Summer Break Week 4

This week the 3 older kids spent 5 days (3.5 hours each) in day camp at our church.  I, sadly, did not get any pictures of it because I was enjoying my time with only 1 child who slept thru most of it.  It was the most peace and quiet I have witnessed in quite some time.  It was worth the sprint to get Reeve fully potty trained, wiping and pulling up his own pants so he can attend.  Well.Worth.It!

It was also the week we realize that we had some groupons expiring. It was off to the Oak Lawn Children's Museum (nice but small and inferior to Kohl's Kids Museum in Glenview - worth the drive) and to Space Miniature Golf!

 Elias turned 6 months.  :)

 We walked in the Homer Glen parade with my Juniors Club.  We celebrate Independence Day a bit early down here.

Trinity spent the night at her BFF Emma Shaffer's house. :)

The next day we hit the carnival.  Don't be tricked by the smiling faces.  The boys quickly *freaked* out on this mini roller-coaster.  So much in fact I had to ask the carni girl to stop the ride.  They might be permanently scarred.

 This guy was just too weird.  Trinity is smiling but she is really scared of him.  Thankfully she has a dart in her hand to defend herself.

Summer Break Week 3

This week was a bit more low key.  We had Biker Sunday at church which the boys loved.  

 We did puzzles on the floor.

 We swam.

 I had a little get together with my local Juniors Club.

 Everett had tee-ball in the hot sun. He does not care at all.  He would play baseball on the sun if he could.

Summer Break Week 2

Week 2 brought my dad into town.  We had some fun bringing Elias to the doctor,  hospital, running errands.  We did find some time to do fun things like meet at the Naperville Riverwalk.  The  kids loved feeding the ducks, playing in the park and running through the sprinklers.

 Everett's newest thing is "seeing how fast he can run."  Everything is a race.  I wish he would race to see who finished their dinner first.  In any event, he has nice form.  Perhaps he will be my running buddy someday soon.

We took out the slip n' slide and out it down the slope of our yard.  That kept the boys busy for about 22 minutes.

 Trinity needed goggles?!?!?

This picture captures Reeve's personality *perfectly*!!

 Lastly we celebrated my aunt & uncle's 50th wedding anniversary where my parents took the best picture with Elias.

Spidey Goose Chase

Everett *loves* Spiderman.  I cannot even begin to tell you how much.  My sister posted on my FB wall with an article that says "Meet Spiderman today in Elk Grove Village." Now that is nowhere near me but the chance to have Everett come face to face with him is well worth the trek. After an already crazy day, I pack up the car and head out on the highway.  It is 4:30 and Spidey is there until 6.  Eddie had already told me it was not a good idea.  I should have listened.

I was listening to the radio telling me that I was headed straight into a traffic jam: 4 lanes closed due to an accident.  I detour into stoplights, construction, rush hour. It's 5:20.

The baby is crying, the kids are starving, Reeve has been asking for water since we left the driveway.  I left water at home.

In the distance I see the Walmart parking lot where he will be.  Soon I see the Spiderman banner and blow up Spidey flapping in the breeze.  Its 5:45. We pull in. Everett is so excited, I am excited, Reeve is so excited to find water somewhere, anywhere.  The baby is so excited to get out of the freakin' car seat.  We jump out of the car and make our way over to the 8 x8 foot tent.  Where is Spidey?  I don't see him!?!?!  What the eff is going on?  I ask, "where is Spiderman?"  The scared little man hesitantly points over to the side of the truck to the picture, yes PICTURE, of Spiderman and crawls away knowing this mother with daggers shooting out of her eyes and 4 *very* disappointed children might attack. Seriously, I almost lost my mind.

Scared little man throws every kind of Spidey snack they were handing out in our direction.  That was good because we were all starving!  I schlep the kids into Walmart to get poor Reeve some water.

Back in the car. Elias is already protesting.  I make it 2 miles until I have to stop to get food for the kids.  I make it another 10 before I had to stop and calm Elias down.  Another 45 minutes of rush hour traffic.  I am 10 minutes from home and have to stop in the Target parking lot to calm Elias down once more and promise him that we are almost home.

