There is never a dull moment at our house! The other day my wife and I are in our room. We hear Ella from the bathroom “We’re playing dentist. The pink kitty has a cavity and having a tooth pulled”. Sam looks at me and says, “You better check on that, I’m not sure what they are doing is dentistry!”
I walk in and the patient is in the “chair.” The flashlight is there to provide light. Andrew’s wearing medical gloves. Ella has a timer she is using as a thermometer. And the drill is on the ground, ready to prepare for cavities.
Looks like dentistry to me …..
We went back to Meijer to swap out bikes for Ella. The one we had came with two left pedals. Rather than just let me grab a right pedal from a box, I had to swap out the whole thing. On the way out, the kids see the penny horse ride. Someone was nice enough to leave a bunch of pennies on the base for kids who wanted to ride. Ella got right up and loved every minute. Andrew lasted about 3 seconds and wanted off. Naturally, Ella got to finish out his ride. (Yes, she is wearing unicorn slippers!)
It didn’t take long for our photos from the kid’s Spring Mini Session to come back. The kids love doing these because they get to pose with a live bunny! Our photographer, Beth, at Enjoy the View always amazes us. The kids were so out of control during the session, we really thought there wouldn’t be any good ones. We were wrong! She was really able to catch some fantastic shots.
After we downloaded the photos, we once again said to each other, “we really need to get these printed so we can hang them on the wall.” Seriously, the last photos that we hung on our wall was when we did family photos at Andrew’s newborn session! So today, Sam and I finally sat down and went through almost four years of pictures to have some printed. We ordered some canvases, and some 8 X 10 prints that we’ll be hanging in the living room.
Andrew was watching me upload pictures on my computer. He wanted to play on his own computer. He opened up the DVD player I use for my classes and I had to stop him. It is the only one I have and cannot afford to have that break. So I went downstairs and grabbed this old laptop my dad had given me a few years back. He was elated.
Because it is old, it is bulky. But it opens and he can bang on the keyboard. He was carrying it everywhere. I took the dog outside earlier and when I turned around, there was Andrew in the yard … with his laptop!
These kids bring me so much joy! There truly is never a dull moment.
When I woke up Saturday afternoon, Sam and I ventured out for the first time to the grocery store with both kids. We were also picking up a couple car seats to keep at her mom’s house, just in case she ever needed to take them for a drive. Because of this, we had two carts. Andrew was in one and Ella was in the other. It was actually quite comical and weird at the same time. As we both anticipated, the last part of the trip was quickly shortened as it became obvious that we were close to nap time and the kids got more and more fussy.
This was our first in person shopping experience in a year or so. Our local Meijer got rid of the Schipt shoppers recently. We actually liked having them shop. You picked your items online and they shopped for you. If they didn’t have an item, they’d text you and ask about a replacement. They even loaded the car for you! One good thing about having someone shop for you is that you are not tempted to add things to the cart that are not on your list. On the other hand, not shopping yourself often leads to you forgetting things that you might remember needing as you pass it on a shelf.
After the kids went to sleep, Sam and I fixed up the Easter baskets and set them out for them. Sam had the idea of putting plastic eggs in Ella’s bed and a trail of them leading to the front room. Of course, any time I got up to get a drink of water in the kitchen, I was kicking or stepping on those plastic eggs!
Easter Sunday
Andrew was wide awake early Sunday. Ella on the other hand was snoozing pretty good. I snapped a picture of her sleeping and put a caption on it that said, “Happy Easter. He is Risen. Ella on the other hand has not …”
When Ella finally got up, we handed her a bucket and she collected eggs from the trail of eggs, until she spotted her Easter Basket. At that point she dropped the bucket and ran to her basket. She was excited because she’s been asking for a xylophone. There is a picture of one in one of her favorite books and it is also featured in an episode of Bluey. She saw it and immediately began to play it.
I love that kids can sing whatever song melody perfectly while banging away in whatever rhythm they want to on the xylophone. The two “melodies” are vastly different, but to the performer – they are perfecting in synch! I really think she is going to be our little musician. She loves to play her xylophone and loves to sing!
