An Entertaining Way to Waste a Few Minutes

It's Friday and whether you are at home with your littles or at work, chances are you are counting down the minutes until 5 oclock? 

AmIright? 

So what is a better way to pass the time then to watch cute videos of my kids?

***

We are so blessed to have access to FaceTime while Kev is deployed but the boys really aren't great with it. 

Cullen has a tendency to make faces at himself in the upper screen, while Bennett everytime asks Kev where he is and if he is coming home tomorrow, and poor Wells just wants to eat the phone and starts to cry when I won't let him eat the phone and it ends in disaster. So we ultimately decided to limited the boys' calls and go for quality over quantity. 

Instead, Kev calls me from their call center (and 2-3 times a week via facetime) while the littles are sleeping and Cullen is at school, and once we pick C up, we all talk about Daddy's day. This way, Kev and I get the essential communication we need as husband and wife, and the boys get the benefit of knowing what is happening with their Dad. 

The missing link however is that Kev likes being able to see the boys. 

The solution: I send Kev videos from/of the boys at the end of most days (plus blogging) to help him feel connected to their craziness in between the times they talk.

Our new big screen TV for Daddy- If you don't watch any others, you have to see this one, it is so funny.

Is it hilarious to be tackled by your big brother at the bottom of a slide? Of course it is.

Dance Party anyone? (Truth be told, this was for Alysa's bachlorette party that I wasn't able to attend, but I loved that several of her friends told me at the wedding how much they laughed at my boys' dance skillzzzz)

 

Wells has mastered the gesture for 'No' and likes to tell his own little jokes using it.

Things that are funny: throwing a rubber band at each other

I didn't realize what a tradition our videos had become until the other night when I was putting Wells to bed, I came down to find that the boys took my phone and were recording videos for Kev. Bennett has been dealing with a cold this week and is so pathetic but Cullen pushed him through.

This video also technically wasn't for Kev, but for Uncle Bummy who we've been missing since he moved to Nashville. We were trying to show him how Wells can walk now, but W wasn't having it and Cullen's giggle is absolutely infectious.

Oh you know, just a 13 month old pushing a preschooler out of the way so he can go down the slide head first. Normal.

****

Today is my Opa's birthday. 

He passed away in February and not a day goes by that we don't think about him, pray for him and wish he was still here with us. Everyday, I am so overwhelmingly grateful that he was able to know my boys.

We love you Opa and miss you so much. 

The Benefit of Brothers

As we continue tackle the second half of this deployment, knowing that the end is in sight, there has been one thing in particular that I have been grateful for lately: 

that the boys have each other. 

It might be because school has started and C and B miss each other during the day, or that Bennett has assumed more of a 'big brother' role with C gone all day, or now that Wells is walking he is more into playing with his brothers, but it just makes my heart so happy that they have so much fun in each other's company while they are missing their Daddy's. 

Not only did they sneak into my bed before I came up, but then I found them sleeping in the exact same position. So sweet (and back to their own beds they were carried).

Wells learned to tackled- Welcome to the family Buddy. 

Excited for another flip of the calendar and one month closer to Kev rejoining this chaos. 

Weekend on a Wednesday

Since I skipped pics from the weekend earlier this week, a little recap is due today. But first, the story of Bennett's first day of school yesterday:

{Pull into parking space}

Bennett: Why you park-in?

Me: So we can bring you into school.

Bennett: Don't need to, just drop me off.

Me: No, I actually have to, there is no drop off today. And I want to give you a hug.

Bennett: I don't need a hug. I'm three. 

And off he marched 4 steps ahead of me and into his classroom without turning his head back around once. 

His first day in his own words:

We went on the playgroud. 

I played cars.

I didn't learn anyone names.

There's sand in my shoes.

I asked my teacher for marshmallows for snack, but she says we having apples. 

Never change Bubs. We love you and are so happy about your confidence!

