Oh My Opposum!

This morning I was cleaning up after my one cup o' coffee and emptying all of the trash cans into my kitchen trash then was on my way to taking it to the garbage in the garage. I opened up the door to the garage and on the top step during a 1 second scan, this is what I saw... little beady eyes looking up at me... some fur... a long, wirey tail... then it ran. I screamed, slammed the door and yelled "Rats! We have rats in the house!" Although since Andy was out running, Landon was the one who fielded my moment of hysteria! I picked up Chase and told Landon that we were going to wait for Daddy on the porch... so we did. And during those minutes Landon felt the need for me to expand on what I saw. "What did you see Mommy? A rat? A cat? It scared you? In our garage?" And this went on until Andy walked up and I was again telling him in a trying-not-to-be-a-crazy-woman voice that we had a big rat. So Andy as mellow as can be, grabs a shovel and begins to slowly peel away things from the garage wall... the recycle bin... the refrigerator... the bin of toys... And that is when he yelled, "I found it! Although it is not a rat... it's an opposum." Even grosser... but at the same time I was thankful that it wasn't a dirty, old rat. I took the boys in the house and Andy took care of it. Landon was telling everyone that "Daddy scared away a cat with the hose." It's better said that way.

Wind Sheer?

So last night, I picked the boys up from their sitters and brought them home. Andy was out of town and was coming home late so I decided that a gourmet frozen pizza and fruit cups for dinner would be a great dinner! As we were coming home, I noticed that the sky was becoming darker... but thought nothing of it as afternoon thunderstorms are pretty normal around here. As the pizza was cooking it began to rain... then thunder... more thunder... then lightening. But then the wind began to pick up - the gusts were causing the tree branches to tap on my windows and then sheets of rain were hitting my windows... I looked out my front windows and could see only white - hmmm.... I had no satellite signal on my t.v. and I couldn't determine if our power was out or if Landon had really turned off all of the lights purposely so his flashlight would glow. I quickly gathered up both kids and we huddled in the closet (in our tornado drill spot). I got a call from a neighbor who said a few trees were down in the back - luckily both fell the other way - away from our house. We waited... or I should say, I waited while the boys played in the closet with their flashlights, oblivious to anything other than their new "cave". The rain finally let up... more calls from neighbors... everyone checking in with everyone. Turns out that we had a wind sheer which is a straight line tornado whipping through our backyard. Good thing we "played" in the closet for a while. As for the pizza... it was a bit crispy, but still edible!

Fourth of July

The fourth of July celebrations are huge in the south. In fact people begin celebrating a week prior and days after. How do I know they are celebrating? Fireworks of course. Since they are legal... not just the sparklers...all kinds - the really loud ones that whistle as they go up and then pop... the ones that shoot one after another in all different directions... and even end up under someone's car - oops. And the really pretty ones that make you really glad that we live in the country that we are in... because the big booming sounds make us smile, reflect, and appreciate... not run for cover. Landon and Chase didn't stay up this year to see the fireworks but they were able to enjoy the daytime festivities - our local parade and a few parties.

My Boys!

Grandpa Denny's Visit

We made another trip to the EdVenture Museum except this time was more special - Grandpa Roemer came too! Chase was able to walk this time and his reaction to the enormous size child in the front of the museum was hysterical. Landon thought it was cool to see himself playing the drums on t.v. while only a green screen was behind him. They also had this pretty cool climbing wall that Landon attempted with no fear!

On a brighter note...

We discovered a cool little place over the weekend called Glencairn Gardens - although it was under construction, it was still very pretty. The boys found two turtles in the pond and lots of fish.

Our days...

I wake up every morning around 5 a.m. - not because I want to wake up at that time, but that is the time that Chase wants me to be up and he whines on and off until I stagger into his bedroom and find his cute little self all ready to go with his blankie and paci (only at 5 a.m. I am not thinking it is that cute). I have tried giving him a bottle at this time in hopes that he will go back to sleep, but that has not worked and since we are trying to get him off of the bottle... it's not even worth the attempt.

