A Team Weeks 216 & 217: Adventures with Grandma & Papa

To say I am behind on my blogging is a bit of an understatement.  In the almost seven years that I have been doing this I don't think I've ever gotten this far behind.  However, with a baby coming literally any day now as I write this I am determined to catch up, even if my stories are somewhat brief.  Here goes...

During November 5-18th we enjoyed not just A Team weeks 216 & 217, but we also enjoyed a lot of visiting time with Grandma and Papa.  Week 216 started off pretty much normal, but on Thursday night my parents came down for a short visit with our family and my brother's family.

November 5th FB Post: I’ve wanted one of these light up ceramic Christmas trees for years as they remind me fondly of my grandma...so when I saw one for 1/2 off I couldn’t resist! The boys couldn’t wait until after thanksgiving to light it up and honestly I’m glad I could use them as an excuse! 😂

On Tuesday it was VIP (Very Important Person) Lunch Day at Asher's school, so Eric picked up some McDonalds and enjoyed lunch and recess with our boy...and apparently a bunch of other kids that were starved for some adult attention.

November 6: “Our Family” by Avery.  I posted this to Facebook and the comments that followed cracked me up:Matt S: Do you guys wear cloths?
My Response: "Skin colored body suits only!"Gail S: "Looks like everyone gets a belly button!"Judy P's Response: "Except Daddy"
Sarah D: "Sword hands"Christine D: "This would make an adorable Christmas card"Kelly P: "Looks like the ‘Acorn’ family 😊😂 How cute!"My Response: "We are pretty corny! "Rose B: "So darn cute. Which one is you? LOL"My Response: "He told me it goes Avery, Asher, Mommy, Daddy from left to right."Rose B's Response: "Tracy Migrin I see how, you have a belly! LOL. So cute."Samantha B: "You've changed since last I saw you..."

On Wednesday Eric and I had a very silly argument about whether or not it is appropriate for Asher to  wear sweatpants (aka jogging pants specifically NOT athletic or wind pants) to school.  Since Asher has been growing like crazy lately he was in desperate need of some new pants.  I bought him 4 pairs including two pairs of jeans, one pair of black and red athletic pants and one pair of gray sweat/jogging pants.  When Asher went to wear the gray sweatpants to school that day Eric told him to see if Mommy was okay with him wearing them.  I had purchased them, so yeah I was okay with it.  Apparently, Eric was not.  I went to facebook to try and settle the dispute and overwhelmingly the response was that it was definitely fine.  However, the pants have still not been worn to school, and I doubt they ever will be.  Eric just finds it too sloppy and doesn't want our boys to be "that kid"...something I never would have guessed would be an issue in our household until now...live and learn!

On Thursday, November 8, Asher got to go on a field trip to the Betty Brinn Children's Museum in Milwaukee with his classmates and other first graders.

As I said, Grandma and Papa arrived at our house to visit on Thursday evening.  Since I don't work on Fridays that gave us an extra day to spend together.  It was also the day that we woke up to the first snowfall of the winter.  Avery was pretty stoked!

"Pirate Face"

That morning, I had my 30 week ultrasound and since my mom was in town, I figured she would enjoy coming along.  The lady told us that I was only allowed to bring in one adult so at first my mom couldn't join us, but at the end she went back out and got my mom so she could see the baby.  I think she enjoyed the experience as it was the only ultrasound she's seen since mine almost 40 years ago!  Unfortunately, the baby continued with 'his' determination to be uncooperative so we were not able to see 'his' face, but we were able to see that 'he' is growing very well (maybe a bit too well) and that 'he' already has some hair!

While Mom, Eric and I were at the hospital, Asher was at school so Avery hung out with Papa and ran some errands.  When the ultrasound was finished, Eric headed to work while Mom and I went to my OB appointment and then met up with Avery and my dad for a late breakfast.  When that was finished it was time to head to Asher's school and pick him up for the day.

Once we were back home, Grandma entertained the kids (including Emma) while I got some rest.  They even went for a bike ride and the boys quickly learned that riding in the snow is not easy.

FB Post: Emma is livin’ it up with her favorite person #lonelygranddaughter

That evening, the boys and I headed over to Alpaca Art to pick up our finished pottery creations (after they had been excitedly asking me when they would be ready All.Week.Long).  Then, once Eric got home from work we all went out for dinner at Pizza Hut.

Asher's Lego Box.

My Owl Mug

Avery's Dragon Mug

Video: Pizza Hut Groovin'

Avery reading with Grandma and Papa before bed on Friday night.

On Saturday of Week 216, Grandma and Papa said their goodbyes to us all and then headed over to my brother's house to celebrate our nephew Hudson's 5th birthday with him.  We spent the remainder of the weekend just chilling out at home.

Eric taught the boys how to make telephones from cups and string.  They were amazed.

Avery and I working on his Jurassic Park Lego.

