A Little About Logan

The kids and I went to the library on Friday. Bergen fell asleep on the (maybe 5 minute) drive there, so I loaded her into the stroller, Logan hopped on and we made our way to the building.

Logan wanted to look at the movies first, so after choosing a few (8), we headed for the books, where we ended up with 14! I couldn't believe it. We were only there for 15 minutes! We did find several for *beginning readers though so that was something new. And we chose a few we thought Bergen would like. (She slept through the trip and almost through the night!)


I decided to surprise my boy and took a detour to Sonic before going home. We each got a drink and an order of mozzarella sticks to share.

Logan wanted root beer so I asked if the Barq's was caffeine free when ordering. I was told it was, but wasn't sure. Still, I got it because I couldn't talk him into Sprite. (I, myself, had a Lemon Berry slush. Mmmmmm.)

I secretly watched Logan for a little while when we got home to see if the caffeine might have an affect on him. I didn't notice anything. I did wonder later if maybe it had done something to his brain though... because he said,

"Mom, why does Woof's root beer have caffeine?"

Woof's. Barq's. It's all the same. Isn't it?



Well this silly episode reminded me of a time when my nephew Brandon was little. Maybe a year older than Logan is now.

His mom (my sister) had done his hair using some mousse and apparently he liked it because a few days later

he asked if he could have some "fox" on his hair!

Kids are so funny sometimes!


*Logan has started spelling out words and thinks its really cool when he actually sounds out and letters and gets it right! We think its cool too.

"Mommy! Look What I Can Do!"

I was at a cub scout training meeting in Indy ALL DAY last Saturday. Craig was nice enough to turn down work so I wouldn't have to find a sitter for the kids.

The meeting was great! I learned a ton and felt like my cup was filled for the first time in a long time.

The fam had a busy day too. There was much to be shared when I got home. Craig had taken the kids to Columbian Park, to Dairy Queen for ice cream cones, and they had played, played, and played. In fact, they were still outside playing when I pulled up.

I had to laugh when even before I got out of the car Logan was yelling, "Mommy, look what I can do!"

*The following are all videos. When I finally figure out how to make them run I'll redo this post.

 

How do you like that action?!

 

 

Craig had been working with him for about 15 minutes when I got home a little after 6:00pm. I was so excited I ran to get the camera before I even took time to say hello.

I took over 45 videos of Logan riding his bike. Riding his bike! It was a birthday gift when he turned three and he's ridden it fine with training wheels. I guess one fell off while he was riding Saturday so he asked Craig to remove the other. The rest is history.

By 8:00pm Logan had moved up to a bigger bike and was riding the length of four houses before turning around and heading home. He was having a wonderful time and didn't want to stop (as you can imagine), but it started getting dark so we talked him into going in the house.

Our big boy did a great job on Saturday night and has been improving ever since! I'm glad I didn't miss it and I couldn't be more proud! Craig will modestly tell you he's just like his dad. (Who coincidentally also learned to ride a bike when he was four years old.) By the way, they've already been on a mile ride around the neighborhood together...



Bergen had some things to show me too... Look what she can do!

 

 

She loves music so I asked her to sing for the camera. I thought it was cute when she yelled stop at the end. And of course she had to show us how she could ride her bike. We gave it to her for her birthday in January and she's just now to the place where she can reach the pedals.

Goodbye

So long, farewell, auf Wiedersehen, goodbye.

I said goodbye to my Outback today. A guy from Michigan came down to look at it last week and after numerous phone calls and emails to Craig, he returned today to pick it up. I took it for one last drive when I went to get Logan from school this morning; and that's when it hit me... I haven't truly been attached to a car since my dad gave me his 1969 MGB GT when I was a junior in high school!


Speaking of goodbyes, we will be bidding farewell to life as we know it very soon. Craig was one of those who will be laid off from Caterpillar the end of May.

Obviously we'd heard rumors and suspected this was coming, and we've been planning and preparing for it,
but I'm not ready! Craig is.

The man has been working non-stop for 25+ years
and is looking forward to taking a break. I completely understand his feelings and agree that he deserves one. (Not that it'll be any kind of vacation for him with two small children underfoot.) I also appreciate his strength.
I feel like I should be there for him, but he gets that I'm the one who is having a hard time with all of this and
he's there for me.

There are times when I feel numb.

I'm sure we'll be alright in the long run. It's just that I never anticipated that I'd be the working mom while my husband took on the role of stay-at-home dad.

I don't want to leave my "babies". Not because I'm
selfish and don't think Craig can take care of them, and not because staying home with them is easy. I guess I just never thought to go over this scenario in my mind and can't quite wrap my head around it. Maybe it would be different if the kids were in school...

That being said, there's a tiny, little part of me that's actually excited about picking up some work. After all, Craig and I are a team and it's my turn to go to bat.

The Children's Museum

Last Thursday Logan, Bergen and I went to the Children's Museum with Margot, Zach, and Eli. We had planned to go several months ago to see the Curious George exhibit, but never made it. This time the draw was the Lego exhibit, and it was great fun!


