Fun Day Trips Together and Labor Day Weekend

Samantha: 51 Months, Week 3

Aedan: 16 Months, Week 1 (Week 71)

This past week on Tuesday it was going to be a very hot day, so I decided to would be fun to take the kids to the Cincinnati Museum Center.  They woke up in good moods, so I packed up some sandwiches for us to eat for lunch, and we made our way down to the museum.  We always start off in the children's museum area, stopping off at the ball area first.  Aedan really likes that area, and when he wanted to make a basket with a ball, he would grab a ball and squat down, waiting for me to pick him up so that he could dunk the ball in the basket.  It is not Samantha's favorite area, but she tolerates it because she knows Aedan likes it.  Then, Samantha wanted to go off to the left where they have pretend homes from children around the world.  Samantha put on a little puppet show for us.

Aedan's favorite area is the place with the various drums and other instruments that make a lot of noise when he bangs on them.

Once we reached the construction area, both Samantha and Aedan played here for a long time.  They took turns pushing the shovels and scooping up rocks, as well as pushing the wheelbarrows around.

After that we spent some time in the pretend village where there is a restaurant, vet office, grocery store, car shop, and house.  Samantha and Aedan were playing together near the restaurant and then all of a sudden I couldn't find Samantha.  I didn't see her anywhere I looked, and I started to get nervous.  She knows better than to wander off to a different place without telling me.  It had only been a few seconds, so I didn't think she'd be too far, but you never know what could happen.  Finally, I found her in the vet office back in a corner where I couldn't see her at first.  I had a serious talk with her about wandering away without telling me where she was going, telling her that if she did that again we would have to go home because it just wasn't safe.  I should have known that she would be in the vet office because it's her favorite place to play.  She puts on the white doctor's coat and pretends to take care of all the stuffed animals in the hospital.

As Samantha played in the animal hospital, Aedan wandered around the other rooms.  However, he kept putting things in his mouth, which is not a good idea in a public place like this where I'm sure the toys are covered in germs from various kids.  I couldn't get him to stop, so I encouraged Samantha to go to a different area of the museum.  We headed to the forest.  The museum was pretty empty that day, especially as it approached lunchtime, so it was nice being able to let the kids climb around without having to worry about bigger kids trampling them.

Aedan kept trying to head over to the water play area, so Samantha willingly moved on so that Aedan could play where he wanted.  She did a great job of being gracious like that, taking turns doing something Aedan would like and then something she would like.  Both kids really enjoyed free reign of the water.  Aedan was able to step up on the step stools to better reach the water.  He splashed and dumped water, getting himself soaking wet!

Samantha got into the water more this time, probably because there weren't as many kids, so she was able to play with the tubes and make connections to send the water in different directions.

After playing in the water area, we decided it was time to take a break for lunch, so we went upstairs to eat our packed lunch of sandwiches, strawberries, and yogurt.  Both kids ate very well.  (We discovered that the secret to getting our kids to eat sandwiches is by putting a pickle slice on them!)  After eating lunch, we went to the science part of the museum so that Samantha could show me the Ice Age area with the different cave and area with pretend animals to walk through.  They went here with Daddy when he brought them last time, and we didn't even know this area existed before.  It's tucked back around a corner, practically hidden from sight.  They even have a dinosaur area that was fun to walk through with  plastic dinosaurs and dinosaur books to look at as well.

At that point it was getting later in the afternoon, the kids were getting tired, and it was getting close to time when we should leave, so I had Samantha pick one more thing she wanted to do.  She wanted to go ride on the trolley car and play with the trains, so we went into the history museum on the other side of the museum center.  Samantha loves to pretend like she is really riding on the trolley, and on this particular day, there was an older man volunteering at the museum who was on the trolley to answer any questions you may have.  He enjoyed talking to Samantha for awhile and watching Aedan walk up and down the aisle.  This man reminded me so much of my Grandpa Kappel.  In fact, I think he may have even worn the same cologne or aftershave that he wears because I feel like his smell took me right back to the memories of being with my grandpa at his house.  I miss my grandparents sometimes, especially at times like this when I see others that could very well be my grandparents.

After playing with the train tables, it was time to head back home.  I told Samantha to wait until we got home to nap, and Aedan fell asleep pretty quickly in the car.  They both took nice long naps once back home, sleeping until Daddy got home after 4:30 that afternoon.  It was a fun day at the museum but going out places like that tires me out as well, so I was glad for the rest time while the kids napped.

On Tuesday night, Ben had another softball game, and Samantha really wanted to go for awhile, so we decided to go and play on the playground and watch the game for a little while before getting back home for a decent bedtime.  It's hectic going over to the park sometimes just for an hour and then getting back home and putting them kids right to bed, but he only has a couple more weeks of softball, and Samantha really enjoys being there with her daddy.  She misses him a lot on Tuesdays and Wednesdays when we have these very long, busy days.

Wednesday was my morning to take Bennett back to our house to play.  However, it wasn't the greatest of mornings.  Both boys were pretty tired and aimless in their playing.  I tried to get a few things done around the house, like some laundry and changing sheets and towels; however, the boys didn't like it that I was trying to get other things done.  I didn't realize how much different it would be with two kids about the same age compared to when I have Samantha and Aedan.  Samantha does such a good job playing with and taking care of her little brother, giving me a few minutes here and there to get some work done around the house.  Aedan loves Samantha and just wants to follow her around, so he doesn't really care if I'm off doing something else.  However, with just Bennett at home, someone he can't talk to or interact with as well, it's more difficult to keep him interested in independent play.  Both boys are fans of snack time and playing outside, so that's always a plus.

Sometimes lately I feel like my goal is just to get through Wednesdays, and then Thursday and Friday are much more relaxed.  After nap time on Wednesdays, it's time to get Samantha ready for soccer practice, and we're off again.  This week I decided to take a fold-up chair for myself to sit in, plus plenty of snacks for Aedan, in hopes that I could get him to sit down for awhile so I could watch Samantha play, rather than just chase Aedan around the whole time.  I sat next to Henry's mom, Melissa, and Aedan stayed sitting in his stroller for quite awhile this time.  It was nice to be more relaxed, to be able to watch Samantha play more, and to talk to a fellow mom.  Once Aedan started to get antsy, I let him out of his stroller, but then all he wants to do is run out on the field to be with the big kids.  That doesn't work well when they are doing a scrimmage and the kids are running back and forth trying to kick a goal.  However, Daddy actually picked him up and carried him for awhile as he continued to coach.  Aedan really liked that.  He is your typical younger sibling, always wanting to be included in what the older sibling is doing, tagging along, and not wanting to feel left out.

After soccer practice we went back home for dinner.  We had something called Chicken Fiesta in the crock pot and planned to put it in tortillas like a burrito.  Again, Samantha ate really well.  I think maybe her body is designed to eat dinner later in the evening (maybe she really would make a good European).  Or, maybe it has to do with running around at soccer practice for an hour.  Aedan wasn't as sure about eating, but that's been him lately.  For how much he used to eat everything and lots of it, now he has become much more of a picky eater.  He doesn't eat meat very well, unless it's sausage, and sometimes he is unsure about different textures of food that is all mixed together.  It's also difficult to get him to eat vegetables.  However, he did enjoy the tortilla and fruit we served with dinner.  Kids go through so many different phases like this.

