Grandparent's Weekly Vol. 2

There has been the usual shenanigans around here, all while we've had a very busy week.

It's so much more fun to eat raspberries off of your fingers

The weather has been incredibly cold (for us), but our usual activities involve being outside. So we decided to go to another museum last weekend, the Children's Museum of Atlanta.

Lucy fishing

Matthan popping up in the "fishing lake"

While bringing in some groceries, there was a bag that Lucy couldn't lift, so Matthan helped her carry it. And then they were excited about "teamwork"...which lasted all of 5 minutes and was adorable while it lasted.

Emptying the trash using teamwork

We had more snow! I hate that snow is such an inconvenience for everyone because we love it. However, the snow was so powdery that we couldn't form snowballs. The weather was also so cold that it took me roughly 20 minutes to dress Lucy and 5 minutes for her to start crying to come in.

All bundled up

So Lucy and I came inside, snuggled and watched "Cwifford" (Clifford).

I FINALLY took down the Christmas tree, and they were bummed, so I made a "snuggling couch" where the tree had been and they played on it all morning, reading to each other and watching movie and getting along...and then fought all the next day.

Missing the tree, but loving the snuggle couch

And because Tim and I know how to party on a Friday night, we cleared our living room and dining room of all furniture/toys/junk and cleaned our carpets and couches. I'm torn between "my house has never been so clean, everyone should come over and see it" and "my house is so clean, no one come over and mess it up".

Proof that my house was clean...for 10 minutes

We're trying to get our house ready in case we need to put it on the market. Some of you know that we put an offer on a house this week. We offered, they countered, we countered...and that's all the info I have for you. :/ Pretend that I'm not staring at my phone willing it to ring with good news, ok? Have a good week!

Grandparent's Weekly Vol.1

I make no promises that I'm going to keep up with this, but I'm thinking of posting regular updates since everyone is scattered and far away. And at some point I will change the header of my blog to include a picture that is at least post children, but today is not that day. 

Last Friday, Tim and I FINALLY went on a double date with some friends. We've been trying to get this on the calendar for a while, but, holidays and young children and all the excuses. There is no picture of the date because we seem to forget to take pictures when our little people are not around, but there was putting on of dressy clothes and eating of incredibly good food and fun conversation without being interrupted (well...there were interruptions...by our waiter offering free drink samples). 

Meanwhile, our babysitter was giving puppet shows and teaching our children their numbers in four languages (English, Spanish, French, and Italian). We love our babysitters. 

I make no promises that these are correct

This weekend we went to the Tellus Science Museum. I was nerd-ishly excited, and the kids were....

Lucy watching Foucault's pendulum

...really really excited about the "coin spiral thing" that makes the coins go around and around because of...gravity...or some science lesson they don't remember.

Don't be fooled by her expression, they asked to do this a million times

Lucy in the fossil exhibit

Who needs a double stroller? 

The highlight of Lucy's week included receiving her last Christmas present from her Auntie. She has worn it constantly and pranced around the house carrying Pup-pup for the last few days. The first day, she was so excited, she didn't eat her dinner. 

Our current season of life includes fighting and bugging the other sibling as much as possible and then yelling about the other one doing the bugging. It's so much fun...

They occasionally decide they like each other

One Monday, the fun parent side of me won out and I let Matthan stay up to watch the Georgia Bulldawgs play in the National Championship Game. I put him to bed around midnight before watching overtime. I'm glad he went to bed then. Unfortunately that meant that I had to tell him the next morning that we had lost. He was so sad I could feel his sadness when I told him.

Taken when we were winning

The weather has been cold here, like below freezing cold. So, I forced the children outside when the weather was in the warm 50's. They were thrilled (cough cough), and had great attitudes about it (cough). Lucy enjoyed pushing her stroller next to Mommy, though, and we hiked to one of the highest points in our county and saw a bunch of pretty birds. And then told Daddy they had fun. 

We replaced our broken tea pot after 12 years (well, I guess technically it was Tim's then). Lucy pretty much wants anything we're eating and drinking. This girl likes her some tea, hot or cold.

