Memorial Day Weekend

I admit...I have been a bad blogger lately.  Especially if you are following pics of the little guy. 

We took a mini-vacay to Memphis this long weekend to visit my parents.  We all had a great time.  Things didn't go exactly as planned though.  We stopped in St. Louis Thursday evening to break up or trip and stay overnight w/Scott's parents.  We had a good time, but C was grumpy from a very short nap.  Then it happened.  C woke up early the next morning crying...never a good sign.  He was in obvious pain and he kept vomiting drainage.  We took him to a walk-in clinic at Walgreens near Scott's parents house when they opened.  C cried and tried to sleep (and vomit) while we waited.  He was a trooper for the nurse practicioner.  He had a raging ear infection as well as a cold or allergies going on.  We had to wait for his antibiotics (which took almost 2 hours to fill) before we could continue on to Memphis.  We gave him some OTC medicines to help with his symptoms as recommended.  He started to feel better within 45 minutes--b/c the poor kid had barely said five words until the medicine kicked in.  He was great on the 4+ hr drive to Memphis and the whole time we were at mom and dad's.  We had a great time once we got there.  We hung around their house the first afternoon/evening.  My dad grilled lamb chops, and my mom made couscous and a salad.  It was delicious--even C approved. C loved digging in the mulch in mom and dad's backyard.  We let C sleep in a big boy bed in the little kids' room at mom and dad's house.  I had bought a bed rail, so we pushed one of the twin beds against the wall and used the rail on the other side. He thought he was big stuff, and he did great.  He looked so little in the bed.  It won't be long before we're doing that at home, too I guess.  He still stayed in his bed and waited for us just like at home. 

enjoying the back patio

The next morning we went to the Lichermann Nature Center in Memphis. It was perfectly sized and interactive for how C was feeling. We saw live and stuffed animals native to the area. He loved seeing the turtles, snakes, fish, and mice that were alive. He also loved the stuffed buffalo and bobcat (after being scared at first, of course). He got a souvenir from Nana and Papa--a new watering can and spade and a stuffed turtle. He named the turtle Tuck (wonder pets--my boy is not so creative), and he loves it. Then that night my parents had a small party with their friends--we were there, too. They did a low country oil--it was delicious. If you don't know what it is, it's a one pot meal that is cooked in seasonings with lemons, onion, smoked sausage, corn on the cob, potatoes, and shrimp. After it's cooked you drain the water and serve it all up together. Many places show it served on paper in the middle of the table. There were too many people to sit at one table, so my mom had lots of fun seafood platters to hold the huge quantity of food. My mom made two desserts--one was a pinapple no-bake cheesecake (yum) and a frozen lemonade pie. Delicious and so refreshing for the summer.

they had a play area with dress up stuff, books, puzzles, blocks, and other stuff he found.  He liked to be dressed like a fireman as he looked at the live animals in this building.

walking around the lake

Sunday C woke up from his late night and busy day feeling a bit tired.  He couldn't be persuaded to leave their house except to go for a walk and the playground.  He played and had fun, but wanted to stay home.  He watched the Lion King and Snow White while we were there, and he loved them both. Mom and dad have a new flush mount big screen tv in their hearth room as well--it was awesome to watch movies on it. The speakers are invisible as well (and they go outside, too, invisibly--it's amazing).  My parents made another delicious meal that night--grilled filet mignon (to perfection), ranch mashed potatoes, and salad.  We made banana milkshakes when we came back from the playground, too.  I helped my mom pick-out and put up new curtains in her hearth/family room/eat-in kitchen since they got new furniture--which looks great!

riding the lawnmower with papa

thinking he's driving--and lovin' it.

we all had fun playing on the school playground near mom and dad's. we were all going down the slides and playing.  

Monday we went to Cracker Barrel for breakfast b/c their ovens were broken, and my mom really wanted biscuits. We left shortly after that to head to St. Louis for lunch with the Dankel family and then on to home.  C started feeling bad again this day.  His nose ran like a faucet ALL day. I thought his allergies were just acting up, but this morning it's still running and he has a slight temperature. All he wants to do is watch tv and snuggle.  At least he's doing a good job taking his antibiotics this time.  I'm ready for the dry weather to kill some of these allergens.  They are working little man over I think.  He seems like he's feeling better--ear wise though. 

chilling out on the friends' porch while we loaded the car



one last ride on the mower

saying goodbye

blowing kisses to N & P.  he had such a good time--he didn't want to leave at first, but he was good about it.

Our plans for the week are all messed up b/c of C's cold (or whatever it is), and the Blue Angels are grounded.  We were supposed to go to Rockford, IL this Saturday for an air show to see them for C's bday, but they were grounded for flying too low at a show.  The only other place they will be going close to us is in Davenport, IA later in the month.  I'm hoping we can still take him.  He was so disappointed. I hope he feels like himself soon, too.

