A busy Saturday

Eddie left for the Masters Thursday morning, so I had a few full days of flying solo with these two wild things. 

We had a very busy day on Saturday!

It started with some early snuggling on the couch...

t.r.o.u.b.l.e

And then I did some vacuuming while these two pretended I was chasing them with the vacuum...

Then we headed out to Cal's soccer game...

 (only got one picture of the game because Andy wasn't having a great time watching Cal run around, and once he saw me take a picture with my phone, he wanted to play with it immediately.  When the game was over and I had to repossess my phone, a pretty significant meltdown occurred.  Like, mega-meltdown. And of course, we had to park way far away and had to walk past six different fields--holding a thrashing kid in arms--to get back to our car. I was SPENT when we got everyone buckled in)

After nap time, we had Ava's birthday party! We all know how much Cal loves Ava, but it became apparent that Andy loves Ava's little sister, Abigail!

Cal got some good birthday hugs in before we had to leave early...

 I had one of our babysitters meet us at the house at 6 to keep Andy so Cal and I could head out on a date!

Our *other* babysitter, Kate, was having her senior violin recital and invited us to come.  I knew immediately that Andy wouldn't be able to handle sitting still that long, but I had a feeling Cal would, so we left Andy with a sitter and headed out.  He got to wear his favorite Superman belt and he was thrilled! (and, I should say, the babysitter who stayed with Andy took him outside and on a wagon ride so he was having WAY more fun than he would have with us!)

Cal had been pretty awful all day Saturday.  He is normally soooo well behaved and well-mannered and something about him was just...off.  He was talking back, arguing with me--about EVERYTHING, and just being difficult! Everything I said, he would respond with "why not??" For example:
me: we are about to turn here and then we will be home!
cal: why not?
another example:
me: be careful in the garage because it is slippery
cal: but why not?

you get the point-- every little thing was a debate or an argument.  And a few times I asked him to do something and he responded with "no way, Jose!!" ummmm.....seriously???

He was on my "list" around nap time.  I had to walk away and count to 10 (many different times)...phew!

SO, I was worried about taking him to this recital, and on the way there, I was thinking over and over again that I was going to regret it.

However, Cal sat on my lap, perfectly still for all 45 minutes of violin music.  Kate was absolutely stunning and she did such a fabulous job.  She is truly talented.  I saw her play way back in 6th grade when I taught her and I knew she was good then, but we were really blown away last night.

After she was done, I had several (SEVERAL) people come up to me to compliment me on how well behaved Cal was.  No one could believe a 3 year old could sit that still for that long.  Kate came right over to Cal and gave him a huge hug and we gave her a bouquet of flowers. 

We got a few pictures with our favorite girl... Cal was so happy...

There were about 50 people there and they were all watching him pose with Kate... haha

After we left the recital, I thought we should continue our date night with some frozen yogurt! Cal thought this was just the greatest thing ever.... froyo with just mommy! He chowed down on some chocolate with oreos and sprinkles.  

We were home by 8:30 and he went to bed immediately.  All of the excitement of the day wore him out!

It was a really fun and busy day and I am so thankful the weather was as nice as it was.  Now if this pollen can just all blow away.....

ahhhhh-choooo!

 

Field Trip!

 This morning, I had the pleasure of going with Cal's class on a field trip to Spences Farm!
I wasn't going to get to go.  Siblings were not allowed to join us on the trip and Thursdays Andy doesn't have school.  My mom couldn't keep him and Eddie was heading out of town for the Masters.  All of my babysitters are in high school (I know-- people think I am crazy about that one...but we LOVE them...). ANYWAY, I told his teachers that I would try to make it work, but I didn't think it would.  Then it dawned on me that Andy's school offers "drop in days" for days that you just really need your kid to go to school.  I haven't ever used these days before and after today, I am going to start using them ALL the time! It was awesome! He has his current teacher and it is only $18 for 3.5 hours! It is fabulous!
Eddie took Andy to school and I went with Cal.  He was just beside himself knowing that I was getting to go.  I told him on Tuesday night that I wasn't going to be able to go and he broke down crying saying he didn't want to go without me...so so SO glad I went today!

