Trip to Chicago for Brielle's 1st Birthday

Samantha: 52 Months, Week 1

Aedan: 16 Months, Week 3 (Week 73)

The picture and video below are actually from Monday evening at dinner.  We had fresh corn on the cob from the Oxford farmer's market that I cooked up for dinner, along with our calzones.  I cut one in half for Samantha and Aedan to share, but Aedan wanted to eat it just like the rest of us were, so we gave him his own corn to chew on.  He was so excited to be doing it by himself and actually did a really good job of biting off the corn.  Daddy had to help him rotate the corn a little bit, but Aedan really ate it better than Samantha did!  He has really been in the phase of wanting to do things by himself lately, just like his big sister, Mommy, and Daddy, especially when it comes to eating.  It's more fun, and he eats better, when he can do it himself.

Tuesday was a day with the kids, and since Aedan went to Hueston Woods with Andrea and Bennett last week, I thought it might be fun to take a trip out there with Samantha, too.  Even though we've lived in Oxford for over a year now, we have never taken a trip to Hueston Woods, and I really don't know why.  When we lived in Bloomington, we would go to many of the surrounding state parks for a hike and a picnic lunch on a Saturday or a cook out and time to play on a playground on a weeknight.  I don't know if it's because we seem busier now or what, but we definitely need to make it out there more often because it is beautiful and so close to our house in comparison to the state parks we would go to in Indiana.  It was going to be a lovely day with sunny skies and warm weather, so I packed a picnic lunch for us and we hit the road.

Our first stop was the small nature center.  There were some turtles, snakes, and other creatures in cages you could look at, as well as some interactive exhibits with animal sounds.  There were no programs going on that day, so we will definitely have to come back another time when there is someone to teach us something new.  Around the back of the nature center, they have animals, kind of like a mini-zoo with hawks, owls, and other types of birds.  Then, we rounded another corner and Samantha looked in beyond the fence but suddenly backed up with a gasp.  Instead of a bird, this cage had a cougar inside and it took her by surprise.  The cougar was curled up sleeping in the corner of the cage and just looked up at us as we stood behind the fence.

After seeing the animals, we were going to try to find a path to hike on, but I couldn't find anyone to ask about the difficulty of the paths or whether I could take a stroller on them.  I had a park map, but it was difficult for me to even find where any of the trails started, so after walking along the docks and having our snacks, we got back in the car and drove down to where the beach area is.  Next to the beach there was a nice playground, so we decided to start out playing there.  Aedan and Samantha both really enjoyed climbing in the tunnel and going down the tunnel slide head first.  I have been trying to teach Aedan to sit down on slides and go feet first, but he seems to prefer going head first which is okay for some slides but not all.  Here are some fun videos from our times at the playground.

After that we took a little walk on a path that actually led to a dog swimming area, but Samantha was the leader, picking which direction on the path we went, so she liked that.  After our walk, we went to the picnic tables under the shelter near the beach to eat our lunch.  The kids were a little distracted, but they ate okay and then we were able to use some of our leftover bread to feed the seagulls that were congregating on the sand.  They both enjoyed feeding the birds, and Aedan was even able to throw some bread out far enough for them to reach it.  It was such a beautiful day and we were having such a good time together outside that I hated to leave.  Samantha even looked around once and said, "Look at all the beautiful things God created!"

Both kids were tired that afternoon after being outside all morning so they took good naps.  However, in the middle of Samantha's nap the electric switch popped in her room, which it does occasionally for some reason.  However, when that happens her monitor and fan turn off.  I went into the garage to flip the switch back on, but when I came back in she was crying because the fan turning off had woken her up (we use it mainly to block out any noise), and then when it turned back on, it scared her and made her start crying.  I went up to her room to talk to her and try to calm her down.  She was clearly still tired since she was woken up in the middle of her nap, which she never does well with, so I encouraged her to lay back down and try to go back to sleep.  She laid quietly for awhile but did not go back to sleep, which was unfortunate, but okay.

That night were Daddy's last softball games as part of the playoffs.  I was thinking about just staying home with the kids since we were out all morning, but Daddy suggested picking up a pizza and eating it at the park before his game, and Samantha would have been upset at missing an opportunity to be there with Daddy, so we decided to go.  They had a game at 7:00 and if they won that then they would have to play the next two games at 8:00 and 9:00 as well.  I let the kids play on the big playground for awhile after dinner before we went over to the little playground.  They were both in good moods and having fun playing, so we stayed longer than usual.  In fact, we even watched a couple of the last innings of the first game, which was nice because I don't normally get to watch any of the games.  Samantha was sitting on the bleachers and Aedan was walking back and forth collecting leaves by the bleachers so I could easily keep my eye on him.  I enjoy watching Ben play sports and wish I could have actually sat and watched more games.  Again, I am very glad that he got this opportunity to play on the team.  Sometimes it wasn't too good on his body, but I know he enjoyed himself.  Hopefully he can be a part of a team like this another time, too.

