Keepin' It Real Wednesday

The weather is a breezy 80 degrees. The tree-lined park is full of laughing children splashing in the fountain. In this picture-perfect summertime moment, the boys have just finished a snow cone, and are now standing in line at the carousel.

And how does Colin feel about all of this?

To be fair, Gabe did just whack him. And to be fair to Gabe, Colin had been yanking his carousel ticket away over and over again.

Please tell me I am not the only one whose kids seem to get a little on edge when we are doing something extra fun or special.

I think the look on Chad's face is priceless. "You gettin' all this sweetheart?"

Keepin' It Real Wednesday

The kids and I took a spur-of-the-moment trip to the garden last week. It was raining lightly off and on, and I didn't know how long we would be able to stay, but all four of us desperately needed some time outside. Okay, I desperately needed some peaceful time outside.

I found that the sweetly soaked flowers were exactly what I needed to soothe my soul. The kids know the garden well enough to run up and down the rows while I quietly and slowly meander. With Oliver in my arms, I admired the vibrant colors brought out by the cloudy sky. My camera stayed on constantly because couldn't stop myself from taking picture after picture.

I was soon in my entraptured, "Anne" state, lost to the troubles of the world and given over to the lush and generous glories of the world. Red, purple, pink, green, all illuminated by pearly raindrops. My soul soared and my shoulders relaxed.

As I stood trying to capture the perfect image of this trumpet vine crawling off a pergola, with ants busily scrambling over it, Oliver strained to get out of my arms to the wet floor. I decided he could sit on the floor for the duration of a few shots...

And three shots was all it took to look down and find this..

Oliver snacking on freshly planted vegetation, like it was a crunchy celery stick.

It was a quick and efficient way to be snapped back into reality. You are not Anne of Green Gables, Katie Lynn. You are not on Prince Edward Island. You have three kids who need to be fed and you have a very dirty house waiting for you at home.

I scooped my baby up, brushed him off, tried to replant his snack, and told a gardener on him. She just laughed, and a little bit of that gloriousness was able to cling to my heart the rest of the day.

Well....

I didn't quite meet my goal of 22 posts by the 22nd.

Oh wait, I just did :o)

We are off to Spokane early early tomorrow morning. Wish me luck flying with three kids! I have some posts planned for the time that I am away, so still come back and visit.

Music at the Pond

We went to Music at the Pond last Friday. We brought sodas and pop ice to keep the kids happy, and Ollie kept quite busy trying to get grab everyone's drinks when they put them down. That kids never gives up!

It was great fun! Looking at last year's pictures, I can't believe how much the boys have grown up! And hurray for no drought and green grass this year!

To The Father of My Children

I had a post all planned out in my head about you. As you know though, it has been a busy nonstop weekend. So busy that you made 3 dozen cookies for church (your own Father's Day cookies) as a surprise for me while I was out shopping for you yesterday. You knew it was on my to-do list. Then you washed the dishes today and did about 5 loads of laundry so that we could pack for our trip. What a special day for you! (sigh)

That's the way you are, and it is one of a million things that make you wonderful.

I took this picture of you the other day and it made me laugh. At first it looks like you are ignoring the kids to text or something, but you and I know you have never sent a text message in your life.

What you are doing is trying to figure out the camera on your new phone so that you can snap some pictures of our adorable kids.

I also like it because your arms look hot.

Super Dad. Super Husband.

I love you.

Happy Father's Day Dad!

For your present this year, I went over to your house and got your throne all ready for you!

Love you!

Hurray for Chick-Fil-A

You gotta hand it to Chick-fil-A for being closed on Sundays and showing that you can still be successful while keeping the sabbath day holy! What is really great about this is that unlike most places, they gave away their Father's Day freebie today instead of on Father's Day, which means we actually got to enjoy it!

Today they gave away a free milkshake to all dads who came in. It wasn't crowded at all when we went, and Chad got the "limited time only" peach shake because he has never tried it. His verdict? Very peachy, good for a peach shake, but he wished he had gotten the cookies and cream one instead. I enjoy fruit with ice cream more than he does, but I had to agree with him.

Thanks Chick-fil-A. Just one of the many reasons we love you!

One Happy Boy

Keepin' It Real Wednesday

Underneath my couch, out of the reach of Chad and the Roomba.

Sun-kissed

While I am very diligent about putting sunscreen on my kids, I have to admit that I am secretly happy when Gabe's freckles creep through anyway.

Ollie I love you, Ollie I do....

...mostly because you are sleeping right now!

( This was Ollie today when I put him down to take the picture of Colin with the popsicle.)

Wrestling with a pig

Colin: Mom, this is an orange popsicle.

Mom: Really? 'Cause it looks yellow to me.

Colin: No, really. It really is orange because on the popsicle box there is an orange. So there has to be an orange one.

