POOP!

Every Sunday we stop at the East End Market for ciabatta rolls. I think we do it so the boys will say ciabatta. It is hilarious. 

I thought about making the title of this blog post "Oh No He Didn't" and maybe even starting a series...but then I thought when I reflect back on previous blog posts nothing would stand out more than the title "POOP!".

STRIPES!

It looks like a burger, but it was actually one of the best cupcakes I have ever put in my mouth.

A little background. Our weekend was amazingly calm and rainy. On Friday we went to B&B Junction   which has quickly become one of my favorite spots. Not only do they have AMAZING burgers and beer, but they have a basket FULL of books for kids. The boys know to grab a book, finish it, and then go and get another book. It keeps them occupied and mommy and daddy happy to enjoy a beer after a long week.

Just in time to save the world...

A little break to watch Lego Batman.

Duncan asked who was in this picture and when I told him daddy's grandmother and daddy he said "that is not daddy, he does not have spikey hair, that is me when I was a baby". Ok. 

Saturday we met some new friends thanks to our buddies Carrie and Jared and enjoyed..wait for it...a farmers market WITH a petting zoo. Consider Wip's mind completely blown. It was nice meeting up with non-locals to discuss the craziness of Florida football and traffic. We then went costume shopping (not necessarily Halloween costumes). I have decided that costumes make my boys very, very happy. So a little investment in Batman and Spiderman will be hours and hours of entertainment. Worth it.

Wip enjoy ciabatta bread.

Best coffee ever made. I dream about it.

Off to the pool...do you think that D would actually remove spiderman from his wardrobe? Nope.

Wip came across a butterfly and asked me to take a picture. When I got up close, I realized that I was interrupting.

Heading to church...the red shoes are back!

Sunday we went to church. I like our new church. Father Rob is amazing and I have really felt a sense of belonging and fellowship at All Saints. Duncan goes to the nursery and Wip attends church with us (and is pulled out for the children's chapel, which he LOVES). I now need to provide a little side note before I get started with my story...

Duncan goes on the potty 92% of the time. Sometimes it is our fault for not catching the signs and other times he will go to the bathroom and most will end up in the potty and a little bit will end up on the floor (not really sure how this happens). The other day he was very sneaky when returning from the bathroom. I asked if he went in the potty and he said "yes!", I asked if he missed the potty and he responded "you cannot go look, it is very expensive". Every time Duncan tries to get into my jewelry or anything that is valuable I will tell him that he cannot touch a certain item because "it is very expensive". Apparently, this is how he also feels about his poop. Sure enough he had gone in the potty and also on the floor. Head scratcher.

Fast forward to picking up D from church. I walked in to a pretty empty childcare room and they told me that he was in the bathroom. In his defense (kind of) he was dressed in a precious john john that can be tricky if you need to use the restroom and you do not explain to your teachers you are not sure how to take your clothes off...I am pretty sure you know where this is going by now. After waiting for a few minutes, the door flung open in the bathroom and there was poop all over the wall, all over the floor, and all over Duncan. How exactly does one poop on the wall? A forever mystery. I was so mad I could have just screamed. The teacher tried to clean it up and I refused her kindness...nobody needed to clean my child's poop off of a wall. Patrick and Wip went to the car and 30 minutes of scrubbing a bathroom, D and I headed to the parking lot in a different set of clothing. Embarrassed, disgusted, and furious describe my emotions. Duncan's emotions you might ask? While I was scrubbing the wall with Lysol he yawned and said "Mommy, I sure am getting sleepy". Really kid? Really?

The weekend was capped off with a family night at church. Face paint, pizza, and lots of running around was the perfect way to end a great (not so great) weekend.

The Good Husband

I have been reading reviews about The Good Wife on ABC and it is being hailed as some of the best writing on television today. Ah hum...we shall see..cough...nothing beats Friday Night Lights. After listening to a review on Fresh Air it not only made me want to see if I could start season 1 on Netflix, but it got me thinking about my husband...

