Our New Tree

Per our HOA's wishes, our new tree dubbed "The Grandpa Bill Tree"  has been planted, and is a beauty.   Grandpa Bill (Adam's maternal grandfather) has been telling us to get a tree since we moved in, and he'd pay for it, but we couldn't ever agree on where to put one.  We knew we wanted either a Cleveland Pear, a Cherry or a Buckeye, but just couldn't agree on a spot in the yard. 

Since we were required to add one per the HOA once our swing set was in, we decided to take Grandpa up on the offer for the tree and we put it in front of the swing set.   Adam picked the tree out, it's very healthy and looks REALLY nice.  It's about 9 feet tall.  I'm really happy with the one Adam picked, he did a great job.  This picture is dark, but you can tell it blocks a good majority of the play set from the street (the direction the picture was taken, although, there is still about 50 ft of driveway behind me here).  

We plan on putting an engraving on or under the tree with it's new name.  Thanks Grandpa!

Memorial Day

Since we got home at 1:30am Monday morning, we didn't really feel like leaving the house for a bunch of parties throughout the day, so we decided to throw one of our own and invite Davis' family over.  But since we keep meaning to invite some of Ares' other friends to get together, we had Colt, Eli, and Lukas' families too over too. Everyone brought something over, which helped with preparations a lot (I had fruit, cheese, brownies,beer, juice, pop, burgers and hot dog fixings, others brought ribs, beans, coleslaw, macaroni salad, cupcakes, cookies, wine, another macaroni salad and watermelon.  YUM!)  People started arriving around 4 (my brother and Katie) and by 5:30 all friends had arrived. Let me tell you, 5 three year olds are a TON of fun. 

Last event of the night.  It gets dark here around 9, so it shows
how late these kids were up.

Colt and Ares enjoying the sparklers.

Ares, Easton and Colt playing basketball (with a soccer ball)

Ares, Davis and Lukas enjoying their juice as they wind down.

The best part of having that many kids around at once, is they were able to play around the house alone, without any adult supervision. They're young enough that they still tattle on each other if something isn't right, so we always knew if we had to go into the house or to the front yard or something. So the adults just sat and chatted all evening. Up until about 9:30pm, when we realized the time and worried that the teachers at their school would hate us the next day.


We had an awesome time, and so did the boys.  I'm grateful that we put on the sprinklers in the back yard so the boys can run through and cool down (it hit 90*). 

Overscheduled

Pics and a post about our New York City trip to come later, hopefully this evening.  A post about our awesome (somewhat impromptu) Memorial Day party (with five 3 year olds) to come later too.

This post is the first (of likely MANY) posts about how this summer is flying by.  Our first full weekend that we have free is 8/11.  Mid AUGUST!   That. Is. Crazy!  Birthday parties, reunions, visitors, island trip(s) girls' weekend vacation.

The only weekend with no plans yet is the second weekend in June, and the only reason we have no plans is because it's the week after Ares' surgery, and we're not sure if he'll be able to handle any activity, and if so, how rigorous. 

I think it's a curse that I bring my planner with me wherever I go, so when people ask me when we're free, I am able to schedule something right there, booking up another 'free' date. 

We're even triple booked some days!  Crazy!   Hold on tight everyone, it's gonna be one hell of a ride!!

Hilarious =)

10 People Who Make Parenting Harder
A funny post from one of the blogs I regularly follow.    Please, if I do any of these, let me know!  (OK, my kid has gone to school with a runny nose and a cold. My bad.)

Soccer is Over

... and I must say, I'm kind of grateful.  It's tough getting him from school, eat, changed and head out all in 35 minutes (including drive time).  He also wasn't a fan of a couple of the activities and would just pout.  So 40 of 45 minutes were great, but I won't miss some of this.

It's an awful picture with my cell phone (NOT an iPhone).  Ares is third from the left, in the back. 

OMG My Husband Will Hate Me!

OK, so I haven't gotten much done this summer.  We've been crazy busy EVERY. SINGLE. WEEKEND.  BUT, I have added more things to do!!

Project list - this will be ongoing, and likely will take years to do. 

