Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Mr. Rumer Takes a Vacation



So – we started off July with a super short week……. That managed to DRAG by.  We only had two days to ‘suffer’ through until we hit the road for the beach, but I swear Tuesday must’ve been 20 hours in one.  Finally though, we got home, cleaned the house, fed the family, packed up everything in the house, and off we went to Destin at 7:30.  Only 30 minutes past our planned leave time.  (Sam forgot his sunglasses – turns out they weren’t quite as ‘necessary’ for a vacation as we thought…)




The boys did great.  Except that they didn’t fall asleep until 20 minutes from Destin.  They watched two movies, ate gummies, and had a ball in the ‘jamas.  We arrived at 11:30 on the dot.  Patrick went right up to bed I think ? – he was just sleeping with us…. But William was wired for sound.  That kid.  I don’t even know what time we all called it quits – couldn’t have been too late.  But the boys refused to go to sleep until 100 ish…. And then wanted to rock it out at 400ish.  No bueno.  Thank goodness for Kindle & Netflix J 



First thing, well not first thing, but William and I went on a bike ride – maybe 830?  We got a couple miles out and it starts raining.  We don’t get totally soaked to the bone, but we definitely had to change clothes….  And then the rain doesn’t stop.  For the entire weekend.  We had a handful of no rain moments – just enough to get to the beach with all the accoutrement, play for 30 minutes, and then make a mad dash to gather everything up, wrap the boys into towel burritos, and run for the house in the rain.  Talk about a wet blanket….


We did manage to have an excellent time though.  We had a 40 minute adventure on 98 to only make it 2.8 miles.  We were trying to go to the Carmike, but apparently the trip from the house to the theater was a total of 7 miles and leaving an hour early just wasn’t adequate.  So we pulled a crazy u-turn, went to a little antique mall to say that we went ‘somewhere’ and back to the house we went.  Oh – and that night (or maybe it was Thursday – I don’t know) – we watched the most fun movie “Mr Hobbs Takes A Vacation”.  Seriously – go get it on Amazon (sorry about the one-click order Dad – we thought the next screen would ask us for our card!)  It’s a classic.  Super funny and good clean laughs.  Refreshing.

 

Thursday we smartly decided it was shopping day and headed out early to the outlets.  We hit the high points – Brooks Brothers, Banana, and probably some other stuff, ate some insanely amazing gourmet Mexican food underneath a very wide and very covered patio, and then the ‘kids’ went to see White House Down (surprisingly good btw).  The grandparents took the littles and went to the seafood market and then home for a nap.  The boys did take amazingly long and wonderful naps the entire time – so that was a very happy surprise.
  





Friday – it looked like it might dry up and just be cloudy.  Good enough for me.  I threw swimsuits on the boys and off we went.  Just the three of us – I wasn’t going to wait around for anything – clock was ticking!  We dug a great big hole and put our feet in the water.  Daddy came down to play after about 30 minutes – big times!  Then 15 minutes after that the rest of the family shows up – along with the rain.  Sam and I were glad that we called it (we briefly considered playing through it) but that water from the sky didn’t stop for the rest of the day.  I was thankful to have the extra hands to help get all the stuff back though.  Put the boys in a bath to warm up and it was back to the Kindle for Netflix.



Saturday was the same.  We got to the beach.  Played for about an hour and a half this time and then the rain came.  William had a big time getting in the small raft and riding the waves.  I was pulling him in to go play in the sand though, and a big wave came and turned the raft over dumping him into the water.  And because of all the storming – the under current was STRONG – scared me half to death.  My kid under water and starting to get dragged back out… I grabbed him quickly – held him close.  He was fine.  Not even that shaken up. 

  

  

The best part of the day – he had to go tee tee – he tried just to pull down his trunks right there on the beach.  No.  I take him to the water to let him go, but the waves are so high I have to hold him.  He doesn’t like it.  Won’t go.  I try to pull his shorts down a little while keeping both our heads above the waves.  Won’t go.  I bring him back to the shore and tell him to go talk to his Daddy about what to do.  Instead he walks up and pulls his trunks down.  The wind is blowing teetee EVERYWHERE.  I try to position him so it’s not blowing onto any one or on to the ‘resort’ chairs/umbrella.  I then get sprayed in the face (which no one noticed) and a second later William nails himself in the face and gets his mouth.  He just kept telling Bebe (while she was washing his face off with bottled water) “My tongue Bebe – it got on my tongue”.  Poor baby – we were all DYING laughing.  Too bad we aren’t on reality tv with a film crew following our every move – would’ve been one for the records for sure.  Ha!


 

Description: http://e.delta.com/a/hBRgJNAB8LP6IB8uzznNvEmOg.B8LP6IG-/column.gifSunday was pack up and leave day, and wouldn’t you know the sun was out and it was gorgeous.  Granted the weather said the rain was still going to be around – but c’mon.  Couldn’t even get a late checkout to enjoy the weather a little longer.  L  Took the boys with Tasha to the beach to play while Sam finished the odds/ends of packing and then we were off.  45 minutes before official time to go.  In hindsight – should’ve gone to the beach again just to play – but then where would we get the sand off the boys?!  Anyhow – they didn’t sleep AT ALL on the way back.  No nap is now a new form of highly effective torture.  We put them to bed at 7:00.  Just couldn’t take it anymore.  My patience was shot – bucket was empty.


All in all though – it was a nice getaway.  Not what we had planned or hoped for – but definitely really good quality time.  Even got to see my sister Kat & her boyfriend Matt.  (And listen to a good local band at a local bar and drink cheap beer all night – felt like a rockstar)  So – all’s well that ends well.  Until next year!



