May 2013 – Our Family Adventure

Memorial Day 2013

I’m sitting on the couch watching a silly TV show, updating my blog and enjoying a moment of quiet. Somehow good fortune is with us and both kids are taking naps simultaneously… I have no idea how that worked out. We have had a very busy holiday weekend and I’m tired. lol.

On Saturday we were all up early and headed to Brooklyn for a farm clean up day. My grandma Flo is up from Florida, most likely for good, and was so happy to see the kiddos. Ajax walked in and gave her the biggest hug. When we got there, my folks were finished up breakfast, so of course we sat down for second breakfast. Noomi devoured an egg, toast, and a large piece of bacon for her second breakfast. She has turned into quite the awesome eater. We then all headed outside to get some work done. Ajax took his jobs seriously – he did tractor work, he swept out the little red barn, and he helped take down some trees. This was his favorite job – he kept saying, wow we’re really working hard here, eh? And every time there was a small branch, he’d yell – that one’s mine! It’s just my size! He actually kept pace with us and worked outside as long as the adults were out. We were quite impressed. My mom fed us well and Noomi ended up eating a good portion of my burger at dinner. We bathed the kids there and then loaded them into the car for the drive home. We transferred them into bed and neither of them made a peep.

On Sunday both kids were up nice and early, so Dave and I took that opportunity to clean the house top to bottom! By 10 am the house was sparkling, so we had an early breakfast and went to the zoo. Potter Park Zoo is within walking distance from our home and very reasonably priced (only $4 for adults!!). It’s a small zoo, compared to the Detroit zoo, but they still had lions, tigers, rinos, and penguins. More than enough to impress us! It was also nice with small kids, and just enough walking not to make everyone exhausted. Dave did have to put Ajax on his shoulders on the walk back to the car, but overall he did wonderful. Ajax’s favorite exhibit was the reptile house and he loved the turtles and fish. The weather was also beautiful and Noomi watched everything and everyone with fascination. We went home and had ice cream and then the kids fell asleep for 2.5 hours! We got take out for dinner and let Ajax eat his in front of the TV watching cartoons (what the heck its a holiday).

Today everyone is quite exhausted, so we’re taking it very easy. Plus it’s raining and cold (hovering in the mid/high 60s). We brought Ajax’s John Deere Gator outside and he and I “worked” outside for over an hour. We dug and filled in holes, moved rocks, and did multiple laps around the house checking out the various flowers. Noomi also was determined enough and made it up the stairs to the second floor by herself (with Dave behind her the whole time). I have a feeling we’re going to be doing a very easy dinner as well.

Photo update

At my last post the photos from my phone wouldn’t upload for some reason. I’m not sure what I did but after playing around I finally got the pictures on the computer. So here are some pictures from last weekend.

This week seemed to last forever, so glad the holiday weekend is almost upon us!

Weekends

The kiddos are growing up!

Last week when we were getting ready to leave the house, Ajax said, I don’t need to bring silkie to school with me, I only need her at night. Woo hoo! Till this time Ajax has always brought silkie to school for nap time and at four we’ve been kinda wondering when he would decide it wasn’t needed all the time. It seems like we’re there. I can’t believe how old he is getting.

Noomi is also growing up, ten months now and a year will be here so very soon! She is a fast little crawler and will now pull herself up into the standing position. She isn’t great at getting back down, but she’s getting there. She is also starting to notice the stairs in our house, but again hasn’t really attempted them. She is still incredibly loud and when she gets excited she waves/flaps her arms wildly. The ladies at daycare told us that when she does that they say – Fly Away Noomi! Fly Away! It’s actually so funny to watch that Dave and I now say that to her as well. So far she is saying – dada, mama, hi, and there. She is also starting to point at things she wants, which is ridiculously cute.

