Aedan: 55 Months, Week 4
Owen: 14 Months, Week 2
Sunday was our day to head back home from Upland, and the kids were so sad, especially Aedan. He cried almost the whole way from the house to the interstate. He loves being in Upland with Ema and Papa so much, and the only thing that made it better was that it wouldn't be too long before we would be back there again for Christmas. The drive went fairly well that day with stopping at Panera for lunch near Lansing. Then, it was nap time when we got back in the car, and it didn't take long for Owen to fall asleep that day. In fact, he must have been so tired out from our busy week because he ended up sleeping for a couple hours in the car that afternoon, much better than our trip down to Upland.
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As we get closer to home, the drive starts to feel longer and longer, and everyone is just ready to be home. However, we try to make it fun and pass the time being silly. Samantha and Aedan made up what they call their "P Language," and they will talk to each other using this language quite a bit. It's basically just starting every word with the P sound. Well, as we were driving in the car that evening, Samantha reached over and grabbed Aedan's hand as they sang the alphabet song in their P language.
We got back earlier that evening so that we could get unloaded, unpacked, have dinner, give the kids baths, and get to bed at a decent time. Samantha was really helpful in getting things put away, and Aedan helped too, reluctantly. After getting the kids in bed, Ben and tried our hand at another fire, and I know this might be silly to post a video of a fire, but Ben and I have always been a little bit challenged when it comes to starting fires. We went camping a few times and never seemed to be able to get one started, and I know it was a point of frustration between the two of us. However, now that we have two cords of wood stacked up in our shed and this lovely fireplace in our living room, we wanted to have more fires this winter. After some trial and error, we discovered that we needed to make sure the wood had a chance to dry out inside the house for at least a day. Plus, we needed to split the wood that we got into even smaller pieces so that they would catch on fire easier. Now, these may be common sense things to other people, but we just don't know much about this stuff. I even watched some videos on YouTube on how to start a fire, and we discovered that the upside down fire works much better than the tee-pee shaped fire. We were very proud of ourselves and the fire we got going that night, so I took a little video of it. This has quickly become one of my favorite things: to sit on the couch, all cuddled up, with a fire going in the fireplace, and the lights shining from the tree.
It was really nice being gone for Thanksgiving break. It was a welcome reprieve from the busyness of life. Monday morning was going to be a busy day right off the bat. I had set up for MOPS at church and then planned to go grocery shopping right from there. I figured it would be better to just get it out of the way, since we needed food any way, that way I wouldn't have to waste another morning with grocery shopping. I told Aedan we would get all the boring things out of the way in one day. Set up went pretty well, but Aedan wasn't the best listener with cleaning up his toys when it was time to go. It was kind of a rushed and busy morning with getting back home, putting the groceries away, eating lunch, and taking Aedan to preschool. Once back home, I got Owen down for a nap, even though he gave me a hard time going to sleep that afternoon when he was practically falling asleep in the car on the way home from dropping Aedan off at preschool. Once he was finally asleep, I finished hanging up the icicle lights outside. It was something I wanted to get done but just didn't have time for before Thanksgiving. It was a sunny and not as cold day, so I figured it would be a good time to finish them. I just peeked my head in the house every five minutes to listen to the monitor and make sure Owen was still asleep. I also started on the many loads of laundry I had to do after our trip.
Then, right after school Samantha had a family event at her school, so I picked up Samantha, went back to get Aedan, and then we went back to her school for the Gifts in a Jar event. Each kid got to pick three free books, and then we made these meals in a jar that we could then give away as a gift. We made puppy chow, cookie mix, and soup mix.
Then, right after school Samantha had a family event at her school, so I picked up Samantha, went back to get Aedan, and then we went back to her school for the Gifts in a Jar event. Each kid got to pick three free books, and then we made these meals in a jar that we could then give away as a gift. We made puppy chow, cookie mix, and soup mix.
