What We've Been Up To...

Last weekend we went up to the northeast corner of our state to visit my parents. I had last Friday off school and we pulled C out an hour early so that we could hit the road. First on our agenda, going to Aunt C's last Anchor Splash as a Delta Gamma. She graduates college in December.

 Saturday we felt up to hike at the beautiful waterfall near my parents' house. B wasn't quite feeling up to a smile.

 I am pretty sure both of my kids would've been up for tossing stones in the creek all afternoon.

 Three generations of beautiful felt up to taking a picture.

 After our hike, we made our annual trip to the farm stand and corn maze in the valley. B felt up to attempting to plank on a pumpkin.

 And later he felt up to showing off his big boy style.

 The rest of our time was spent enjoying a fire in my parents' fire place (oh how I wish our fireplace were operable again-- I'm sure it can be done, but it'll probably cost an arm and a leg), introducing One Ordinary Dad and my parents to the awesome-ness that is The Hunger Games movie, and relaxing. I'm about halfway through J.K. Rowling's newest (it's good, but it's definitely not Harry Potter, which it shouldn't be). Our drive home Sunday was uneventful.

Yesterday, we were up to an outing at a local farm with C's preschool class. It was a little cold and drizzly, but we enjoyed the hayride, decorations, and animals all the same. C's best buddy from school was there too. According to their teacher, they're like brother and sister-- they get on one another's nerves sometimes, but won't let anyone else mess with the other either. We spent the rest of the day in our jammies/sweats doing a whole lot of nothing.

 Lately, we've also been up to figuring out Halloween costumes. C has been insistent on being an Aye-Aye. Yeah, I had no clue what it was either. Luckily, when she saw the Super Mario costume at Target, she decided it would work, but not after first making sure that Target did not, in fact, have an Aye-Aye costume. C plays Super Mario 64 every time we're at my parents' house. That Nintendo 64 was the hit of Christmas my freshman year of high school.

 C was excited to wear her costume to HallZooWeen today. B made one adorable Dalmatian. 

I'm not sure what all we'll be up to this week, but I have started Christmas shopping, so I might be up for some more of that. What about you-- what have you been up to? What will you be up to this week?

~One Ordinary Mom

Way to Start a Weekend

Today marks the end of my first full week of school. I still really like my students. This year is just...different. It's not that I haven't liked other students this much at the beginning of a year; it's just that all groups of students are different and this group really stands out so far as being just some nice kids.

The transition of Mommy going back to work was a little rough on my own kiddos, who were used to having both of us home for the summer. I think they both got used to getting one parent to themselves, which meant they could do whatever they wanted to do. Now, they have to share Daddy while Mommy is away. One Ordinary Dad and I talked through a few things, mainly about how to give each kid one-on-one time during the day, and the week got progressively better on the home-front. B is teething like a madman, so our sleep earlier this week was awful. Thankfully, he's pretty well sleep-trained and the worst of it seems to be over. When teething has woken him up the last two nights, he's talked himself back to sleep. Unfortunately, I just lay awake listening to his cute babbles and his repetition of all the words he knows and then find myself in major need of coffee in the morning.

So this three-day weekend is all about being together, resting, and restoring. The kids and Daddy started off the weekend by finding this snake at the park right before lunch. C was equally fascinated and frightened. One Ordinary Dad had to hold B back-- lil' man wanted to pick it up and take him home.

I kicked off the weekend with a yoga class. It's taught by my regular Sunday restorative class teacher, but only the last half hour was restorative. The rest of the class was pretty active as we moved through poses at a faster pace. It was nice for a change (my Sunday class is cancelled due to the holiday). After yoga, it was off to the Catholic parish festival up the street. These festivals are big in our neck of the woods-- you can find one just about every weekend from Memorial Day through Labor Day. B loved the sandbox!

 Doesn't he look so big? I feel like he's gone from baby to toddler to little boy over the course of a few weeks.

