I’ve said this numerous times, but it is so special when I can get all of my kids together. My oldest had called and asked if we could go to dinner on Father’s Day. I told him that I would like that and suggested we go somewhere cheap. My thoughts were to go to a place that had one of those indoor playscapes in it for the little ones. That was the plan, anyway.
About an hour and a half before we were supposed to meet, he texted and asked if we could go to Applebee’s instead. I told him we could, but I wasn’t sure how the little ones would behave. I shouldn’t have worried as they did well. They truly love seeing their big brothers. They always seem to rush them for hugs when they see them.
The lighting was not so great for the above picture, but I love that they are all together. Before we left the restaurant, I was able to grab a waitress to take a picture of me with them.
After dinner, we went to Dairy Queen (after seeing how packed the other ice cream place was) and grabbed dessert. It was a very good way to wrap up Father’s Day.
I did have one “sad” moment. Both older boys were like, “Wow, they are getting so big,” and such. All I could think of was how much I wish they’d get together with them more often. I do understand, however, that I cannot force them to do anything.
It’s been raining pretty good the last couple days, so the kids have been cooped up in the house. On Monday, the kids wanted to take a walk, which I loved. I need to get out and walk more, but all too often, they just want to stay home. Our walk, or should I say, MY walk, was me playing “catch up.”
Ella had her evaluation for kindergarten this week. She is way above what is expected. Her reading is at like a 2nd grade level, math is about 1st grade, and there was one more thing that they tested where she is at a 2nd-3rd grade level. They asked if we wanted her placed in 1st grade. We said no, as we feel that kindergarten “interaction” is something that she really needs (the social stuff).
I have mentioned how messes raise my anxiety levels. When the kids are playing in slime, or with play dough, or painting I am anxiously awaiting the mess.
They have a sandbox that they love to play in. Naturally, the sand winds up on the side porch, in their shoes, on the driveway, in the road, and in their hair. My wife, Sam, decided that they needed a “Mud Kitchen.” The idea is that they can make mud pies, etc…
Andrew and my father-in-law built the frame out of scrap wood. I ran up to the store to get bags of top soil to fill the frame. My wife went to the dollar store and bought containers, bowls, spoons and such so they could play in it. At first it wasn’t so bad. They the added some water.
They had mud all over themselves. I had to spray them down with the hose before I could even let them inside the house. I know that someday soon I will put on a shoe that will be filled with topsoil – or mud!
Mother’s Day was full of surprises, even if my wife had to sleep through it, because she worked the night before. Ella brought her home a flower from preschool for her. She was so happy to give it to mommy.
The kids and I had to run out to Home Depot on Saturday (more on why in a paragraph or two). While we were there we walked through the garden area. Andrew saw a hanging flower/plant that he though mom would like, so we bought it and actually got to hang it from the shepherd’s hook in the yard.
Sam has always loved gnomes. For her birthday one year I bought her a birdbath with a gnome sitting in front of a mushroom. The mushroom stem goes up to hold the mushroom top, which is the actual bath for the birds. There was a cute gnome that had mushrooms rising up around him that light up at night. So we bought that to put by the birdbath.
Earlier in the week, our dryer stopped spinning. It made noise when you turned it on like it wanted to spin, but it didn’t. After Googling, all the sites pointed to a broken belt broken pulley or a bad roller. I ordered a kit online and after watching YouTube, decided I could do this job myself.
The first thing I had to do was shut off the gas. So I went downstairs and found the only shut off valve I could find.
After I turned that off, I went upstairs to disconnect the hose from the dryer. As soon as the nut was loosened, I could hear the gas pouring out of the hose. It took me a bit to get it back on, and now the entire house smelled like gas.
It took me almost an hour of following pipes around looking for another shut off valve. There is a space right above the furnace that is like a dark hole. There is no light up there, and it is such an odd place for a valve, but it was the only place I hadn’t checked. After getting up and in a position where I could shine the flashlight, sure enough, there it was!