We go downstairs, I muster up some sort of breakfast for him and while I am still half asleep am fumbling to get my coffee made. Landon gets up about an hour later and that is when the WWF begins at my house. The moment Landon walks down the stairs, the boys are fighting - Chase won't get off Landon's beanbag... Chase is taking Landon's milk cup... Chase is kicking Landon... Landon pushes Chase, Chase is now crying, Landon is explaining himself... I am yelling... and we resolve that situation just to turn into another one as Chase antagonizes Landon ALL day long! And Landon teases Chase ALL day long! I have been trying to keep the boys VERY busy - getting out in the morning and again after their naps in the afternoon to avoid these situations.

Today we ventured out to the Schiele Museum/Planetarium - had never been but thought it could be interesting. Forty-five minutes later we are there and we walk up to the door only to find out the museum is closed... the AC unit is being replaced. "Could you have posted that on your website?" I asked. "That is my fault... I should have done that." she replied. Four free passes later we are back in the car and off to a park around the corner that they recommended since I had already driven the distance. We pull up and see a Greenway Trail sign along with a playground - seems like a nice enough place to have our picnic lunch.

We get out and as we walk up, I am noticing that it is not such a desirable place after all - it could have been the three adults sitting on a nearby bench reeking of alcohol, discussing how alcohol is a depressant... or the two people sucking face on another nearby bench - and really not coming up for a breath for a LONG while... or maybe it was the cigarette butts all embedded in the playground sand under the swings, and around the slide... or the random people walking on this one sidewalk circle that was no more than 10 yards all the way around... or the 40 oz. can of Natural Light left at the top of a climbing wall. And as we were walking back to our car, we noticed a man picking through a gigantic dumpster and Landon asking in his non-whisper voice, "What's that man doing, Mommy?", as the man kept pulling out cans, crushing them with his feet, and placing them in lines across the parking lot. I had no answer for him.

Nothing surprises me anymore...

Last night as I was about to brush my teeth I discovered the bristles on my toothbrush were a bit wet. I couldn't figure out if I had recently brushed, or if it was my child who has an obsession with the toilet, had been playing with it...

Weekend fun!

We had a busy weekend - Grandma Sandy came into town for Zach's second birthday and our town was also having their monthly concert in the park. The pics above: Chase cuddling with Grandma... Sasha and Landon - best buds... Landon and Sasha helping Zach decide the next gift to open... and Chase and Zach - sizing each other up!

River Hills 10k

Today was my first race since I have had Landon and Chase - the last race I did was when I was pregnant with Landon and had to drop out of the Virginia Beach half marathon with only 3 miles left. I was nervous about competing - not that I was competing to win... but just to prove that I could do it again with a reasonable time for myself.

It was hot and humid and I was grateful for the gigantic trees that provided shade for most of the course. It was also VERY hilly - it made the rolling hills of Tega Cay seem flat. I started off letting everyone pass me - everyone always starts off way to fast (it's the adrenaline thing) and then finally caught up with and passed the one female that was in front of me. That put me in first place (for the females) which pushed me to run even harder to maintain my position. After several steep hills and fighting back a few moments where I didn't think my banana would stay down... I totally redeemed myself - I was the first female to finish the 10k race and finished in 44 minutes, 14 seconds. My mile splits were 7:08 - beating the other female by only one second. Andy placed first in his age group and Mike (my neighbor) came in third in his age group. It felt great to get back out there again!

Too much... too soon.

I was reading books to Landon before his afternoon nap (he is taking naps once again, hurray!) and one of the books was about the life cycle of a frog (thanks to grandma!). He loves looking at all of the critters around the pond and we spend time (what sometimes feels like hours) on the correct name and pronunciation of each bird and reptile in the book. (He is no longer satisfied with my answer of "That's a bird." or "That's a bug." He needs specifics.)
There was a picture of the frog's long, sticky tongue attached to a cricket, and I was explaining that was how they got their food and he would soon be eating the cricket. "It's part of the food chain."
Landon looked at me for a long moment (trying to read my face to see if I was serious.) He soon realized I was serious and started shaking his head saying "No eat cricket, mommy. Oh.... poor buddy.... cricket..." I quickly retracted my statement and instead said that the frog was just tickling the cricket with his tongue. He seemed to like that explanation much better.

Fun in the sun!

It has been VERY hot down here (which is expected for the south), however, not 100 degree temps in June! So we have been trying to keep cool by hanging out at Heather's pool and boated out to a sandbar which Landon thought was great - he could actually touch the bottom in the middle of the lake - he thought that was amazing!

