Hello Spring

Another chilly week has come and gone, and we are that much closer to spring! Or at least, what spring should feel like. Today is officially the first day of spring and it's still hovering in the 30s. Tomorrow will have a high in the 20s so I'm gonna soak up 30-something as best I can while it lasts.

A few days last week were warm enough to take walks and venture out to the town playground. It is only a few blocks from our house luckily. Sam and Molly love it. Will got some new tennis shoes at the mall and waddled his way over to the dirt and had a grand time. Normally he is in a much more winter-proof coat onesie that has covered hands and feet, so the fact that his feet were even exposed and able to make contact with the ground was probably incredibly exciting for him. He took his first steps on St. Patrick's Day (probably four in a row total), but thinks it's much funnier to just throw himself in my general direction after standing. It appears he will follow the developmental curve of his siblings and not walk until around 15 months.

The high school has open gym on Wednesday evenings during the winter and this was the first Wednesday we got it together enough to get over there.

Naturally this week is the last Wednesday they're open until next winter, but the kids had a TON of fun. As it turns out, their energy is endless. Huh.

Will crawled EVERYWHERE. He could not would not be stopped. As everyone knows, I am the biggest germaphobe in the world so this eeked me out for the entire two hours we were there, but he was completely worn out after it was all over and got a very thorough bath afterwards.

The kids used to have a bedtime of 7pm. Once daylight savings hit though, we decided we'd extend bedtime til 8. I know a 7pm bedtime gets side eye from some folks, but I comfort myself with the fact that "some folks" don't have to wake up at 6am (and sometimes earlier) with my kids every morning. You see, these are not normal humans. If you let them stay up late to watch television or play with friends, they do not sleep in to compensate for the sleep they missed. They simply wake up at the same time (crack of dawn), with the same amount of energy (where the hell does it come from), and usually, slightly more attitude than they went to sleep with (a lovely side effect). And for those reasons, my children have a very strict bedtime. I can't say extending til 8pm has made a huge difference in anyone's sleep schedule (LOOKIN' AT YOU, WILLIE), but they get the opportunity to do more things in the evening, like open gym.

St Patrick's Day! Everyone was so excited. Sam's class had been experiencing visits from a sneaky little leprechaun all week at school and he was really into it. The night before, at 10pm, I realized I had forgotten to set out St Patrick's Day stuff. I scrambled to write a note from the leprechaun, set out the Lucky Charms that I actually remembered to buy a week prior, and poured some green food coloring into the carton of milk. Nothing crazy, but he really enjoyed it so I'm glad I remembered!! Since it fell on a Friday this year, we didn't make any crazy green food (fish Friday- would prefer that not be green), but we did go to a family dance that the elementary school put on at the community center.

It was SO stinkin' fun. They had this photo booth, music that was popular from when we were in 6th grade, and just kids running around everywhere having a blast.

slow dance with Daddy

The PTO was selling dinner and juice and Sam got in on more than a few juice barrels. It lasted from 6-7:45, which is the most perfect amount of time for an elementary school dance to last, in my very humble opinion.

Turns out that no, I do not own any green clothing and yes, my blood stained chambray shirt made YET ANOTHER public appearance! #shame

We had too much fun

We got everybody home and bathed and put to bed before realizing how extremely OLD we both felt after dancing and chasing the kids around all evening. As we were sitting in the living room lamenting our achy bones, we heard the kids' door open. Sam was whining his way down the stairs and before he rounded the corner, Steve guessed that maybe he wet the bed (he did drink a lot of juice at the dance). Seeing him standing there though caused us both to leap into action as he was covered in vomit stew! So. so. so. GROSS. I showered Sam off while Steve stripped his bed and put on fresh sheets. He got it on everything (these kids have so many layers to their beds to stay warm), so the laundry that night and the next day felt endless. He finally got all cleaned up and back to bed (with a bucket) and luckily we didn't hear from him for the rest of the night. Pretty sure it was just a juice overdose coupled with a lot of running around. He woke up feeling fine the next morning.

Good thing too, because we had some trash to burn!

But first, a hot dog dinner

The previous owners of Rick and Monica's house/land had made a nice burn pile at the back of their property. They added some old carpet and we added some old doors and then Rick added some gasoline and a bit of fire.

It was fun to watch but I can't wait to have a regular bonfire and roast some marshmallows.

Finally! Some warmth!!

Sunday morning, Will woke up suuuuuper early and the big kids actually slept in, so we missed church. We played over at Rick and Monica's for a while since it was nice outside (nice = in the 40s) and then we all went swimming in the next town over.

We stayed until they closed and then had plans to go to the pizza shop in that town with our friends for dinner. We went into the locker rooms to get changed and mine and Molly's clothes were gone!! I couldn't believe it. We searched every open locker and trash can and stall and they were nowhere to be found. I wasn't (and still am not) mad about it, just kinda puzzled as to why someone would take clothes. I went out to the front desk and told the sign in lady and she was horrified. "Do you want me to call the police?!" Well, no. Not for clothes. I'm sure there isn't much else going on, but I don't think my old clothes warrant a police report. She kept apologizing like it was somehow her fault and kept insisting that she run home and grab some of her clothes for me to wear. I told her it was fine, it's warm out, we will just be sitting in the car until I change, no big deal.

