Olympic Announcement

THIS week I am taking time off from the blog in order to devote four solid hours each night to watching the olympics. Haha just kidding. But seriously our Internet has been down since yesterday and comcast cannot come fix it until Sunday. Unbelievable! I do have some marketing work to email out so the kids and I are going on a search for wireless tomorrow morning. (-: I will post to the blog then.

We Get to Meet our New Cousin

FRIDAY morning Calla slept in...thankfully, since she had a late night Thursday! Kelsey Mae and Jay were up at their normal early time...well, 8ish. We had some breakfast and I thought about going to the gym, but Calla woke up too late for me to fit in an hour at the gym before Jay's morning nap.

While Jay napped, the girls got into their swimsuits and pretended they were at the pool. haha. With their babies. They usually get real involved with some sort of plot (drawn up by Calla), and I stick my head in and say, "What are you doing?" and they give me a one-sentence synopsis of their "play." It's usually pretty entertaining to listen to.

below: playing "swimming pool"....

After Jay woke up from his nap, we ate lunch and then headed to the pool. My girlfriends Jenny and Kris met us there at Northside. We usually bring Jay's pink car, and I stuff him in there and strap the girls' swimmies to the handle. Calla carries the buckets, and Kelsey usually carries nothing (in fact, I often encourage her to carry her cup but halfway to the door she insists it's "too heavy Mommy can you please carry it").

It takes about as long to put sunscreen on everyone as it does to drive to the pool. haha. I slather it on and then the girls jump right in...which is when I put Jay in his swimsuit. I don't ever put his suit on before we get to the pool since those swim diapers are pretty worthless (unless, of course, it is full of #2!).

Well eventually we all got in the pool. The girls were so excited to see the Moo kids...we haven't spent time with them in weeks, since we were in Pennsylvania and then they had a family wedding (and now next week they are away on vacation). Erik and Norah and Calla always play as a threesome now...Eriksen adores Calla and it is so cute to watch. Today in the pool Jenny and I were chatting and we paused when we overheard Erik say to Calla, "Can I marry you, Calla?"

Calla looked at us (she noticed our stare!) and smiled and then she turned to Erik and said, "Sure, Erik." hahaha.

We usually just stay in the kiddie pool while we are at Northside, but Kris' and Jenny's kids wanted to try out the "big pool" so we followed them over there. The shallow end of the "big pool" is the same depth as the deep end of the kiddie pool, so Calla and Kelsey felt comfortable. (Kelsey wore swimmies.) Jay is always content in the pool if I am holding him, and when my arm gets tired of that I put him on the side of the pool and he sits there and watches all the action.

Norah and Jack (Kris' oldest) do the diving board, so we walked over to the deep end to watch them go off the diving board. Calla and Kelsey cheered...they probably think that as long as they are cheering, nobody will notice that they won't jumping too! haha.

below: Calla, Kelsey, Erik and Mollie (Kris' third) watching the 'jumpers'



Isn't it funny they have those bleachers set up there? It's like they knew we were coming to cheer. Jay stood by them and watched the jumping, until he thought the water looked pretty tempting and started walking towards the deep end. I snatched him before he got too close.

After Jack and Norah were done jumping, Jenny and Kris thought it'd be a good time to head out. Before they left, Jenny asked if Calla wanted to come over for a playdate. Norah and Eriksen were so excited! Well, Calla did not want to go. I felt so bad about it, especially because Norah and Erik were so disappointed (I overheard Erik saying, "Please Calla! I will let you pick out one of my toys and keep it forever!")

Calla's mind was made up. She did not want to go. She told me she is scared of Cooper (the dog) and doesn't want to be at Norah's house if I am not there. I really would have more empathy for Calla if I didn't know that Jenny keeps Cooper outside (or in the basement) the entire time Calla is there. Maybe Cooper escaped before...regardless, Calla was positive she didn't want a playdate at Norah's. I was kind of embarrassed as I told Jenny, no thanks, Calla just wants to stay with her mother.

We ended up staying at the pool an extra half hour. I wanted to wait to leave until we were up to Jay's nap time, and sure enough he fell asleep once we got home. I also put Kelsey Mae down for a nap.

While the kiddos slept, Calla helped me make dinner for Stephen and Alicia. We planned to bring it over to them Friday evening. When she was done helping me, we worked on her reading lesson. I haven't been very consistent with it this summer.

Jay and Kelsey woke up at a similar time...and then we got ready to go. As soon as Jonathan got home from work, we loaded the dinner in the car and headed to Stephen and Alicia's. We were so excited to meet Braylen!

Alicia got home from the hospital on Thursday evening, so she had not even been home 24 hours when we arrived. She had a much easier delivery with Braylen than she did with Braxton, so she was feeling great! It's amazing what some perspective can do (make labor seem "easy"...comparatively speaking!).

We had barely greeted them when I got my chance to hold Braylen! Oh my goodness he is so teeny tiny. I wasn't holding him for more than five minutes when Calla started asking for a turn, and so after a while she got one.



below: The Brust cousins! For a short time, my kids have two cousins on each side of the family. (In September, they'll have four cousins on the Stoltzfus side.)

 Calla and Braylen! ....

below: She requested a "kissing picture."

