Father's Day, Radish Removal, High Chair Eradication

It was Father's Day weekend. My children may never realize how lucky they are. Their father is so involved in all pieces of their life. He is the constant in our tumultuous waters. He kisses boo boos. He snuggles, he sings, he carries them, throws them in the air, tickles, changes diapers, makes sippy cups. I watch him and may laugh that they own him but his whole heart is in fatherhood. To the father of my children - thank you for you. You prompt me to be a good mama and when I'm struggling you are there so I can walk away to regroup. I know we prompt that right now it isn't about us.. it's about them and I'm glad that we are strong enough in the "us" to understand this is short term out of necessity.


Father's Day was a bit of a clustery mess because it snuck up on me... which is weird to say because it was late in the month and we had extra time to prepare but in a COVID world I have been a bit distracted and I hate going to stores and shopping. For breakfast we had bacon pancakes - something simple but fun. Matt appreciated it.. I'm not sure those other people did. Lunch was lowkey and Matt made a pork loin with my sides for supper. The highlight of his day was probably golfing though. We decided when you are 4, you get to go with Dad golfing on the golf course. So he and E went with a 1:14 tee time. It was hot but I guess the two of them had fun. She did take a divot off the first tee box BUT what do you expect - tiger woods?

Well, we had a first harvest from the garden - radishes. G would eat them and just laugh. E had one bite and determined it was a "no thank you" from there out and Ains had a bite put promptly spit them on the ground and cleaned her tongue off. Matt was happy with what he had. We potted them and put them in the front of the house this year. I think if we would have had some seed consistency we would have had an even better run but the people we live with can't leave a pot of dirt alone.

Another Friday with no daycare - it was my turn. We did a few things but their highlight was painting in the backyard. I will admit I feel like it was one of my moments of brilliance. I gave them sponge brushes and washable paint and the bigs went to town. E was very conscious in the creation of her house complete with grass. G was a bit more abstract but I believe when it was all said and done he informed me it was house as well. Ains was mad as she wanted to handle the paint and suck on the brush and those behaviors were kinda against the rules. It's rough to be an Ainsey somedays.

After a month of her getting mad and yelling at us in her highchair, we decided to move Ains into the bumbo and put her at the table. It was like night and day difference. The only thing is now that she knows what she wants and what she doesn't want. AND if Matt has the item she wants on her plate, she will take her fork and bang his plate (or even grab item) until she gets it. BUT she is quiet and happy.

Night before Father's Day...MJR giving ARR a bath.
ALR to Bigs: Okay....tomorrow is Father's Day, we have a few presents to give Dad. 
Shows presents to them.
ALR: I think we should hide them.
EER: Yes, let's hide them in my kitchen
EER puts her present in the freezer of her kitchen.
GRR opens up the oven (which has a glass front).
ALR: Why don't we hide it in a different place so Dad has to look?
GRR's and ARR's presents get hide. 
ALR: Now, it's a secret. We can't tell Dad. He will look for them tomorrow.
EER goes upstairs promptly to tell MJR that they hid presents for him.
Next Day.
ALR: Okay, should we have Dad find his presents?
Bigs sit on couch.
EER: We hid presents for you Dad!
GRR: In the kitchen.

Rocks, Dryers, Lansford, Wind

It's one of those weeks where it rains and pours with problems. I'm back to the office for the second full week. Not exactly thrilled by it either by the way but whatever. The garbage disposal has backed up, the dryer took a schit, daycare is closed for another month on Fridays, it's stupid crap especially given the weight of the world right now.

Friday was a split day between Matt and I. He tried to take the kids golfing in the morning. I admire his attempt to take three kids who are shotty listeners to a course. I think he got frustrated with their "range of skills" but I admire him for taking them out of the house. 

We haven't been out much lately. E and I went to the store recently to grab something. We wore our masks. We got some dirty looks. ND is in a different mindset than the rest of the nation and it's almost chilling to see people be so cavalier. I am proud of my children for just adjusting to the time, asking the questions (especially E), and listening. I think right now that's not happening enough, more people need to listen. There's 9 million experts on everything out there and while I know that I don't know everything I want to be safe for the care of my family as well as those that come around us.

We headed to Lansford for the day on Saturday. We haven't been up for some time and thought with COVID lightening up it may be good to go see them. We rose with the sun (like normal) and headed up there. It was a good day aside from the wind. The wind was horrid - it forced us to the front of the yard and after being in it all day, I think all of us were a bit beat.

Sunday wasn't as windy but we stuck close to home. We got stuff
done around the house. Matt worked on the broken things. E has been enthralled with rocks lately. She does come by it naturally. I had a rock collection when I was younger but she's been collecting them in her pockets and shoes. Well, the same it all comes out in the wash rang pretty true. And if it doesn't in the wash, it will in the dryer. Matt found out that one of her precious rocks ended up in the dryer and edged itself in. In the meantime, I had Matt drag out the laundry line for me. The kids thought it was hilarious as they watched and helped me put things on the line. E was in charge of bringing me items and G was to hand me clothes pins. I could almost hear my mother's voice on how to hang things. There's a skill I don't expect to pass on to my children, not because I don't think that they should know but because we don't do it. I remember putting so much on the line when I was young and the feel of the wire and also watching my grandmother and her wicker basket as she put everything on the line from sheets to towels to shirts and underwear. 

headed to Lansford

EER: Are we there yet?

