Month: June 2014

catch the moment: week twenty-two

Posted on by mommyinthemidwest

Linking up for Catch the Moment: Week 22 with Mindi at Simply Stavish, Stephanie at Behind the Camera and Dreaming, and Sarah at Nurse Loves Farmer.

This week has been full of fun, adventure, and surprises.  Whenever I think about things that have happened in the last seven days, a few highlights (and maybe a few lows) might pop into my mind. But when I compile these posts – one tiny glimpse of each day of our lives, I realize and think about how much we really do pack into each Wednesday through Tuesday. The pictures trigger memories of other things that we did on the same day.  I thought I would be losing steam with this project by now, but the opposite is happening. I look forward to putting the posts together, even if there are many days where I’ve just grabbed the camera for the sake of having at least one pic to post from that day.

Here we go…

148/365: May 28th. Just a laid back Wednesday afternoon of coloring while dinner was cooking.  I love coloring. Before the boys, I hadn’t done it in years. Now I find myself still sitting at the table sometimes after they’ve long moved onto something else. 

149/365: May 29th.  One of those hit-the-brakes moments on my way to work when I saw this and many other beautiful poppies blooming in a field of wildflowers in front of a barn that I have photographed before.  Love this picture. 

150/365: May 30th. Friday morning drop-off at the babysitter and I spent a little extra time with the boys, letting them walk over to see the fishies.  Ryan and I decided on the spur of the moment to head to Kings Island for the day and I knew I wouldn’t see them again until the next morning. 

151/365: May 31st. Read all about Theo’s rise to stardom in this separate, dedicated blog post. 
152/365: June 1st. What better way to spend the beginning of June than at the strawberry patch, picking berries for the first time?  See and read more from our visit here. 

153/365: June 2nd. Surprise! Nothing like coming home from an otherwise disappointing Monday to find belated birthday gifts from an old friend waiting in the mailbox! 

154/365: June 3rd.  One of those hurry-up-and-take-a-pic-before-the-day-is-over pics.  But I like it. That’s my big little boy watching Sheriff Callie before dinner.
I really like all my photos again this week, but my favorite has to be that poppy in front of the barn on day 149.  So many of these pics elicit warm, happy memories for me.  Hope your week was full of warm fuzzies, too.
xo,
~C~

s is for strawberries

Posted on by mommyinthemidwest

Sunday morning Ryan had work to do around the house so the boys and I loaded up and headed off to The Apple Works, an apple orchard, pumpkin patch, strawberry field, and so much more, a short drive south of us. I had never been strawberry picking before and neither had the boys.  It. Was. Hot. But we had fun anyway.

They were serious about finding the very best berries, dark red from top to bottom. I was disappointed after driving to the top of the hill to find that there was no one there passing out any type of container to fill.  Luckily, the boys had snacked on pretzels in the car and we still had their plastic storage bags handy.

Is this a good one, mom?

Poor Dex, his little face goes bright red as soon as he gets in the sun (from heat, not sunburn). 

They were entertained by the hunt and the picking until their baggies were about half full.  They wandered around, enjoying their freedom, while I continued filling the bags.  Isn’t it sweet how Dexter’s never far behind Theo?  Well, on this day it was.  It’s not always. Ha. 

After we were done picking, we drove back down the hill and parked at the store. We paid for our berries and I got the boys a small bottle of sweet apple cider.  They chugged it on the porch of the store and enjoyed a cool breeze and some shade.  Perfect moment in time.

The berries are small but you’ll never taste one sweeter.  So delicious. 

It was a fun mommy, son, and son date that I won’t forget.  Making memories with these boys of mine – that’s what it’s all about.  I think this might have to be a new annual family tradition. But next time we’ll take Daddy. 🙂

xo,
~C~

theo: your next american idol?

Posted on by mommyinthemidwest

Saturday night we went to Mrs. Curl after dinner.  One of our favorite summer treats. It was hot out and we expected it to be busy. We were correct.

What we didn’t anticipate was karaoke on the patio.  While we waited in the very long line, we heard what sounded like, I don’t know, a cat dying?  Faintly accompanied by “Let it Go” music in the background. While we ate our treats and watched kids sing a few songs, Theo decided that he wanted to “sing Star Wars.” What he meant was he wanted to sing “duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh” (etc) to the tune The Imperial March (Darth Vader’s Theme). The girl running the karaoke walked around asking for last requests and Theo perked up and said he wanted to sing Star Wars.  Ryan was shaking his head no, afraid that Theo would be embarrassed (or maybe embarrassing) and I shook my head yes. What’s the harm in it?  I figured, if he has the confidence to get up there, I’m not going to squash it.

He had fun too, despite his grumpy looking face.

I went to throw away our trash and when I turned back around, Theo was on stage — but wait.  What was that familiar tune once more?  Apparently at the last second, he asked the girl if he could sing “Frozen.”  So Let it Go played for the 14th time and he stood there smiling and holding a microphone. And not singing. But so proud of himself.

Halfway through, the girl squatted down on the stage with him and sung along. Theo did start singing and it was about the cutest thing.

I felt like he was on the stage of American Idol and just made it through to Hollywood.  I was just proud of his confidence and willingness to do something outside of the box.

That night, while I was snuggling with him at bedtime, we talked about all the fun things we had done that day.

Me:  What was the best part of the whoooole day?  Was it going to the splash pad? Our picnic at the park? Eating those tomatoes from the Farmer’s Market?  Or was it eating outside and telling stories at dinner time?  Maybe that steak and baked potato you liked so much?  Going for ice cream after dinner? Or was it throwing rocks in the creek after ice cream?

Theo:  Getting on the stage to sing was the best part of the whooooole day!

Me: Ohhh! Yes, that was fun, wasn’t it?! I am so proud of you for doing that, you know it?

Theo: Why, mama?

Me: Because it’s hard for people to do stuff like that sometimes.

Theo: Did you ever sing on a stage?

Me: No. Not by myself.

Theo: You should do it sometime because it’s really fun.

Me: Oh, honey…I don’t know.  I think I would be too shy!

Theo: It’s okay, mama. If you get scared, I will come stand beside you and help you.

And then my heart burst into 38 million tiny bits. I love him.

xo,
~C~