picasso

Today was an amazing day.  The weather was beyond perfect...temperatures in the 70s, not one cloud in the sky and a breeze that allowed one 3 year old to run around for hours and not drip one drop of sweat.

Love Bug and I were hanging with one of my besties, Hayley, when I got a call from The Mayor's school.  My heart stopped while the voicemail asking me to pick up The Mayor got interrupted by another phone call from his school.  My mind was racing thinking what did The Mayor do to warrant two phone calls.  Thankfully nothing.  There were two cases of active LICE in his classroom.....GROSS!!!!!  They needed every child in his class to be picked up so the room could be cleaned.  I immediately started itching.  And praying.  Please do not let my child have these critters.

Thankfully, we are in the clear.  But I did strip his bed and washed everything in the sanitary wash cycle just to be on the safe side.

After I picked The Mayor up from school, we met up with some friends for lunch at Chick-fil-a and then they came over to play in our new backyard.  The Mayor loved having his friend over to the "playground" and they had a blast playing and having races back and forth in our yard.  It made me so happy seeing him just run around in the grass and loving this new space of ours.  

After our impromptu play date, we ran a few errands.  While we were at the grocery store picking up a few items, The Mayor said "I want to paint a picture for daddy".  He asked this two more times and I told him absolutely, you can paint a picture for daddy.

As soon as we got home and I unloaded the groceries, I set him up.  I put his little painting smock on him, gave him his brushes and stamps and a plate of paint.  And he went to town.  It was so sweet seeing him paint and then he started painting his hand and pressing his hand on the paper.  Seeing his little handprints on that page made me smile and appreciate this short lived time of having my sweet boy here with me during the day.  I am so blessed.

We finished the day with more time outside playing...the weather was too beautiful not to be outside.  I am really looking forward to this weekend.  It is actually going to be chilly.  D's last triathlon of the season is Sunday and the high is 64 and the lows will be in the 40s!  Considering the 7:30 AM start time, I will have to break out the fall clothing for me and the kiddos...can't wait.

put your sister in a cage

The Mayor and Love Bug really are best buds.  She just adores her older brother and he thinks it is pretty awesome having a little person following him around all day.  And at this age, they just love playing together and interacting.  Today while we waited for dinner to finish cooking, The Mayor took one of our hampers and decided to put his sister in a cage.  I am not quite sure which one had more fun but they were both quite entertained.  Once he realized how much she enjoyed being in the "cage" then he decided to put himself into it as well.

Love Bug has just learned to say "cheese" when taking a picture.  

She is mid "cheese" in this picture.

the backyard reveal

Our backyard has changed a lot in the past 8 years.  When we bought this house, almost our entire backyard was wooded.  The smallest amount of "grass" was growing towards the back of the house but since it rarely got sun, the grass hardly grew.  Over the past 8 years, we have slowly worked on the backyard.  We had about 15 trees cut down and the stumps ground.  But the biggest changes have occurred over the past month.  One month ago our entire backyard was a dirt field.  Then we had a fence put in.  So the dirt field became a fenced in dirt field.  Then the next week we had a play set installed...and last week, the grass was put in.  I am in love.  The backyard looks amazing...I never knew our yard could look this amazing.  The Mayor in particular is thrilled.  So without further ado, here is the transformation:

before 

(after the trees had been cut down and the stumps ground - 

I wish I had taken pictures before the trees had been cut)

fence installation

fence complete...play set installed

seven pallets of sod delivered

sprinkler system extended to backyard and new sod being laid

outlining where sod will go

complete!

cedar mulch under play set

ahhh...love!  D is building a firepit in the bed to the far left of this picture

before and after

I can't stand clutter.  And when you have two kids under the age of 4, clutter is going to happen.  The Mayor and Love Bug have their main playroom upstairs and then we set up a play space in the basement. Now, please don't think my kids are inundated with toys to fill two playrooms...we simply split the toys that used to occupy the upstairs playroom and put half of those toys in the basement.  This also helps with the clutter...less toys in one space equals less clutter.  There are days I am psycho and don't let us leave those playrooms until every toy is picked up and in its place.  And then there are days when I pretend the mess doesn't exist and simply shut the door.  But the beauty about those playrooms is they are closed off and if there is a mess, I don't have to see it.

Now...the clutter makes me twitch when we are on the main level of the house...where there is no defined play area and one thousand trains are lying on the floor like little land mines and baby dolls are strewn about.  I had a bin where the dolls and cars and trucks and blocks and whatever would be placed in at the end of the day, and a few clear tupperware containers that would house The Mayor's Thomas trains to go under the train table.  The problem was even when the toys were cleaned up I could still see them.  The bin started busting at the seams and overflowing and I could see the toys peeking out from behind the chair.  The room never felt clean.  Two days ago the bin fell completely apart...and so did my nerves.

