“Nobody can be uncheered with a balloon”

That is a quote from the incomparable Winnie the Pooh.  He loved balloons!  Come to think of it, I’ve had a few dogs that love balloons, too.  And all my kids seem to go crazy over them.  I distinctly remember Emma playing with her first balloon at about 10 months old.  Lara had one, too, but for some reason Emma’s reactions stick out in my mind.  But I digress.  All of that has nothing to do with my post today.  I got off on a tangent! Time to reign it back in…

This past weekend, Britt, Jake, Finn and I got to be a part of a very memorable time in some dear friends’ of ours lives.  (Emma and Lara were with their other dad at the time.)  Jenny and Brian are pregnant with their first child, and this weekend they had a little get together to see if “Baby B” as they were calling it would in fact be a boy or a girl.  You may recall that Britt and I had a similar gathering, and we cut a cake to reveal the batter color indicating if Shocker would be a girl or a boy.  Our friends too it to the next level – using BALLOONS filled with helium in a big cardboard box.  It was SO FUN to watch.  But first, I have to tell about the games we were subjected too.  She had a 3 stage “Daddy Olympics” of sorts that my fabulous husband got to participate in – and he survived the first 2 rounds!  Round one had 8 dads from the audience chugging water form a baby bottle (the first 6 finished moved on):

Notice Britt was the only man on team Pink.  Or at least the only one man enough to don a pink shirt!

Then, they had to CORRECTLY diaper and put a onsite on a baby doll.  There was some cheating going on here!  I knew Britt would excel at this one – he was the only dad with an infant on the panel!  He even cuddled and burped his baby when he was done!  The 4 fastest moved on…

Round 3 was a pacifier spitting contest.  (Think watermelon seeds…) This was pretty funny.  All 4 daddies had very different techniques, and I have to give my hubby props because he came in second!  And there are not any pictures of this event as my camera freaked out about this time, and really, what can possible be more attractive that the ones above from the bottle chugging… ;)

With our friend Darci (who was also on team PINK with me), I got to help MC a game of “Old Wives Tales” where Jenny was asked 15 questions related to old wives tales that “predicted” the gender of the baby.  As you can see from the board at the end of the game, it was VERY heavy on the “boy” side…

After everyone had voted pink or blue, cast a lot for the corresponding name they thought the parents had picked, consumed fun foods based on her cravings, cute blue and pink treats, and LOTS of bottled water to stave off the heat, and the games were all done, the time had FINALLY come.  A friend of Jenny’s had the dubious job of acquiring the balloons in the correct color and sealing them in the box.  The guests all gathered around Jenny’s mom’s side yard to watch the happy couple open the box.  Here is the video I took revealing the gender of Baby B:

It’s a BOY!  The look on Jenny’s face is priceless!  She has lots of little boys in her family, so I know she will get lots of good advice.  And of course, she can always ask me, too.  We are so excited for them and look forward to welcoming Braxton Wayne in November!  

Jenny and Brian – thanks for including us in your big day!  LOVE you guys!

And lastly, I have to mention the HEAT (previously alluded to in the party wrap-up)!  While it is oppressive, this week is the first week we’ve hit triple digits, and by this time last year, we had been in the thick of it for almost a month.  And, it still looks like this summer will be better than last summer.  I am trying to not complain about the heat, because NOTHING can compare to the misery I was in last summer with the record breaking heat, my complicated pregnancy, and an old home and air conditioner that simple could not keep up.  I am a million times better off this summer, and for that I HAVE to be grateful!  Thank you Lord, for providing!

Kindling my Fire

It seems I have been on a reading binge of sorts lately.  I have lost count, but I am pretty sure I have read about a dozen books in the last 2 months.  It all started when I decided to give the girls their own Kindles for their 10^th birthday.  That, and winning a Best Buy gift card, made my upgrade to a Kindle Fire totally attainable – and perfect timing for a Mother's Day treat!  I still love the feel and smell of a real book, but my Dave Ramsey budget sure likes FREE things!

