Playing together

After Daddy’s race, we played outside while he rested. Sean loves anything that Caitlin loves. That includes her new glasses!

When Sean started pushing Caitlin I think I got chills. I love that they are starting to play together more!

Lots of winter afternoon fun!

Miami Half Marathon

The Irishman has wanted to run in a big race for as long as I’ve known him. Just before Father’s Day he signed up to run the Miami Half Marathon. His training took a hit this fall when he was sick, but he made it.

Sunday was the big day. I knew he had visions of crossing the finish line and falling into the arms of his waiting family. I loved that image, but I had visions crazy crowds of 25,000 runners and cranky kids running in opposite directions while I helplessly chased them. We decided a few weeks ago that he would drive down to Miami for the race by himself.

At 9:30 the night before I changed my mind. I stayed up for another hour and a half packing Mary Poppins style bags. Snacks? Drinks? Balls? Change of clothes? Diapers? Wipes? Trash bags? Bubbles? Sun shade? Jackets? Stickers? I packed anything and everything I could think of packing!

We left the house at 3:45am. Parking was crazy. There were people EVERYWHERE!



The Irishman gave hugs, kisses, and fist bumps before heading off.



Thankfully we met Mia, Max, and their dad. Their mommy was running the race, too. They were looking for a playground. I was happy to follow along. I said a silent prayer when I saw that the playground was contained in a gate. They could run in opposite directions without me having a panic attack. I said a prayer of thanks when I saw it!



Honestly they had a blast.



They played with their new friends and didn’t want to leave when it was time to watch Daddy finish the race.



The Irishman didn’t see us cheering for him, but I saw him run. I’m not sure the kids did, but they saw me acting like a crazy woman cheering for Daddy, so they got the idea! Once we found him we headed back to the playground. Sean took a nap instead.

 

This statue was a hit. Caitlin wanted to ride the dolphin. She even agreed to use the yucky port-a-potty in order to talk me into lifting her up onto it. That is pretty major!

 

We don’t typically go to Miami….ever. It was lovely though. I was scared of how the day would go, but everything fell into place.

 

We are so proud of Daddy! He ran the whole race and reached his goal.

 

 

“When I am grown up, I going to run in a race like Daddy.”

- Caitlin, age 3

A Princess Party

Last weekend Caitlin went to a Princess themed birthday party. She wore her “costume pajamas” with tights and a sweater. The plan had been to wear her silver sparkly “tippy toes,” but the weather had other ideas.



Instead she wore her rain boots. She decided that an excuse to splash in puddles was even better than sparkly tippy toes!



Caitlin loved everything about the party. She used to be scared of bounce houses. Not any more.



The party was for the daughter of a friend of mine. Caitlin had only met the birthday girl once and didn’t know the other princesses, but she had a blast playing on the playground and bouncing with the kids.



I am so happy we went. Even in the rain, Caitlin loved it all!

The End of the Christmas Posts

I’d planned to make a cake for Christmas. My mom always made a Christmas tree cake for my brother’s birthday. I bought the cake pan last year and had visions of making a perfect Christmas tree cake.

It never happened.

I was going to try again this year. We ran out of time on Christmas Eve. On Christmas we realized we were out of eggs. In the end I decided we would have cake on the Epiphany instead. We told Caitlin that Christmas was his birthday, but that this was his birthday party.

I also gave up on the cake and let her decorate it herself. It was more fun that way.



It might just have become an accidental tradition.



This is video of Sean blowing out the candle. It took a while, but he got it in the end.

(And no, he was not as close to the flame as he looks there - it is the camera angle!)

We also painted the ornaments we’d made earlier. (Another Christmas project we didn’t get to until after the fact!

They had a blast with our final Christmas fun!

Sean’s Date

Well it has been a while.Life has happened. Updates since the last post: Sean’s ENT appointment went well. His ears look good. Thank goodness!

I have lots to post, but I’m going to start where I left off. Two weeks ago maybe? This was Sean’s afternoon date. I decided to take him to the indoor playground. I expected it to be crowded, but it was a nice day. As luck would have it, we were the only ones there.



Sean had the run of the place and he loved every minute of it. He kept running from room to room, finding new things to explore.



The trains are still a little advanced for him, but he enjoyed throwing them around anyway!



Of course climbing is still tops in his book! He is all boy when it comes to that!





Sean has started to sing Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star. He was thrilled when I figured out how to make the keyboard sing his song.



He wasn’t much for dress up, but he loved the construction hats.



With in an hour of leaving, the stomach bug hit. I was just grateful that I got to spend some quality time with my favorite little boy before the plague hit our house!

Pet Shop Fun

I’d planned to take Sean for his afternoon date the day after Caitlin, but I forgot to pack a bag with the things we would need. At the last minute I decided to find something they would both enjoy. In the end all we did was stop at Petsmart on the way home. We didn’t need anything. We just took our time walking around the store.



Sean was SO excited. He shrieked with joy! The cats were his favorite. Caitlin loved the fact that this bird kept following her from one side of the cage to the other.



They walked from one side of the store to the other and back again.



Doggie Day Care was full of little yappy dogs to say hi to us.



When we got home we made banana bread and played outside. I posted this on Facebook, but it was too good not to share again. This is Caitlin making grass angels.