This mother took 4+ hours out of her day to try to make one little guy happy.  All I got was this blasted picture.

Persuasion and Perseverance

I want my kids to be athletic, want to be outdoors, enjoy endorphin highs.  I want them to love to exercise.  They see me run my booty off several times a week.  I am hoping one of them gets the love of running so I have a partner.  Trinity hates to run.  However, when the Color Run came to Chicago I thought it was the perfect opportunity to get Trinity to join me.  The idea of getting covered in paint while running seemed like a great idea.  It was only a 5k so I figured she could run/ walk it.  Well, it sold out quickly.  That wasn't stopping me.  I bought some white tee shirts and jumped right in acting like I was supposed to be there.  I even convinced a couple friends to join me.  Trinity did run / walk it with little complaining.  She did have fun but not the running part.

before

 after

 The next day we had another 5k to benefit the Hope Children's Hospital in Oak Lawn.  I have been working on my speed and was pleased with a new personal record of 26.16 minutes.  That is about an 8:40 min mile which I haven't done since high school.  I placed 5th in my division of 79 women.  yay.

Solid Sustenance

Elias eats solid food for the first time.  The verdict: I fear my grocery bill when I have 3 teenage boys. They will eat me out of a house.

Summer Break - Week 1

My stepmother, Anne, was in town to visit, see the baby and help me.  She helped so much that a couple days into her visit I decided that we need some field trips.  First stop was the arboretum.  We hiked, drove, played, threw rocks.  There may have been an emergency rescue of Reeve off the rope bridge.  I cannot confirm nor deny that.  There may have been a meltdown exactly half way into our mile hike by an unnamed toddler.  we may have had the best day!

Next stop, the Sears Tower (yes I will forever call it that).  Before I begin my tale let me give you a brief history of myself.  I hate heights.  They give me a panic attack.  I have an anxiety disorder.  I take prescribed medicine for said disorder.  Not one time did I think this was a good idea.  I thought I would have a hard time in the elevator.  I did.  I had to tell Trinity to "shush" as she narrated how many floors up and up we were going.
We get to the glass lookout and the boys immediately run out, start jumping on it, start slapping the glass to kill bugs outside.  I cannot explain in words the horror I felt, the anxiety that overcame my body and the parental boundary siren that went off in my head. I couldn't breath, tears started to form and random strangers kept telling me it "wasn't so bad." shut the eff up! is what I felt like saying but words wouldn't form in my mouth.
Once I gain control of my body again, I slowly peaked over.  About 20 minutes later I was able to crawl onto to glass..only for two reasons.  I am a photo junkie and needed a good shot.  two: I figured that if my children were going to fall of the side of the building, I should follow since I couldn't handle that reality.  Sorry to leave Eddie on this earth without us.

Reeve is Three.

Boo. Hiss. Scratch. My little gem is 3.  I am happy and sad at the same time.  I am sad because naturally he is growing too fast and doing all these 3 year old things whiiiiich sort of makes me happy that he is 3 at the same time.  I really want to speed through these difficult toddler years. Much like his infants months, his toddler years has been even more difficult. Help me Jesus!
Two minutes after being home from our relaxing night away, we had to start getting his birthday party together for the next day.  I hate the heat so it was a cruel joke that his birthday was the first 90+ degree day.  The bouncy house was a hot oven, the slip and slide looked oh so tempting and the grill didn't even need to be heated to grill the burgers, it was that hot.  Ok, not really.  We realized that soon enough because the grill would not heat up.  A propane tank later and no heat, Eddie marched across the lawn to the neighbors with food for 40 people, hungry people, waiting.  Our neighbor's grill was thankfully working and willing to be used.
Lunch was a little late, the weather a little hot but is was the best umiriffic birthday ever.