ALR: Have we stopped?

EER: No

ALR: Well that answers that question

MJR leans over: What are you going to say if we hit a red light in Minot?

ALR: Whose side are you on? 

Dr. Travis, Four wheeler, Boat wash

Well it's been a big week for the kids - we've been talking about it for the past couple weeks.

Dentist Appointments. We've been reading about Peppa and George brushing their teeth and the tooth fairy and all sorts of fun things about Dr. Travis or Dr. Elephant. Grady went first on Tuesday and E went on Wednesday. They both did great. For G's first time, he was so happy. His word right now is "yepper" so anything they would ask, Yepper this and Yepper that. He wasn't too sure about the chair that reclined back and held the arms a bit but opened his mouth and let them look and count. Great appointment. E was a bit lax and silly. She needs to sit in the chair versus lay but I was happy that she had a great cleaning and was so excited that she even brought them a picture.

We headed out to the farm on Friday for supper with Grandma and Grandpa. For the first time, they had a ball with the equipment. Grandpa took them for a ride in the tractor and they played in the sandbox, tooled around the yard, carried the kitties, and got four wheeler rides until we finally had to pull the keys. We brought out the bikes but they were not interested at all.

Other big happening, we brought worked to clean out underneath the deck. Don't get me wrong, this sounds boring but the kids loved it. We brought out the boat and worked to clean that out and then we also brought out the pools and worked to clean those out. E and G also had car washes and furniture washes. Never have I ever seen her outdoor fisherprice table so clean. We set up the pools for the afternoon and they had a blast. They would go between the pools and the boat and the watertable and just had fun. We also ordered pizza and had it delivered outside. They ate outside and just played up summer.

Daycare calls ALR
ALR: Hello? (there's always a worry that someone is sick or hurt when daycare calls)
Heather: Amanda, Eleanor is saying that she has a dentist appointment?
ALR: Yes, she does - I'm sorry we should have told you.
Heather: She says it is right now and is refusing to rest at naptime.
ALR: Oh no, she got confused, tell her it's after nap. Dad will pick her up and bring her and then we'll go.
Later that day.
EER: I told Heather that I was going to see Dr. Travis, so she knew. 
ALR: Yeah, I heard that you told her. 

Capitol, COVID, Campfire

So one of my absolute favorite things to do right now is to load up the kids, their bikes and helmets, Ains's stroller and head up to the capitol. They have been riding like crazy at home but the trails around the capitol are wider and have some hill to them so they can glide a bit. Both kids listen so well and it feels good to get out. They like seeing the capitol and the statues and flowers and it's usually pretty empty. We go and my heart feels good like all the things going on in the world right now don't matter that it doesn't impact us - which I know is super silly but in that moment it's all good.

Summer is fully sinking in - the weather is warming, the garden is growing (despite the handling and help from my people), I started back to work on the 1st. I don't love it. Despite not having a place to really work - I loved being home, punching things out, and getting things ready for when people came home. I could work on the meal, I could make beds, the days just seemed to fly by. It also helps that I couldn't keep my hat on straight and was busy af. Between message crafting, website updating, event working, graphics, the days were crazy. I will admit I'm sick of teams meetings but I have a feeling I'm not alone in that shoe. I've worked crazy dumb hours in other jobs before but I did like the work I was doing. The twitch in my eye is almost gone too so that's positive.

Another sign of summer - we had a campfire. The kids were on cloud nine. We had prepped them before and they were excited to tell daycare and excited to help Dad collect sticks and they were excited about the idea of smores. Ains had her very first smore. I would think she would deem it a success. E loved every bit of it and Grady thought it was great until it wasn't and handed the sticky mess to me and wandered off.

We have had a few rough nights with the kids. With the longer hours of sunlight, E & G are not interested in going to sleep at all. They will screw around in their beds, with each other, with their stuff. Drive me crazy. We have put a darkening shade in their room, we'll see how that goes. I don't love it as I like the natural light coming through their white blind but I can't have them up until 9:30 every night - even for my own sanity, I want an hour to myself! Ains is working on molars and it seems that it's killing us. We are up for hours. HOURS. Once this week we were up from 12 Am - 4 Am. I love the girl but I need some sleep. I'm hoping we catch a break soon.

MJR is bringing all three home from daycare at the end of the day.
Previous event of note, MJR and ALR had lunch out together to commiserate a tough night of teething.
EER: Dad, where did you get that glass?
MJR: What glass?
EER: And those napkins?
MJR: I don't know.
EER: Did you go to Burger Kings?
MJR: No - I didn't go to Burger King.
(Editor note: It was McDonalds)
EER: Are you sure you didn't go to Burger Kings!?