May 30

Hmm. It would appear that I have been a lazy blogger.

But, I have been a busy mama. So there's that.

Today, for example. I had book club tonight, so during the day I needed to entertain the children, bake a pie, prepare dinner, and watch our friend Andrew in the afternoon. After Andrew left, I decided to also make biscuits for book club. Caleb and Daisy were my willing assistants, and things went swimmingly, despite the fact that I was attempting to make biscuits, even though we were out of milk. (Yogurt, friends. Yogurt.)

These two were laughing so hard because we were playing their favorite game, "Smell My Feet". It involves them putting their feet in my face, me sniffing said feet, and then my over-the-top, "YUCKY! EW!" reaction.

Apparently it's the funniest thing ever.

See? They both want you to smell their feet.

What a mess. Wild hair, yogurt on her face, snot in her nose... but look at how happy she is!

And this boy, in his worse-for-the-wear mesh muscle shirt and Muppets band-aid.

 

Goodness, I love them.

May 29

Everything about today was lovely, beautiful, and perfect. I'm not even being sarcastic - it really was! The weather was gorgeous, so the kids spent some time riding their bikes on the sidewalk. But then, despite my repeated warnings, they both rode through a nasty, yucky, gloopy, muddy spot. Everything was filthy.

No problem. We can wash those bikes!

Oh, what fun these two had!

I'm not sure which ended up more wet - Daisy, or her bike.

A proud boy, showing off his handiwork.

Then, snacks on the front porch. We all sat on the swing and ate apples. It was my favorite moment of the day, probably because it was a rare instance where snacktime was zero effort for me, and no one complained. (Except when Daisy decided that she didn't want to swing anymore, and went to sit on the bench instead. But she has such a cute little stinker-face that I didn't even mind.)

Then, on to the backyard (and my newly-planted garden!) for some gardening.

(Note: Caleb planted that evergreen branch in my raised bed at least a month ago. I have no idea why it hasn't started growing yet)

The highlight of Daisy's day was finding a worm in the garden.

Caleb was doubtful at first, but pretty impressed once he actually saw the worm.

Oh, and giant beach ball.

Because, why not?

May 28

It rained - monsooned - all morning. Luckily, I had a prenatal appointment this morning, and Caleb and Daisy were scheduled to spend the morning at Grandma's, so none of us minded the rain.

Baby Rainbow and I are doing great; my next appointment is a home visit, when the midwife comes to our house to make sure she's familiar with our house and bring home birth supplies. After that, we're up to weekly appointments. Things are starting to move quickly now. It's hard to believe we have only six (or seven, or eight...) weeks left! I suppose I should start preparing for this child's imminent arrival...

The rain subsided during naptime, and then we all went outside to play.

It was warm enough for shorts, but Caleb insisted on pants. That boy keeps declaring that "It is not summer yet!" so he must wear pants. Funny that when it was winter, he insisted on mesh shorts every day...

Isn't he handsome?

Then it was Caleb's turn. He took this picture of me.

Caleb was running up and down the sidewalk, and Daisy decided to join him. 

Instead of just running, though, she wanted to line up at the crack and race.

Their race lasted all of two or three steps, before Caleb had to stop and explain to Daisy that they could just run, they didn't have to race.

I think he didn't like his chances of winning, and they both knew it.

May 27

We celebrated Memorial Day by eating breakfast out. As we left the restaurant, Chris and I realized that it was a beautiful morning, so we made a detour to a nearby lake. Though the parking lots were packed, and the path around the lack was filled with a steady stream of brightly-colored walkers, runners, cyclists, and roller bladers, we  had the beach to ourselves.

Since we hadn't planned the outing, I hadn't brought my camera.

It was killing me!

I was forced to lounge, camera-less, on the beach while Chris documented with his phone.

Caleb was thrilled - finally, a lake where it was ok for him to throw endless amounts of rocks and sticks into the water!

Daisy was fearless about getting into the water. She kept going deeper and deeper, up to her knees, picking out big rocks to throw.

It was a perfect morning for beach-going!

Basking in the sunshine, in all of my 34-weeks-pregnant glory.

These two had so much fun!

This might have been one of their favorite parts: a sailor in his one-man boat sailed past, and Caleb yelled "HELLO!" and waved. The sailor waved back. Then fifteen minutes later, the sailor came back - extra close this time. He stopped to chat with us, and the kids were thrilled!

Also, one of the rowers from one of several rowing crews paused in the middle of his stroke to wave hello. Caleb felt like a celebrity.

Then we headed home and spent the rest of the morning working in the back yard and garage, cleaning and organizing and tidying our little hearts out. Right as Chris finished scrubbing our deck, the rains came, and it rained the rest of the day. At least we got in our outdoor fun in the morning!

May 26

Today was Chris' Dad's birthday. Since Chris and I usually don't have the best luck picking out gifts for him, we decided to let the kids choose birthday gifts for Grandad this year. Hijinks ensued.

Caleb was especially excited about a pair of ninja action figures he chose - he planned from the beginning that the red one was for him, and the yellow one was for Grandad. Daisy chose a Spiderman ball, and together we chose a dinosaur hat. But the best gift of all was a set of furry, adhesive mustaches.

The kids were very curious as Grandad opened the package and applied the first one.

Dan knew he looked good.

Gayle wasn't quite so sure about her look...

But she knew it was funny!

All of the fake facial hair made Daisy nervous at first, but Grandad's antics quickly won her over.

Then, it was Caleb's turn.

He said, "Do you like my look?"

Sadly, the mustaches were a bit cheaply made, so even the slightest hint of a smile caused them to fall off.

