Green Thumb

I was going to stick to herbs on the deck and add in a few containers with veggies this year, but my plans changed drastically. I then had the idea to build raised garden beds, but it was a late thought and I figured I would wish for them next year. Well, my wonderful husband wasn't going to make me wait a year and away he went on building them. They were a Mother's Day gift, but since it was so cold the week prior and after we waited to plant and then I forgot to take a picture to post. So we are currently attempting to garden. I am sure we will be successful with some veggies and fail on others, but the kids loved helping and we are having a good time with it.Proof we will at least get 1 tomato. Currently it is the $50 tomato.

Cavities

I noticed that Mason had found a new interest in one of his pop up books. It seemed to be on the same picture when I walked into his room and I noticed that he had tearing at the teeth of the book. He usually doesn't tear pages in a book and when I asked him what he was doing he told me that he was a dentist and the dinosaur had cavities. He said he was like Dr. Bryan and fixing them. Dr. Bryan is our dentist and Mason and Ellery had check-ups a few weeks ago and Dr. Bryan told them how proud he was of them because he couldn't find any cavities. Which brought on the discussion of what are cavities. Mason is really interested in germs and cavities these days. He has really taken a liking to playing Dr. with Ellery. I'll have to take a video or snap a picture of it. They pull the recliner back and climb into the chair and take each others blood pressure, temperature, listen to heartbeats, and then you get a shot and a pretend band aid.

Sprinklers

Rob turned the sprinklers for the yard a few days ago after our walk and let them cycle through to make sure they were all working. The kids watched for a bit and then got curious. We took an early morning walk so they were still in pj's, but that didn't stop them. They loved playing in the water.
Since they loved playing in the water so much I headed out and bought a sprinkler for the yard. They didn't enjoy it at full force, but once I turned it down they enjoyed sticking heads under the water, drinking it, and occasionally running through it.

Big Girl

We have a big girl on our hands. We gave up sippy cups a few months ago and have been fairly successful in drinking out of a cup. We used to put her back in a sippy if she spilled, blew bubbles, or put food in her cup, and we were doing that regularly but then she figured out she'd rather have a big girl cup like her brother. We haven't had to use a sippy in a few weeks due to spillage.
We also have started transitioning her into her new room with a big girl bed. I might have to break down and buy her girlie sheets and comforter rather than make her use Mason's hand me down space ones. She doesn't seem to mind, but she does favor girl colors over blue. We tried last week and she failed miserably so we put her in the twin bed last night and she was happy for a bit. She then started coming to the door, we baby gate her into the new room, and we told her if she came to the door one more time she would have to go into the pack and play we set up in her room. She failed and ended up in the pack and play, but she is currently upstairs taking a nap in her big girl twin bed and she hasn't came to the door. She isn't that big to begin with, but looks so small and dainty in her big girl bed.
We also put big girl undies on today per her request. Poor Mason couldn't go 15 min without having to relieve himself where Ellery can go 1 hour plus before she gets the urge. We filled up on fluids and popcorn today and she is proud as she can be to be in underwear. We only had one accident and that was when we were outside playing and she did #2 in her pants as well as #1, but she came and told me asap because she didn't like the feeling. Mason tried telling her it was ok to poop on the potty, he stated "you just have to push a little harder". He also told her not to be scared. I still think she is a little young, but she is expressing the interest so I am not going to tell her no.
Thank goodness I have another child on the way. It is tears of happiness that she is growing up, but I don't know if you can ever prepare for it emotionally.

Is it bad

Is it bad when I send my kids upstairs to wake up Rob and eat a cinnamon roll. The reason I eat it then is that I don't have to share it. If I eat it after they have had their breakfast and are out playing they both have little sensors that know when I sit down to eat and both come running to see if it is worthy of opening their mouths and being fed like little baby birds.

How to Stall Going To Bed

How to Stall Going To Bed by Mason Chaplin
1. I need another Hug and Kiss
2. No one tucked me in
3. I need a band aid
4. I need to go to the bathroom
5. I need my nails clipped
6. I can't find my flashlight
7. I need my cars shoes (house slippers)
8. I need one more book read to me
9. I need help putting on my socks
10. Etc Etc Etc
It is pretty standard he will come out for another hug and kiss, but he has started coming up with some interesting ways to stall going to bed.