We were invited to Sam’s mom’s house for Easter dinner that afternoon. Sam found some cute outfits for the kids in bright spring colors. They looked so cute together.
Sam’s mom had hid plastic eggs around the yard for an Easter Egg hunt. Andrew isn’t quite ready for that yet, so Ella went out and gathered eggs with her cousin, She loves being outside and despite the cooler temps, the sunshine made for a beautiful Easter Sunday.
After dinner and conversation, we decided to head home. Andrew is in his helmet 23 hours a day now and during the time it is off, there is a lot to do. It is important to wash the inside of the helmet, as well as make sure his hair is washed. This prevents any type of fungus or nastiness from growing in the helmet or on his head.
It’s almost weird to see him out of the helmet now. Sam took him to his appointment Friday and the measurements are looking very good. The helmet is doing what it is supposed to do.
Sunday night wrapped up with an unexpected emergency. Just before we got ready to get the kids to bed, Sam got a phone call. Her sister had to be rushed to the hospital. Sam drove to her mom’s and then drove them down to the hospital. She was admitted and is now home, but it was a bit scary. Sam got home around midnight Sunday night. I’m glad that she had the night off work so she could take her mom and sister.
Monday
We woke up to snow showers! There was very little on the ground in the morning, but after the kids woke up from their afternoon naps, there was a good coating of snow on the ground and you couldn’t see the grass! Typical Michigan weather, I guess.
What I found to be absolutely crazy was that the high school baseball team (who uses the field behind our house to practice/play on) was actually still having practice Monday afternoon. Those poor kids were out there on the diamond shagging balls in the outfield, running plays, and swinging blindly at balls being thrown to the plate because the snow was coming down so hard! It was nuts!!
Tuesday
I don’t even want to talk about Tuesday … LOL
I hope that you had a wonderful and blessed Easter weekend.
Saturday morning, I came home from work and went right to bed. Sam and I had plans to celebrate our anniversary this weekend. Originally, I was going to take her to an amazing Italian place in Troy (about and hour and 15 minutes from our house). After some discussion, we decided that since it was really the only day we had together, and I was going to sleep for part of it, that we should grab dinner somewhere closer. We decided on Outback Steakhouse. Now, Outback was the ONLY chain restaurant we ate at in Florida when we got married. We picked Outback for that reason, and because it was close to a few places we wanted to go to while we were out.
This was the first time we have been out to eat in a restaurant since all the Covid stuff. They did a good job of spreading everyone out. It has been so long since we were out, it was almost awkward. It was nice to have dinner together. It’s really amazing how something so trivial can mean so much. I will never take those little moments for granted….
After we ate, we decided to walk through Barnes and Noble. Ella loves books, so we looked through the various kid books and picked up a new book for her. She loves the Jimmy Fallon books (Your Baby’s First Word Will Be Dada, and Everything is Mama), and Sam found one called “This Is Baby” (which she loves just as much!). I picked up a book for me, too. It was my anniversary present from Sam. She had asked what I wanted and I told her to just get me a gift card. Instead, she went with me and I got to pick out what I wanted (More on that in a few).
With baby #2 on the way, we wanted to stop at Target to see what the double strollers looked like. I never in a million years would have guessed that I would be looking at double strollers! Anyway, they only had one there to look at, which I thought was odd. Sam is all about online shopping, but she’d like to at least see the thing before we buy it. Since they didn’t really have any, we decided to look in the toy aisle for a few things. We bumped into one of our sleep teachers, Angie, and her husband there. It’s been forever since I saw her, and we were just talking about finding a day to get together for coffee. They were out getting presents for grandbabies.
The world had changed. Normally, when I run into someone I know I offer a handshake or hug them. Here we were, all wearing masks, and kind of standing our 6 feet apart. We chatted for a while and then we had to get going because we needed to go pick up Ella from Nana’s house. This is where is was crazy awkward for me … I wanted to reach out and shake Dave’s hand and give Angie a hug, but instead it was kind of a “well….ok…..good to see you …. take care…..so long…” thing. It just didn’t seem right walking away like that. I dislike the new “normal!”