Wednesday was my turn to have Bennett, and since the boys have been acting stir crazy in the house the last couple weeks, I decided to take them to the Hefner Zoology Museum on Miami's campus.  It was a bit difficult to find parking on campus, as there was something going on that day that filled up the parking garage, but I was able to find parking within a reasonable distance of the building that housed the museum.  It was also very strange walking across campus with all the young college students surrounding me, while I pushed a double stroller with two toddlers squawking.  There were a few college boys that opened doors for me, so that was nice at least, and we made our way to the museum.  We walked through the museum to see the exhibits and animals on display before heading to the play room.  The boys thought the fish tank was interesting, climbing up on a chair to get a better look.

However, I think their favorite part was the pretend log with a tunnel cut out through the middle.  They crawled back and forth many times, squealing with delight.

The room also had large boards that could be opened up with different pictures of animal habitats.  They also had trays of magnetic pictures that you could stick on to match to the various habitats.  Aedan was putting the magnets on while Bennett then knocked them off.

There was also a life size nest for the boys to climb around in...

...but towards the end of our time, Aedan was getting tired and decided the nest was a good place to lie down.

The boys' interest in the play area at the museum really only lasted about half an hour before they wanted to get out of the room and go elsewhere.  However, we were in an academic building, so I couldn't let them just wander the halls.  I strapped them back into the stroller and decided to go for a walk Uptown, stopped for coffee at Starbucks for Ben and me, and then walked back on campus to bring him his coffee.  We had a few more minutes to kill, so I let the boys play on campus with sticks and watch squirrels run across the grass.  It was fun to take the boys out together, but it seemed like more work than it was worth, especially with the little amount of time they were interested in playing.  I think next week we will just come back to the house to play instead.

Wednesdays are always busy days with preschool and watching Bennett in the morning, followed by soccer in the evenings and a late dinner.  That evening on the way to soccer practice, I got an email informing ladies from our Bible study that my dear friend Maggie lost her baby boy, just a few short hours after he was born.  I was shocked and so sad that I started crying as I drove.  I couldn't imagine what that would feel like and wished so much that things could be different for Maggie.  I couldn't stop thinking about her, my heart was broken for her, her husband, and her loss.  It also brought back many thoughts of my own miscarriage two and a half years ago, bringing back many emotions that I buried and pushed to the side, more than I realized I had.  It was hard to go through the rest of the evening with soccer, dinner, and bed time when Ben and I felt so sad for our friends.

Later Wednesday night, I felt like I just had to do something to reach out to Maggie.  I sent her a text message, but I also wrote a letter for her, sharing verses from Isaiah that my friend Melanie shared with me back when I had my miscarriage.  They meant a lot to me then, as I dealt with my loss, and I hoped they would be meaningful to Maggie as well.  Thursday morning, I took the kids to run some errands, and our first stop was to buy Maggie some flowers, a restaurant gift card, and then to deliver those items to her house.  I had no idea if they would be back from the hospital or not yet, but I figured having the kids in the car would give me a good excuse to stop by quickly and be on our way.  Jonathan and Maggie were still at the hospital, expected to return that afternoon, so I left our items with his dad, who answered the door.  I was just glad to do something tangible to let her know that I was thinking about her.

The rest of Thursday was spent in much sadness and indecision.  I couldn't take my mind of Maggie and the loss she was dealing with.  I talked with Beth as I was getting the kids down for their naps and learned that there would be a memorial service for their little boy, Elliot, on Saturday at 2 p.m.  However, we had plans to visit Chicago for Brielle's first birthday that weekend, and I was really torn about what to do.  I wanted to be there for the service to support Maggie, but we were all looking forward to making the trip to Chicago as well and many family members from both sides were going to be there for the birthday.  Plus, Samantha had been talking about going to Brielle's birthday party for a long time.  I was torn pretty much the rest of the day, even through Bible study and our special prayer time for Maggie afterwards.  I was going back and forth and didn't know what the best decision was.  In the end, I decided to go to Chicago as planned, but I contacted my friend, Corrine, and she mentioned that we could do FaceTime on Saturday during the service so that I could attend virtually.  I thought that was a good compromise and was very glad that I could participate in the service in some way.