Awhile back I mentioned to a local mom, Pam, that we would like to go to Totter's Otterville with her and her kids.  On Thursdays it is buy one get one free in September.  Before we moved to Oxford, when I was still pregnant with Aedan, we took a weekend trip with Samantha to Cincinnati.  We stayed in a hotel for a couple nights, went to a water park inside a hotel, and also went to this place, Totter's Otterville.  She loved it then, and I had been meaning to get back again, but it is about an hour away, just long enough that it's hard to justify sometimes, especially when we have a pass to the Cincinnati Museum Center.  Wednesday night the kids were just so tired from a long couple of days and were acting pretty cranky, so I was unsure whether we would go or not on Thursday.  We had plans to go over to Stephanie's house for dinner on Thursday night as well, and I didn't want to push Samantha and Aedan too much by having too many things going on, making it difficult for them to behave on Thursday evening.  Anyways, I told Pam that we would see what kind of moods they were in when they woke up on Thursday and go from there.

On Thursday morning Samantha woke up in rare form, full of energy.  I was trying to figure out what to do, and Ben said something like, "If I were you I would go because I don't think I'd want to be stuck in the house all day with her and the energy that she has."  So, we decided to go.  I hoped that Aedan might take a little nap in the car on the way there since the drive was close to an hour, plus I needed a little quiet as we drove, so I decided to let Samantha watch a movie on the portable DVD player.  She picked The Jungle Book, and it was such a nice, peaceful drive down.  I gave Aedan his pacifier, and he didn't fall asleep for awhile, but sat looking at books and playing with toys until he finally fell asleep fifteen minutes before we arrived.

Our first stop was the indoor play area with a ball pit and a large climbing structure with slides.  Aedan desperately wanted to follow Samantha into the ball pit, but he wasn't so sure about it once he got in.  He was too little to move around and got stuck in one position.  Samantha lovingly led him by the hand to help him get out.

It was going to be a very hot day outside again, another reason this was a fun activity for the day, so we decided to go outside and enjoy those activities before it got unbearably hot.  The kids played the fishing game for quite awhile.  Aedan even joined in.  He didn't catch any of the magnetic fish with his pole unless I helped him, but he had fun just holding the pole in the water.  I was amazed that he never let go to see what would happen with his fishing pole.

Outside there was also a small golfing area, some sand toys, and water area that wasn't working that day.  Samantha was acting pretty emotional, crying over falling and whining about having to share with Aedan, so I decided it was time to sit down and have a banana for a snack and try to calm down if we wanted to continue playing for the rest of the morning.  She seemed to do much better after having that time to refocus herself and her behavior.

Totter's Otterville is split up into different rooms, like a train room, a toy room, a baby room, a grocery store, a dress-up area, and a face painting area.  Samantha and Aedan had a good time going from one room to another, discovering all the various things to play with.  The hardest part was keeping Aedan in the same area as Samantha.  She often wanted to spend a lot longer somewhere, whereas he wanted to wander around from room to room.

For lunch we decided to order a large cheese pizza to split between our family and Pam's family.  You are not allowed to bring food in with you, and it was just too hot to sit outside by our car to eat lunch.  The pizza was actually pretty good and went over well with the kids.  From there, we began playing in some new areas we hadn't discovered yet, but then there was an announcement that the train was up and running, so we went outside to wait in line.  As I mentioned earlier, it was a VERY hot day.  Just standing outside made you start to sweat, and it reminded me of Texas weather.  You can tell how hot it was by the red, flushed cheeks and Aedan's sweaty head in the pictures below.  Nevertheless, the kids had a great ride on the train.  Aedan thought it was pretty cool to sit on the seat next to Samantha with a seatbelt across his lap, just like a big kid.

From there we went back to the ballet area and the block area with the moving ramp.  Samantha enjoyed putting on ballet skirt and shoes, watching the ballerina video, and trying to follow along with the ballerinas.  Aedan's favorite part was the blocks, putting one block in the hole at a time, following the lead of the older kids that were playing there as well.  It's amazing how much kids can learn just by watching others.

There was a short story time that Samantha went to before she had a chance to play in the pretend vet clinic while Aedan played with the water.

It was getting late, and I wanted to get back home so that the kids could get naps in before we needed to leave for dinner with the Chagdes.  Samantha chose to play in the ball pit and indoor playset one last time before it was time to go.  She climbed all over, going down the tall slides, while I stayed with Aedan helping him learn how to climb up and go down the slide that was just his size.  Here's a video showing him climbing into the slide, sitting on his bottom, and scooting himself down the slide all by himself.  Most times in the past he has tried to go down head first, so this is definite improvement, and you can tell he is so proud of himself. :)

I didn't know what to do about Samantha napping that afternoon.  It was going to be a little less than an hour to get home, so really not a long nap time unless she went right to sleep in the car, which wasn't likely.  I knew I wouldn't be able to keep her awake unless I let her finish watching The Jungle Book, so that's what I decided to do in order to maximize her chance of a good nap once we got home.  Aedan, of course, fell right asleep in the car, but he doesn't usually have a hard time going back to sleep once at home.  However, that was not the case on that particular day.  Samantha went right to sleep at home and took a good nap, but Aedan did not go back to sleep at all.  I tried rocking him, I tried leaving him in his crib for awhile to see if he would go back to sleep, but it did not work.  I guess sleeping almost an hour in the car is too long when I was hoping for him to continue sleeping at home.  It was one of those instances where I just felt like a mom failure.  We had already had a busy week, and I probably shouldn't have dragged them out to another place just because I had already made plans earlier in the week with another mom.  It was too much, tired them out too much, and I was worried about how they would be that evening at dinner.

Dinner at the Chagdes' went well even though Aedan was a little tired from only napping in the car.  He enjoyed investigating someone else's house, getting into things, and wreaking havoc on any toy that Samantha and Isaac attempted to play with.  We had a good dinner, the kids ate pretty well, and then we all went outside to let the kids play and get some energy out while the adults had tim to talk.  It's fun to meet new friends and share meals together.

Friday was a pretty normal day with Samantha going to preschool, and Aedan and I went grocery shopping.  However, even though we got back earlier, I tried to get too much done around the house and ended up leaving late to meet Ben on campus to do the kid swap so that I could go to Zumba.  Managing my time has always been a problem for me.  It's not that I just sit around or am lazy and that's why I'm late, I just try to fit too much into a small amount of time, underestimate the amount of time it takes me to accomplish certain tasks, or forget to account for unexpected delays like a dirty diaper or uncooperative children.  This is something I am consciously trying to improve upon so that I can arrive places on time and better manage my family's activities.

Friday night was spent hanging out as a family and getting packed up for our trip to Upland the next morning.  We hadn't been to Upland since June when we were just there by ourselves house sitting for Grandpa and Grandma.  Before that, it was the girls' birthday celebration that was the last time we were all together, so it was time for us to make another trip, especially before Samantha's soccer games start.  We left Oxford Saturday morning, arriving in Upland around 11:30.  The kids did okay in the car, but not great.  Samantha asked if we were almost there when we were only twenty minutes into our trip, so it was that kind of ride, where a short, less than two hour trip feels much longer.  Samantha hasn't been the greatest car rider lately.  She used to be content looking at library books for an hour or more, but now that doesn't seem to hold her attention long enough.  She often will want to tell stories or play I Spy with us, but that gets old after awhile, and Ben and I like to have a chance to talk to each other as well without having to entertain her.

Anyways, once in Upland, Samantha was thrilled because Alaina was already there and they started playing immediately.  They love each other so much, and seeing one another in Upland is always a highlight of their trip.  Aedan instantly smiled and reached out for Grandma when we walked in the house.  It was nice to be in Upland for a relaxing weekend away from home, with family.  We played, had lunch, and then put the kids down for their naps.  It took a stern talking to to get Samantha to calm down enough to let herself fall asleep, but luckily she did because we had a fun evening planned.

