went? Because that is pretty much what it feels like in this house Every.Weekend. And I usually end up feeling like nothing got accomplished, which puts me in a sour mood, which is not the way I like to start my Mondays. So, as attempt to remedy that, I'm going to start sharing with you what we did over the weekend (because I am sure you are all just dying to know) so I can remind myself of everything we did get accomplished instead of focusing on the items still left on our to-do list. And maybe I'll even remember to take a picture or two (since that whole "Wordless Wednesday" thing kind of disappeared. Whoops). Of course, this will also be a test of my memory... Because Friday night was seriously so.long.ago.

Off to a good start--I already had to check my phone to remember what we did on Friday. I worked that day, which typically makes the evenings a little more chaotic because I'm not home to get dinner started. However, when I went to pick up the boys from my mom's house, they were both still sleeping, so Darrell actually ended up being the first one home--and by the time I got home with the boys he had dinner pretty much on the table! My mom joined us for dinner because after dinner she and William headed out to a carnival at my sister's school. Darrell had to leave shortly thereafter to go pick up our produce basket (I know I've talked about Bountiful Basket on here a time or two--we still love using that program!), which left me home to put Garrett to bed--normally a pretty easy task, but because of his late (and long) nap, he was a little feistier than usual. About the time I got him settled down, my mom got back to the house with William, and although all of the "prizes" he brought home were toys, I'm convinced there had to be some candy consumption during the course of the night because he was pretty wound up. While I was putting him to bed, Darrell got home with our basket and started getting the produce prepped and stored (as well as figuring out what the heck one does with three bunches of cilantro). By the time we got William settled down and the kitchen cleaned up, we had enough time to crash on the couch for a little bit of Netflix before bed

Saturday was the first day of swimming lessons for the boys (William's third time, Garrett's first). Both boys did pretty well, so we're excited for the next few weeks (and summer, of course!). We came home and played for a little bit while Darrell hung some décor downstairs (you know, only two years after we moved in...). After lunch I headed out to a local consignment sale (which was a major bust) while Darrell put the boys down for their naps, and then headed home so I could get some food prepped for Sunday (Easter with my mom's family) and make the pizza crust for supper. We skyped with Darrell's parents after naps, and I then I headed up to church for the night. Our youth put on a dinner theater every year, and I volunteered to help in the kitchen--which basically meant I spent three hours on a Saturday night doing dishes that weren't even mine. It was still pretty fun though (we have a pretty great church if I do say so myself) and The Cookie Jar (a totally awesome local establishment) did the catering, so I got some excellent food out of the deal as well.

Sunday was madness. Darrell is pretty much the official narrator for the choir when they do their Palm Sunday cantata (as well as their Christmas program), so he was at church by 7:30 for that. I brought the boys with me at 9:30 for breakfast between services, and then we went to the 10:30 service with my parents (and my brother and his wife even showed up!). After church we rushed home to get everything ready (including the crockpot potatoes that we had started at 7:00 that morning!) to head to Mitchell to celebrate Easter with my mom's family. I'm not sure how much I've said about my mom's family on here, but, well, they are a unique bunch. Gatherings with them are always unpredictable at best. And while it's always good to see family, Darrell and I were definitely ready to load our boys up and head home by 5:30. Bedtimes were a little bit of a struggle again because the boys had spent pretty much all day grazing on junk food, but we finally got them settled and then turned our attention to the kitchen, which had not really seen a lick of cleaning in over twenty-four hours, despite being pretty heavily used. After we got all that done (and cried over the results of some of the March Madness games), it was a repeat of Friday night: crash on the couch for a little bit of Netflix and then off to bed.

See what I mean? Our weekends go by in a poof, and while we are constantly busy doing stuff to keep ourselves afloat, it can be really hard to find the time (or energy) to chip away at some of the bigger, less "mandatory" tasks on our lists. Thankfully, we're home most every night this week, and aside from swim lessons on Saturday and Easter with my immediate family Sunday evening this next weekend is looking pretty open... So fingers crossed it actually stays that way!

On Not Being "Greedy"

So I don't do this very often, but I'm going to have a little bit of a soapbox moment about being a stay-at-home mom. Because this post has been years in the making--and I'm finally getting up the courage to write about it.

Last night at church, I was chatting with a father of two elementary school aged girls, and he asked if I work or if I stay home with my boys. I told him that I've been able to stay home, and he responded "That's great. We always wanted to do that, but we could never make it work. I guess we're too greedy". I don't exactly remember what I mumbled as a response, and I had to make a quick exit because Garrett started wandering out of my sight (like he enjoys to do), but the honesty of his words stuck with me. I've had a lot of people tell me that they wish they could stay home like I do, but that they just can't afford it. Now, I know there are certainly times when this is true... But I also know there are plenty of times where this isn't exactly the whole truth. Because I've been in their houses. I've seen what kinds of cars they drive, what kind of clothes they wear. I've heard them talk about the vacations they go on, the nights they spend eating out at restaurants. And I want to ask them "Really? You really can't afford to stay home? Or is it that you are not willing to alter the lifestyle you are living in order to be able to stay home?" Because Darrell and I are proof that it is doable. It isn't always easy--and trust me, we've had to make plenty of sacrifices--but it can be done. And, with careful budgeting and minimalistic spending, it can be done enjoyably and even allow for occasional "big" expenses--like our twice-yearly trips out east to visit Darrell's family.

