The boys and I went out to visit MeMe and PaPa this morning. It was a rainy day, but they still had a big time…picking onions from the garden, painting watercolor pictures with MeMe, throwing Xander’s stuffed penguin up in the air with PaPa, playing with the wooden train and tool toys, and eating lunch on the back porch. We’re so thankful for the lazy days of summer!!!
The boys were so excited to get a package in the mail from Aunt Sherri yesterday…she sent the boys wooden rosaries to put together themselves!!! Jonas and Xander worked on theirs this afternoon while Roman was napping. What a great spiritual learning activity…thanks, Aunt Sherri!
Jonas and Xander started swim lessons this afternoon. They were so excited about their goggles that they wore them in the car the entire way there. I had to document the cuteness…
We were a little bit early, so they sat on the side of the pool and had fun kicking their feet in the water (and water at each other) until their lesson started. Their classmates were another set of brothers (ages 3 and 5) which I thought was pretty perfect.
I prayed for Xander on the way that he would be able to move past his fear and enjoy it. He is the daddy-deemed “water dog” of the family and could easily play in the water all day. But when he took his first crack at swim lessons last summer, he was TOTALLY not into it (even the swim school director felt that it just wasn’t the right time for him.). So this summer he’s going into it with a year of preschool under his belt and his brother who’s in the same class. He still put the breaks on when he realized I wasn’t going with him into the water, and he freaked out a little bit and cried a little bit when I handed him off to his coach. But she just took it all in stride; and, within a few short minutes, he went from holding on to her for dear life to patting her on the back and smiling and splashing with the best of them. Go Xander!!!
Jonas was all about it…going under water and just all around chomping at the bit. The gymnastics camp that he’s doing one day a week over the summer (where they do gymnastics and get to play in the pool) and the thought of going on his first beach vacation in a few short weeks has got him fired up about swimming. Here’s hoping we’ll have some swimmers pretty soon!
The boys and I ventured out to the zoo this morning. It always takes a certain amount of energy for me to go there with them, and I wasn’t all together sure I had enough today but I thought I’d give it a shot anyway. (We’ve been trying to keep it fairly low key after a crazy last week of school and first week of summer, so we were all ready to get out and about a little bit.) We were supposed to meet up with some of Xander’s friends from preschool but ended up doing our own thing as they were all spending the morning on the jungle gym which was not my idea of fun after losing Roman there for the worst few minutes of my life the last time we went to the zoo. SO we rode the carousel, fed the lorikeets, pet the goats, and checked out the red pandas and the leopards. I realized later that I didn’t get a good picture of Roman, but here are a few good ones of Jonas and Xander riding the carousel.
In his twenty-seventh month, Roman is: enjoying the end of the school year; having fun hanging out at Jonas’ baseball games; and loving summer’s kick-off, going strawberry picking and checking the trucks out at the annual Touch-A-Truck event at the park.
Tom and I are SO grateful to Maw who took care of the boys for us so we could go on a two day, one night hiking/backpacking/camping trip to Fall Creek Falls. We hiked the Cane Creek Overnight Upper Loop Trail…14 miles that we split into two 7 mile hikes. We ended up ditching our packs the second day…about 2 miles into our hike before beginning a series of ascents…what took us 2 hours to hike took us 6 minutes to drive to go back and pick up our packs. Ha! It was well worth the physical fatigue just to get out and away from everything and everyone and to just be together in the great outdoors.
We enjoyed dinner and seeing mom sing at The Grand Ole Opry with our sweet friends, The Roths, for Tom’s birthday. Happy Birthday to my dear husband, Tom!!!
To celebrate the end of Jonas’ baseball season, Tom invited all of the boys from the team out to the fire department to run through the water from the fire hose. Jonas was a little hesitant but eventually got into it, Xander was all about it, and Roman would have none of it. (The crying picture of Roman might be the first in a new series I’ll post, directly inspired by Greg Pemboroke’s hysterically therapeutic blog “Reasons My Son Is Crying”…he was crying because I wouldn’t let him take pictures with my phone near a 50 foot jet stream of water from a fire truck.)
