Aedan: 61 Months, Week 5
Owen: 20 Months, Week 2
With it being a holiday weekend, Ben and I wanted to try and do some things with the kids, but with the cold and rainy weather, our Saturday plans were changed. Then, on Sunday we had church in the morning and small group in the evening. In the afternoon I did some work cleaning the screens for the windows so we could put them back in the windows before we move, and also cleaning out the car, which is something I have wanted to do for a long time. I took all the car seats and floor mats out so I could clean all the seats. I ended up taking the van to the high power vacuums near the car wash so I could reach everything better and get in all the cracks and crevices. Sometimes I feel like my vacuum doesn't do too well with those areas. It looked so nice on the inside. It's amazing how much dirt and crumbs accumulate in the car (especially with kids). I went through the car wash with the car in just enough time to get home right when small group was starting. Then, that evening after small group I cleaned out the inside of the car with wipes for the windows and the other surfaces. I was so happy with how the car looked when I was done. I had been wanting to clean the winter grossness out for awhile now, and it was a nice enough day that I could spend time outside taking care of that.
Monday was Memorial Day, so Samantha didn't have school. We decided to go out for breakfast, but the restaurant we wanted to go to, that we had a gift card for, was closed, so we ended up at McDonald's for breakfast. The seating area had just been reopened after the renovation, and the kids were just as excited to eat there and play for a little while. It was fun to watch them climbing around on the play-place together, and Owen loved the attention from Samantha and Aedan. They were really good with helping him climb up the steps that were too big for him and going down the slide with him. He would just squeal all the way down and pop out the bottom of the slide with a huge smile on his face.
The rest of our morning was spent with our neighbors coming over to play. The kids had a fun time together, and they even ended up staying over for lunch. It's fun having neighbors that are good friends, and the kids have really enjoyed having other kids to play with right next door.
Monday night was bath night, and here are Owen and Aedan pouring water out of their cups in the bath tub. Aedan will flood the bathroom floor if we're not careful, and with Owen's tubes in his ears, we have to be careful how much water he gets poured out on his head. Nevertheless, they were having a great time playing in the bathtub together.
With Aedan being done with school and our move coming up soon, our days have been a little different these days. Owen had a follow-up appointment with Dr. Wallace on Tuesday to check on the placement of his tubes and everything checked out great. They were placed well and looked clear, so now we just had to wait for his hearing test the following Monday to see how much the tubes have helped with his hearing.
Here are the boys playing outside that day with the water table. They both really like the water table, and it's fun to watch them play with each other. I love seeing them playing and interacting with each other more lately. It's really sweet to see them share some of the same moments that Aedan shared with Samantha when they were these ages.
Ben and I have been slowly going through our house, getting things organized for our move. We don't want to take anything that we don't really need, and there have been things we needed to just get rid of as well. Our basement has been the worst and has been a considerable amount of work. I don't think I realized how much we had been just putting things in closets and not getting rid of stuff as needed. This was how our basement looked that afternoon, but at least it was forcing us to go through literally everything in our house. Everything looks worse as you are going through it.
And here are the final results. We totally organized the storage closet with everything labeled properly.
After all the work we have been doing around the house, I was looking forward to getting out of the house for awhile on Wednesday night for my last Mom's night out. I didn't know whether or not I wanted to go at first because it was a style night at a local clothing store. I sent in my sizes and what style of clothes I generally wear, and they were going to pick out outfits for us to try on. However, even though I wasn't too excited about trying on new clothes in front of other women, I definitely need some new clothes added to my wardrobe and sometimes it's nice letting others choose clothes for me that I normally wouldn't choose for myself. Our time out was actually pretty fun. I ended up getting quite a few different outfits that included a dress, a skirt, some new shorts, jeans, new tops, and even a jean jacket to throw over things since a lot of the ladies thought it was amazing that I didn't own a jean jacket. It was fun to stand and chat with this group of women, and I was glad that I made myself go out.
With school winding down, Samantha had her end of the year Girl Scout's party. They were awarded the patches that they earned throughout the school year, and had a cupcake decorating contest. They served pizza and juice boxes to eat, and Samantha has a great time decorating (and, of course, eating) her cupcake.
Right after Samantha's Girl Scout party, we left to cross the border for swim lessons. Since Ben was going to be out of town on Sunday, it was his turn to go in the water with Owen. The kids always do well swimming, and I'm impressed with how much they learn in just half an hour lessons each week. We are certainly going to miss having this pool to take our kids to. It has been a great place for lessons and for fun play time during the cold winter months.
Friday was a full day for me as I was trying to get the house cleaned. I figured it desperately needed to be cleaned, and this would probably be the last time I cleaned before we packed up and moved out of this house. While I was trying to get stuff done around the house, Ben helped entertain the boys. I overheard Owen saying, "Noo" from the other room, so I snuck around the corner and was able to capture it on video. Owen is learning more and more words every day, and even though I'm not too excited that he is learning "No," it is pretty cute how he says it so emphatically.
