Kinda like when a puppy stretches way out. 🙂
Happy Father’s Day
Our kids are so very very lucky to have you as their dad! You’re amazing!
And of course, to my own dad, who I love more than anything…except I blame his rule on not becoming a grandpa before he was 50 on scaring me so badly he didn’t get grandkids until he was 60! 🙂
And to my stepdad, David, who has a heart of gold and is a great addition to our family! And I just realized I don’t have a pic of just the two of us!
Monkey Head
We left Katie’s closet open during her nap, so she woke up wanting the monkey hat from her Halloween costume: “Monkey! Monkey!” I didn’t get a decent picture until almost bedtime. 🙂
Owen’s first party without mom and dad!
So awhile back we got an invite to a birthday party from a kid NOT in Owen’s class. I asked Owen and turns out he’s in a pre-K class in the building next door and sometimes they play together. It was actually the weekend of our garage sale so I RSVPed no, and the mom sent back this:
Okay. Thanks for letting us know. Kenrick really enjoys playing with Owen. Kenrick always tells me how nice your son is to him. Have a good day.
Awwww, sweet, right? Then later, I got this:
Kenrick really wants him to be there, would you like to drop him off at the party? And I don’t mind picking up your son and bringing him back to your home. I will make sure he will be safe and have a good time. I sound pushy but my son really enjoys Owen’s company. It will make him very happy.
We weren’t sure what we were going to do but man did that make us feel good. I mean, we know Owen is a nice kid, but to hear such gushing comments from another mom that hasn’t even met him? Ahhhh. So I talked to Owen’s teacher to see if I could get any scoop (like if the whole class was invited) and she just got the scoop that the parents were indeed nice and she’d trust Owen to go. Cool. So we RSVPd yes.
But, of course, remember that Owen has been a little more attached to us lately and always wants to know where we are when he’s awake…so we weren’t quite sure what might actually happen. So we talked to him about it, explaining how daddy would drop him off and then Kenrick’s mom would bring him home, and if he needed us for anything, we’d come get him immediately. He seemed okay with it, but then out of the blue would ask things like “What if I get hurt?” (we told him she’s a mommy and would know how to help him and she would call us to come get him) and “Do they have a bathroom?” (we assured him they would). And he asked us a few times if we were going to be there (we said no). I did call her and talk to her to warn her of all this and she was cool.
So, fast forward to the party and Owen was very excited. They had said we could bring him early (because the birthday boy wanted to show Owen his dinosaur collection) so we did…and Tom said he didn’t even look back after they got there! About the time he should have been coming home, I got a phone call from the mom asking if it was okay to take Owen to the pool with them because the boys were having such a great time! We said sure! (He didn’t have a suit with him, so just went in his shorts.) She finally brought him home about 3:00! So he was gone for like five hours! And didn’t have one issue! And the mom said he was just THE most polite boy and so well-behaved. Yay Owen!
It’s garage sale time again! Yippee.
I know, I know…every time we have one I say I’ll never have another…but I can’t stand the thought of losing out on some cash so we inevitably have another when it’s time to move.
It didn’t seem like quite as much work this time, though—maybe because we’d already pre-sorted lots of stuff while getting the house ready to list. It was still work getting it priced and set up, of course—and things got hot and sweaty more than once—but it just felt like less work overall. (It also helped that a mommy friend came over to help me get started—I had just been STUCK.)
We had advertised the hours as 7a-2p with NO early birds, so of course the first people showed up about 6:15.
Tom: Sorry, we don’t open until 7.
Earlybird: Can I just look around?
Tom: Sorry, we’re not selling anything until 7.
Earlybird: But I have to be to work at 7!
Tom: Sorry.
Guess who then said they’d be back at 7? 🙄 I think we turned away three people. We gave up at 6:50 because the street was full.
The haggling wasn’t TOO bad—I actually expected it to be worse—except someone wanted a discount on the very first item that I knew would go quick. Nope, sorry. (It sold full price about 30 seconds later.) And the people who would hold out an item to you asking how much it is when the price tag is right in plain sight. Or the people who just hand you money trying to shield the tag just hoping you’ll take the money. Or the people who asked for a bag for stuff they were carrying, then tried to bury other little stuff underneath. Or the lady who asked “How much for the whole bin of clothes?” And I said “Well let’s count them and then I’ll give you a deal. I can’t give you a fair price otherwise.” And she refused and said she just wanted a price. So I said $30 (there was probably 50 pieces in there and they were $1 each). She looked at me like I was crazy. Oh well. I don’t have time to deal with stupid crap like that. And I know it doesn’t make sense, but I’d rather donate it then take the pittance I’m sure she wanted to pay—which she never even offered anything! Frustrating.
