Happy Birthday Mommy

Despite Brad being gone on my birthday...it was a great birthday.  I got spoiled by my Mom, Dad, sister and brother-in-law with beautiful flowers as well as from Bev & Dave (in-laws).  I love having fresh flowers so it totally made my day!!!  Thank you!  My good friend Ariel watched the kids in the morning so I could go get a pedicure and then I got a babysitter and went to dinner with my other good friend Shonda.  Brad made it up to me by buying me Aranoff theater tickets for the season!  I am super excited to have a scheduled date night all year.

Legos

Jonathan in the past 2 days has all of a sudden gotten really interested in legos.  I don't know how many things we have built together now but if anyone is looking for gift ideas for him...now you have one.

Go Green Cougar Monsters

Jonathan had his first soccer practice/game for St Mary's tonight.  They allow the incoming kindergarten class to play as well so Jonathan is old enough to play for his school...which is a scary thought for Mommy, not ready for kindergarten yet.  It was hot!  Jonathan had fun though despite he isn't on a team with any of his little buddies.  I think it will be okay though as it will force him to meet new friends and learn more of the concept of a "team" versus friends.  His coaches name is Coach Heather and she seems very energetic.  The kids named the team, Green Cougar Monsters...green is the color of their shirts, cougar is St Mary's mascot and monsters...well just because they are mean I guess.  GB came to watch the game and then Grandpa Weeks brought pizza to our house afterwards.  Jonathan said that soccer was fun and that he was happy he is playing again.  It was funny because GB and Grandpa were talking about golf at dinner and Jonathan kept bringing soccer back up, he just wanted to be part of the conversation...it was cute.

Playdoh Faces

As most of you know, I am addicted to pintrest these days.  Today I printed out playdoh mats and I think Jonathan, Alex and Evan had fun playing with them.  It kept their interest for awhile, which I was happy about.

Busy Day

Daddy left today to go to Montana for work so our day started off by taking him to the airport.  We hadn't even pulled away from the curb and Jonathan had tears streaming down his cheeks.  Poor little guy!  To make him happy I promised a park and a picnic lunch...so we came home, called up some friends and off we went.  Well, I did try to get Diana to take a morning nap but I think those days are over!  We actually played at the playground outside Jonathan's school and met up with Rocco, Palmer, Alex and Evan (plus the littler ones).  Jonathan got to meet his teacher and go up to his new classroom too and meet the pet frog and watch it eat a worm (helps that we Palmer's mom is the teacher in the next classroom over and was getting her classroom ready).  We stopped at the grocery on the way home and poor Diana fell asleep in the car (12:30).  Jonathan and I played some soccer outside while Diana napped, he said he had to practice for tomorrow's big soccer game.  GB stopped over to show us her new trophy!  Then we went over to the Pusateri's to let off some fireworks and stink bombs.  Phew!  I hope I kept the kids busy enough not to miss daddy, because I am exhausted!

Congrats GB

GB stopped by today on her way home from her golf tourney to show us her cool trophy!  She won the Greater Cincinnati Senior Met!  Nice work GB!  The kids loved the trophy.  Jonathan says it is as tall as two wine glasses.  I think it could hold 2 bottles of wine.  And Diana, well she decided to put her snacks in it and stir in it.  She will soon learn about wine.  :-)  GB won it 2 years ago and never thought she would win it again...guess she was wrong.

Weeeeee

GB couldn't go swimming with us today but Grandpa said we could still come up.  The weather wasn't fantastic but we decided to go swimming anyway since it was our last Monday before the pool closes for the season.  After swimming for a little while and Jonathan's lips turning purple, we decided to head back to Grandpa and GB's house.  It didn't take long for Jonathan to find something fun to do.  I said, I bet this wouldn't have happened if GB was home.  This is definitely a boy thing.

I Scream for Ice Cream

Yes, she is my daughter.  Diana loves her ice cream!  Today we had a church beer and ice cream social.  As soon as Diana saw that her brother was eating ice cream she wanted some too.  She wouldn't really let me feed her so of course she was a mess but she loved it!  She even kept walking back to the cooler, pointing at it and signing for more.