Friday evening was a going away party for us at Project Playground with our old small group and a few others from church. We had a cook out and were able to just hang out and talk. It was fun to get together with everyone again, and it was cool to think about how we started that group and now that group has split into three groups. I love that we have gotten to know so many different people at Sault Wesleyan Church, and it was very thoughtful of the Perkins family to plan this get together for us. We were even able to go over to the softball team to watch part of a game before heading back home to get the kids to bed.
Saturday, June 1st was a big day for Samantha, as it was her Girl Scout sleepover trip to the U.P. Children's Museum in Marquette. I filled out the volunteer application so that I could come as a parent volunteer. I didn't know how Samantha would handle doing a trip like this, especially this far away, without one of us with her. Plus, I didn't really know the leaders all that well and felt a little uncomfortable with the idea of her being there on her own. I was glad that my dad was able to come up to our house for a few days so that he could help out with the boys on Sunday so that I could go with Samantha and Ben could still leave as planned on his trip out to Salt Lake City.
Samantha had been looking forward to this trip for a long time, and she was super excited all morning on Saturday. We got our stuff packed up, had lunch, and met in the Meijer parking lot around 1:15 to gather everyone together and make the caravan out to Marquette. It is a three hour drive to Marquette, and I had Samantha bring a few things in the car to occupy herself. We rode with Darcy and Emi, and it was fun to talk with Darcy on the car ride there. The girls had a word search to work on in order to unlock their first key for their Discovery patch, so that kept them busy for awhile. Samantha was really glad to be riding with her friend, Emi. On the way there, we stopped two times. One time to just have a bathroom break, and another time at a statue park called Lakenland where we ate our picnic dinners and had some time for the girls to run around and play. Here are all the Girl Scouts huddling up, doing a get to know you activity.
Here are all the Girl Scouts posing in front of the sign before heading out to the museum. Samantha is in the pink coat on the left side of the picture.
After that, the kids had free time to explore the museum. They also had a scavenger hunt for the kids to complete as well as a tortoise demonstration. Samantha wanted me to go around with her, and when they were told to pick partners for the scavenger hunt, she picked me. I was honored that she wanted to spend time with me, even though she was with all kinds of other girls she could have run off with instead. Samantha was the first one to complete the scavenger hunt, and I didn't really help her that much. She was just very motivated to stay focused and get it done, when most of the girls just went off playing. I love my little girl, and we very rarely have this much time to just spend with each other without having household duties to take care of or little brothers vying for our attention. I'm so glad I was able to come with her on this trip. We had a blast exploring the museum together.
Once it got to be about 8:00, the troop leaders gathered the girls around and talked with them about sleeping arrangements. They explained where they were allowed to sleep and that they could sleep in groups of three or four, as long as an adult with with them. Samantha fluttered around a bit, asking a couple girls if they wanted to sleep with her, but most girls said they had already found someone. I could tell that she felt a little sad and left out, and I felt bad for my little girl. However, she then decided that she just wanted to sleep with me anyways. We walked around a little bit with our stuff and settled on a sleeping spot in the radio room in the back corner, but in an area where she could still get to the bathroom. She was pretty happy with our little room and left a really cute message for Daddy explaining all about our room that had two doors and windows and up on the ceiling there were painted stars. It was relatively dark, but not too dark where she wouldn't be able to see to go to the bathroom. I got our air mattress and sleeping bags set up while she got ready for bed and found a good spot to watch the movie.
Miss Darcy brought a popcorn popper, and they had a whole spread of toppings to add into their popcorn, almost like making a trail mix. Here are all the girls ready and waiting for the movie to start. They watched a Tinker Bell movie called Secret of the Wings, and Samantha was one of the few girls who paid attention and watched the whole movie. I was glad to be able to sit and relax and watch the movie as well, as Owen had woken us up a couple times in the middle of the night the night before, so I was especially tired that night.
It was after 10:30 when Samantha and I finally crawled into bed. I could tell by how much she was wiggling around and sighing, that she was going to have a hard time falling asleep. It's hard for her to sleep in new places, and she wasn't used to sleeping in a sleeping bag and not having a fan to block out any background noises. So after talking for a little while together in bed, she rolled over to go to sleep and I scratched her back for quite awhile until I could tell her mind and body was starting to relax. Then, I left my hand resting gently on her shoulder as she drifted off to sleep. I was so glad she was able to rest enough to let herself fall asleep, and I enjoyed being there for her and with her as she fell asleep. I couldn't help but fall asleep with a smile of contentment on my face that night after a fun, full day with my little girl.
(Blog about May 26-June 1, 2019)
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