Drinking peppermint tea, no sugar

Tim has decided to try making sourdough bread again. I'm very excited about this. This is the "don't even get to make bread until like day 10" method. So...no bread yet...but look at his awesome starter. He named it Matthew, nic "Matt", because there is a verse in Matthew about the kingdom of heaven being like leaven...and yes we're weird. I still think it should have been an old lady name like "Blanche". Nobody else but us probably thinks this is amusing, but oh well. Matt is requiring double feedings of flour and water a day now so I think that means we'll have bread soon.

I have a ton of hobbies that I'm dabbling in including hand lettering and painting and reading and knitting, but because I'm a bit A.D.D. when it comes to hobbies, I'm attempting to learn the art of the roast chicken (as in none of the hobbies mentioned previously). The raw bird is in the oven and not pictured.  I'll let ya know how it turns out. 

Oil and herb basting method

That about raps up this week! Until next time...

How We Celebrate St. Nicholas Day

Hello there! Long time, no blog post, I know. I'm briefly back to tell you how we celebrate Saint Nicholas Day. 

On the morning of December 6th, the kids wake up to presents in their stockings and gold (chocolate) coins in their shoes. 

We eat a big breakfast and then open presents. Either the night before or the day of I try to read to them about Saint Nicholas. After opening presents, we head out to go shopping for the people we picked off our "giving tree" from church. Each kid gets to pick a person off of the tree. We explain to our kids that we give to those who have less than we do, just like Saint Nicholas did. The stockings, the gold coins, and the giving to others all comes from the stories of Saint Nicholas, who was a real Catholic bishop who served the people in Myra. 

I usually try to keep the stocking gifts small. This year, I tried to do the "something to wear, something to read, something you want, and something you need" to keep me in check. Their favorite thing this year? The PEZ dispensers and candy that harken back to my childhood. They were SO EXCITED! 

We usually finish out the day by cooking "Greek" food (not sure how authentic we get, but we try). This year, life has been really busy, and we've been trying to find ways to simplify. So this year, instead of cooking, we're going to a Greek restaurant in our area (Myra was an ancient Greek town). A couple of years we've also included picking up our Christmas tree, but that seemed like too much this year so we spaced that out on another day. And that's how we celebrate. :)

Happy Saint Nicholas Day!

It's A Bird! It's A Plane!

A few weekends ago, I was perusing the Internet for a new place to eat. Among the list was a place called "The Flying Machine". The restaurant sits on the edge of the local airport runway, so as we sat and ate our lunches, we were able to watch small planes take off and land! I was hopeful that we would see at least one, but we saw probably 12-15. 

The restaurant was quite...interesting. When we arrived, no one was sitting inside, but had taken advantage of the up close outside seating. The inside was dark, dirty, had random cardboard cutouts (one cardboard cut out of the "Most Interesting Man in the World" almost made me pee my pants as it was in the women's restroom and the lights were off when I walked in). There was also a floozy looking mannequin hanging out at the bar. So should you ever go to this restaurant, go on a Saturday and eat outside. And, there was a train track across the parking lot, and we got to see two trains go by. So double win!

Eating lunch at The Flying Machine

Complete inability to sit in a chair properly

Watching the planes take off and land

This Little Boy Is Growing Up

Life has been so full and other things have taken priority over this blog, and they will probably continue to do so. But the last few days I have found myself wanting to freeze time for a little while because I feel like I'm in a really sweet stage with Matthan and Lucy and I've been trying to savor it. Lucy grows so fast and changes so much... and stays in one place so it's easy to take pictures of her. Matthan...rarely sits still long enough for me to take a picture. So since I got one today, I want to freeze time, if even just in a blog post.

3 1/2 and trying to fill some big shoes

Allow me to gush for a minute. 

Matthan is a special kid. I know every parent says that, but there is something about him. He charms the world. He made people smile starting from when he was a tiny baby. He delights in the world and takes joy in all the little (and big) things, and I have yet to meet someone who has not been sucked in by the delight that radiates from him. We giggle at him sometimes because when he walks he occasionally jumps as if the joyful energy builds up and has to be let out somehow. 