I know staying at home isn't the right choice for every family--and for some families, it isn't even an option, no matter how tightly you budget. I get that. But when you hear that I stay home, don't tell me you "wish" you could too when the only thing holding you back is (as the person from church put it) greediness. Because trust me, I wish I could buy new clothes more often (for me and the boys!). I wish we could go out to eat more often (Sioux Falls actually has some pretty great restaurants that we just never get a chance to visit). I wish we could get through more of the house projects on our list (repaint/replace the siding, redo the kitchen, fix up the landscaping, to name a few). I wish we had upgraded to a larger car months ago (instead of holding out as long as we can before picking up a car payment). I wish lots of things that just aren't in the cards right now as we live off one salary--but would I give up the opportunities I have during the day with my boys to make those wishes come true? Absolutely not. So please, next time you hear that someone stays at home, don't get envious and wish that you could trade places with them--acknowledge (even if it's just mentally) that they are probably making some pretty serious sacrifices that you just aren't willing to make.

Spring is in the Air!

Since today is a little dreary (and really, I only say that because the sun isn't shining and it's a little windy--the air temperature is still pretty great for this time of the year), I figured I'd share some of the outside fun we've been up to so far this year. Our first park visit of the year was actually on Garrett's birthday (won't get to do that very often, I'm sure!) and the boys have had their first wagon ride together (in addition to many stroller rides). Naturally, the majority of the stuff we have done is not pictured, including plenty of golf, bubbles, and even getting to play on the play set in the backyard because ALL the snow is gone!

William and his buddy Kason

Not the best picture, but from left to right: Garrett, Oriya, William, Kason (William and Kason are two weeks apart; Garrett and Oriya are six weeks apart)

Enjoying the wagon!

Irony at its Finest

At Garrett's one-year well-visit, one of the vaccinations he received came with a "warning" that it could cause him to spike a fever about a week after the shot. The same thing had happened to William, so we have been watching and waiting for Garrett to spike a fever this week. So of course, Darrell was the one to spike a fever (bad enough for him to stay home from work yesterday), and today William has fallen ill. But no fever for Garrett. Go figure. (Although he has pooped six times today. So I guess he has that going for him.)

Needless to say, things are a little rough around here. While Darrell was completely and utterly useless yesterday while he was sick, at least he kept to himself in our room and obeyed the things I told him to do (drink water, eat soup, etc). William, on the other hand, is downright miserable while sick. He doesn't want to do anything, doesn't want to eat or drink anything, doesn't want to get his temperature taken, doesn't want to take his medicine--nothing. Suggesting that he do any of those things--or trying to force him to do something--causes a meltdown. And on top of that, he feels it necessary to whine to me every thirty seconds that he "feels sick", no matter how many times I acknowledge his statement and apologize for his misfortune. I know I shouldn't be annoyed by my sick child... But there's only so much I can take, especially while also tending to a one-year old who is his normal ornery self (and who--admittedly--just wants to play with big brother and doesn't understand that throwing a ball at William is going to make him break down and cry). For all of our sanity, I hope William's illness is as short-lived as Darrell's was, otherwise I may have to call in for reinforcements tomorrow.

Birthday Party Fun

I spent the weeks (more like months) leading up to Garrett's birthday trying to figure out a cute "theme" to use for his party. William's first birthday had been easy--because he had been born during the Icepocolypse of 2013, we centered his party around an ice cream sundae theme. Garrett's birthday is close to Valentine's Day--but after--so a Valentine-y theme seemed odd (and--according to Darrell--too girly). I've seen a few "Winter ONE-derland" themes, but by the end of February everyone around here is so done with winter that I didn't want to go down that road. There's lots of cute character themes (I've seen some awesome Mickey parties), but Garrett doesn't have a clue who any of those characters are, so it seemed strange to throw a party centered around character he didn't know. The most promising idea I had was a "Wild ONE" theme, which could have either been jungle wild or "Where the Wild Things Are" wild. And while that theme would have certainly been fitting given Garrett's personality, when it came down to it, I just didn't have the time or energy (or money!) to put into coordinating a theme (#secondchildproblems). In the end, we celebrated his first birthday with a bunch of "ones"--a one-shaped cake, leftover plates and napkins with ones from William's birthday, a fun one-shaped display of photos (also copycatted from William's party), and an awesome "one" shirt handed down from Darrell's sister. And you know what? It was perfect. Lots of fun, lots of friends and family, lots of food, and of course, lots of cake. We even managed to get both boys down for naps after everyone left, despite the fact that they were riding some pretty serious sugar highs.

Lunch time! (Which--by the way--we roasted a turkey that we had been gifted for Christmas and shredded the meat to make turkey salad sandwiches. First time either of us have dealt with a whole turkey!)

Checking out Aunt Amanda--and his new cousin set to arrive in June!

Our ONE year old!

He wasn't sure what to make of everything at first and big brother had to help him blow the candle out...

But once we gave him a spoon he went to town

Seriously. He wouldn't stop eating the cake. Darrell tried taking it away once and he screamed

Let them eat cake!