s is for strawberries

Posted on June 3, 2014 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~

fun and trouble in Tennessee

Posted on January 6, 2014 by mommyinthemidwest

Our start to the New Year left a lot to be desired.

This was Dexter, in the car at about 8:20am on January 1st, not 2 minutes after we left our house. Our car was filled to the gills with gifts for my Tennessee family and our clothes, etc. Everything we needed for a 4 day trip. Luckily it was only on the straps and not down in the seat. If you know me at all, you know this is just about the worst thing that could happen to me as a mom (aside from getting puked ON, which also happened recently). Anyway, we grabbed a bucket and decided to try again. I was a mess of nerves and on edge for the first couple of hours of the drive. By lunchtime, I’d calmed down but started to worry again that he’d get sick after eating. After eating, we let them play for 20 minutes or so to see how he was going to do.

We made it to Tennessee without further incident and everyone seemed to be feeling great. We picked up my mom and headed straight to Dollywood, another hour away. The forecast was showing temps of 54 so it sounded like the perfect time to show the boys the beautiful light displays there.

Too bad it was getting dark by the time we showed up and the temperature had dropped 484,923 degrees. Okay, it was like 40 but we were all freezing. We ended up only staying for an hour or so before finding someplace in Pigeon Forge to eat and heading back to mom’s.

The boys couldn’t have been happier to leave Dollywood and get back to Grammy’s because they knew present-palooza #3 was waiting for them.

Grammy with her littlest grandsons.

My sweet niece Penelope just days before her first birthday (today!)

Thursday we relaxed around the house most of the morning and then I spent a few hours with a dear old friend of mine. While visiting her, I began feeling a little sick. By the time we got back to my mom’s I was ready to lay down and call it a day. The same stomach bug eventually bit me and I was feeling pretty miserable. I tossed and turned from the time I went to bed until about 3am when I finally decided to go sit in a chair in the living room. As soon as I nodded off there, I heard Theo yelling from the next room and I knew what had happened. I jumped up and ran in there and turned on the light, only to find him sitting up, crying. He had thrown up all over my mom’s new comforter. NOOO. I think I started crying right then. I was in no condition to be standing up, let alone cleaning up yet another pile of puke. I yelled for Ryan and sat on the floor with 2 crying kids while Ryan cleaned up the bed.

Speed on through the next 12 nightmarish hours and miraculously, by Friday afternoon we were all feeling much better. My sister and her husband had planned to take the boys to Build-a-Bear as part of their Christmas gift so I agreed to meet somewhere for dinner and see how that went. Theo’s energy had returned but his appetite was missing. A-okay. We proceeded to the mall so they could make their little pals.

When I explained to Theo what Build-a-Bear was, he seemed disappointed and said he didn’t like bears. Funny that they had tons of options and that’s exactly what he chose!

And he shall be called Honey Bear.

Dexter chose the mouse, who has been called everything including Squeakers, Squeaky, Mousy, Koogie, and Cookie.

Don’t we look just alike? No? I know.

What about me and my niecy poo? No? Still nothing?

Thanks, Hamer family!

I’d never done or seen the Build-a-Bear process before but I thought it was super sweet. The boys really got into it and are still carrying their little animals around and sleeping with them.

We’d planned to celebrate Penelope’s 1st birthday on Saturday but we decided to cut our trip short and leave Saturday morning instead of Saturday night due to impending bad weather at home. So she opened her gifts from us back at my mom’s on Friday night.

And Saturday morning, we hit the road. But not before catching a quick glimpse of our star-athlete-in-the-making nephew in action.

Crossing the bridge back into Indiana.

We got home around 6pm Saturday and nestled in for the snowstorm.

Looking around our house now, I have to say I feel a little guilty. Our kids have so much STUFF. They love their toys and there aren’t tons of things that they never play with. I’ve been pretty good about going through them routinely and donating or passing down to someone else. But I won’t be buying a single toy until their birthdays (Theo’s is in just over 2 months…how is it possible that my baby is almost FOUR!?).

So that concludes Christmas 2013! Here’s to hoping that we got all the puking out of our systems for a long while. My stomach leaps out of fear every time the kids cough, hiccup, or gag at all. NO MORE PUKE.

Health, wealth, and happiness to you this year,

~C~

2 Christmases (so far)

Posted on December 30, 2013 by mommyinthemidwest

So far, we’ve had two Christmases. One on Wednesday morning at home with Santa and Nana and Pop Pop. Then, again on Friday night as we celebrated with all of my in-laws. Soon we will travel to Tennessee to visit my mom and sister and wrap up the 2013 holiday season. Now that we are to this point in the season, I’m happy and feel relaxed. But I found the holiday season particularly overwhelming and stressful this year. I was overcome with my emotions from missing my dad for a few days and the slightest thing would send me into a mess of tears and snot. I think this was just the proverbial straw that broke the proverbial camel’s back this year, as it peaked around his birthday on December 19th. It just seemed that there was not enough time or energy to get everything done. I felt like there was a weight or cloud over me that I just couldn’t shake. But we got everything done that needed to be done and in the end, it was worth it and I started feeling more like myself again. Sometimes you just have to realize that things you once prioritized are no longer important. This year I did good just to get the presents wrapped before Christmas; they sure didn’t have pretty ribbon bows like they have in years past. Oh. Well. I don’t think the recipients appreciated them any less, right?

Here are a few pictures from our first two Christmases.

Wrapped and ready to go!

Christmas card tree complete. 🙂 Thank you if you sent us one!

The boys were mesmerized by the fire – why don’t we ever use our fireplace again?

Sitting his name puzzle out so Santa would know right where to put his toys.

Playing Counting Cookies with Daddy and Pop Pop.

Stack of Christmas Eve bedtime stories.

Snuggled in for our annual tradition of reading ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas before Santa comes.

Santa came and left his gifts wrapped in special paper (no bows – haha!). He even left Dexter that blue candy cane he asked for. How does Santa remember everything!?

He even left Theo that TMNT lego set he asked for…

and the key chain, too.

Santa must have enjoyed his cookies.

Santa left this cardboard train as a big surprise!

And in the morning, the boys couldn’t get out to the living room fast enough to see what had been left by their puzzles! (Luckily they did sleep in until about 8:15 – a gift for mom and dad, indeed).

Once they saw their Santa gifts, they were content playing for a couple of hours while I baked our breakfast casserole, Ryan assembled a few million legos, and we ate breakfast.

Dexter’s big gift from Santa was Jake’s pirate ship, Bucky.

Finally, they wanted to see what ol’ mom and dad threw under the tree for them.

Playing with Nana.

After opening all the presents, we were hungry and this crock pot turkey was just about the best thing ever. I can’t wait to make this again. And again.

This was also my first attempt ever at homemade mac n’ cheese. I was really happy with how this meal turned out, it was probably my favorite all week and was definitely not the biggest or fanciest.