Baby Names

We have started throwing around baby names and getting a bit more biased towards names. If you ask Mason what we should name the baby he will tell you Charlie. It actually is a gender neutral name these days so we should start calling this baby Charlie for giggles.
Top Contenders are as follows:
Boys: Grady, Isaac, Quinn, Landon I really like Logan, but it has become very popular so I think it is off the list.
Girls: Brynlee or Brielle
Rob would like to think we are considering Tiernan, but it is defiantly not an option in my mind, he is having a hard time accepting my veto. I had bunco at the house this past week and I videoed the groups response to the name Tiernan and I rest my case. I did not sway them or share the name before the camera was on.

Proof Mason Grew

I have some documented proof on how much Mason grew over the school year. Last Friday I received a call from Mason's teacher letting me know Mason had an accident. It was his first accident ever at school, I guess he finally got a turn in the lego area and wasn't going to give it up to go to the bathroom anytime soon, when he finally realized he didn't have a choice any longer and had to go he couldn't get his pants down fast enough. Opps. Mrs. Ziemba had requested we leave a change of clothes in their backpacks and in the fall when it got cold she reminded us to change the shorts out for pants. I followed those rules, but never looked at what I left inside last fall. That was back when he was wearing 3T pants and now he wears 5T pants. Mrs. Ziemba called only to let me know to bring another pair of pants if we had some place to go after school because Mason was wearing capri's. He also wasn't very thrilled to be wearing capri's and taking a picture in them.

Sunday Afternoon

Well, I can ask you to guess how I spent my Sunday afternoon and I am pretty confident no one would have guessed what we did. It is something I'd prefer to never do again. I was sitting in church this morning and noticed something different with my right eye. The eye I had cataract surgery on. It was as if someone was casting a net across my eye or like turning the page of a book. I didn't lose any vision, but it got blurry for a second. This is what one would call a floater and noticing floaters in your eye after cataract surgery calls for paging your eye specialist even if it is a Sunday. After an extensive eye exam of dilating my eye and shining the brightest light on earth into my eye for a lengthy period of time, it was confirmed that I indeed have floaters. Floaters are tiny clumps of gel or cells inside the vitreous, the clear gel-like fluid that fills the inside of your eye. What can cause these floaters is the vitreous gel pulls away from the back wall of the eye causing me to have a posterior vitreous detachment. It is alarming to see new floaters in my eye and I was informed when I had the surgery that this was a potential complication, but their was nothing we could due about it due to the fact that I needed to have the cataract surgery. The retina can tear when the vitreous gel pulls away from the eye and a torn retina is always a serious problem, since it can lead to retinal detachment. The Dr. on call this weekend was very nice and said I get to have another encounter with him in an hour at the downtown office to laser the retinal tear. All I could think of was the movie where the lady screams "Bring in the Laser". I think it might be from an Austin Powers movie? So this Sunday afternoon I got to experience laser eye surgery and it isn't an experience I'd ever with to repeat. I got 116 laser zaps which is low compared to some that have a more extensive tear and get up to 1000 zaps. Say your prayers for me, please. I am off to bed. Rob deserves a big round of applause for supporting me and then taking care of our children all afternoon and evening when we had family fun planned together.

Last Day of 3 Year Old Pre School

BeforeAfter

Amazing how much one can grow in a school year. Today was Mason's last day of three year old pre school. I am impressed by how much he has learned and grown through the year. He is going to miss his friends this summer,but we are happy that he had a great experience.

Mrs. Ziemba

Today is Mason's last day of school and he had a great time spending the year with Mrs. Ziemba. She is a wonderful teacher and patient with the kids. Mason couldn't have asked for a better first time school experience. If Ellery could go to school next year she would. Every day she would run into Mason's class room and give Mrs. Ziemba a hug. She recently discovered the water fountain in Mason's class room so we can't decide which she was more thrilled to do. Give Mrs. Ziemba a hug or drink water from the fountain or if we were still in WI we would say bubbler. Thank you Mrs. Ziemba for all that you do and the lives you touch!

Socks

For some crazy reason Mason loves wearing his character socks. He loves wearing them so much he can't decide which pair he wants to wear so he wears them all. He came down from his nap today wearing four pairs of sock. Each one on top of the other. When asked why he tells us "because he wanted to".

Super Powers

Mason and Ellery have really been into wearing the capes Nana made for them. Ellery was wearing hers more and Mason followed suite and then added animal masks to make them super hero's. When the capes are on and the masks are down I am not allowed to call Mason by his name, he informs me that he isn't Mason he is a super hero. I think it might be time to let him watch the movie The Incredibles. Below he informed me he was still a super hero even with his mask pulled up. I tried to explain to him that a super hero never reveals their true identity, but I wasn't able to get the message across. I think they pull their masks up to see better as they are flying around the house.