Alex's Birthday Party

We had such a good night at Alex's birthday party.  There was even a "Norwood drive-in movie" as Shonda referred to it as.  Diana even stayed awake and was super happy until 8:30 pm tonight.  Thank you Bajorek's for a fun evening!

Jonathan and His Buddies

Jonathan had his buddies Alex and Evan over to play today.  Shonda and I are swapping watching each others kids so we can each run errands or have some time without kids.  Today the Bajorek boys came over and they all played so well.  Diana didn't nap long with all the commotion but she was excited to come down and see her buddy Drew over to play with her.  Alex helped me in getting Jonathan to play with his mosiac toy that he doesn't play with much.  In fact, after Alex went home, Jonathan sat and did another picture, the fish one, all by himself!

Black Eye

Oh and I almost forgot...Diana's newest...a black eye!  She was playing in her crib this morning and before I went upstairs to get her, I heard a thump and then instant screaming.  It was already swollen and red when I got in there.  I think she must have been standing and fell and bumped it on her crib railing.  Who knows with this one!  Let's just hope she wasn't trying to climb out like Grandpa Weeks asked.  Grandpa stopped by to drop off some watermelon for us today.  When I told Jonathan that Grandpa was coming over soon.  He said: "Yea!  I love Grandpa!"



Diana's New Things

Diana is growing up so quickly it is so hard to believe everything she is doing these days.  Where did my baby go?!?!  Some of her newest things are... She likes to bring you things, I guess it is her way of sharing or playing with you.  When Emily was in town, I think Emily was holding about 20 different things because Diana wouldn't let her put anything down that she had given her.  It was funny!  She is also really into pointing and jabbering at things.  We went to the zoo on Monday with the Pusateri's and as soon as we got inside the zoo, Diana couldn't point and look at things quick enough.  She is also very into her baby dolls these days.  She walks around with them, she talks to them and she pushes them in her little grocery cart.  So cute!  I think she is working on saying Baby and Ball too. 

Who-Dey or Go Pack Go

Jonathan got to go to his very first NFL game tonight! He woke up this morning and said "Mommy, I am so so so excited!" I asked why? And he said "Because I get to go to the football game tonight!" He was grinning ear to ear. It was super cute! He had to call daddy too to tell him how excited he was. Brad got pretty good tickets from a client and decided to take Jonathan. The best part was, the Bengals are playing the Packers! He does have a Packer jersey but Brad wouldn't let him wear it...football fans can sometimes not be the friendliest he said. I asked Jonathan who he was going to cheer for and he said "Go Bengals and Go Pack Go!" Such a politician already.

My Project

So I am attempting to get myself organized and help get my house in order.  I had two projects this week.  1) I cut a piece of wood, painted it and then had Brad attach a couple of hooks to it and mount it to the wall...to hang my ironing board behind the door in the laundry room.  We hardly use the thing...because I refuse to iron...and it has fallen so many times and dented our walls and now I am afraid Diana will pull it down on herself.  2) Mail organization.  I can't keep all of my piles of mail sorted so I made this letter organizer from Pintrest.  I am pretty happy with how it turned out.  Now, what next?!?  I need little projects to keep my sanity.

Sleep and More Sleep

Diana sure likes her sleep.  She is sleeping about 7-7:30 pm to 7 am and refuses to give up her morning nap.  This week she has been taking a 2 hour morning nap and 3 hour afternoon naps!  She must be growing!

Music Garden

Today we went to Miss Amanda's music garden for a music class with HPPE. Jonathan wasn't really that excited about going but once he got there he was into it. He even told Brad tonight at dinner, "I didn't think it would be that much fun but it was!"  Diana even seemed to be enjoying herself and picking up a few things from the class.  Maybe there will be a music session in our future.

After music class, we went on a picnic lunch with Tessa, Sadie and their cousins Lily and Oliver.  We went to a new park Mt Storm and the kids had fun playing.  On our way home, we were really close to the hospital and Jonathan said "Let's go visit the nurses." I knew we were pushing our luck on Diana's nap and we were all a hot mess from the park but I figured why not?  One of our neighbors was admitted their on Monday so I thought we could go say hi to her at least too.  I am glad we went as I got to see a lot of my nurses who I hadn't seen in awhile and my friend Laura, was on her way home (so happy for her!).

