Monthly Archives: May 2020

They rescued him and got him back in shape, but unfortunately, they have 2 other dogs and once this dog felt a little better, they found out that the three of them couldn’t be together because they fought. She and her husband love him and were really sad, but didn’t have any other options. So she posted on facebook, looking for someone with knowledge of bulldogs, no other dogs, etc.  Within minutes of her posting, I saw it and had called her. I wasn’t really looking for a dog, but Nate and I have talked about it a few times. We weren’t really ready for another puppy- training, housebreaking, etc. So a 3 year old that is neutered, potty trained, and so sweet… maybe this was the dog we were(n’t) looking for. Oddly enough, it was exactly one year to the day since Olivia died. So maybe it was really meant to be. 

Meet Axel.

He’s adjusting to us tonight. He has been curiously looking around our house and yard. He’s eaten, pooped, barked at our neighbor, and I took him for a short walk. He’s unsure of what’s going on and a little stressed, but that’s to be expected. The boys have been very attentive and sweet. I know he will need a few days to adjust. I am eager to see his personality emerge as he adjusts to his new life.

What a busy day! The boys were up early this morning and Xander immediately requested a “breakfast burrito on the couch”. I told him he would have to wait until I finished my first cup of coffee before making demands.

After some morning playing for the boys and phone calls and emails for me, we headed outside.

I bought jello slime, which was very sticky and messy and fun to play with. My original plan had been blue jello (to look like water), but the grocery store was entirely sold out of blue jello, so I bought this instead and added food coloring to the water. Dollar store boats were a perfect addition. They enjoyed it for a while and then we hosed out the water table.

It was a PERFECT weather day, and hot enough that spraying each other was a good activity. I also had new water cannon squirt guns (thank you again Dollar Tree) which were a hit. Xander said, “that’s what I’m talking about baby!” And then they proceeded to shoot each other for over an hour.

After almost 2 hours of playing outside, stripping out of their wet clothes and eating lunch, we played with a new product that Christine recommended- Mad Matter. It’s a combination of play-dough and kinetic sand. The boys really enjoyed it and it was easier to clean up then kinetic sand.

After that, we were back outside for more water fun. We filled up the pool (I brought out a few buckets of hot water to balance how cold the hose water was). They squirted and splashed and went down the slide. They were so happy and it was so gorgeous outside.

Xander found some kool aid in our pantry and insisted we make it. They’ve never had it before and they cheers-ed and then slammed it like college boys at a party.

We played outside until dinner and I am so exhausted I feel like I’ll be in bed around the same time as the boys. It was a great day!

I started today feeling a little overwhelmed and a little daunted by the day ahead. I love hanging out with the boys and there has been so much goodness in all of our time together. But also, I really miss our regular life. I miss my office and normal work. I miss daycare and the boys having their own lives outside of our house. I am sick of the nonstop dishes from 3 meals a day, and also cooking 3 meals a day (plus snacks), laundry that is never done, and that all of their toys have 100 pieces and no matter how much we clean, they are always all over the floor.

Thankfully Nate did the teeth brushing and getting dressed battle this morning before he left. I was really grateful to avoid that for a morning and just jump right into the day.

It was SO humid this morning and the boys (and me) were not interested in going outside right away. We eventually went out for short periods of time, but even then, they weren’t really into it.

But the day turned out to be nice, despite my crabbiness of the morning. The boys played very well and I got a lot done.

We played with playdough and then we made banana bread.

Nate got home and we all played outside for a while.

This week we’re going to do a water theme. It’s already Tuesday and tomorrow they are at Grandma’s but I have some fun things for Thursday and Friday.

It was a wonderful long weekend. Earlier in the week, the forecast said it was going to rain all weekend, but aside from a few bursts of rain, overall it was gorgeous weather! On Saturday, the boys were outside a lot. They rode bikes, helped Nate with the new weed whip (the box was a very fun toy!) and ran around our backyard.

The day ended with happy tired boys and lots of snuggles.

Sunday was a fun day at Grandma Debbie’s house. They made pizzas, played outside, painted their nails, and had a great time. I made macarons for an order later this week. Nate got more yard work done. The day flew by!

I was sure that Augustus would fall right to sleep after a busy day, but I was wrong. Nate and I were sitting on the couch watching Netflix, when he came tip toeing out around 8:45. He’d been in bed for almost an hour, so I was surprised to see him. He came out and snuggled right in between us and said, “this is my favorite grown up show.” I said, “oh is it?” and then he requested some crackers. Usually we send him back to bed, but he seemed pretty wide awake, so last night he got to hang out.

“This is my favorite grown up show.”

Today was another fun day. We had a very slow start to the morning, which I love. We hung out, the boys played with toys while Nate and I drank coffee and watched morning tv. It was great. A little before lunch time, we headed to Danny and Heather’s house for wings and ribs which had been cooked in a sou vides, a smoker and an air fryer, which seems like a lot, but is pretty standard over at their house. And they were fabulous, so I can’t criticize. The boys had root beer floats and ran around their huge yard. We walked to the park by their house, played hide and seek and other backyard games, enjoyed the hammock and chilled. It was a perfect day and a great end to a fun weekend!

This morning we packed our lunches, water bottles and light sabers and headed to Caponi Art Park. We went here once before last August and I was excited to return. There are narrow paths that go through woods, sculptures hidden in the hills and all around. It is such a magical place that feels like a real life fairy tale or an enchanted place.

We walked around and looked at the art and swung light sabers at imaginary bad guys. We had a picnic. We may have taken a wrong turn sometime after lunch and our magical romp through the woods became more of a death march, but we figured it out quickly and everyone survived. Augustus was asleep the moment we got into the car and napped for 2.5 hours when we got home, so it might have been a bit more walking than I was aiming for, but overall, it was great.