While trying to figure out a way to put a few books on the girls’ Kindles without breaking the bank, I came across a blog that has now become an obsession-like fascination.  Pixel of Ink is an AWESOME resource for what’s free and discounted at the Amazon Kindle store each day.  And, much to my delight, there is a children’s book version as well, Pixel of Ink Young Edition. I found several books on this site to fill the girls new devices with enough content to keep them busy for quite a while, and when I see something I think they will like (and is appropriate), I just send it to their e-readers.  So, they get surprised when new content every once in a while!  The kids and teens sight is also FULL of fun picture books and first readers for my 5 year old to get involved with.  We love how colorful and bright they are on the Fire, and his reading skills really impress me!  I am subscribed to both blogs, so at the end of the day, I get an email chock full of free books to look through and see if any pique my interest.

I really adore reading.  While I am not a literary GIANT and a lot of what I read is just because I love a good story and to get to know new characters, it has been fun to see what all is out there.  I am partial to novels - modern romance and fiction, although I have read an enjoyable mystery now and again, and I enjoy a book with a good historical background as well.  I have read 3 books in the last year that had a futuristic element to them – a la Hunger Games.  Those are always thought provoking.  One of the books I have read recently was a memoir of sorts from growing up during the depression on a Nebraska farm.  I liked the learning I got from that one.  But my favorites are just stories.  I like to get to know the people, the culture they are in or that shaped them, and relationships they build or break.  All you can find on TV these days are ridiculous and contrived “reality” TV shows (which I do watch!), so a real story draws me in.

Don’t get me wrong, I have read a few and thought, “Wow.  I’m glad that was free.”  (I always push through to the very last page – hoping for something better along the way…)  But there have been a couple that were really written well, and were real page turners.  One I was surprised to learn was a novelist’s first attempt.  It was really good!  I’m in the middle of another one that is a bit predictable, but I like the angle it is taking, and I love the main characters.  It’s going really fast, though, so I am sure I will be one to another one in a day or two.  Missing these personalities and relationships, but getting to know some new ones…

If you need a summer reading recommendation, tell me what you like to read, and I will probably have a suggestion for you!  And for my fellow Kindle lovers, it might even be FREE!

Sum- Sum- Summertime!

Here we are – 2^nd week of June and summer is well under way!  And, it has been over 2 weeks since I sat down to write and update my little corner of the world.  Can you say, BUSY?  That’s what’s been going on in the World of Weavers!  Getting out of school for the summer means getting in to a new routine and for us this year, every few days that routine changes since no one is in formal day care/day camp this summer.  It has proven to be a bit overwhelming at times, and a huge logistics puzzle that requires LOTS of communication between the four adult, car owning drivers we have in our family helping out this summer.  So thankful for my Cozi calendar to help keep it all straight and to text reminders to people!  I’ve only had a couple of meltdowns trying to make sure it is all taken care of… ;)

The past couple of weeks have seen lots of excitement and new things at our house!  The weekend after Memorial Day, we had our first “event” at our new house.  We hosted our LifeGroup in our home – kids and all!  There were 4 families there, which included 10 kids ages 10 to 6 months.  It was a loud, crazy, running around the house, up and down the stairs, chaotic mess – and we loved it!  We had ice cream floats for snacks, and it was a HUGE hit!  Followed that up with 3 intense days of dance recital, and by Monday of the following week, I was WORN OUT.  Dance recital, as always, was a blast.  Lara was in 2 dances – ballet and jazz, while Emma was in one (ballet).  They both did a GREAT job, and I know they had a wonderful time.  (If you are a die-hard dance fan, you can check out the rehearsal pieces on my youtube channel!)  They both enjoy it, and I just love seeing all the costumes, the music, the production!  *sigh* Reminds me of my dancing days years ago…

Speaking of our summer schedule, it has all of the kids involved in LOTS of things to try to keep them busy, and to try to keep my mom (Nana) sane!  We are trying to break the kids up as much as possible, so she only has all four for short periods of time.  She reminds me ALL THE TIME how old she is, and how she’s not a spring chicken anymore, and how she’s already raised her kids! LOL!  Gotta love the Grandma-isms!  But, she is doing a GREAT job – the kids are having a wonderful summer.  The girls have small rolls in an Operetta that will be performed next month, and they rehearse for that formally once a week, and then work on their parts at home as well.  This week, they are also in a morning day camp through the Sierra Nature Club – they have done this for several years now and absolutely LOVE Nature Camp!  We have Jake set up one day a week to go to a friend’s house to hang out with him and his babysitter, too.  He has had fun adventures with this so far – including a trip to the StillwaterPublic Library this week to see the Mad Scientist – which he won’t stop talking about!  It’s a great change of scenery for Jake, and I know his friend is happy having a playmate once in a while, too!  Lara has also started a dance camp this week in the evenings to hone her skills over the summer, and she is LOVING it so far!  She woke up tired and sore, so I know it was good for her!  LOL!  Add to all that T-ball games (which we have several make ups this week due to rain outs), several appointments of various types for Finn and for me (my back is acting up again), a trip to Enid to celebrate a (very) belated Mother’s Day with my mother-in-law, and we are meeting ourselves coming and going!

