Our First Summer Project

So, we survived the first week off of school-thanks to a lot of pool time and Matt taking Friday off.  We celebrated our annual “May 29th” with the kids-slightly downgraded from last year but still lots of fun.  Caitlin and I went out for Mexican food (where she ordered grilled shrimp.  How Mexican!) and Matt and Matthew went out for dinner at a local sports bar to catch part of a Braves game.  On Sunday we had a great barbecue with Matt’s family-the weather was awesome and Matt’s barbecue turned out really well!  Then Monday we spent the day recovering from all the weekend fun. 

This week, I decided to start our first summer project with the kids.  I was at Kroger the other day and they had a big basket of seeds on clearance.  I picked out a few packs and decided we were going to grow some veggies! 

First I found an old egg carton and cut it into three sections-one for each of the three oldest.  (something tells me that Ben is not quite ready.)  I poked holes in the bottom and used the top of the egg carton as a tray to go underneath:

Then we labeled our seed containers with initials of the child and then each individual cup with the type of seed we were planting.  I had four different varieties (it was all that was left among the clearance seeds)-radishes, lettuce and two types of carrots.

We filled the little planters with soil:

…and planted our seeds

I had a medicine dropper for watering to ensure that my eager gardeners did not overwater-

And then I made a few backup plants with the extra seeds in case someone’s doesn’t work out.  (or if Ben decides to satisfy his curiosity…)

 

So now we wait!  The kids had so much fun with the tomato plants last year, so I really hope this project is as successful. 

In addition to this new little veggie garden, we have also grown strawberries:

and the apple seeds we grew from seeds last year (or maybe the year before) are also thriving.  We are a regular farm around here!

Away

Hey! It’s MaryLauren.  I can’t come to my blog right now because summer has officially started here and I am either at the pool, the playground or under the bed looking for for my sanity. 

Please! Leave me a message and just as soon as school starts back, you will hear from me.  Bye now!

The End Of Sports

Sports for the kids wrapped up this week…this morning Pea had her last gymnastics session, and C’s soccer officially ended last night after a disappointing loss to a team they had previously beaten.  It’s been a great season for her overall and we have really loved her coach.  He has been as encouraging and positive as her previous coach (who we had originally hoped to get this year) was.  I have really learned to appreciate the parent volunteers who coach these kids!! 

I have also learned something about myself in this season of sports that is..not so positive.  I may, or may not be…one of Those Parents.  You know, the one who is really, shall we say…vocal on the sidelines?  The mom who is yelling insults about the opposing coaches mama because her kids team is losing?  Yeah.  That might be me.  But I don’t understand where this came from!   When I played soccer/ran cross country I was always okay if a team I was on did not win.  I was there to do my best and enjoy the game.  But when my kids are playing it somehow becomes personal. (For those of you who are rolling your eyes, just you wait.  I didn’t think it would happen to me either.)   Caitlin and Matthew tend to take wins and losses in stride…on the ride home from losses, I am the one complaining about the other teams methods/coach/mothers, while they discuss the rival merits of cheezits vs. chips-a-hoy as a post game snack choice. 

It’s probably better this way..I mean..some kids cry after a bad game.  My kids may lack the competitive spirit to become major league players, but I’m okay with that.  I’ll take the heartburn, as long as they enjoy the game . 

Bullets

Today you get bullets, and you can thank Benben, who decided to revert back to infancy and wake up crying every 2 hours last night.  I think he had nightmares (poor baby) because the only way he would sleep was directly on my chest, arms clasped tightly around my neck (sounds sweet now, but at 4am it’s a bit…chokey.) 

 

• It is 8:30 and the abovementioned baby is still fast asleep.  Must be nice.
• Matthew’s team lost their game last night which puts them out of their tournament.  It was a great season for them and I really enjoyed the group of parents this year.  Not going to miss the 715 games though!
• Caitlin’s tournament starts on Thursday night.  It is a single elimination tournament, and since the more pressure there is, the yellier I become, I will be sending Matt to the game.  (the other parents will appreciate this).
• I cooked artichokes for the first time yesterday.  Used a recipe from Life As A Plate (link on the side).  De-Lish!
• It’s snake season here.  We have found four snakes on the patio and yesterday a big (well, relatively big…like 7 inches) dead at the end of the driveway. (we think Patti is responsible)  I was so grateful to have Matthew who was brave enough to get rid of it.  Until he decided to swing it wildly in my face.  He likes to see me scream, the little stink.
• We go on vacation in less than a month!  Matt’s yearly conference is three days but we are going to stay for the week!  Our accommodations have been upgraded this year and I am so looking forward to it!
• Our pool opened and we took the kids on Sunday.  The water was FREEEEEZING!  Of course that did not stop Caitlin from getting right in and swimming the whole time.  Matthew and Hannah got in for a bit, and Ben fell in (headfirst.  Matt and I were right there to catch him thank goodness!)  Hopefully this will give him a bit of healthy fear. 

That’s all folks.  Happy Tuesday!

Hannah Wuz Here:

…and where is that you might ask??

Right here:

Hannah has decided that the world (or at least our wall) is her canvas, so we find little gems like the one above-all over the house.  While I am proud of her drawing skills, I am not a fan of magic erasing every 30 minutes. 

So, in an effort to curb the behavior, I printed out some princesses and pony coloring pages.  I think she likes them .  (But I’m still going to hide all the pens and pencils around the house!)

