Super Nice

1. Applause Card

On Friday Jack was kicked out of daycare so I had to leave work insanely early.  My coworkers are fabulous so after I had most of my patients checked in...they took over.  Though I left the office before 11 I was still able to earn an Applause card.  We get these little notes all of the time but this one was great (since I didn't even do much) so I needed to share.  I left after checking her in (so really -- Shelby did all of the meds) AND I am obsessed with how she described me.  

2. Jack was not kicked out of daycare...today.

This dude has had some major diarrhea since starting his most recent antibiotic.  On Friday he was kicked out (LONG story) and my blood was boiling almost all day.  He is back today and I have had no calls to pick him up.  Yay!!  That being said, we also let Amber know that we are starting a new daycare when we get back from vacation in a few weeks.  It is time for a change!  

 

3. Amber

This will probably be the last time that she makes the list, but I am grateful for Amber's role in our family the past three years.  Looking forward to the change but it was still a rough morning having the conversation with her.

4. Bathroom shelves

I haven't shown any updates to our bathroom because Mike and I have been dragging our feet on completing the shelves.  We finally got it together and we are now in the process of making the shelves to complete the master bathroom update.  Here is a picture of Jack and I checking out while at Menards this weekend.  ....ironically we had to take the entire purchase back.  BUT at least he enjoyed himself.

5. One week down

It has been over one full week without my boys being home.  I am anxious to give them huge bear hugs, listen to their long winded stories, and laugh at all of their very ill timed jokes.

Jealous

I think that I should start out by saying that you might be jealous of our day yesterday.  It was pretty freaking fabulous.

1. Morning Ride

Somehow we turned almost our entire day into a date which started at 830am.  We had Sara come over to sit for Jack while we rode to Fort Ben for a picnic.  Once we were there we were able to explore a bit more before heading back home  showers.  The ride itself was rough for me but Mike was a beast on the hills and felt great. It was the absolute PERFECT way to start the day.  There was not a cloud in the sky, the weather was perfect and we got a workout done in the morning.  I truly wish every day could start like this.

 2. Beer Stop
After we got home and finished with our showers we made a quick stop at Blind Owl for a beer.  We didn't have much time but we also didn't want to show up at the Dalai Lama super early.  It was a great little pit stop.

3. The Holiness
A quick side note...when I studied in Rome in high school I was able to see the Pope at his vacation home.  It was one of the coolest (if not THE coolest) thing that I have experienced in my life.  I am not catholic and at the time I did not know much, if anything, about the faith and yet the experience left me in awe.  When I saw that the Dalai Lama was in town I knew that this experience could be just as amazing.  Mike agreed.  Though seeing the Dalai Lama was nothing like seeing the Pope in his summer home I was still in awe.  I learned a TON over the course of the weekend...history, compassion, religion, happiness...the list goes on.  I could sit and listen and learn for hours.  It was cool.  Very glad that we went.

4. Party #1
After we got home from the Dalai Lama we quickly changed and headed to the Harris going away party.  I have a lot of feelings on this that I could spew all over the page...but I will spare you.  This was the only tough part of the day and it was tough.  Some of the highlights -- I was able to hug Erin's sweet babies one last time for a few months, Jack still loves the pool, and I ate some really good food.  We were not there for long before we headed back home to change for the evening.

 5. Party #2, ToneTone
While we were riding in the morning we remembered that we had a party to go to that evening.  We started scrambling to find another sitter and I was very surprised how easily it all worked out.  After we got back home from the pool we changed AGAIN and headed out to Tony & Robin's house.  I haven't seen them since the last 4th of July party so it was good to catch up.  Tony worked at North with Mike but they have been good friend's since college.  I had Tony take our picture next to the food because we both MEALED.  Tony is the best cook that we know and his parents also bring in food for the event. So. So. Yummy.

We got home around 11pm and I headed straight to bed.  Though we had to drop some cash on babysitters it was absolutely worth it.  This was by far the best date day that we have had in awhile.

the CAVS

Instead of doing anything productive like working out, laundry, picking up the house, changing sheets, applying to a jobs.....I decided to sit, drink a glass of prosecco and update the blog.  You know -- all of the important stuff.

1. The electricity is back on.  AGAIN. 

Last night we had a bunch of storms and our electricity went out at 3am.  Amber's power was also out so daycare was closed.  We had already arranged for Mike to stay home with SBJ since he has been having fevers so it all worked out well.  After the craziness of my morning at work Mike and Jack came to East to pick up his prescription.  It makes me so happy to show him off to everyone in the office and to see Mike during the middle of the day.  I don't usually work on Thursday's so I didn't know most of the patients but he still made the rounds throughout the office.  

