How We Beat the Heat

We have had some unbearable, hot and humid days this week.  100 degree weather is just not my idea of a good time.  We found some ways to "beat the heat" though and we survived!  

Running through the middle school football field sprinklers (behind our apartment complex)

Organizing projects - including making the living room toys more Joe-friendly!

Baby pool party on the fourth!

Playing in the water in the parking lot from our garden watering system

Tonight we busted out the train set and the letter trains my family got the kids for their Easter baskets.

The train set is large and getting it out is quite the production, hence, why it doesn't come out too often.  It is a lot of fun though!  

If we were ever outside this week - it involved water.  We didn't stay out much longer than a half hour at a time because it was just so miserable (mostly for mama...) and sticky out. 

It has finally cooled down into the 70s and we opened the windows to air out the apartment and give the A/C a break.  That thing has been working overtime this week!  I imagine it will be nice and hot again tomorrow so I am enjoying the fresh air while I can.  

I am really looking forward to more tolerable weather so I can get the kids outside more!  The past two nights have been challenging.  It is obvious that Amelia is feeling cooped up after this week of heat so she is acting out which frustrates me which upsets Joe which leads to three cranky people in this apartment which is just not any fun! 

Fourth of July Pool Party

This year we spent July 4th with friends!  After I got home from work, Jason, the kids and I headed over to Lisa and Al's house!  Their son, D, hosted his first pool party and Amelia and Joe were invited!

Everyone in the pool!

It was a lot of fun watching them all in the pool.  Aside from Amelia everyone was between 7 and 10 months old.  Sometimes they would all just sit there and slap their hands on the water and other times they would all be moving and knocking into each other.  We laughed a lot!

The men of the pool - Joe, W and D

Serious Boys

Joe found a little girlfriend for the day, C

C decided that D's lap looked like a nice seat!

Attempted group shot!

Amelia was excited once the babies were done swimming because she got to pull a slide over to the pool!

I'm not sure how long we swam but it was long enough to turn Joe's little feet into prunes!

After swimming we grilled brats and chicken.  The hit of the night was the Jell-O Lisa made.  She used red and blue raspberry jello, layered.  "Frosted" it with Cool Whip and made a flag out of strawberries and blueberries on the top.  We all had some and started talking about how we hadn't had Jell-O in such a long time and how it tasted really good.  As we sat around talking we picked at the Jell-O and eventually Jason and I were the ones to polish it off.  It really hit the spot last night.

We watched New York's fireworks on TV before we all headed our separate ways.  No live fireworks for us.  With small kids who were tired and a mama who gets up at 2:30 a.m. for work it was just not worth it this year!  Oh, and the 100 degree weather we've been in this week (no joke) only helped make our decision to skip fireworks that much easier.

Houses

Amelia is very into houses.  Everywhere we go is a house. 

There are the obvious houses like Papa's House and Nana's House.  Those are the same place but given the day she will insist that it is one person's house or the other.  Sometimes it is even WeHaw's (Auntie Kim) House.

Some other not so obvious, yet obvious at the same time, houses are the following:

• Target is the "Red House" - pronounced weh-how
• Wal-Mart is the "White House" - pronounced why-how
• Subway is the "Pizza House" (because a personal pizza is what she gets there) - pronounced pee-ha-how
• Dairy Queen is the "Ice Cream House" - pronounced ee-cweem-how
• Culver's is the "Blue and White House" - pronounced muh-an-why-how
• When the bubbles drain after bath they are going to the "Bubble House" - pronounced buh-bow-how

The latest house is the Pony House.

The "Pony House" is a plastic storage container with pony stickers on it that she has for her baby ponies.  I made the mistake one day of getting her a pony grab bag at the store.  Each bag contains a small My Little Pony and you don't know which pony you will get.  Well, there are 24 ponies to collect.  We now have 23 different ponies and 37 ponies total. 

I realize she does not need all these ponies yet I find myself at the store feeling the packages trying to determine if we already have that one.  My sister has gotten really good at it, hence why we only have one more pony to find.  It's turned into a desire to have the complete set at this point.  Amelia doesn't know the difference - she just loves ponies.  Kim and I?  We feel a need to complete the set.  Why?  I'm not sure.  I like how excited she gets over them and she plays with them all day.  They bring her joy and right now that is reason enough for me.

Our Garden

Last month we hastily threw together a garden.  Our landlord had the maintenance guy till the small strip of land between where we park our cars and the neighbors' fences.

The woman above us said she has had the idea for a few years and this is the first year they allowed it. Three units, including us, planted gardens.  Ours is by far the most pathetic and that's ok!  ;)  

We planted mid-June and planted only edibles - no flowers.  We don't have a lot of time to put into this garden.  In fact, to get it started Jason went out one afternoon, threw the contents of the eight seed packets we had into the ground and that was that.  It's hard to say what is what.  We're just out there watering it when we can and crossing our fingers!