After eating TOPPIT pizza for dinner, we got ready and took a wagon/stroller ride over to Taylor's campus so that we could attend their evening football game against Anderson.  They were selling Game Day t-shirts, so Grandpa lovingly offered to buy them for Ben, Alaina, Samantha, and me.  Of course the girls wanted to put them on right away.  We got to the game pretty early, so the girls sat in the stands with Grandpa and Grandma, listening to the band play, while Ben and I walked around with Aedan.  He just wasn't going to be in the mood to sit still up in the bleachers for very long.  Once the game got close to starting, we made our way back up to the stands with Aedan, but he was just too wiggly and didn't want to be contained on someone's lap, so Ben took him back down to walk around again.  It's funny to think about our kids and how different their personalities are.  Back when Samantha was Aedan's age, we took her to IU football games, and I feel like she would at least last a quarter or  more in the stands with us before we would have to take her down to the field where she could run around and play.  Aedan is very different and doesn't like to sit still for very long, especially when he's outside.  The girls sat and watched the game for the first quarter.  Samantha asked a lot of questions about what was happening on the field but was particularly interested in the athletic trainer who would help the players when they were hurt.

After the first quarter was over, I could tell the girls were getting a little antsy and bored, so I offered to take them down to the field where lots of kids were running around, playing their own football game, and climbing on the tackling dummies.  Luckily, Ben thought to bring a football with us to the game, so Samantha and Alaina played around with that, making up their own football game.  They would throw it, the other would get the ball, and then they would run while the other chased and tried to catch them.  They also put it on the ground, ran and kicked it, so they had some aspects of a real football game.  I'm sure Alaina has watched much more football than Samantha has.

Toward the end of the quarter I could tell the girls were getting tired, and I was sure that Aedan was getting tired, wherever he was with Grandma, so we went back into the bleachers to watch the last few minutes of the quarter.  I assumed that we would leave around halftime so that we could get the kids to bed.  Aedan was pretty tired and got fussy once he saw me, so we just gave him his pacifier and I just carried him most of the way back to Grandpa and Grandma's house.  I think it was close to 9:30 by the time Samantha finally went to sleep that night.

Our sleeping arrangement worked well with Aedan in Tim's old room, Samantha in Ben's old room, and Ben and me in Jeni's old room.  Alaina slept on an air mattress in Grandpa and Grandma's room since she was going home the next day and sleeps better with other distractions than Samantha does.  Samantha woke up at her typical time on Sunday morning while Aedan slept in a little bit after being up so late.  Since it was Sunday we got ready to go to Brookhaven for church.  Alaina usually stays in the sanctuary at Brookhaven, rather than going into the preschool room.  We normally don't give Samantha a choice and take her right back to her room, mostly because she is incapable of sitting quietly like Alaina does for an entire service.  However, this time Samantha noticed more that Alaina was doing something different from her and wanted to do the same thing, so she asked if she could stay with us as well.  We compromised and told her that she could stay just for the music and then we would take her back to our classroom.  Samantha enjoyed it for awhile, but once the songs just kept going, she got bored of being with the adults and asked to go back to her classroom.  I didn't think it would last too long, but I figured I'd let her give it a try and see what Alaina does when she visits.

Aedan fell asleep in the car on the way home from church, as he often does at this time of day.  Normally it doesn't seem to bother him, but it did this day.  We tried feeding him lunch, but he was just not interested in anything we tried to give him.  Finally, we decided he must just be tired, so Ben took him downstairs to put him down for his nap.  He cried for a little while but pretty much went right to sleep, sleeping for almost four hours that afternoon, so apparently he was very tired.  Aunt Jeni and Uncle Andrew arrived around the end of lunchtime to bring Alaina back home, but decided to let her play for a couple hours before leaving.  Since Alaina was going to be around and would just nap in the car, we decided to let Samantha stay up so they could play together a little longer.  Andrew took them both outside to play, even though it was a very hot afternoon.  It was good to see Jeni and Andrew, if only for a little while.

That evening Grandpa and Grandma went to a service for their church, but we decided to bow out because it was just too hot out to want to drag the kids out to a social function.  Instead, we decided to eat at the house, walk around Taylor for a bit, and even sign the beam that is going into the new Chapel/Student Center.  You can see Samantha wrote her own name, even her last name, then Ben and I wrote our names and Aedan's name on the beam.  Samantha thought it was pretty cool that this beam would be part of the building some day.  (We'll see if they become Taylor graduates some day as well.)

We then made our way to Ivanhoes to pick up the ice cream order we had called in.  The fresh strawberry shortcake was calling my name, and Samantha really enjoyed the kiddie ice cream made to look like a clown.  Even though we called our order in, it was still very crowded, so I let the kids visit Garfield while Ben went in to get our ice cream.  Our plan was to eat it back at Grandpa and Grandma's house and boy was it delicious.  Necessary?  No.  Delicious.  Why, yes. :)

Monday was Labor Day and Upland has a parade every Labor Day.  I had never seen it before, Ben was in it when he was a boy, and Grandpa and Grandma hadn't been to the parade in years.  Samantha loves parades, so she was very excited for it.  Grandma found a nice, shady spot under a big tree, and we arrived just in time for it to begin.  Samantha had a plastic bag to collect all the candy that was thrown from the floats.  (She got TONS of candy!  It probably filled up half of her plastic bag, and that was with giving some of it away to the people sitting around us.)  I had Aedan strapped into his stroller so that he wouldn't try to escape, and once the parade got going, he was fairly interested in all the commotion around him.  His main qualm with the whole thing was that Samantha got to pick up all this candy, and he was not able to.  Plus, he saw her eating some and knew that he wanted some as well.  I was able to find a few pieces of candy that he could eat that weren't too small or too hard.  Here are some pictures and videos from the parade.

After the parade we went back to Grandpa and Grandma's house for a little more time to play and then lunch before getting on the road back to Oxford.  I don't remember when we took this video below, but Aedan really loves anything that sings and dances, so this Larry Boy toy is a big hit with him.  He would constantly bring it up to us to play for him so he could listen to him sing and wiggle back and forth just like Larry.  I tried to get it on video, but he never did it quite as well as previous times.  Here it is anyways.  Aedan loves music, whenever he hears it, he starts to dance.

Our drive home was much more relaxing than our drive on Saturday morning.  We left during nap time, so once we gave Aedan his pacifier, it didn't take too long for him to fall asleep, sleeping for most of our ride back.  Samantha took a little longer to fall asleep, but then slept for about forty-five minutes or so, then she just sat quietly and even closed her eyes most of the rest of the way.  It's amazing how much quicker the time goes by when your kids are sleeping soundly in the back seat.

Once home and unpacked, Ben and I did not feel like cooking, so we headed Uptown to use our gift card for Skyline that we've had since Christmastime.  Aedan had actually never eaten there before because the times we've gone in the past were before he started eating regular food.  He really enjoyed the oyster crackers and hot dogs, eating them much quicker than his sister who likes to look out the window at the people walking by.  After dinner we went across the street to let the kids play in the fountains for awhile on this hot Labor Day evening.  Then, it was back home for an early bedtime.  It was a good weekend away, a good break from taking care of everything at home, and a good time spent with family.

(Blog about September 1-7, 2015)

The Busyness of the Start of a Semester

Samantha: 51 Months, Week 2

Aedan: 15 Months, Week 5 (Week 70)

This past week we were blessed with beautiful weather.  We had our windows open all day and all night.  I love having the air conditioning turned off, hearing the birds and crickets outside, and feeling a breeze blow through our windows.  I am getting used to the peaceful quietness of the country and think I will have a hard time moving back into more of a city some day.  Tuesday morning after breakfast, the landscapers came to mow the lawn of our townhouse area.  Watching the lawnmowers is always a highlight of the week, so both Samantha and Aedan watched out the front window.  I love how Aedan is just the right height to look out the window.

