OTW – crafts, cookies & party shirts

Friday afternoon after nap time, I pulled out the “magical box of craft supplies” and let the boys use their imaginations. They each selected a piece of construction paper and loaded it with stickers & popsicle sticks and then punched out stars. We also pulled out the glitter and made a few ornaments for the tree. I love that part of my job as a mom means I get to play with fun craft stuff alongside my kids.

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We were invited to a Christmas party on Saturday afternoon. Nolan and Lincoln helped me bake cookies to bring along. We made my Grandma Fran’s Gumdrop Cookies. (They’re my dad’s favorite, so I made sure we had extras to send my parents’ way.) I loaded the cookie sheets with dough balls and let the boys add the gumdrops. It was the perfect activity for them – just about as much fun as eating the final product.

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Today as the kids were getting ready for the day, Nolan told me he wanted to wear his party shirt to school. I figured it would be good practice for the birthday celebration we’re having for a friends of ours on Saturday. Once Nolan had his shirt on, Lincoln made it very apparent that he, too, wanted to wear his party shirt. Here are the partiers playing in their hut after dinner.

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Dance, dance, dance

Today I pulled out the carousel that my Grandpa Cal (Pops) set our way last winter.  It is a source of much ooh-ing, aaah-ing, laughing & dancing.  The boys love that they can turn the thing on and off.  That’s the part I don’t love quite as much.  Turning it off means when they turn it back on, the song set starts from the beginning.  By the end of the Advent & Christmas seasons, I have a feeling I’m not going to want to hear Jingle Bells for another 12 months.

We had a visitor for a couple of hours this morning.  Little J came over to play with the boys.  She joined was just as enthralled with the carousel as the boys were.  I captured still shots of them checking out the little horses as they went up & down and around & around, but the video is way more entertaining!

5 days of fun

Wednesday night we had to scrounge up some pj’s for Nolan.  I was a tad behind on laundry, so his “normal” pajamas were still in the dirty laundry pile.  We made due with sport pants and a Twins shirt.  Not to be left out, Lincoln “requested” a t-shirt of his own.  Actually, he requested one of Nolan’s and we put it over his sleeper.  He was SO proud of the fact that he was wearing the Corn Dog shirt.  It’s a Sheck boy favorite.

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Thursday was Thanksgiving Day.  Nolan and I worked on a special project Wednesday afternoon & Thursday morning.  We made turkeys using an outline of his hand and finger paint prints of his fingers.  He had a lot of fun gluing on the beaks, “gobblers,” googly-eyes, and feathers.  After the glue dried, I had him decorate the place settings at the table.  He was pretty proud!

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We hosted my family and our friends Teri & Nate for Thanksgiving dinner.  My parents brought the main course (turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing & gravy,) I put together a couple of side dishes (the token green bean casserole and squash & apple dish I made a couple of weeks ago,) Tony brought fruit salad, and Teri made two delicious desserts.  We dined with a couple of pilgrims who gobbled up the food on their plates like old Turkey Day pros.  It was really nice to spend the day with family.

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Can you tell they’re brothers?  Lincoln has started smiling the way his big brother does.  Both of them really know how to ham it up for the camera.

After Thanksgiving dinner I made the mistake of drinking two cups of coffee (with lots of flavored creamer.)  The kids went to bed at 7 & 9.  Jake did the same around midnight or so and I was up until 3AM!  When I laid my head down at 3, I laid awake for another hour.  It was ridiculous.  I don’t know what I was thinking putting that much caffeine into my body so late in the day.  Lesson learned…the hard way.

Friday we spent some time at Larissa’s apartment.  She had a group of us over to swim in her pool.  It was a tad on the chilly side, so we didn’t stay in the water long.  We gave the boys a warm bath to raise their body temps and then had pizza for lunch followed by ice cream sundaes.  Yum!  Jake then took the kids home for a nap while I went in to the office for a few hours.  When I got home, we put the kids to bed and went out in the porch for a while.  Not much was on TV on Friday night; somehow we ended up on QVC.  I ended up making my first purchase thanks to the TV pitchpeople.  (I didn’t call in though – I made the purchase online.)  I’ve been looking for sleeping bags for the boys’ Santa presents and found the perfect ones on QVC.  Who would have thought?  And not only are they sleeping bags, but they’re sleeping bags with cots!  So as the boys get bigger and we’re able to bring the cots with when we travel, the kids won’t have to make camp on the hard (and nasty) hotel floor.  Thanks QVC!