The owner of the farm came out to talk to the two classes all about farm life.  This farm had chickens and horses.  The man was sweet as can be, but he was VERY long-winded and talked to these kids like they were high schoolers.  I think he forgot who his audience was! He was asking the kids questions that the adults all had no idea the answer!

After listening to him talk (and talk and talk and talk...! ha!), he walked the kids over to the garden where they basically did some weeding for him. 

They carried around big buckets and filled them with the weeds they pulled.  Kids love playing in dirt and digging, so they were all thrilled! 

After filling up their buckets, the kids headed over to the chicken area...and the chickens were ready for them! They were literally lined up at the gate waiting for the kids to bring them some food.

Cal was super apprehensive about the chickens-- they were fearless and would walk right up to you.  The man also was trying to tell them that the chickens PECK at your hand when you are feeding them, but in his long winded-ness, Cal heard him say "oh no, they are biting my hand!' (when he was really saying that he had a kid once think that, but the chicken was actually pecking....) so Cal was convinced the chickens were going to eat him.

The man told the kids they could dump their buckets full of weeds for the chickens and they all did immediately! He then brought out some corn for the kids to hand-feed the chickens.  Cal loved to feed them, but he was pretty scared of them, so he had me hold the corn in my hand and they pecked out of my hand.  Cal did it once and it scared him, so from then on, he held his hand right under mine and we fed them together. 

The kids walked into the hen house to see if there were any eggs ready for collecting.  And wouldn't you know it...

CalBoy came out holding an egg!

After leaving the chicken area, we headed down to the barn to see the horses.  The man gave the kids a LOOOONNNNGGGG talk about acknowledgement and communication and on and on and on and on.... the poor kids were over listening! They wanted to see the horses!

Cal was VERY unsure of the horses when we first walked into the barn.  The staff was SUPER laid back about them.  They encouraged the kids to walk into the stalls, walk around the horses, brush them, etc.  That made ME nervous! I've always heard even the tamest of horses could kick out of nowhere! Cal was very clingy to me at this point.  We walked up to a few horses and rubbed their noses and then Cal saw some of his classmates brushing the horses.  He decided he wanted to try too...

He stunned me when he went and grabbed a helmet to ride a horse.  I thought there was NO way we would be getting our timid little guy on a horse today.   But he put that helmet on and said, "I'm ready to ride!"

And sure enough....after waiting his turn, he climbed right on up there and rode a horse! I literally was stunned.  His teachers were stunned too.  He isn't a scared-y cat kid, but he is very apprehensive about a lot of things.  Well, not today, I guess...

He had each kid get on the horse and put their arms out to the side to test their balance.  Cal was none-too-thrilled with this exercise, but he still did it and was SO SO proud once he did! Ava was cheering for him and he was just so excited and happy up there! His horse's name was TONKA... which I thought was fitting because we love a good Tonka Truck!

Again, this place is SO SO SO laid back with their horses.  They handed me a rope to walk the horse around the ring.  I am a dog girl.  Not so much a horse girl.  This thing was really leading me around the ring.  I think he knew he had an amateur on his hands- ha! I tried to take pictures while walking this thing.  Cal was ALL smiles and was just laughing away up there.

At the end of the loop, Cal said "mommy that was just great! Can we do it again, please?!" hahaha Maybe I need to get this kid some riding lessons!

After riding horses, we had to grab a quick picture of Cal and Ava...

 

 

 We left the farm and headed to pick Andy up at 12:30. His teacher said he had the BEST day and was in the best mood the entire time.  She said he was a different kid there today from his normal day there.  I am not sure what the difference was really, but she said she had so much fun with him.  He was grinning ear to ear when I picked him up and his blonde curly hair was even wilder than normal. 

The whole crew had a wonderful day and I am beyond thankful that I got to be there to see Cal ride a horse for the first time!