I watched step by step and did exactly what the video showed me to do. I kid you not, I almost had the dryer completely taken apart for this job. I pulled the drum and checked the belt, which looked ok. I looked at all four rollers and they looked ok, too. The pulley for the belt looked like it might be going bad, so I thought maybe that was the culprit.
After replacing the belt, the rollers and the pulley, I watched the video on how to put it back together. Once it was together, it was time for the moment of truth. I turned on the power and selected a cycle. I hit start and ….. it was still making the noise and still not spinning. I was devastated. I truly thought that I could fix it.
The aftermath of a wasted afternoon
Monday after we dropped Ella off at school, Andrew asked if I wanted to take a walk. I was thrilled that he wanted to do that! We walked the entire neighborhood and he talked almost the entire way. He asked questions, pointed out dogs, talked about which cars were the same colors as ours, and watched squirrels run around.
It was a highlight of the day.
Tuesday, Ella had her first T-Ball game. I’m going to have to find days to take off so I can watch her play. Sam says she is like a different player this year. She is hitting pitches that the coaches pitch and catching/fielding balls like crazy. I’m thankful for mommy taking pictures for me.
Yesterday was one long list of things to do. My wife and kids were out almost all day doing something. When they got home they all went to bed.
This morning, Andrew had an early doctor appointment. It was close to where I work. So Sam suggested that before this work training meeting I had to be at meeting at a park. There is one about 2-3 miles from work. Ella and I met Andrew and mom there. The kids got to run and play with new friends and Sam and I got a little time to sit and enjoy each other’s company.
Being stuck at work is not the way I wanted to spend my birthday, but at least this morning I got to be with some of the most important people in my life!
When people ask me if I watch certain shows on television, I have to remind them that I have toddlers at home. The shows I watch are the ones the kids watch: Bluey, Miss Rachel, Work It Out Wombats, Fireman Sam, and my daughter’s favorite, Gabby’s Dollhouse.
On the show, the main character is played by a gal named Laila Lockhart Kraner. She wears some magic ears on her head that allows her to shrink down and interact with the various cats in her dollhouse.
My wife sent me a thing last week that said that Laila is coming to some furniture store near us. You could sign up to win VIP meet and greets, which I did. I also reserved a spot to go to the event this Sunday. I know there will be games, snacks, face painting and “Gabby” herself. When I told Ella about it, she was SO excited! She keeps asking how many more “sleeps” till we meet her.
My co-worker asked me tonight if I had plans for the weekend. I wish I could describe the look on his face when I told him I was going to meet Gabby from Gabby’s Dollhouse! LOL! All I know is that I hope my daughter has a great time!
“He is into everything!”
My youngest son, Andrew, is someone that you need to watch every second of the day. He is just so fast. The other day, I was loading the dishwasher. He walked up to me and wanted to help. When I looked at him, I asked him what was in his hair. It looked like maybe he poured water on it. Nope. In the 5 minutes I turned my back, he got into my wife’s shampoo and kept putting it in his hair. He had enough shampoo in his hair to wash his, Ella’s, the dog, and you!
Tonight, while Sam was loading the dishwasher, he went into the laundry room and opened up the washer. It had completed its cycle and our sheets were waiting in there to be put in the dryer. What did Andrew do? He saw our container of Oxiclean.
He sees us add this to certain loads of laundry BEFORE we wash them. So, he felt that it was totally ok to add some (i.e. A LOT) to the sheets that were in there. Sam had to rewash the sheets and hope that too much Oxiclean was not going to be a problem.
Recently, my father-in-law was over and he needed a saw to cut something. I went and got mine out of the garage. Because it was raining, I set it up on the shelf by the washer and dryer. I figured it would be out of the way and I would put it back when I got a second. Well, guess who found it and tried it on his finger? Yep. Andrew!
But wait! There’s more!
Sam took the dog outside to go to the bathroom. In the 3-4 minutes that she was outside, Andrew was at it again. When she walked in, she saw him on a kitchen chair pushed up to the counter. On the counter, he had taken the piece that holds a coffee filter out and put a filter in it. He then scooped a tremendous amount of coffee into the filter. He had actually turned the pot on to brew. Thankfully, there was no water in it, so he didn’t brew any. Of course, we will be sweeping up coffee grounds from the counter, the floor, and a few other places for the next week!