My brain is SPINNING with ideas about C's upcoming 3rd bday.  We shall see what unfolds.

Big Boy

Today was one of those days that impressed on me how much my little guy is growing up.  I've been noticing this a lot lately. Potty training seemed to be the gateway to all things grown-up.  This is evidenced by his newfound interest in Mount Rushmore.  Holy heck, why is this interesting to him?  He saw a billboard today, and as soon as I tried to explain it, he latched onto it.  He's off and on talked about it since.  He doesn't really understand what a mountain is or what carving is either, but he thinks it's cool.  Do we have a little nerd in the making here? He loves to look at places on the map, pictures of animals--especially buffalo, sharks, and fish currently.  He loves the Justice League superheroes.  He uses phrases like, "Can I peek at that?"  and all sorts of other ridiculously big boy things.  He told me Sunday he wished I was a boy so I could have gone with him and daddy to the boys party--which wasn't a party at all, but whatever.  He's really considering possibilities and outcomes now.  

So here's some shots of the big boy today.

terrible shot, I know, but it was the only one I was able to get before they let go of each other's hands.  I wasn't really ready for a picture opportunity at K-Mart when I spied these two cuties.  So gross C is touching the trash can.  C's buddy Max (4.5 yrs old), and Max's sitter, hung out with us this morning to run errands and go play at Open Gym.  

So I had promised C we would make cookies when we left in the morning since it was raining.  I had set out the butter to soften, so there was no going back even though it was beautiful and sunny when we got back, and I would have rather gone for a walk.  This is the most he's actually been able to help really.  He actually helped scoop up the cookies here. 

he looks SO BIG here.  look at those jeans getting so short.

If you need me for the next 12 hours I will be fashioning an ark from my yet to be taken recycling stash, scrapbook paper, fabric, styrofoam, foam board, old costumes, and yarn.  It's going to be epic.

How to effectively use music in your home

The following analogy promises to enlighten you in your task to effectively use music in your home.  I am an expert at using music at home. Don't believe me, continue reading.

This morning after breakfast--I was still cleaning up, but as soon as C got down from the table he ran to the living room.  He began to sing a song of his own creation.  This isn't that unusual.  They are generally quite simplistic and repetitive.  Today's song was "I wanna watch some TV. I wanna watch some TV" to a very cute tune.  See what I mean?  Excellent at using music in the house.  I have to mostly credit Scott with the music b/c he makes up songs all the time.  C seems to be following suit.  I try to make up songs as well, but I'm not near as good, but we listen to music a lot. Pay no attention to my child's need/demand for television (all the time).  [I choose to ignore that my child wants to watch tv at all times unless we are away from the house or outside. It is a constant battle--one that I created by allowing television so often.]

I'm calling this a win.

Tea party slide show

You know blogger hates me, so for some reason these are all fuzzy?!?

You can see all the photos that Sarah took here in better size than the thumbnails from my previous post.

If you want to see all the full size images click on the following link


tea party slide show

Tea/Garden Party

**Warning: sorry about the thumbnail photos--evidently that's what i downloaded.  i'll try to fix it.

Well, the tea party went off very well.  The only hitch was it started to rain just after we got done eating, so then everyone scrambled to get everything inside.  I would have liked everyone to have been able to stay and hang outside longer.  Once we were inside it just got so cramped--and everyone was feeling it. 

I had so many wonderful ladies help on the day.  Really, everyone lent a hand in some way once they got there.  Everyone brought some food or drink to share, so we had tons of yumminess. I had 2 friends, Bree and Laura, volunteer to come early and help finish setting out the decorations.  Thank goodness they came.  They finished setting up the table decorations and helped decorate the chain link fence.  The wind was a big factor we had to fight with the decorating. Then they helped put food and cups out.  I had another girlfriend, Joy, who came early to dish up and serve sorbet and shortbread to the ladies when they arrived.  Just a fun touch (totally stolen from the tea room I've been to).  Then everyone helped shuffle and plate things as they arrived.  Then Sarah took all the following great pictures with her nice camera.  Thank goodness she did b/c I had time to take only 1 or 2 pics.  I had planned on getting the decorations on film at the end--but alas, it started to rain.  So much of the cute decor was along the fence line, so we didn't get it photographed.

Everyone scrambled to get everything inside when the rain started.  It started with a sprinkle. No sooner did the last thing get brought in that it started to pour.  Everyone helped as much as they could putting things in their right places.  Then people started to trickle out b/c of the cramped quarters.  Four ladies, Bree, Lacey, Wendy, and Darci, stayed to help clean up.  We had it all cleaned--dishes washed and put away and the decor organized.  Everyone was such a huge help.  I absolutely love that about my moms group here in town. Everyone is so kind and always willing to help pitch in.