Things to remember - 4T clothes all over the house because William "had the power" being HeMan.  Patrick's laughter being swung all around.  Racing on the beach "ready on your mark go".  Patrick repeating his name for the first time.  William sleeping in his super secret special hangout.  "Mommy I love you" constantly.  P's kisses complete with the smack sound and plenty to go around.



Loves.

Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Out of 414...

... pictures taken in June - here are some of my uneditted favorites.  Be prepared for red eye, out of focus, cutest faces you've ever seen.































 
















quickly - Switzerland was ridiculously amazing.  SOO pretty there are literally no intelligent words to describe.  I didn't get punished too badly by the boys when I got back and surprise surprise - Patrick learned how to sleep through the night.  So that is kinda awesome.  We talked on Skype via the Kindle twice - which was absolutely magical.  William didn't understand why I was in 'jamas LOL.

Patrick has one little curl in the back - so there is hair - officially!!  Woot!!!  William never stops talking but is becoming one sweet little boy.  When he chooses to listen.  Which isn't as frequent as we would like.  I think God is laughing every time my child opens his mouth... Karma is real people!!!!

P is getting more words all the time.  "Me" is a new one and "Mommy" has gotten clearer.  Um .... Bus, Grass, I know there are others....  Play.  Anyhow.  Paci weaning is probably coming soon - just because he's much more social without it and I like to stare at his beautiful face.

We are off to the beach tonight - so I hope you forgive me for a forty+ picture post without a lot of words.  Seriously though - I know you only come here to see their faces.  I'm no literary giant.  LOL.

Oh for posterity....  Pirates - Superheroes especially ones who don't wear shirts (HeMan)- Dry PullUps at night GO WILLIAM!!

Loves.

Monday, June 10, 2013

Loud chaos

Swim lessons are finally over.  And William didn't do one bit of swimming.  He floated holding on to the rail and "walked" along the edge with his hands.  I didn't really expect him to be swimming by the end.  I didn't expect him to flat refuse to swim either though, but he is definitely more comfortable in the water overall than when we started.  I'll take whatever level of success I can squeeze out.  We'll see what happens the rest of the summer.

Patrick is becoming more and more verbal.  Not necessarily adding more words, but more often than not, we can figure out what he wants if he's making a request.  And if the kid gets started - he just keeps going.  He'll sit in the backseat and just go on and on about something.  Then William gets started too and it just never ends.  **yay** No, really, it's cute.  Loud but cute.

Patrick is even starting to play independently.  Without me in the room or engaged with him.  It's awesome.  If I can get him into the choo-choos - I can make dinner without a baby on my hip or crying at my feet.  He will happily sit in the middle of the track and drive the trains around him.  I bet his imagination is just as good as his brother's - oh the adventures they will have!

Jake and the Neverland Pirates has been on basically constantly all week.  So maybe instead of Buzz & Woody for Halloween - I'll dress the boys up as Jake & Cubbie.  The costumes would be a LOT easier to put together for sure.  I found myself singing the theme song while grocery shopping ALONE on Saturday.  Maybe they need to go outside............ ha!

We did have a great family evening planting monkey grass this past week.  The boys had their little shovels and were going to town in the tote of leftover grass.  Then the water hose came out and we had a water party with the mister.  Sam would squirt them and then they would run giggling just to turn right back and ask for more.  So so so cute.  Of course, they wanted me to get in on the fun, and truthfully, that was fine with me.  It was hot and monkey grass has surprisingly deep roots.

Positive Discipline is finally starting to pay off in a real way.  Atleast I think so. William is doing a better job of listening, behaving, and has even started to figure out on his own when to say he's sorry and what for.  It's showing up in small ways, we definitely still have multiple daily struggles but I can see the hard work & patience paying off.  He is really is such a sweet boy with humongo feelings he needs help with.  New favorite sentence we're working on - "I'm having a rough morning/day."  Favorite part of all this working - lots of random "I love you Mommy".  So glad all that parenting research is paying off - nothing wrong with finding new ways to do something.  Especially when they make life better & easier in the long run.  (if you're interested - http://www.ahaparenting.com/ is a great place to start)

Random - I read something the other day - gist : We hold children to a higher standard than adults - not allowing room for a bad day, rough morning, wrong side of the bed, etc.  Treat them like human beings, with real emotions, etc etc.   Thought that was interesting.  Am definitely going to be fitting that in to how I interact with the boys.  One more ounce of patience added.  I'm sure they'll appreciate it.

Exciting news - I begin a two month trial of Flex Time on Monday.  My hours will be 730-330, 8 hours, no lunch, but I'll be off in time to pick William up from PreK (when that starts in August).  This is going to be AWESOME for a multitude of reasons.  1.  I get to work basically at 7:30 anyhow but work until 5 (I do workout at lunch - so that usually goes a little over an hour with a shower - but still, long day) 2.  More time with the boys.  I've always been a little upset that their teachers spend more time with them than when do, especially during the week.  This will be just one tiny way to chip away at that - and when afterschool activities begin - I can be the one doing the driving - not arranging for someone else to do that.  I also get to be the one helping with homework, etc.  Being the PARENT.  I was spoiled by my parents being teachers - I definitely will do whatever it takes to give my boys a version of that.  3.  We won't have to pay for after-school care.  Mini-raise for the Rumers!  Seriously, it'll be a couple hundred off the bill list. I'll take the breathing room.

So - I get to rise to the challenge for two months and hope the higher ups agree that it's working just fine.  Luckily, I'm on the International team - so since our peeps are hours ahead, the earlier I'm officially there, the better for them.  Fingers crossed!!!  This would be huge for our family in so many ways!


## so much has happened since I wrote most of this s but here you anyhow. Next I'll tell you about Switzerland and maybe even include some pictures of the monsters. He. I know that's the only reason you tune in. Ha.

Loves.




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