We had most everything packed up on Thursday night so that we could get up, get ready, and leave at a decent time Friday morning.  We were on the road before 9:30 to drop Roscoe off at the kennel and make our way to Chicago.  I bought a couple new Color Wonder books for Samantha which amused her most of the morning.  She just loves to color and is very good at it, making beautiful pictures.  Aedan was pretty sleepy so after playing for awhile, he actually ended up falling asleep and taking a nap for about forty-five minutes or so.  We made it all the way to Lafayette before stopped for lunch at a Chick-fil-A.  We stopped there purely for the reason of the play area.  When we are on a long trip, we like to let the kids eat and then play for awhile before sticking them back in the car.  It makes them happy and us happy, and it helps tire them out for taking a nap in the car, making it better for everyone.  Once passing the large area of wind turbines, the kids took good naps, even though they were shorter than usual and we got to our hotel right at 3:00 Chicago time.  We checked into our hotel, got our things unloaded, and then decided to go play at a local park before it started to rain so that our kids could get energy out and not be cooped up in the hotel room.

The playground was huge with lots of neat places to climb, so the kids enjoyed themselves for quite awhile.  Near the playground was a baseball field, and Aedan was drawn to that as well, probably because of seeing Daddy play on his softball team every week.  Daddy even got Samantha and Aedan to run the bases with him!

Once my parents, brother, sister and her family were close to being able to get together, we ordered deep dish pizza from Lou Malnati's and planned to eat it in the lobby of our hotel.  I love being able to get deep dish pizza when we are up in Chicago.  :)  Plus, Lou Malnati's is so much better than Giordano's.  After eating dinner, even though our kids were extremely tired from an already long day, we went swimming with Uncle Matthew, Aunt Christy, and Brielle.  We brought Samantha's Puddle Jumper as well as Aedan's floatie so that we could all enjoy the pool more.  Samantha loves to swim and was perfectly content swimming around by herself and jumping in the pool.  Grandpa and Grandma were impressed by how good of a swimmer she was.  Aedan enjoyed himself for awhile, but it was getting late and he was getting tired.  Towards the end of our time swimming we all just ended up getting in the hot tub which felt more like a warm bath, a nice relaxing way to end the night.

It was already way past our kids' bed time when we finally got back to our hotel room and started getting ready for bed.  Then, we realized that the couch in the living room where Samantha was to sleep was actually not a pull-out couch like it was supposed to be.  We called the front desk and they were able to give us a roll-away bed, but it took almost forty-five minutes to get it delivered to our room while we all just waited to get everyone in bed.  I think it was 10:00 Ohio time before we finally got the kids in bed.  We hoped that they would sleep well in the same room together and maybe even sleep in somewhat the next morning, as it was going to be another long, busy day.

We started hearing noise from our kids around 7:30 on Saturday morning, which is pretty good considering that is 8:30 Ohio time.  Our plan for the morning was to go down and eat breakfast and then go swimming one more time.  After swimming we gave the kids baths and got them dressed for the birthday party.  Aedan was very tired that morning, and I knew we had a long day ahead of us with Brielle's party starting at 1:30, so we decided to lay Aedan down for a nap, even though he doesn't normally take morning naps anymore.  He was glad to go to sleep, and we gave Samantha some quiet play time while Ben and I showered and got ready.  We actually had to wake Aedan up so that we could get to the party a little after noon.

We had plans to watch the memorial service for Jonathan and Maggie in honor of their baby, Elliot, at Matthew and Christy's apartment while Chicago Grandpa and Grandma kept their eye on Samantha and Aedan for us.  We were able to connect through FaceTime and watched the service that way.  It was one of the saddest things I have ever seen, and when I saw Maggie walk into the sanctuary, I whispered, "Oh Maggie."  I so wish I could have been there, but at least I was able to watch it through the phone.  I fought back tears through most of it, finding it hard to understand why this happened to my dear friend.

It was difficult to go from watching the service to then carrying on with a first birthday party, but I was glad for the distraction from my own emotions in thinking of my miscarriage and losing my baby as well, as well as sadness for my friend.  Brielle was asleep when we first got there, so here she is after she woke up from her nap and Christy got her dressed and ready for her birthday party.  Aren't these great pictures?  She's such a cutie and sure does love her mommy!  It's great to see my little sister as a mom, and I love to be a part of the lives of the Clemons family.

Once everything was set up and the food was ready, Brielle got in her high chair with her birthday hat on and we all enjoyed some yummy food: brisket that had been on the grill since the wee hours of the morning, as well as lots of fruits, vegetables, chips, and dip.  Samantha and Aedan didn't eat too much, but I think that was mostly because it was the middle of the afternoon when they are normally napping and they already had a few snacks throughout the morning so probably weren't very hungry.

