Let's Get Ready to Ramble

^^ You see what I did there? 

Now, let's ramble a bit about this week:

This week was another busy one, and while still recovering a bit from my sister in law's bachlorette party, we just had some friends over on Monday to play and kept things pretty low key.

But by Tuesday, we were in full swing with a vet appointment for Frankie followed by a visit to my mother in law who sadly broke her arm in a car accident and is home for the next few weeks recovering. 

Wednesday was dentist appointments for two big boys, right in the middle of lunch and start of nap. You can imagine how smoothly that went. 

Plus, apparently my children's teeth aren't as pearly white as I thought and as the Dentist was counseling me, this happened:

Dentist {after discussing that I need to be flossing their teeth, using mouth wash, no more goldfish and a lot less juice}: Does your 3 year old still have his pacifier?

Me {look of panic, rearrange screaming tired baby on my hip, wrangle squirmy hungry big boys back into the room, consider lying}: Ummmm yes, but he sleeps! Goes right to sleep! And my husband is gone! And sleep! I need him to sleep! ImsorryIswearImnotabadmom. {Hangs head in shame}

Dentist {Looks through window to make sure there is back up for the crazy lady in her office}: It is okay.. I was just asking so I could explain the extra build up on the back of his front teeth... 

*****

Did I tell you that Uncle Bummy moved in last month? And bless his heart, he works long hours and is so tired when he gets home but always finds a little extra energy to play with the boys. They love it so much. Wells also just adores his Uncle Bummy. I need to get his reaction to seeing him on video because he gets so excited when Bummy gets home. He will be moving soon, but it has been fun to have him around for the past few weeks!

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Three things I could use more of

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On Thursday, we were early for a friend's lunchtime birthday party, so we stopped at a new-to-us park. I think this is the first time Wells has really 'played' (bonus that there was no mulch to eat) and Cullen successfully completed the monkey bars and was so proud of himself. 

 We took a stroll around Mount Vernon (the first picture on this post) Thursday afternoon to kill some time and use our annual passes for one last visit. Hard to believe that exactly a year ago we bought the passes so I could walk the big hill from top to bottom trying to induce labor. 

Which means that next week, this little chunk of love will be ONE.

And with that, we've wrapped up another week. We have a fun weekend ahead with my high school friends out at the Farm and then we start the final two week count down until school starts. Bring it on.

Have a great weekend!

PS- I will be posting about the overwhelming success of our Pack a Pack drive next week. Thanks again to everyone who contributed. I can't wait to share the pictures and videos!

Jump Around, Jump Around

As we hit two months of summer freedom, I will have to admit: I am running out of exciting (and manageable) things to do. Obviously, we have been busy bees, but that is mostly for my sake to help pass the time of temporary single parenting until school starts and I know I will have a few hours a day to take a deep breath. I love letting my boys just play all day, but for sanity's sake, we also need to get out and do something at least once a day. 

Over the weekend, blog-turned-in-real-life-friend Karen and I were texting about getting together on Monday and decided it was the perfect time to try Flight Trampoline Park in Springfield, VA. 

Let me just tell you: SUCCESS.

This place was awesome. It was only about a 20 minute drive from our house (pet peeve about the DC area: nothing is easy to get to) and with the military discount it was $17 for both boys (and me) to jump. It is a huge warehouse full of trampolines, jumping pits and dodge ball courts. We happened to get there during Kids Flight so only only children 6 and under were jumping which was perfect since we didn't have to worry about big kids being too rough. The staff was also very attentive and does a great job walking around and reminding kids of the rules so no one gets hurt (and two Mommas who want to sit with babies and chat can actually catch up instead of hovering over big boys). 

We will definitely be heading back!

This Week We

...Randomly lost the internet. Luckily, I found it, not sure how, but I am happy about it. 

...spent another day at the Farm on Monday with my aunt and cousins. My 'aunt' is married to my mom's youngest brother, so we are actually just a few years apart and our kids are too. We had a blast hanging out and can't wait to see them again. 

....Tuesday came home, unpacked, happily crossed 5 days off the calendar and went grocery shopping in a torrential downpour- big thanks to my friends Shawn who let me drop the big boys off to play with her big boys so I didn't have to lug all 3 little humans through the rain.  

...Wednesday, hung out with my friend Jen, her son Sean and her sweet twin baby girls who my boys just adore. 

Bennett is petting Katie, not poking her in the eye and Claire was allll smiles for Cullen

...Had that kind of an afternoon where I drafted a funny post in my head titled: 

Ways They Drive Me Crazy 

Included in that unwritten post (since I had no internet) would have been:

Cullen: What time are we going to Sam's tomorrow?

Me: 3

Cullen: What time are we going to Sam's tomorrow?