*****

So last weekend. As I've mentioned a billion times, the weekends are weird, especially since the unit Kev is with isn't located here, there is really no one else in our position to hang out with while everyone else is enjoying their own weekends with their families.

 On Saturday morning, the boys were driving me a little nutty, but it was also too hot and humid to go outside and do anything enjoyable. We needed to get out of the house and as we started driving up the Parkway, I spotted the Capital Wheel across the water in National Harbor and decided that is where we were headed. 

It was a little pricey at $38 for the 3 of us (no charge for Wells) but it was neat to do once. And by the time we parked, got tickets, waited to get on, went around 5 times, walked around a bit more and headed home, the two hours I needed to take up before lunch and nap were gone. 

The boys thought it was pretty neat. And if you are claustrophobic, it is nice because there is A/C and music playing in each little cab, so it distracts you from the fact that you are in a tiny box at the top of a huge wheel above the water. 

Wells was a little confused/mad that I wouldn't let him crawl around and bang on the doors. 

All in all a pretty neat experience that I am glad we took advantage of. 

The rest of Saturday was spent playing and watching football.

Then on Sunday, we met my inlaws down at their church and then went back to their house for lunch. I was able to leave the boys there for a few hours while I ran up to my friend Alysa's bridalshower. It was a beautiful party and I can't wait for her and Ant's wedding in just a few weeks!

We stayed at Nana and Pop's through dinner (and Nana sent us home with dinner for last night too- the best) and the boys made sure they had Pop do every activity in the world. 

And I think Pop wore them out a little bit too...

Hope you are having a great week! 

Playing House

Starting Tuesday, Bennett is back in preschool three days of week, meaning that Monday was our last day hanging out full time. Cullen and Bennett truly are the best of friends and pretty much do everything together, so with C in school all day for the past 2 weeks, I feel like in a way I really got to know Bennett even better. 

What I have always loved about our Bubs is that he is so unique. He has always done things in his own time and only if he is really motivated to. He is strong, serious and independent, and also a phenomenal athlete. But in the last two weeks, I have loved hanging out with Bennett's gentle side. Yep, his sweet, nurturing one. 

As you know, he loves my scary childhood babydoll and has since toddlerhood. "Baby" is still a staple for him, but his new favorite game is playing house and lately, I have been invited to join along. (Wells still takes a morning nap for an hour and a half- so this is real one-on-one time for us)

Monday morning, we got Baby ready for the day.

 And put him/her (still not totally sure) down for nap. 

 And then had a little Monster Truck play time while Baby slept.

 Then it was snack time (he keep a thing of peanuts in his fridge...apparently today we were having them fried). 

 Baby couldn't have ones hot off the stove (obviously), so he/she got raw peanuts. 

 And after watching a show (looking at the artwork on the wall), it was time for Baby's ba-ba. 

And we then a picnic in his back yard (our den) for lunch with Wells too and wrapped up our morning of 'house'.

I have loved these days with my boy but I know he is SO excited for his school days too. 

How disappointed is he going to be that I monitor his fashion choices on school days?

*****

 And just in case those pictures didn't melt your heart enough, over the weekend, Kev called us on facetime and B took the phone from me and told his Daddy that he 'needed to watch this show because it is so funny' and then proceeded to hold the phone like this for 7 minutes. I kept trying to take the phone back and he gripped it tight and said 'No, me and Daddy are watching TV'.

*****

I hope you have a wonderful first day of school Bennett-B. I look forward to our Monday and Friday mornings together, and hearing about what you are learning and the friends you are making at school. 

 You are such a joy to be around and we love you so much!

Kate and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day*

I went to bed Tuesday night with the expectation of sleep, but was awoken once by Cullen with a bad dream and two different times by Bennett wetting..two different beds... and three times by Wells, who just wanted to hang out. 

And I hate just hanging out at 3 (and 4 and 5:30) in the morning. 

Then I stumbled to pour coffee, put on a sweater because I thought it was Fall but it was really 97 degrees out and forgot to fix my hair. 

I could tell that it was going to be terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.  