Then, we rushed home to drop Samantha and Owen off and pick up Aedan's hockey stuff for practice. I knew it would be a lot for one night, but he needed to go to practice. Hockey has been a touchy subject lately because before we started he was practically begging to be in hockey. But now he complains just about every time he has practice and says he doesn't want to go. Then, he just goes out on the ice and shuffles his feet instead of actually trying to push off, skate, and glide. It's really frustrating to both Ben and me, and we keep trying to encourage him and not be too hard on him, but other kids were around the same ability as him at the beginning, and now they are doing much better than he is. It seems like he just doesn't want to try, or like he's too afraid to fall or something. I don't know what the deal is. We don't want him to be the best; we just want him to give his best effort and not give up.
Anyways, that night I really tried to push the positive with him, giving him a practice step to take in focusing on pushing off with his foot to make himself go forward. Aedan is number 12, and in these videos you can see how he is pushing off with his right foot. In the past, he would never have even been able to get all the way across the ice, so I was super proud of him being able to get all the way across successfully. I could tell he was really trying and doing his best, which made we really excited.
And here he is coming back down the ice toward me. Do you see how much faster he is getting? He was only pushing off with his right foot, so now we need to try to get his left foot involved, too, but this is by far the best he has ever done. I feel like once he figures that out and he can just zip around the ice, there will be no stopping him because he already has such a high interest in using his hockey stick and hitting the puck. In the summertime, he would run around the driveway and hit the puck, so it's only a matter of figuring out this ice skating thing.
And here are the kids playing a pretend hockey game with a soccer ball to hit around. Do you see how he's stopping, starting, and turning? He even was able to hit the ball a few times. You can tell he has a lot more fun when playing games like this, rather than just skating to skate.
To end the night, Aedan gave another great effort skating all the way across the ice to where they exit the rink. He was getting himself going so fast, and I was so proud of much he worked hard during practice that night. I told him how well he did afterwards and how I couldn't wait to go home and tell Daddy how good he did. I hope that Aedan can continue putting this effort into learning hockey because he will get so much more satisfaction out of it.
Tuesday was a MOPS day which always are fun, but busy. It was the first time I was more in charge of getting the childcare workers their name tags and paying them checks, trying to slowly take over responsibilities from Jill. Our topic that day was the Mentor Mom Panel, and I thought they did an awesome job sharing their experience with Christmas traditions with their family, as well as what to do if you don't like your kid's friends. It was great to hear some advice from some older women that have been through this stage of raising young ones and are willing to speak into our lives.
The rest of the day went by quickly with our typical routine of cleaning up from MOPS, rushing home to eat lunch and get to preschool (it seems like we've been doing that a lot lately), and then trying to get Owen down for a nap. He did better going to sleep for me that afternoon, and he took a nice nap for me. He was still asleep when Calla came over to babysit while I took the big kids to gymnastics. Then, after gymnastics we had dinner together, followed by bath time and bed time. It was my turn with Samantha, and Owen decided to do his little show-off routine for us as I was reading to her. He certainly loves being silly and making us laugh. (But I did have to stop him when he decided to start whacking his head on the door.) He's a crazy kid! You wouldn't know that it's bedtime!
I feel like I don't have much to say about this week because it really was just a normal week. I didn't take too many pictures, we didn't do anything too spectacular, just our normal life together as a family. There was no story time at the library on Wednesday, so we decided to just stay home and play. After being away from home the week before, we were just in kind of a homebody mood, which is perfectly okay with me.
On Wednesday night we had Aedan go to hockey again as a way to reinforce that we are serious about him trying his best and not giving up. We ate dinner early that night, ham and potatoes in the crock pot. (Our kids really like to eat ham! It's something even Aedan will eat willingly, and he's been weird with eating lately.) Then, Ben took him to hockey practice while I hung out at home with Samantha and Owen. I arranged for another mom to pick Samantha up and take her to AWANA, and Ben took Aedan straight from hockey to AWANA, leaving a little early from hockey and arriving a little late for AWANA. I don't think we are going to make this a regular habit of having him do both things, but we wanted to prove our point about how we wanted him to take it seriously and keep working hard.