We sometimes water with these re-purposed milk jugs but our neighbor has it worked out so that we have hose access now.  We got a sprayer attachment from my parents and I go out there in the evening, when the neighbors are out with their hose, and spray our garden a few times.  Usually Amelia, Joe and I go out in the afternoon as well.

Amelia helps me water floods our plants and Joey hangs out in a stroller.  It's a nice way to spend 15-20 minutes and I know she feels proud to be helping.  

We know that 5 of the 8 things we planted have sprouted.  We think we know what they are but all we can do is wait and see if we were right!  Next year we plan to be a bit more prepared for this and will hopefully have a more successful garden!  This year if we get one or two things we can eat I will be satisfied!

MS Challenge Walk 2012

This weekend, Jason's sister, Liz, did her second MS Challenge Walk.  Last year it was over three days (and in October) and this year it was shortened up a bit to two days.  We had humid, 90-degree weather this weekend and I cannot imagine being out, walking, in it! 

We were at the capital waiting for the walkers to cross the finish line this afternoon!

Walkers approaching the Capital

2012 walkers - those in light blue, including Liz, are walkers who have MS

Jason and Liz

Amelia in orange for MS!

Group shot with almost everyone looking!

Next year's walk is in August and Liz is unsure if she will participate because of the heat.  Heat and MS don't mix well and as someone who lives with MS the summer months are not ideal.  Maybe in 2014 they will figure it out and switch it back to October like last year!

Great job walking and raising funds for MS research, Auntie Liz!

Midweek Randoms

• Work has been rough this week.  I have left in tears 3 out of 3 days.  

• I took a nap today.  I got home from work and basically went straight to the bed.  I laid down and fell asleep - in my work clothes.  Jason got Joe down for a nap and popped in a DVD for Amelia before he left for work and I slept, all in all, about two hours.  I needed it.

 

• Things are so hectic around here lately that I have been having a hard time keeping up on making Joe's baby food.  My sister noticed this and took it upon herself to make him some.

• So far she has made him two batches and without it I would be up a creek.  I do have a butternut squash and some sweet potatoes to make up for him.  Hopefully soon...

• Amelia recently discovered Little Einsteins.  It is a wonderful show and Jason and I are both really pleased with it.  However, the theme song?  Yeah, gets stuck in your head and I hum it far too often throughout my day.

• Last weekend we ran into the Oscar Meyer Wiener Mobile.

 

• We got some cheap water guns at the store and tested them out the other night.  Amelia had a blast with them!

• I have started using a calorie counting app in an effort to drop some weight.  I entered a goal weight, how much I want to lose a week and then I added on 500 extra calories (a day) for breastfeeding - believe it or not that is what the average, nursing mama burns a day manufacturing milk!  

• After Amelia is in bed and I am nursing Joe to sleep I have stopped turning the TV on.  I used to always watch TV while nursing him but for a week or so I have been just relaxing during that time.  I watch him fall asleep and when he is done I hold him for a bit before putting him down.  I wish I had done this all along - it's a special time for us.

• There is a pile of dirty dishes to be washed but I think tonight it is just not going to get done.  The kitchen is my "one thing."  I always make sure I get the kitchen cleaned up and in order before bed each night.  Why?  It gives me a small sense of accomplishment since most nights not a lot else gets done and also because it is wonderful to start the day out in a clean, orderly kitchen.  Tonight, however, I am leaving it.  I am unmotivated.  

• Last week, this week and next week I am working M-F with the weekends off.  That is almost unheard of in retail.  I'm not sure how I managed it but it is nice to be working the same days as Jason, even if we do work opposite shifts, because that means we have two whole days off together and can do things as a family.

• Amelia's new nicknames for herself and I are "volcano" (pronounced ball-came-oh) and "hot lava" (pronounced ha wah-wah.)  I am "volcano" and she is "hot lava."    She has even referred to me as "volcano" in public.  

• I am glad the week is half over.  The weekend can't come fast enough.

Park Playdate

My lifelong friend, L, is in town with her two children, J and A!  They live down south currently so it is always a nice treat when they come to the north for a visit! 

We met at our old elementary school this afternoon so the kids could play and we could catch up a bit.

A showed Amelia her fun way of swinging:

 

I had to laugh because I have tried showing her this before but I guess sometimes it just takes another small person to really show how fun it is!

Amelia really took to A and at one point held her hand as they walked the playground.

It was neat to see because usually Amelia takes to older children better than ones her own age/younger.  

J really enjoyed baby Joe!  He played peek-a-boo with him, tickled him and pushed him in the swing!  Amelia got a little protective and made sure she was right there as J enjoyed time with her little brother.

All three kids enjoyed running around this pole!

It is so much fun to see our children interacting and playing together!

 

We attempted a group shot of the kids before we left.  You can imagine how that went...

The boys aren't looking in this one but I suppose boys will be boys ;)  Maybe next time we see them the kids will be more into picture time...