On Saturday we made the annual trip to Menards to pick up our Christmas tree.  We thought about going to a tree farm to cut one down this year, but I think we’ll wait a bit longer before we go on that adventure.  At this point, the kids are more excited about just getting the tree inside the house and decorating it.  Down the road when they’re able to enjoy seeking out the “perfect” tree, we’ll head to the tree farm.  Until then, Menards will bring the tree selection to us.  We convinced the kids to take a nap after we got the tree home, telling them we’d decorate it if they napped.  It worked perfectly.  We all got some much needed sleep and then later in the evening, enjoyed hanging lights and decorations.  We put the tree in the porch so little fingers can’t get to it unless they’re monitored.  Thanks to the former owners of our house, some of the outlets in the porch are on a switch that is in the toy room.  So even though they can’t get up close to the tree without mom or dad, the boys can turn the lights on and off by themselves – it’s perfect.

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Having two little boys in the house means we build a lot of forts.  Sunday afternoon was no different.  The card table we used on Thursday was still in the living room, so we covered it with a sheet and then placed the kids’ hut next to it to extend the width of the fort.  Jake crawled in to see if he would fit.  😉 His feet stuck out one end and his head peered out the other.  Being the helpful toddler, Lincoln checked on his daddy and then proceeded to try to rescue him by pulling on Jake’s head.

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Thank goodness for visitors

Today got off to a bit of a rocky start – I had to raise my voice and ask God for patience too many times. I was happy to have visitors this morning that brightened up the day and took my mind off of the fact that I was feeling like a crummy mom. My good friend from college, Heidi, and her son J, came to spend some time with us. It had been a while since we last got together, so we had a bit to catch up on. Little J is now on the move, so it was fun to see him crawling and pulling up on things. He is getting so big! My boys enjoyed the company. They’re always captivated by other people their size, but especially when the kids are younger than they are. Lincoln takes an extra special interest in the wee ones – so much so that I need to keep a close eye on him because he tends to think the babes are sturdy like he is. Not to fear though, I’m sure J will catch up to my boys soon enough. It will be a fun day when all 3 of them tear around the house 🙂

I’m writing this entry at work tonight.  I had to come in to take care of a few things and now I’m heading home to try to finish the workbook chapter for my moms’ group study tomorrow morning.  I feel like I’m in college lately – trying to keep up on my reading, but not having much success unless I have a deadline staring at me.  Some habits are just hard to break.

One more tidbit for the day.  On the way home from the grocery store, Nolan said to me, “I’m not a boy anymore.”  I questioned, “So what are you?”  He replied, “A preschooler!”  In a way, I guess he’s right.  He is no longer a “little” boy who needs his mom all of the time.  He’s definitely becoming an independent, preschool boy.

Reading, sleeping, dinner & movie

Jake was the “Mystery Reader” for Nolan’s class today.  To add to the surprise every week, the kids cover their eyes once they are seated on a rug on the floor.  Once the mystery reader comes in, the kids uncover their eyes.  Nolan was pretty happy to see his daddy 🙂  Jake read the kids Harry the Dirty Dog.

Lincoln fell asleep on our way to pick up Nolan from school.  He stayed asleep while I unbuckled him, brought him into the building, picked up Nolan, re-buckled him into his car seat and drove home.  I was hoping I’d be lucky enough to complete the trifecta and bring him up to his crib for a nap, but no such luck.  Instead, we all had lunch and THEN took naps – all 3 of us.  I feel guilty taking naps lately, because it seems like when we wake up, there’s so little light left in the day.  But at the same time it is difficult to fight the urge to sleep when I’m tired.  I suppose I should just take advantage of the fact that I can still get both kids to sleep (if I sleep too) and just go with it.