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This past weekend was quite busy. On Saturday morning Ajax and I headed into town to see the dentist. When the technician came out for Ajax I wasn’t sure he would go with her (as I was already sitting in the chair for my own cleaning), but to my surprise he went with her and did awesome. I heard him talking and talking to her, it was so cute. After the dentists we ran to Home Depot and bought a new stove for our Garden City house (as somehow the tenants broke the old one). We then headed home to Lansing. When we got home and Dave and I traded kids so that he and Ajax could do yard work and I took Noomi grocery shopping. Dave then had the kids for the night and I met my mom and sister in Jackson for shopping, sushi, and a movie.

Sunday turned into a highly productive day- Ajax dug several holes in the backyard, Noomi did laps around the living room and pulled herself up on everything. We got laundry folded and put away. Dave got some work done. I got some cooking done and then made an awesome dinner. We also went on a bike ride and explored a new section of the Lansing River Trail near the zoo. Ajax did wonderful; he didn’t fall once and Noomi sat up the whole time clutching the tray of the stroller. She clapped and waved at everyone.

Mother’s Day 2013

Mother’s day started off well as Dave let me sleep in till 9 am. I honestly don’t remember the last time I slept that long. It was wonderful! We had a wonderful breakfast and then I offered to take the kids shopping with me so that Dave could get a few hours of work in. I guess were practical if nothing else. Ajax was such a help with Noomi and so well behaved. He insisted on pushing the stroller, which had some pros and cons as he still can’t see over it very well. Noomi was overtired and annoyed with everything, so we only really were gone long enough to buy her a pair of sandals. I attempted to try on a dress, but that was a lost cause, lol. The only time she was happy was when we were in the food court having lunch and then she realized that if she yelled it would echo. At first the other patrons were quite entertained, because it was pretty cute hearing her yell and scream/talk – hi hi hi! But after 20 minutes it begins to wear on even the kindest strangers. She was hands down the loudest person in the food court. lol. On our way home it was a mix of snow and rain, and downright cold. We therefore spent the afternoon indoors. Ajax watched a cartoon and I destroyed dinner. It was supposed to be ham and bean soup. A meal I’ve made a dozen times, but for some reason it turned out awful. Dave saved the day and ordered us pizza.

Ajax made me a mother’s day card at school, kind of a Mad Lib. He said that I enjoyed going to work, that I was 25, that my favorite color was or actually blue, that I was good at paperwork, and that my name was mommy. He also gave me some homemade bath scrub for the shower and a loofah (though he kept calling it a rufala). Noomi gave me a painted picture frame with her picture that I think will look lovely in my office.

Playing catchup

Goodness where to begin. You can tell it’s summer in Michigan. The rain has finally slowed, flowers are up and the kids are restless, lol.

Last weekend I had to go to Chicago for work, so my parents were nice enough to pick up the kids on Sunday so that Dave and I could have a nice “date” night in Chicago. It was the first time we’ve been away from Noomi, plus the kids stayed at my parent’s house, but they reported that the kids did wonderful. Both zonked out and slept all night. Ajax helped on the farm (what a hard worker) and Noomi yelled at the dogs. You know when she was a smaller nina I was a little concerned that she didn’t make much noise. Of course this is in comparison to Ajax, possibly the world’s loudest child. Luckily she has found her voice and she is now a rival in the loud department.

Anyways, Dave and I had a wonderful time in Chicago and it was very nice having some couple time. Our drives were also easy as we took a creative route home, winding through back streets through south Chicago until we hit Indiana. Probably not the safest route, but at least we weren’t stuck for hours on the Eisenhower.

Fast forward and this past weekend Dave met his cousin at my folk’s house in Brooklyn to go turkey hunting and then the kids and I met him there later on Saturday (he was up and out the door at 3:30 am). Ajax again had a blast working on the farm. He raked hay and fed the horses, he washed all his dump trucks, and stepped in every mud puddle. Noomi was a pistol and zipped all over the place. She is getting to be quite a fast crawler and kept yelling at the dogs. She also met the horses, but didn’t seem that impressed.