On to the pictures.

one of my favorite details you can't really see. i'm going to try to find another pic when the straws were all going the same direction--i think i took one.  we used mason jars as drink glasses (i completely stole this idea from the pleated poppy's post here). then i put a tag around the jar's neck w/everyone's name, and a green straw.

found it!

you can sort of see the fence decor here.

and you can sort of see the decor between the trees.  i didn't get any photographs of the tea signs i had made.  i might still take them since i haven't recycled them yet.

everyone looking for their spot

each person had a unique placemat and a unique cone filled with flowers from their chair

our little interloper.  he came out to say he was going to take a nap.  the look on his face at all the ladies was priceless.

sweet group of ladies

a little view of the back decor

donning our hats

Here's what we had to eat and drink:

Breads

strawberry-lime scones and orange-cranberry scones

crumpets

orange cranberry bread

variety of jams, marmalade, crème fraiche and Devonshire cream

Savouries

cucumber sandwiches

ham salad sandwiches

orange marmalade cheese sandwiches

chicken salad on Italian and rye sandwiches

cucumber salmon on pumpernickel sandwiches

radish, poppy seed, arugula on Italian sandwiches

bacon, scallion, and cheese mini-tartlets

pesto/puff pastry swirls

Salads

spinach salad with strawberries

Sweets:

chocolate-covered strawberries

cherry yogurt covered pretzels

mini-cherry cheesecakes

pink lemonade tarts

fruit

chai cupcakes

strawberry cake balls

blueberry, raspberry, or lemon curd tartlets

Drinks

hot tea—various flavors

pink lemonade (sparkling and still)

lime water

sweet tea

mint and raspberry infused tea

orange, passionfruit, and jasmine green tea with green apple

up close of some decor

my mix of modern and vintage/floral papers to give it a shabby chic kind of feel with the placemats and cones.  all the papers were different, so no two places were the same

this sign was on my gate, and it took a beating from the wind for sure--as well as my tissue paper flowers and tea pot/cup cut outs.

Tea party chaos

Turns out Scott leaving is working in my favor.  I stayed up until midnight (undistracted) working on tea party decorations--which wouldn't have happened if Scott would have been here.  Evidently I should have been doing this all week as I don't think I will ever get everything done.  My mind's eye will likely turn out to be greater than my capabilities allow.  I'm trying to turn my yard into a tea/garden party this Sunday.  And whoa to the Earth if it rains.  Thankfully everyone is helping with the food, so I'm just making a couple of things that can mostly be made in advance.  I also have a girlfriend coming over an hour early to help, but I'm starting to think I might be crazy (as usual when I plan a party).  A filter would be helpful.  If I could dig up my chain link fence for the weekend and borrow a picket one things would be so much prettier.  Anyone have any suggestions?  I had to check 4 different grocery stores before I found crumpets, pumpernickel bread, and mini-phyllo cups.  WTH.  This is a time when I say, what is wrong with this place.  I guess people just eat hot dogs and at chain restaurants here, so there is not much call for "fine" foods. Seriously, I'm not expecting them to carry jarred black truffles or caviar.  If I had vintage linens it would be better, but sadly I don't.  My mom has all the pretty stuff, but she lives too far away to borrow that kind of stuff in a pinch.  I've been struggling to pull together 16 non-matching tea cups (so everyone could keep track of their cup).  No luck.  I have 4, but then everyone else seems to have matching sets--but not enough people have sets (as in 12 other people).  I've gathered 8 so far, and I have 2 more coming for sure, but that leaves me 6 short (but we have plenty of cups if we repeat patterns).  I feel an ulcer coming on.  I can't believe I am consumed by such obsessive, crazy thoughts.  I'm pretty sure I'm the only person that cares about these details, but I literally obsess over them.  My back yard will either look gorgeous come Sunday, rained out, or like a 1920's washerwoman--hint of my decor).

A little whiny

C is feeling yucky today.  He's alternating between super sweet and cuddly and very grumpy. He kept ordering me to get out of the chair and to go to my room b/c I wouldn't vacate it for him even though I was the first one there.  Who is this mean little munchkin?  Then Scott calls me this morning to tell me there is a strong possibility he will be going to Chicago for the next couple of days.  He calls me back as I'm laying C down for a nap to confirm it.  Evidently this mission analysis meeting has been planned for a while, but no one told Scott.  He wouldn't have even known about it if he hadn't seen it on his boss's calendar today when they were sharing calendars (don't understand this technical online concept of viewing each other's calendars) to plan a meeting.  He saw this meeting and asked if he wasn't supposed to be there.  His boss said, um yeah?  Scott said, he had never been notified.  He double-checked.  Sure enough--no emails alerting him to the meeting.  His boss said, yeah your name was left off the list--thought that was weird.  What?!?  Seriously this company is ridonkulous.  Because Scott is in a different division in their only downstate market he constantly is inadvertantly left off of important training emails (this is at least the 3rd time this has happened only to find out he's supposed to be in Chicago in 48 hrs or less).  Whoever the person is in charge of this needs to get it together.  So, I had to cancel my plans tomorrow since I don't have anyone to watch C.  I already paid a babysitter to watch him 2 times in the last 5 days to watch him, so oh well I guess.  I know Scott is frustrated as well as he has to totally rearrange his schedule--and pack. 