Today I went on a mission...a mission to de-clutter and put the toys away.  We do spend a lot of time in this area so they do need some toys but they needed to be organized.  I cleaned out one of our built-in cabinets, went to Target to purchase some new bins and got to organizing.

Oh man does it feel good!  I feel like I can breath!

before (not all of this junk is toys...some of this is from the built-ins)

before

before (the dreaded pile...after the bin literally busted at the seams)

after (ahhhh, one little wooden ride-on toy for Love Bug)

after...organized bliss

after 

(just the train table and its two bins of trains under the table...

no more using the floor under the table as storage)

date with dad

Last night was "Date With Dad" night at The Mayor's school.  I love how his school has a special night for the dad's to be involved.  All week The Mayor has been working on little gifts for his daddy in his class and last night The Mayor presented them to D.  While in the class, they also worked on a craft together...and let me tell you, it was the highlight of the night.  They made a snake out of a necktie and it could not have been more valuable to The Mayor had it been made of solid gold.  Seriously...he talked about that snake this morning, asked to take it to school and asked where his snake was when I picked him up.

getting ready for "date night with dad"

getting a kiss from daddy before the date night

showing off his snake

he was so proud

showing the tail of the snake

I love the gifts he made for D.  One is a picture frame with puzzle pieces modge-podged onto it that says "I love you to pieces" and the other is a huge dress shirt card with a questionnaire filled out by The Mayor about his daddy.  Adorable and something that will be kept forever.

Today was Friday.  And Friday has not been a great day for The Mayor at school.  If you look at his behavior chart at home, the only Friday he has with a smiley face is the Friday after his surgery and that is because he didn't go to school.  I prayed, like I do every Friday, that this Friday would be a good one.  I was also the mystery reader for his class today and I was really excited about the opportunity to chat with his teacher about the day.

When I arrived at his class, I knocked on the door and heard the teacher making a big deal about the surprise at the door.  When she opened the door, all these sweet faces were looking at me and The Mayor got so excited.  He said "that's my momma, that's my momma, that's not your momma, that's my momma".  I love that boy.

He, and the rest of his class, did awesome during the story time.  I read two books while they finished lunch and they all looked at me and listened intently.  I read Dr. Suess's "Green Eggs and Ham" and "Oh, The Thinks You Can Think".  Both are favorites of The Mayor.  

After I read, they were packing up their lunches and school bags and I got to talk to the teacher.  She said he had a great day!  He was getting a sticker!!  And because she knew we have been working so hard with him, she called him up and made a big deal about it...telling him she loved him and how proud she was of him for reaching his goal today.  She gave him a Skittle from the Skittle jar and he was thrilled.  I could see he was proud of himself.  While we walked down the hall to go to the car, I told him I was so proud of him and he said "momma, I am so happy you came to school today".  Me too baby, me too.

a great day despite...

...the 11:45 PM wakeup call to Love Bug with croup, the 3 doctor's appointments and the 3 vaccines.  

I could not have dreaded today more than if my toenails were being ripped out.  I didn't go to sleep until 4:30 this morning since Love Bug was burning with fever and developed a nasty bout of croup around 11:45 last night.  I finally left her room at 4:30 to sleep, D went in there at 6:30 to cuddle with her, woke me up at 7:00 so I could get ready and get me and The Mayor out the door for his post-op appointment by 7:45.

We arrived at his post-op appointment and it was everything I knew it would be.  Horrible.  He hates that office.  And today we proved it really is that office.  I had to hold him down just so the nice physician's assistant could look in his ears, nose and mouth.  And that is literally the extent of the examination.  But you would have thought The Mayor was being cut open and stitched up with no medication the way he screamed.  He and I were in a sweat when we left.

We left the ENT, went home to pick up D and Love Bug and left for her 18 month checkup and his 4 year checkup.

Those appointments were so much better.  The Mayor kept reassuring Love Bug "it's not scary...it's just the doctor...it is ok".  I just looked at him like he had two heads...I mean, hello?  Were you not just screaming your head off at the ENT?

While The Mayor went for his hearing and vision test, D stayed with Love Bug while she got checked out.  We didn't get to the hearing test and only through about half of the vision test.  He did great until he had to keep the spoon over one eye and stand in the box and look at the shape...too much.  We will try again in 6 months.

After Love Bug's checkup, it was The Mayor's turn.  And it was awesome.  He laughed, talked to the doctor, and did everything he was supposed to do.  I swear, it really is that ENT office.  The Mayor let the pediatrician look in his mouth, ears, nose and listen to his chest and back with no hesitation.  Thank you Jesus because I just couldn't take another meltdown in a doctor's office.