• Move the wash basin in the laundry room to the basement (inside wall, near the water heater next to the door) to make my laundry room more mudroom-esqu.   (I already got the OK for this!!)
• Paint the foyer
• Finish the canvas painting I've started for Bedroom
• Finish the arrow painting I've started for  ?? Room
• Knock down wall in basement (1/2 of it) to open it up
• Help Adam build the bar / man cave
• Add molding to the vaulted part of the foyer. like here
• Add molding to the stairwell (and paint bottom darker color)
• Add shoe rack to closet, right hand side, leave spots up top for towels? then get rid of ugly pink hanging thing for towels. 
• Add towel shelf to bath tub or above door in bathroom.
• Add vinyl quote to bathtub area in master
• Add towel warmer next to shower
• Paint toy room
• Paint Laundry room / buy cute vinyl saying maybe "The most memorable days usually end with the dirtiest clothes"  or "Messes Accompany the Best Memories"
• I almost forgot! When Adam gets his 'man cave' together, I get my office back!! I can't wait to get rid of that giant bookshelf!  It's too nice of a piece to actually get rid of, but it'll look great in the basement =)



molding on stairwell



molding in foyer idea



Master Bathroom idea, like the lady



shoe rack for closet (white)



If this red matches our couches, it would
 look perfect in our living room! Target!



How about this for my office?  Those
molding pieces are cheap and simple cuts.



Once we have the front loader washer/dryer, this will aleviate the need to stack them in order to put baskets next to them.  Use this method, and put the baskets under them.  GENIUS!!









For the laundry room



For my mudroom, once the cabinet and

utility sink are gone =)



Stop and Smell the Flowers - But Don't Stop There!

After Adam's soccer game, we went to an ice cream shop (first time all year).  We got out of the car, and crossed the parking lot while holding Ares' hand.

Ares: *GASP* Flowers!!!
Me:  C'mon, keep walking
Ares:  Purple and White Flowers!! Look, there they are!
Me: Ares, WALK!  We need to let the car get by (we were still in the parking lot, and EVERYONE eating outside was looking)
Ares:  (now, finally stopped on the sidewalk) *GASP* MOM!! YOUR FAVORITE!! (pointing to pink flowers (pink's my favorite color) now everyone is laughing) 
Ares: Oh, look, they have ice cream too!

Not From Here

While watching Adam play soccer:  No one around, no one else watching the game but us.  Ares is dancing around.
Me:  Ares, do you have to go potty?
Ares:   No.
forty seconds later
Ares: I have to go potty!!!!
walking towards a tree (about 60 feet away), dancing and holding himself, but passing a large garbage can
Me: Ares, can you make it to the tree over there?  pointing at the tree
Ares:  Uhm... looking down at himself  not from here, I have to get closer.   (He thought I was asking him if he could hit the tree from where we were! Bwaahaha!)

While at the tree:
Ares:  Look! I'm watering the tree!  I'm making it grow!  Grow! Grow!
Me:  laughing  Ares, pull your pants up now, these guys don't want to see your butt.  (They were a good ways away, and weren't paying a lick of attention, but I wanted him to get moving.)
Ares:  looking hurt  What?  They don't like my butt?

Make the Dinner

While driving home this evening, our conversation in the car:

Ares: Do you want to watch TV when we get home?
Me:  No.
Ares: Why not?   You don't like TV?
Me:  No. (I only said this because this was about the 42nd question he had asked me in the last 3 minutes.)
Ares: That's OK, you can go make dinner then.

Then he told me that he wanted to be a Fireman when he grew up.   I hope he wasn't insulting my cooking skills.

I remember as a young child (like, young, back when I was Ares' age) sitting on my mom's lap, and complaining to her that she was 'prickly' or 'scratchy'.   Ares sat on my lap yesterday as I was putting his PJ's on, and after about one-eighth of a second, jumped up and went "Ugh, mommy!  You need to shave!" 

On a side note:  Asher has had all tubes (breathing, feeding, etc) removed and may be ready to go home in the next week or so.  Asher's story.