This picture below was snapped while we were at the bank downstairs.  Jack was all smiles at the time but around my coworkers he was serious and not giving in to them--at all.  Grateful the the electricity was only out for about 12 hours this time around AND that we of course have wonderful neighbors who look out for us.  Grateful that I was able to see SBJ at work and that he was able to start a new medicine.  **I also want to note--Mike was dressed very similar to Jack today.  He loves to be matchy, matchy twins**

This morning we were playing as the sun rose.  Yes--our corner of toys is usually a disaster that does NOT get played with.The flash makes it look REALLY bright.

2. The pool
I left work an hour early today so I could take Jack to the pool.  Mike (who does a wonderful job) said, "I don't want to be a stay at home dad until the boys are 13."  I must say -- I am in love with the Lifetime Pool.  As mentioned over and over in this blog...I would take the twins there a LOT when they were younger and to say that I miss the old days is an understatement.

But -- back to today -- Jack has been HATING the water.  When we first arrived he was whining every where I took him and basically waddled his little self over to the door.  Eventually we just sat and watched people play in the pool.  This got him interested.  He eventually decided to try...slowly....AND SUCCESS.  He was in heaven.  We stayed for over an hour and we played the entire time.  I was beaming ear to ear.  NOW -- hopefully his new love of water transfers to bath time experiences.

Don't mind our ridiculousness -- this is the real life -- that must be documented.

 3. THE CAVS WON.
I have said it a few times this week BUT I wish that they could win every week.  Rouzer is from Cleveland and he had the best Monday that he has had in YEARS because the Cavs won.  Overall he has just had a great week.  And so though I don't really care who wins what in the world of professional basketball -- I am super glad the the Cavs won.

4.  The new bedtime routine
We have been trying a new routine out.  I firmly believe that kids do so. much. better. with a routine.  Basically we have failed at that with Jack.  I mean, overall he had the same routine but now 4 months ago we needed to get rid of his bottles...and that just seems like an overwhelming task.  Now we have started a new routine of bottle (yes--still a fail), brushing teeth, reading books, and then just straight to bed.  Yikes--he still screams bloody murder like you killed his best friend -- but it's getting shorter. I don't remember doing this with the twins.  I think that they just cried, I just let them, and then that was that.  Trying to get to that place this time around.

5.  My champaign glass
I am not trying to "find" things to write out -- but I have an obsession with my champaign glasses.  Like I honestly feel that everyone should drink bubbles out of these glasses.  They are not allowed in the dishwasher which sucks but you know...the wonderful thinness of the stem in your hands makes me happy. hahaha....I know. Lame.

Little League

1. Our little league coach

We just completed another successful season of little league.  Mike coached again this year and our team did great.  During the last game both boys had a few great hits and LOTS of fun.  Grateful for such a wonderful family man and fabulous dad.

 2. The Harris kids
I am grateful the past few weeks I have been able to hang out with Sawyer and Eloise.  They have come to the last two baseball games--and though they keep me on my toes they also make my heart happy to see how wonderful they are doing.  ......They also keep Jack entertained some of the time.

Mike is holding jack while he is coaching.

Cameron & Owen's fan club

3. Greg
In the past few years Greg and I have worked hard to get along and co-parent. I am grateful that we have a relatively smooth relationship and put the kids first.

4. Friday Night
The boys were home this weekend for their Tball game but they will now be in Chicago for 3 weeks!!  We decided to take them to Books & Brews and spend the night out.  The place was filled with games and everyone had a blast.  The boys are both in the middle of a growth spurt right now (They have each grown a full inch in the past month).  They are growing and changing and when I don't see them for a week it is always heart warming to have their sweet arms around me.  These next three weeks will be a challenge.

5. Saturday night in Cincy

After the game Mike and I dropped Jack off with my parents, the twins headed to Chicago and Mike and I headed to Cincinnati for a wedding.  We had so much fun dancing all night. It was great to get out of the house, do something different, and spend time with each other.  I was also able to meet more of his college friends and their wives. Cheers to a good night.

I just needed to add this picture of SBJ.  He fell asleep on a walk last week while drinking his bottle and holding onto Nash.  Love. It.

Electricity

Our electricity has been out for almost 24 hours.  In hours like this....it is easy to find LOTS of things that make you grateful.


