O Baby, It's a Birthday Shirt!

Last week I met Allison from O My Family at a coffee shop somewhere between her house and mine.

At said coffee shop I handed her this:

And when she opened it she found this:

And on the back side of this:

She found this:

All to help celebrate O Baby's first birthday.  

And while I can take pictures on my lawn, Allison got to take pictures on the O so adorable O Baby on his first birthday in his birthday duds.  Go check out the adorableness that is that boy.  Seriously.  My womb is fluttering.  Again.

I really enjoyed making O Baby's 1 onesie, and while Allison wasn't expecting a matching (and reversible!!!) bib, it was fun to surprise her with it.  While I love to quilt, I also love these smaller projects that I can sit down and finish in a single sitting.

And, I did buy the onesie in a four pack, so maybe, just maybe, there will be an Etsy shop in my future.  What do you think?

Keeping Busy Without Plans

J and I are in a small group at a church we're, ahem, not attending.  But, attending the church or not, we continue to meet every month or two with four other families.

The last time we met one couple had their hands full with two young children, and another was just two months away from the arrival of their first child.  They were talking about the challenges of finding time to do necessary tasks around the house, things like yard work, decorating, and basic house cleaning.

Despite facing our own challenges to do some of those things I immediately offered to watch the set of siblings for a Saturday so Mom and Dad could have an entire day to do what they wanted to cross things off their to-do list.  It seemed like a nice thing to do and was well received until I said this: "Every weekend in May is open.  Pick one."

That statement was met with incredulous stares, open mouths, and more than one "what?!?!? How can you not have weekend plans for the entire month???"    

You see, here in Minnesota we take our summers seriously.  You never know when spring is going to end or when fall is going to arrive, so we have a tendency to book our calendars until there is no empty space left to maximize what we get.  Last summer we had three weddings in two weeks in July.  Add in training for the Susan G. Komen 3-Day for the Cure, weekends at the lake, a marathon training husband, and a holiday or two and the summer is gone.  

Not this year.  I'm crewing the 3-Day this year, so no long training walks for me.  We've deliberately not booked out our weekends and it is wonderful.  I love spending relaxed time with my boys.  I love getting a text from my niece and meeting them at the in-laws pool in an hour.  I love last minute trips to Sonic for Limeades and Slushes.  I love getting a call from my Dad asking if we can come to dinner in two hours and actually being able to go.

I've been really busy at work these days and I need my weekends.  And this, this summer without commitments, it may be our best summer yet.

Exceptional Parenting, I Swear

I'm a Mom who spends her days working outside of the home, and as much as I'd like to say that each day I come home fresh and ready to spend hours with my children on educational play, fine and gross motor skill development, and emotional nurturing, that just isn't the truth.

Some days I come home and head right back out into a sprinkler or a hose fight.

But sometimes I come home exhausted and I sneak a quick nap before I need to think about dinner.

Some days I come home and lavish my boys with kisses and tickles that turn into a mommy wrestling match on the living room rug.

And sometimes, I come home, we eat, and then...

Wait for it...

Keep waiting...

I watch television with my children.

Not even going to apologize.

Here are a few shows that we love to watch with the boys.

Electric Company: Hey you g-uys!!!  The original Electric Company was a little before my time, and belongs a bit more to people my husband's age.  However, I love the new version, and our 6 year old is an equally big fan.  The hip hop beats and silly lyrics really get him thinking about how letters interact and work together to make sounds, and he'll be the first to tell you that "silent e is a ninja."  Actually, he won't tell you.  He'll sing you the song.

Wipeout: Seriously, this show gets the wiggles out of our kids.  They laugh hysterically at people taking massive spills into the pool, and then they jump from ottoman to chair to floor like they are conquering the big balls themselves.  With a summer to play and a slip and slide at the ready, we're all dreaming up plans for our own backyard obstacle course Wipeout style.

America's Got Talent: I love talent shows, they always make me cry.  Something about people realizing a dream gets me every time.  While I'm especially fond of the musicians featured on the show, our boys love the more physical acts.  They love to watch the magicians, the jugglers and the martial artists, and the hip hop dancers never fail to inspire j into showing us his moves, slip sliding around on the hardwood floors.

Minute to Win it: Have you caught an episode of this game show yet?  Not only is it hosted by the huge personality of the Food Network's Guy Fieri, it is crazy cool.  The idea is that each challenge has to be completed in a minute, and each uses things you probably have in your house, which means you can watch it on the show and then make your own attempt.  Our boys were especially entertaining as they tried to slide nuts (nuts and bolts kind of nuts) off of a pencil and into a stack.  Even the 3 year old got into the act, concentrating with the tip of his tongue sticking out of the corner of his mouth just like his mama.  This is another show that will probably translate into our own family games this summer.

So, I fully admit to watching the boob tube with my kids.  (Why do people call it that???)  Will you admit it?  What are your favorite shows to watch with yours?

To The Jerk That Stole My Hubcap

You suck.

That's all.

Love,

Me