Project Weekend

We had a very productive weekend, which while it means we didn't rest a lot, we are going into the week with a much better handle on things.  And clean underwear. Both of which seem to make for a better Monday.

I won't post pictures of the clean house, or the laundry that was done - mostly because not all of it is folded...ugh, why can't it just fold itself? - or the playset progress - it's looking good, Mark! We also planted stuff, but that's part of our 12 in 2012 so I'll have to post about that later.

So to prove we actually did something, I'll post pictures of Mia and her first building project! Our friend Rachel offered to take her to the kids' Saturday morning workshop. Mia is very into experiences so this was fun for her.

And since she was gone, Finn got the car cart all to himself. Also fun for him, as you can tell.



I stalked the group from the other side of the lumber.  Crazy mom with a camera.



Looks like Mia's doing a whole lot...

Oh, right...a whole lot of watching other people. Not surprised.



The handygirls with their final project - a terrarium.



Back in the cart together, doing their favorite thing: snacking.



On the way out, Finn started going crazy, saying "vrooom, vroom, mine, mine" and would have jumped out of the cart if we hadn't buckled him in. All because of these:



I love that look on his face.  You would think they were actually moving.

Of course monkey see, monkey do.



Never underestimate the free fun that a home improvement store can provide.  Of course, we spent enough on other stuff for projects at home that it can hardly be called "free" but that's just good marketing, I guess.

Back to the Laundry?

Happy Friday led into Wacky Weekend and Hit the Ground Running Week leading us to How is it already Wednesday? In some ways, I feel like Friday was months ago and in others I feel like I blinked and my nutella was gone.  Oh wait, that's kind of what happened.

On top of just the general chaos that is currently our normal day to day, add in a garage sale (yay for getting people to take your stuff AND convincing them they should pay for it), 3 banquets at work, and a dear friend having a baby.  Dana was my roommate all four years of college plus two years after college, we were both each others' maids of honor, so naturally this precious baby girl is like a niece to me.  So, while all those have added up to many hours away from my house duties (I have a pile of clothes to be folded that is probably taller than Finn), I don't feel stressed or guilty about it.  Life is full and there will always be something I could be doing but I'm not going to let important events like celebrating with friends or opportunities to dance to the leap frog fridge farm songs with my kids get gobbled up by laundry.

A smile on my kid's face is way more important than an unwrinkled shirt, right? Right. Thanks. But I guess I should still go take care of it before Finn decides to climb it. Because you all know he will.

Happy Friday

Because how could it not be happy when you have this?



Finn meeting Nutella for the first time.

He practically panics when he runs out and he giggles and shakes his whole body when you're holding another one out to him. He also chooses to suck off all the Nutella before he eats whatever you used as a "vehicle" for such goodness.

It's awesome and maybe slightly worrisome if I start to think about the implications of all of this.

Like now there's somebody else to keep away from the Nutella.

Digging myself out

Sorry for the bloggy silence.  Last week was busy, rough, and then a little bit of extra busy to top it off.  It's the end of the semester at work, so that means end of the year presentations, end of the year banquets, and just your general academic end of the year activities. All of which require varying amounts of involvement from our office.  Dress a dinner table for 12 on Wednesday. Make smoothies for 250 sophomores on Thursday.  Talk about shifting gears. Then you have the usual home excitement: Finn slamming his face into the entertainment center and getting a red line all the way down the middle of his face. Mia and a friend managing to dismember a poor toy frog and sending teensy tiny beeds all over the carpet in her room. That's the kind of week it was.  Add in a coworker feeling under the weather, some office structure changes, a biting boy, a girl with potty accidents, and you have a winner of a week.

I was feeling better throughout the weekend, getting some stuff done around the house in preparation for an upcoming garage sale and having good bonding time in the laundry room on Sunday morning while the tornado sirens blared outside. (Fortunately no tornadoes near us.)

And then Monday morning came and hit me like a baseball bat in the face.  Mondays...you can be so cruel.  My poor office partner is in bed sick, it's another crazy week, and I had a few interesting/sensitive negotiations/conversations. Because, everybody needs a good amount of drama thrown into their day.