Mom: Look at it. It isn't orange, and it tastes like pineapple.

Gabe (with all the indignance that a 3 year old can muster): It's yellow Colin! It's NOT orange.

Colin(still cocky): No really, it's orange! There is an orange on the box!

Mom: I think they just throw a bunch of fruit pictures on the box.

Gabe(now quite offended): It's not orange Colin!

Mom: Let's take a vote. Who thinks it isn't orange?

(Gabe, Mom, and Colin all raise their hands.)

Mom: I said "isn't orange." Why did you raise your hand, Colin?

Colin: I know it isn't orange. I was tricking you. Gotcha!

Breathe Katie, Breathe

Mom, are you out there?

How could you leave the room without me?

Ahhh, you came back!

As soon as Oliver got over the novelty of being very mobile, it's like he suddenly realized that he and I are two separate people and he was hit hard with separation anxiety. Nine months old for him has meant that his jolly personality has been edged out a bit by a clingier, much fussier side. I'm not talking about when I leave him with other people - that isn't really the problem - Sabina is very patient and he keeps busy exploring their house. It's more that when we are at home he wants to be touching me or in my arms quite often when I am making dinner, putting away the dishes, reading to Gabe......which wasn't the case a month ago. A month ago he was pushing himself out of my arms to go exploring. Sometimes I will turn the corner to change the laundry and hear him crawl around looking for me briefly and then start fussing when he can't see me.

Though I am almost always the one putting him to sleep, Chad does on occasion. He usually cries for awhile, but Chad can usually get him to sleep. The other night though, I awoke with a horrible horrible headache. Oliver just wanted me to hold him and nurse him, but every movement and sound that he made had me writhing in pain. I had to have Chad take him, and Ollie just refused to go to sleep. I could hear Chad showing him all the patience in the world, but he wasn't having it. It was the middle of the night, and I was vomiting from the pain, and he was just screaming away downstairs. Chad took him out and drove him around for 45 minutes. He fell asleep three times in the car and then woke back up. It was a bad night for the three of us.

I really think I understand what he is going through - his world has gotten much so much wider lately - and I know that it is a phase he will get through. It is frustrating though, and while I find that I have all the patience in the world with a newborn, it is a little harder with a nine month old that used to be so joyful. All babies go through periods like this - I guess I just haven't experienced when I have two other kids to care for as well.

So today, I concentrated really hard on just trying to enjoy him. He is still adorable and charming, and full of love and smiles for his family. Just because he isn't easy right now doesn't mean I should forget all of that. My house will just have to be dirty for awhile.

(For some reason blogger wouldn't let me do spaces today. I give up. Please forgive me.)

Oh, what do you do in the summertime?

So far our summer has included the following activities:

A walk every morning to the pond and back. I push the two little ones in the jogging stoller and Colin rides his bike. Once we get there Colin reads some Chinese books aloud to me and I read to Gabe. It is the first thing we do after breakfast is over.

A trip to Ikea. Gabe has been wanting to go ever since we were supposed to go with my mom and didn't get a chance, so I thought now would be good time, since Colin could go too. Every other mom in Charlotte must have had the same idea as me, because it was SO crowded the kids had to wait for their turn in the play area.

Lots of trips to Blockbuster. As a congratulations for a great report card, we got Colin a week of Wii rentals. He can have two games out at once, and Chad has taken his almost every day to trade them in for new ones. It lasts until Tuesday night and Colin is already whining that it is going to end.

A trip to the library to sign up for their summer reading program.

A couple of McDonald's visits.

Chad took Colin and Gabe to see "Up" yesterday. Chad said Gabe was laughing so hard that he almost had to tell him to shush. They all loved it.

A SYTYCD party at my house last Thursday.

Wow. It really looks like a lot considering school just got out last Wednesday! I have already warned Colin that last week was extra fun but this week we go back to normal life - I actually have to get things done around here. This is what we will be doing for the rest of the summer though:

Lots of trips to the pool

Lots of playing in the little pool on the patio.

Lots of water balloons.

A walk to the pond every morning. I really want to keep this up.

Gardening.

Lots of playing with the neighborhood gang.

Free movies every Tuesday.

Music by the Pond.

A trip to Spokane the last week in June and first week in July so that Oliver can meet his grandparents! We are all so excited! Have I ever mentioned how much I love Spokane?

Hanging out with my parents when we get back, and helping them get settled.

A visit from my sister Ashley and her family. We get to meet little Isaac.

It is going to be a great summer! What are you up to?

We've been there!

Know how we got a season pass for the Riverbanks Zoo? Well, here are some pictures from our trip there last month, and here is a exciting news story about the zoo (and one of the gorillas above). It was the talk of the Coleman household this morning after the boys went out for donuts and a newspaper.