Splash Pad

First visit to a splash pad.  Not a lot of pictures because well, I was splashing.  It was really fun, and really sad.  Fun because of this:

And this:

And this:

And this (please note my 2 year old grabbing the squirter from that big kid-and after taking the picture, I did tell Reese it was not his turn):

However, upon telling my oldest to stop stalking this older kid with a shark, I heard it. A blood curdling scream like none other, and I knew that scream belonged to me.

I turned around to find Reese coming from behind a bench and saw a HUGE brown wasp fly away. "Please no, please no..." I thought.  Yep, he got him, and got him good.  I comforted my baby and wondered if he was allergic as his arm was swelling and breaking into a huge rash from wrist to elbow. 

This is an hour after the benedryl, it's hard to see, but it looked like a big hole right in the muscle of his forearm.  Of course it was the day we were leaving for Ohio.  I called the pediatrician just in case because of the puss bubble that formed. I wanted to make sure I knew what to look for.  After wasting 10 minutes of my life on hold to be told, "Neosporin and a band aid." I laughed and hung up.  Really I just wanted to know if I should pop it-grose I know. It had been so long since I have gotten stung, I couldn't remember.  Poor guy, after a good nap, he was good to go-and we have had no problems.  He did have a good size knot there and it changed from dark red, to blueish purple.  So, other than the whole "wasp experience" which has given Reese some post traumatic stress in the bug department, it was a great time!

Detoxing of the Sleepover

Abram had his first "sleepover" last night....at his Grandparents house.  It was a last minute invite, in fact I think it went something like this,
A: "Hey Nana, can I come to your house?"
N: "Yes, of course-if your Mommy says it's okay."
A: "Mommy can I please please please please please (times a million) go to Nana's house?!"
Caught off guard, "Uh uh...are you going to sleep there?"
A: "YES! Nana, am I going to sleep at your house? YES! YES!"
Me: "Okay"

I don't know if my Mom was more focused on spoiling him, or punishing me.  I say that because after staying up way past his bedtime, eating at IHOP for breakfast (chocolate pancakes), going to the movies and eating a tub of popcorn and candy, a trip to Walmart for toys and a backpack......Abram was fit to be tied, literally.  My Mom said he did well, I think he was able to hold it together until he got home.  Reese saw his "bumbo bee" transformer and lost it-Abram didn't want to share, the sugar high soon fell.....you get the picture.  And to top ot all off-my poor Sister and her family were watching the boys that night so we could see Harry Potter (which was awesome by the way).  I thought about not going, but we had already bought the tickets.  When we came home, Natalie looked worn out and said, "I don't know who that child was".

Next time there will be a better game plan.

Nights I Miss the Pacifier....

If you are a wee bit Obsessive Compulsive, you may have noticed that my last post and this one, is at 4:30 ish A.M. Here I am, blogging away, when I should be asleep.  The past couple of nights Reese has been waking up screaming. And when I say "screaming", I mean "SCREA-MING" like in a horror movie.  So one of a few things happen-one of us will go in and change him and he will fall back asleep (rarely) or I will hold him and comfort him and then he will go back to sleep, or a couple of times when it was around 6AM I would bring him in bed with me while Kris is getting ready for work and he would either go back to sleep, or just lay there quietly and be cute. (I believe that if any of my former English teachers read that last sentence they would be embarrassed that they ever taught me.) This is a night where none of the following is working so we are doing the ol' "cry it out" method. And by "we" I actually mean me-and Abram (they share a room).  Kris is SNORING away in dreamland as I type this.

I have no idea what has gotten into the little booger.  He woke up SCREA-MING at 2:42AM and Kris went and checked on him.  He comes back says, "He's fine." except that he was still screaming with the same intensity. I waited a few minutes, he's still screaming- I go in comfort him and calm him down, change him, lay him down and still SCREAMING. I bring him in bed with us where he lays still for a while and then starts being cute and cuddly and talking in his cute-WIDE AWAKE voice. I try to lay still with my eyes close as Kris passes out.  Reese is rolling around, so Kris takes him back to bed-and it starts again. 

Abram starts yelling, "Reese! You are hurting my ears!" and then Abram has to go the bathroom.  Then, Reese sees that Abram gets out of bed and the screaming gets louder. You see where this is going right? Kris is asleep.  Abram goes back to sleep and I look at the clock-it's 4AM.  The two year old has been screaming for an hour, and is not letting up. I know if I get him it'll just make it worse, so I wait.....and wait...and listen to Kris snore.....maybe if he wasn't screaming "MOOOOMMMMMYYY!! Mommy!!! Mommy!". Why can't it be something that's not as heart wrenching-ya know? Like Daddy, or hamburger, or Dino Dan.  So I decided to be productive, catch up on blogging-and maybe whine a little.  (By the way, the "Mommy!'s" are getting further apart-and may be a little bit in his sleep, but I have to give it to him for perseverance-it's almost 5AM).  Ugh-I know what you are going to say- "It's a phase." I HATE that, because even if it's true- "PHASES" last for who knows how long.  And my kiddos do not know what "sleeping in" means. 

