Age ain't nothin' but a number

And that number is six! K turned six yesterday! I can't say "I can't believe I have a six-year-old" because I can believe it. I think I've felt every one of those years. And he certainly acts and looks so much older.

From age four to five he made the transition from baby to little boy. He went from this:

To this:

Hard to believe there is only a one year difference between these photos, isn't it?!?! I felt like I was literally watching him grow up. It seemed like I could actually see a day to day difference in him. Most of that baby fat was gone and he became mostly arms and legs.

From five to six, it has been a process of little boy to all boy. The all arms and legs thing was joined with a shooting up and thinning out that would almost be alarming if I didn't know that that's what happens when you grow up. I was quite the bean pole in my day, too. K is SO skinny now, and almost all of that plumpness of cheek is gone. I can't find any good recent pictures right now to evidence theses changes, but I'll have plenty after his birthday party on Monday.

So, after six years, three states, five different homes, one broken arm, one minor surgery, one cavity, countless testings of our patience, and countless more instances of his sweetness and intelligence, our little boy is healthy, fun and growing into the boy he's supposed to be! Happy Birthday to my eldest!

Dinosaur 2nd Birthday

Welcoming people to his party. :)

S is very into animals, including dinosaurs. I wasn't totally sure what basic theme to do this year, but K decided for me the week before the party. He thought dinosaurs was best! Since we have lots of dinosaurs between the two boys, and I figured it wouldn't be too hard to find party stuff at the store, it was a go.

At the party store I found plates, napkins and a few other things. The only other thing I bought, apart from the paper goods, was dinosaur tattoos. With my two boys and my 2 1/2 year old nephew as the only kids at the party, I knew they'd be really into tattoos!

My approach to kid parties has been to do a big family party for the first one, small family parties for ages 2-3 and then a bigger party with friends for 4 and up. So, this party was the four of us, my parents, my sisters, my nephew and my grandma. The other grandparents and aunts and uncles are out of state, so unfortunately, they weren't at this one.

Since this was a smaller party and since I've been very tired and overwhelmed lately, I didn't put a ton of effort into this one. But it was perfect for S and a fun time none-the-less.

K helped me decorate with the dinosaur toys we already had. He put them everywhere he could think of! I just had to explain to him when he got upset that putting toys where S or his cousin could reach them meant that they wouldn't stay where he put them! K had some fights with his brother at first, and kept trying to explain why S couldn't play with his own toys, but then he gave up on that useless task.

Well-read dinosaur. He conquered the book mountain!

Dinos in all forms: Rex from Toy Story, sand filled one, little dollar store ones,

wax one from the zoo,

more small ones and a dinosaur skeleton to keep the presents company.

In our family, there are some non-cake eaters. I know, I know! Craziness! Blasphemy! But I still need to make sure to have some kind of dessert for the non-cake people. This year I decided to make chocolate chip cookies, since they are a general crowed pleaser. Due to laziness/tiredness, I then decided I ONLY wanted to make the cookies. So I bought two colored tubes of frosting, plus I had a clearance tub of peppermint frosting in the cabinet. I made about half of the cookies larger size and we just decorated them ourselves! I frosted S's and put a "2" candle on it so we could sing happy birthday. Everyone else did the work themselves. We had ice cream too, and I barely had to do anything! The benefit of laziness!

Most of the present opening is three kids, surrounding me and the presents. Not easy to get pictures!

He got more dinosaurs and animals. Each toy had to be played with as soon as it was opened, of course!

Birthdays can be emotional.

That's a sticker on his forehead, and he had to try out his new swim ring right away!

So, we made it through another birthday party! The kids had fun and S is still loving all his new toys.

Baby's not baby anymore

My boy is two! April 21st marked two whirlwind years of S as the littlest member of our family. He has been such a fun addition to our lives and has an absolutely adorable personality (And face. And laugh. And everything else, but I'm biased). His humor and imagination, voice and expressions, and even his propensity for high drama in almost every situation are all a blessing to us.

He was my do-over, in a sense, because with his birth and early baby years I got a chance to experience things I missed the first time around due to K's more difficult and frustrating entrance into the world. S healed a lot of emotional wounds for me. But beyond my personal feelings, it has been fascinating to see how different another boy made by the same two parents can be so different! He has different elements of James and I, and then his own set of personality traits.

Unfortunately, S is hitting two HARD! So many tantrums, meltdowns, hitting, throwing, crying, etc, et al. Every new thing needs to be explored/climbed/dismantled/tasted/thrown. Books have been drawn on and ripped apart. Rooms are destroyed in nanoseconds. If his wishes aren't immediately granted, at home or in public, oh the crying and hitting that ensues! Those storms of emotion are so crazy to watch in little kids.

Thankfully he is still, through all of that, a more mellow type of kid. He still needs some time each day to just sit with us or K and watch TV. When he wakes up from a nap or in the morning, he will play in there for at least a few minutes before calling for us. Sometimes, he asks to be put in the crib so he can just have some chill time by himself. He often plays by himself! K still isn't very good with that. I love that S can go off to his room, or grab a few toys and come up with something to do. Listening or watching what he comes up with is a blast, too.