After a trip to Sam’s Club and Cub, we joined friends of ours for a delicious lasagna dinner at their home.  It was so nice to have a chance to eat a warm meal (the kids had their own little table, so they weren’t reaching/asking for food off my plate) and adult conversation.

We put the overly-tired boys to bed once we returned home from our dinner & visit.  Lincoln was so tired he didn’t even fuss when I put him in his crib.  He is usually not quite ready to lie down, so there are generally at least a few tears/whines from behind the crib rails – but not tonight.

Once the boys were in bed, Jake and I watched UP.  It was a cute movie & good way to end the day.

OTW – full of fun

Friday night was summersault practice in the living room.  They are one of Nolan’s favorite things to do and little brother Lincoln (who loves to do everything his big brother does) is getting close to figuring it out too.   Check it out the form the kids have!  This clip makes me laugh every time I watch it!

Saturday was a busy day.  We had a little visitor in the morning; she came to play for a few hours before we headed to an Eagle Scout ceremony for a young man we know from church.  After a celebratory lunch (with cake,) Nolan and I headed downtown.  A friend of mine invited us to join her, her son and another friend & her two daughters at a Baby Loves Disco pj birthday party complete with lots of music, bubbles, fresh fruit treats,  juice boxes and of course birthday cake.  It was a fun afternoon with my favorite 3 ½ year old.  We came home and had pizza & chocolate cake (Nolan & I ended up having 3 pieces throughout the day 🙂  I consider it a tasty way to practice again for my upcoming birthday – I’ll gladly take one (or three) for the team.

Nolan wanted to wear a tie to church this morning.  Lincoln of course wanted to wear one too.  We put one on him for the 7 minute drive to church, but I took it off  when he went to the nursery, just to be safe, since it clips around his little neck.  When we got home, he insisted on wearing Jake’s tie and posing for a picture with Nolan.  Then he attempted to share a hug or a take-down.  From the picture Jake took, it looks like it could have gone either way.

OTW – Halloween

Halloween was a blast this year!  The boys were both pretty excited about it going into the big day.  In the end, we actually had to cut Lincoln off.  I think he would have tried another block’s worth of houses if we had let him.  The kid has the candy grab down pat – thanks for the practice, Uncle Tony!  Good thing most houses put the candy into his bucket instead.  Here’s a rundown of the day, in pictures.

We visited Nana & Papa’s house in the morning.  Since Nana recently had shoulder surgery, it was easier to go to her.

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The next doorbell we rang was Uncle Tony’s.  He put on his Halloween costume too – he was The Karate Kid this year.

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Later in the day we carved our lone pumpkin.  This baby came straight from our garden.  It’s the only thing (aside from the celery) that did well this summer.  I think it sucked the life out of every other pumpkin that attempted to grow on the same vine.

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Finally, we gathered the munchkins together (ours plus two others) and headed out on a quest for candy.

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We had a special guest come along with us.  Auntie Stacie was home for the weekend and helped us keep track of the kids as we walked around the block.

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OTW – toasty days (inside)

We’ve been using the fireplace in our porch quite a bit lately.  It’s been warmer out there than most of the days in MN this past summer – 80, close to 90 degrees.  It was the perfect temp for a coloring marathon.  We spent several hours working on the oversized coloring pages.  I even broke out my old box of 96 crayons.  The kids loved the selection.

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Nolan’s imagination continues to brighten my day.  I gave the boys wooden spoons to play with while I was working in the kitchen.  Nolan called for me to join them in the living room.  They “roasted marshmallows” using their spoons as skewers over a pretend fire on the carpet.  Nolan brought me an imaginary graham cracker, so Lincoln had to do the same.  Then I received chocolate and another cracker from both of them.  It was pretty cute.

We had game night at our house on Friday night.  Larissa & Michelle joined us for Scrabble Slam, Buzzword & Mexican Train.  Add the chicken, black bean & spinach dip I love to make (and the fireplace) and we had a fun time.  🙂

Saturday night we joined a few other members of Jake’s extended family to celebrate his cousin Sara’s birthday.  On our way to the party, I mentioned I wanted a beverage from SA.  Nolan then said from the backseat, “Mom, I’m going to get you a medium mocoa…And a Diet Coke for me.”  Sounds like our kid has heard us order from the McDonald’s drive-thru a few times.  Are we that predictable???