Fun at the Zoo

It was a beautiful morning and what better way than to spend it at the zoo with some friends.  We met the Pusateri family for some zoo sightseeing and a picnic lunch.  Diana even got to try licorice for the first time today, thanks to Ariel.  What a great day! 

Toy Kitchen

I love it when the kids play together.  One of their favorite things to do together is play in the toy kitchen.  This usually happens when I am making dinner.  I just think it is adorable!  Of course it ends up in a big mess, thanks to Diana, but they are having fun so who cares, right?!?

Uncle Greg

Uncle Greg and Aunt Susan were in town for a wedding and we were very fortunate to see them on Sunday and Monday!  Jonathan is obsessed with Greg!  He has been talking about Uncle Greg coming to visit for weeks now!  Yesterday morning he woke up and said, "I am so excited.  Today is a special day."  I asked why and he said "Because I get to see Greg today."  I had to break it to him that he wasn't getting to see Greg until Sunday.  Once he did get to see Greg, it was non-stop...Greg do this with me, Greg guess what, Greg watch this.  Jonathan even started crying in the car on Sunday night because he said he was sad and that he already missed Greg.  So sweet!  Luck for Jonathan, Greg and Susan came to our house on Monday for a visit.  This made Jonathan's day!!!

Finally...Another Tooth

Finally Diana cut another tooth!  She now has 4!  But I was mistaken about the one she got up top awhile ago.  It wasn't her front tooth, it was the one next to her front tooth.  She looks silly when she smiles!  But she did finally cut her upper right front tooth!  She is working on the other top three as well.  Poor thing! 

On a side note, I was up with Diana from 9-11 pm last night because of her tooth.  Then Brad came home at 1:30 am, he was out with his friend Brian Foy.  Diana was up again from 3-4 am.  At 5 am Jonathan came into our bed because he was having a bad dream about alligators chasing him.  I didn't have it in me at that point to make him go back upstairs so he crawled into bed with us.  At 6 am Brad couldn't take it anymore and went up to Jonathan's bed to sleep.  Thankfully we all slept until 8 am but I still think it is going to be a long day ahead!

Fun Fest

After mass tonight we stayed at church for the festival, Fun Fest.  In Jonathan's words, "The festival is so cool!  I had so much fun!"  Luckily for Jonathan, he had his little buddies, Rocco, Alivia and Liliana to go on all of the rides with and play games with.  Diana and Lucca enjoyed having their daddy's chase after them.  The slide was by far Jonathan's favorite ride...so much that he chose to go down it twice instead of riding on little toy trucks.  It's funny because I remember loving the big slide at the fair when I was a kid.  I remember waiting for my daddy to get done working so we could ride it together.  Jonathan also had to show off his big muscles tonight and hit the bell.

Me Too

So my nickname was "Me too" when I was little and I think Diana is taking it to the next level!  She has to be everywhere her big brother is.  Today in church, Jonathan had to go potty.  As soon as he left the pew, Diana started screaming.  As soon as I walked out with her and she saw Jonathan she was perfectly happy.  We all went back in to church together and she was fine.  Diana is very good at playing by herself and likes to do her own thing but she adores her bro-bro!

Underwater Camera

Grandpa Weeks gave us an underwater camera the other day, that he claims he will never use.  I need to get better at working it...apparently I think I will need to get a pair of goggles to go underwater to film Jonathan swimming but here is my first attempt.  Jonathan thinks this camera is super cool and I must agree with him. 

Muscle Man

Checkout Jonathan's muscles!  GB spoiled the kids with some new clothes for Florida in November and one of the shirts Jonathan got was this muscle man shirt.  He is obsessed with it!  Jonathan and Diana also got to have a sleepover tonight at GB and Grandpa's as Mommy and Daddy went to a Red's game...but shhh!  Don't tell Jonathan, he never asked where we were going so I didn't tell him because he has been bugging me to go to a game, I didn't want to make him sad.  The kids had a blast with GB and Grandpa so I think it all turned out well.  Thursday morning I was at the gym by 7 and ran a bunch of errands before I met the kids to swim.  It's amazing what you can get done without two little ones.