He has a tender heart. He is sensitive to peoples' emotions, especially mine, and he piles on the charm if anyone is crying. 

He can read. Like 150 words. I lost count a long time ago. He reads my texts over my shoulder. 

He loves to make his sister laugh. But I think I'm his favorite person to make laugh.

Today he climbed all over the hill in the back yard picking up trash for me that blows into our yard when it storms. The yard doesn't seem big or treacherous until I see his little 3 yr old body hiking through it. He fell down or got stuck several times and hollered out to me. But he didn't want help. He got really stuck once and couldn't find a way back down the hill to me. And he sounded panicked. I asked him if he wanted me to come get him, or if he wanted to figure it out by himself. 

He said he wanted to figure it out by himself. 

He did not get this trait from me. 

As a mom, my instinct is to jump in and help or take over. And I still do sometimes (because he's 3), but I try to hold back as much as I can. And I'm equally proud that my little boy is growing up and equally sad that my little boy is growing up. 

And he wants to do it himself, but he wants to know that I'm there. 

Babies On The Hiking Trail

A boy and his (my) walking sticks

Hiking with little children has been a bit of a different experience. We still are terrible at estimating the time it will take us, despite our best efforts to plan ahead. We set out to hike Warwoman Dell and part of the Bartram Trail, and didn't make it to lunch until 3pm. But we had a lot of fun.

All bundled up and ready to hike

We parked near Warwoman Dell and hike 1/4 mile to see one waterfall. Then got back in the car and parked past a giant mud hole (so we wouldn't get stuck in it later in case it rained) that made us grateful for our four wheel drive.

First waterfall/uncooperative 3-yr-old

Snug as a bug and ready to hike

The Hubs had gone hiking with Little Man here before and got lost looking for a waterfall. We didn't find it this time either. But we did see this one...

Not the one we were looking for

We ran into some people hiking from the opposite direction and they couldn't find the elusive waterfall either.

Same waterfall, slightly different picture

After checking the time, we turned around and headed back to the car. All of the shedding of the wintery layers as the day warmed up and all the stops for trail mix slowed us down much more than we realized. And then a very patient baby couldn't wait any longer.

Nursing on a log. A momma's gotta do what a momma's gotta do

Same waterfall on the way back. Waiting for the boys to catch up

Carrying Little Man over some mud

Happy as a clam

We made it to lunch in Clayton around 3pm. It was a great day!

Lucy Laughs and Matthan Sorts Silverware (7QTs)

It's Friday! Which means it's time for 7 quick takes!

~ 1 ~

Grandma and Grandpa came to visit this past weekend. Matthan was so excited. He got to ride in their car and they gave him pretzels....and that makes me think we deprive him of any pleasure around here...nah. 

"Grandma, I have them wrapped around my baby finger."

~ 2 ~

You want to see five variations of the same picture? Of course you do. About 5% of the time Matthan wants to hold Lucy, or talk and drive his cars over her tummy...the rest of the time he tolerates her.

Included because this is a very classic Matthan face.

Not the best of the boys but I love Lucy's face

Probably the best of the bunch

Lucy sticking her tongue out

He looks like he likes her

~ 3 ~

Lucy is over two months now. We took some pictures, but that requires me to get them off the camera and I'm lazy, so maybe next time.

~ 4 ~

Matthan gets a kick out of sorting the silverware. He also cleans the table and spins the salad in the salad spinner. My little helper.

~ 5 ~

We always pass these, (I don't know what you call them, cars you put money in and they move I guess) on our way into the mall and I always say no when Matthan asks to play on them (because we're usually on our way to doing something not because I'm mean). This day I finally said yes and he was so excited! Note that I didn't actually put money in any of them, he just had a blast climbing in and out. Maybe one day I'll remember to bring cash and I'll really rock his world.

~ 6 ~

I don't think he has enough cars...that's not even all of them.

His favorite past time

~ 7 ~

And in case you haven't had your dose of adorable for the day...

Happy Friday!

Now go see Kelly for more 7QTs blog posts.