It was free week at the REC, so I had plans to take the kids swimming again.  We planned to meet up with Maggie, Stephanie and Isaac, and I posted it on the PATS Facebook group as well in case anyone else would want to come as well.  It's definitely easier going with Ben to help me out, but the kids were pretty good.  Samantha enjoyed swimming and playing with Isaac, especially since I remembered Samantha's Puddle Jumper floatie so that way she could swim anywhere in the pool by herself.  I put a life vest on Aedan to see if that would help him in the water so that he could walk around by himself more, but it didn't help with the fact that he would just go into the water face first when he fell.  Both kids were pretty respectful, giving me a chance to talk with Maggie and Stephanie as well.  There was only one time that Samantha was trying to climb over a wall after I had told her not to, but I was dealing with Aedan and didn't notice right away.  The lifeguard had to tell her to get down.  I gave her a time out for that, and she didn't freak out or cry hard when I told her to have a time out, which was good and unexpected.  Then, I had her apologize to the lifeguard for not listening.  She responded very well to that and didn't do anything else disrespectful.  I feel like her moments of meltdowns are decreasing, which I am perfectly okay with.

When Aedan was starting to get cold and tired, I made the idea of leaving sound more appealing by saying we could go outside and sit on a bench on campus to eat a snack.  I brought a banana for each kid.  Aedan loves bananas, and Samantha was going through an anti-banana phase, but now she likes them again because she always says, "I want whatever Aedan is eating."  So, she likes to eat bananas now because he likes to eat bananas.  After we were done with our snack, we started walking back to the car.  Aedan got going too quickly on the sidewalk and tripped and fell to the ground.  He caught himself with his hands, but then his forehead still hit the ground, giving him a nice scratch and bruise.  This little boy is so funny, always with a new scratch and bruise on his head somewhere.

After having lunch and nap time, Daddy got home in enough time to get the kids ready to go back out again.  We were invited to a birthday party for Olivia at the community park before the softball game.  They were providing dinner and cupcakes, and Samantha was excited to give her the princess present she had picked out.  Olivia's older brother is Daniel, and he gets along really well with Samantha.  He is a year older than Samantha and is now in Kindergarten, so we won't see as much of him anymore now that the school year has started.  Apparently his parents joke that Daniel has a girlfriend out by the golf course, referring to Samantha, so they definitely enjoy each other's friendship.  We have become pretty good friends with the Kidd family and were glad to celebrate Olivia turning 3.  After dinner, the kids played on the playground while Daddy went to warm-up for his softball game.  Samantha played with Daniel, and we even went on a hike on the trail that leads around the woods near the park.  The kids had fun finding the right path, rolling down a huge hill, and noticing all the tall trees.

We brought Samantha's bike with us to the park so that she could ride around on the paths.  I pushed Aedan in the stroller while Samantha biked over to the little playground next to the softball fields.  We played over there for quite awhile, watched the game for a few minutes, and when Aedan started to get cranky and tired, we decided to head out.  Samantha did a much better job this week of being respectful and not throwing a fit when it was time to leave.  Ben and I made sure to tell her how much we appreciated it, and how she proved to us that we can allow her to come to the park for softball games again next time.

Tuesday nights are always a bit hectic with softball games because I have to take the kids back home, get them ready for bed, and put them both to bed by myself.  I think it was close to 9:00 by the time I got Samantha in bed.  I am glad that Ben is getting this chance to play softball again, though, and to meet other guys.  I know he really enjoys playing organized sports as a way to exercise, so I'm so glad he had this chance to participate.

On Wednesday morning, it was my turn to take Bennett for the babysitting swap.  I had Aedan ride in Samantha's car seat since she is still using the five point harness, and Bennett rode in Aedan's car seat.  I figured that was an easier solution for right now, rather than taking Samantha's car seat in and out, so I will just continue that arrangement until Samantha moves from the five point harness to the seat belt.

Aedan and Bennett had a good time playing together.  You could tell Bennett was a little unsure at first, being in a new place without his mom, but I'm sure he'll warm up to our arrangement as he comes over each week.  It was a pretty cool morning outside, so I let the boys play inside for awhile first.  I figured they would both be off playing in opposite areas with different toys, but they really played together most of the time, even playing and taking turns with the same toy.

After awhile of playing, I decided it was snack time.  I pulled out Samantha's old booster seat and attached the straps back on so that Aedan could have a seat and Bennett could sit in the high chair.  Here are the boys enjoying their bananas and water for snack that morning.

The tricky part about having two boys close to the same age is what to do with them when I need to go upstairs.  Like for example, Aedan's diaper leaked so I needed to change his diaper and get him dry pants.  However, I didn't want to just leave Bennett alone, so I figured out how to hold one on my hip and then pick the other one up as well, taking them both upstairs to Aedan's room with me.

From there we got socks and shoes on so that we could play outside for awhile.  The boys enjoyed the sandbox together, playing basketball together, as well as taking turns going in and out of the play house.  It was fun to see how their movements and behavior were so similar to each other.

The morning went by pretty quickly with the boys, I got dinner ready in the crock pot, and then it was time to go back to the TRI to drop off Bennett and pick up Samantha.  When Samantha gets home from preschool, there's always a lot of wrestling and tickling that happens.  I think Samantha and Aedan miss each other when she's gone all morning at school.  This video is just great of Samantha tickling and roughhousing with Aedan.  The fun and the laughter between the two of them is priceless. :)

Wednesday nights are just as busy as Tuesday nights with Samantha's soccer practice.  Since Ben's semester started this week, he now has class until 5:20 on Mondays and Wednesdays.  We planned to meet at the soccer fields for Samantha's practice and then go home to have dinner together afterwards.  I didn't think it would work very well for me to try to feed them dinner, get everything cleaned up, and still get to soccer practice by 5:30.  We decided to try dinner afterwards and see how that would work this week.  Plus, sometimes Aedan will nap until close to 5:00, making it difficult to have dinner ahead of time anyways.  Samantha was excited about her second soccer practice, and I came armed with snacks to occupy Aedan and try to keep him off the field.  Here are some videos from practice that evening.

After awhile I cut Aedan off from snacks so that he'd still be hungry for dinner, but then he got tired of sitting in the stroller and wanted to get out and play with all the other kids on the field.  He wouldn't stop trying to go out on the field and got angry every time I tried to move him away, so I decided to just take him on a little walk instead.  Aedan walked up and down a hill, and then we explored the fence surrounding one of the softball fields.  He picked up rocks and stuck them through the holes in the fence, and he also enjoyed pulling needles off the evergreen trees.  

I took this next picture to show Aedan's marks from this week.  The bruise/scratch on his forehead is from tripping on the sidewalk after swimming on Tuesday.  Then, the scratch on his nose is from falling at home and hitting his nose on the table leg when he fell.  He certainly gets hurt a lot more than Samantha did at his age.  He's much more adventurous in exploring his world, whereas she was much more cautious.

I found that I can get Aedan to look at the camera and smile a lot better if I turn the camera toward him so he can see himself in my phone.  That's how I got this picture below.  He thinks it's pretty cool to see himself, and I get better pictures, so it's a win for both of us!

After Samantha's practice was over, we made it back home and had tortilla soup that was ready and waiting in the crock pot.  It was a little strange eating dinner at almost 7:00 because our normal dinner time is right around 5:30, but the kids really were doing pretty well.  In fact, Samantha ate much better that evening than she does on most days, maybe because it was later or maybe because she had worked up an appetite running around and playing soccer.  Nevertheless, eating after practice worked out just fine, and it allowed us to eat together as a family, which I always enjoy, so I think we will continue that and eat later next week as well.

