Weekend Happenings

Friday morning the kids headed out to spend the last day of "spring break" with Mimi & Papa.  They had big plans for bowling and Riverparks.

Sounds like they had a good time and Avery was delighted she got a spare.

Avery and I did a bit of shopping on Saturday.  If she has a device and a seat, she's a pretty good shopping buddy.

That is until she starts stealing my Starbucks.  I told her she wouldn't like it.  Unfortunately, she did.  She then declared "we'll be sharing it?"  Oh really?!

Apparently, her palate isn't too refined, though.  Rob had her eating sardines in mustard sauce just a couple hours later.

For dinner we made some buffalo chicken bites and a wedge salad with homemade gorgonzola dressing. Ben could not get enough of the salad.  Funny, he won't eat bread or much pasta, but he'll eat iceberg lettuce with pungent cheese!  Ok, kid….

On Sunday we headed north to the Tallgrass Prairie Reserve to see some bison (buffalo? bison? buffalo? whatever).  It was WAY out there.  We did see some bison, though.  Pretty cool.

We stretched our legs a bit at the visitor's center.

I thought I'd pull the old potty seat out and see what Ben thought of it.  I don't think he's ready to potty train yet, but there's no harm in introducing the concept, I suppose. I'm pretty sure he thought it was a car to "wide."

We ended the weekend with a viewing of Frozen.  Now that Avery owns the movie, I'm sure it will be the first of many. 

St. Patrick's Day

and the rest of the week…

Rob has been out of town all week.  It's been taxing.  But we made it.

Leprechauns and a lucky breakfast.

Bubbles: they are hilarious.

Nightly toothbrushingchewing

Ben was downright ecstatic to FaceTime with his dad. He couldn't believe his eyes and kept saying "DADA! DADA!"

The kids had a lot of fun at the library last night, though one of them needs to work on their "library" voice.

Working on homework

We're looking forward to picking Rob up from the airport this evening!! Avery thinks he's been hanging out there for days.  Yesterday Ben said "dada?" and Avery replied "Ben, Dad is not here.  He's at the airport."

Monkey See

Ben likes to do everything his big sister does.  Sunday morning she was laying on the floor watching tv, and Ben ran over and joined her.

He didn't stay too long, but it was cute while it lasted.

Bikes & Trikes

Spring is definitely teasing us around here! We've had 80 degrees and 30 degrees within a few days.

Ben is incredibly happy outside.  If he's not outside, he is usually asking to go outside.  Avery likes to be outside too, she just not as passionate about it as Ben.  We take advantage of nice weather whenever possible, needless to say!

While tinkering in the garage, Ben found these earbuds in my car.  Rob and I can't figure out how he immediately knew what they were as neither of us wear earbuds at home (I have them in my car for the gym).  It's so fun to see him figure out new things.

A storm moved in on Saturday, and brought some pretty yucky weather for the rest of the weekend.  Avery got a little bike riding in before it started raining.

Ben is just dying to ride everything.  We really, really need to get him another trike. 

This Radio Flyer trike is horrible!! We thought since it is the "classic" trike it would be the best one.  No.  Something about the way the seat it positioned…it puts all the weight in the front, making it very front-heavy.  Especially for Ben, who likes to get on it and push himself along with his feet…he hasn't flipped over the front of it yet, but it makes me nervous every time he gets on it.  And aside from getting rid of it, which we probably need to do, there's no way to keep him off of it.  The way he stops every so often and dings the little bell is adorable though.

And then he thinks he's real big.

Avery still likes to ride the trike sometimes, too, although we encourage her to ride her bike.  We've been getting her used to the idea of taking her training wheels off.  On Saturday she finally said "take them off." We made her put on the helmet.  She was ready.  Or she thought she was...

Ben was eager to help with the tools.  Rob went over the rules.  

It didn't take long for her to ask for them to be put back on.  Rob put them back on but raised them so they're only there as support if she teeters one way or another.  We'll keep working on it!

Friday Videos

Birthday'd Out

This weekend was a blur!  A little housekeeping was necessary on Friday night.  Ben cannot get enough "vaccy."  Hopefully we're raising a tidy little man, but it might be that he just likes the noise.  We did used to set it next to the swing when he was a little baby to get him to sleep.

We hit the road Saturday morning and headed to Moore for Declan and Rearden's 3rd birthday.

Avery and Ben really enjoyed themselves and it was nice catching up with friends and seeing how much all the kids have grown.

Avery had about 90 seconds of sticking to my side and saying she was scared, but she soon joined in and started having fun.  I was very proud of her and told her so later.  I completely understand that new situations and people can be intimidating, and I love that she found the confidence to jump in and play with kids she doesn't really know!

When the party was over we headed back to Tulsa for the next birthday party.  Avery's friend from school was having his birthday at-yep-a bounce place.
This was the party for Avery's future husband.  They're getting married on her "5 birthday."  When I asked her what we should get him as a gift she replied "a handsome shirt for our wedding on my 5 birthday."  He told his mom they are going to have 4 children: 2 boys and 2 girls.  Too bad they won't go to the same school after this year.  Or is it…?

Pizza time

Twirling her hair

Again, she had a great time.  Then she and Ben got to spend the night at Gigi & Pepaw's  while Rob and I attended Summer's birthday celebration.

It was definitely a day of fun and excitement for the kids!  Sunday was spent shopping, adjusting to the time change (maybe that was just Rob and I), and playing outside.  We are definitely going to appreciate that extra hour of daylight!

Dr. Seuss Week

Last week was Dr. Seuss Week in honor of his birthday.  Avery's class had a different theme each day.  We're big Seuss fans at our house, so it was fun to dress up in his honor a few days last week.

School was closed on Monday due to weather (and just one week later it's in the 70s!).

Tuesday: Crazy Hat Day

Wacky Wednesday

Crazy Sock Thursday

Pajama Friday (they got to watch The Lorax and Horton Hears a Who)

Excuse me…who is this kid and what has she done with my baby girl?

Ben's First ER Visit

Ben fell at daycare yesterday and earned his first stitch as a result.

I picked him up and took him to the urgent care clinic next to his daycare, but the doctor there referred us to the pediatric ER in Tulsa.

He was fine.  Not crying or anything.  The pediatric ER was very quick.  We were taken right back, checked in, and taken to a room within 5 minutes.

He explored the room while the nurses and NP came in and out, explained what was going to happen, set up for the procedure, etc.

We managed to have a little fun.

Then Dad showed up and we looked out the window at the helicopter and construction taking place around the hospital.

Finally they wrapped him like a burrito to keep his arms down, gave him a numbing shot, cleaned it, then she put in one stitch.  He was very upset during the process, so fortunately it didn't take all that long, though it seemed like forever. It will dissolve on it's own within 5-6 days.

Afterwards they brought him a popsicle as a treat and to soothe his lip, but he shoved it away.

We were in and out in probably an hour and a half.  Pretty miraculous for an ER visit.

He took a long nap after we got home, then was up and running like normal!