parks, parks. we love parks.

Posted on May 10, 2014 by mommyinthemidwest

I am always looking for something free or cheap to do outside with the boys. This time of year we can find lots of places to go. My favorite things about living where we do include proximity to Indianapolis (15-20 minute drive to the heart of downtown on a good traffic day), great local restaurants and other businesses, and of course, the abundance of parks nearby.

Friday afternoon when I picked up the boys, it was obvious that rain was coming. We stopped at one of our favorite parks on the way home. It’s special to me because it was built with all kinds of kids in mind. It’s wheelchair accessible, brand new, rarely busy, and just the right size. It has plenty for the boys to do but isn’t so spread out that I lose sight of one of them if they go separate ways. When it’s hot out, there are fun water features. Additionally, because it’s wheelchair accessible, the playground area has that rubbery flooring stuff which means it’s never muddy.

Saturday morning we got up and went to a very small local farmer’s market. There isn’t much there yet. Lots of plants. I’m looking forward to going back when I can buy tomatoes (not tomato plants) and corn on the cob. My green thumb is non-existent. There were plenty of delicious baked goods to take home though.

Afterwards, on the spur of the moment, I wanted to take the boys to a park in the town where I work, 20 minutes away. Such a neat, big, wooded park. It was a nice morning so I was surprised again that practically no one else was there.

I’m having a lot of fun getting to know my new 50mm 1.8 lens.

Scared of swinging but not scared of heights…I’m so confused.

Exploring.

Ever seen a kid this big in the baby swings? Me either. Except for this one.

Afterwards we went to one of my favorite local restaurants and ate outside. Tired boys. It’s been such a fun day and Mother’s Day weekend so far.

Hope you are enjoying the weekend,

~C~

meaningful artwork in our home

Posted on April 28, 2014 by mommyinthemidwest

In February, Theo’s teacher shared the picture below with the caption “Working on the class project” in the school’s private Facebook group’s newsfeed. I’m always pleasantly surprised to see Theo’s little face pop up in my newsfeed, but this picture is especially cute to me because I love what he is doing.

His class began working on this in January. Each day when I pick Theo up, he leads me through his Montessori classroom, past the class project (“the globe in sequins”), to show me something he worked on that day. I’ve been admiring the progression of this neat project for over three months. Each individual sequin glued on, one by one. Theo and his classmates collectively have spent countless hours working on this beautiful art project.

Last week, it was announced that this piece of artwork would be up for bid in a silent auction at the school’s International Fair. I immediately looked up that picture of Theo working on the globes. I forwarded the picture of Theo as well as a photo of the completed, framed piece to my husband, mom, and sister asking “how much is too much?” and “am I crazy for wanting this so bad?”

I have never bid on anything that I cared so much about. I didn’t realize that “silent auction” means you write your name and a price on a piece of paper and everyone can see your offer. I thought we just wrote down a price privately and whoever had the highest offer would win. WRONG! It was a little intense and I felt a nervous adrenaline as the end of the auction drew near. Me and two other people were bidding for the piece. Part of me felt terribly guilty as I could only assume these other bidders wanted it just as badly as I did.

We bid with just a minute or two remaining and no one else snuck in with another bid. We won. I tried to act cool as a cucumber but inside I was saying Eeeeeeeeeeeeee!

I felt immense relief and guilt at the same time. More than anything, I’m glad to now have this meaningful, beautiful piece of artwork (that my son helped create) to enjoy in our home for years to come!

I’m in love with it. Just disregard the mess.

One of a kind masterpiece. 🙂

Theo asked to hang it in his room but I had to say, “Sorry, Charlie…this belongs to the whole family.” I told Ryan I’m all set for Mother’s Day this year. No need to shop.

Have you ever had an intense bidding war in person? What did you win? So nerve-wracking!

xo,
~C~

theo’s fourth birthday: a lego-tastic celebration

Posted on March 14, 2014 by mommyinthemidwest

The celebrating started two days before Theo’s birthday, on Thursday March 6th. His Montessori school has a neat birthday tradition and invited us and Theo’s grandparents to attend. My mom even drove up from Tennessee the night before to be there in time. We were quite the crowd in his little classroom but I loved it and wouldn’t have had it any other way.

Here’s Theo’s teacher, Ms. Holly, talking about Theo and asking me what Theo was like each year of his life. I made the scrapbook page with one photo of him from each year. Theo got to hold the globe and walk around the sun one time for each birthday so far. They sung a couple of cute songs as well as the traditional birthday song, then we went outside for treats – Theo asked for chocolate muffins so I made enough brownies in a mini muffin tin for the class and teachers.

Not wanting to take time away from that brownie to pose for a picture with Ms. Holly.

Friday was extra nice – the first time in many years that I just spent a day with my mom. We sent the boys to the sitter to get things ready for Theo’s small party on Saturday. It was nice just hanging out, shopping, eating lunch, and talking without the constant distractions from my sweet little energetic, talkative, attention-sucking boys. We picked them up, let them play outside for an hour or so, then continued working on party stuff.

First time the grass got mowed in 2014.

Making minifigure cups and gift bags for our guests.

Saturday – Theo’s 4th birthday! Party day! Swim lessons and so much stuff to do!

Dexter helping Grammy with the lemon bars.

Aunt Chelle and Pop Pop are ready to party.

Some of Theo’s favorite foods: assorted berries.

My mom made the awesome banner!

Even though it’s not a Lego, Ryan and I decided Theo needs a bike. It wasn’t the most popular gift and we were prepared for that. He’s such a homebody – he loves to play Legos, games, read books, etc. so we wanted to do something to encourage him to get outside this spring and summer. He liked it. I wouldn’t say he looooved it. Don’t worry, we also got him a few little Legos.

Three minifigures and two small sets to be exact.

Create your own Mini-fig table.

Lining up for that tasty food. We had:

-Cocktail Meatballs-

-Mini Corn Dogs-

-Assorted Veggies & Dip-

-Queso & Chips-

-Berry Salad-

-Lemon Bars-

Fun with punching balloons

Not too sure about this.

Of course, one of the best parts of the day was seeing his excitement as he opened his gifts.

At Theo’s request, Nana made him a chocolate cake with chocolate icing. It was delicious. I found the cute Lego cake topper (that was not technically a cake topper) on Amazon.

Our “not-really-a-party” that turned into a little bit of a party was so much fun. We were so happy to have all of our guests in attendance at our little bit of a party.

Salazar Family

Weir Family

Nana and Pop Pop

Grammy

The Beals/Jeffries

Too bad little buddy was done-zo with pics by the time we got around to attempting …

Sunday, coincidentally, Brickworld was going on at the State Fairgrounds. What better way to round out this little guy’s Lego birthday bonanza than to surround ourselves with MORE LEGOS?

45,000 square feet of massive Lego displays. The boys were in heaven.

It didn’t hurt that they got yet another mini-figure. I mean, at a place like that, how could we say no?

Loved the look on Dexter’s face when he spotted me watching him from outside this madness. He was so excited to show me his tower. It was funny, there were several kids in there his same age and they were all building the same things…towers. It’s a start to the Lego addiction!

It was a really great weekend and birthday celebration for my FOUR year old boy – that still sounds weird!

Dexter is already talking about his Batman & Robin party so the bar has been raised…the expectation is there. Here we go again!

xo,

~C~