(That’s NOT Andrew, but you get the idea!)
Highlight of the Week
Despite the snow we got this week, the temperatures have been on the mild side. It was nice for all of us to get out and walk the neighborhood. We still bundled up as it was breezy, but it was great to get out and show Daisy the neighborhood.
Sam went to the store today and saw that the had scooters on sale. These were the ones with two wheels in the front. She couldn’t pass up the deal and grabbed one for each kid.
I woke up a bit early this afternoon and it was such a nice day we all went outside and the kids showed me their new modes of transportation!
Ella, of course took right to it.
It took Andrew a little bit, but he learns fast!
Ella decided that she wanted to take a walk and for the first time in what seems like forever, the entire family got to stroll around the neighborhood before dinner. It was a beautiful day and it was some much needed family time.
Yesterday was nice, too. Sam and I have decided to get rid of the trampoline. We haven’t said anything to the kids yet, but I let them get on it yesterday for a sorta last hurrah. Watching them play on it, I am almost sad to get rid of it.
Speaking of trampolines – our local police Facebook page posted one of the funniest pictures I’ve seen in a while. This was tooling around Flint this morning ….
I could have used Bob the Builder or Handy Manny today! I would have settled for Tim the Toolman Taylor! Sam bought a climber/triangle/something or other for the kids and it arrived today. I figured it would be an easy thing to put together, especially since the reviews said so. Then, I opened the box to discover that the only tool I needed was – the allen wrench!
If you are unfamiliar with my thoughts on this God awful tool, you can read the blog I posted about it back in 2018 here:
Here’s the thing – Andrew is climbing everything. The other day, he had figured out how to climb up the living room windows. Don’t ask! Sam figured this would be a good way for him to climb things. It really is a very cool thing. It has a rock wall/slide that they can climb up and slide down. The triangle is perfect for climbing and then there is a half circle thing that reminds me of something you’d see on a playground.
It didn’t take long for my fingers and thumb to start hurting because of how hard it was to get the screws in. After screwing in about 30 of the 50 screws, my thumb started to blister. Eventually, I ripped the skin off my thumb and needed to throw a bandage on it. My wife ran and got me one – a Cocomelon bandage.
My wife got a kick out of me having to out that silly thing on!
Once the project was finished, the kids really had a blast!
At some point, the rock wall/slide became a table and they had a tea party!
My favorite thing, however, is the fact that they took the half circle piece (seen above on the left) and turned it over. They put a blanket over the slats and rocked in it.
God, do I love these two!!
Yesterday we took a walk around the neighborhood and even played a bit outside. Ella is always excited to see her puppy friends. Melody is one of her favorites. Melody has cancer and her owners are always so nice to us when we see them.
It seems like we’ve been cooped up forever and they were loving being outside. Andrew was excited to see the sun!
This picture was taken just before he got in the red and yellow car. It had rained the day before and of course, it collected some water on the seat. That didn’t stop Andrew from going for a drive. Naturally, I had to get a picture of the results of that drive ….
I’m so glad it is warming up. I’m looking forward to many days outside with them!
The past week has been fairly typical. Nothing too out of the ordinary for me. There have been some nice highlights, however.
Sunday, we got a little snow. Sam promised the kids that we could go out and play in it. So we all bundled up and went outside as the snow fell.
Andrew LOVES being outside in the snow. He is a lot like his sister at that age. He tends to just be in awe of the snow.
Ella wanted to build a snow “castle.” We grabbed one of her sandbox toys thinking we could make bricks, but the results weren’t so good, despite the fact that the snow was a bit wet.
We attempted to build a snowman, but Andrew kept tackling it or picking up the snowballs to throw. Ella was in the middle of the yard and said, “Let’s take a walk, daddy!” So we did.