 

Such a silly girl!

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

The meeting yesterday went as well as could be expected. Our principal was fantastic. That makes all the difference! I am taking Sean to the pediatric ENT after school. I am hoping that tonight I will be saying something along the lines of “I drove all the way out there for nothing!” and, “What a waste of a $25 copay!” Let’s hope!

Caitlin’s Date: Bowling

The last week of my winter break I ran errands and went into school for a while. I had a rough December and I needed to catch up. To make myself feel less guilty about putting the kids in day care while I was off, I decided to plan a special afternoon for each of them. Caitlin chose bowling.



She was SO excited! It was all she talked about for two days. The bowling alley was quiet.

 

(A little video)

We got bumpers. The little stand was being used once we got there, but the family using it brought it over to us once they finished.

 

(Another video)

 

 

We went to pick up Seanie and to tell all the teachers at school about her bowling date!

 

~~~~~~~

 

I thought I was so prepared at the end of winter break. I left school on Thursday feeling good about myself. Then Friday happened.

 

I found out at school about a situation with a parent. I was upset and frustrated. I left at 3:30 like I promised myself I would and took Sean for his date. (More on that date in another post!) It had been a rough day, but I was happy to spend time with my little guy. On the way home, Sean threw up in the car.

 

One or both of the kids was sick with a stomach bug from that Friday to the next. Thursday everyone was back at school or work, but then that night both were sick again. It was a pretty miserable week. The Irishman and I have been trying to juggle time off work. We have gone through crazy amounts of disinfectant spray and chicken soup.

 

We are still hoping that we make it through without either of us getting sick. After spending that many days covered in vomit I’m sure it is a matter of time before it takes me out, too. Though it isn’t draining anymore, Sean’s ear still seems to be bugging him so we are going to try to schedule another ENT appointment. The Irishman and I both have a gut feeling that he is still sick.

 

We finally got our Christmas decorations put away this weekend. The house is still a mess, but we’ve tried to work on it some more. I’m frustrated with work and the house and trying to balance it all. I’ve felt pretty inadequate this week. By the time I sit down at night to start my work it is between 8:30 and 9 each night. I’m exhausted.

 

Without going into details, I have a meeting today at school that I am not looking forward to attending.  It isn’t anything major, and I doubt it will be as bad as I am fearing. Please say a prayer though. I’ve gotten myself pretty worked up over it all and I could use some happy thoughts. My biggest fear is that the kids will be sick again. I jump every time anyone in the house burps or gags. I am waiting for it to come back.

 

Here’s to hoping next week I have time for a few happy, upbeat posts!

Happy Birthday Gingerbread Man House Cake

While looking at the clearance Christmas decorations last week, we came across the Home Depot Gingerbread House Kit. I remembered my friend Laura posting about doing this kit with her family. It was on clearance to we picked it up.

We were supposed to go to the zoo with the kids that day, but the weather wasn’t looking too promising. To help make it up to Caitlin, we took out the kit during Sean's nap.



She was thrilled. This was HER “Happy Birthday Gingerbread Man House Cake” and she was going to do it all by herself!



It was a little messy, but it was worth it! We had a blast!



I think this is going to be a new tradition for us!

Christmas Day Fun

With bikes from Santa we spent a lot of Christmas Day outside. The kids were thrilled with their new toys!



We spent the day at home in our PJs. Sean had a run in with a carton of yogurt, so he was the only one to change.



Caitlin took to the bike naturally. She was flying!



After all that playing outside, the kids were exhausted. In fact, even though both slept past 7 Christmas morning, the kids both fell asleep before dinner! Sean fell asleep at the table while we were serving it up. Caitlin fell asleep surrounded by goodies on the couch.



The Irishman and I ate dinner by the light of the advent wreath. We were disappointed that the kids weren’t there to join us, but they were worn out and sleeping soundly by 6:30!
It was a great day!

Christmas Morning

This is one of those posts that is mostly for the family. I actually get stressed out with so many photos at once. I decided in the end that I was going to just make collages with the photos. We have so many family members from far away. I didn’t get all the gifts, but I figured those giving them might enjoy seeing them in the pictures.

Santa’s workshop was open until about 2am or so. Santa leaves his presents for us in the Santa sacks. We put the virtual fire on the TV for the Irishman, though it is not quite the same!



We came down the stairs in the dark and Caitlin was convinced that there was nothing new to see. Once we turned on the light she was thrilled to see her bike and all the other goodies under the tree.



I LOVE this photo. Sean was as impressed with the Sesame Street wrapping paper. There is a story about the Irishman ripping Muppets wall paper off the wall. The fact that Sean stopped everything after ripping off a piece of paper reminded me of the story and made me smile.



Caitlin was thrilled with everything. She was a gift opening machine!



Sean alternated between opening gifts and drinking his milk.



Once the gifts were open it was time to try it all out. Shoes, hats, toys…



Sean was happy to explore the rocking chair, tree, and anything else he could get into!



Once all her gifts were open Caitlin started to help us with ours. She dumped my Santa sack upside down to empty it. Silly girl!



We were all thrilled with all the goodies. There was a mountain of paper and boxes left behind.

Special times!

It wasn’t long before we were outside trying out the bikes. But that is another post…