As most of you know Patrick is one of the kindest people you will ever meet. But I don't know if you really understand what a good husband and father he is to us. The fact that he puts up with my crazy is enough to put him at the top of the list, the fact that he puts up with a couple of wild and crazy boys and my crazy...might just make him a saint.

For my birthday this year, my boys got me a necklace. It is a pyramid. Wip's favorite song is Pyramids by Frank Ocean. We only let him listen to the first half because it is about a stripper working at a place called Pyramid, but when the boys proudly handed me my present I was not only impressed (because I really will wear it all of the time) but I was also just a little humbled at the thought put in my gift.

Not only that, but he also entertained my little pirates so that I could have a girls getaway with a dear friend that came in when I sent an email telling her I was having a bad day. Yep, I am pretty blessed. *MAJOR THANK YOU TO EVERYONE THAT MADE MY BIRTHDAY SPECIAL*

I walked in the door yesterday to find Patrick making cookies for the boys. Sweet. I opened the fridge to put back the milk and noticed the lunch he had made for Wip with a note on the front. Very sweet. Then I looked up and noticed some of the notes he has put in the boys lunch since the start of school. The sweetest. What amazes me about this guy is that no matter how hard he might work at his job, he is working ten times harder at home to let us know how much he loves us. It is noticed. It is appreciated. It is reciprocated. 

End of Day vs Beginning of Day

The end of my day usually look like the picture above. My ride home from work is miles of break lights and lots of stop and go. My average commute home is 45 minutes to 1 hour...and it does not really matter when I leave. Good times.

He just could not part with the shell when we got in the car.

The beginning of my day usually looks like the picture above, and I could not be more thankful. Logistically it has worked out that Patrick will take Wip to school (they both have to be at school at the crack of dawn) and will I take D to school before heading into the wonderful world of I-4 (a.k.a parking lot!).

This morning did not want to leave without his "firework". He looked up and asked me "who gave this to me?". That is when I got to tell him all about Uncle Chet. Special moment.

We have established a routine of D watching a show while I get ready for work (it cracks me up that he knows not to mention the fact that he is going to watch a show in front of Wip...it just makes for a bad start to the day). Sometimes we don't even need a show to keep him occupied (click here to see what I mean).

He dressed himself. Everything on his body was backwards...I did not change a thing.

We head out for school around 7:40am. Each morning, I have found myself scrambling for my phone because he is doing something hilarious or saying something sweet. I feel like I just have to capture it all. After looking at my Instagram feed, clearly that is the case!

He was pretty upset when we got to school and his teacher did not know he was Leo (mama of girls).

Another day, another turtle (I'm sure his teachers love me for allowing him to come in costume each day).

D always asks to listen to "Lightening McQueen" (aka Life is a Highway, by Rascal Flatts), which is totally fine by me (I used to BELT out that song in my car 100 times per day, it never gets old). Today, after hearing the song twice, I put on a little Paul Simon. The song was called "Duncan". I told D about the title and after giving it a listen he exclaimed "this song is not about me...it is about a man!" (picture this in the deep D voice). I lost it. Thank goodness for the beginning of my day.

Today he was trying to introduce his doggie to the real doggies behind him...neither the dogs or the lady really cared.

Lovin'

This article about missing Kentucky was like she took the words right out of my mouth. I don't know about the rest of the areas she writes about...but the first part is pretty much perfection.

Wip says "actually" all of the time. That is why this article made me think and this video made me wonder why he says "actually" instead of "apparently".

This bag is speaking to this working woman (after viewing, please belt out "working 9-5"...I dare ya!).

Try to watch this video and not be amazed. Damn, Chris Pratt makes me laugh.

Speaking of videos..we might watch this and this each night before going to bed. Classic.

I watched this and just cried. Inspiration.

This wallpaper will find a room in our new home (I hope:).

Mitch Hedberg was seriously a talent. RIP.

Maybe it is because I LOVE strawberry ice cream...but this post really spoke to me.

I know I have mentioned Art for Kids Hub before, but this site was seriously made for Wip.

Oh B...you really are the best. Don't judge me.

This one never gets old.

Do not be surprised if this is on my holiday giving list for EVERYONE I know...perfection.

