We’re not even halfway through the weekend, and already it has produced more ab flexing laughs then I have had the past few weeks.  Friday dinner in the pit was not only a culinary smorgasbord delight (salami, cheese, grilled ahi tuna, olives, fresh bread, grilled brussel sprouts, peaches), but also, it was an eye-watering laugh kind of evening.  It stormed outside an hour before dinner (almost a nightly occurrence the past few weeks) so hanging in the pit with a bottle of red after the storm was peaceful and relaxing.  Somehow the conversation turned to “wieners”.  I asked the girls where they had heard that term…I think their friends, but they wouldn’t say for certain. They thought it was funny talking about how guys have “weiners”.  At one point, Harper combined the word “weiner” and penis and the next thing you know, the term “wenis” was being thrown around the rest of the evening! A “wenis”…lol!

Saturday morning started out with pancakes, mostly made by Emerson!  Followed by an enthusiastic cheer from Avery and Harper when we announced the Reston Farmer’s Market would be next.  Last Saturday morning we had planned on going to the Reston Farmer’s Market but those plans changed when the girls were rotten and our morning instead turned into them doing some cleaning of the garage…thus the enthusiastic cheer for the Farmer’s Market this morning.

The enthusiasm was actually real and it continued the entire morning…from the girls helping to pick and pay for fruits and veggies and even holding the bags, to bringing their own money to purchase their own fruit popsicles (Emerson even gave Avery $1 since she was a dollar short). 

Next they took a dip in the fountain.

And since Harper was soaked, we figured we would walk by the lake for a bit to dry off.  I told Justin to go have a brewski at the brew house we were walking by ….the girls and I were having fun exploring on the path that Justin’s one beer turned into two…

We even stopped at a new cupcake place that had just opened up the week prior.  I was really going to just browse or let the girls split something small but the lady was so nice – we were having a good conversation and I wanted to do my part to support local business….3 cupcakes and a coffee it was!  Then we joined daddy…I had intended to take the cupcakes home, but we were having a good time.  So Justin ordered a third brewski, the girls hydrated with several rounds of water, and we enjoyed our cupcakes for a lunch appetizer.

Truly the best part was that the girls were having a blast with one another.  We listened to a little Jack Johnson’s “Always Better When We Are Together” on the way home and their affection for one another continued even once we arrived home.

#love

This post is late because the past few days have been tough for me.  A lot going on and I just needed some time to reflect.  Parenting!  There are some moments where it brings such joy and there are some moments that it brings such frustration!  Last Wednesday night was one of those moments where I was ready to experience joy, and frustration replaced my joy in a moments notice.  Avery had her dance rehearsal.  She religiously went to her weekly ballet class for the past 9 months…she loves dance and she knew her routine.  Yet before she was about to go on stage, she started panicking…she was in the front and she thought she was going to fall off the stage.  At her request, we said a quick prayer together, and I sent her off while I went to take a seat so I could video the performance.  My joy faded when her class appeared on stage and there was clearly no Avery.  After finding her and confirming she wasn’t lost, I was frustrated and angry.  But I quickly realized being angry or frustrated with her was not going do anything to help with her stage freight for the real performance Saturday.

We drove off and instead of going home, I swallowed my disappointment, and decided to take her to Wendy’s.  I didn’t tell her where we we were going.  I just drove there, parked the car, and got in the back-seat with her – we talked and I encouraged her and lifted her spirits.  She was ecstatic about my spontaneous decision to let her eat Wendy’s for dinner.  We came up with a plan and I felt certain that she would get on stage for her recital Saturday. 

I felt pretty certain she was going to perform over the next few days…even up to a half hour before the performance, I thought she was going to do it.  We even took a few silly selfies.

She was nervous but again it wasn’t overpowering and she seemed ready to face her fears.  BUT a half hour before the performance was set to start, she started exhibiting behaviors that indicated she may not perform.  I took my seat in the audience and patiently waited the 30 minutes before her routine went on stage, feeling like there was a 50/50 chance of seeing Avery leap out on that stage.  To everyone’s disappointment, Avery didn’t perform with her class.  My heart sank. I clearly didn’t force her, I didn’t threaten her….we did have a plan in place for a reward, but certainly not a threat.  She knew her routine, she would have been great, while her fear of falling off the stage was very real to her, she would not have fallen off stage.  Could I, should I have done something differently?  It keeps playing in my head.

That question continued to eat away at me into the following day, which was Father’s Day.  We had a good day, but my head wasn’t in the game completely.  Justin is an amazing husband and so supportive and loved the day, but I wasn’t on top of my game with planning for the day…I was with the presents but not with our day’s plans.

Anyway, breakfast in the pit…where I had so many things cooking at once that I burned quite a few of the sunny side-up eggs!  Followed by presents…

Yes, we got Daddy a skateboard!  And Larissa made a really cool YOU ROCK picture frame with the girls!

Followed by a lot of driving that afternoon, before we finally ended up at Quattro Gumba.

While I didn’t bring any snacks (nada, totally not me!), I did bring the chapter book we were reading.  And while the girls were troopers, it was not only hot out, but super muggy and humid and I think they were a little bored with nothing “organized” for them to do.  