The only other bad thing was the weather sucked. It was humid from the get go, but at least it was overcast. But about 10 or so the clouds disappeared and it was hot. as. hell. You could stand in the garage to get out of the sun, but then there was no air movement. If you stood outside to hopefully catch a breeze, you were in the blazing sun.
And as usual, some of the things that sold/didn’t sell just baffle me. An old swimsuit of mine that I put out on a lark sold…but a ton of kids’ toys didn’t. A St. Augustine koozie sold…but a Little Tikes slide didn’t.
Even though we said we’d go until 2, it was dead at 12:30 so about 1 we started packing up boxes to take to the donation center and we were all done by 2! The back of my car was FULL with about four huge boxes and a huge lawn waste garbage bag of kid clothes. There was even stuff in Owen’s car seat! I think that was worth at least six days of #40bagsin40days. 🙂
Just a little small.
I got out Owen’s old bike helmet to see if it fit Katie. It did, but then Owen wanted to wear it. He left it on for a good 20 minutes while he played.
She hides with the iPad.
Class Pizza Party
The last day of school meant a pizza party! And chips and pretzels and cookies and fruit and veggies and cupcakes!
We got to take his name home. 🙂
It was bittersweet leaving…I LOVE(D) Miss Ashley and really hated to have to leave. She is someone I could really see being friends with afterwards…which we likely would be, except we’re moving.
Katie really loves shoes
She dug through the washing machine to find the Crocs I’d thrown in there to wash.
“Mama! I did it!”
Spirit Week: School Colors + Last Day of School
First Day & Last Day—how can he look SO much older?
40 Bags in 40 Days—Day 25
A friend came to help me get jumpstarted on the garage sale prep and she picked out a bunch of stuff and took a bunch of other stuff I was getting rid of…so I’m counting it as bags for the challenge! It probably equated to two days worth, but I’m only using one. 🙂
Spirit Week: Sports Shirt Day
Of course he had to wear his MSU jersey!
Peaceful Sleeping Girl
Owen picked Mexican!
When Tom came home, Owen said he wanted to go out to eat! Since it was HOT and I didn’t have anything planned AND we needed to run to Home Depot and/or Lowes, we said okay and asked where he wanted to go.
His immediate response was the place with the TV, which means the sushi place. He says “I loooooove sushi. I will eat it again.” While that sounded great, we knew he likely wouldn’t actually eat it (though he would try another piece) so we asked if he maybe wanted Mexican for Taco Wednesday. Oh yes, he liked that idea, too. So he thought a minute then picked Mexican.
I thought he’d actually get a quesadilla because he has had one before and really liked it and has talked about wanting to try one again…but he decided on a taco. I forgot to request no lettuce, so I had to pick that off. And he wasn’t thrilled with the white cheese, but he ate it. And he even tried a bite of my rice and said it was pretty good so I put some on his plate—he only ate about two bites, but I was still impressed!
That said, he wasn’t overly thrilled with the taco, because I’m sure the meat was seasoned way more than he was used to (at home, it’s just plain ground beef). But he ate most of it. But was also eying Katie’s remaining PB&J crusts…which he eagerly finished.
So overall, a win.
Best Buddies
No shyness today so he easily posed with Braxton! Just before I snapped this, Braxton ran over to Owen saying “Wait! I haven’t given him his hug yet!” 🙂
Yes, they’re about the same age—Owen is about four months older.
Hiding in the laundry room
Listen closely for a) the laughing and b) the moving hanger. 🙂
Spirit Week: Inside Out & Backwards Day
Owen got the BIGGEST kick out of wearing his clothes backwards!
This is what happens lots of mornings.
Annoyed & Happy
Guess which is which. 🙂
Owen graduated from Level 3!
We initially started Owen with Level 2 (roughly for age 2) on ABCMouse just to get him used to it and using the laptop, etc. After about 25% of the lesson, we jumped him ahead to Level 3 and even though he was technically smarter than that, we just let him go because he was having fun. Well, today, he graduated from Level 3! How appropriate!
Owen’s Pre-K Graduation—what an experience!
We were there early to make sure we got good seats. Unfortunately, we had no idea where Owen would be sitting, so we just picked seats in the front row.