I dropped C off at school and came home to change lots of wet sheets (and blankets and pillowcases- how does that happen?) and the baby would not take his morning nap. I went to make enchiladas for a friend who just had a baby, and for some real dinner for us later that night, with my own cranky baby crawling up my leg, but 3/4 the way through, realized I forgot the sour cream at the grocery store the day before. 

And I hate yogurt, so no substitute was around and dinner had to be forgotten. 

I could tell that it was going to be a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. 

unrelated picture of Wells eating a lemon for the first time

I cleaned up my non-dinner mess and got a phone call from Best Buy, where my newly virused computer was hanging out, to say that my hard drive was failing and I needed a Recovery Disk for any hopes of retrieving anything and installing a new hard drive. I realized I have no such Disk. And a new one was another $70. And the now cost of fixing said virused computer (with all my pictures on it) was starting to surpass the actual cost the of computer. 

And I hate the thought of losing all my pictures.

I could tell that it was going to be a terrible, no good, very bad day. 

I got the little dudes and I out of the house and down to take pictures of a friend's new baby (with no enchiladas in tow) and wrapped sweet darling newborn Meg up in her pretty pink swaddle and went to redeem my day by taking gorgeous pictures of her... until my camera wouldn't click. But I knew I put my SD card in there because I remembered thinking that I was so glad I didn't erase the photos off of it after my photoshoot over the weekend so I could still edit them on Kev's computer if the virus on my computer wasn't a quick fix. So I opened the camera and saw that the SD card was indeed there, but it wasn't reading,...because somewhere in transit the side got knicked and now wasn't working. 

All pictures likely all lost. 

And I really hate losing pictures that people paid for.

I could tell that it was going to be a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. 

B and Baby Meg

Then, I cried in front of my friend after I ran to the PX to get a new SD card, but came back with the one that wasn't compatible with my camera, even though the PX camera counter guy said it was the right one. 

 And I really, really hate crying in front of people. 

I could tell that it was going to be a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. 

A little while later, I cried again, this time to my husband. Then felt like an A-Hole because I was crying over sour cream and pictures that can be re-made, when he was sitting without us (no enchiladas in sight) in his plywood-made room in the middle of the desert, half the world away, and yet, he was still trying to make me feel better. 

I could tell that it was going to be a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. 

I picked up Cullen from school, excited to hear about his day, but he got in the car crying because

 "Today was hot dog, chips and cookies day at hot lunch and you packed me a ham sandwich and fruit and I was SO sad because I just wanted to buy a hot dog, chips and cookies and I never want you to make my lunch again." 

This was definitely a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. 

But Mom (and her good wine she poured for me when I showed up, kids in tow, to complain about my terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day) says that everyone has bad days... even people who start off with successful enchiladas. 

Thanks Joan, and Fritz, who later that night came over to chainsaw down some crazy growing things on the side of my house..

Cheers to tomorrow.

*If Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day isn't part of your children's library, go get it today. We love it around here!

Rent A Family

While most people were excited about the 3 day weekend, I went into it with a little bit of dread. The weekends are tough with Kev deployed because I feel bad asking people hang out with us when they are enjoying time with their own families, so a long weekend really just means 3 more days of the same with the little humans and me. Luckily, this weekend was a little different since we had college football to look forward to, and after a photoshoot on Friday for a friend of her 3 boys and new baby girl, we were fired up for football on Saturday.

Auburn didn't disappoint (although held it a too little close for the first half) and after a fun afternoon hanging out with brother Tommy and Ms. Chelsie, we were off to a party for my brother Joey and almost sister in law Caitlin (also known as Fifi) as they prepare for the wedding in 3 weeks. 

Then, Sunday morning, Joey and Fifi did the most amazing thing EVER and took the little humans out to The Farm for the day.They were hilarious as they arrived, announcing that they were 'renting a family' for the day. 

Earlier that week, I had planned on going too, but then I booked another photography job and was just going to take the boys with me and that is when Fifi offered for them to take the kids with just them instead. 