Coasters I made my Mother and Mother-In-Law for Mother's day.  Instructions: http://leelala.net/2011/02/diy-tile-coasters/

Did I mention I am back in the A Dee Pi saddle again, too?  Yeah, I can’t stay away too long!  Shout out to my AMAZING husband and the best Daddy in the land as he was single daddy of 4 for almost 24 hours straight as I attended back to back to back summer meetings for my position last Friday evening and almost all day Saturday!  I got the call and accepted a new position within our structure a few weeks ago, so I have a lot to learn again.  Feels good to be back on the board (well, 2 board this time, but I digress…), and back to interacting with our collegiate members.  They keep me young.  And active.  The last event I was involved with last year was Bid Day in mid-August before I was put on strict bed rest – almost a year ago now.  And our meetings this past weekend were all about finalizing plans for Spirit Week, Formal Recruitment and Bid Day.  WHEW!  I can’t wait to see how it all turns out in just a few short weeks!

And for all you Finn Fans out there, here is an update on him as well!  He is by far my smiliest baby – and it shows in all the pictures we take of him!  But, we have not gotten any real belly laughs out of him, yet.  I can’t wait to hear that sound!

But, he has allergies.  Welcome to living in Oklahoma, little buddy!  We took him to the doctor to rule out a cold or any respiratory issues, and allergies are probably what are causing his congestion.  We have added a Vicks steamer to his room (Jake’s too – he’s breathing GREAT!) at night to help with the congestion, and it seems to be working well.  The nights we (OK, *I*) forget to turn in on you can really tell it the next morning.  Despite not being able to breathe, Finn has grown like a WEED lately.  He is still in size 2 diapers and 3-6 month clothing, but he suddenly looks so BIG.  His head has gotten bigger for sure – there are a couple of T-shirts that don’t have the envelope sleeves or snaps on the shoulders that are HARD to get over his noggin!  And his feet are finally growing!!!  His cute little newborn crocheted slippers he got right before Easter were big then, and they are just now getting too small.  But, the size “0” baby shoes at Target and Wal-Mart are still just huge…  I figure another 2 weeks and we’ll have to break out the 6-9 month clothing…  Along with all this growing, he is getting better at sitting unassisted (still in a “tri-pod” pose), and we know he can roll from tummy to back (although we rarely see it), so we offered him some cereal for the first time last week!  Here are some pictures/video of how that went down:

 

 

Not bad for a first try!  He’s still not an expert, and it may be a little early yet.  Our pediatrician recommended he be 6 months adjusted age (which would be July 5), but he has been very interested in watching us eat, reached for our food, and got a hold of some applesauce from Jake a few days back and was able to get that in his mouth without thrusting it out with his tongue, so we decided to try.  I also just read that the “old” school of thought was to offer rice cereal first and let them get good with that before moving on to vegetables, THEN fruit – saving meat for later - has been replaced with a more “feed them whatever, whenever” school of thought.  I’m not too sure how I feel about that! I’ve been feeding babies that way for over 10 years!  LOL!  Plus, we have this whole box of rice cereal to get through…  Anyway – we’ll stick with rice cereal once a day for now, then maybe I’ll get adventurous with some fruits and veggies (not sure in what order, though…)

Father’s day is this weekend, and I am looking forward to honoring my amazing husband and my hardworking dad.  I don’t have any cute Pinterest projects to produce for them.  My dad is next to impossible to buy for, so he will probably get cards from the kids and I.  But my husband, I have the perfect (in my mind – this has turned disastrous for me in the past.  Apparently, I am not a great gift giver when it comes to my husband) idea in mind for Britt.  I can’t wait to take the kids shopping Saturday morning (nothing like the last minute!  It’s hard for a working mom to get things done…)!  I hope he likes it!  And Honey, if you’re reading this, just fake it if not, OK?  ;)