Andrew held my hand for most of the walk, but occasionally wanted to run up to Ella. She was happy to see her puppy friend, Louie. He was out on the porch (waiting to be let back inside!). She was yelling, “Hello, Louie! Merry Christmas!” It really was a nice little walk.
On Tuesday morning, Ella had her third birthday pictures taken. She won’t be three until the 10th of next month, but we got her in at our photographer friend. Sam and Ella went out looking for a dress and she actually picked out the one she wanted pictures in.
Sam asked her if she wanted to take her Elsa dress that she got for Christmas for an outfit change. She said she wanted to wear the Belle dress that she wore for Halloween. We may have gotten more pictures in that dress. Urgh!
The area got hit with a good snow that started Tuesday Night and continued through the day on Wednesday. Sam had a physical on Wednesday morning. She had to drive in the snow there and I was driving home from work in it. I met her at the doctor and picked up the kids so they weren’t running around during her appointment.
When we got off the expressway, we were passing the row of restaurants and Ella says, “Daddy? I would like chicken nuggets and French fries. I chuckled and said, “Baby, it is 8:30 in the morning. I don’t think they have any made this early.” She paused for a minute and then blurted out, “Are you serious!? Are you kidding me?” It was hilarious.
Having to stay indoors can be boring for the kids. So we took the “nugget” (which you can see on the floor to Ella’s right in the picture above) and built a mountain for them to climb and play on. I tried to get some pictures of them playing on it and I snapped a cool one of Andrew.
I wish it wasn’t so blurry, but I love him jumping up on there!
They have been at each other’s throats all week. The sibling arguments have been plenty. My wife shared a fantastic photo of them, today. Proof that they really do love each other!
I finished The Word is Murder this week. I really enjoyed it. I timed it perfect as the library emailed me to let me know that the author’s Sherlock Holmes story, The House of Silk, was there for me to pick up.
I just started that tonight. I will let you know how it is.
Later today, I have a follow up with my doctor. Blood pressure check/Medication check/Weight check. I’ve tried to be careful, but I know I have gone over my points more than enough times. I know I have put back on some weight since the holidays. I really need to get back on track.
I hope you are having a great week! The weekend is almost here!
This afternoon before work, I wanted to go for a walk. The kids had been a handful throughout the day and Sam said that she wanted to stay home. I thought it would be a good idea to take the kids and give her a good half hour of quiet. So I loaded up the kids in the stroller and began my walk.
I got about a block and a half from home and my phone rang. It was Sam.
“Where are you!?”
“I’m walking with the kids. Why?”
“You’ve got to get home NOW!”
“What’s going on? What’s the mat…..”
“There is a mouse in the house! Maizey had it in her mouth! It jumped out and it is still alive!”
“Where is it now?”
“Under the couch! Just get home!”
“Where are you at?”
“I’m ON the couch. I’m not moving until you get here!”
So I turn around and walk the block and a half back to our house. I’m not letting the kids go in the house and I tell Sam to come out. I walk in to see our cat, Maizey, staring at the couch. This is a good sign, as it tells me the mouse has not moved anywhere else in the house. I go to the kitchen and begin to look for something – anything – that I can use to throw on top of the mouse in the event that I can get it out in the open.
I found a large Tupperware bowl and see myself as Tom (above) being able to trap this thing in the bowl. I begin to push the couch from against the wall. I do this is slow movements, as I want the mouse to stay sort of in that area. If he goes into another room, I know I’m in trouble.
Little by little I move the couch. No mouse. Finally, I move it one more time and the mouse goes scurrying across the floor. There is no way for me to get the dumb thing because the couch is in front of me. I see it scurry under the table in the corner of the living room. So I slowly walk over there. I know I have got to keep this little pest over there. I have a flashlight and I am looking all over the place, but don’t see it where I thought I did.
At this point I feel like Mr. Jinks from the cartoon. “Where is this little Meece?!”
As I look under the table, I see the back cracker that Sam has. It is meant to sit on the floor, and you lay on it to crack your back. Your back goes on this little “hill” with massagers on it.