What else can I whine about? Oh yeah...the weather.  It sucks!!! Too cold.  I'm totally off my exercise rhythm and can't stop eating brownies. 


The end

Errand morning

I ran C ragged this morning with errands.  We went to Target, the Fresh Market, and to Meijer.  He was really good the whole time.  I got him a Green Lantern mask/ring thing set b/c he wants somebody to be the Green Lantern for his bday (not himself--he's superwhy).  We got home and he had to watch the DC superfriends episode we have. 

He was beat

and the light up Pumas (collective gasp)

Embarrassing moments

Backstory:

This morning Scott didn't do a good job cutting up C's egg, which led to a discussion about how amazingly precise both Scott's parents cut things up for C to eat.  Then Scott made up a song that C really liked incorporating this fact and something I did. 

Fastforward to dinner tonight.  We are eating at the table with another couple and their child at our dinner table.  C starts singing the song from the morning.  It goes like this, "Grandma cuts the egg.  Mama cuts the cheese."  He sang it over and over again.  I was really embarrassed to say the least.  Oh well, they were good sports about it.

A well deserved apology

Dear moms and dads I have previously misjudged, I apolize. 

Today I joined the ranks of the parents that buy their children light-up shoes.  I need to apologize b/c previously I treated light-up shoes like a turd that has dropped on the floor while changing an "accident."  Basically I didn't want anything to do with it.  Today I did it though.  I bought my child the much-hated light up shoes.  The sales lady showed them to him before I could intervene, and then we were done.  Parents who have already experienced this I sympathize.  I no longer think it is due to lack of taste.  Kids like what they like. C wouldn't even let us take them off of his feet after he put them on.  He immediately wanted to run and frolic about.  He showed everyone in the nearby vicinity of the men's/children's shoe section of Von Maur his Puma light ups.  When I tried to get him to try on a different pair of shoes he went into melt-down mode.

As far as light ups go they are cool, but they are still light ups.  He is currently wearing them during his nap since they aren't dirty yet.  We carried him out of the store since he insisted on wearing them out.  Light ups are evidently toddler/preschooler crack.  I'm not sure I will ever convince him to wear non-light-up shoes again. I've already preconditioned the shoes since they are white leather, low profile Pumas that they will only be worn when he will not get dirty--like shopping, out to eat, or church.  These are not outside shoes.  The sales lady said her son has lived in this same shoe in various sizes until he grew out of them.  Evidently size 10 is as high as they go.  Maybe only 2 years is all we will have to deal with this fashion faux paux.  We shall see who wins (my money is on the kid).  I have a feeling these shoes will spend a lot of time in "time out" since possession time out seems to work well with C. 

With my deepest apologies and empathy,

Gina

P.S. pictures to follow

Playtime with C and C

Today C had a little friend come over to play.  We actually picked her up, so she got to ride in the car w/C.  I think that was one of the highlights of the day, especially mine.  I loved hearing their little conversations.  They kept calling each other cute boy and cute girl.  It was so sweet.  Then they argued/discussed the semantics of our car vs. your car.  The little girl is also C, so this might get confusing.  She is a year older, so her imagination is way more developed, so she was giving my C lessons in great imagination.  We played inside and outside.  Then we had lunch and headed to the basement.  It was so cute to watch them play together.  My C let her boss him from here to eternity this morning, which shocked me.  They were adorable.  Here are some shots from the morning.  We had another little girl join us as well for outside time. 

 she is such a little mom.  she wanted to pull him around.  i pulled the both of them for a while, but she loved doing this.

 now onto pushing.  for a while they were on this at the same time.

they joked the whole lunchtime. they gave each other new nicknames.

i looked over at one point and saw this.  yes, he's peeing--by himself.  he discovered a convenient way not to pee on himself.  no shame!

he basically wanted to do whatever C wanted to do.  aren't they adorable with their blonde curls

Sugar Creek--earlier in the week

We went to a really cool outdoor nature park earlier in the week with our mom's group.  It was a 20 min drive or so, but well worth it.

They have a cool indoor center with reptiles and pelts of mammals that live in the county.  They have bones of various animals, a play area, and books as well.  Outside they have a whole play area with a creek to walk, treehouses to climb, places to dig, and paths to walk. 

you can't tell, but this is about 5 ft or so in the air.  he just kind of dangled here after climbing up the rope ladder.

a little tree nap