Reeve has grown leaps and bounds this past year.  This kid warms your heart with his perfect face and big blue eyes.  He then might punch you in the face in a fit of craziness.  He has calm, controlled moments, small moments, but mostly he is a busy boy who likes to crash, kick, flip, jump, twirl, swing and yell.  He does it all while playing in a nice way but it is hard to keep up with him.
He loves basketball and soccer.  I see a long future of sports for him.  He is good at what he does and he loves to pressure and impact of sports.  He craves it.  Now, if I can only channel it correctly then my frustration will lessen and his skill will become something great.  FF a couple years please...
He has acquired a sense of fear.  That is good.  He insists on holding hands across parking lots, he is reluctant to climb high apparatuses and big animals freak him out.  At least I know he is not going to climb over the gate in the lion exhibit at the zoo.  A year ago, not so sure he was safe.
He continues to show improvement in his speech.  We can mostly understand him.  Everett is our official translator sometimes.  He is working on his F and V sound.  If he has a lot to say in a lot of sentences, clarity becomes difficult.  However, one, two, three, four word phrases or sentences are clear.
He is heading to preschool in the fall in addition to 90 minutes of speech therapy.  He is going to be wound so tight from sitting that he is going to unleash his energy the second he gets back home.  Lord help me...
He measures over an inch to inch and a 1/2 taller than Trinity and Everett at 3.  It must be because he eats everything and sucks down glasses of milk a day. Pretty sure he is going to be our tallest kid.  basketball?!?!?  I think this kid needs to be a beach volleyball guy though or perhaps a surfer.  He has got the name, the olive skin and the attitude to be a total beach bum.  Mommy will come visit you in Hawaii...

Best Decade Ever!

We were supposed to be in Paris.  That was the plan.  We had a baby instead. Paris can wait. Since we could not travel far, we celebrated our ten year anniversary with a tour of Chicago.  We stayed the night at the Trump Tower.  That was heaven. We had dinner at Everest.  That was heaven on Earth. Delish! The next day we took our sweet time walking, holding hands, not  wiping faces or butts, enjoying the peace of our own pace. We had breakfast at Sixteen in the Trump Tower.  My oh My.  Worth every last cent.

We were only gone 24 hours but I did miss the kids.  Sort of.  Kinda. Maybe.

Next year, Paris or bust!

Ej 5 Months

He just gets easier and easier.  He know puts himself to bed.  Yep, that's right, God is good.  He gave me an easy one.  I place him in his crib, put on his fishy light and he drifts off to sleep.  He is amazing.
He has started solid foods which he loves.  He has started to make funny faces and laughs all the time.
He sleeps great at night, good napper, great temperament.  Yup, he is going to make it all up and be a terrible toddler, I just know it.

Motherhood Insanity

I love Mother's Day.  I feel like it is my day to get pampered and treated as the queen I view myself to be. Seriously.  Why do I exalt myself and expect the day to be perfect.  (I need to work on being a tad bit more humble.)

My kids get all excited, make me great cards, give me breakfast in bed, go shopping for great gifts.  Eddie tries his best to make it the perfect day.  It all goes well for 30 minutes and then the kids fight, they don't share, have bad table manners, you know, everything that happens on a normal day.  Why should Mother's Day be any different especially since the night before this year we had company (great family get-together albeit) and the kids went to bed late, woke up early, recipe for disaster.

My children are the greatest little people in my life.  I love them with a love that is deep in my soul.  OMGoooosh, they can be little monsters all.at.the.same.time and then I break down in tears.  But, for the most part, I keep perspective.  This is the "job", the "role", the "dream" I always had.  I wanted 4 little blond kids and the Lord blessed me abundantly.  I am thankful.  I am more thankful when he gives me the patience to get through the day actually feeling like I molded them in a somewhat positive direction, that I taught them a good lesson that I had wise words to share with them that will resonate in their hearts.  But there are some days, like recently, when I broke/snapped/destroyed/threw away a toy because they refused to clean up and I had a moment of insanity.  days where I yell when I promised myself I never would.  days I just wanted them to go away and leave me alone.  This ain't no easy gig and I don't love it always but it is still a dream I dreamed and blessed to part of the bestest family ever...