So, my baby is two. And I am happy about it. I really do love that they grow up. I enjoyed the baby years, but I love each phase of independence that follows. Here's to a wonderful third year!

Funny little placeholder

New posts are coming, but in the mean time, here is something funny.

Crafty

Now that I check Pinterest (an online pin board, where you can keep track of interesting things you find online), I feel a greater need to make things. Or I get inspired to make new recipes, crafts with the kids, etc. Or feel pressured to be more crafty. Not sure what the exact motivation is, actually.

Some time back I saw these things called yarn wreaths. I thought it was pretty, seemed easy to do, and would make our door look nice. I have a friend who makes felt flowers and is selling them (along with other items) in a work from home business she's started. I picked a yarn color I liked from among the yarn I already have, decided on some felt flower colors, ordered them from my friend and bought them. I had a coupon for the wreath so I got it for less than $3 at Michaels! Someone gave me the yarn, meaning all I really paid for were the felt flowers. Good deal.

I followed the pretty basic directions from the blog I linked to above. It took a lot longer than I thought to wrap the yarn around the wreath, and it was very awkward to do. But I love the result!

I think the colors are good for every season, so I don't have to be one of those crazy people changing my decorations every couple of months. This one will do me until the fall, then I have a Christmas one, and back to this. So I'm only a little crazy. :)

I used a ribbon I've had for years, and always knew I would find a use for, to hang it on the door. Look at me bein' all domestic!

Going home!

I got a little behind in the daily updates about Nashville, and I only had one left! I figured I should write about coming back home after such a trip.

My flight on Tuesday was early, it left at 8:05. So, I had to get to the airport early to check in, etc. The Nashville airport isn't too large, so thankfully it didn't take too long to get around. But they didn't have a few of the convenience options, like an unmanned kiosk to print out my boarding pass, so it took a little longer to get my bags checked. Security moved quickly, but I figured out a little too late that they use one of those new body scanners. I wasn't sure if they had one at Midway and was steeling myself to refuse to go through it on my trip out. I don't usually like to make a fuss, but those scanners (which produce a very immodestly accurate rendering of your body) freak me out and I find them highly inappropriate, unnecessary and invasive. They just had a regular metal detector, though. The machine in Nashville was different but I didn't know what it looked like, and wasn't sure if it was THAT machine.

After security, I ran into Joni's friend Chris, who had an eight o'clock flight to New York that day. I asked him if it was the scanner that I had heard about and he confirmed it. Now I can't shake the icky feeling that the big, weird security guy, and possibly the other passengers behind the machine, saw my scan. And of course there is the fear that the scans get saved, because I know that was an issue when the machines first came out and you can still find images online. *Shutter*

But on to happier things. It was fun to run into Chris at the airport and we had a nice talk before going to our gates. On the flight home, I did not sit by talkers, so I got a last dose of quiet and read for the hour.

James and the kids were circling the airport when I got in and it was so nice to see them again when I got outside! I kissed each of them and got in the car (since you can't wait around or you get in trouble). S was smiling like crazy when he saw me and James said that he had just started asking for me that morning and was excited to know that I was coming home. When I didn't take him out of his car seat to hold him, though, he got mad at me. I tried just  holding his hand or touching his leg while sitting in the front seat, but he got all snippy and pushed me away. My drama boy!

We went out to Cracker Barrel to celebrate being the four of us again. I got to hold S in the restaurant, get some cuddles, hug K and talk to all of them. I gave them the presents I bought for them (amazing wood carved toys for the boys that were made and sold by a woman at the flea market, a funny shirt and Nashville-made chocolate for James). We had a great meal and had fun talking.

The rest of the day was pretty relaxing. We just enjoyed being together again, and I got unpacked and acclimated to home.

It was the perfect amount of time away and so needed! Now that the kids are getting older, I need to do a better job of taking time for myself here and there. It's easy to forget how much we need to have personal time, adventures, and time with friends in the midst of caring for young children and their never ending needs. I feel refreshed and invigorated by my little vacation and am so grateful I got the opportunity! (Thank you James and Joni!!!!)

Nashville, Day 4, or Downtown Girl

For my last full day in Nashville, I decided to spend a lot of it downtown. [Warning: this post has a lot of pictures!] Joni had to go back to work (it WAS Monday after all), so I stayed home for the morning. I slept in and slowly and quietly got ready for my day.

I have to say that it was absolutely beyond wonderful to have so much calm, quiet time to myself on this trip! I'm an introverted person who needs alone time to recuperate and regenerate. I never feel like I get enough of this time, though. The kids are always with me, and often touching me too. It's quite draining. I like going to work and having the quiet of my office for a lot of my day. I sometimes get to go out to run errands alone in the morning or evening when James is home. Occasionally I get to go out to Starbucks or to see friends. I try to make sure James gets these times too, and that we can sometimes go out as a couple.