Samantha loves baby Brielle or Brielle-y as she calls her sometimes.  When Brielle is around, Aedan is pretty well ignored. :)

Before we had cake, I took some pictures of the cake as well as the presents and decorations that were set up.  They had tables set outside around the corner from their apartment and it turned out really well.  Plus, they did a really cute job decorating.  There were quite a few people there, so Brielle really stocked up on the presents!

Here's a picture of the birthday girl with her Mommy and Daddy!  It's so fun to see how Brielle has characteristics of both of them, and it's great to see her growing and learning, turning from a baby into a toddler.

Matthew and Christy have neighbors with a little girl named Zoe.  Samantha and Zoe became instant friends, and it was great to have a playmate that day when there was not too much that interested them at the party.  In fact, for most of the afternoon, Samantha was in Zoe's apartment playing with toys in her room.  Aedan spent some time outside wandering around or playing with the slide, some time playing inside with all of Brielle's toys, and even took a nap later that afternoon when he was getting tired and fussy.

Samantha was very excited to sing Happy Birthday to Brielle and to have some cake, too.  In fact, after being up late the night before and skipping her nap for the day, she was a little too whiny about getting cake that afternoon.  It was hard for her to understand why we were waiting for Brielle to eat her cake first.  Here are some videos and pictures of Brielle attempting to eat her first birthday cake.  The frosting was a bit thick, so it was somewhat challenging until they cut it and let her get at the inside more.

After cake time was present time and both Zoe and Samantha were very interested in Brielle's presents, as well as helping her open them.  At this point Aedan was napping in Brielle's crib, so I was able to be the picture taker.  I took many more pictures than what I'll include on the blog, but I figured I'd at least include pictures of the presents we got for Brielle which were a ball tower, a singing caterpillar, stacking alphabet blocks, as well as a shirt and little outfit.  Samantha was very excited to show Brielle her toys and how the caterpillar played a song.

Brielle got some pretty fun toys, even Samantha thought they were fun to try out.  Then, once present time was over, the girls decided it would be more fun to go back and play at Zoe's house.  Seeing Samantha have so much fun with Zoe made me wish that there was another little girl Samantha's age that she could become good friends with back in Oxford.  It seems like most of the moms I know and could see myself being friends with all have boys Samantha's age, which is fine and she likes to play with them, but playing with girls is different than playing with boys, especially at this age.

That afternoon once the party was over and guests started to leave, we helped Matthew and Christy tear down the tables, chairs, and decorations.  Matthew's mom and I helped do dishes and clean up their kitchen.  Then, I helped go through the presents and consolidate them into a smaller pile, putting all the clothes together, and folding up the tissue paper to be reused.  I popped many balloons that were used as decoration and even vacuumed for them after their party guests tracked lots of dirt and mud into their house.  I felt satisfied that we had done a lot to help them get into a better position that night.  I know cleaning up after a party can be a huge task, so I wanted to help out as much as I could.

At that point our kids were getting a little aimless playing in Matthew and Christy's apartment, so we decided to head over to the local park around the corner to let the kids run around and climb.  Ben went to pick up some dinner for us at Noodles and Company since neither of our kids had much to eat for lunch that day.  Samantha really enjoyed playing on the playground, especially once her friend Zoe came over as well.  Samantha found one area with a "zipline" part where you grab on to the handle and slide from one platform to another.  She wanted someone to give her a push to start and to stand as a spotter in case she needed you, but she really did pretty well at it all by herself.  That was definitely her favorite part of the park as she had never tried anything like that before.  We even discovered the big hill next to the park and decided to climb and roll on that while we waited for Daddy to return.

Brielle even took her turn trying to stand up and walk on her own, and I got a couple of good videos of her attempts.  In the first one you can see Aedan trying to help Brielle when she fell down, that was pretty cute to see.

I meant to get a family picture earlier in the day at Brielle's party, but never got a chance, so as soon as Ben got back, I made sure to get one.  It's not very often that my whole family is together at the same time, and the picture turned out pretty well considering there are three squirmy kids in the picture. :)

After eating some noodles for dinner, it was getting dark and the mosquitoes were coming out.  Our kids were tired from a long day and different schedule, so we wanted to get our kids back to the hotel for a decent bedtime.  We were tired so I'm sure they were tired as well.

