Weekending- Pinatas, Naked Chefs and Snow Piles

Dang. 

Monday is here again. 

Why does this keep happening?? I don't understand...

Sigh. 

At least we had a good weekend!

Here's what went down in our world...

Saturday started off with my Dad dropping by. He and his buddy drove up from Springfield for the Portland Sportsmans Show and he dropped off Valentines goodies for us and the boys. 

It was like Christmas again.. tissue paper everywhere, Austin asking for candy.... smiles of delight over their surprises..

Oy.. our boys are spoiled. 

Up next was a surprise 4th birthday party for our friend's little girl... pink decor, crafts, pinatas and doctor kits! Oh my!

#DoctorAustyOnDuty

Gotta love kid's parties.. especially when they exhaust your 18 month old into taking an almost 4 hour nap afterwards!

Neal was gone some of the afternoon giving a baseball lesson so the boys and I stayed busy with laundry basket races!

And this photo sums up my life... a half-dressed kid, climbing on something he shouldn't be climbing on.... handing me a cup. "Slave, get me more milk! Chop chop slave!!"

And this too.. a kid putting on Daddy's shirt upside down and pretending to be a superhero. I believe he was "Shirt Boy." 

Here I come to save the day...

And you wonder why I need wine. 

Saturday night Austin and I made Mommy Muffins and I got to enjoy a naked chef in the kitchen. Whoo Whoo.

#SassyPants

Sunday... Valentines Day... we were really low key. For being a day all about love... we kinda nailed it, in my opinion.

The boys woke up to some treats....

Austin brought me to tears...

We had breakfast and some stories...

And just stayed in (while it poured down rain) and built big piles of "snow" using all the blankets and pillows in the house. Best used when jumping off the couch into the "snow" in case you wanted to know.

After lunch we did our one festive thing and made Sweetheart Floats in honor of the day.

Oh yeah, and Batman stopped by... so that was pretty nifty. 

I definitely am surrounded by love everyday... and I am so lucky to have my boys by my side to do this crazy thing called life. 

Yep, I Screw Up Sometimes

Be prepared for the shock of a lifetime. 

I'm not a perfect parent. 

I know, I KNOW.... who would have thunk??? I mean with my immaculate house and all,  I should be a shoe-in for that "Perfect Parent" award, huh?

I hear those people live on Pinterest and not in real life. Just FYI. 

That being said... I screw up sometimes.

A few weeks ago, it was a Friday... the BEST day because, well duh. It was Friday... but also Show and Share at the kid's daycare. 

Austin was all excited to bring his "treasure chest" to Show and Share, and he filled it with his favorite race car Hot Wheels cars. 

Big time stuff in a little boy's world. 

We were rushing out the door and Austin was carrying his milk and breakfast to have in the car so I told him I'd carry his treasure chest. 

Well, we were about 5 mins away from daycare and I looked over at the passenger seat... and the treasure chest wasn't there. 

I had set it down on my way out to the garage and forgot it. 

I told Austin that and he got upset. 

My first instinct was to launch into the Parenting Lesson of "mistakes happen, let it go" and I started telling him that I made a mistake, and we could bring the treasure chest next Friday, he'd be fine, settle down... let it go.. etc.

We pull up to daycare and I look behind me and Austin had his head turned to one side in his carseat and was silently crying. 

My heart broke. 

He was really, really upset he didn't have his treasure chest to Show and Share with his friends. 

Sometimes the trickiest part of teaching our kids a lesson is to realize that there is often another side to each lesson.. another side of the coin, so to speak. 

I knew I had to let go of my "mistakes happen, let it go" lesson. I had to right my wrong because I had wronged him, and I had to teach him the lesson of "when you hurt someone, you have to try your best to make it right." It's not always ok to dismiss their little feelings and tell them to "get over it."

I told Austin I was really sorry, and that I was going to drive home and get his treasure chest and bring it back to him, because that was the right thing to do. 

Did it inconvenience me? 

Yes. 

But the beaming smile on his face when he saw me walk into school with his treasure chest was worth more than all the time and gas I spent righting my wrong. 

It was a big lesson for me too... to remember that this little person has feelings and sometimes it's not always a "stop crying, you will be fine" situation... sometimes the parents have to man up and admit to screwing up. It's important to show our kiddos that if you wrong someone, you need to try and make it right. 

Because who wouldn't want to make this little guy smile?

Weekending- Libraries, Sunshine and Bad Selfies

Monday.. oh you sneaky snook you... why did you have to come around again?

Just when I was getting used to you being gone.... 

Friday night Neal wasn't feeling all that great (just run down I think) so I told the boys we needed to have a quiet night to let Daddy get some rest... 

Glory be.... they listened!

They read some books, Owen went to bed early and we actually had A CALM NIGHT. 

Who's house is this and how did I get here???? Seriously. 

Saturday Neal took the boys over to his parent's for the day because I hosted a girl's brunch! 

I didn't get any pics of the event because I was too busy talking... but after the girls left I got a little bit of real alone time before the boys came back home.

Ahhhh...... again.. who's house is this and how did I get transported here???