C played a bunch of the kids' games and of course had to bring home the most annoying toy known to parents-- a recorder. But it makes her happy and she loves to make music.

 They rode the helicopters together. C waved to the people from up in the air, while B sat smiling with his hands at 10 and 2 as the ride spun around. I'm glad he's big enough to enjoy things like this.

 It's supposed to rain the rest of the weekend (thank you, Isaac). So we're planning to stay indoors for most of the next few days. Miss C is growing in her reading abilities by leaps and bounds. She has quite a few sight words, thanks to repeated readings of her favorite books, and can sound out simple words. She also has several books memorized. As a result she reads to B and to us on a daily basis. I'm hoping to soak up a lot of that this weekend.

 May you all have a wonderful weekend too!

~One Ordinary Mom :-)

Good Music

 I'm pretty sure our week ended how it did for billions of other people-- watching the Opening Ceremonies. This post isn't about the Olympics, but I will say that I thought the Ceremonies were well done and I especially loved that they recognized all of the isles as well as Great Britain's contributions to children's literature (hello, dozens of Mary Poppins, be still my Poppins-lovin' heart). And I will also say that Miss C was fascinated by the Opening Ceremonies and by the idea of London itself. Luckily, I had a children's book, The Story of London, that I picked up when I visited the city six years ago. Between the book and the countless brochures, postcards, maps, and other items I picked up there, my girl is in heaven watching the games and learning about London. She keeps asking when we will go there. I keep telling her, we'll go when we know she'll remember it.

Anyway...this is post is really about how our week began: with good music. Despite being a little tired from last Saturday's reunion, on Sunday we found out that one of our favorite bands, Over the Rhine, was giving a free concert in the neighborhood from which they take their name. So we headed down to Washington Park, and this time we brought swimsuits.

 We also brought some snacks. A late lunch meant nobody wanted dinner. So graham crackers, yogurt, chips and salsa, cheese, fruits, and veggies (and a little wine for Mommy and Daddy) filled our picnic basket.

 A few hundred other people joined us. :-) As the sun began to set behind Music Hall, the band took the stage.

 The kids hung in there for about an hour before they were bored and tired and ready to go home. We changed them into their jammies and headed for the car, happy that we at least got to hear them play one of our favorite songs, Ohio.

On Monday night, a gracious friend stayed with C and B, so that One Ordinary Dad and I could go see Joshua Radin. I love small venue concerts, with only a couple hundred people, where you can be about 20 feet from the stage and not feel claustrophobic. He put on a good show and we're excited for his new album to drop on Tuesday, 7/31. If you haven't listened to him, he's kind of indie-pop, a little mellow at times. In concert, he is amazing (and a terrific storyteller to boot). 

And sandwiched in between the beginning of the week's good tunes and the end of the week's Opening Ceremonies was lots of fun just hangin' around and soakin' up the summer.

Anyone else seen any good live shows recently?

~One Ordinary Mom

These Days

These days-- it's been either really hot and muggy or stormy. So indoor picnics make dinner more fun when we can't eat outside.

These days-- we've discovered the fun of dancing in fountains with your clothes on. To be fair, when we went to the newly renovated Washington Park on Saturday, we didn't know this fountain existed (or that C and B would love it so much). Next time, we'll bring swimsuits, or at least a change of clothes.

These days-- the Playmobil people have been having a lot of swim parties. Sometimes with real water because we're fun like that. ;-)

These days-- Miss C is doing awesome in her swim lessons. She was TERRIFIED of the water last year and this year, only halfway through the session so far, she will jump in, go under, back float, and generally not freak out. This is progress, my friends. I've also met some awesome moms at the pool during lessons-- some work, some don't, but our daughters are all relatively the same age, so hopefully some play dates are in our future. I really don't know a lot of moms in our neighborhood as most of my mom friends are from church or school, so it's been good to meet some that live so close.