I'm literally glowingggggg omg need sunshine

We all ended up skipping out on pizza since it was so warm and beautiful out (warm and beautiful = 55* and sunny). No one wanted to sit inside a pizza shop when there was weather like this to be had outside. We drove home and I showered the kids while Will napped in the car with Steve, got our clothes on, and then headed out to Rick and Monica's for a dinner picnic. A friend of theirs brought over some massive Legos and the kids played with those and then ate pizza and cheetos off the tailgate in between races and running.

We headed home afterwards, showered Will, changed sheets, more laundry, bedtime routine, zzzz....

Big kids at school today and at only 9:30, Will is already up from his morning nap. Molly's party is this weekend so it's time to rock and roll on some projects to get ready for that!! Happy Spring!

COME ON, SPRING

I am normally one to really relish winter. Growing up in southern Alabama, there was really no such thing, save for a week or two where it dipped into the 40s (ooh, brrr!), so moving around to different places that experienced seasons, I could not have enjoyed it more. It always seemed the cool weather left too quickly though, and Minnesota is the first place I have definitely gotten my fill of the cooler temps. Most of the country seemed to experience some sort of (admittedly, concerning) heat wave in February and pictures of people running around outside or having picnics or playing in tshirts floated all over my instagram. Minnesota did not get the global warming memo and continued on with temps in the 20s. But! One day it was sunny and about 33*, so we lugged out the bikes and stroller and tried to make the "warm" weather count!

Blurry, but look at the joy on her face!

Seuss week at school continued and one day was Wacky Day, so I let the kids pick out their own clothes for school. This is usually a sufficient amount of whack, so I thought their ensembles would be golden. Instead, they came out like this.

Uhhhh.....? This is fairly normal. Most days if they beat me to the dresser, they will have shirts on backwards, mismatched socks, skirts on under a dress, short sleeves in -2* weather, and definitely a rainbow of color all over their little bodies. So this seemed pretty tame. I asked if they wanted to wear something a little wackier and tried explaining the point of the wacky day to them but they were pretty set on their outfits. Whatever!

Sammy from 5 years ago!!! (sobs)

Fun fact- if you have Amazon Prime, you have access to the greatest photo storage ever. FOR FREE. There is an app (you can also open it on your computer from the website), you download it, open the app, grant it access to your photos, let it upload, and then it organizes everything by date for you!! It also has this nifty "On This Day" feature that makes me want to cry my eyes out because I see Baby Sammy With All The Hair and wonder where the last five years went. Anyways, I can't keep that sort of thing to myself any longer. The downside is that there is limited video storage, but if you pay $60/year, you get unlimited.

This is an affiliate link and clicking on it might earn me enough pennies to one day justify a tiny fraction of my Amazon purchases.

Molly and I had some clearance rack success and managed to pull off a twin moment- hard to do when one of you is shopping mostly the maternity section.

Will has recently adopted a real crap sleep schedule (as has been his "thing" since birth, basically) and he refused a nap until I came up and laid down in Sam's bed with him. I seriously almost passed out myself, but remembered what a cranky beeyotch I'd be if I slept an entire 20 minutes at 3:30 in the afternoon. If the nap ain't eight hours, I have no business taking it.

He's pretty cute though, huh?

The weekend arrived and the forecast claimed it would be mid-40's with sunshine so we hightailed it out to Rick and Monica's house to get their kids outside with ours to run around and burn all their energy.

Turns out it was 41* but with the biting wind, it felt like 5*. Didn't seem to bother the kids one bit though.

We lasted about two hours before Will and I were about frozen solid. Sam and Molly came home and went straight back outside to play basketball across the street and stomp all over our mud yard. Will woke up from his nap and wished he could run around with them too.

We had pizza for dinner and then the kids got early showers and watched a movie with some popcorn.

Like how I try to distract you from the crummy photography with some sparkly nonsense? Is it working?

First Sunday of Lent and Molly took note that the priests are now wearing PURPLE (HALLELUJAH FOR THE WARDROBE CHANGE, AMIRIGHT SISTER?!) instead of green.

I mentioned it on IG, but I am really ready for spring church clothes. We have been trying to mix it up with the few winter church clothes they have for months now. Every combination just seems bleh. Molly's sundresses are staring at me and I want to see Will's chubby little legs again!! I need to do a blog post on how our entire family basically has a capsule wardrobe now (mostly out of necessity not because we choose to) because kids tend to have an insane amount of clothes.

The weather yesterday was beeyoooooooootiful and I was itching to get out there the entire time I was making this birthday cake. Steve took the kids for multiple walks and bike rides and I tried to bake as fast as I could and get the house cleaned up so we could go party that afternoon.

I tried a new buttercream recipe (as I've said before, I'll try almost anything labeled "the best") and it did NOT disappoint. It was simple, quick, easy, and best of all, tasty. I highly recommend.

