Post Weekend Update & Trivia

Before I get into the events of the weekend, I thought I’d throw a funny Jeopardy question your way. The answer, which will be easy for those who follow this blog, will appear at the end of this post.

Saturday morning was nice. The entire family spent the morning together. At one point, Sam, the kids and I were all snuggled up on the couch watching TV. I can’t even begin to tell you how nice that was.

There was plenty of outdoor playing and walks around the neighborhood.

Sunday, Sam was sleeping and it was, what Ella calls, a “Ella, Bubby, Daddy Day.” I had to drive Sam’s brother to his football practice and then I planned on taking the kids to the park for a picnic. On the way, my eye caught a Dairy Queen with outdoor seating. So instead, we stopped there!

By Ella’s reaction, I think it was a good choice!

After our picnic lunch, we went to a little park that is enclosed. The kids could run everywhere and play on anything. I played with them and actually got a minute or two to just sit back and enjoy watching them play.

Funniest line of the weekend – and also one of those things you never thought you would say out loud: (Sam to Andrew) “Bubby, don’t put the Playdoh in your nose!”

Boy, does he keep us on our toes! While we were out in the back yard the other day, he picked up one of the dandelions – not the yellow ones, the white ones – and stuck it in his mouth. All those things were on his tongue and I am really surprised he didn’t throw up! Urgh, just thinking about it makes me nauseous!

Two of my favorite pictures from the weekend –

First, Ella looking like a movie star! Priceless

Second, Andrew wearing what his sister picked out for him to wear…. one of her dresses!

Hilarious!

Project Update

I took advantage of the kids falling asleep early Sunday night and figured I would prime and paint the nook I was working on.

This is what it looked it before:

We used OSB board this time, and after painting I wish I had used just regular shiplap. It still looks good. It has a rustic look to it, I think. We need to get a cushion for the bench seat and a decorative throw pillow to go on that, but it is painted and coat hooks are in place.

The angle at which I took this picture makes the hook on the left wall look higher than the others, but they are all on the same line, believe it or not!

The kids seem to think that this is a new play area now, or at least a spot for photo ops.

I’m so glad to have this project 98% finished. I have a few touch ups to do, but it is mostly done. I also love having the baskets under the bench.

All in all a very productive and enjoyable weekend!

Your trivia/Jeopardy answer? Of course, you knew it was …

The Three Stooges! A 1936 classic!

A Happy Weekend

Tuesdays mean back to work for me. Technically, Mondays are still part of my “weekend.” Yesterday, I wrote about the amazing birthday I had Monday, but wanted to share a few other highlights from the past couple days.

Sunday was Mother’s Day. Sadly, Sam had to work that night. That didn’t stop us from celebrating. The kids made sure to spoil mommy with a card and cake.

We also made sure she had plenty of flowers to brighten her day.

We got her a Grey’s Anatomy sweatshirt that she wanted and of course, she got the porch rocker we built. Before she left for work, I was able to snap one of the best photos of her and the kids!

Today, the weather in Michigan was perfect. I wanted to go to Menard’s to pick up the wood that I need to rebuild part of the playscape in the back. However, because it was so nice, I took the kids up to the park to play first. They had a blast!

For Andrew, there were so many things to play with. Slides, rocks, and even tic tac toe.

Ella just loved running around and playing with the other little girl who was there, too.

Every once in a while, they stop at just the right time for perfect pictures.

After the park, I ran up and got the wood. I also got a couple shepherd’s hooks and two hanging flower baskets for the front of the house. On the way home, I stopped and got the kids lunch and we had a picnic on the porch before naptime.

Along with the fun of my birthday, this weekend was just loaded with wonderful memories! I hope your weekend was just as happy!

Outdoor “Nutty” Discovery

I posted this on my Facebook page earlier, but wanted to be sure it made the blog.

I took Ella and Andrew out for a walk this morning. We walked a different way than we normally do and I took a small detour. There is a church at the end of our street that has some baseball diamonds and a park. The weather was perfect, so I decided to check out the park.

When we first got there, the kids ran on the wood chips and played on a few of the playground items. Surprisingly, neither one wanted to swing on the swings (which is their “go to” park thing). They were more interested in the wood chips and other things.

On the other side of the fence, there was an oak tree. Ella was looking at the ground and picked up something and said, “Daddy, what is this?!”

I looked on the ground to see a wee bit of green among the brown and tan wood chips.

I told her that she had found an acorn. This led to a search for more of them. She found fresh ones, like the green one above, and a few that had been on the ground for a while. We also found some that the squirrels had enjoyed for lunch or dinner. The more she found, the more she handed me. “I wanna show mommy my acorns!” So, we began throwing acorns of all kinds into the stroller.

There were plenty of acorn “tops” (or “hats” as one of my Facebook friends called them) on the ground.

I remembered a friend showing me that you could use them to whistle. You basically take your two thumbs and place the first knuckles together to form a “V” and blow into it. Ta da! A whistle! Ella was pretty amazed by that and kept asking me to do it. It was such a silly little thing, but I loved every second of it.

Before leaving the park, I took one more picture – because it was the one thing that really stood out …

With a playground behind them, my two kids decided to embrace nature instead of playing on it. We found leaves, acorns, watched squirrels, picked up sticks and more! What a tremendous bonding time for us. As we walked back home, I couldn’t help but notice how much shade was under the trees. I told them that we needed to come back and have a picnic on the grass in the shade before summer was over.