But it's bedtime on Monday and I made it. My husband went grocery shopping this evening so I could get caught up on work. Finn snuggled with me for almost 10 minutes after his nap. Mia said "OK, Mom, I will." a lot today.  Those 3 things may not be huge deals at your house but they are for this wife/mom. It makes the crazy and the busy a little more bearable and my Monday a lot more fun.

Tuesday, go easy on me...

Easter: Family, Fellowship, Friends

We had a great Easter.  It was full but so much fun.

Easter: Family

On Friday, we went to visit Mark's sister and her family.  Mia is at such a fun age of anticipating being with cousins and getting excited about all the fun.  Finn is just at a fun age of getting excited about other kids.  We all had so much fun.

The kids had a great time playing.



Uncle Rich played a little guitar with a little "help" from Finn and Mia "followed" along.





And the girls painted their toe nails.



Don't worry - they're just pretending.  Those two with nail polish would not have been good.

Finn was thrilled to see that Ruthie and Ruby had his favorite toy.



He looks serious and he was.  He was not happy to have to share.

This scares me just a tad...



Can't you just see these two in several years just chatting it up in the bathroom?

One of the big highlights of the weekend was the helicopter egg drop put on by their church.





Why is getting a good picture of four children so hard?

They put thousands of eggs out in the field and roped it off.



Mia, planning her strategy.



Scoping out the competition.

Then, here comes the helicopter with more eggs.



Finn loved every second of it.







All of a sudden you just see egg baskets flying...that's how close it was to the ground as it came in to drop them.





And then, they were off to find eggs.  Mia didn't have a ton collected in her basket even though she should have been able to get quite a few.  I peeked inside and out of the 8 or 9 she had in there, one was yellow.  The rest were pink and purple.  Yep, guess who was being a picky egg hunter? Wow...
Finn?  Thrilled to just be there.  Not terribly effective at collecting either.



Mia also got to touch a baby duck. Big deal for that little girl.



This would have been a good family picture if Finn weren't so concerned about seeing if there was more chocolate in that basket of his.  One taste and he was hooked.



A fun, fun time. Thanks, guys!!

Easter: Fellowship

We  left in time to make it back to our church.  We changed the kids from their travel clothes into their Easter outfits and attempted a sibling picture.

Hahahahahaha. I'm glad we give it a good effort but wow.



Some of those are hilarious and some actually aren't that bad. But all are very indicative of the phase of life we're in right now.

It was so good to be at church and celebrate the real reason for Easter.  All the egg hunting and stuff is fun, but not as good as the real deal.

Our pastor gave an Easter sermon out of Ruth and both Mark and I agreed that it was one of the best sermons we've heard.  Ruth's story: Hope Ruined (Naomi and Ruth lose everything, Naomi becomes "bitter"), Hope Rekindled (at the mere mention of Boaz's name), and Hope Restored (a kinsman-redeemer is found who is good enough and strong enough). Our story: Hope Ruined (Titus 3:3), Hope Rekindled (Titus 3:4), and Hope Restored (Titus 3:5-8)

Then, as we were dismissed another of our pastors asked us where we were right now?  Were we living in a Friday, where there is grief and loss? Were we living in a Saturday - a really hard place to be - where we've seen pain but know life is coming but are just stuck in this waiting? Or are we experiencing a Sunday with all the joy that brings? Good, good stuff.  Let us know if you want to hear the sermon and we'll send you the link.

Easter: Friends

We wanted to do something on Easter Sunday so we got together with some friends who also didn't have family in town and had a picnic at the park.  Nobody had to host and the kids  had a great time playing on the playground and hunting for some eggs (again??? I know...what the kids don't know is that I kept recycling the same eggs over and over again, so really it was the same candy over and over again).

Mocha helped me with the egg hunt prep.



Again...why is it so hard to get a picture of four children.  And what is Mia doing?!?



By this time, Mia had figured out what to do a little better.



Finn?  Ditched the basket and kept picking up eggs and tossing them.  Or, he would pick one up, crack it open, take out what was inside, and toss the egg back down.  Smart kid.



It was a very full weekend and now we're trying to get back into the swing of school/work.  The house is a mess of laundry and stuff from the trip to put away, but tonight I'm not even going to worry about it.  Off to rest. And eat some of that stuff out of those eggs...