Sunday we had plans to go to the 9:00 service with my family.  They usually go to the 11:00, but we convinced them to change times just for this Sunday to accommodate our schedules a little better.  Our routine is so different from my family in Chicago that it always makes our weekends up here tricky.  Pretty much no matter when our kids go to sleep at night, even if it's much later than usual, they still wake up at the same time which is between 7:00 and 7:30.  We were afraid that that would translate to between 6:00 and 6:30 Chicago time.  However, we were lucky that they slept until almost 7:30 Chicago time both mornings we were there.  The rest of my family, minus my dad, are late risers, even Brielle will sleep in until 9:00 or 9:30 most mornings.  However, waiting until 11:00 to go to church and then going out to lunch just gets us on the road back home much later than we would like.  Plus, it gives us tired kids at lunchtime, who just want to nap rather than eat.  I was very glad that everyone was willing to change their schedules for us, as it worked out perfectly.

We were able to go to church and eat at Portillo's for lunch.  Samantha and Aedan both like hot dogs and pickles, so you can't go wrong with a Chicago style hot dog.  We had a good time sitting and chatting with my family until all the kids started getting wiggly, and we took that as a sign for us to leave.  Aedan fell asleep almost immediately in the car, and we let Samantha color for a little while before we told her she had to nap as well.  She never naps for too long in the car, only sleeping for about forty-five minutes, but then I put Frozen on for her to watch while Aedan continued sleeping.  He slept for about an hour and a half, much shorter than he usually naps at home, but better than nothing and good enough to get him through to bed time.  Here Samantha is singing along to the movie.  I took this video because Aedan was singing along, back and forth with Samantha.  They were having a great time together in the back seat, but as soon as I started recording, he found his pacifier and decided that seemed more interesting.

We got back to Oxford and picked up dinner from Chipotle to eat at home since we didn't have any food at home.  It's always nice to be back home again in our own space and sleeping in our own beds.

Monday was back to our weekly routine.  Samantha went to preschool, and normally Andrea takes Aedan; however, I decided to keep him instead so that I could take him to a special story time at the park.  They do it every Monday, but it only lasts a few more weeks, and I wanted to take him to see how he would like it.  Samantha, Aedan, and I went together last fall, but it was a little easier then because he was a baby, immobile, and mostly slept in the baby carrier the whole time.  He has never been as interested in story time as Samantha has been, but I still wanted to try it out.  The story time takes place in a gazebo at the park.  The librarian brings his guitar and sings songs with the kids as well as reads stories.  Aedan was much more impressed with the music, trying to dance and copy the motions of the other kids, but he still did pretty well during the stories.  He didn't try to run away and didn't scream when I made him stay by me, so it was definitely worth it to go.  From there, the other parents and kids usually take the kids to the playgrounds to play, so Aedan played on the little playground for awhile and had a little snack in between running back and forth.  However, once he lost interest in playing and it was getting close to 11:00, I decided it was time to go since we still had to go buy some groceries before going to pick Samantha up from preschool.  It was a busy morning, but it was fun spending time with my little man.

(Blog about September 15-21, 2015)

Samantha's First Soccer Game

Samantha: 51 Months, Week 4

Aedan: 16 Months, Week 2 (Week 72)

After being gone for the weekend in Upland, I needed a week to just be around the house and get things done.  We were busy doing something pretty much every day of the week the week before, and I wanted more downtime.  On Tuesday I spent the day cleaning the house.  It desperately needed to be cleaned, but it's amazing how long it takes to clean when I have two kids making messes and needing me throughout the day.  They are fairly good at entertaining themselves and playing together, but only for segments of time.  I know I've said this before, but part of me wonders if I should just make up a cleaning schedule for a certain thing to do each day, rather than tackling it all in one day.  However, I just really like the feeling at the end of the day when every room in the house is clean and fresh, makes me feel like I have accomplished something, but it certainly wears me out.

That evening once Ben got home from campus and we had dinner together, it was time to head off to Ben's last softball before the play-off games next week.  Daddy took Samantha in his car, and Aedan and I were going to follow behind.  However, Aedan was very upset that Daddy and Samantha left without him.  He didn't understand that we were going to be joining them soon, so he pouted and cried by the door as soon as it closed.  In the video you can even hear Aedan doing what we call his "puppy dog" cry.  Aedan loves to be included, especially with his Daddy and sister, so he was very sad to seemingly be left out. 

We had a good time at the park playing while Daddy played softball that night.  He had a game at 7:00 and and 9:00, so we planned to leave a little before 8:00 so that we could get back home for bed time.  We started off at the small park and then played at the big park.  Aedan and Samantha even scored a free piece of pizza from a family that had eaten dinner at the picnic tables and had plenty of leftovers.  Tuesdays always feel like long days once I get back home, get the kids in bed, and then have a little time to myself.  However, really the worst part about it is that I don't get to see much of Ben, pretty much just for dinner and then he's off again for the rest of the night.  I was really tired on Tuesday night so I was already in bed when he finally got home from his last game, and then he still had to take a shower and wind down for the night.  I always miss our nights together with time to talk and reconnect with each other.