I see the mouse sitting under the hill and begin to think of how to get the Tupperware bowl over the top of it. I laid on the floor with the bowl in one hand and the flashlight in the other. I start to slowly move the back cracker and think I can force him out the back and I can slam the bowl on top of him. I am just about to get him and he shoots out from the front, which I should have expected, but didn’t. I give out the “man scream” and watch it scurry across the room and toward the mesh baby gate.
I start looking around and cannot find that little bugger to save my life. It is entirely possible that the thing is now in the basement or elsewhere in the house. I’m furious. It is then that I notice the small run that sits next to the mesh gate. We put our shoes on it. There is a fabric square container that Ella’s shoes are in that sits on the rug almost up against the wall. The rug has a little “bump” in it against the wall. I got behind it at took the flashlight to see the mouse’s tail and rear end hiding in between the floor and the rug. Now I got it where I want it – Trapped!
It is too close to the wall to use the bowl. So I have to think of the best way to get this thing. The best way was not the most humane way. I begin to look around to see what I can get to hold this mouse. I flashback to another time I was in a similar situation and grabbed the 2 foot level my grandpa gave me.
I know that I can slide this against the wall and down on top of the rug. My intention was to kind of hold him there until I could get him under the bowl. I pushed the level down and now had the little guy by the tail. Sam hollered in through the screen wanting to know if I had caught him. I told her I did, but was not really sure what to do next!
She asked if I needed her. She had loaded the kids up in the car and was about to head off to get ice cream or to her mom’s for the night (if I didn’t catch the thing). She came in the house and I asked her to go het the barbecue tongs. She did and I was able to pick up the mouse with them.
I walked outside with the little thing and was going to toss him into the yard. My wife yelled to not let him loose close to the house. So, I walked out toward the road and let it loose there. Apparently, the road was still too close to the house, even though it was clear that mouse wasn’t coming back to our place.
Tomorrow, I will head to the store to get some of that stuff to place around the house that repels mice and rodents. I will probably also buy a few traps, just in case. One thing is for sure, from now on, the only mouse trapping I want to do will be with a board game!!
We’ve really had a few nice days this week. The temperatures haven’t been too cold and the sun has been shining. I guess this is what some would call an Indian Summer. According to the great Wikipedia (LOL): An Indian summer is a period of unseasonably warm, dry weather that sometimes occurs in autumn in temperate regions of the northern hemisphere. Several references describe a true Indian summer as not occurring until after the first frost, or more specifically the first “killing” frost. My grandma used to say that this was the time of year when everyone got sick. In a way, she’s probably right.
Personally, I am loving the fact that we can still get out and walk the neighborhood. I told Sam that I love the sounds of the leaves crunching under my feet as we walk. Most of the trees in our neighborhood are bare and the leaves cover the lawns and sidewalks. However, there are a few with leaves that continue to hang on.
The kids love just being outside. If it is just me and the kids, they usually will both stay in the stroller. This allows me to walk at a faster pace than if Ella is just walking along next to me.
The past couple days, we’ve been able to go out and walk the neighborhood as a family. We try to time it so that there is enough time to do a full walk and I can still get showered and ready for work after. Ella has wanted to just walk/run in front of us. We have to be very clear that she stay close when we get near an intersection. She has to hold our hand when we cross the street. We also make he stop if we see a car getting ready to back out of a driveway or coming down the street.
This afternoon, she was full of energy. Sam was pushing the stroller with Andrew in it and Ella was running in front of me. “Look at me go, Daddy!” “Come catch me, Daddy!”
I’m far from being in shape to do any kind of running, but I did do a quick sprint and pass her up on the sidewalk at one point. After I was ahead of her a house or two, I slowed, turned around, saw her laughing and running toward me and I attempted to catch my breath! LOL. “Run some more, Daddy!”
I told her I had given her my one “run” of the day!
I love seeing the joy on her face as we go on our walks. Of course, halfway through, she’s run so much, she wants me to carry her! The only hope I have of her letting me put her down is if one of the neighborhood dogs is out, or one of our friends is outside with their kids.
One good thing about carrying her on my shoulders – the heart rate goes up a bit and my Fitbit likes that!