Landon's dancing video

Dancing Machine

Chase loves music and starts to wiggle as soon as he hears an upbeat song... I was able to catch a bit of it tonight.

H-O-T

Today is supposed to get up to 95 degrees! We have been altering our "schedule" to get outside first thing (which sometimes can be 6:30 a.m.) before we get suffocated by the air itself! I know this comes every year, but it takes a bit of time to get used to before I start to think that 85 degrees is not so bad.

We have been spending a ton of time at the pool in which has become so overcrowded with all of the new communities going in around here and no new pool to be built (at least in the plan right now). We were there over the weekend and at one point there were 20-30 kids in the kiddie pool. (As soon as the adult swim only whistle blows, "they" all sprint over to the baby pool) one of which launched a diving stick which hit Landon square in the eye - I was not a happy camper. Hopefully the crowd will wane as the novelty wears off... wishful thinking anyway.

Riverpark

We took a short hike on the trail that runs next to the Catawba River over the weekend. The boys had fun running on the trail and having a snack in the "rain forest". Landon even heard the sound of monkeys (which was really the trees rubbing together which made this really high pitch sound).

Time... What time?

I don't know really what has happened with all of my "spare" time... I really don't even have time to think outside of "what-am-I-going-to-do-to-occupy-them-next?" mode. My kids do not need to be entertained by me all-day-long but if I don't have at least some sort of plan, they end up fighting and the end result: Chase is in tears and Landon is standing close by with that I don't know what just happened kind of look.

Chase is really walking now... he loves walking... he walks and then stops and then sways a bit until he can regain his balance and then he walks a bit more and stops to pick up an item... slowly crouching down... and then back up again... all with a huge smile and a bit of drool. It really is amazing to see how much more confident he is... not really relying on crawling anymore.

Landon had his last day of preschool for the year... the bounce house pics are from his end of the year festival. He loved school this year... his teachers were so great with him.

I have decided to go back into teaching and took a job which begins in August. I am excited/anxious/nervous/excited and everything in between. I found a great person to watch the boys - she only takes on four kids at one time and she is really amazing with them. She does all sorts of crafts, has circle time every day, and even has them keep a daily journal. In fact, she has a 20 month old keeping a journal which she binds and sends home to the parents once a month... very impressive. We have had a few playdates already and the boys really like playing over there... Landon has even asked when we are going back... hopefully they will transition well.

Family walks

Family walks are not as easy as they once were... we went for one last night and much more thought goes into preparing for the walk than it ever had...

I tell the boys that we are going for a walk.
Landon is excited... asks for juice while he is riding.
I run into the house and fill his cup with 8/10 water, 2/10 juice...then realize Chase should have some too.
Run back in to fill Chase's sippy with the same combination.
Run back out to deliver the drinks and then realize that they need something to keep them entertained and cool...
I run back in, and fill their squirt bottles so when they do sit in the jogger they have something to do.
It's sunny so they need to be coated with sunblock. Hats too perhaps?
I run back in and grab the hats from the closet.
Neither one wants to wear the hats, so I stuff them in the back of the jogger knowing Landon will ask for his later.
Landon wants his sunglasses... where did I/he put those last?
Hmm....I run back in to look for the sunglasses as I hear Landon proclaiming that he found them in the garage.
I run back out... and remember they need snacks.
I run back in, go to the pantry scan the shelves for granola bars - grab one of each kind, and a pack of Einstein snacks.
I run back out and stuff those in the back of the jogger.
I finally get Chase buckled into the jogger and he is fussing...I hand him his squirt bottle, show him how to use it...he is content for a minute anyway.
Landon doesn't want to ride right away... he would rather walk.
And we are off...
Landon takes his time squirting every square on the sidewalk as we walk towards the lake park.
His legs finally get tired... he wants to ride.
We get there successfully and while playing...Chase's squirt bottle leaks all over Landon's seat.
Landon doesn't want to ride on the way back...his seat is wet. He wants to ride on top of the jogger.
So he does...and we push them all-the-way back up our half of a mile hill back towards home as they munch on their snacks and have their watered down juice.

Chase is walking!

Chase is starting to walk more now than wobble/stumble... I love this video because he is walking and hiccuping - a glimpse into his college years perhaps?

Landon's new boat

Landon was so excited about his new boat... I am sharing his first driving experience with you - he did a great job - only ran into the shore once.