This is hilarious. Seriously. "I think some parents should do some reflecting." Word up.

Each morning we remind Wip to be brave and kind as he walks into school. Thanks to this letter for the inspiration.

Looks like this halloween we will have a superhero and pirate on our hands.

Wip is going to need this in his stocking this year....my little doodlebug.

We are almost at the point where this might be pretty cool.

I never thought I would say this, but I LOVE being a mom to boys (honest to goodness). Keeping this little list handy.

Sorry for the Lovin' overload (it has been a while:).

Apartment Life

A little tour of our apartment:

The boys bathroom has a huge tub for bathtime fun

A timeline of our family (thanks Emily!)

Our bedroom (you know you love that brown carpet...it is EVERYWHERE!)

Guest room

I used Spoonflower to cover the chairs, so easy! 

My favorite part of our apartment...this is where our family dinners take place. Even with the bikes and other stuff that crowd this little balcony, there is something about watching the sunset with a cocktail in your hand from this spot that makes everything seem alright.

HUGE closet space.

Lakes are EVERYWHERE

The boys room looks the same as on Elmwood...I found these spice racks at IKEA and turned them into bookshelves (I wanted to cover the entire wall, but then I remembered that this is just a rental so I need to simmer down:).

I love having the boys share a room...sometimes it causes late nights because they want to stay up and play, but I think it is worth it. Nothing sweeter than hearing two little boys talk about life before closing their eyes.

Wip picked out the rhino plant special for his room.

The best addition in our little apartment has to be legos. Patrick took the plunge and bought a huge tub (although the Duplos are still played with). They spend HOURS building monsters, creating toys for a toy store, and sometimes working with the instructions. Total hit.

More Than A Horse Ride

Nice to meet you

Click here for his first lesson

Learning the ropes 

Duncan was dying to get on a horse...it was tough

His favorite horse Macy

Buds

Last month we found ourselves grasping to help Wip transition to his new home. School had yet to start, he talked about missing his friends, and almost daily he would mention wanting to go back to his "old" house.

The logical move would be to sign him up for horseback riding lessons in a place that because it had an "Orlando" address, we somehow thought that meant that it was close by. It was not. About 45-50 minutes (on a good day) we found the farm off the beaten path. Every lesson I would text his instructor that we would be running 5 minutes late, because every time (no matter how early I would leave) we would find ourselves in some kind of traffic. It was stressful especially because the lesson only lasted 15 minutes.

Driving almost an hour for a 15 minute lesson may not seem logical to some. But they don't know Wip. They did not see the absolute joy in that little boys face when we would walk up to the stable. They did not watch him take a carrot up to his favorite horse Macy and just stare at her with complete awe. They did not see the instructor let him go on his own and then watch him get stuck.  If you ask me, it was not only logical, it was necessary. No regrets. It was more than just riding a horse. It was excitement, discipline, and pure joy on a little boys face when you would say to him "come on Wip we need to get you to your horse!".

Saturday Morning

Keeping it classy in Orlando

Saturday mornings are pretty special around these parts. Patrick typically takes the boys up to the Publix for "doughnuts by the fountain" but he had to be out at school on Saturday morning so I did my first "doughnuts by the fountain" adventure. On the way to the store, Wip kept talk about a dinosaur toy. When we got to the store, I had a few other things to get and gosh darn those boys were on their best behavior, had the best manners, and were being so darn cute. The dinosaur toy Wip was talking about happened to be right next to the register. It also happened to be a large stuffed animal, overpriced, and extremely unnecessary. We walked out with two.

During our return home the boys made some plans.

1. Set up dinosaur forest-they pretended the other animals were dinosaurs too (for example; the horse was actually a stegosaurus)

2. Make a pterodactyl nest with blankets

3. Find a good dinosaur show to watch

http://www.throng.co.nz/files/u4208/harryBucketDino.jpg

We found the BEST dinosaur to watch. Harry and His Bucket Full of Dinosaurs will be on our rotation (I am pretty sure we have checked out this book before).

I hope everyone else had a great Saturday!