1. I never had to use a flash light
Since we are in the heat of the summer....it is light for a long time. 


2.  My husband created a game plan
The whole power outage fiasco started while I was at work.  My husband made a game plan and we tackled the evening beautifully.  His crockpot meal (yes...he makes dinner every night) was brought to my parents, I picked up Jack, and we ate dinner with in an air-condition haven.  Complete with cold glasses of wine.


3. Paschal's generator
THANKFULLY our neighbors are absolutely awesome.  Absolutely awesome.  They gave us a cord from their generator which kept our meat freezer running.


4.  Free food at work
yes...this made the list...
Today at work I had free breakfast AND free lunch.  When you don't want to open your fridge door -- free food is pretty awesome.


5. The power is back ON.
It was 23 hours but we have power back on.  So get excited -- now I can do laundry, dishes....all of those fun chores that I missed out on last night. 


But no really -- thank you Rouzer for figuring it all out for us.

Catch UP

Lots has happened that makes me happy...because lots ALWAYS happens.  Every day I think about things that I want to jot down on the "Quick 5" and usually I just lose the motivation to sit down at my computer every day to jot it all down.  

So today I am going to catch up on the past few weeks because there are some things (that have accompanying pictures) that I think I need to put out in the universe.

1. Friends

I find myself pretty luck that I have ladies in my life who will figure out ways to be "THERE."  This time I wasn't the one who needed the support (but don't get me wrong...I always need support) BUT it was awesome to be able to come together and love on someone else.  Proud to be in the ranks with this group of women.

Oh--and Amy cut Jack's nails because this is something that I CLEARLY fail at with all of my boys.

 2.  Shelby
Along the same line of friendship -- I am so grateful for Shelby in my life.  Our friendship has grown, changed and evolved throughout the years.  I truly would be a lost, mess of a person without her guidance.  She makes me laugh, she keeps me honest, she is really a bit crazy, and she makes me happy.  She has taught me, by example, that the most important thing to do is to SHOW UP for people.  I feel honored and blessed that she is my friend and walks this life by my side -- with cocktail in hand.

3. Kick Ball
At the last minute Kara asked us to join her for kickball.  They need a guy AND girl sub.  Mike is already in love with the league so I decided that I would also join for the night.

Kick ball is a little out of my comfort zone. My hand, eye, ball, foot....all of that....coordination is a bit off.  I am pleased to say that I did ok (not the best or the worst) and that I even made it on base.  TWICE.  What?!!!

After the game we joined everyone for dinner and drinks.  It was a great night out and I look forward to being subs again!!

4. Catch Up
This year I will be struggling with the boys gone for almost the entire summer.  I usually last well for about 3 days and then I start to freak.  Well it will be weeks before I see their sweet little faces.  And as always, Cameron will tell me, "Mom--I grew in Chicago."  booo..  Anyways, my goal is to get shit done around the house.  To catch up a little bit on life. 


5. Postcards
Every trip Mike and I take together we send each other a postcard.  We have a jar filled with postcards from all of our adventures.  We started this on our very first trip together -- Chicago.  So far all of the post cards have made it home and we usually remember to get the postcards out in the mail before we get home.  I love this little tradition in our lives.

The weekend

The boys have been at Greg's for the week.  We sort of switch roles during the summer so I had the boys on the weekend and it was wonderful to catch up with them again.  I must say...this past week I have slept and caught up...and that was a nice bit of a break.   But anyways...  I was the one who was able to let them sleep in and then all weekend we PLAYED PLAYED PLAYED.  I saved all of the laundry and house work until tonight (Sunday evening) when the boys were back in Chicago.  It was a whirlwind and I already miss them -- so here is a brief recap.

1. Friday Night

My dad met the McGuire's half way so the boys were already home on Friday when I arrived.  They had been playing in the sprinkler with the neighbors and learning the game of 4square.  We cooked hamburgers on the grill and stayed up late playing outside.  After Jack was in bed we ate gourmet cupcakes to celebrate the first year of Rouzer Cleaning.  It was a great night.

2. Donuts with Dad

At the last minute I decided we should celebrate Father's Day with Daddy Mike on Saturday morning since we won't be with the boys on the official Father's Day this year.  We carried on the tradition of donuts with dad so I had to wake them up at 8am so we could drive over and pick out our stash.  The boys jumped out of bed but we all decided to stay in our pajamas.  For Father's Day we made Mike cards and then I surprised him with tickets to see Dalai Lama in a few weeks.  **Yes...we had LOTS of sweets in a 12 hour window**

Also I must note that Jack had been up since 445am.  At 630 I decided to take him to Kroger since we were out of milk.  He flipped his shit in Kroger...it was pretty awesome.  Once I got back I took him on a walk in the stroller.  (yes--the rest of the house was still asleep).  He feel asleep in the stroller just in time to head for donuts.  Regardless, it all worked out well and the rest of the day was MUCH smoother.