The cake did not disappoint either. It's a good thing we left the few leftover slices at Monica's house because I know for a fact that would have been breakfast.

After cake though, it felt like my birthday when I noticed a sunset through the trees.

We live "in town" and the way our house sits, we do not get to see sunrises and sunsets. Sad, right? I didn't see any sunsets in NY either due to the way our apartment and the others around us were situated. I am very much a natural light person, so this bothers me. This one filled up my sunset tank nicely though.

It was so much more vibrant than these pictures even show. I kept tapping my phone screen in different places hoping it would focus on just the right spot to correct the colors to what I was seeing with my eyes, but it never did. Oh well. Still gorgeous.

Today is supposed to be super warm again (in the 50's!!!) but very cloudy/muddy. I think a thrift store might be calling my name... Molly has decided she wants to have a deer themed birthday party (oh mylanta....) and I've finally nailed down details. Just a matter of finding deer-related things that are not covered in camo. (Jesus take the wheel.) A week or two ago, we were all ready to plan a horsey birthday party. We had the space and the friends who were willing to bring horses TO the party! It was going to be so CUTE. Now I am trying to find a pinata that does not look like we are fixin to drain the blood and guts out of a deer strung up by its feet. Again, JESUS TAKE THE WHEEL.

Weekend recap - world's most original title for a blog post on a Tuesday

Another weekend in the books.

Everyone seemed to be enjoying 70+ degrees wherever they were. Minnesota is still firmly planted in winter territory though. Our mud yard has since frozen over and been snowed on. So that's nice. Preferable to mud, in my opinion. And the kids were overjoyed by the sight of fresh snow. Even though sitting out on the back deck grilling sounds really nice, I have to admit that the untouched snow in the morning light was really pretty on the way to church.

On Saturday evening, we were going to let the kids make their own personal pizzas and then camp out in the living room and watch a movie. When I finally got the dough all ready for them though, they had skedaddled across the street to play with the super cool second grader who likes to play basketball is basically Michael Jordan. So I made their pizzas for them and I think Will enjoyed it the most.

OMG all this food for meeeee????

After baths, they decided to watch a show about animals instead of a movie. Will crawled around and did his best to throw himself on top of anyone who looked too still.

He was put to bed at 7 and the big kids were allowed to stay up a little longer to watch their show. Steve and I got ready for bed and after the kids probably assumed we forgot about them (we did not- just enjoying the blissful silence!!). Sam popped in. "So how's it goin in here, guys?" I almost felt an ab form I laughed so hard. Even though nothing like that was going on, I couldn't help but picture the mom from Mean Girls.

Molly was not too thrilled about sleeping in the living room without us (despite sleeping in her bed without us every night), and then Sam crawled into our bed at some point to sleep with us and then Will woke up screaming for his banana and then everyone was awake and THIS IS WHY WE DON'T DO FUN THINGS WHERE IS THE COFFEE.

We rallied (aka made coffee) and went to church. Last Sunday before Lent! I can't believe it.

That afternoon we headed over to Rick and Monica's house, as per our usual Sunday afternoon activities. We walk around outside and hang out, cook dinner, watch the kids play, etc. Nothing photo-worthy apparently as I never take any pictures, outside of the dinner picture.

Poor Mav (front right) had just fallen off the bench (and took his plate down to the floor with him) so he was less than thrilled about cheesing for a photo.

On our way home, close to 7!!!

NOT PITCH BLACK!!! WINTER MIGHT BE ENDING SOMEDAY SOON!!!

I don't mind the temps so much, but all of the darkness really gives me the SADs (Seasonal Affective Disorder, which is basically me being sad about the lack of sunlight).

Apparently this is Dr Seuss Week at school so there is a different theme everyday for them to dress. Nothing too crazy. Monday was Pajama Day.

Today was Color Day and each grade had to wear a certain color. Sam's class had purple. Wtf. Luckily he had a Vikings hoodie I bought at the thrift store so I feel like that satisfied the purple.

Molly and I made bagels this morning since Casey sent us a bagel seasoning that I have been dying to try. I almost bought some store-made bagels but then decided against it. Molly loves making bagels so much.

Ugly as sin but delicious as all get out.

I just cannot stress how good this seasoning is. Perfectly salty and garlicky and just everything a bagel should taste like. Mmmmmmm....

Molly scattered her Valentine's flowers in the backyard for the deer. (To eat or to look at as they eat the berries off our trees, I'm not sure exactly which, but it's a nice thought.) Sam scattered some lettuce out there last night for them but it doesn't appear to have been touched.


Ash Wednesday is tomorrow and I think in place of giving something up, Steve and I are going to say a rosary together every night. I am already giving up wine thanks to pregnancy (the greatest "give up" of all in my boozy opinion) and since Steve has been eating clean, we don't have any sweets or anything like that in the house to give up. So I think doing instead of giving up will be a better solution to Lent this year. I have clearly not put enough brain power into thinking of what to do to make Lent more meaningful for the kids but maybe I can pull something out later this afternoon/evening. If you have any ideas, please feel free to let me know!