Doin' the Butt

We all know that Ares has terrible skin. (Blame me.)  On doctor's orders, we lather him up multiple times a day with lotion and Vaseline at night, or, if it's really dry/cracked or red/raw we use his prescription cream.   Sometimes, it's tough to get the crease between his butt and thighs (which gets dry and red quite often) so I ask him to bend over and stick his bootie in the air. 

His favorite thing now, - the butt dance, as he calls it - he puts his head on the ground, butt in the air, and slaps his butt cheeks multiple times.  (Usually he waits until he's naked, it's hilarious, and totally winds him up before bed.)  At least it gets me about 5 seconds of him being cooperative for the lotion (when he doesn't bend over too far and do a somersault!)

This kid is hilarious!  He told Adam yesterday "My quesadillas are too spicy."  Not really that funny, until you realize that the kid has just turned 3, and pronounced 'quesadillas' perfectly (not to mention he remembered the name), and used 'spicy' rather than 'hot'.  He finished them anyhow.  

Happy Mother's Day!  We had a great weekend, but didn't take any pictures of Mother's Day festivities, I'll post something else later. 

Where's the 6?

Ares: 1,2,3,4,5,7,8,9,10,11...
Grandma: Ares, you forgot the 6
Ares: No, it's in time out.

(For the record, he always forgets 6.)

Teacher Appreciation

Today is "Pinkalicious" day at Ares' school.  I searched high and low, not only does he not own a pink shirt, but he doesn't even have anything remotely close, or even purple.  So today, I sent him in red. -- And made some Berry Berry Kix / Strawberry marshmallow  rice krispy treats to make up for the lack of pink in his wardrobe (the treats came out very pink with a few purple kix thrown in for fun).

At the early age of 3, he was already grateful that I didn't dress him in pink (he used to have a pink polo shirt) and that he had some treats to share with his class. 

I also sent him with 3 gifts for his teachers since it's 'teacher appreciation week' or something like that.  I'm cheap, I just gave baskets with lots of candy.  Gummy bears, gum, s'mores, Now & Laters, Riesens, Smarties and a Mocha Latte sucker.   (I now realize, I should have gotten a Starbucks gift card.  Ah well, next year!)  It looked a lot like an Easter basket without the grass.  I came up with a little saying (I think it's clever, you judge for yourself). 

Thank you very much for being an extra special person in my life.  You're worth a million dollars. I love coming to school so I can play, learn, and have you read to me some more.  As I am growing, my parents can't wait to see what I am going to learn now and later (that was a hard one to use in a sentence).  Thanks to you, you're the reason we'll all be a bunch of smarties. For that, I say thanks a lot. 

Later, I realized, I am 'appreciating' them as teachers, however, I just sent my kid to school with a plate full of melted marshmallow  treats to share with the whole class.  I hope they don't think I hate them!!

Kelley's Island

This past weekend we spent on Kelley's Island with Chris and Tabitha. It was a last minute invite (Friday evening) so we didn't have anyone to watch Ares or Ballpark, so we all packed up in the car and made the 2 hour trek (including Ferry time) to the island. It was very windy on Saturday and the waves were crashing over the Ferry giving me a car wash. At least it's fresh water! I was getting a little nauseous (which is odd for me), but Ares kept saying 'It's not so bad mommy' and 'It's OK mommy'. LOL. At first I was worried about him being scared, because the boat was rocking up and down and left and right, but he was more worried about me, cutie pie.

Ares loves to throw rocks.

I took this right before he fell over.  Thank goodness only the sleeves
of his arms got wet, because it was COLD at this point. 



Ares' Derby hat.  He wore it for .5 seconds. 




Our mint juleps. 

 I typically hate mint juleps, but these were awesome.  Ares had one made of apple juice.  He had two, but requested the second one "without the salad in it".   LMAO,  he wasn't a fan of the mint,  which is odd, as he eats Altoids.  (His mint was one that wasn't soaked in alcohol.)

This weekend we had virtually no toys for Ares, and he took walks, rode bikes and went out with us like he was an adult (again, minus the alcohol).  He was so well behaved, it sometimes frightens me, the thought of trying for another kid and messing up the 'routine' of not having a routine.