Here is hoping that the weather allows for more walks before it gets too cold to do them!
To say that the past few days have been stressful is an understatement. There have been some very good moments and I tried to just take them all in. However, something was on my mind all weekend.
I’m not going to get into detail on that. I could, but I won’t. Let me just state that it is stress related to things outside of my home life. Read into that however you wish.
At any rate, after a particularly emotional and crappy Monday that was the culmination of all the things on my mind, I needed something – anything! My Monday evening walk with the kids helped. I was out in the neighborhood, counting squirrels, saying hello to our “puppy friends” and listening to AJ babble and Ella sing.
Sam knew the weekend and Monday had taken a toll on me. She never said it was her plan, but she suggested taking a trip to Bronner’s in Frankenmuth to look for our annual “ornament hunt.” Bronner’s is “The World’s Largest Christmas Store” and I have blogged about it before. You can read about that here:
We packed the family up in the car after Sam got home and we made the short drive there. It was the perfect day to go. Tuesday morning in September. Sure, there were people there, but not the normal crowd that is there. The sounds of Christmas music were playing through the outside speakers as we walked in.
(Johnny Mathis’ version of Marshmallow World was playing as I walked in. I found myself thinking that the Dean Martin version is FAR superior to this version. As a bonus, Dean’s version played before we left!)
I hadn’t thought about it but this was Andrew’s first trip to Bronner’s. He was in awe of all the lights and him and Ella were anxious to touch everything!!
Every year, we get an ornament that marks some big event that happened in the past year. We have an engagement ornament, a marriage ornament, a mother-to-be ornament, and two “Baby’s First Christmas” ornaments. So what big event could we commemorate this year?
Neither one of us changed jobs. We didn’t get a new house or new car. Now that I think about it, the only big thing that happened this year was my vasectomy! I doubt they had an ornament for that, but then again, they have thousands of ornaments for just about every thing! They probably DO have something for that!!! Maybe I will call and ask …
Instead of an ornament, we got a snowman family plaque. You have probably seen what I am talking about. It has mom, dad, and snow-kids.
The one above is not the one we got, but it is similar. So we had them put our family name on it and then each of the snow kids had their name written on them. It came out really cute and we’ll either put it on the mantel or hang it on the main entry door.
Next year, Sam has said that she wants the kids to go and each pick out their own ornaments. I think that is a great idea and a good way to make it a tradition. We want them to have that experience and then every year when the holiday rolls around, they can look back on the ornaments and relive memories.
The kids were both getting a bit antsy, so as soon as the plaque was personalized, we headed out. We stopped for photo ops and walked outside. As we exited the building, there was a huge Santa Claus. Andrew saw it and began to point to it. It was a perfect (and frame worthy) photo.
It was just want I needed to get my mind off all that transpired over the past few days. A welcome distraction with those that I love.
One thing is for sure. Despite all the feelings that are churning around inside me, especially as I think about things, I think on the reasons why I keep going. The people who mean the most to me. I think of my wife and her never ending support and love. I think of my two older sons, and of course, the two little blessings who accompanied me on our trip to “Christmas in September” …
THEY are why I continue to do what I do. THEY are the reason I need to focus on getting healthy. THEY are the reason I am happy.
Sam worked last night, so it was my day with the kids. What does a typical day with dad look like?
The day starts with Andrew up first. We take the baby monitor out into the living room so we can see when Ella wakes up. I make him a bottle and take care of diaper change number one. Within 5 minutes of finishing the bottle diaper change number 2 is in order, because he poops like clockwork.
We usually go to get Ella together when she wakes up. He thinks its funny to push open her door. I then have to grab whatever Ella wants to bring with her out of the crib. This usually consists of a nana blanket, maybe a book, maybe a stuffed animal, maybe a pillow, or maybe all of the above.
She gets a diaper change and it is time for breakfast. Somedays we eat eggs, others waffles, another day pancakes, and sometimes a smorgasbord of fruits and other things. Sam usually arrives home around breakfast time. Today she brought donuts for them. Ella loves pink dipped donuts, not that she ever eats the donut. She loves the frosting, though.