We had a busy week of being out and running around doing various activities.  I thought about taking the kids swimming again on Thursday morning since the REC pool is free, but I just felt like we needed a day at home to rest and play together without leaving the house.  Samantha actually played by herself in her room for quite awhile that morning while I folded and put away laundry.  I think she needed some down, introverted time as well.  The weather was wonderful again, so we played outside in the sandbox, with the play house, and also with the basketball hoop.  We always have a good time together no matter what we do.

Earlier in the morning Aedan was acting pretty fussy and sleepy, so I tried to lay him down for a nap.  However, he was apparently not interested and just played and talked in his bed for half an hour.  This resulted in a very tired Aedan right before lunchtime.  I was making mac and cheese, both of their favorite lunch choice, but Aedan was so tired he just kept laying down on the rug by the kitchen sink.

Then, both kids wanted me to take pictures of the two of them so they could see themselves in the camera.  Here are the two little cuties that I get to spend my days with.

It's hard to get pictures of Samantha and Aedan together with them both looking at the camera.  Samantha usually will smile for us, but sometimes it's a silly, forced smile, not a genuine smile.  The following pictures are so precious to me because it not only shows the love between sister and brother, but Samantha's face is just priceless.

Thursday night Ben and I just felt like relaxing.  It had been a long, busy, first week of the semester, and we felt like we just needed a break.  One way we like to relax is by going out to eat.  There is a fairly decent Mexican restaurant Uptown, and we know we can always count on the kids to eat well there because they love quesadillas, rice, and beans.  The weekly concert in the park was happening for the last time of the season, so we wanted to experience that Oxford tradition one more time as well.  However, we didn't know that it was their annual pig roast and the park was packed with people!  There were vendors set up all over giving away free merchandise.  We listened to the music for a little while as we ate our free ice cream (or frozen lemonade for Samantha), then we walked around the booths.  Samantha noticed a face painting booth and wanted to wait in line for it.  Daddy took Aedan to walk around while she and I waited, and this was not your average face painting.  Samantha got a rainbow colored butterfly painted on her cheek, and it was rather beautiful.  She even got glitter sprinkled on it!  I made sure to take a picture of it so that Samantha could see herself and since we would have to wash it off before bed that night.

We met back up with Daddy and Aedan over by the fire truck, where the kids were able to sit in the driver's seat.  Aedan thought that huge wheel was pretty awesome.  And is it just me, or does Samantha look really big to you?  Her legs look long, and she looks so grown-up holding her little brother on her lap.

Sometimes Ben and I will remark to each other that we can never stop being an adult.  There are always things to do, errands to run, and Friday was one of those days.  Ben took Samantha to preschool, so that was one less thing that I had to do.  Aedan and I went grocery shopping together, then back home to unload and put away the groceries, before meeting Daddy back on campus so that I could go to Zumba and he could pick up Samantha from preschool.  I had a doctor's appointment that afternoon with my primary care physician to complete the last step for the Healthy Miami Discount Program, so Ben just took the kids back home for lunch and planned to work at home for the afternoon.  I got home from Zumba, took a shower, ate lunch, and then was off to my doctor's appointment.  It was a busy day, but we had a relaxing evening at home together as a family with nowhere to be.  We played outside, gave the kids baths, and put them in bed at their normal time, giving Ben and I time to hang out together and watch a movie.  It's been hard not having as much time together since Ben is now gone all day every day on campus and working in the evenings some.  Plus, with softball on Tuesdays and soccer on Wednesdays, our weeks just fly by sometimes with Ben and I just passing by each other at times.

Because of our busy week, I was really looking forward to our plans on Saturday.  Ben's parents volunteered to come to Oxford for the day, arriving around 9:15 a.m., so that Ben and I could go to King's Island together. It was my birthday present, but we were just waiting for a convenient time to go.  When I was growing up, I loved going on roller coasters, they were probably one of my favorite things.  Ben and I even had season passes one year to the Six Flags in Dallas when we lived in Waco, Texas.  However, we really have not been on roller coasters since then, but especially since having babies.  Ben and I are thinking about having baby #3 sometime, so we wanted to make a trip to King's Island before I might possibly get pregnant and can no longer ride roller coasters.  Upland Grandpa and Grandma stayed with Samantha and Aedan for us, playing with them, taking them to the park, making and feeding them lunch, putting them down for their naps, and even taking them out for dinner at Chipotle.

Meanwhile, Ben and I had a great time at King's Island.  It was a fairly warm day, but nothing intolerable.  It was fun to do something "kid-like" again.  However, I could feel my age, and I don't know if it's simply getting older or also maybe related to my body changing from having babies, but I could not handle the roller coasters as well as I did in the past.  Many of them made me feel nauseous, so much so that I had to sit down and rest more between rides.  No more going on the same ride with multiple inversions 7 times in a row.  I also blacked out a few times on rides where the g-forces push you down into your seat.  I really had a fun day, especially since Ben and I rarely get an opportunity to go to an amusement park for the day; however, I don't know how eager I will be to go to another amusement park in the near future.

The next day we had a typical Sunday morning going to church together.  We decided to make sure we got to the 9:00 service since our kids are up between 7:00 and 7:30 anyways.  Ben and I just have to make sure that we are up and showered before they wake up.  Plus, with the Miami students back in Oxford, the church gets really full at the 10:45 service.  When we arrived at church, Samantha's VBS crew leader found her and was so excited to talk to her and show her these tiny strawberries from his home.  He is such a sweet, older man, and Samantha loved being a part of his group.  I especially like that he is continuing their relationship by connecting with her whenever he sees her at church.  The other nice part of going to the early service is that we can then feel comfortable letting our kids play on the playground for awhile without having to leave right away to get home for lunch and nap time.  We had extra time at home to get lunch ready and were able to get the kids down at a normal time, so it was a good morning.  In fact, Ben and I felt tired too, so we also took a nap at the same time as the kids.  Back in the day, before kids, we would often take Sunday afternoon naps together.  We don't do that as much anymore because we're busy doing other things or need to use nap time to work, but it was nice to just have the afternoon to relax, rest, and get rejuvenated for the coming week.

Sunday night we had an early dinner so that we could go swimming at the REC one more time.  It was the last night of free week, and we wanted to take advantage of it.  We met some other friends from OBF there: Stephanie, Jim, and Isaac, as well as Kristyn, Jason, and their two boys.  Samantha had a great time swimming around, playing shark, and jumping off the side of the pool into the deep water.  Aedan was in a little better mood in the water that evening, so he played water basketball with Daddy for awhile, and then when I had him, he walked along the grate as part of the wall, but then would stop and step right off into my arms into the water.  Then, I would sit him back down on the wall, he would get up, and do the same thing over again.  We swam for quite awhile, and I think the kids would have stayed in a little longer, but it was already 7:45, and I wanted to help Daddy get the kids out of their wet bathing suits before going off to Beth's free Zumba class at 8:00.  Daddy took the kids back home to put them to bed, while I stayed at the REC to exercise.  It was a fun night, but I came home feeling exhausted and ready for a good night's sleep.

Monday morning always comes sooner than I would like it to.  Now that the semester is in full swing, it seems like our weeks just fly by and one runs into the other.  I even commented to Ben the other day that I miss the more relaxed pace of the summer.  It will take a few weeks to get adjusted.  However, I also know that we need to be careful not to over-commit ourselves.  We tend to say yes to everything, which then fills our calendar with things to do, leaving little downtime.