Katie did pretty good, considering we had to wait about 35 minutes. We kept her occupied with my phone. 🙂
Then it was finally time for the graduates to enter. And surprise! Owen was the Line Leader (something which he LOVES and always begs to do)…except he apparently got a HUGE case of stage fright as they came into the room and he kept his face buried in his hands, rubbing his eyes, and was almost crying…and would not have made it down the aisle if Miss Ashley hadn’t grabbed hs hand and guided him to the seats. I couldn’t even get a picture of him until he was past me. Poor kid.
Trying to talk to Owen to make him feel better.
Nope, still upset. And here you can see I had just about the worst possible seat in the entire room to try and get a picture of him (which you’ll see better in the videos).
This was Owen pretty much the whole time everyone was singing or otherwise participating.
There were a few slightly more normal moments.
“Days of the Week” (no participation)
“Pete the Cat” (the song he sang outside the other day)—a partial, because he wasn’t participating at all.
This was “The World is a Rainbow” which I didn’t even try to record because by that point, there was no hope of Owen participating.
When I looked back up, they had finally pulled him to the side so he could sit by himself but I motioned him over to us. He didn’t want to sit on my lap, but instead just kind of layed in my lap and let me hug him. Katie reached out to touch his arm and say “It’s okay, Owie.” /sniff
Then I tried to get a picture of him in my lap and he was all smiles once he saw himself in the camera…
But he even refused to go up and get his diploma so Miss Ashley had to come hand it to him.
As soon as it was over and he realized he had to wait in the room while we left, he was upset again. We all filed outside to wait for the graduates to exit and walk down the sidewalk. Katie was happy to be let free.
Everyone else coming out of the doors was happy and running…and then there was Owen.
Being comforted by his sister. 🙂
I wanted a picture of Owen and Braxton—but even THAT very normal act couldn’t break through his funk.
Braxton really tried—even talking to him. I thought this was so cute…it looks like he’s giving him a pep talk!
At least we got a decent family pic snapped by the TA Miss Sam. 🙂
And then after he had a snack, he was back to his normal self and very willingly took a picture with Miss Ashley.
And in the packet we took home, we had this picture, obviously taken BEFORE the ceremony started. Our graduate. 🙂
Katie is 23 months old today!
She got a bath and a cute dress this morning to look nice for Owen’s graduation…but her hair was still wet and the light wasn’t quite right. Oh well, they can’t all be perfect. 🙂
Spirit Week: Graduation Day
Technically it was Hawaiian Day, but different Pre-K classes graduate each day, and today was Owen’s class. So, he had to be “handsome” (and the girls had to be “pretty”), he made sure daddy washed ALL the orange out of his hair last night, and he picked out one of his favorite shirts. 🙂
Spirit Week: Crazy Hair & PJ Day
The last week of school is Spirit Week. Owen wanted to wear his Dusty (from Planes) PJs and I happened to have orange hair gel…which he wanted to put in himself!
I helped a bit to get it to stick up.
He loved it!
And real camera pictures outside with better lighting!
Owen gives us a preview of his graduation ceremony
He started singing so I made him wait until I was recording. It’s a riot.
Here’s the second song, except as you’ll see, it’s maybe 97% prep and 3% song.
I can’t WAIT to see it for real Tuesday. 🙂
Post-nap sleeping and helping
After her nap, Owen threw the big bear in her crib and she was pretending to sleep on it.
Surprise! I’m awake!
Helping me take the decals off her wall.
Owen’s first ice cream truck!
The ice cream truck comes around pretty frequently but we’ve never stopped him because it’s too expensive, we usually have ice cream in the house already, and we’re rarely outside when he comes by. And Owen knows what it is but has never wanted it. But Tom came in the house today telling me he heard it coming and he wanted to go out with Owen—at least once before we moved. Okay, sure, no problem. (Katie was napping.)
So out we went to wait. He wasn’t quite sure what he was waiting for—he knew it was a surprise but couldn’t hear the music yet.
After he heard the music!
It’s on our street!
Perusing the menu!
Success!
Happy boy and daddy—with $5 in ice cream. 🙂
Summer? No thank you.
Outside time
Upset Owen wouldn’t drive her around:
“Help!”
Finally going down the slide by herself!
Skyping with Grandma Marsha and Uncle Rob:
Pretending to sleep.
A snippet of a typical Skype session:
Coffee Clutch
Daddy and the kids have coffee clutch on the weekends while I hopefully get to sleep in. This is what it looks like.