3. Baseball Game
At 11 the boys had another Tball game.  It was HOT out on Saturday so the coaches decided to skip practice and just have a game.  Cameron was attentive the entire game and even got the game ball.  My parents came with Sawyer and Eloise so Jack was able to play with them in the shade while we watched the craziness on the field.

**This year instead of paying the insane prices for pictures....I took my own. ***

4. Pool Party 

After baseball we headed to my parents to play in their inflatable pool.  It wore us OUT.  Eventually Jack went home with Mike to crash while I was slowly fading into the afternoon.  As we were walking out we realized that Cameron and Owen needed to say goodbye to their cousins before they moved to Denver.  The twins will be in Chicago for the next few weeks so Saturday was the last play date for awhile.  Glad for the impromptu visit!!  

One more note about this afternoon that made me choke up.  Eloise was sitting on my lap cuddling and like I usually do I was telling her memories about Erin.  So that afternoon I said, "you know what song your mom sang to you when you were a baby?"  She said, "no-what?" So I started to sing Edelweiss and rocking her like a baby.  We were being very silly and when I stopped (because I couldn't get through it) she said, "finish the song!!!" So then I held her and cuddled her and sang the song my sister would when she was rocking Eloise to sleep.  It was sweet and warmed my soul while at the same time breaking my heart. 

After we got back from the pool party we had dinner and then enjoyed strawberry shortcake that Celia brought us.  What!!??? You read that correctly -- she brought over fresh picked strawberries that she cleaned and cut, angle food cake AND whipped cream.  WE. ARE. SPOILED.

 5. Sunday Morning
After Mike let me sleep in for an extra hour we started another great day.  Mike mowed the lawn while I headed with the boys to our old stomping grounds --the playground and splash park.  We haven't been there since Jack was tiny and it was crazy to have him walking all over the place and exploring like the twins would at the park.  He enjoyed the swings and HATED the slash park -- extremely predictable.  We endured the heat for a few hours before heading home.

Once we got home we scarfed down some lunch and headed out on another bike ride.  This one I was able to ride my bike and not push Jack in the stroller which was a nice change.  When we got home the twins packed into the car and we headed to meet Greg and his dad.  It was a wonderful weekend with all of my boys.  Super, insanely hot and super, insanely wonderful.

I taught Jack to hold Nash during our walks.  He loves it.  The twins biked ahead -- they are old.

Life in the fast lane

1. My phone is working

I am on my THIRD phone but so far it is working great!  

2. Doing nothing

holy moly I am exhausted.  Actually...as I sit and write this out I am starting to catch back up with normal life (which usually means exhausted...but that is not the point).  Anyways, I think that this weekend pushed me over the top and on Sunday I woke up with out the desire to do anything.  I still had things to do -- like finish laundry and go to a family cookout -- but I was over it.  I was just tired. For most of the day I sat in the sun and played with Jack.  I took him on walks and caught up with Mandi.  Yesterday after I got home from work I wanted to do the same -- nothing.  It was pretty fabulous.  To all of those who know me well...know that this won't last for long.  BUT Mike and I have discussed having just a lazy, lazy summer.

3. Hearing the boys read

Listening to the boys read is one of my favorite things to do.  They are at Greg's this week (and most of the summer) but last night when we did FaceTime--they were reading.  Owen is taking off and will be reading chapter books before I know it.

4. Jack plays at the water table

Before vacation Jack was TERRIFIED of water.  Not only would he refuse baths but he wouldn't even go near our water table.  He is still not interested in taking a bath but the kid LOVES the water table.  He even let Micah dump water on his head and last night he was pouring water all over himself.  Sunday I was able to sit and read my book while he played and played.

5. Old memories

The main reason I do this blog is to document the happenings of our day to day life. I am able to sit and reflect on the good in the day...even when the day is ROUGH.  Most of my posts are basic and skim the surface of our life while documenting small memories that we easily forget.  This morning I decided to attach some pictures that were taken during the time of my blogging hiatus.  Enjoy!  

oh how we MISS the Jeep.

Mike taking a selfie at Alcatraz. 

oh my goodness...they are so stinking sweet and little.  Cameron's sweet face and laugh in this picture makes my heart melt.  I want to jump back through the screen and hold him!