Wednesday morning Ben woke up not looking too great.  He developed a cold over the weekend, and it seemed to have gotten worse.  There was a chance of rain that afternoon/evening, so both of us were kind of hoping that Samantha's practice would get rained out so that we could have a more relaxing night at home together.

Wednesday is my day to watch Bennett, so we went back to the house and played inside for awhile.  There was a chance for rain, so I kept expecting it to rain but it seemed to skip right over us.  However, it was very overcast and humid.  The boys were antsy to get outside and play, so after having snack and changing diapers, I put the boys in the double stroller that I borrowed from Andrea so that we could go for a walk together.  I pushed them down our little frontage road and into the next area with single family homes.  Then, I noticed the cows across the street and decided to cut over there and let the boys watch the cows for a little while.  All the cows came up to the fence in a line, staring out at us, probably wondering what in the world we were doing.  Aedan thought they were pretty fascinating, pointing to them, and really wanting to touch them.  I'm not so sure what Bennett thought as he was sitting quietly observing them.  On our way back from visiting the cows, Bennett fell asleep in the stroller.  However, once we arrived back at the house he woke up quickly, ready to play again.  We played in the front of the house with balls and the water table.  Bennett was really enjoying the balls and dropping them down the spiral at the top, so I figured I would clean it out and fill it up for them.  I should have planned ahead a little bit more because both boys got soaking wet right before it was time to head back to preschool.  I didn't want to send Bennett home all wet, so I decided to just take his clothes off and put him in a dry diaper in the car seat since I didn't have an extra outfit for him.  I changed Aedan's diaper and clothes, got him buckled into the car seat, and we were on our way.  However, that little diversion added time, and we arrived at preschool a few minutes late.

Wednesday night was Samantha's soccer practice.  However much the forecast predicted rain, it hardly rained at all.  We met Daddy over at the soccer fields to watch Samantha and her team play and get ready for their first game that weekend.  I don't have any pictures or videos from practice, but Aedan did an okay job of staying in his stroller for part of the time while I sat in the camping chair next to him.  After practice was over, instead of going back home to eat, we decided to eat dinner out at Chipotle.  The kids eat so well there and the food is so fresh, we just couldn't pass it up.  However, it did make it harder getting home later and pretty much putting the kids right to bed, so I think we will go back to eating at home next time.

Once back home for the evening, it was already about 7:45, close to bed time.  We got Roscoe fed, and I took him for a walk.  As I was walking I noticed this beautiful sunset and thought about how much I love living in the country for moments like these.  I am not surrounded by houses, concrete, noise, and cars, but instead I can look out over the grass and see the beautiful sky that was painted in so many brilliant colors.  God's Creation is so breathtaking, if I will only take the time to stop and observe it.

After a couple of late nights with softball and soccer, Thursday was another day that we didn't have any plans.  I needed to go grocery shopping since I had other plans to get breakfast and go shopping with Maggie on Friday morning, so I decided I would try to bring Samantha and Aedan along with me.  They really did pretty well, and in some ways Aedan did better than normal because his sister was there to keep him company.  We got a special cart with a car attached to the front and normally I just let Samantha sit up there while keeping Aedan in the seat in the big cart; however, this time I figured he was big enough to try sitting in the car with Samantha.  The car had working seat belts so I knew that I could strap him in.  The kids were fine and pretty well amused as long as I kept moving, but when I lingered to check prices or find something different that I don't know where it's located, they started to get antsy and whiny.  However, the highlight of the trip was getting the free cookie at the end of the shopping trip.  So here they are sitting in the their little car, eating their sugar cookies. :)

Since Monday was Labor Day, Andrea volunteered to watch Aedan on Friday for me instead.  I made plans with my friend, Maggie, to get breakfast at Bob Evans and then go to a children's resale shop out in Fairfield that I have never gone to before.  Daddy took Samantha to preschool and gave Aedan to Andrea so that I could meet up with Maggie.

Andrea took Aedan and Bennett to Hueston Woods, to the Nature Center and on a walk in the stroller.  I was glad to see that she was comfortable taking the boys out together because I think I may take them somewhere next time I have them as well.   She said that Aedan touched the turtle's shell and leg, but Bennett wouldn't do it.  However, she said they both liked the 30 loud geese in the parking lot the most.