Ha!

Ha ha!

Chris' turn. Daisy was not a fan.

Happy birthday, Grandad!

May 25

Today was a stay-in-your-pajamas-til-noon kind of day. 

And we did.

Chris and Caleb and Daisy played outside - in their jammies - until it was nearly lunchtime. When I finally convinced Caleb that it was time to get dressed, he decided he wanted to wear his bow tie.

Nothing else.

 And he wanted me to take pictures of it. 

After convincing him to at least keep his undies on, I snapped these photos:

He's a tough guy, with his Chippendales getup and mermaid tattoo.

Those big brown eyes and long, dark lashes get me every time!

Of course, if there is picture-taking, Daisy insists on being involved. 

I had to delete at least five photos because someone's yellow shoulder was in the frame...

After naps (and putting on appropriate clothing!), there was much bike-riding. 

Just this week, Caleb suddenly mastered his balance bike. He can glide, coast, steer, and balance like a pro now. I've already started researching which bike to get him for his 4th birthday. (Note: good bicycles = not cheap. Even for the 4-year-old set. Yikes!)  I'm wondering if he'll even need the training wheels at all?

And clearly, one cannot ride one's bicycle without also wearing one's superhero cape. He was so funny, zooming down the sidewalk, cape flapping in the breeze!

And of course, someone was tagging along behind him, slowly scooting on what she calls her "three-wheeler".

May 23

I didn't take any pictures today.

Our day started out well: we were invited to a very special flower hunt by our friend Catherine, and got to spend the morning playing with friends. I even got the kids fed and in the car and home on time for our naptime window.

But someone didn't get that message. Caleb went down for his nap peacefully, and ended up napping for nearly four hours! But Daisy... Oh, Daisy.

She spent three hours in her crib, fussing, talking, playing, crying, babbling... 

I knew she was exhausted, so I kept trying to get her to sleep, but she was having none of it. And this mama needed her to nap so desperately. By the time I gave up and let her be awake, I was at the end of my rope. My emotions have been very even for most of this pregnancy, but in the past week or so things have started getting more challenging. This afternoon was rough.

But Chris came home from work on time, dinner was easy to make, the kids (blessedly) ate their dinner without much fussing, and then my wonderful husbando suggested a family trip to Whole Foods. Gelato for the kids, and a big, beautiful cookie for me. Man, do I love wheat and sugar.

We got home at 7:30, just in time to put Daisy to bed. But since Caleb woke up from his nap at 4:40, I suggested that maybe his bedtime could be delayed for some special Daddy time. 

And then I did some googling and found that our WeeRide Kangaroo bike seat was safe for children up to 40 pounds. 

And then I had Caleb step on the scale and discovered that he currently weighs 36.6 pounds.

And then Chris and Caleb went off on a wonderful sunset adventure.

Chris took these pictures on his cell phone and texted them to me while they were out.

They rode up to the lake. Caleb told me that he wanted to jump in the lake because he thought there was a mermaid in it.

(This picture, and this moment, is especially sweet because we thought that Caleb had outgrown the bike seat last summer. The seat is so much more intimate and interactive and fun than the bike trailer, so for Chris to have another chance to go on a ride with Caleb was pretty great.)

Though today was cloudy and gray, the boys found a beautiful sunset on their way home. They also found a bouquet of daisies for me, and when they came home Caleb burst through the door, daisies in hand, and shouted, "I love you so much, Mommy!"

Chris put Caleb to bed, and I went in to kiss my boy goodnight. I told Caleb that my head hurt, and he said, "God can heal your head, Mommy!"

I replied, "Yes, I believe He can, Caleb."

"We should pray, Mommy."

"Will you pray for me?"

"OK. Dear God, thank you for Mommy. Thank you for Daisy. Thank you for Daddy. Thank you for me. Thank you for Mommy and me. Lord, I want you to heal Mommy's head. A-men."

What a sweet, sweet boy. We are blessed.

May 22

We were supposed to see our friend Andrew today, but had a last-minute change of plans. I broke the news to Caleb and Daisy, and they were about to become really upset when I looked out the window and had a flash of brilliance. All it took to cheer them back up were the words, "Let's go to the zoo today!"

It was a perfect zoo-morning, and I hoped that because it was so late in May, the school field trips would be over with. I was terribly wrong on that count, but it was still a great visit.

We even got there early enough for free carousel rides! (After this weekend, it will be harder; the free hour moves up an hour to 8-9 am. Yikes!)

As usual, Caleb chose to sit on a bench rather than ride an animal. I suppose the benches are more predictable...

Daisy chose a tiger, and was so excited about it! When Chris came home from work this afternoon, it was the first thing she told him about.

Normally, the zoo (and all of its fun freebies) is enough to keep my kids happy. But today, Caleb was suddenly aware of - and wanted - everything. He wanted to ride the train (at $5 each, including Daisy! That's steep!) He wanted his face painted. He wanted junk from the gift stands. *sigh* I thought I had him well trained, but apparently he just hadn't noticed all of the other stuff at the zoo. One of these times I'll plan ahead and we'll ride the train, but otherwise, my nos are firm. (I did offer to draw on his face when we got home, but by the time naps were over he had forgotten...)

We took a different route through the zoo today, and saw different animals than we normally see.

Also, Caleb brought his little camera along. Every time he set it down, Daisy scooped it up.

She's so funny!

The kangaroos and giraffes ended up being the kids' favorite part of our zoo trip, probably because the kangaroos were hopping like crazy, and one giraffe was super-close.

All in all, a good morning!