These days-- I've been reading The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach. It's about a college baseball player (fictional). I love baseball. I'm really loving this book. I played softball in middle school, high school, on an intramural team in college, and on a church team one summer. One Ordinary Dad and I played a lot of catch when we were dating and first married. We busted out our gloves and a ball at the park the other night. B latched onto a baseball and wouldn't put it down. I think tee-ball may be in our future.

These days-- I've been painting my toenails and trying out new colors. I loved Essie's "Bikini So Teeny" so much, that I painted my fingernails too (something I rarely do because they normally chip, but since I first painted them last Friday I've only had to redo two due to chipping).

These days-- I've been trying to establish a home yoga practice. So far, so good. 20 minutes of yoga upon waking up does a body good.

These days-- story time before bed is happening a little later and on the couch. C has been going to Vacation Bible School at the church where she attends preschool. It's quiet with just B at home at home for a couple of hours. B usually is in bed by the time C gets home at 8:30, so instead of reading in bed with her like normal, we read out on the couch (C and B share a room). 

These days-- are flying by. Target already has school supplies out. What?

These days-- well tonight, actually, I'm attending a canning how-to class at Whole Foods. I know how to freezer can but am excited to learn how to really can (like with a water bath) so we can save some of our summer farmer's market spoils and our home spoils as well (we've got some green peppers, cucumbers, and tomatoes growin'). 

What are you up to these days?

~One Ordinary Mom :-)

Summer in the City

We are lucky enough to live in an area where just about anything is accessible within a ten-minute drive, including downtown, where we spent quite a bit of time this week. Monday night was spent on Fountain Square. We ate ice cream (using up some of my Graeter's gift cards that I got at the end of the school year), danced to the live music (they have live music every night), and generally enjoyed ourselves. B loved the fountain.

C loved finding one of the Taft Museum's Art for All pieces. The Art for All campaign is an effort to lure people into the Taft Museum of Art, where they can see the originals plus a ton of other artwork. Replicas of various pieces housed at The Taft are "hidden" all over the city. I also saw one on the bike trail with a friend a few weeks ago. It's kind of cool to see where all of the pieces are popping up.

On Tuesday, One Ordinary Dad and I celebrated 8 years of wedded bliss.  We are blessed! Technically, we celebrated on Saturday night when we went out to dinner and C slept over at her Grandma's house, but we had to celebrate the actual day a little too. We went to the Museum Center and B went crazy for the train display. The little guy hasn't been there since he could walk and he walked all over that museum. "Choo-Choo" is one of his favorite words. He also had a blast in the ball pit seeing as how if it doesn't have wheels, it better be a ball to capture his attention.

As part of an anniversary present to One Ordinary Dad, I got him a one-day flex pass to the World Choir Games, which are in town until tomorrow. My husband is a music geek. I have to say I was quite proud of myself that when I picked the day for him, I did pretty well. After I'd already purchased his ticket, the local paper did a full spread about the Games and said that if you only had one day to spend downtown at the Games, to do it on the 12th. So yesterday morning, the kids and I dropped Daddy off downtown for a day of show choirs, quartets, sacred music, and more. We headed to one of our favorite parks after we dropped him off (I figured he would enjoy himself more without the kids tagging along).

 B drove every steering wheel at the park.

This park is situated under a freeway bridge, so it's always shady. C climbed on everything. I think we may need to take her to the climbing wall soon.

Don't you love C's Harry Potter wound on her forehead?

I have no idea what face he is making here.

We picked a tired Daddy up after dinner and headed home. Tomorrow is the City Flea in Washington Park, so we'll be down there for that-- the kids and Daddy to play and Mommy to help a friend out at her booth. Stop by and see us from 2-4. :-)

We love our city and the song really is true, "things will be great when you're downtown."

~One Ordinary Mom
P.S. Speaking of music, One Ordinary Dad and I treated ourselves to both Joshua Radin tickets and Mumford and Sons tickets as sort of anniversary presents to ourselves. Looks like we'll be hearing more great music in the coming weeks.