Depending on the day, we either read books, turn on the TV or play with her toys. This is when I usually make myself and Sam something to eat. I made us scrambled eggs and had to make extra because the kids were eating all of Sam’s!
Sam almost always brings out an outfit for the kids to wear. We ventured out on our morning walk and looked for our puppy friends. She now knows just about every dog in the neighborhood’s name!
When we returned home, she began to read books. Most of the time they are books off her shelf.
After reading one of her favorites, she told me to sit down so she could read me a book. The book? The Weight Watcher’s Cookbook!
She kept calling the sandwich in the book (shown above) a cheeseburger!
While she is reading to be, my daredevil son continues to find ways to hurt himself. He’s been climbing, so Sam thought it was time to bring the swing/slide thing we got for Ella a few years ago back upstairs. Well he can climb it, he just hasn’t really figured out how to slide down yet. So he gets up there and starts shaking the one wall of it and eventually steps on the slide and falls off.
He truly has no fear. Today alone, he busted open his lip three times. None of those were from falling off the slide! He just tripped over stuff and fell on his face. I swear if we have to go to urgent care again, they will have to put in a window just for him.
Comedy continues to ensue with Ella. Today she grabbed her winter coat and winter hat and asked to wear them. She had me help zip up the coat and said, “I’m already for winter and then asked to watch Frozen.
We watched it like 7 times today. I will be singing “Do You Want to Build a Snowman” and “Let it Go” in my sleep tonight!
Lunchtime this week has brought the same answer to question, “What would you like for lunch today?” “Grilled cheese and crackers!” That answer has also been offered up to “What would you like for dinner?” and “What would you like for breakfast?” I’m glad that Andrew isn’t able to answer that question yet. When they both start asking for different meals, it’s gonna drive me crazy!
After lunch, it is nap time. Today, thanks to the neighborhood dogs and open windows, the nap was cut short. Shortly after wake ups, Sam woke up for work. She said some packages she ordered were on the porch and Ella went with her to get them.
They were the Halloween costumes they are wearing this year. I won’t say what they are here, but hers involves a dress. She wanted to wear it. Sam told her she had to wait until Halloween. This was not what she wanted to hear, so Sam offered up another dress for her. My friend from work gifted us some dresses that her daughter has grown out of. They are going to be perfect for holidays or family photos. Anyway, she spent the rest of the evening wearing one of those dresses.
Earlier I had thrown some chicken in the crock pot for dinner. Sam cooked up some buttered noodles to go with it for the kids. I took the chicken out and started cutting it up. I tried a piece to make sure it had cooled down enough and it tasted funny. I can’t even really descibe what it tasted like – but you know how they always say, “it tastes like chicken?” This didn’t. I wound up throwing it away.
After Sam left for work, Ella said she wanted a snack. So she handed me one of those applesauce pouches. Andrew got one, too. They both had like three of them! Ella kept asking for more and when I got her one, he wanted one, as well.
After playing with toys for awhile, more diaper changes were needed and it was pajama time. I was lucky enough to be able to get pajamas on her tonight. I really thought that she was going to want to wear the dress to bed! I’m sure I would have let her…
She took a book to bed with her, we said prayers and I closed her door. I brought Andrew with me and tried to rock him and sing him to sleep. He had the funniest case of the giggles and it took him forever to fall asleep. Once he was asleep, I put him in his crib and took a shower.
Reflecting back on the day:
7 outfit changes. 5 poop diapers. An unknown amount of pee diapers. 3 times sweeping the floor. 2 times picking up the same toys and putting the in the toybox. 2 times vacuuming. 7 viewings of Frozen. 3 busted lips. 8 bumps on the head. 12 crying fits. 2 bad pieces of chicken. 3 cheese omelets, 2 grilled cheese sandwiches. 3 video chats. 7,953 times I heard, “Daddy!” 2 sleeping kids.
Add it all up and it equals one amazing day for a very blessed Dad!
Various Ramblings of a Nostalgic Italian 