We left with a prescription for an oral steroid for Love Bug and 3 vaccines for The Mayor.

We got home, gave Love Bug her first dose of medicine and put her down for a nap.  She wasn't interested in eating...just sleeping.  Over 4 hours later, she woke up fever free and hungry!  She ate a great dinner, still has no fever (99.5 - which is no fever in my book) and is playing.  She looks like herself and is acting more like herself.  She still sounds like a sad barking seal when she coughs, but we are getting better.  She just had her second round of steroids and should be back to her sweet self in no time.

We had quite the crazy morning, but it really did turn out to be a great day.  Despite the shots and croup everyone is happy.

103.6

Our Love Bug is sick.  She has a fever of 103.6, and although it isn't the highest fever to come along in The Shirley household (that record goes to The Mayor who last year reached 105.8) it is the highest our sweet girl has reached.  In fact, this is only the 2nd time she has ever been sick.

She feels like she is on fire.  When I lifted her up to give her some water, her little armpits were just scorching.  Her blue eyes are red and watery and her cheeks are rosy.  The Mayor isn't 100% either...he has some sinus drainage which is causing him to have a nasty cough, so we decided to have family movie night in the basement after bath time.  Love Bug just laid on the couch sucking her thumb while D and I took turns rubbing her head.

Tomorrow morning is The Mayor's post-op appointment with the ENT and then we have Love Bug's 18 month and The Mayor's 4 year well visits.  Sadly, neither are well so they will not be receiving any vaccines, but at least they can get checked out for something bacterial while we are there.

I actually think Love Bug knows she is going to the doctor and supposed to get vaccines because the last time she had a fever was right before her 1 year well visit.  And since she had a fever, they wouldn't let her have the vaccines...so now she will really be behind on her shots...hmmmm....I am beginning to think Miss Priss is pretty smart and possibly faking...hmmmm....well, obviously not but she does have impeccable timing.

Thankfully D is going to be home tomorrow to help with all of the doctor's appointments.  Let the nightmare begin.

i am a lobster

I did something today I never thought I would do.  I went kayaking.  And had a blast.  But I now look like a lobster...ouch.  Not a great day to forget the sunblock.

We borrowed PopPop's kayak and a friend of D's had a kayak he said we could use.  Our friends Jay and Sue love to kayak so the four of us headed to the lake.  When we got to the lake around 11am, it was cloudy, windy and the water was so choppy.  I was scared.  For the first 10 minutes I just swore I was going to tip over, but once I figured out how to balance myself and got comfortable, I really started enjoying the day.  We kayaked for miles to a private cove and beached our kayaks.  We ate lunch, got in the water and floated around and just chilled.  It was a nice and quiet day.  The kids were with PopPop and Mamie so there were absolutely no worries.

We were on the water until 5:00 and by then the sun had been shining for hours...meaning the sun reflected off the water right onto my face and legs.  Oh boy, do I hurt!  But it was totally worth it.  I am in love with kayaking (shocking) and will even give D the go ahead to purchase our own.  Can't wait to do it again.

love bug's first braves game

This weekend has been 100% awesome.  The weather is perfect.  Sunny and in the 70s.  Perfect.  And to top it off, D was given 3 tickets to tonight's Braves game through work (Love Bug is free since she is under 2).  And the icing on the cake was the tickets were in his company's box.  Uh, yes please.  No ticket is better than a free ticket...especially when toting an almost 4 year old and an 18 month old.  Because if you have to leave early, no money wasted.

We didn't leave early.  In fact, we were there for every single pitch from the very first pitch to the very last pitch.  The Braves won 1-0 and beat the Mets.  To say The Mayor and Love Bug had fun is a complete understatement.  We had two private rows of seats, carpeted; access to the suite that had a private bathroom; a HDTV; a refrigerator stocked with waters, sodas and PowerAdes; and food - chicken fingers, hotdogs, wings, chips, dips, veggies...

And then during the 3rd inning, the nice lady came to our suite with an ice cream cart and made the kids ice cream sundaes...for free.  And then the next inning, they brought in a pizza and Caesar salad.  Somewhere around the 7th inning, the nice lady who had the ice cream cart came back with a dessert cart...filled with cakes and cookies.  The kids were in hog heaven.  They had the freedom to walk to their seats and back into the suite to sit on the couch.  Whatever they wanted...made for a pretty easy day at the ballpark.

We got home about an hour after bedtime...so they were exhausted and ready for bed.  And D and I are not far behind.

taking it all in...the last time he was here he was 7 months old...he loved watching the players and clapping for them when the fans started clapping...it was precious

cracker jacks!

loving his ice cream cone

cutest cheerleader...ever