Temper Tantrums

Oh Boy!  Diana has entered the temper tantrum phase!  I feel like this is way too early for this but maybe I am wrong.  Today when Diana didn't get her way, I wouldn't let her play with something that she wanted to, she literally threw herself on the ground, started crying and banging her hands on the ground.  I was shocked she was doing this and just stared at her.  Luckily I was able to easily distract her with a different object but oh my, I am not ready for this!

Basketball Anyone?

Watch out!  Jonathan now has a "real live" basketball hoop!  Jonathan has been teasing me for two things lately...1) to go to a Red's game and 2) for his basketball hoop.  So today when Brad asked what I wanted to do, I said let's go get the basketball hoop from Bev and Dave's.  Jonathan couldn't be more excited!  He is awfully proud of his new basketball hoop.  By the time I went to the gym and back, he had learned how to make baskets.  I think it is at about 6 feet.  Sure beats the recycling bin we have been using!  Thanks GB and Grandpa for letting us have the hoop.

Findlay Market

Miss Emily came down for a visit yesterday and today.  Daddy had a C-change event at Findlay Market so we decided to go down and check it out too!  The kids had a blast people watching, listening to music and Jonathan got to go inside yet another firetruck!

Sibling Love

Jonathan and Diana love each other so much!  It's hard to capture in a picture but they were hugging.

Dance Dance Dance

The kids were cracking me up with their dancing tonight.  Diana will do whatever Jonathan does, so tonight, it was a dance party.

Dance Dance Dance

Wholly Zucchini

So I have been neglecting my garden these days and while Jonathan and his buddy Paxton were outside playing and Diana was sleeping, I had a few moments to work in the garden.  I was wondering why we weren't getting much squash this year...well I found the culprit.  Jonathan said "Wow!  We could eat zucchini for 3 days!"  I think he might be right!

Walking Backwards

Diana just started walking backwards today.  I have no idea how or why she started doing this but it is really funny.  She doesn't do this fast and you can tell she is really concerntrating when she does it. 

Backstroke

Jonathan is not letting me down with the continuation of his swimming.  Today he decided he was going to do the backstroke and he got better at it!  In the past his head would be underwater when he would try and do this but today he figured out how to keep his head above water and his belly up!  He also pushed off the wall to start, like they do in the Olympics.  GB & Grandpa are such great teachers and I think Jonathan listens better to them so it is a great experience for all of us.  Thank you to GB and Grandpa Weeks for letting us come swim again!

Pretty in Pink

Diana looked very cute today in her pretty pink dress GB bought her awhile ago, but it finally fits! Diana and I went to church, as the boys were camping, and ran a bunch of errands. I can't tell you how many comments I got about how adorable she was or my favorite, "pretty in pink."

Camping

Jonathan got to go on his first camping trip this weekend!  He has been looking forward to this for weeks and was so excited when Brad got home Friday night to take him.  Brad's friends Brian and Juli Foy, along with their 4 children, came down to Winton Woods camping so Jonathan and Brad joined them. I visited on Saturday but wasn't up for camping with Diana...or I will be honest and I say I am not a camping girl.  I barely saw Jonathan while I was there...he was so busy fishing and playing with Myles and Elliott.  Brad said Jonathan had such a good time.  They even are talking about when they are going to do it again!  It was miserably hot again this weekend and rained on and off at night so I give everyone credit for surviving outside all weekend!  Diana enjoyed our girl time together and I am so happy that the boys got to experience  this together!

Thirsty

Grandpa Weeks watched the kids today so I could go furniture shopping with GB.  Yes, I am FINALLY in the market for a new couch.  I am soooo excited!  Grandpa had the kids outside playing for awhile and he sent me this picture saying they were thirsty.  I love how Diana has to be right beside Jonathan.

Water Parks

Yesterday I took the kids to the Woodland Mound water park and today we went to Washington Park, which also had a splash pad.  The kids had a blast both days!  I thought Diana would be a little timid around the water, but nope...she went right for it at Woodland Mound and today after I got her hand wet she was off and playing.  She also enjoyed filling a bucket with water and dumping it.  She did happen to be the only girl amongst Alex, Evan, Drew, Marshall and Jonathan at Washington Park although she didn't seem to mind.