But nothing compares to the time that I  had in Nashville! I got to stay out late and know that I didn't have to wake up during the night OR in the morning. I only had to worry about packing and maintaining my own stuff. The only person I had to clean, dress, feed and get out the door was ME! Activities didn't have to be kid friendly or be decided by a whole group of people. I got a chance to just be myself. It was a breath of fresh air. :)

Back to the day, though. Joni picked me up at her lunch break and we went to a place called the Copper Kettle. It has something called a Meat and Three, which I hadn't heard of before. It's where you can pick a meat and then three sides as your meal. Pretty self explanatory. And pretty delicious! The day was sunny and the warmest of my time there, so we ate on the patio.

After lunch, she went back to work and I walked over to a coffee shop called Crema. I noticed from the lunch place and the coffee place (and then from my walking around time) that there are a lot of dudes in Nashville! The Copper Kettle had at least six guys working behind the counter (though I did see a girl a little later). Crema had five guys working there and no girls. I'm guessing there are so many because a lot of people come to that city to get music careers going, and a lot of musicians are guys.

After lunch and the coffee shop, I started walking.

[View from the pedestrian bridge.]

[View to the other side of the bridge.]

[Another view from the bridge, farther along.]

[James kept asking for pictures of me instead of just stuff, but I think I kind of surprised myself with this shot.]

[X marks the spot!]

[From the center of the pedestrian bridge, looking back at where I walked up.]

[One of the streets. Broadway, maybe?]

[I liked this Printer's Alley sign.]

[Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. I didn't go inside, though.]

[New opera house.]

I spent the whole afternoon walking around, taking in the skyline, city streets and a few shops. One very noticeable thing about Nashville is that there is live music everywhere and at every time of day. Every pub had bands or singers inside, with varying degrees of talent. When late afternoon came around, there were people playing on the sidewalks (along with suddenly appearing homeless people with signs). I didn't write about it in my first post, but there was even a live band in the airport pub when I arrived to the city at noon!

Funny things I saw on my walk: a set of identical twin older men in matching outfits (shirts that said "Bang This!" on the front and had an orange dot on the back), with matching cowboy hats, long grey hair and grey mustaches, cowboy boots and jeans (I saw them three times that day); two Hooters waitresses playing "catch" with a football outside of the restaurant, with a douchey looking guy who was obviously their manager "directing" them; a bunch of skater boys by the river heckling a guy taking pictures;  lots of people in cowboy hats (most of whom had clearly just bought them that day).

Joni met me near the Hard Rock Cafe when she was done working. We did a little Jolie-ing in a cool alley-ish space between buildings:

Then we went to Jack's BBQ for brisket, which I don't think I've had before.

In keeping with James's well researched theory, places where the animal being served (this case, pig) is portrayed on the sign whimsically (flying, eating, etc), then the food is good. If the animal on the sign just looks like its normal self, not as good. Jack's sign is whimsical, thus food = yummy!

We walked around for a bit downtown since we had some time before the Predators hockey game (Joni's friend gave us tickets!). We stopped by the store for Hatch Show Print, which is the place that has always made these iconic concert flyers:

The flyers/posters are made with an old press where you place each letter and roll the ink on. Joni said most people get them made to sell at shows, rather than waste them on telephone polls or bulletin boards. It was closed when we got there, but still cool to see!

This is the Ryman auditorium:

It was originally a church that was then purchased and used for the Grand Ole Opry. GOO (my own abbreviation) has since moved to a larger location. However, this is where a lot of famous people have performed and is still used as a concert venue. Next time I'm in Nashville, I'd love to go see something there!

[Corner of the Ryman and a view up the street.]

[Looking back on the Ryman at dusk.]

Then we headed to Bridgestone arena to see the Preds play. Neither of us are huge hockey fans, but Joni's been to some games and I like sports and have watched quite a few Blackhawks games in the last few years.

They had a funny saying all over the arena, "Hockey Tonkin'", which is very hard to say properly, but a pretty clever little motto.

[Joni and I at the game.]

Earlier in the afternoon, at least three hours before game time, I saw tons of people in Predators jerseys heading for the arena. There were a lot of people there and everyone was very into the game. They had their own cheers when their team got a goal and they did lots of those big screen shots of the audience. People were SO funny with it! Almost everyone was a big ham and it was highly entertaining to watch what people did with their moment in the spotlight. Dancing, kissing, funny faces, signs, surprised faces, kids shoving into the frame, everyone nudging the people who didn't see themselves on the screen at first, people getting shy and covering their faces, etc. It was a blast!

After the game, we were done for the day. It was an amazing way to end the trip and included tons of stuff that I either really wanted to do, or wouldn't have even thought of doing but had a blast with anyway. By that day, I was starting to miss James and the boys more and ready to go home. The time frame was perfect: enough time away that I was able to relax and have fun, but also refresh me and get me ready to get back into real life.

I love adventures!