Yummy

After Sat. am soccer we have been stopping by the store and hitting the donut shop next door before we shop. They both really enjoy them, but if someone could hit her mouth more than her face she might enjoy it even more?

Soccer Fun

Mason is playing soccer every Sat. morning. They start off with working on drills and then end with 3 on 3 scrimmaging. Each team starts standing in front of their goal and then it is a free for all. Half the time they score in their own goal, but they still have a good time. Mason is still working on the concept of the game. I told him that he needed to put his ball in the other goal and he literally went to go find his specific soccer ball to put in the goal. I had to laugh then stop him and explain that the ball on the field is his teams ball and it needs to go in the goal. I am not sure he is with me, but he seems to be having a good time and improving each week.

The spectator.

A Mom's Worry

Mom's will obsess over the craziest things and I have been obsessing over Ellery's speech. One knows you shouldn't compare children, but I am guilty. Mason was slow to talk and he is fine and I realize this, but Ellery is even slower. At two she was hard to understand, but then she started trying to say more words and it looked like she was going to take off, but then she stopped excelling. I then started to think I should take her to a speech therapist blah blah blah. Poor Rob had to console me and keep reminding me she is right on track. She grasps concepts and will mimic, but getting the words out for someone other than me to understand was a challenge. Why did I worry so much because clearly she is starting to talk and say more and more and others can understand her. Of course my favorite is hearing her say Mandi, I think it is adorable.

Cold in May

I had to break down and turn the heat on. Let me remind you it is MAY! We also have been wearing long sleeve shirts and jackets. And,we have been getting a lot of rain as well yet in between storms and showers we head outside to play. Ellery will be playing with us outside and then all the sudden disappears and then reappear from inside with a blanket wrapped around herself as she tells me she is cold and shivers her body. Despite the cold the kids love playing in it.

Siblings

I wish every moment with these two always looked like this, but I have decided this is what I am going to picture from now on. For the most part they do great together, but they already know how to push each others buttons. To this day I still know how to bush my brothers buttons, but it took him 30+ years to learn how to not let it bother him so much. If he would have learned it 30 years ago I probably would have stopped because since he has learned to control himself, I realized it wasn't that much fun pushing his buttons.

Happy Mothers Day

Hope you had a wonderful Mother's Day like I did. Rob and the kids got me a wonderful anti-gravity chair to sit on outside, but the weather is in the 50's. So with it being cold, wet, and rainy we set it up inside to enjoy, but for some reason I have to take turns and my turn isn't as long as others? Hmmmmm It also was a surprise, Rob didn't let Mason in on my present for Mother's Day since he slipped up on my birthday.

Mothers Day Tea Card

Mason made me a card and key chain at school. I love how he colors things multi-color. I was touched that he picked me out a green heart because green is my favorite color, but I did notice he accented it with a few blue buttons. I think it is sweet that he notices how Rob loves me too. We are still working on writing an "s", but at least it is starting to look more like an s even if it is backwards.

Mothers Day Tea

Mason's pre school had a Mothers Day Tea for us today and they really did have tea. He was thrilled when I walked into his class which is a real treat for me because I don't come home from work etc for him to get thrilled over seeing me. He sang a song and recited a poem along with his 9 other classmates. It was adorable and he could have been talking about global warming in it, I didn't linger on the words, but the actions. His blowing kisses might be delayed, but they were precious.

Happy Birthday Seth

It is official, Rob and I have proof we are great at something. Rob's nephew and his wife had a baby boy at 2am on May 2nd. Seth weighed 7lbs and 20 inches long. Grandma Laurie and Grandpa Tom are proud first time grand parents and that makes Rob and I Great Uncles and Aunts!

On the Road Again

We headed up to Sioux Falls for a follow up eye appt and to visit Tom and Laurie. The kids packed themselves into their car seats with all sorts of blankies and animals. They actually napped and held onto most of it. I think they would have brought more if I didn't cut them off. We had a wonderful time visiting with everyone and Cody even came up from the farm to golf with Rob and Tom. It is really nice only being 3 hours away.
We thought we would get to meet baby Seth who was due on the 23rd, but has still not arrived. We hoped he would arrive while we were visiting, but no such luck.
My eyes checked out great. I can see 20/20 with both eyes and my right eye looks good and might need some tweaking in the future, but it is still in the healing process. We get to go back in two months and then we should be able to see where my eyesight will finally settle at.