While Samantha was at preschool and Aedan was with Andrea and Bennett, I met Maggie for breakfast at Bob Evans.  It was nice to talk and catch up, especially since her baby is due in two and a half weeks.  After breakfast we drove to a children's resale shop in Fairfield.  I had never been to this one before, just Once Upon a Child down in Colerain.  In looking towards cooler weather coming in the fall, I knew that Samantha and Aedan both needed new clothes.  We got some hand-me-downs for Aedan from the little boy down the street from us, so we were pretty set on pants, but he needed some long sleeve, warmer shirts, warm pajamas, as well as some new tennis shoes.  We don't have much for Samantha, so I found some long sleeve, warmer shirts, warm pajamas, and a couple pairs of pants.  She also needed some new shoes as she was growing out of many of her old shoes, especially the tennis shoes that she wears pretty much every day for preschool.  Shopping for her is always so difficult because I never know what will fit her.  I bought some stretchy leggings in a variety of colors from a mom in Oxford who was selling them, and those pants fit her pretty well.  However, other pants, especially non-stretchy pants like jeans, I can't ever seem to find any to fit her.  She has such a tiny waist and a small tushy that no pants will stay up on her.  If you go down a size, then they are too short, as her legs are pretty long.  She always complains about jeans being uncomfortable, and we don't want to have to deal with always reminding her to pull up her pants so that her tushy isn't hanging out, so I guess leggings and sweatpants are going to be the way to go, at least for now.  Even in shopping for shirts, it's difficult to find the right size.  Size 4 is too small, short on her arms and in length.  However, then she transitions into some clothes being 5 or 5t and some being in the girl's department which lists sizes as 5/6 and often those are too long on her arms and in length.  I ended up getting some that I knew would be a little too big for her because then she can grow into them and possibly wear them again next year as well.  I definitely don't want to buy new clothes and then have her grow out of them right away.  I spent way more money than I would have liked to shopping that morning, but it's hard when we are transitioning into a new season, have no clothes in reserve, and are not getting any hand-me-downs anymore.  I can't imagine how much people must spend on clothes when they buy them full price in a department store!

The best things I found at the resale store were Halloween costumes for Samantha and Aedan.  Originally, I was just looking for Aedan because Samantha has lots of dress-up princess dresses that she could wear.  However, I found a Superman costume with a cape attached to the back for Aedan, and then I found a Wonder Woman costume with a cape attached to the back.  I figured Samantha would love the idea of dressing up as a superhero since she has been really into superheroes lately, but she also would really love to be dressed similarly to Aedan.  They will be cute trick-or-treating together.

Daddy had Samantha and Aedan for lunch on Friday, but they gave him kind of a hard time in eating their picnic lunch at the TRI playground.  Samantha threw a fit towards the end, and Ben had to ask her calmly if that was the type of behavior she should have.  She said "No" and calmed down pretty quickly.  It was a good time that just ended on a sad note.  Luckily, just talking to Samantha like that has worked well lately in getting her to think about her actions and calm her down rather than escalating her reaction.

After finishing Zumba and getting the kids from Ben, Aedan actually fell asleep in the car on the way home because he was so tired from his morning with Bennett and Andrea.  Once we got home, I showed them their costumes and they just had to try them.  The costumes fit them really well, and they were so cute together as superheroes.  (Aedan was pretty tired as he had a long morning and it was almost nap time, which is why he has his pacifier.)  Here are some pictures of the kids dressed up and playing in their Halloween costumes.  :)

After trying on the costumes, Samantha wanted to try on more clothes, but I told her we weren't going to try on anymore at that time because it was time for them to go down for their naps.  She got upset and threw another fit and yelled at me.  However, I took Ben's approach and calmly asked her whether she was acting right, and it seemed to calm her down quicker than even sending her to a time out.  Then, she apologized later without me even having to ask.  It's nice that we have been able to handle her meltdowns a little better lately, and the meltdowns have been happening less frequently.

That evening it was rainy and chilly outside, so we spent the evening inside, much to Aedan's chagrin.  Aedan has gotten used to playing outside every evening after dinner and was really disappointed that we couldn't go outside.  He didn't understand.  It will be hard for him as we transition into fall and winter, when the evenings get cold and dark, and we will have to spend more time playing inside.  That evening, I had the kids try on the new clothes I got for them to see if they would fit and to see what items we would have to return.  Then, we just played together.  Samantha wanted to get the fishing game out, and Aedan thought the fish were pretty interesting as they went around and around.  It was a great family night at home together.