Me: 3

Cullen: What time are we going to Sam's tomorrow?

Me: I AM NOT ANSWERING THAT QUESTION. YOU KNOW THE ANSWER.

Cullen: Mommy, my brain isn't on today. 

And then had a lovely (and hilarious) dinner with the uncles and girlfriends and my parents to farewell to Kathleen who is leaving us for Nashville - We miss you already Leen!

I did a risotto bar which worked out perfectly and was a fun and fancy way to please everyone's tastes. 

the fixings to add to a garlic/onion risotto

....Thursday: Continued with Ways They Drive Me Crazy

Example:

Wells- wakes up at 5:45, goes to back down at 7- C wakes up at 7 and immediately asks if we can start rearranging his room (he and Bennett are going to start sharing and are so excited about it), when I said I need Coffee first, he asks if I want to play football in the basement (boyfriend hasn't even gone to the bathroom yet, I am not joking about this being immediate)- I convince him to cuddle and watch a show (so I can shut my eyes for another minute) but then B comes down and wants to cuddle too, but he wants to the red blanket and C already has the white blanket, and we are watching Sheriff Callie but B wants Daniel Tiger and WAFFLES. WE WANT WAFFLES. 

So yea.. no extra twenty minutes of sleep for me. 

And mess, so much mess, all the time

After W woke up we headed to Homegoods and Target to start a little makeover for some big boys' room (which will give us a guest room upstairs and give them a playroom in the den with a door I can close when I don't want to see the mess. Woohoo!)

and then in the afternoon met Cara, Sam and Julia at the pool and for dinner. 

Lastly, Things That Don't Drive Me Crazy:

When the boys (and I) write letters to their Daddy. 

And knowing that another month of deployment is down. 

And when Bennett wears a Cat mask. 

Happy Weekend to you all!

*****
PS- Thanks to all again who offered to donate a backpack and supplies to our first service project - school starts August 6th so if you can get your packs in the mail before then, that would be amazing! Don't forget to link a pic on instgram with #packapack if you would like to share.
Julianna- Can you please comment with your email so I can send you the info?

A.M.A.Z.I.N.G.

You.

 All of you. 

Are amazing. 

Remember that goal of 22 backpacks? 

When I publish this post we are at 70.

Seventy. 

You know, there have been times, especially lately, when I have thought maybe it was time to stop blogging, or at least go private due to the boys getting older, negative feedback, privacy issues.. numerous reasons, but  the fact is, I have always loved blogging, and the last 48 hours have just been another reason why:

A simple conversation with my boys to attempt to help them understand better why their Daddy is deployed turned into a movement to outfit a school, and their wonderful teacher advocate, with supplies for the year for not only her students but other classes as well.

 I am so proud that our little blog reaches so many good people and can't wait to share the pictures of Toomer Elementary's students receiving, for many of them their first, backpacks at the beginning of the school year.

Thank you all, seriously, thank you:

 For reading my blog, for loving our family, for supporting our mission, for sending the backpacks...

 simply for everything. 

*****

And now, some other updates:

On the way to #packapack I brought a parrot, a barefoot baby and a boy in a sweater vest in 96 degree heat... 

we don't always look good while doing good things. 

Are you participating in your local library's summer reading program? 

It is no secret around here that we love the library (we go to at least once a week) and this was the prize bag for my boys reading their first 20 books this summer.

 We left the beach on Friday and a last-minute-stuck-in-traffic-decision led us to head West instead of North out to The Farm for the weekend.

Marme and Papa celebrating the 4th with some boys

A few boys who are clearly over taking pictures with their mother

My parents took all 3 boys on an adventure to see some Alpacas on Saturday and after walking around for a while not knowing what to do with my hands, I ended up like this for 2 hours. 

Also, according to this picture, I am disgusted by burnt marshmallows.
 Had no idea it was that serious and swear I helped B right this- my mom just caught me at a funny moment!

While we were sitting around the big bonfire, the boys were making a pretend one with scraps, which was cute, until Fritz decided it was good enough to light. 

Talk about a sense of accomplishment for a few little guys. 

They were so proud of themselves and their very own fire.

We finally got home Sunday and all felt like this:

 And the rest of this week, we got ready for football season (in less than 55 days)

 Proved that the #hidethedogfood was appropriate for our crawling baby. 

 and went bowling with my best friend from high school and her sweet little girl. 

Thank you again for all your support in our first service project and for being there, reading along and joining in, every step of the way. I can't really express the gratitude that I feel, but please know that it is great. 

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If you would still like to donate a backpack and supplies- please let me know. Or if you did comment that you would help and I haven't gotten back to you with the additional info, please let me know again- I tried my best to keep up with all the volunteers but please comment if I didn't email you back!