Sunday
Sunday was extra busy! We all got up and had chocolate chip pancakes. Afterward, Sam and I compiled the grocery list and I ventured out to Meijer. I always seem to have to go back to an aisle because I either walked right by something OR I didn’t see it on the list until almost the end of the trip. Ella napped while I was shopping and woke up as I was bringing in the groceries.
The weather was just beautiful. I think it was like 65 degrees. We had bought Ella one of those Cozy Coupe cars with the intention of giving it to her for Easter, but decided that the weather was so nice, we should give it to her Sunday. I’m not sure why, but I thought that it literally just snapped together…..it doesn’t. I had to go get my drill, a screwdriver, and a hammer to put it together. At any rate, She really loved it and I got to push her around the neighborhood in it.
We spent the afternoon outside in her car, in the stroller, going down the slide, and running on the trampoline. Eventually, she started to yawn and I knew it was nap time. Once I laid her down, the real work began for me.
Despite my best attempt to tell Sam that the lights on the house were “Easter Lights,” I took down all the Christmas lights. I can’t complain, and I’m glad I finally had good weather to do it. This year I had strung some up high on the front porch, so I had to drag out the ladder to get to them.
Once I had the lights down, I took the totes back to the basement. While down there, like a typical guy, I noticed this huge plastic house that Sam had in the basement so our nieces could play in it. We had talked about bringing it outside and cleaning it up for Ella. So, while Sam slept for work, and Ella napped, I took it partially apart and brought it upstairs. I had measured it and figured I could get it outside no problem. I got it up the stairs, through the basement door and once at the side door – it had to really yank it out! It was SO snug! I was able to get it outside and get it washed and back together!
After I got it back together, I was back inside making dinner, so Sam had something to take to work.
Needless to say, I was in bed early that night!
My phone sent me a notification that night that said my “panoramic” photo was ready to view. I didn’t take any panoramic pictures while we were outside Sunday. However, my camera took two separate pictures and combined the two and put Ella in the picture twice! At first I thought it was weird, but after looking at it, I think it’s pretty cool!
Two for the price of one….
Monday
Another beautiful day, this time 70 degrees. It was windy, but that didn’t stop us from playing outside. More trips around the neighborhood in her car and in her stroller. Then we played in her house. I’m thinking we need to get a chair or something for her to put in there, because she walks in and really doesn’t know what to do in there.
A Good Read
The book I got for my anniversary is called “100 Bible Verses That Made America.” So far I am enjoying it. It is really amazing to see how people of the past used the Bible and the principles to help shape this country. The only issue I have with the book is that every time it quotes a Bible verse, it quotes it from the NIV version. The NIV version wasn’t even around until the 1970’s. To me, it would seem that they would have used the KJV to quote from. Whenever it quotes a verse, I just grab my KJV and read it from there. Still a very interesting and enlightening read.
A Real Pain in the … Back!
About two weeks ago, I was getting out of bed and kind of felt like my back was tight. Over the next few days, I started to feel like it was even in my hip. I’m really not sure what I did to it. It’s been bugging me and kind of annoying. I’ve taken ibuprofen and such, but it has been getting worse. Monday, I pushed Ella in that car around the neighborhood (which meant I was leaning a bit forward to push her). Then I walked another mile or so with her in the stroller. It felt good to get out and walk! I love walking, but by the time I got closer to home, I could feel like my hip was hurting more. Later, I was feeling pain when I sat on the floor to change diapers. When I got up from bed, I could hardly move and the pain was excruciating.
I had to make an appointment with my doc for a refill on my prescriptions, and I plan on asking her about it when I go in. In the meantime, I have to wait until Thursday morning and these are my friend ….
They don’t help a lot, but they do bring some relief. This morning, when I got up, I was tearing up from the pain. I was trying to load the dishwasher and could hardly bend down. Trying to get pants, socks and shoes on only brought about more pain. I’m gonna try to get in to the chiropractor, too. I’m really hoping it is nothing, but I tend to always think the worst.
Various Ramblings of a Nostalgic Italian 