Checking Out a New Open Gym

First, a picture of Lewis covered in bath paints that Gramma Pat got him for Christmas:

:)

I did the painting, but he instructed me on exactly where to put which colors.

Thursday of this week, we met Tonya and Carlton at a gymnastics facility for their open gym. We'd never been to this one before, so it was good to check it out. It was almost the same price as another facility we've been to, but this open gym only lasted one hour vs. 3-4 hours at the other place. 

 There was also a large trampoline that ended on a soft mat, so Lewis, Carlton, and a few other boys ran/flopped back and forth on that for awhile.

 Swinging Rings

The lady who runs the gym tried to get Lewis to run down the ramp (which would have sent him swinging), but he ran and let go of the rings and just kept running across the gym. It was funny. :)

 

Riding the Roller Coaster

This was the most popular attraction among all of the kids who were there, so there was a lot of discussion about taking turns. 

Climbing Wall

He didn't make it much higher than this, but I was glad he gave it a shot.

It was a fun place--a lot smaller than the other gyms we've tried out, but I kind of liked that it was smaller and not as crowded. It was also close to Tonya's house, so we headed over there afterwards for some more play and lunch and catching up.

Plumbing Problems

After spending approximately 44 hours without a kitchen sink this week, I think I now understand JUST what the plumber meant when he said not to overload the garbage disposal. And I now know that I'd never survive a kitchen renovation.

After cleaning out the freezer on Wednesday, I slowly dumped 4 pint-sized containers of 2-year-old marinara (from the Summer of Excess Tomatoes) down the disposal. I thought I ran enough water with it, but it was apparently too much for our pipes to handle. This was Wednesday night, in the middle of making dinner, with a dishwasher full and ready to run, and dinner dishes to be done. 

I tried everything that Google said to try. We plunged, we did baking soda and vinegar. I went to Home Depot and bought an auger/snake and snaked the line twice, but the clog still remained. I could have tried to open the clean-out in the basement and snake it from there, but that gave me visions of flooding our laundry room with ALL of the contents of our plumbing pipes, so I decided to call in a professional. And Kevin did the dishes in the bath tub, while I rinsed them in the tiny bathroom sink.

I called our usual plumber, but his number had been disconnected/changed since I last called him a few months ago. I called his office and his voicemail box was full. Hmmm. I asked Tonya for recommendations and asked Kevin to ask around at work, and I was given four options. I called one and also reached a disconnected number, and I started to wonder what was up. The two that Tonya recommended both answered and both said how busy they've been with freezing pipes and such this week, so I'm wondering if that's why numbers were changed. Anyway, I spoke to one on Thursday and one on Friday morning, and they both said they were busy but would work me in. Just as we were leaving the zoo on Friday, I got a call that one of them could come right away, so home we went.

The plumber said that there was a lot of food built up in the pipes, so the marinara must have been the perfect consistency to block it completely. I knew he had cleared the clog, but he and his son were still working away on something, so I peeked in and asked what was up. They were trying to improve our kitchen sink's water pressure, which made me laugh because our usual plumber was also trying to fix it last time. The pressure's been bad since we bought the house and we just live with it, but apparently it bugs those in the plumbing world. He also wasn't happy with how our disposal kicks water up into the other sink when it runs, so he fixed that, too! He only charged me the price he quoted over the phone, so I'm very pleased with how it turned out.

And I've learned my lesson. 'The garbage disposal is not a trash can.' Got it. :) 

Bloomington Fun

We had a wonderful side trip to Bloomington last weekend/beginning of this week. We got into town Sunday and did brunch (Village Deli), some shopping, and checked into our hotel. We chose a hotel downtown which was very convenient--Em and I walked to get bagels for everyone at BBC (Bloomington Bagel Company...our old love) both mornings, and we were all able to walk to restaurants and WonderLab. They still had the square strung with lights for Christmas, which used to be one of my favorite sights to see. It was a great time to visit, too, because IU was still on winter break.

Back to Sunday, we first headed out to Ben, Adie, and Gordon's house, and then we all headed to Gene and Donna's house for dinner with them and with Joan and Joe (all friends from Waycross). We talked about getting together back at Gordon's baptism in November, especially since they hadn't seen Emily in years. I'm so glad that it all worked out for us to go--it was so great to see everyone and to catch up.

Juni, Lewis, and Jaden (G&D's grandson) playing well together, at first. :)

Notice how tidy all of the Legos are, too, in that bucket. Soon the bucket was totally empty, thanks to Big Lew.

 Soon, I walked in to find Jaden and Juni, barring Lewis from stepping anywhere near the Lego table. :)

I think Jaden said Lewis was just too messy...Lew WAS dumping out Legos everywhere and then shuffling them around the floor with his feet, so I don't blame J&J for taking a stand. it was pretty funny. Later, Adie found Lewis crying in Jaden's room where they were all playing...apparently, Juni had shut Lewis in the closet in Jaden's room. Poor buddy--I couldn't stop laughing. :)

Gordon and Ben watching football

I mainly took this picture because G was wearing the shirt I made him back at his baby shower last year (er, technically the year before that...December 2012)! Hard to believe he'll be ONE this month! 

So that evening was awesome. We'd planned to go to WonderLab on Monday morning, but I found out Sunday evening that it isn't open on Mondays. Instead, we went to a bouncy place that Adie had told us about last time we were in town. It was awesome and huge! They had a toddler area, separate from the big kid area, and lots of arcade games. Juni and Lewis sufficiently ran around and bounced and did all of the slides. They then discovered the awesomeness of arcade games and winning tickets, so we spent the rest of our time helping them win enough tickets for some crappy loot and Dum Dum suckers. :)

 Bouncing Together

 Sliding Together

After the bouncy place, we met Adie for lunch/beer at Upland while Ben had to do some work. I made a mistake and ordered a funky non-Upland beer. It was the strangest-tasting beer I've ever had in my life...Emily thought it tasted like Fresca. It was kind of gin+tonic-y/Pine Sol-y to me, too. Just strange. I think it was a Berliner Weisse--wikipedia says that usually it's served with something else to counteract the sourness. That sounds about right! I should have gone with something I know. Oh well. :)

 Juni, holding hands with the boys at lunch

My sweet buddies, Gordon and Otis, chilling back at the hotel :) 

Swimming! Haha...I was trying to take a pic of Lewis jumping in and got Kevin's awesome reaction, instead. Golden. :)

Otis and I hung out on the sidelines while everyone else swam. He got in for a few minutes (1st time!), but he wasn't a fan. Auntie Schwee (me) was happy to hang out with him, poolside. :) 

Ben and Adie were heading out, so someone suggested we take a group picture. We all piled on the bed and set the timer for four attempts. Of course none of them captured all of us smiling/looking at the camera/eyes open/etc., but they're still pretty good, considering the number/ages of people, I'd say: 

 

 

 

I almost peed my pants, seeing Joe's face in the last two. :) He pulled that stunt a few years ago, too, and it's still funny now. I just now noticed that Juni's eyes are closed in 3 of the 4...now I'm laughing and almost crying. :) Good times.

After B&A&G left, we walked to Trojan Horse for dinner. We were crammed into a very small booth because that's all they have, but the food was good: 

 Our basketcase

Otis tasting a lemon :)

Our last morning, we headed out to WonderLab (science/children's museum). It's pretty small (compared to ours), and it was very, very busy that day, probably because it was a very cold day. I even recognized a few parents from the bouncy place the day before!

 Cousins watching the Chuckwalla (lizard)

 Dada's Head on a Platter

Their special exhibit was about mirrors, and I must say, the first time I walked by this, I did a double-take to figure out how/why someone's head was sitting on a platter. Lewis thought it was pretty funny.

Microscope Lessons with Auntie Schwee (Em)

One last stop for lunch at Macri's before heading our separate ways:

 

Juni and Lewis' goodbye on the floor sums up how they seemed to feel about each other most of our visit. Tension/tears one minute and the sweetest hug the next. :) To be fair, I think they might have fallen over each other to the floor this time, causing the tears. But, still. :)

For Otis, Lew reserved a light smack to the face. :)

It was very gentle, actually. More like a laying of the hand.

We had such a nice time. It had been 13 months since we'd seen the Bergstroms, so the goal is to not let that much time pass before the next visit. Hopefully we can get out to Idaho (or elsewhere, West) to see them this summer. Until then, I will fantasize about living a few minutes away from each other, dropping in whenever we feel like chatting or need a break from our kids...

Resolutions

Some resolutions for the new year:

Complain Less and/or Do More to Change Things Within my Control
I've been trying to do this the past few months and will try to continue. I had a couple of reflective days this fall and realized just how much I complain! Instead, I'm trying to do something about it. Most things truly are within my control, so it feels nice to see little changes happening. 

Read More Books
Which I guess could also be 'Read less celebrity gossip websites, Facebook, CNN, etc.' The mindless internet time waste is such a waste, and I forgot how much I really like to read. I still have about 10 parenting books I should read, but I forgot how nice it is to read something I really want to read. I'm in the middle of Mindy Kaling's book right now and laughing out loud a lot. I need more of that! I have shelves of books downstairs that I've, at some point, wanted to read enough to buy them (for 50 cents at Goodwill, at least)--I need to get on that.

Do More for Others 
I've been doing some volunteer park restoration work since Fall 2012, and that has been a nice dip back into my 'old' life, doing outdoor work I enjoy and getting to know people with interests similar to mine. It requires me to get Kevin or Kevin's parents to watch Lewis, though, so that sometimes is more hassle than it's worth. (I'm very thankful to them, of course.) I'm going to try to continue that work this spring, and I might look for something that Lewis can help with. I know that some places have age restrictions, so we might not be able to do much yet.

Do More, In General
It's hard on some days to feel like I'm accomplishing much of anything as a stay-at-home-mom (other than raising a good kid, I hope). It's just so different from a 9-5 job where you have a to-do list, you accomplish things, you get feedback from a boss, etc. 
It's hard for me to feel good about cleaning a bathroom, for instance. [Though some days I think I should receive an award for cleaning a bathroom with a toddler trying to play in said bathroom at the same time, without losing my mind.] :)
I think what I mean is that I want to do more things that have meaning to me. For example, I enjoy making things, so I should make more things. Something like that. :) In addition to my 'job' of keeping the house clean-ish.

Work to Improve Daily Routine
Almost 3 years in, now, our daily routine is pretty set. There are still a few areas where we get caught up sometimes and have troubles, though...like at the end of the day when I'm trying to make dinner. I need to do a better job of thinking ahead and doing some prep work ahead of time, when needed. I enjoy cooking, but I also need to save some of the more complicated recipes for the weekends when Kevin is here to help with Lewis. 

'Tis a New Year

 Peter pretty much sums up how I feel on this first day of the new year:

:)

Since he was resting on Kevin's pillow, I made the bed around him so that he could catch a few more zzzs. 

He and Hattie spent a few more nights at the dog hotel, so they're probably extra tired from that. We had a fun couple of days up in Bloomington, but now I feel tired and possibly more sick than I was. The cold is officially at 2 weeks now (for Lewis and I...a few days less for Kevin), and I feel like I might have some flu going on, too.

Lewis slept from around 8pm last night until 9:40am this morning, so I'm not sure if he's also feeling worse, or if he just needs to catch up from missing naps the past few days. His cough is still pretty awful-sounding, so we might have to go to the pediatrician tomorrow.

I'll work on posting pics from our Bloomington trip soon.

Christmas Break Adventures: Rest of Day 6/Christmas Day

We drove from my parents' house to our house on Christmas day to drop off our things and load up gifts for Kevin's family. Lewis had fallen asleep about 30 minutes from our house in Louisville, so he slept through the whole unloading and reloading part, the 30 minute drive to Kevin's parents' house, and another 15-20 minutes in their driveway. :) Once he woke up, we went inside to see everyone, open gifts, and have a late lunch/early dinner.

 Opening his stocking

 What a cool Chuggington track!

 Posing with his new Lightning McQueen Big Wheel

Which came with no instruction book...Kevin found directions online, but they weren't for that exact model and left out some steps. We had a heck of a time trying to get it together (Lewis wanting to climb on it constantly certainly didn't help). We realized (near the end, of course) that we should have put the decorative stickers on first, so we have to take it all apart and redo it--that will have to wait for another day. :) The good thing is, he seems to love it!

Playing with his new train track with Grandma

We had a very nice visit at his parents' house, and by the end of the day we were exhausted. I'd still like to come up with a better way of doing things so that we're not all over the place that day, but for now this is what we do. We thought about having Lewis open his gifts from us on the morning of the 26th, but we decided to go ahead and push through to open them that evening. If I'd been thinking, we could have/should have just taken our gifts to him with us to my parents' house because Juniper had gifts there from Em/Joe and Lewis didn't have any from us. Anywho...

There were just a couple: 

 Happy to find m&m's in his stocking :)

We got him a couple of t-shirts and his one request, a big green tractor:

Happy boy!

Kevin and I felt horrible Christmas morning as he was opening gifts because he asked about the tractor as he was opening things--we looked at each other like, 'WHY DIDN'T WE BRING IT?!' Oopsy. We had to tell him that there were gifts for him at Gramma/Papaw's, Grandma/Grandpa's, and our house, too, and thankfully he had many other great gifts to play with.

He woke up the next morning at 5:30am, but we put him in our bed and all slept in until after 8:30--hooray! We've all had a cold that just won't quit, but I think we are at the end of it now, thank goodness. He'd picked it up at school last week before break, and I got it a few days after him, followed by Kevin.

Since Christmas, we've just been taking it easy here at home. We were supposed to meet up with some of Kevin's friends from high school on the 26th, but we had to cancel because of our colds. Lewis has been taking looong naps (hooray!), so we were able to take advantage of the nice weather to work outside, cutting up some bush honeysuckle that we removed right before the big(ish) snow a few weeks ago. We've unpacked and organized all of Lewis' new stuff, and we went yesterday to see Frozen, which was cute. Lewis sat through the whole thing! He wouldn't keep the 3-D glasses on, but he did sit still. Some mini m&ms might have helped...

I've (clearly) taken the morning 'off' today to catch up on blogging, and Kevin will be out of commission this afternoon for his favorite sports day of the year--the UL vs. UK basketball game, followed by a UL football bowl game. He and Lewis spent the morning dropping off our recycling and our Christmas tree and taking our cars to the car wash. When we got home from our trip, our tree was super droopy and dead and shedding, even though we left it full of water, so we went ahead and took it down on the 26th.

I'm going to hope that the majority of people in Louisville will probably be home watching the big game around 4pm today, so I'm going to run to Target--tomorrow we're off again to see Emily, Joe, Juni, and Otis in Bloomington/Brown County. Looking forward to more fun now that we've had a few days' rest. :)

Happy holidays to all!

Christmas Break Adventures: Day 5 and First Half of 6

Emily wanted to take a sister side-trip while we were in town, so she and I ran to Muncie on Christmas Eve morning for Concannon's bakery (for donuts, cake, and pie, oh my!), Goodwill, and Target. Target wasn't as bad as I expected, and I'm glad we went away for a bit, just the two of us.

Christmas Eve, my mom's side of the family came over for a party, church, and then more party afterwards. Joe also flew in that day, so my aunt/uncle who live in Indy picked him up on their way over to my parents' house.

Juni and Lewis, dressed up for Christmas Eve

Resting up for the party by watching some 'toons

 Getting ready for church

Lewis did ok...he seemed to like the singing, but he was pretty restless during the other parts of the service so Kevin took him out to the play room a few times.

Christmas Eve 2013 

 Sweet baby Otis, ready for bed!

 He'd been laying on Emily's lap, thus the slobbery spots.

 We had fun setting out cookies, carrots, and a beer for Santa (Juniper came up with that) and setting out the stockings and gifts for Juni and Lew.

Christmas morning, we were awakened by a knock on the door from Juni, saying that it was Christmas and time to get up! 

 

Reading a new book with Otis' new Otis tractor

 

Christmas morning snuggles for Juni :)

After opening gifts, we had a nice breakfast and packed up for the drive home and then to Kevin's parents' house. Part 2 of Christmas day, to be continued...