Monday morning was preschool, so I dropped Samantha off at school and Andrea took Aedan to her house for our babysitting swap.  Ben and I had a meeting scheduled that morning with the new pastor of OBF.  I won't go into any details on the blog, but we wanted to bring an issue to his attention and see what his opinion was about our concerns.  So, I went back to campus to pick up Ben, we got Starbucks coffee in Kroger while we waited, and then went over to our appointment at 10:00.  After our meeting, I ran a couple errands and then went back to the TRI to pick up Samantha and Aedan.  My "morning off" was definitely not as relaxing as last week when I just had time to myself at home.

On Mondays Ben has class until 5:20, and neither kid napped as long as they probably should have, so I had to try to entertain them somehow while I attempted to make dinner and have it ready for when Ben got home.  Samantha wanted to color, which was a great idea, but Aedan wanted to color, too.  He always wants to mimic his sister, no matter what she is doing.  So I decided to let him give it a try.  I put him in his high chair so that way I could make sure he wouldn't try to color on the floor or the walls.  Samantha handed him crayons whenever he asked for one, and they both enjoyed it for quite awhile.  However, Aedan's attention span is only so long and it was getting close to dinner, so once he started eating the crayons and coloring on his tray, I decided it was time for him to be done coloring.  It was a solid first attempt though!  (In case you're wondering about Samantha's outfit, she decided to get her dress-up clothes out and came downstairs wearing the butterfly costume instead of a shirt.  Then, she wanted me to tie the hat on her head.  She wore this outfit for quite awhile that evening, only taking it off because she didn't want to get her pizza on it at dinnertime.  I love how little kids don't care at all what they look like.  It's completely normal to sit at the table coloring dressed as a butterfly!)

(Blog about August 25-31, 2015)

Soccer Starting, Trip to Smale Park, and a Visit from the Clemons Family

Samantha: 51 Months, Week 1

Aedan: 15 Months, Week 4 (Week 69)

With Samantha starting preschool this week but Ben not yet starting classes, our schedule was still a bit more relaxed than what it will be come next week.  I decided to take the opportunity to do two last summer excursions on the days Samantha didn't have preschool since the weather was going to be nice.  On Tuesday I decided to take the kids to a splash pad and playground located in Hamilton.  I heard about it from some other moms and wanted to take the kids but hadn't gotten around to it yet.  We met another mom, Stephanie, and her son Isaac there as well so that way Samantha would at least have one other kid to play with.  We arrived around 10:30 and played on the playground for awhile.  Aedan was feeling better after being sick over the weekend, so he enjoyed getting out and playing more.  Shortly after Stephanie and Issac arrived, we got the kids dressed in their bathing suits and went into the splash pad area.  It had a button in the ground that you push to make the water spray, and it was really neat.  It had a lot of fun water features, even more than the other splash park we would visit when we lived in Bloomington.  Samantha and Isaac had a great time running around and getting soaking wet together.  There were a few other kids there that they played with as well.

Aedan, on the other hand, is never very sure about water.  He likes the idea of it, but he likes to get wet on his own terms, so he doesn't like sudden surprises spraying him or splashing him in the face.  He also has a hard time with other kids running around and accidentally splashing him.  Plus, he was still recovering from being sick and it was getting close to lunchtime which is his fussy time of the morning when he is hungry and tired.  All those circumstances made Aedan very clingy in the splash park area.  He kept wanting to play in the mud off the side of the splash pad where the water runs off, but I didn't want him to play in the mud because of obvious reasons, plus there were lots of wasps that were walking around in the mud as well.  Aedan has reached the point where he wants to do whatever he is told not to do, so he kept returning to the mud pits and would get grumpy when I moved him away.  I ended up wrapping Aedan in his towel and holding him most of the time we were there, which was okay because Samantha was still having a blast splashing and running around.

As it was approaching noon, the kids started to show signs of being done in the water.  Samantha wanted to just lay out her towel on the grass and lay down, so Isaac and Aedan copied her.  Aedan climbed onto Samantha's towel at one point when she had gotten up to do something else.  Well, Samantha didn't like that and wanted Aedan to get back on his own towel, so she proceeded to push him.  I gently warned her several times that she needed to stop and that it was okay for him to sit on her towel while she wasn't using it.  She would not let up and then started kicking him and pulling the towel out from underneath him.  I gave her multiple warnings, probably more than I should have, so then I told her it was time to go because of her behavior.  I sent her up to the picnic tables to start changing out of her bathing suit.  Well, she didn't want to leave so she had a meltdown which involved screaming, yelling at me, throwing her clothes, and trying to hit me.  It took me quite awhile of talking calmly and even ignoring her for awhile to get her to calm down.  She was tired and didn't want to leave, but her behavior didn't warrant us staying any longer.  It was one of those things that I just needed to follow through on, even though I was totally embarrassed that she was acting like that in front of our new friends.  Once she settled down, she was able to make rational decisions and got dressed by herself.  I had her apologize to Stephanie and Isaac, too.  It's so strange how we can be having a great day together and then all of a sudden her behavior can change so drastically.

Tuesday evening after dinner Daddy had another set of softball games, but Samantha, Aedan, and I stayed home due to Samantha's behavior last week when leaving the park.  We figured it would be best to send her a message that she won't get to do special things if she throws a fit when it's time to leave.  She was pretty upset about not being able to go watch Daddy, but it was a good night to play at home, have bath time, and get in bed at a decent time.

On Wednesday morning Daddy took Samantha off to preschool and then met me at the Miami Health Services office to be with Aedan while I got my blood drawn for the discount for the Healthy Miami Plan.  I was just planning on taking Aedan in with me, but it worked out much better for Daddy to hang out with him for a little while instead.  From there, I took Aedan to a play date with some other moms at the park by the TRI.  I also needed to stop by Kroger and pick up a few odds and ends, so I figured it wouldn't make much sense to drive all the way back home just to drive back again.  (Our house isn't that far away from Oxford, anywhere from 12-15 minutes depending on what area of town you're going to and how much traffic there might be, but sometimes that feels like a long drive to be doing multiple times a day.  It will be nice, if we end of staying in Oxford for a tenure track position, to get a house closer into town and be more centrally located.)  Anyways, Aedan had a good time playing with lots of other kids, and I enjoyed some adult interaction for a little while.  The weather was actually rather cool that morning as a cold front was moving in with some rain later that afternoon/evening.

It seems like Samantha is still getting used to being out all morning long, three days a week, for preschool.  It is really tiring her out, and she has been taking very good naps in the afternoon.  In fact, both kids fell asleep with me on Wednesday afternoon.  Aedan fell asleep as I rocked him, and Samantha fell asleep as I laid in the bed next to her.  It's so wonderful to have these precious, peaceful moments with my children (for it makes up for the times they are screaming and yelling at me, right?).

Wednesday night was Samantha's first soccer practice and Daddy's first time coaching soccer.  Once the semester starts he will just meet us at the soccer fields since he has class until 5:20 and practice starts at 5:30.  However, that day he came home to have dinner with us and help me get the kids ready.  We planned to eat by 4:45-5:00 so that way we could be ready and get to practice on time.  We cooked sausage patties on the grill, which our kids love, so that worked out well.  Sausage patties are one of the few things that Samantha will eat the entire thing without being prodded.

We all piled in the car again and went off to soccer practice.  Samantha was so excited to be wearing her new cleats, socks, and shin guards.  They had quite a few kids on the fields playing soccer, split into various teams.  At the first practice they rotated around stations, practicing various soccer skills like dribbling, kicking the ball around cones, and shooting goals.  You can tell there are definitely some kids who have a lot more experience playing soccer than Samantha does, but she had a great time and gave it good effort.  She really loved that Daddy was her coach.  (She even said, "Good night, Coach Daddy" when he was putting her to bed that night.)  Since Daddy was busy on the field with the kids, I was on Aedan duty.  That's one downside to having Ben coach rather than just being a spectator because now there's another thing that pulls the two of us apart rather than giving us time to spend together.  I brought our extra soccer ball for Aedan to play with because I knew he would want everyone else's ball, but that didn't seem to tempt him.  He just wanted to walk all over the field in the middle of practice, not understanding the white boundary lines.  Eventually I had to strap him in the stroller so he would stop trying to run away.  Here are some pictures and videos from Samantha's first soccer practice.