Also, a lot of these pictures came from my instagram and you can click HERE to follow along. 

There Is a Sport's Tree In My Front Yard (and other tales from this week)

Every night when it is finally time to come indoors for the day, I have the boys clean up the yard so people don't start voting to toss us out of the neighborhood. And since our front yard sporting events are numerous, they have started 'putting everything away' by storing it in the tree. 

You stay classy, boys. 

This week (like all weeks) has been a busy one. I signed the boys up for a short camp at their school for 4 days in the morning and they were thrilled to go see some of their friends. As much as we are around people a lot, they do spend a lot of time with adults so when the email came out that one of their favorite teachers was running this week, I decided to let them go. They were so excited to go back to school and I am praying that they will always feel that way!

Thanks to Mrs Henson for this adorable shirts!

Meanwhile, Wells and I had time to have coffee (and actual conversations!) with my friend Jen and her sweet boy and new baby twin girls, helped Chelsie move on Tuesday, went shopping with Mom on Wednesday, and had coffee with my girlfriend from high school Bobbi who I hadn't seen in years on Thursday.

 Honestly, it was a nice break for me and the boys had an absolute blast especially because they were in the 'same class' all week. 

In other news, Wells loves Mac-n-Cheese

And is still getting up at 5:30 in the morning. You think by now I would have lowered my expectations and just go with it it, but instead every morning I groan a little bit before getting up to his sweet happy little face. (It doesn't help that I have been staying up late blogging and hanging out with Coach Taylor and Tami on Netlfix because I don't sleep well when Kev isn't here.)

My grocery list has changed a bit since Kev left...

Hi everybody!

 Sometimes, Cullen acts like a crazy person obviously needs a little rest after a busy morning. Although he doesn't nap everyday (most days), once in a while if I get him to lay in my bed, I will find him minutes later like this. 

Also this week, we had my older brother Joey and Caitlin over for dinner on Monday, my youngest brother Tommy and Chelsie, and Kev's brother Mike over on Wednesday, and my middle brother Bummy and Kathleen over on Thursday. One thing I truly love about living back 'home' is watching my brothers (and brother in law) play with my boys while I drink wine with their ladies. 

I am so grateful for the adult friendships I have with all of them and blessed that they are around (and want) to hang out with us!

Wells woke back up after Joey got to our house and so was confused and yet fascinated by him. 

Cullen was actually beside himself with joy that Mike was over, don't let this picture fool you.

Boys and Bummy

And finally, now and then, I let Bennett dress himself. 

I will be taking the next week or so off to have some quality beach time with Kev's family. You can follow me on instagram for updates in the meantime @katedaffodils (that link actually leads to my account..don't know why I never did that before, but there you have it).

Have a wonderful weekend/week/4th!

Busy Boys

It has been a busy few days for our boys around here, my friends. 

On Thursday, my sweet oldest graduated Pre-K and we celebrated his special day by attending his ceremony with Nana, Pop and Uncle Tommy. 

C is such a performer and loved every second of singing songs on the alter. 

Friday, we attended the boys' school picnic and then spend the afternoon with Uncle Tommy and Ms Chelsie. Chelsie got birthday candles on Cullen's left over cake, but we were still excited to sing to her.

We also informed Tommy that if he big boy job doesn't work out, 'Manny' would be a good second option. 

Saturday, we spent the day with Nana and Pop: 

we shopped for summer clothes, went to Wegmann's, went to the playground, went on the slip n slide, watched lacrosse, played inside, and had an amazing dinner made by Nana. 

On Sunday morning, we met my roommate from college's son, and her Mom, who has been so important and special to me through my 20s, to say hi since they were in town for a wedding, My boys were so happy to make Baby Lee laugh, and to finally place a face to the wonderful women who has always been there for us. We loved seeing you Mrs H!

Later that morning, my friend Cate invited us to her pool. so of course we went and the boys had an absolute ball!

 Later that afternoon, everyone came back to our place for a BBQ and I was once again reminded to how grateful I am for my amazing high school friends who love us and my children.

Monday, we took a moment to remember the real reason for the long weekend. 

If you are unfamiliar with Wear Blue, please click HERE and get involved. 

 And then there was the rest of the day: 

Our sweet neighbor, who is the youngest of 3 boys came over to play with ours boys in the morning. I think he loves finally being in charge for once,  and my boys think he is just the greatest. 

Is there anything cooler to a 5 and almost 3 year old than a 10 year old boy who wants to hang with them?

Not much.

Except for Mr. Ant's pool with a basketball hoop-which we went to in the afternoon. 

And after an awesome dinner, we headed back home for an early night in for everyone. 

Busy boys indeed.