Blessed Beyond Measure: A Team Week 101: Callin' in the Big Guns

Being a mom is wonderful, but it is not without its challenges. It is exhausting and unstopping, and most days we can make do without too much additional help, but this week we had to call in the big guns:

That's right. There is only so much a mom and dad can do on their own. Sometimes you need outside help and this week that outside help included a can of Stink Stoppers for my toddler's disgustingly smelling little feet and a DQ Salted Caramel Truffle Blizzard Treat (they are AMAZING) to take the edge off. For more information, continue...but now that I'm thinking of it, maybe I should be getting paid for the blog advertising!? ;)

To start, my little almost-2-year-old is freely exercising his independence these days, insisting on wearing specific attire, refusing to listen to any of my instructions/warnings/demands, and fighting me tooth and nail when he doesn't get his way. I love the kid, but man he can drive a momma crazy at times!

Avery very proud of his Superman onesie which he barely fits in but INSISTED on wearing that morning!

Avery making a grocery tower in my Meijer shopping cart despite my several attempts to keep him from crushing all of our purchases. It was a rough grocery trip. I have no idea how Eric does this frequently without me. Shopping with both kids in tow is typically a nightmare for me!

In addition to my littlest wanting to separate himself from his parents, my oldest was also over tired and whiney for much of the week (which added to the crazy during my Meijer shopping trip...by the end of that Wednesday all I could think about was my DQ blizzard and baby bedtime!).

Even the yard wasn't behaving when we noticed things swarming around and then found that all of our grass was covered in tiny red ants and larger winged ants. It was like some sort of creepy plague straight out of Genesis, but thankfully, it only lasted about an half hour and we have not seen them since!

As the weekend approached, things started to settle down and everyone was doing much better. Avery's shoes no longer made me want to pass out every time I walked by them and both of the boys were less whiney and much more agreeable.

Avery talking the "dog" for walk...at least they were playing well together.

When we woke up to a rainy day on Saturday morning and realized that our plans for time outside at the Harbor Market probably weren't going to work, Eric suggested the idea of taking the kids to their first movie. There wasn't much else that we could do, and I liked the idea of a lazy morning so we headed off to Sturtevant Marcus Cinemas for a 10:15 showing of The Secret Life of Pets.

We had no idea how the boys would do. Asher has only had much interest in watching movies for the last year or so, while Avery loves the little amount of TV time that he gets, but can't sit still long. Even so, Eric and I were willing to give it a shot knowing that we may just have to leave before the movie is finished. Thankfully that didn't happen. The boys did great! We got some popcorn to munch on (which was a big help to keep them still) and Eric had the forethought to bring additional small bowls so each boy could hold his own popcorn. They both thoroughly enjoyed our time at the movies and only started to get antsy in the last 15 minutes or so. And, as an added bonus, Avery's reactions to the movie were absolutely priceless! He was so animated, providing his own commentary throughout (lots of uh ohs!), pointing and laughter. At one point in the movie, the dogs were in dog heaven as they feasted on sausages in a sausage factory and the sausages literally danced around them (click here to see). Avery followed suit, stood up on top of the seat of his chair and started to dance right along with the sausages!

The boys and I headed in to our first family movie.

Asher heading into the screen room.

My movie dates.

Totally engrossed in the movie.

After the movie, Avery had a lot of energy to burn off, which was obvious as he ran around the cinema lobby and climbed under the tables and chairs. ...does anyone know who's child that is?... Since I knew the boys were not quite ready for naps yet, we detoured at Sam's Club on the way home and had samples for lunch. (don't judge) The kids were thrilled to try all of the samples and Asher even said that the smoked salmon on a cracker was "really yummy" (barf). For a brief moment it seemed that our fun morning may take a bad turn as Asher's hopes and dreams were dashed when we realized that the Sam's Club sample machine was out of order. Thankfully, though things quickly turned around when we left the store and the man at the exit gave us 10 bags of Finding Dory fruit snack samples! The kiddos were super excited and it gave Eric and I more "Big Guns" to convince the kids to take naps so that they could have their fruit snacks afterward! :)

After nap time, the rest of the day was a pretty typical Saturday for us. Eric purchased a new fire pit, so we enjoyed some hot dogs over the fire for dinner and the boys enjoyed playing in the box it came in. We also had a little photoshoot with the boys for Avery's birthday party invitations.

Two boys in a box.

While the photoshoot was for Avery, Asher wanted to get in on a few. I offered to have him in the pictures too, but he just wanted one driving the truck and then rode his bike (often in front of the camera) the rest of the time.

He tipped the cooler over and landed on his butt. Rather than crying, he thought it was really funny!

Emma wanted in on the photoshoot too!

Asher kept riding in front of the camera and got really upset when I told him to ride behind us. He was obviously feeling left out even though he said he didn't want to be in the pictures, so we took a few with him too...red-eyed and all.

Future Heisman Award Winner?

Heisman Trophy

When Saturday came to an end, I grabbed the camera one last time to capture Avery's 23 month photos. How is he going to be two in just a couple of weeks!!??

My little goofball!

Sunday was another good day which started out with a boys' bike ride to Meijer for our standard Sunday donuts.

CHEESE!!! The boys are enjoying their cup of fruit before riding back home.

When the boys got back from Meijer, we finished up our breakfast and got ready for church. Eric and I had our last week of the month volunteering in the Toddler Room. Note: Fifteen 2 year olds for almost 2 hours is exhausting!. Near the end of the time, Eric pulled out the "Big Guns" again and we all played parachute together. The kids LOVED it!

When church was over, we attempted naps but the boys just weren't having it. Thankfully though the "Big Guns" saved the day again and this time not by our doing... Just as Asher got up from his "rest", there was a knock at the door. I almost ignored it thinking it was someone selling something but since Asher went running to the door to get it, I figured I had to open it. When I opened the door, I found Caleb standing in front of me! Erika had texted earlier and asked if we'd be around for a visit, but in the chaos of trying to get the boys to sleep and trying to get some rest myself I completely forgot about it! So, while I was kind of dreading the next 4 hours until bedtime with two cranky, un-napped boys, Aaron, Erika and company saved the day with a wonderful visit, fun for the cousins and our last Big Star meal of the summer! It was so nice to see them all and catch up after a very busy summer, and also a great way to end the week!