This morning...

Catch Up

Hard to believe.

June is almost over & the summer is well on its way.

This week, the kids have been laid low with fever and chills. Thankfully, they are feeling much better and Steve and I are excited for the prospect of a full night's rest.

There's so much to catch up on! Funny how I thought I was busier during the school year- boy was I wrong. Here are the highlights:

• Noah had his first taste of cereal today. Other than the initial confused licks, it seems he'll do just fine. This is welcome news to us as he's suddenly decided not to go to bed until 10-11 because he's still hungry. 
• I'm totally addicted to Adele. She's a young musician with a phenomenal voice. May I suggest her remake of this song for those who aren't familiar with her. I love finding new musicians to listen to.
• Steve and I celebrated 5 years of marriage. I still get weak at the knees with him. Love that man!
• The kids have been talking to Noah more and more. They ask him questions about his day and offer him their snacks and toys. Absolutely adorable.
• My sister's wedding is 4 months away. Total heart attack. She's still supposed to be little with a fountain-top pony tail wrapped in a scrunchie. And rockin' a lisp. I'll never make it through the day!
• Both of our parents celebrated their anniversaries this month. Congratulations to them!
• Steve will have surgery in two weeks to remove a bladder diverticulum. His pre-op procedures are a little more interesting than I would have thought. He's had several doctor's appointments and will have to drink a delicious cocktail (insert sarcasm) as well as fast to prepare for the actual procedure. 

Look! We fit them all in together :)

Happy Father’s Day!

This morning, we went to Johson’s Corner Farm with the kids for cherry and blueberry picking.  As was to be expected, they had a blast.  We took the hayride out to cherry-picking and then on to the blueberries.  The kids each took their little pint containers and picked off berries one at a time.  At one point, I told Josiah we needed to dump his back into our box so he could have room for more.  Having only registered part of what I said, he promptly dumped his container (fortunately it was only 1/4 full at the time) on the ground and went to pick more!

We took a few pictures while we were out:

 

 

Noah in a high chair, padded with diapers, blankets, and other miscellaneous stuff from our bag:

 

The big kids got ice cream cones and had a blast:

 

 

The toe injury:

So yesterday (Saturday), we were at a park and Lilly decided to take off her socks and shoes while playing.  In hind sight, clearly we shouldn’t have let her do that.  She was going down the slide and somehow managed to slice the bottom of her one toe (picture from tonight, 24 hours later):

It was bloody for quite a while at the park – blood on my pants/legs/shoes, dripped down the side of the car and the trunk, etc.  We got her cleaned up thanks to the TWO first aid kits we had in the trunk.  In the car on the way to the park, Bethany and I had literally just talked about how glad we were to have the first aid kit with us when we’re out like that.  (We strongly recommend the $20 “First Aid Only – Essentials” kit)

Lilly was great about it all – she was obviously sad and in pain but she was cooperative and went on to enjoy the rest of the day.  We still feel so bad for her!

 

These are some videos we have from a month ago that I haven’t posted yet!

Josiah likes Peanut Butter on his sandwich but not “Gelly” as he’ll make clear.  The eyebrow action from him helps make his point!

 

 

Before Michelle & Tim’s wedding weekend, Grampy and Granny Phyllis were in town for a few days and came by to see the kids a few times.  The kids were excited to see them:

Little Mister

My littlest love

Finally hung above the fireplace! 

Trying something new...

I've been doing quite a bit of reading on food, especially food in America. Some of it's scary, inflated, shockingly true, but mostly it leaves me feeling uneasy and thoughtful. 

Steve and I are somewhere between the "only eat organic" people that make their own bread and dehydrate their fruit and super-processed, McDonald's is the best thing ever, people. 

We're migrating towards eating more holistically and naturally if not for ourselves than for our kids. Slowly, the sodas and Oreos are fading out at the kale and smoothies are making their way in. (Now, when I say "fading out" I mean that we're purchasing less and less; however, per our most recent conversation, I won't be buying those things.... at least not for the summer.)

It's really difficult to change the way you do things. 

We just... feel that they're still so young & small and that the habits and priorities we instill in them now will affect them forever. We know that our families will be supportive in our effort to not reward with snacks & treats and with their help, we hope to turn a couple things around. 

Steve is awful about remembering to eat, so when he does have a meal, it's usually a lot. I, however, eat all the time. Mostly healthy things, but I do love my snacks. Probably because of me the kids are snack-a-holics. Mealtimes can get pretty dicey because of this. 

We're experimenting with these for the kid's lunches:

(these lunches include 1 slice whole wheat bread with natural PB, half banana, greek yogurt with a couple mandarin orange slices, almonds, 2 mini rice cakes and 2 M&Ms.)

The hope is that with a little thought and preparation, their lunches will not only be readily accessible (yay!) but will also be varied and healthy. I purchased these containers at Target for a little over $2 a set. 

Upon recommendation, I also purchased THESE ice pop sets for freezing smoothies. Pour smoothies into these bad boys and take them out as needed (thaw a bit in the fridge for a bit) for a healthy, fun, quick snack. These are much better than the store bought freeze pops and are more filling. Also, totally awesome for summer!

The kids and I LOOOOOVE making smoothies & shakes. They never notice the spinach, chia seeds or kale in them. My most recent creation (that I snagged from somewhere online) is a strawberry oatmeal smoothie that I make in the morning and eat on the go. It fills me up until lunch (really, it does) and is super delicious. 

If you're interested:

Fill blender in this order-

1/2 rolled oats (I use Quaker)

about a cup of vanilla almond milk

squirt of natural honey

splash of vanilla 

several frozen strawberries

chunk of frozen banana

1 ice cube

Blend until smooth and creamy. 

I'd be interested in fun ideas for kid lunches (though I've seen several online, I'd always like more!) as well as any thoughts/advice/recipes to help us on our way.

Josiah Called the Police

Among the many stories I have of the kids, I have to include the one from tonight. 

Ever since "the fire" and Josiah's great escape, we've alarmed the house. We love our new alarm system and were petrified excited to find that it worked as advertised. 

Josiah activated the silent panic alarm on Steve's keychain. Not knowing this, we were surprised when we heard purposefully urgent banging on our door. For me, this threw me into those first panic filled moments of the fire when I saw it was a uniformed officer. 

It only took a little while for us to discover what had happened. 

We got a warning this time. 

Got this new beauty after I fried the motor on the last one. LOVE! 

Enjoying the park

Nona!

Took the big kids on a train ride. We had such a fun day!

So big (sigh)

Errands with mommy

Being silly. I love his laugh. 

Driving cars!!!!!!!

He was thrilled about sharing a turn at the wheel. 

Thrilled. 

As handsome as the day I first met him (11 years ago!) 

Daddy-O