On Thursday morning I invited our neighbors, the Grundmeiers over for a play date. We hadn't had them over for awhile, and I thought that Aedan would enjoy having someone over to play. Before they came, I spent some time picking things up around the house and cleaning the floors that were looking a little dirty. Then, when they got here, we ended up down in the basement where all the kids could find something fun to play with. I even let Izzy stay out, and she did a really good job of not barking at them. Her biggest problem was just getting too excited and getting in their faces, especially Carly's. I hadn't invited anyone over for awhile, and I also hadn't spent much time with Valerie in awhile, so it was fun to sit and talk while our kids played happily.
The rest of the day the boys and I just hung out, and we decided to go out for pizza in Brimley that evening instead of eating food at home. The kids did a good job riding in the car and interacting with each other, so we were extra nice and let them get ice cream as well.
Friday morning was Ben's turn to volunteer in Samantha's classroom, so Aedan and I worked on making banana chocolate chip muffins, but then realized we didn't have enough sugar. That's one of those ingredients that we almost always have on hand, but apparently we didn't write it down on the list when we emptied out the bag. Anyways, he was able to pick some up for me on the way home, and we were able to finish making the batter before heading out to McDonald's for a MOPS play date. There were a lot of moms there that morning, and it was fun for the boys to run around and play. Aedan must have been really hungry because he devoured his entire kid's meal, and they even gave him fries that we didn't order. I got a sausage muffin sandwich for Owen because I figured he would enjoy that more than chicken nuggets or anything like that, and he ate it pretty well. Then, we went straight from McDonald's to dropping Aedan off at preschool and then back home to put Owen down for a nap.
Fridays are nice because Ben doesn't teach. He still goes to campus to work and grade, but he is more flexible. For example, this afternoon he was able to come home early so that I could go get my hair cut. It had gotten too long and was bothering me, so I decided it was time to cut it back to shoulder length again. I then had a little bit of time before I had to pick up the kids so I picked up our quilt from the dry cleaners and stopped at Ace Hardware to buy and ax so we could chop our wood into smaller pieces so it would be easier to get a fire going.
I always breathe a sigh of relief on Friday nights come. Weeks seem long and busy, and this semester has been killer for Ben. This particular Friday night we had tickets to a Laker hockey game. We tried taking Owen to a game awhile back, and it didn't work so well, but I think it was mainly because he was tired. However, on this day he took a really long nap, and we actually had to wake him up so that he could eat dinner. Because of that, he was in a really good mood that evening, and he did so well at the game. For the first period, he was pretty happy hanging out on our laps and watching the game. He was very interested in watching the players skate back and forth and seeing the players use their sticks. (He is always trying to play with Aedan's hockey stick in the house at home.) After the first period we got up to walk around and let the kids get some wiggles out before stopping to get a snack and going back to our seats. We sat up one row higher so that we could contain Owen a little bit better with Ben and I sitting on opposite sides and the kids in the middle. This actually worked really well because he couldn't escape through the bars like he could in the front row, and he happily walked back and forth and climbed up on the seat as well. It obviously wasn't as relaxing as going to a game without Owen, but it worked out pretty well, and it was better than having to pay for a babysitter or miss half of the game because I stayed home to put him to bed. Here are some pictures of us hanging out at the game. :)
The rest of the day the boys and I just hung out, and we decided to go out for pizza in Brimley that evening instead of eating food at home. The kids did a good job riding in the car and interacting with each other, so we were extra nice and let them get ice cream as well.
Friday morning was Ben's turn to volunteer in Samantha's classroom, so Aedan and I worked on making banana chocolate chip muffins, but then realized we didn't have enough sugar. That's one of those ingredients that we almost always have on hand, but apparently we didn't write it down on the list when we emptied out the bag. Anyways, he was able to pick some up for me on the way home, and we were able to finish making the batter before heading out to McDonald's for a MOPS play date. There were a lot of moms there that morning, and it was fun for the boys to run around and play. Aedan must have been really hungry because he devoured his entire kid's meal, and they even gave him fries that we didn't order. I got a sausage muffin sandwich for Owen because I figured he would enjoy that more than chicken nuggets or anything like that, and he ate it pretty well. Then, we went straight from McDonald's to dropping Aedan off at preschool and then back home to put Owen down for a nap.