Xander freaked us all (and himself) out by running into an electrified barbed wire fence…all I can say is that Tom got to him quicker than I did and I was running for my life down the hill. He was amazingly and thankfully okay except for a vertical scrape down the length of his chest and understandable tears from being hurt and scared. I saw something in that moment…the difference between Tom and I and in what we’ve passed on to our kids…I would’ve just wanted to go home and certainly wouldn’t have gotten back out there…so I was so proud to see that Xander tended more in this moment towards what Tom would’ve done…he got right back out there and had more fun than most of the other kids. I’m so grateful for these little…these big triumphs of character in the little things. Go, Xander!
The boys and I went strawberry picking this morning. We were headed to a local patch with our moms’ group, but we found out at the last minute that it was closed. So we ended up driving out to Valley Home Farms where we’ve gone the last two summers in a row…since we got out there a little later than we would have if we had planned on it…it was HOT. We enjoyed our picking time but didn’t last that long in the heat. The boys were so drained that I ended up pushing all of them in the stroller back down the little dirt road from the strawberry fields back up to the home store. We cooled off in the shade and treated ourselves to the best homemade strawberry honey pops in the world. We’re looking forward to visiting our favorite u-pick farms this summer and picking more delicious, in-season fruit!
Jonas’ baseball team went to the playoffs!!! They won their first playoff game which was so exciting to watch. They put up a great fight tonight at their second playoff game, but the other team still ended up winning. Here Jonas is with his hard-earned trophy…he was so proud. And we are so proud of him…what a brave little boy.
Today was Jonas and Xander’s last day of preschool for the year. It hit me this morning, as I was trying to keep a peaceful heart in the midst of a van full of wildness, that this would be my last morning to drive Jonas to preschool EVER. And that’s when it started…that lump in the throat thing. So far, I’ve been surprised at my out-of-character, non-emotional response to: talking with friends and family about Jonas starting kindergarten in the fall (he’s ready to go and I’m ready for him to go), attending the kindergarten registration meeting and turning in all of his paperwork, and buying his school supply kit. But there was just something about walking him to his preschool classroom for the last time and getting to witness a few of their daily morning activities (circle time, prayer, and the Pledge of Allegiance) that really got to me…it was definitely a slow motion and a fast forward moment all in one. Here are a few pictures of him with: his best friend, Henry; his dear teachers, Mrs. Deese and Mrs. Nofi; the American flag; his yearbook; his classmates; and his Mommy (I totally have the same look on my face as I did the day I brought him home from the hospital).
Tom spent time with Xander and Roman in Xander’s classroom, where Xan-Man was delighted to receive his yearbook as well. Here’s a picture of his sweetness with his precious teachers, Mrs. Cathy and Mrs. Lynda.
It’s time for the latest installment of “What Did I Just Say?”…inspired by my three little boys who somehow manage to bring the craziest things out of my mouth on a daily basis…head shakers…all of them.
“Let’s take the cardboard out of the lamp shade.”
“Who drew on Roman?”
“Why did you draw on your forehead?”
“Please don’t lick the dry erase board.”
“Don’t draw on the table with your yogurt.”
“Don’t spit in the water table.”
“Don’t eat your food on the potty…that’s yucky!”
“Get your shoes out of the pool.”
“Get off the table please.”
“We are not going to play with Daddy’s gas can.”
After my post-pregnancy body failed me last summer when I tried to get back to running with a Couch to 5K, I sat in the floor and cried. Then, I got really mad and decided to do something about it. I talked with a physical therapist who encouraged me to work on strengthening all of the muscles that three pregnancies had weakened. So, I started a three day a week training program at home and have been working on it ever since then. I’m so excited to say that here I am…a year later…training for the same Couch to 5K…and so far so good! It’s funny how my perspective on exercise has changed as I’ve gotten older…I’m motivated by desperation instead of obligation. And with every step I take…I’m pleasantly surprised and grateful instead of expecting to be able to do it and taking it for granted.