On Monday, we started off A Team Week 217 in the normal fashion again...

Video: War Head

Asher tried a War Head from his Halloween candy stash for the first time...

On Wednesday, this notification popped up on my phone and I couldn't help but laugh...

FB Post: Is it coincidence that the first winter storm of the season is named Avery and will bring headaches? ...probably not.😂

On Friday, Avery and I shared a very enjoyable morning at home together.  He was amazingly content printing and coloring superheroes for much of the morning, so I grasped the opportunity to get some things done on my computer.  As he colored The Hulk though, I was quite amused by the question, "Mom, what color are Hulk’s toenails?"

This kid LOVES to color (probably his FAVORITE thing to do) and he concentrates so hard while doing so.  If you tell him, "Avery, you are a good colorer" he will respond, "Yeah, I know." :P  Hope it doesn't go to his head! :)

In addition to coloring/computer time, Avery and I also enjoyed watching a little Netflix together while sipping some hot chocolate in our new mugs.

FB Post: The ‘Bump’ & I enjoying a warm cup of cocoa with my new mug 💕

That evening, we were joined again by Grandma who came down to spend some time with our family and my brother's family once again while my dad was back home focusing on one of the U.P.'s biggest holidays: Hunting Season.  Originally, my mom wasn't going to join us until Saturday but since there was snow in the forecast she decided to come down Friday afternoon.  It was a good thing she did because the forecast was actually correct for a change and we received another nice blanket of very heavy, very wet snow that morning, which the boys COULD NOT WAIT to play in...and that they did, even making snowmen for the very first time on their own!...

When the boys were finished with their snowmen, we had promised them that we could go to Sam's Club for lunch and samples of their pre-Thanksgiving day goodies.  Once everyone was ready to go, we headed out to Eric's vehicle.  I got in first and my mom was close behind.  The car's doors were all closed and the radio was on as we waited for everyone else to get in.  Soon after though I heard Eric yelling from outside.  Apparently Avery had followed mom to the car (the opposite side he normally gets in) and was reaching to get in as she slammed the door shut.  My mom said she even looked to make sure no one was there before she closed it, but he was off to the side by the gas tank and short enough not to reach the windows.  As I'm sure you've guessed by now, he got his middle and ring fingers on his right hand slammed into the door.  Eric had been behind him with Asher and didn't notice right away either because it was one of those moments of pain that Avery held his breath for a good 20-30 seconds before letting out terrible screams.  :(  Even with the screams we could barely hear him in the car with the radio on until Eric yelled to us.  Mom opened the door immediately once we knew what was going on and the poor guy was beside himself in pain.

Eric scooped him up and we ran into the house with him to inspect the damage.  His middle finger had gotten the brunt of it and was swelling with a decent gouge out of the side.  He couldn't move his finger and I have never seen either of my boys in even close to that amount of pain.  We decided it would be best to take him into the ER.  Eric was going to take him alone and I would stay home with Mom and Asher (since Asher was also quite traumatized by the event and very concerned about his little brother), but Avery did not want Mommy to leave his side.  So, Grandma stayed home with Asher (who was VERY upset that I was leaving him during the crisis) and Eric, Avery and I headed to the hospital.

Once at the ER, Eric dropped Avery and I off at the door while he quickly headed out to pick up some lunch for us as we had no idea how long we'd be there and hadn't eaten yet.  In the meantime, Avery continued to cry as I'd never heard before and we waited to be called back.  By the time Eric had gotten back to the hospital (which was only 10 minutes at the most) Avery had literally cried himself to sleep next to me.  Shortly after they called us back and Eric carried him into the emergency room.  There, we waited for someone to take a look at his finger while Avery was given a chocolate shake from Daddy and full control of the TV remote (which he was very happy about).  After someone arrived to take a look at his finger he received some X-Rays of his hand.  Once they had confirmed that it was not broken (thankfully!) they cleaned him up, bandaged his fingers and sent us home.  It was definitely a memorable experience for all, but one I'd like to avoid happening again!

Avery's fingers were pretty sore, but once he was bandaged up and quite happy to get to show everyone the pictures of his 'skelteton' he was doing much better.  By that evening, he said it 'barely did not hurt any more' and was willing to let Mommy and Daddy go out on a date to see Fantastic Beasts while he, Asher and Grandma stayed home to have a party of their own.  They made a fort in the basement and Asher made sandwiches for everyone for dinner all by himself, taking orders and all.  It was a good way to end a traumatic day!

The next day we ended out the week by making the trip to Sam's Club that we had attempted the day before.  We enjoyed a cheap lunch, free samples and then picked up some groceries.  Then we spent the rest of our day relaxing at home for one more day with Grandma before she headed off to my brother's house on Monday.

For some reason, Asher wanted his picture taken with these pickles...

...so of course Avery needed one too!

Eric also had Avery show Grammy M (via messaged picture) how strong Protein makes him! :)