Tonight as we were watching the boys play in the fort that is currently taking up half of the living room, Jake gave me a zerbert. The boys found this extremely humorous and quickly tackled me so they, too, could zerbert me. (Lincoln attempted his with his bink still in his mouth :)) Only a mom could be blessed to receive “I love you’s” in the form of something that sounds like a fart. I can honestly say I have the best job ever. I love my house of boys!
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
Nolan had his first preschool conference this morning. From the sounds of it, he’s doing pretty well 🙂 I’m glad he is enjoying it as much as he is. I catch him singing things he learns in class from time to time. Those moments really make me smile.
After conferences, I took the boys to MG to swim. We picked up Nana and headed for the pool. Both boys had a blast going down the kid slide and playing in the zero depth area. I wish I had brought my camera to capture the excitement on their faces when the fountains and waterfalls came on.
Tonight we celebrated my birthday for the 3rd time. How’s that for a three day party? My parents and brother came over for cake (Angel Food this time) and ice cream. Afterward, we hung out in the porch with a nice warm fire and Nana read to the boys. I love that my kids have opportunities to spend time with their grandparents, aunts & uncles. They are loved by so many people. What a gift that is to me as their mom.
Today’s randoms from Nolan:
For some reason he wanted to attach balloons to his pockets. I don’t ask why anymore, I just roll with it. (See the last picture above)
While in the porch this evening, he told Nana & Papa the “mometer” (thermometer) on the wall “measures the number of colds outside.” Papa then asked if it measures the “number of hots” outside in the summer. Good question, Dad 🙂
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.
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.
When Lincoln was born, my Aunt Alice & Uncle Jerry sent a package containing a soft brown bear that sings Barry White’s “You’re The First, The Last, My Everything.”
Nolan has loved it since day one, (here he is right after he opened the box with the bear inside)
and Lincoln has enjoyed dancing along to the music ever since he figured out how to press the button on the bear’s arm to start the song.
The boys have pushed the red button so many times, I now have brain cells that are permanently dedicated to keeping the lyrics in my head, ready for me to sing along when I hear it start. Tonight I was given many chances to sing karaoke with the bear. It was actually very fun watching Lincoln get so excited about the music, even if it was Barry White.
Before I headed out for the evening (Wednesday night is my volleyball night,) Nolan had me put on a “cape” and we ran around the house. The boys and dogs all chased me. It was crazy! The boys were laughing and shouting with excitement and the dogs were both barking loudly. Just one more example of the nutty stuff that goes on within the Sheck house on a regular basis. I said to Jake tonight that our kids will never be able to say their mom was afraid to act silly – and then publish it for the world to see 🙂
I should have known today was going to be a challenging one when I lost my necklace (I ended up finding it) and Lincoln blew out his diaper all within about 10 minutes of getting the day started. We made it through breakfast relatively unscathed and then the boys decided to turn one of their storage tins into a drum. I had given them wooden spoons to use as microphones, but I guess they made better drum sticks. The rest of the day was actually kind of a blur. I was exhausted and had hoped to take a nap when the boys did, but unfortunately, Lincoln only napped for an hour, so I braced myself for an afternoon with a moody toddler. By the time dinner time rolled around, between the kids and the dogs I was going crazy and looking for someone else to keep me company as I headed there. I even posted my plea for company on Facebook. One of my friends responded saying, “I can’t keep you company, but I’ll open the door and welcome you to crazy when you get here.” I got a much needed laugh out of his comment. Thankfully, when Jake came home I was able to take a few minutes to catch my breath.
After dinner, the kids thought it would be funny to wear books as hats, so that’s what we did. Once again, no matter how nutty some of their antics make me, they can always make me laugh.
Nolan helped me bake a cake today. It was hard for him to wait until the evening to dig in to it, but he made it. He asked if we could put candles in it and have a “pretend birthday.” That sounded good to me, so we lit 3 candles and sang “Happy Birthday.” When we got to the part about saying the birthday person’s name, I paused and waited for his response. He said, “Mommy!” and we finished the song. Guess he’s heard my birthday is coming soon, so we’d better practice 🙂
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.
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.
In the car today Nolan asked, “Mom, can we go to Sara’s house again and play Hungry Hippos?” I would love to spend just a few minutes inside my son’s head to know what triggers random statements like this. Sara is Jake’s youngest cousin. She is now getting the chance to play “older cousin” to the great-grandkids in the family. She is such a delight (I wish we were able to see her more often,) and she loves all of the little boys in the family. She has the makings of a great babysitter 🙂
It rained again today. I think the weather encourages creativity in my kids. Nolan helped unpack the groceries when we got home and proceeded to assemble a tower. The construction materials of choice were cans of creamed corn & spaghetti. Oh, and the 2nd attempt contained a random water bottle he was toting around. (Make sure you click on the picture of the cans to see the tower in all its glory.)
Since random is the theme of the day, I also feel the need to include a link to a speech by the Archbishop of Denver that a college friend of mine posted on Facebook tonight. Archbishop Cahput recently addressed a group of physicians in Phoenix. I found what he said to be extremely powerful – specifically, two statements:
“The Nobel Peace Prize winner Albert Schweitzer once wrote that, “A man is truly ethical only when he obeys the compulsion to help all life which he is able to assist, and shrinks from injuring anything that lives.” Every child with Down syndrome, every adult with special needs; in fact, every unwanted unborn child, every person who is poor, weak, abandoned or homeless – each one of these persons is an icon of God’s face and a vessel of his love. How we treat these persons – whether we revere them and welcome them, or throw them away in distaste – shows what we really believe about human dignity, both as individuals and as a nation.”
“It’s one of God’s ironies that the suffering imperfection brings, can perfect us in the vocation of love.” (Emphasis Archbishop Chaput)
It seems I’ve just added to my list of things to reflect on during the quiet moments I’m granted during the day.
I accomplished something today that has been on my “to do” list for many months. It’s not earth-shattering, but is slightly remarkable since it’s not a task I tend to make a priority. Here’s a little tidbit that most people probably don’t know about me: I’m not particularly good at keeping up with the pile of ironing that collects in our laundry room. Jake would tell you that I’m usually so far behind, he just takes the shirts he wants to wear from the ones hanging on the line instead of waiting for me to iron them and bring them to his closet. I guess I just prefer other household chores (or naps – if I can get both boys to take one at the same time.) That and ironing isn’t really something I can do with Shecklet #2 running around, so I have to do it when he’s napping or after the kids are in bed. Anyway, the story of the day is that I am currently caught up on all of my ironing. This might not sound like much of an accomplishment, but if you knew how much was hanging in the basement (and for how long) you’d be excited for me. 😉 Now if I could just get a handle on my laundry. My boys create more dirty clothes than Jake and I combined. It’s amazing!
Speaking of laundry, as I was hanging clothes to dry this afternoon, my little architect was creating this:
It’s so fun to see what he can build when he’s playing by himself. He has really been using his imagination a lot lately too. Our house is constantly a construction zone – trains, buildings, forts. You name it, the Sheck boys can build it!