So as of Sunday morning at 9:30am, I was kidless for the day, as they were off practice-parenting.

Then, I went for a run...

and came home and took a really long uninterrupted shower, cleaned the house, did 3 loads of laundry and went shopping down in Old Town Alexandria. 

I did have a little moment of loneliness, not for the children, but for my handsome husband who I miss so much (that's the other thing about long weekends, Old Town is full of couples brunching).

A recent photo of my stud of a husband

Then I was off to photoshoot #2 for the weekend, and afterwards picked up dinner from my favorite Thai Restaurant and came home to wait for my boys' return.

 I had a feeling they weren't missing me too much when I saw these pics:

In the meantime, Jojo and Fifi were convinced by the ever articulate Bennett that they should definitely spend the night at The Farm and just like that, I was free for the rest of the evening.

 I finished editing a few pictures, had a glass of wine, and at 10 decided to turn in for the night.

 And guess what? 

I slept for ELEVEN HOURS straight. 

11! 

I haven't done that since like 2004.

 I seriously felt like a super human when I woke up.

Ultimately, that 3rd day of the 3 day weekend was not so painful since my boys returned to me at 10:30 and we had a great day hanging out. 

***

Thanks to Jojo and Fifi for playing Rent a Family and giving me some much needed time off! I am pretty sure the boys were disappointed to be back with ol Mom. 

I couldn't be more grateful for the support our families have given us during this difficult time and am so glad we have flipped the calendar to another month. 

Hope your long weekend was great as well!

The Final Days of Summer

There is really nothing better than celebrating the end of our summer in a good storm.

 The summer days are almost over and as long and hard as the past three months +  have been since Kev deployed, I admit that the start of school is a bit bittersweet. I am ready for a real routine, and a difference between Tuesday and Saturday, but I will miss random rain parties with my boys. 

Starting Monday, Cullen will be in school all day and (I imagine) Bennett will go back to napping at the same time as Wells after pre-school, leaving me without a child to entertain for a few hours every afternoon. 

After accepting 125%  responsibility for our humans all summer long, that silence will be odd. 

And I will miss Cullen's constant questions, and Bennett's oddly articulate arguments for why a 3 year old does not need a nap...

We had an amazing summer: 

We traveled, we missed Kev (every day and then some), we saw so many friends, we went on adventures, we tested my patience, I had a few girls' weekends, we spent time with extended family...

We were helped by those who love us and Kev was sent emails and packages from our friends and family. 

And best of all:

My boys were loved

And now, the Summer of Freedom  comes to a close.

The night before Kev left- my favorite picture ever of my men

Thanks to you all for your love.

We appreciate all the prayers and the support that has made this difficult (and very slow moving) time so much easier!

The Celebration of One

Wells would like to thank everyone for his birthday wishes. He had a fun few days celebrating his big birthday!

On Thursday, just my little dudes and I had some cake and sang to him. It was also Bummy's last night with us before he left for his new adventure in Nashville. We miss you already Bummy!

Wells also spent the day doing his favorite things: eating, playing in dirt and testing out his new stroller (because by the 3rd child, we go practical for birthdays).

Then on Sunday afternoon I had a little get together for our closest friends and family. 

 In the most anticlimactic smash cake ever, Wells touched it with a finger and then threw it on the ground and ate watermelon instead.  

 Bennett on the other hand...

 Cullen broke my heart a little when I laid out their clothes for the party and he said "Mommy, I don't want to match anymore." Dagger- he is really growing up on me! (Also, he still matched because he loves me ha)

 It was so bittersweet celebrating without Kev, but I was thankful to have everyone there who loves on my boys and helps take care of us while he is gone. A HUGE thanks to my inlaws for coming early and helping me get ready (and manning the grill which hadn't been touched since Kev deployed- thanks Scott!) and to all the important people in our lives who took time out of their Sunday to sing to my sweet boy.

Now, on to toddlerhood!