 

Lately

Life is flying by over here and I find myself only blogging an iPhone picture dump and leaving out a bunch of the *other* stuff going on. 

Like...we decided to take off the baby gate at the bottom of the stairs.  Actually, Cal tried swinging from it and it broke and was totally tearing up the bottom step, so we took it off and hoped for the best. And so far, so good! Andy will climb up a few steps and then we ask him if he wants to go night night.  He screams says NO and then comes immediately back down.  That is not really important, but to me and looking back at this blog, it kind of is!

playdate at a park with Charlie...the sun was warm, but the wind was COLD!

Also...we are big on manners around here.  Like, VERY big.  I drill it into both boys many times a day.  They say please and thank you and rarely need prompting (of which I am very proud!).  Andy used to just kind of holler a word that sounded sort of like thank you while waving his hand.  Now he has started saying "THANK!!!" Not thanks, or thank you.  But THANK.  And it is pretty funny.  We say THANK to the child care workers at the gym.  We say THANK to the grocery store people.  We say THANK to his teachers.  I should probably correct him, but I kind of love it right now. 

the weather is warming up! let's put on shorts!

And also...both boys preface each and every sentence they say with "Momma." There are days this gets really tiring:
"Momma, I want to go outside."
"Momma, are we going to Target?"
"Momma, can I have some milk, please?"
"Momma!"
"Momma!"
"MOMMMMMMMAAAAA!!!!!"
(those last three were Andy....)
As much as hearing that over and over and over again can wear a person down, I know I will so so SO miss hearing it when they are older and don't need/want me as much.  Sooo...should I start crying now??? hahaha- just kidding...

And also... the boys are starting to really play together.  I knew it would happen...and it doesn't happen all the time....but it is slowly starting.  It is so fun to watch and listen to.  This past week, Cal got a little stomach bug and he was just not up for playing.  He was exhausted and needed to rest.  Andy was straight distraught over this.  He didn't understand at all why his brother wasn't up playing with him.  Cal was on the couch resting and Andy kept bringing things over to him to see if he would want to play.  It was super sweet and pitiful.  He even took the puke bucket and wore it on his head.  (sigh)

Thankfully, the weather is starting to get nice so we have been spending time outside.  These boys need room to run! They are loving wagon rides and grocery cart races and driveway chalk drawings.  I am looking forward to summer time....it's coming!

 Andy had a TON of energy before bed the other night... he was killing me! (also, this is right before Cal threw up for the first time...)

Last week was spring break so we didn't have school or soccer.  I was going to the gym every morning so I could have my one hour break, but since Cal got sick Thursday night, I couldn't go on Friday.  We found other ways to entertain each other.... poor Cal was still not feeling great...

We played out in the driveway after naps on Friday.  Cal was feeling awful so he wanted to sit in my lap.  When he is sick, he wants his momma! (see above re MOMMMMMAAAA).  Andy is NOT okay with sharing his momma so he nudged himself on my lap too.  Cal stood up from this picture and threw up all over the driveway...

It was Eddie's birthday this weekend so he got permission to play golf Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  Which is a lot of golf.  And a lot of time of daddy out of the house.  Especially after spring break.  Especially with a sick kid.  phew. 

We went to dinner Sunday night and Andy sported some glasses on the way there...

Yesterday, the weather was awesome so we had a picnic for lunch in the driveway.  Cal said it was the best picnic he's ever had in his whole life.  Since I am not sure he's ever had one.....

Then we played outside until rest time.  And it was awesome.  They love driving this truck around the back of the house and then appearing on the other side.  You can hear Andy laughing the entire way around the house.

We also had some races in the driveway...

Oh, Andy...

Soccer started back yesterday...Cal had a ball and I think he's feeling all better! Say cheeeeese (stick)!!!!

Eddie is leaving Thursday for the Masters.  Praying the weather stays nice so I can keep these boys outside and active....!!!
Also, planning on hitting up the wine aisle of Trader Joes before the weekend! ha!