It was still a good day though and I’m glad to report that I have really been reflecting the past few days and being grateful for life even when it is hard or doesn’t go as planned.

Avery filled her marble jar less than two weeks after Emerson.  She too was quite excited!  Avery awhile back had decided she wanted to go ice skating for her one-on-one!  I hadn’t been ice skating in almost 25 years and the time before that was probably 30 years ago!  While the idea of the three of us ice skating seems crazy and scary, I knew for certain it would cause a lot of thrills, excitement, and laughs!

We started the evening with dinner at Arties!  Avery said she wanted to go to Sweet Water, but since all the Great American Restaurants are very similar, we opted for Arties since it was close to the ice skating rink. Car selfie of the three of us.

She enjoyed the Ozzie rolls as always!

And she did end up ordering the salmon!  She ate some of it…I don’t think she loved it, BUT she was happy with her decision and she couldn’t stop talking about how much it tasted like bacon!

And on a 90 degree day with tons of humidity, we went indoor ice skating.  It felt funny sweatshirts and gloves  on a summer day, but I’m glad we did as it was chilly in the rink!  When we first got on the ice, Justin and I both thought it was most certainly going to be a long night!  But we all got better as the hour went on including Avery who went from being fearful to even getting on the ice to skating unassisted by the end of the hour. 

It was a great time and surely an experience that we will all remember for years to come.

Here we are June 13, the last day of school!  I’m not sure how that is even possible!  Or how about the fact that I now have two rising third graders and a rising first grader….WHAT!!

And that is a wrap!  Hello sweaty kids and summer!

In February, Justin and I decided to implement a recognition system in our household where the girls would earn marbles.  They could earn marbles for listening the first time, being kind, being helpful, putting forth their best effort, being joyful, and much more!  Once the jar was full, the girls would get to pick something that they wanted to do alone with mom and dad!  We didn’t focus on it 24/7 so there were many instances where the girls could have earned a marble, but we didn’t give them one…not to punish them, but because it wasn’t necessarily the number one thing on our mind daily.  It was June before any of the girls had a full jar!  Emerson was the first to fill her jar this past Saturday!

She chose a mani/pedi date at the salon with me.

Followed by dinner at Sweetwater with daddy and then ice cream for dessert!  

And then to top it all off, she wanted Dairy Queen!

It’s not often these girls get one-on-one time with both Mommy and Daddy at the same time – we all enjoyed the evening and Emerson has already started earning marbles in her jar again for round two!

For two weeks in May my sister and Noah were in Virginia.  The girls and Justin got to meet Noah for the first time! Cousins!

Grandma and Grandpa with all four grandkids!

We spent several weeknight evenings at my parents.

Poor Noah was so sleepy and I just wanted pictures of the cousins in their jammies!

And Justin and I even snuck over after his birthday dinner for a Noah cuddle.

I totally would do this with the girls when they were babies…they wouldn’t wake up and for a few minutes, I would be in pure bliss.

We enjoyed dinner out at Tequila Grande one Friday evening.

We enjoyed a nice meal at home with Lauren and Noah.  Noah and Harper played.  

Justin and Noah grilled.

And we all enjoyed grilled pork with avocado cream sauce.

We enjoyed Mother’s Day together and you can read about it in my prior Mother’s Day Blog!

Then a week plus passed while Lauren and Noah went to New Jersey to visit Russell and Mary and then to New York to visit friends. They brought Gabriel back with them when they came back to Virginia.  Justin and Gabriel enjoyed a night at The Vienna Inn, while I babysat Noah for a few hours.  He apparently wasn’t too happy that his parents were leaving him after about 10 minutes of me being there.

Friday night I picked Noah up and he came to our house for a few hours.  Again, he wasn’t the happiest camper.  We started out at a quick stop at Fresh Market.

We went for a family walk in our neighborhood and I so pretended he was our fourth!  The girls all wanted turns pushing him in the stroller.

And like the previous night, he missed his mommy and daddy and turned into Mr. Cranky Pants…Mr. Justin had the magic touch.

Saturday he spent the evening AND night with us.  It took a few hands and feet to calm him initially, and after a few minutes, he was finally a happy camper with us.

Noah had quite a few little mommies taking care of him. 

We soaked up every baby snuggle and coo. He slept in our room and while he isn’t the best sleeper, I ironically got more sleep that night than I had in weeks. He woke during the middle of the night, but I gladly got up and when he wouldn’t go back to sleep in the pack-and-play by himself at 5:00 a.m, I gladly brought him into bed with me. We had a fun evening and morning in the pit.

Sunday the kids did a little swimming at my parents in the morning.

Followed by an excursion to Viva Vienna.  The 8 of us squeezed in the van!

We also went to Viva Vienna Saturday – a few pictures from Saturday.

Monday was Memorial Day and we hosted a BBQ at our house with the Brophys, Niday’s and my family.

I tried to soak up as much Noah time as possible. Little man turned 6 months old while he was visiting and he’ll be almost 9 months old the next time I see him!  Crazy!  Miss little man and his mommy and daddy already!