Summer afternoon with the cousins.  Look how different our yard is!!

Riding an ATV around Santorini.  Best part of the trip hands down.

Taking a break in Athens.  We were enjoying people watching....per usual.

Exploring in Santorini.  

The Del

I have not updated the blog in awhile because we have been in San Diego.  I have been thinking a lot about how I wanted to write about this trip.  I want to be truthful, honest, and real BUT I also want to make sure that I am positive and looking at the good in things.  So somehow -- I am going to do a little of both.  Instead of doing 5 things I am grateful for....I am going to list a few things that we learned while traveling with our three boys to meet family on the West Coast.  Then I will add some captions to the pictures.  

1. We will not be traveling out of the time zone again anytime soon with SBJ.  Oh...and I think for the purpose of this post you can change the "sweet" to "stressful"

2.  Do not give Jack benadryl to try and make him sleep on the plane.  He doesn't want to sleep on the plane -- or really -- he doesn't want to sleep -- ever.  So when you give him benadryl he gets really sleepy and pissed off.

3.  Bring lots of medicine.  WHICH -- for the most part I had this one already covered.  Except the diarrhea medicine.  I had to buy LOTS of that....and then teach my 6 year olds to swallow pills.

4.  Don't leave your phone anywhere that a child would think to pick it up and bring it to you.  They will probably drop it and break it.  **I was in the bathroom when we first got there and Owen was trying to be helpful.**  oh, maybe I should add that to the list

5.  You probably won't go to the bathroom or shower alone -- you are in a tiny hotel room with 3 crazy kids running around.

6.   Tell all of the people you are with to NOT LEAVE THE DOOR CRACKED OPEN.  You have a little one who will open it and run away.  

7.  Sit next to your spouse at dinner.  This might be the only time you have to talk...that is if no one needs the bathroom or the baby isn't screaming so a parent has to walk around the restaurant.

8.  Kids go through LOTS of clothes.  Bring extra extra....because the "extra" didn't cut it.

9.  Make sure you leave some underwear at home because if your luggage doesn't make it...and you already were short on vacation...you will be wearing the same underwear for 3 straight days.

10. Pay for your kids to go to the kids club. EVERY. DAY.

Watching the "Fishies" at the Zoo.
It really is the BEST zoo.  SUPER impressed.

As you can see in the photo..I wasn't sitting by Mike.  It wasn't until after the trip that we realized we only had one meal sitting next to each other.  AND we learned to bring the iPad to dinner.  

We also learned to feed Jack Mac N cheese and he would devour it.  Cameron ate hamburgers for every meal possible.

USS Midway on Memorial Day was pretty neat.  We were even able to talk to the pilots who flew the plans.  

We got to the zoo right when it opened and for awhile had the place to ourselves.  It was gloomy the entire trip except for a few hours one afternoon.  

I snapped this picture because it was such a task to get Jack to sleep.   The way home our flights were messed up because of weather BUT at least we had movies & TV on the plane.  It made it significantly easier.

Enjoying breakfast at Snooze.

The pool was very cold and the boys wanted to be in the hot tub most of the time.  This mama does not like that so we were trying to enjoy the pool.  Jack even popped in for a few minutes!

After all of that...I decided to do a QUICK 5.  How can I not do a quick 5 ...it's how we roll around here.

1. No dishes/No meal prep
On vacation you don't do dishes.  And that is really freaking awesome.

2. The location
We stayed at Hotel Del Coronado and it was absolutely fabulous.  This place pays attention to every little detail.  I was even able to get coffee at 430am when I was walking Jack around in the stroller.  It was impressive to say the least.  Though the prices of drinks, food, ext were all a bit steep -- the experience was amazing.

3. Spin on the beach & spa facial
On Sunday morning Lauren and I did spin on the beach and then Pat booked a facial at the spa for us. It was nice to sit and relax without any little ones at my feet for an hour.

4. Beach boys
Cameron LOVES the water and watching them play made my heart happy. Owen loves it too but Cameron could watch the waves all day long.  We found a ton of sand dollars which also made my mornings happy too.  I don't think that I have ever found a full sand dollar before and this trip we came home with handfuls.

5. We were together
To be clear -- this was a HARD one.  I don't even think I can accurately describe the stress of our days on vacation...and to be honest...I don't want to.  I am so grateful that we were able to take this trip, have this adventure, see new places and things .....and do it together.  Without having a phone all week I was present the entire time to hold hands,  play in the sand, and enjoy life.  It was hard and it was fun and we were all in it together.