On my first twenty minute run in YEARS, Petra joined up with me when I passed by our house at the halfway mark, without her collar and her leash. I was worried that she wouldn’t stay with me, but she did…the whole way. In the quiet and stillness that comes in running alone, I talked with God about how I felt it was symbolic and what He wanted me to see. Then, a revelation came…that Petra stayed with me because she has a relationship with me…like we have with God and He has with us…like Tom and I have with each other and with our children. It made me think about that relationship…do I have it, do I cultivate it, do I trust in it, etc. It was a sweet reminder to that part of myself that likes to be in control…just to rest and trust. Yay for God who reveals Himself to us through His creation!
I ran by the dollar store earlier this week to surprise the boys with a small end of the school year gift…among the winners were these sticky foam animal mosaics that have been a big hit with the big boys (especially Xander) and a bag of pipe cleaners that they all have been playing with in different ways. We were having a restful morning, and the boys had all settled into a project…Jonas was doing a paint-with-water page and Xander was working on a sticky foam mosaic…and Roman was restless so I busted out the colander and pipe cleaners for an activity I’ve heard can keep toddlers busy for a little while. It did and then the big boys wanted to join in too (we only had two colanders so Jonas found a cheese grater that worked just as well). Yay for easy mornings and for the creativity that rest brings.
It was just the best to share one of Jonas’ rainy morning baseball games with MeMe and PaPa and Aunt Jean. Here they are holding Jonas up like the trophy he is…and he got the game ball for the game winning hit!!!
Tom and the boys and I went to Touch-A-Truck this afternoon at Pinkerton Park (it’s an annual event where the city brings out trucks from the Fire, Police, Sanitation, Streets, Water, and Parks to celebrate and honor the City Public Works Departments). It’s so awesome and what a wonderful educational opportunity for the boys to learn more about our community helpers! They checked out a SWAT truck, a Bobcat, a John Deere tractor, a garbage truck, and a school bus. The favorite by far was the bucket truck that held a man high up in the air who threw down soft earth balls to all of the amazed kids below. A sweet surprise for this mother’s heart was…when each of my boys climbed into the Bobcat…the first thing they did was look for the seatbelt and try to put it on! The boys were chomping at the bit to play at the super fun playgrounds the whole time, so they did that before and after too. There is NO way I could have managed it all without Tom, so yay for Daddy being so hands-on and for being able to come with us!
Tom and I enjoyed attending a super cool event at The Frist tonight…the opening of a new exhibit called “American Ballads: The Photographs of Marty Stuart”. The exhibition was divided into three sections: The Masters, Blue Line Hotshots, and The Badlands. What a beautiful thing art is…to see the world through someone else’s eyes, mind, and heart…and what a privilege to be a witness to something that’s been years in the making.
We enjoyed spending Mother’s Day making breakfast for Maw and hanging out with Maw, Uncle Kerry, Aunt Julie, and Aunt Jeanne. What would we do without our mothers? Here are a few pictures from our time together…
We loved hanging out with Aunt Heather and Cousin Annabella at Jonas’ baseball game this morning. Annabella, Xander, and Roman had fun playing in the dirt/sand, and Aunt Heather and I enjoyed catching up and cheering for Jonas. I ended up having to make a quick exit with the little boys right before the game was over, as Xander and Roman were inconsolably melting down and ready to eat lunch and take a nap. Tom stayed with Jonas while he finished out his game and won…Go Lake Monsters!
I’m finding more and more these days how much the boys and I really enjoy and NEED our one on one time together. Xander and I both had a rough day today, so when Tom asked if I could run to the grocery store to pick up a few things for dinner and if I could bring one child with me…I knew exactly who that would be. We went to Kroger which is the perfect place because they have those child sized grocery carts (that I would have loved to have had the opportunity to steer alongside my mommy when I was little)! Xander was super excited and proud of himself…it was so adorable. He helped me in the self-checkout line…looking for barcodes, swiping items across the scanner, and bagging everything up. And he did a great job listening while I helped him navigate the parking lot with his cart full of groceries to unload it all into the van. I thank God for one on one time with each of my precious boys and for what we learn from each other when we slow down long enough and get quiet and still enough to listen.