Toward the end of practice, dark clouds started rolling in.  It rained lightly for a little while, but practice continued even in the rain.  Ben told me that some of the kids started complaining about how they didn't like the rain so he turned it into something fun, saying, "Well, you know the good thing about the rain?  You get to do a rain dance!"  All the kids began dancing around in the rain, changing the mood from negative to positive.  My husband is so wonderful, such a trooper in coaching soccer, and also so good at making people, kids and adults alike, comfortable in a variety of situations.  A little while later we started hearing thunder in the distance so everyone started exiting the field.  We didn't make it to the car before the rain let loose from the sky, getting everyone soaking wet.  Besides for the rain, it was a great, successful first soccer practice.  We are looking forward to seeing Samantha grow in her athleticism through playing soccer, as well as feeling a sense of camaraderie by being part of a team.

Since Ben hadn't started teaching for the semester yet, he took the day off from working on campus on Thursday to do one more family day.  We decided to go downtown Cincinnati and visit Smale Park right along the riverfront.  We've seen it several times when walking around before going to a Reds game, but we never had the time to actually stop and enjoy the park.  There are many different fun areas for kids, like large fountains cascading down next to steps.

There is a playground there as well with not your typical playground equipment.  They had metal slides, but also climbing walls, rope bridges, this large blue sphere that played musical notes when banging on it in a certain way, rocks to climb up, as well as log steps.  It was a lot of fun and the kids had a great time exploring the playground that morning before it got busy and full of kids later in the day.

Under the bridge on the other side of the park were some other fun places to play.  There was a large keyboard on the ground that you stepped on and caused chimes to play up above you.  There was a large metal sculpture of a flying pig that kids could climb into.  You then pulled on ropes underneath to make the pig flap it's wings and move up and down.  Samantha rode in that for quite awhile.  One of Samantha and Aedan's favorite spots was this water area with different places where you could pump water out and then control the direction the water flowed.  Both kids ended up getting pretty wet playing in the water.  In fact, Aedan sat in the water and threw leaves into the pool of water over and over again.  We spent the longest here, letting the kids enjoy their time playing, and enjoying the beautiful weather and the Cincinnati skyline in the background.  I'm glad that we chose this to be our last excursion of the summer!

The carousel opened at 11:00, so we made our way to the building for the kids to take a ride.  Aedan doesn't look too thrilled in this picture, (this is just his face when it's getting closer to lunchtime and he's feeling hungry and tired), but he really did have a good time.

After the carousel, we walked a few blocks away to eat lunch at Panera.  It was one of the few non-sit-down restaurants around, and it is also a place we don't have nearby in Oxford.  It has gotten to the point now, however, that we have to order Aedan his own kid's meal.  In fact, sometimes he actually eats more than Samantha!  They both loved their mac and cheese and had worked up quite an appetite.

Before heading back home, we decided to go back to the Smale park, get the kids in their bathing suits, and let them play in the fountains.  They were a bit taller than what they're used to in Oxford, but the sun was shining brightly and the kids had a great time running around in the water and watching the water shoot up and down.

We had a great time together at the park that morning, but the kids were getting tired and we knew it was time to leave.  Aedan fell asleep in the car, but we had Samantha stay awake until we got home so she could nap in her bed.  Our friends Stephanie, Jim, and Isaac were coming over for dinner that night so that we could get to know them a little better and so that our husbands could meet, so were glad that our kids got good naps in that afternoon after having a fun morning of playing outside.

Our dinner with Stephanie, Jim, and Isaac went well.  When we have people over for dinner, we like to make something that we would never make when it's just our family.  On this occasion we made my family's lasagna recipe. It is super good, but makes a giant lasagna, way too much for our family of four to consume.  They came over around 5:30 and brought a salad to contribute to our dinner.  The kids ate like kids usually do, picking at their food and being coerced into eating enough to satisfy the parents.  Samantha ate the salad better than the lasagna, which is not surprising.  We had brownies and ice cream for dessert, and then just let the kids play while the adults talked and got to know each other more.  They just moved to town this summer so it was fun to learn more about their family.  Samantha and Isaac get along pretty well and had fun playing together.  However, when it was getting close to the time for them to leave, Samantha had another meltdown, throwing some Barbie horses she had brought outside with her, refusing to share with Aedan, and I told her to go inside and sit in her room until she could act calmly.  So then she was in her room screaming and crying, having a total meltdown again.  I joked with Stephanie afterwards saying that it must just be her that brings this behavior out in Samantha.  But no, in all seriousness, she has been doing this so much lately that it's hard to know what to do or how to discipline her in a way that's effective but also reduces the meltdown reaction that Samantha might have.

I feel like now that preschool has started and the semester is just around the corner, things are getting more hectic around here.  On Friday morning Samantha went to preschool with Daddy before Aedan even woke up for the day.  (The past couple mornings he has been waking up a little after 6:00, making noise for awhile, and then going back to sleep for awhile longer.)  Since Aedan woke up so late and we had a slow start to the morning, we left for Kroger later for grocery shopping, giving Aedan and I just enough time to go shopping, get back home and put everything away, before I had to make a picnic lunch for Samantha and Aedan and leave again.  We were doing a trial run for meeting Ben on campus so that I could continue going to Zumba on Friday afternoons.  It's quite the process, but I think it will work.  I bring Aedan along with lunch, meet Ben on campus around 11:50, he hops in the car, and I go to Zumba class.  Then, Ben picks Samantha up from preschool and gives the kids their lunch.  They just stayed at the TRI to eat lunch and played at the playground until it was time to come back and pick me up.  Ben and I switched again, so that he could go back to work in his office and I took the kids back home to put them down for naps.  It worked well, Samantha was very respectful and helpful, so it is definitely something we can still try to do.

That afternoon, this was delivered to our house: Ben's dissertation!  Printed and bound at 451 pages.  I opened the box and was filled with pride for my husband.  I had never seen it compiled all in one place, and it is a tremendous work.  He has accomplished so much in completing his Ph.D., and I couldn't be prouder.  Ben does not give himself enough credit for all the research, hours of work, thought, and effort he put into not only graduate school, but this dissertation, in addition to being and amazing husband and father.  I love you, Ben.

Friday night after our kids were in bed, Uncle Matthew, Aunt Christy, and Brielle arrived to visit for the weekend.  Originally they had planned to come last weekend, but with Aedan getting sick, they moved their plans to this weekend.  We were glad to have them, and Samantha was SO excited about seeing and playing with Brielle.

Our guests stayed in Aedan's room so that Brielle could use Aedan's crib, meaning that Aedan slept in our room for the weekend.  He went to sleep fine on Friday night, even though he was in a new place, but he woke up early on Saturday morning.  Samantha woke up before 7:00 as well, excited to see Brielle, Christy, and Matthew.  However, Brielle sleeps in until almost 9:00, so she had a long time to wait before she finally got to see her.  We told her there was no need for her to wake up early since they sleep in later than us, but that doesn't do much good for Samantha when she knows new people are in the house.

Even though we had a slow morning, we had plans to make a trip to the Cincinnati Zoo together.  The kids had a little time to play together while the adults got ready and we made our picnic lunch.