***Update on baby Asher. He's now drinking from a bottle and is better with eye contact when there's not a lot of stimulation in the room.  His arms/legs are still very weak/limp and he has yet to cry.  But man, is he a cutie pie! ***

Asher Update

Is this not the cutest picture ever?  His parents captioned it with "I come from the future."

Just a quick update on Asher, his vision test went pretty well which is a relief, however, the EEG/MRI didn't go so well.  He has now been diagnosed moderately to severe disabled, known by some malfunction or malformation of some brain matter.  I am partly devastated for his parents, but just a few days ago (before Asher was born) I witnessed a severely disabled child (mentally and physically) at Great Clips, where Ares was getting his hair cut.  It completely changed my ideals on how life may be with a disabled child.
 
Ares didn't treat him any differently than any other kid, wasn't afraid and didn't make any comments.   What I was moved by, though, is that this child's mom treated him no differently than I treat Ares.  She still talked to him normally (he kind of understood 'look down', 'sit still', although, his body didn't always cooperate) and let him hold matchbox cars (he didn't know what to do with them, he just held) and he sat as still as possible when she read him a book.  While it likely took longer for her to get him ready in the morning and for the car trip, they were a perfectly 'normal' family.  So while I mourn with them for what 'could have been', I will be excited with them for all of the milestones that Asher will hit, when they are hit.

Quick Swing Set Update

Because there are three windows in my living room, 4 windows and a glass door in our morning room, I was able to be inside the house sweeping the kitchen/morning room floors while never losing sight of my kid on the swing set.  For-the-win! 
(I've never been able to be inside the house while he plays outside, because he's always on the driveway, where I have no visual from inside.)

Soccer has Started!

I was going to start the post referencing Rooney or Beckham or some other awesome-well-known soccer player, but then I decided, since Ares was most certainly not a striker to leave that out. 

His first soccer 'practice' was yesterday evening, and I think he had a good time.  He did very well listening to directions as coach Adam (not our Adam) told them to walk like a turtle, then run like a cheetah across the field. (Oh, and parents are required to participate, so yay!  I thought I'd get a decent workout in, but then, I forgot, Ares can 'run like a cheetah' and I can easily follow next to him wielding a camera without breaking a sweat.)

He is really good at dribbling and running at the same time, probably one of the best kids there, but when it came to kicking the ball into the net, he had to be DIRECTLY in front of it to hit.  haha, it was kind of funny. 

Again, he was a great listener, and did very well.  He loved when I was the shark and he had to dribble away from me because 'sharks eat soccer balls'.  We did that twice, and he laughed hysterically while (attempting) to keep the ball away from me.  He did not like it when he was the shark, and he couldn't get the ball away from me.  He fell and had grass on his lips and cheek.  He cried and was done.  (Thank GOODNESS it was the absolute last drill, although, he was still pouting and wouldn't participate when the 'team' went in for their end of practice huddle.)

Because of Ares' new hair cut, he  looked like one of the oldest ones there, but he was one of the youngest, if not the youngest.  Definitely was one of the smallest kids there.  They were ALL so cute though!!

Asher's Story

My dear sorority sister was the most prepared mother-to-be in the world.  Heck, before she even got pregnant, she sent out a 6 page questionnaire asking everything one would think of, and then questions you wouldn't even think she would know to ask, as she's never had kids. 

She picked out a mid wife and had her belly painted, henna'd (?) and had multiple professional photo shoots with her adorable little belly.   4 or 5 days after her due date, she finally went into labor, and off they went to the hospital.   She delivered a little baby boy, Asher Solomon at 6:47am on April 28th, he weighed in at 7lbs 13oz.  After a minute or so, however, they realize he isn't breathing anymore. It only took a few minutes to get him up and going again with help, but no one knows a) what has caused this, (they are starting to rule out a stroke) or b) what the long term repercussions are.  He's off the ventilator and breathing on his own after a few hours.  And they might take him off the cooling pad soon.  He is starting to react to touch and light, so there is hope, but mentally, or physically, no one knows yet. They say it's unlikely that he'll be severely physically and mentally disabled, but it is also very unlikely that there are no repurcussions either.  No one knows. At least babies are resiliant, and this new mom and pop are extremely strong people.

So, if you pray, or if you don't, please keep this family in your thoughts.   Asher's Story.