Fridays are nice because Ben doesn't teach. He still goes to campus to work and grade, but he is more flexible. For example, this afternoon he was able to come home early so that I could go get my hair cut. It had gotten too long and was bothering me, so I decided it was time to cut it back to shoulder length again. I then had a little bit of time before I had to pick up the kids so I picked up our quilt from the dry cleaners and stopped at Ace Hardware to buy and ax so we could chop our wood into smaller pieces so it would be easier to get a fire going.
I always breathe a sigh of relief on Friday nights come. Weeks seem long and busy, and this semester has been killer for Ben. This particular Friday night we had tickets to a Laker hockey game. We tried taking Owen to a game awhile back, and it didn't work so well, but I think it was mainly because he was tired. However, on this day he took a really long nap, and we actually had to wake him up so that he could eat dinner. Because of that, he was in a really good mood that evening, and he did so well at the game. For the first period, he was pretty happy hanging out on our laps and watching the game. He was very interested in watching the players skate back and forth and seeing the players use their sticks. (He is always trying to play with Aedan's hockey stick in the house at home.) After the first period we got up to walk around and let the kids get some wiggles out before stopping to get a snack and going back to our seats. We sat up one row higher so that we could contain Owen a little bit better with Ben and I sitting on opposite sides and the kids in the middle. This actually worked really well because he couldn't escape through the bars like he could in the front row, and he happily walked back and forth and climbed up on the seat as well. It obviously wasn't as relaxing as going to a game without Owen, but it worked out pretty well, and it was better than having to pay for a babysitter or miss half of the game because I stayed home to put him to bed. Here are some pictures of us hanging out at the game. :)
Owen just can't help but dance when he hears music, no matter where he is, and I love it. :)
Early in the game, a puck came flying out over the glass and net, and Samantha was able to run and get it. She got to keep it and was so proud of herself. She wanted us to take a picture of her with it. (She kept this puck in her pocket for days after getting it at this game.)
Towards the end of the game, Aedan was getting tired and wanted to sit on my lap, so I took advantage of him sitting with me to get a picture of the two of us together. I love this little 4 1/2 year old boy. He's getting bigger and older looking, but he's still more than willing to sit on my lap and snuggle.
Since LSSU was losing, we decided to leave after the second period was over, but we still got the kids to bed almost two hours later than usual. They didn't sleep in much on Saturday morning, but that was okay, as we didn't have too many big plans that morning. We spent some time just hanging out together, letting the kids have free time to play, and even going over to the Norris Center for a little while so Ben and I could work out while Samantha and Aedan ran around and played with balls on the basketball court.
That afternoon we had plans to watch the Grundmeier girls while their parents went out shopping and just had some time to themselves. They watched our kids for us a few weeks ago, and I wanted to make sure we could return the favor and watch theirs as well. All the kids get along so well, and they started off playing inside together in Samantha's and Aedan's rooms before the big kids went outside to play in our back yard. The two younger girls stayed inside, and Owen was asleep the whole time, so it really was pretty easy. Samantha and Aedan loved having kids over to play, and it's great to do a babysitting swap with another family, helping to save on paying for a babysitter, too. We will definitely have to do this more. :)
And just because I'm a nerd and we are proud of our successful fire now that we have an ax to chop the wood smaller and are letting it dry out before using it. I got upstairs from putting Owen down for bed, and Ben already had a nice fire going in the fireplace. I'm so glad that we can get more use out of our fireplace this year. I love the ambiance and smell from a wood-burning fireplace. It makes for a warm, relaxing, comforting way to spend an evening once the kids are in bed and all the house is calm and quiet.
(Blog about November 25-December 1, 2018)
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