I had to include this next picture because it shows Aedan's feelings about having another baby around and having his sister's attention focused on someone else.  Aedan kept trying to get her attention, but she was busy playing with Brielle, leaving Aedan feeling dejected.  You an see his sad little face and slouched body language in this picture.

It was fun to see Aedan and Brielle play together.  The last time Brielle was here back in January, she was sitting up but not mobile at all.  However, this time she's crawling around, pulling up on things, and is very interactive.

We got to the zoo close to noon, and it was very busy.  We parked in a totally different place than we had ever been before since we arrived later in the day.  Since we came into the zoo at the back, we decided to ride the carousel first, giving Brielle her first carousel experience.  She enjoyed it for awhile, but then had enough and just hung out in her mommy's arms for the rest of the ride.

We walked around and saw a few animals before going to eat lunch.  We had a yummy lunch and Brielle and Aedan enjoyed sitting next to each other and even shared food with each other.

Our kids were still doing pretty well considering it was the middle of the afternoon, and they had woken up early that morning, so we decided to stay at the zoo most of the afternoon.  Here are some pictures from our day together.  We had a great time!  It was a fun way to spend the day, and we had gorgeous, sunny weather, too.

I had fun holding Brielle for awhile in the bird house, and she was pretty interested in watching the finches, penguins, and turtle move around.

Saturday evening we picked up pizza for dinner since we had just gotten home from the zoo and didn't feel like making anything.  Then, after dinner we took Matthew, Christy, and Brielle Uptown so we could let them try out some yummy Graeter's ice cream.  As we have been doing when we go out lately, we got Aedan his own kiddie sundae with vanilla ice cream and sprinkles, and he shared it with Brielle.  Samantha picked blue cotton candy ice cream and gobbled hers up.  Matthew got some kind of milkshake, whereas Christy tried the infamous buckeye ice cream.  I think they thought it was pretty good, too.  From there, we went back home and put our tired kiddos to sleep so that the adults could hang out and play a game of Ticket to Ride together.  We can always count on Matthew and Christy to play games with us when they visit.

Sunday morning we all went to church together and had lunch afterwards.  Ben and I made a new recipe for chicken tetrazzini in the crock pot.  However, our kids woke up pretty early that morning, especially Aedan, and he actually fell asleep in the car on the way home from church.  Usually when I get him out of his car seat he wakes up, but not this time.  He just laid his head down on my shoulder and went right back to sleep.  I sat down on the couch and let him sleep on my shoulder while Ben lovingly prepared the rest of our lunch.  It was nice to just sit and snuggle with my little sleepy boy.  After awhile he woke up, and I tried to put him in his high chair for lunch, but he was just too tired to eat.  He was refusing everything we tried to give him, so I decided to just take him upstairs and put him down for his nap.  He was glad to be going night-night, fell asleep in my arms, but woke up when I tried to lay him down.  Luckily, it didn't take him too long to calm back down again.

After lunch, when Samantha went down for her nap and Brielle finally fell asleep, Matthew, Christy, Ben, and I enjoyed time just hanging out, talking, and relaxing.  Christy and I were able to go through baby clothes she no longer needed for Brielle, as well as take the next batch of 12 month clothes to start using as she gets to be the right size.  We have SO many girl clothes that were given to us over the first few years of Samantha's life, so I am glad that we are able to share these clothes with my sister, helping her to save some money as well.  They have just been sitting in tubs in Upland, so someone might as well use them!

Once Brielle woke up from her nap, the Clemons family hit the road for their trek back to the Chicago area.  Our family had leftovers for dinner and in a spur of the moment decision, decided to go swimming at the REC since it is a free week.  We can't afford a membership to the REC just to use the pool, so we always take advantage of the free weeks and go several times throughout the week.  Samantha loves to swim, especially at this indoor pool where the water and air temperature is more controlled.  Aedan loved the idea of being able to walk around in the kiddie area that is just the right height for him.  Last time we came to this pool he wasn't walking yet.  However, he is at the point where he wants to walk everywhere and have his independence, yet he can't maneuver around in the pool well enough to avoid falling over.  Obviously, he doesn't enjoy falling face first into the water and getting a mouth full of water, but he doesn't understand that in order to avoid that, he has to let us hold his hand.  This battle back and forth made him kind of frustrated at the pool.  It's nice to go as a family and enjoy this time together playing in the water, even if Aedan isn't enjoying it the whole time.

Monday, August 24th, Ben started his second year of teaching at Miami University.  His schedule is pretty good this semester with no early morning classes, and his classes are either Monday/Wednesday or Tuesday/Thursday, giving him Fridays off of teaching so that he can work on papers or applications.

Also on this Monday Samantha had preschool, and Andrea and I began our babysitting swap.  After dropping off our older kids at preschool, she took Aedan home with her, and I had the morning to myself.  It was SO nice, nicer than I thought it would be.  I appreciated the time alone in my home to get some laundry done and get caught up on my blog, as well as just have personal, introverted time.  I feel like now that I have kids I cherish my alone time more than I ever have before.  I won't always just go home, but I can take my morning off to do whatever I want: go out to breakfast with a friend, go shopping by myself, run errands, or even just get things done at home.  It will be nice to have this built in time to look forward to every week.

Plus, I knew that Aedan was having a blast at Bennett's house.  They had a great time playing together and spent most of the time outside since it was such a beautiful morning.

Bennett's family is raising chickens in their backyard, and Andrea said Aedan loved the chickens.  Apparently he was shocked to see them when she first opened the door, but then he smiled and really liked watching them.  That is not surprising to me because he is really into animals right now.  He particularly likes dogs, calling them "dug-dug," but really, he likes anything that moves around.  He loves to watch animals and try to pet them or chase them.

After meeting back up at the TRI and picking up Samantha and Aedan, we went back home for lunch.  Leftovers did not sound appealing to anyone, and mac and cheese takes a little too long to make on preschool days when we get home later, so we settled on quesadillas with pinto beans.  Samantha and Aedan LOVE quesadillas and beans.  I actually gave Aedan his own plate to have on his tray (the first time I've ever done that), and he loved having full access to all his food.  He has been getting really good at scooping up his own food with a spoon, and most of the time will use his left hand.  It seems like that is more natural to him, and oftentimes if he picks up his spoon or fork with his right hand, he will transfer it back to his left hand.  We will see if this hand preference continues as he gets older.  If he is left-handed, that would be kind of ironic since his middle name is Arthur, named after Donna's father, Aedan's great-grandfather.  Donna is left-handed, and I think I remember hearing that Arthur probably would have been left-handed too, if they would have let people use a "different" hand back then.  Anyways, they both devoured their lunch that day, and Aedan loved being able to dip his quesadilla in some sour cream.  (He only tried to eat the sour cream with his spoon a couple of times!)

Monday evening after dinner, Samantha and I went out to get our hair cut together.  We were both wanting to lighten up our hair by getting a few inches cut off.  Samantha's hair has been really tangled lately, and I hoped that shortening it some would help with that.  Plus, she will always ask if she can leave her hair down or just wear it in a headband, which really isn't an option when her hair is so long and thick.  She did a great job sitting still for the hair stylist and even got a sucker to eat when she was done and waiting for my hair cut to be done.  Here is my cute little girl and her new, shorter hair.  This picture was from a few days later, but you can compare it with the picture above to see how much she got cut off.  It's amazing to me that her curls always stick around!  I am always afraid every time we get her hair cut that the curls will be gone for good, but it seems that, at least for right now, they are here to stay.  And I think they look so good on her and suit her personality well.  So many moms comment to me on how great of hair Samantha has.  (I think she has the curly hair I always wanted when I was little.)  She is a beautiful girl, inside and out, curls or not, and I love her. :)

(Blog about August 18-24, 2015)