Ben is a very thoughtful and caring husband.  Friday evening when he got home from work he came bearing two bouquets of flowers, just because.  They were very beautiful and were a nice touch to our kitchen table.  I love having fresh flowers in the house.  Ben and I even got to spend time together watching a silly movie once we got the kids in bed that night.  We watched Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, and it was pretty ridiculous, but it also made me laugh at the insane predicaments they got themselves into, the perfect way to relax after a busy week.  It's nice to have a night at home with nothing particular to go out and do.

Normally we have pretty relaxed Saturday mornings, but this Saturday was Samantha's first soccer game.  After she woke up, but before Aedan got up, she wanted me to play with her, so we got all her princess paraphernalia lined up on her Elmo chair because they were getting ready to take a picture.  I let her push the button on my phone in order to take this picture.  She thought that was pretty fun and really enjoys one-on-one playtime when Aedan is sleeping.

We ate pancakes for breakfast while Aedan continued to sleep.  For the last week or so, he has been waking up early in the morning, sometimes between 5:30 and 6:00, talking and making noise in his crib, and then falling back asleep again for awhile.  Saturday was one of those mornings, sleeping long enough that it was getting close to when we'd have to wake him up so that he could eat some breakfast before we needed to leave for Samantha's soccer game at 9:00.  A cold front came through, giving us a very chilly, cloudy morning at the soccer field.  We wore pants and sweaters, and Aedan and I sat on the sidelines watching the game.  He didn't have much of a chance to eat breakfast, so we brought a couple pancakes and a banana with us for him to eat, and to keep him occupied in his stroller so that I could actually watch Samantha play in her very first soccer game.

Samantha was so excited for her first game, but also a little nervous.  She did a really good job of listening to her coaches and trying to get to the ball.  In fact, right at the beginning of the game, she got her feet on the ball right by the goal but the mass of kids got the best of her and she wasn't able to kick it in.  There are a couple boys that are really into soccer and had a hard time feeling mad when their teammates would kick the ball out of bounds or run the wrong way down the field.  Samantha wasn't at the front of the pack, but she also wasn't at the back of the pack either, which made us happy.  She was trying hard and giving it her best, which is really all we ask for.  We want her to try hard, have fun, and do her best at giving soccer a try.  They played four ten minute quarters, so that was a pretty long time for four and five year olds to run around and play for their first game.  I enjoyed watching Samantha out on the field, becoming more athletic, and enjoying her first team experience.  Here is a picture and some videos of her very first soccer game.

After Samantha's soccer game, we stopped at the Farmer's Market in Oxford to get our free checks from WIC, and then spent some of them on fresh corn, apples, and apple cider.  Our kids were extremely tired that morning, acting like they could go to sleep when it was only 11:00, so we decided to have an early lunch and get the kids down for early naps.  Both were asleep by 1:00 which is practically unheard of lately.  Since they took such a good rest, we decided to go out as a family that evening.  We needed to return the clothes that didn't fit them that I had bought the day before.  The store was most of the way to our favorite restaurant, Chuy's, so we decided to eat dinner there before going to the store to return the unwanted items as well as let Samantha pick out something special for Brielle whose birthday party is next weekend.  It was nice to go out together and our kids did pretty well while we were out until it was time to go home and they were getting tired.

Sunday was a full and busy day.  We had church in the morning and also volunteered in the elementary room at the 10:45 service, so we were there for both services.  We are in the middle of trying to get a new community group started up and had plans to meet and talk on Sunday afternoon.  Because of that, we got home, had a quick lunch, and then got the kids down for naps as soon as we could.  However, we still had to wake the kids up at 2:50 in order to get to church as close to 3:00 as we could.  Both of our kids get cranky when we have to wake them up from their naps, so that resulted in some crankiness for the rest of the evening as we got back and still had to make dinner.

Since Samantha didn't get a chance to watch a show when she woke up, we let her watch it while Daddy and I made dinner.  Aedan decided to join Samantha on the couch.  This is a new thing for Aedan in the last week.  He now knows how to climb onto the couch as well as the black chair next to the piano.  I think he likes sitting on the couch because it makes him feel more grown-up like Samantha.  He may want to take part in Samantha's show watching more often.

Monday was another day of preschool for Samantha and back to our regular schedule of Aedan going with Andrea.  I had a couple errands to run and then went home to get stuff done around the house and do laundry.  It's amazing how fast time goes, but it's much easier getting this done in a quiet house without kids underfoot.  We had a good day, a good nap time, and a good time at home as a family that night.  We even got to spend a lovely, warm evening playing outside, riding bikes, and playing with balls.

(Blog about September 8-14, 2015)