The boys were exhausted when they got home from a day playing at the park and hanging with Poppa and Gramma Pete..

Well, one of the kiddos was exhausted. The other.. being the crazy he is... decided a few launching jumps on the couch were needed

This is my life folks... a blur of launching pre-schooler activity. 

Thankfully they did calm down later and decided to play "library" with my books

What kind of library is this??? Naked boys covered in tattoos?? Ha. 

Sunday the sun come out to play and we had GLORIOUS weather!

I got to sneak away during Owen's nap for a hour-long walk through our neighborhood and took what is probably my dumbest looking selfie to date

#Superstar

After Owen's nap we headed over to our friend's Bijou and Justin's and had awesome food and watched the Super Bowl

Owen cracked me up at one point of the night... I looked over and he had climbed up a little foot stool and was helping himself to some food on the counter. 

#AllTheFood

We headed home with two tired little boys... ready (kinda, sorta, not really)... for Monday.

Exclusive Interview with a 4-year-old

I saw this on Pinterest and thought it was so cute. 

You ask your kid the same set of questions each year and see how their answers changed. 

Here is my interview with Austin last year when he turned 3. 

And here is this year....

Exclusive Interview with a 4-year-old

Who is your favorite person in the world?

Captain of America

What is your favorite color?

blue, and red too

What is your favorite TV show?

Umi Zoomi

What sport do you like the best?

Soccer and tennis, too

What song do you love?

ABCD

What cereal do you love?

Chocolate! (we basically only buy Cheerios.. so don't know where this came from!)

Who is your best friend?

Robby with an R

What do you want to be when you grow up?

Construction man

What is your favorite book?

Santa's Noisy Night

What are you really good at?

Playing

What would you buy with lots of money?

A tennis set

What veggie do you hate the most?

Lettuce

What is your favorite food?

Pizza and meatballs

What do you do best with your friends?

Play

What do you like to do best with Daddy?

Sing songs

What do you like to do best with Mommy?

Play

What is your favorite animal?

Lions and tigers and cheetahs

What is your favorite thing to do outside?

Play tennis

What is your favorite holiday?

Going to a different house

What do you think of your brother?

He doesn't sit while eating. (true, we can't get Owen to sit in his booster chair, he keeps standing up!)

Weekending- Waffles, Women and Wally

Normally I don't blog about our weekends because they aren't too eventful. 

Well, they are eventful.. but just not interesting to other people.... what we usually do is...

-chase children

-clean up crumbs

-have 25 "Full House" type talks to our oldest about being kind and gentle with his brother

-wipe snotty noses

-ask each other who's idea it was to have children in the first place

You get the idea.

But this weekend was a little more interesting!!! 

Neal made waffles for breakfast on Saturday and somehow got stuck at the kid's table with Owen. 

Then Neal and Austin heading outside to do some work on our side yard.. our side yard is all landscaping and a retaining wall that some day we will do away with and add more grass. 

Ok, that was boring landscape talk and you probably don't care.. anyways, Owen was losing his mind about being stuck in the house, so I bundled us both up, went outside and started complaining about how it was cold and muddy and I didn't like the cold and the mud and now I'd have to un-bundle Owen and get him out of muddy clothes. I walked away to take Owen for a walk in our stroller push-car thingy and Austin told Neal, "Mommy's being a brat" 

#ToucheKid

After the yard work and some little walks around the 'hood and me being called out for being a brat (I really don't like being outside when it's cold and wet!!!) we went back inside to warm up and I got some Owen snuggles.

Then Saturday night I got to get all gussied up and got to go out for a friend's birthday! I can't even remember the last time I went OUT on the TOWN for an event. I was pumped! 

We had an awesome dinner at a Lebanese restaurant in Portland's swanky Pearl District and it was great to have an evening out with some fun and fierce women!

Any guesses on which shoe is mine??? 

We didn't have much happen on Sunday... the kids were in full swing after breakfast (like usual) and Henry decided I looked like a safe perch to get away from the fray.

Anyone else hang out all morning long in their robe??? 

Then Wally the Koally and I had a fresh cup-o-joe while the kids played NICELY together for about 20 minutes. I swear that has to be a world record or something. No actual fighting or screaming for 20 minutes!!!

This little koala has become Owen's BFF... look back at the picture of Neal at the little table at breakfast... he's holding Wally for Owen while he eats. Wally goes everywhere with Owen these days. Wally is our third kid. I like Wally. Wally is quiet. Wally doesn't demand crackers and milk. Wally behaves.

#TeamWally

Later in the day Austin wanted me to make an alien from his clay-robot-kit thing and being the amazing artistic person that I am... I #NailedIt

Looks JUST like the picture. Totally. 

Sunday night we had some friends over for dinner. And in case you were wondering what happens when you mix a 4 year old boy with another 4 year old boy.. well...

Every. Single. Item. In. His. Room. On. The. Floor. 

Even his clothes were ripped from their hangers for some reason. 

Why?

I have no idea.

Four year old boys are still a mystery to me. 

Something about hideouts and surfing and Ninja Turtles.... whatever.