June so Soon!?

June is here - ALREADY! I don't know what is more shocking, that it's June, and therefore, Summer or that we got the calendar switched over on the first of the month (mind you, we were switching it from April which may be why June's arrival is so surprising!) Anyway, today was a long one. We went the Y this morning, took Nora to swimming lessons this afternoon, but they didn't end up having them, from there we went to the grocery store - where I of course forgot 2 of the things I needed to get. We barely survived grocery unloading/dinner making/eating bedtime prepping, BUT we made it! Kyle worked late tonight too, so we're both ready for bed! Happy June everyone! Let the Summer adventures begin!

Pearly Whites

Today was Nora's first trip to the dentist. She did great and left with clean teeth, a new purple toothbrush, 3 stickers and no problems to speak of! After the dentist we went and got smoothies for lunch. Swimming lessons were cancelled this afternoon so we made some slime and hung out on the back porch. All and all a successful day!

Daddy Stays Home!

We had a super low-key Memorial Day today. Lincoln was a little out of sorts digestively speaking and so naps were many and short between. I snuck out to Target for a bit where I did some photo shopping in addition to my regular shopping. Look how cute these patriotic pillows are! 4th of July is just around the corner!! I hope you all had a fun long weekend and took a little time to relax but also remember all the people who have helped to keep us safe over the years!

norA

Sooo, this happened today! After a week of dutifully working to entirely fill lined notebook paper with very accurate, neat and colorful zig-zag lines something must have clicked. I was sitting with Nora coloring this afternoon and suddenly she started showing me how she could write letters - like real letters, on her own. This isn't something we've been practicing or anything. Then she said, I'm going to write my name - n-o-r-a. WHAT?! Her first attempt on the bottom left was a little crazy but when she asked me to clarify the r and the a she tried again and boom! Top one on the yellow page was her second try. I read somewhere that kids her age can be really difficult and have some regression in behavior right before big developmental jumps - here's hoping this was the jump and we start seeing more writing and less fit throwing in the weeks ahead. Either way, it was really cool to be sitting there and see our tiny human write letters in a row that spelled something of meaning. Super excited for her and how proud she is of her new skill!

3 Little Monkeys

We went to Jacksonville today to help Hank celebrate his first birthday at the zoo! We had a great day, sunny weather that wasn't too too hot and saw lots of animals! Leopards, tigers, lions, penguins, elephants, giraffes (that didn't want to eat when we wanted to feed them) and the kiddos got to play in the spray ground area too. All and all I think everyone had a great time and we managed to make it through dinner after with our three crazies without too much trouble...chaos, yes, trouble, no. For as long of a day as it was, and the ups and downs that came with it, Nora & Lincoln made it easy on us...no complaints from where I'm sitting! Happy birthday to Hank and big congrats to Tim and Meg on making it through the first year with their little guy!

What Are Plans?

I decided early in the week that today was going to be an adventure day (of sorts) and this morning, I mustered up what little patience I had left, set my mind on a great day and got to work packing a picnic lunch, gathering all the items we'd need and getting us set to depart via train for a late morning and early afternoon at the park. It was a gorgeous day for it - and for my children, apparently it was a gorgeous day for sleeping. Nora emerged from her slumber hibernation at about 10:30am (that's 14 hours of sleep for those keeping tabs), just as Lincoln was going down for what ended up being a 3+ hour nap! WHAT?! Where is this love of sleep on days when I have NOTHING to do! Well, when Lincoln got up, we got everything set and headed for the train station - made it in plenty of time for the 2:29 Southbound train (we were just going 1 stop to Winter Park). There we waited - at 2:36 I decided to look into things a little more. OH! The train is scheduled to run every hour - every hour except the 2:00 hour! Right, of course! Silly me, that makes complete sense. ARGH! Load the kids back in the car with my patience meter on about -1...parallel street parking with a chattering preschooler (she's officially signed up for the fall folks!) behind me talking about the Southbound train...well, it about put me over the edge. Once we were parked and set up in the shade under a tree in the fresh green grass I tapped into the reserves and we managed to have a lovely almost 4 hours outside enjoying the beautiful day and some snacks! Kyle even met up with us after work. Lessons today - plans are worthless (I seem to get a lot of refreshers on that lesson) and Nora learned that Lincoln bites REALLY hard with his gums! Have a great long weekend everyone!!!

It's in the Bag

I'm pretty sure, in Nora's eyes, this is her greatest nap-time achievement to-date. It isn't rare for me to happen upon ziplock bags of all sizes full of random collections and things, everywhere around the house - she's lifted a huge stockpile of them! But with this specific bag full of yellow liquid, it took me a second to figure out what exactly I was looking at when I first caught a glimpse of it behind her curtains. Then it clicked, and well, what you're guessing - you're right. Despite my best efforts, I couldn't stop laughing long enough to discipline her and when I took this picture she said "MOMMY NO!!!" I figured she was suddenly embarrassed and momentarily felt guilty... "take a video!!" nope, pure pride! So, I implore you...comment away - fold, see or raise me cause after this week - and this find, I would love some other stories from the trenches! Can't make this stuff up people, I'm holding on for dear life!!

Just to put it out there - I realize things stay on the internet forever and I did not post this in order to embarrass or shame my kiddo in anyway, I'm simply sharing because it's a funny story. AND, had she any embarrassment I [probably] wouldn't have centered the post around it. That said...this is a pretty accurate depiction of life around here these days and one of those stories I'll always have!