The boys had a lot of fun helping Sara open her gifts.  At one point they were both jockeying for the prime seat next to her so they could see what she was opening.  While we were there, Aunt Kristin came through for me in a big way.  Nolan wants to be a pumpkin for Halloween and I’ve been trying to figure out the best way to dress him for the cold (and potentially wet) Halloween we will likely have.  Kristin had a pumpkin costume in her basement that she made for one of her own kids.  It’s great!  And Nolan is so excited to wear it.  He gets to wear his costume to school on Wednesday, so he’ll get to take it on a trial run before Saturday.

We’ve been working on what the kids need to say when they ring the doorbell on Halloween.  The last time I asked Nolan what he should say he told me, “Can I have some candy, please?” What nice manners, huh?  I’m guessing if he uses that, he could end up with extra candy pieces for being polite!

I went to visit my mom today.  She had shoulder surgery on Friday morning.  She’s recovering well, resting up, and doing her best to let her family take care of her.  It’s nice to be able to return just a little bit of the kindness she has shown all of us over the years.  While I was gone, Jake watched the boys plus our friends’ son.  They boys always have such a great time with their friend.  Breakfast for dinner was on tonight’s menu.  Lincoln apparently wanted to eat like the big boys and use his fork tonight.

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Lunch Conversation

Out of the blue today at lunch, Nolan started up this conversation with me:
Nolan: Do you remember going to Alan & Kim’s house?  They have a dog!
Mom: Do you remember his name?
Nolan: Ummmm…
Mom: Is it Dakota?
Nolan: Ya, Dakota!  Dakota tackled me! *big smile*  We should go to Alan & Kim’s house again. It was fun!
I guess Nolan is ready for a rematch with Dakota 🙂

Grandma Patti & Grandpa Dave joined us for dinner tonight.  The kids practically jumped through the front window when they saw them arrive – they were so excited!  After we ate, G & G took the boys to the indoor playground near our house.  Nolan has been asking to go for quite a while – we drive by it every time we go to preschool.  I’m glad they had a chance to get some good play time in today.  The recent cold weather and rain are making it tough to get them outside lately!

Sunday Funday

We started the day off with mass at St. John’s.  Nana & Papa (my parents) showed up and surprised us.  I love seeing the boys’ expressions when they see any of their grandparents.  It’s always pure joy.  Since we had more adults than kids, we kept Shecklet #2 with us instead of having him play in the nursery.  The boys did really well.  I wonder if they were on extra-good behavior for their grandparents…

Our house was full of lovely women and super cute kids this afternoon.  We figured out that today’s group was a mix of 1st, 2nd & 3rd cousins from my mom’s side of the family.  It was really nice to be able to spend time with all of them today.  Shecklet #1 and Shecklet #2 enjoyed showing off for the group.  It’s so funny what the two of them will do to entertain others when they’re in the spotlight.

While Shecklet #2 was napping this afternoon (after our guests departed,) Shecklet #1 helped me put together brownies for an impromptu dinner at our friends’ house.  He cracked the eggs (with just a little help :)), stirred the batter, and scooped it from the bowl to the pan.  He is really big into helping lately.  I wish I could bottle some of his enthusiasm and have it on hand for when he gets older.

The day ended the way it normally does, but with a small, sweet little twist.  We said bedtime prayers with the boys like we always do and I picked up Shecklet #2 and held him while Jake rocked a little while with Nolan.  Nolan asked me to sing a song for him.  (This has become part of the nighttime routine along with having his back scratched.)  So I sang “Jesus Loves Me,” and he joined me like he usually does.  Next, he asked me to sing the song he calls “Daisy” or “bicycle built for two.”  Well tonight, instead of waiting for me to start the song and join me, he sang the song himself – and remembered most of the lyrics, too!  It was so sweet to hear his little voice.  He sure loves music!