A Happy Mother’s Day Morning

7am.  My Room. 
“Good Morning Mommy!! Matthew and I got Ben up!  And!! And!!  We changed his diaper!  And!! It was pooooooooopy!!”
(ruh-roh.  they’ve never changed a diaper.  Especially not a poopy one.)
“Wow!  Terrific! That’s great! Erm…did daddy help you?"
“Nope!  Well, actually only after, but we did the most of it.”
At this point Matt walks in and I can immediately tell that I better get the rest of the story from him. 
“Alright guys!  Well, go on downstairs and I’ll be down in a minute. And thanks!”
Well, apparently when Matt went downstairs, Ben was on his way up with a diaper hanging halfway down one leg.  Matthew and Caitlin told daddy that they had changed him and that it was poopy.  When he asked them what they had used to wipe him (the wipes have been MIA since last night), they said wet toiletpaper…ew!  And also they had been responsible enough to put the poopy diaper outside.  In the garage.  Ew #2. 
So Matt redid the diaper change (after finding wipes), removed the poopy diaper from the garage thus shielding me from waking up on mothers day to a nekkid, poopy baby and a garage full of stink.  I love that man. 
And don’t I have thoughtful children?  I can’t think of anything nicer than them letting mommy sleep in and (attempting to) take care of a smelly baby.  I am a blessed mama!
Hope all the mommies have a wonderful Mother’s day!!

Wish I’d Had My Camera…

…when this happened without me having to ‘re-pose’ them.  Ben was clearly still feeling poorly yesterday morning and walked right up to Hannah and gave her the sweetest hug!  Of course my camera was up 15 stairs at the other end of the house and by the time I had retrieved it…they were back to whacking one another with My Little Ponies. 

So in typical mommy fashion-I made them do it again: (‘HUG HIM DAMMIT!!’) and the effect is not quite as good-

(in fact Ben looks pretty scared here) but I didn’t want to forget this . 

In other news…today the perks of growing up seem..well..not so perky.  Caitlin and Matthew went to school wearing comfy pajamas (Yes, I’m still in mine but I will have to change at some point today, shutup) armed with movies and blankets.  They will spend the day eating popcorn, watching movies, playing outside and generally being bum-a reward for excellent fundraising efforts.  Wish I was going to school today!  (haha just kidding I’m NEVER going back to school). 

Happy Friday!

Updates

GO MARLINS!!!  Matthew’s team managed (after a long rain delay) to win their game last night!!  (an aside: After blogging so much about baseball, I realize that I am officially that mom who becomes obsessed with little league playoffs.  Yikes.  Caitlin’s tournament is next week…just a warning.) Matthew and Matt did not get home until 9 or so, but Matthew was still up and hyper this morning…I feel a crash coming on.  Fortunately because they won their first two games, they don’t have to play again until Saturday. 

BenBen is still not feeling that well this morning-he woke up very thirsty and drank a huge cup of water (which I was glad to see) but is still pretty lethargic.  I was hoping this would be a 24 hour thing…but I’m afraid it’s going to last a bit longer. 

Here’s a pic of him when he was feeling a bit better (and before a much needed haircut):

Eating an apple in the cozy coupe!

Pea didn’t want her picture taken…but I did it anyway!

Somebody’s feeling a bit grumpy!!

Today

Good Morning!!!  And a quick shout out to my favorite baby sister…HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!   I wish I could teleport down to see you and take you out for lunch and drink wine and eat cheese and talk about random stuff….but once again, I’ve lost the teleport key.   Stupid teleport key. 
Thank goodness for a birthday today because otherwise this morning would have been not so great…poor BenBen has come down with some sort of stomach virus .  Also Ew.  Because it’s not the throw up kind of virus if you catch my drift.  It’s more of the kind that makes you want to wear rubber gloves for diaper changes and bathe in bleach afterward. 
The worst part of it is that the poor boy can’t sit down…diaper rash is horrible!  The desitin doesn’t seem to help, so I am going to call the pediatrician to see what they recommend. (A&D, Vaseline or ButtPaste.  The three I don't have.) 
But enough about poop!  Last night was the beginning of Matthew’s baseball tournament and my GOODNESS we have never had such an exciting game!  We’re talking bottom of the ninth two outs and a full count kind of excitement-fortunately one of our best batters was up and managed to win the game for us-but it was so close!  I have no fingernails left.  Matthew did very well-he is a solid hitter and consistently gets a base hit every time he’s up to bat.  Very comfortable to watch!  He plays in the outfield and at this level doesn’t see much action out there…but manages to stay focused for the majority of the time.  Because we won last night, we are supposed to play again tonight…but I’m afraid we are going to get rained out.  We’ll see though. 
Happy Tuesday!!

A Momentous Occasion

Yesterday was a very big day for the Schroeder family!  Caitlin received her First Holy Communion!  Not only was it Divine Mercy Sunday, but it was also May 1st, which is the start of Mary’s month…I couldn’t have chosen a better day! 

In the Mass, Caitlin was responsible for the First Reading and did very well.  We practiced quite a bit but I was still surprised at how composed she was while she read…She didn’t seem a bit nervous (I, of course, was on the edge of my seat the entire time!)

In honor of the big day, everyone got all ‘purdy’…here are some pictures (Ben did not make it in, and also would probably resent being included in ‘purdy’ pictures.)

The sun was in their eyes, so I did the “close your eyes until I count to three then open and smile” trick…apparently Hannah couldn’t do this without also throwing out her hands. 

Handsome Matthew:

Beautiful Caitlin: