Blessed Beyond Measure: A Team Week 85a: This & That

The first part of this week was pretty much everyday routine with some fun and annoyances mixed in...

We did our chores. Avery helped me clean up the kitchen and both the boys helped Eric mow the lawn. This was Avery's first time "mowing the lawn" and he had a hard time at first figuring out what to do. Once he figured it out and learned that he needed to follow Eric and not try to bump into him, he did a great job and payed very close attention to Eric. He would watch closely and then get distracted for a bit. When he started paying attention again and realized that Eric and turned around he would promptly turn around with his mower and start off again to follow Daddy.

We played and made silly faces. On Wednesday afternoon after a tough morning together (**see below for the tough morning part) the boys and I headed to Meijer to pick up some supplies. As a special afternoon snack and to keep them occupied and happy while we were there I gave each of them a sucker that we had at home with giant lips on it. They happily ate away getting some funny smiles from passersby. When we were all done, Avery and everything within a 2 foot radius of him was a terrible sticky mess!

**Tough Morning: On Wednesday as always it was my day off. I didn't really want to do anything that day but hang out at home. However, both of the boys were very grumpy and whiney (and driving me a bit mad) so I decided that we needed to get out of the house and go to playgroup. We went outside and since the weather wasn't too bad and walking is easier than loading everyone up in the van we got our stuff together. Asher wanted to ride his bike to church while Avery and I walked, but we couldn't find his bike helmet. I was walking around the garage looking for it and talking to Asher (in other words not paying attention to my feet below). As I was exiting the garage I stepped on something and felt a disgusting crunch below my foot and along with that went an equally terrible noise. Slowly, I looked down to see what I had stepped on, praying it had been one of the boys' toys. However, what I found was a dead bird that had just been crushed under the weight of my foot. Disgusted by what had happened, I screamed, jumped to the side and then proceeded to coach myself to not throw up! I grabbed what we needed and closed the garage door, leaving the bird for Eric to pick up when he got back home. We headed to playgroup where both of the boys refused to leave my side for almost the entire time we were there and Avery was clinging to me and crying every time I moved, thinking I was going to leave him there. With things not going well we left early and headed back home, where Asher continued to remind me of the dead bird in the garage that I desperately wanted to forget for the rest.of.the.day!

We made dinner. That (Wednesday) evening, we had Hobo Dinners for dinner. Asher is on a kick lately of really wanting to help with food preparation. So, while I cut up the potatoes and carrots and placed them in the foil with the hamburger and spices, Asher went to town on a potato. He cleaned a raw potato, worked on "cutting" it up with a butter knife, stabbed it a few times with what was left of his sucker stick and then poured some salt and pepper on it. When dinner was ready, he insisted on eating his potato that he had prepared...still raw mind you. We let him eat a fair amount and then made him eat his dinner instead. I felt bad later when I found out that potatoes are not exactly good to eat raw, but thankfully he didn't have any issues.

We got ready for the day. Our morning routine can be a little hectic as Eric and I both attempt to get as much sleep as possible and then have to get ourselves and two boys ready for the day. Lately though, when Asher is in the right mood he can be quite helpful. He is getting very good at getting himself dressed and on Friday morning he picked out his entire outfit and got dressed up all by himself...and for the most part he did a great job...just one little mistake...

We got ready for bed. On Thursday night it was my turn to put Avery to bed and it was a moment that I will store away in my heart and treasure forever. As we enjoyed our bedtime cuddles in the nursery rocking chair, he began pushing and pulling my face in the direction he wanted it to go (a little game we play). After doing it a few times, I began to surprise him with a kiss when he'd turn my face back towards him. Catching on quickly he began to pull my face toward him over and over again several times, each time planting a big slobbery kiss on my lips. As he did so, I began to laugh and then he followed suit. Together we sat cuddling and giggling as we shared bedtime kisses. <3

We took care of each other. This week ended with Mother's Day and while I will not post on that right now, I will show how the work week ended and the weekend began...When I pulled into the driveway at home on Friday night, I was met by all three of my boys planting gorgeous tulips for me along the driveway!! So thoughtful! Eric did later tell me with a sigh though that "if you ever wonder if planting a dozen tulips with two little boys would be a good idea, it's not!" :) Then once everyone was cleaned up we enjoyed the super warm evening (it was still about 86 degrees out when I got home from work) with an outside dinner at Culver's.