We only saw 2 other mom/kid pairs the whole time we were there. It was very quiet. Augustus is the most outgoing, friendliest kid ever and when we saw one mom and kid, he said, “that’s our neighbor!” (It wasn’t). Xander (in such a snotty teenage way) said, “that’s not our neighbor, you’re just friendly!”

When we got home, Augustus napped and Xander and I rested. Eventually Xander and I went outside to play with the basketball. He has the same signature move I do- dribble, dribble, hit your foot, run after the ball, kick the ball, chase the ball some more. 

When Augustus woke up, we played outside some more and rode bikes until dinner. It was a fast day! 

A new week and a new theme. This week our theme is art, which might be a stretch because the boys are so so about arts and crafts. But I have some ideas and we’re going to try it out.

The boys started the day playing and then we went outside. We were only outside for a few minutes when Xander said, “let’s make hot dogs over the fire” which he’s been asking to do for the last few days. I told him we didn’t have any buns, so he suggested we walk to the store. Why not? There’s a grocery store about 4 blocks away. We found some good sticks along the way. We also made an impulse root beer purchase as well.

We got home and started a fire in our backyard fire pit. It was a bit windy for a campfire, but we managed and the boys cooked their lunch. Success.

After lunch, they played in the yard for hours. I don’t even know what they were doing. They had a million random things and they were playing together so well. They are best buds and I love watching them play.

We came inside and they rested for a little while and then we worked on paintings using blocks dipped in paint to make different shaped prints.

It was very windy today and also colder than I’d expected. I was in pants and a sweatshirt and still a little chilly. Before we went back outside, Xander said he wanted to change into shorts and a tank top. I told him it was probably too cold. He responded with, “they’re my clothes and it’s my body, my choice” and before I could even think, “AMEN BRO” came shouting out of my mouth. It seems like a pretty advanced concept that is key to him being the progressive feminist man we’re raising him to be, so tank top and shorts it was.

We spent the afternoon skateboarding, riding bikes, and running around the backyard. Nate got home and hung out with the boys while they rode bikes until dinner time. A great Monday!

We had a great weekend but I took very few photos. On Saturday, Nate and the boys played most of the day. They played in the basement, outside, they took a drive. I was busy washing the floors, cleaning the bathroom, grocery shopping, and making macs.

We had snack dinner (chicken nuggets, cheese, crackers, salami, olives, deviled eggs, apples) and a very fancy chocolate mousse in chocolate cups for dessert. I wish I’d taken a picture of the boys after they ate and were covered in chocolate.

Today it rained the whole day but the boys were happy at Grandma Debbie’s house. They played with toys and had some slime (which Xander didn’t really like, but Augustus did!). They came home tired and happy.

I’m ready for nicer weather and a busy week ahead.

It was a fabulous Friday! We started the day slow- lots of independent play before breakfast, breakfast and then more playing after we ate. The boys didn’t brush their teeth and get dressed until about 10:30. It’s so fun to listen to them play together and I got laundry in, the bathroom cleaned, dishwasher emptied a batch of macs made while they were happy keeping themselves entertained.Eventually we made our way outside and spent quite a while in the front yard watching cars and walking along the edge of the planters in the ultimate balance beam activity. They teetered across the balance beam about 15 times each!   

It was hot and sunny day today and after lunch, we were back outside (this time in summer clothes). Nate got home early and was able to join in the fun. The water beads were getting a little gooey, but before we threw them out, we decided to add shaving cream for a fun sensory activity.

When they were done, I emptied the water table and washed it out with the hose. That created a small amount of mud, which Augustus promptly jumped into. But there wasn’t enough mud, so they got the hose out and made more mud.

After they were really muddy, we had the fun idea to use the rest of the shaving cream. Getting covered in shaving cream is a classic camp thing. And the mud pit is one of my favorite camp things. I LOVE messy play. I think it’s magical and fun and makes for the best memories. Xander looked like a tiny camp counselor and I loved watching both of them get messier and messier, giggle, roll around and be so silly.

Once they were as messy as they could possibly be, they stripped off their clothes and I brought a warm bucket of water to rinse them off. Nate and I carried them right into the bath tub and scrubbed them clean.

We grilled brats and ate dinner outside.

It was a fabulous summer-y day and we are all happy and tired.

We started the day with light up cars, but then we got ready and hopped in the car for our first outing in a while. The parks have opened in Maple Grove, so we headed to Danny and Heather’s house. Uncle Danny had some old action figures that the boys played with for a while. We had lunch and then we walked to the park. It was a gorgeous sunny day and Xander rode his bike (most of the way, I carried it on and off on the walk there and back, but overall he rode most of the way!).

We went to 2 different parks and both were mostly empty, although we saw a lot of people walking around.

Buddha was exhausted and rode in the stroller with Augustus for a while.

We were gone most of the day and I had 2 very tired boys when we got home in the afternoon.

It was really nice to be outside all day, have a change of scenery, and hang out with Danny and Heather.

As I was preparing dinner, Nate and the boys were outside and Xander fell down and scraped his hand (he’s ok- it’s a small scratch). Nate brought him in to me screaming bloody murder. Like, imagine someone getting their arm chopped off. As I was wiping his tears and trying to calm him down, he started screaming, “SNUGGLES! I NEED SNUGGLES! SNUGGLE MEEEE!!” I am NOT happy he was hurt, but he’s been such a big kid lately and selfishly, I was a little bit relieved that my baby still needs me.

It was nice to get out of the house today and I (like everyone) and eager for our life to go back to normal. I’m really sick of this quarantine life.