I hope we aren't talking about the "cry it out" nights in therapy in 10 years....

Drive-In Movie

We took the kids to their first drive-in movie a couple of weeks ago to see Cars 2 on opening night. I haven't been to the drive-in since I was really little. In fact, I don't know if it's a made up memory or not-that's how little I was.  There is a drive in not too far away, so we packed up the kiddos, some treats, and met some friends.  The trick is, to show up really early-so you can park by your friends and get a good spot.  We were there two and half hours before the movie.  Someone brought a "Mater"-like tow truck to entertain the kids before the movie.  A cute idea that in no way made me cringe a little thinking about tetanus shots....

The movie started an hour an a half past bedtime.  Abram did great (although confused at why some cars were getting killed-yikes).  And thankfully didn't catch on to the word "idiot" which was used over 100 times.  Reese had a hard time, after some squirming and crying I put his carseat in the trunk, strapped him in and sat next to him-after that, he did great and fell asleep as the credits started.

I have a lot of friends who like the movie.....I think it was better for older kids.  I wasn't impressed with the violent parts, or explaining to my 4 year old why they were trying to make the other cars explode and die-just my opinion.

Other than that, we had a good time- definitely something we will be doing in the future.  Kris was hoping they would fall asleep so we could watch the double feature (Green Lantern), Abram was wide awake-so that didn't happen.

"Best Fourth of July Ever!"

As quoted by my 4 year old tonight on the way home.  Today was SO busy and fun.  We went to three cookouts today! SO much fun. In fact, I made these

and these

The strawberries I copied from another blog, the cupcakes I figured out on my own. 

The first two cookouts, I didn't get any pictures unfortunately.  It's hard to get in on the fun while taking pictures.  It's harder to contain a 2 year old, while taking pictures. And now, looking at this post-it looks like I wasn't even there. Luckily, Kris took one for the team and watched him so I could take some pictures.  Delicious food all day long.  We ended the night with some good friends that also have 2 cute boys (the youngest being a week apart!).
We had a blast with water ballons, chasing bugs, sidewalk chalk, a shrimp boil, crab cakes, homemade ice cream, sparklers, and fireworks.  The pictures speak for themselves.  Please note that we made tie dye t-shirts!!! (summer to do list check!)

Kris nailed Abram with a water balloon, he freaked until he realized he could get him back.  He kept hitting Kris, but the balloons wouldn't pop.  I took care of that one for him.

 Snapping fireworks...

Reese played in this tree for 20 minutes being a monkey, so cute.

Catching the parachute fireworks....

The first time with sparklers. Note look who looks nervous, and who doesn't.... 

More fireworks... When we were on the way home we had the windows down, watching fireworks and Abram yelled, "This is the best 4th of July everrrrrrr!" It was a great day, spent with great friends.

Jello Jigglers

Check.  I was going to put a tutorial, but my camera battery died, and c'mon the directions are on the side of the box.  Summarized version? Ingredients: 4 small packages of Jello, boiling water, cookie cutters-and that's it. I almost felt cheated.  Do you remember the commercials for Jello Jigglers?  They looked so cool, and always seemed really complicated-nope, it was a lie.  The only hard part is the waiting for them to cool.  However, if you do it in the morning without "help" (I do not desire my helpers to help with boiling water-just my opinion).  Leave them in the fridge and bust them out for dessert-you are officially the best Mom ever.



Yah, that's right-we brought out the holiday cookie cutters!

They were enjoyed by all the boys.  I must give caution that you note the ......"outcome" of blue Jello.  You can't say you haven't been warned.

Our "Garden"

Summer check list: Plant Veggies
Unfortunately, I didn't take pictures when they were wee babes. But just as an idea, I bought the veggies at lowes, and the herbs at Walmart. You know what they looked like-pretty small.  I have always wanted to have a garden, but we live in a condo.  I decided I wanted to plant a couple things-and I am not going to lie, I was pretty sick of paying a ridiculous amount at the grocery store for a green bell pepper.  But also, for some reason, it seems like when you grow your own they just taste better.

I wish I could brag and say I had a "green thumb", but I think they are pretty easy.  

That being said, store bought+miracle grow soil+water and sunshine=

Parsley, Basil, Green Bell Peppers, Tomato tree...I mean plant.

I have done the first two, but never veggies. Check this out:

The tomato tree kept growing and growing, taller than Abram..

And it now has SEVEN tomatoes on it!! I am SO excited, we are a tomato lovin' kind of family.

Check out these bad boys!!  We had them in a salad the other day-AWESOME!

Dear Green Bell Pepper Plant,

Thank you so much for already paying for yourself.  You were SO worth taking a chance on. We are so grateful.

Love, The Raisors