The first thing we saw? Lego construction workers! And we weren't even inside the building yet. Cute.

 

Once inside, the Lego's were first on our list to see. Upon entering the walls of this magical exhibit, I saw my children change...

Perhaps Logan will grow up to be a knight and protect the fair maidens in the land. (The big guy in this picture was 3-dimensional, but his magnificence could not be captured in the photo.)

 

Maybe he'll defend the castle from dragon attacks! Or maybe he'll be a dragon. Of course Bergen will be just like him. It's a good thing she won't be growing up to be a knight. In case you didn't know, Zach is already Lancelot in her eyes.

 

Without a doubt Logan will be well skilled at jousting and will take on all who challenge him.

 

When Bergen ventures beyond the areas of safety within the castle, she will surely have a desire to show compassion to those who are imprisoned and must certainly visit them often. She will have the sense not to get too close however.

 

Much of her time will be spent gaining knowledge in the castle library, where she may one day become well read in the science of dragons. A kind and sincere girl, she will be happy to share her passion with others.

 

Could Eli possibly have an interest in Dragonology too?

 

Time spent in the castle was fleeting, but there were other areas of the kingdom to explore. (The museum was closing at 5pm and after at least an hour of make believe it was time to seek adventure elsewhere.)

Fare thee well ye royal knights and maiden.

 

A couple of other places the kids enjoyed (and where I took pictures) were the Playscape and Carousel.

Bergen would have stayed at the water table all day if she'd been able to. She is definitely a water baby and was enjoying her element!

 

Or so I thought.

She transitioned quite nicely to the sand table and it took both Logan and myself to pull her away from the stuff.

 

There was still much to see, but our time was running short, so lastly we headed for the carousel. I couldn't get Logan to go near it a couple of years ago so was happy that he wanted to get on and ride a "jumper" this time. Bergen, being under 3, was resigned to riding a stationary animal. I think it was nice that she was able to choose a reindeer for herself.

 

 

 

What a fun way to spend the day. Great place, great friends, and now great memories!

 

Christy's Craft Challenge - March

I was the lucky recipient of a free craft challenge kit for Christy's Craft Challenge this month.

Here's what I made...

It's a ponytail scrunchy that fits in an egg.

 

I thought about having it show up in Bergen's Easter basket since she is just starting to let me put accessories in her hair (It's still too fine to do much with, but looked super cute when I put it in a ponytail after her bath on Monday.), but as hard as I tried to take a picture without her seeing it, she did. Now how can the Easter Bunny leave it in her basket?


You can go here to vote for your favorite entry. There are some good ones this month.

Thanks Christy!

Dominoes

I've mentioned that Logan is a fan of Max & Ruby. Well after watching an episode the other day he asked me if we had any dominoes. I thought about it for a moment and then headed to the closet. I've had a huge box of dominoes since before Craig and I were married and they've never even been opened, so out they came!

After a little nagging and whining, Logan got Craig to set some up for the sole purpose of knocking them down. (Exactly what Max had done on the show.)



Here's a picture of the guys after one of their masterpieces was finished.

 

Craig did do most of the work, but Logan really tried to help. (See that empty space at the bottom of the picture below? Logan filled that in.)

 

And here are a few of dominoes falling down. Obviously in succession!

 

 

 

I think all in all it turned into a fun afternoon.

The Crib

I sold our crib today.

A nice couple expecting their fist baby came and got it, along with the mattress, mattress pad, and some sheets.

I was happy and sad to see it go. It'll be nice not to have to store it. But it certainly is another confirmation that we're out of the baby stage. Not that that's a bad thing...

I didn't think Bergen understood what was happening even though she was with me when the couple came over. She knows she sleeps in a big bed now, and she likes it. I guess I didn't realize that she knows she slept in the crib for a long time too. Either way maybe I shouldn't have been surprised that it tugged at my heart when after they left she said, "I want my crib" and started to cry, before reaching up to me for a hug. But I was.

 

Isn't funny how something as simple as a crib can create such overwhelming feelings? I remember how I felt when we received the crib. It was a gift from a very thoughtful brother-in-law, and I was touched then too.

So thanks Brian. The crib served us well and was truly loved by both of our kids.

Field Trip

Logan's preschool class has been learning about food this week so they took a field trip to Marsh -- and I got to go with them! It was fun to watch with the other moms as the kids gathered in the produce area, and to see their excitement as things were explained.


One of the employees demonstrated how pizza was made. He was funny and engaging. He showed them a dough ball and dough flattened out on a pan. He put a little bit of sauce on the dough asking if it was enough, and pretended to throw cheese at the kids before putting it on the pizza.

 

 

A woman from the bakery decorated a big cookie with lots of frosting and showed the kids some fun looking cupcakes.

 

 

A lady from the seafood department introduced the kids to several varieties of fish, as well as crab, lobster, and frog legs!

 

 

And while all of that was happening the pizza was baking... so to top things off the kids got to go into the cafe and enjoy it with some milk.

 

 

What a great field trip!