 Once Kelsey saw how irresistible Braylen looked on Calla's lap, she asked for a turn too!

Kisses....

 Kelsey and her new cousin....

We spent a couple hours there visiting. Calla and Kelsey and Jay were very busy playing with Braxton's "boy toys." It's true - most of his toys we don't have at home so they were very entertained! I asked Alicia to give me a couple ideas for boy toys for Jay!

Speaking of Jay, he showed off his new walking skills for Stephen and Alicia. I don't think he crawled the entire time we were there....he was way too busy exploring! Braylen slept almost the entire time we were there (he woke up only when Alicia woke him up to feed him!). It's amazing how much newborns sleep.

Alicia and I got some time to catch up when Stephen and Jonathan took the kids over to a bouncey-house nearby (there was a block party going on). They also drove a couple minutes down the road to Palm Court, where Opa was eating dinner. Jonathan said he sent Calla, Kelsey and Braxton over to Opa's table to surprise him (Jonathan was swinging by to grab something out of Opa's car).

After awhile, Jay started getting cranky. He was ready for bed! We said goodbye to big brother Braxton and baby Braylen and headed home. Somehow none of the kids fell asleep on the 30-minute car ride home. As soon as we got in the door, we put them to bed.

After all, we had Olympics coverage to watch! I think it will be a very cranky next two and a half weeks for me...I'm staying up way too late watching all the coverage! Fortunately, it usually ends by 11 (I am not sure how the EST folks are handling it with coverage going to midnight!).

Callaism~

~ On Friday afternoon, I gave Calla a bowl of ice cream and told her how blessed we were to eat ice cream because Corinne can't have ice cream. Calla said why not and I explained that there isn't any ice cream in Africa. Calla looked perplexed, but tried to make it "better" by suggesting, "Well maybe the kids from Africa have really good food to eat that we don't have here." I was thinking "doubt it!" but I said, "Maybe!"



Not Much to Say about Thursday

THERE'S just not much to say about Thursday. The house was clean from the day before, so what I really should have done was taken a day trip somewhere! ha. We had Bible Study Thursday night at my house, so I needed to keep it clean. But instead the weather was kind of overcast and we stayed home all day.

During Jay's morning nap, the girls and I made chocolate chip cookies. Yum. It is so fun to bake with them because they are pretty helpful, plus it just makes it interesting. We set some of the dough aside and sampled it. Yum. You can't go through life without a sampling of chocolate chip cookie dough.

below: I got this pic of the girls caring for their babies Thursday morning. (No it's not winter. They were still in their pajamas. And yes they wear winter pajamas in the summer.) As you can see, Kelsey is pumping.

 below: BIRD! I moved the little kitchen from the girls' room out to the kitchen to see if it would lure Jay away from my cabinets! So far it's working! I'm sure the novelty will wear off, but for now I am liking it. (-:

After Jay woke up, we ran out to Target for a couple things. I feel like that happens a lot...I go grocery shopping on Monday, and then by Tuesday I remember the one or two items that I forgot about on Monday. So Thursday we went to Target for some dish soap and birthday cards. We got home and ate some lunch, and I thought about putting Kelsey down for a nap and then decided not to since I needed her to go to sleep early with small group.

Jay did take a second nap, although it was a bit on the late side. I spent his second nap cleaning the house (the girls had been busy playing all day and it showed!) and so as soon as he woke up I decided to take the kids to the pool for an hour and a half to keep the house clean! haha.

The sun came out and it ended up being pretty hot. We drove over to Northside pool and ended up running into my friend Emily and her little ones (Will, Kate and Ben) over there. It was fun to have some company. After an hour or so, the kiddie pool emptied out and it was just Calla and Kelsey swimming around! They loved it! In fact, it made it hard for me to tell them to leave but eventually we were running into dinnertime so we went home.

Dinnertime and bedtime on Bible Study nights are a bit hectic, because it's a lot to do...eating, dishes, pajamas, etc....squeezed into a set time frame. In fact, the whole evening really got away from me because Calla and Jay were wide awake when our guests began to arrive.

Calla, in true teenager form, slept in until almost 9am on Thursday and so she was not ready for bed by 7 (when Kelsey fell asleep). We set her up with a DVD and some coloring to occupy herself while the adults met, although a few times I had to tell her to go away when I could see her venturing towards the adults.

And Jaybird wasn't quite ready either, but not even two minutes passed before I realized there was no way he would sit nicely in the back room while ten adults surrounded him, chatting. He was trying to grab at the dessert in no time, so Jonathan took him to his room and put him to bed.

Our small group meets from 7:30-9:30ish, so by the time I said goodbye and cleaned up the dishes and got ready for bed, it was 10:30. I checked on Calla, and she was still awake! She was laying in bed, and told me she just couldn't sleep. That girl is such a night owl!

below: Thursday morning Kelsey began with a song. ha.

Jayism~

~ Today (Saturday) Jay is probably walking 90% of the time. I can't believe how much better he's gotten at walking the past couple days! I will have to get a video of it to post.

Our New Cousin

WEDNESDAY my newest nephew Braylen was born! Jonathan's brother, Stephen and his wife, Alicia, gave birth to their second son halfway through the day. She went in that morning to be induced, so I knew the news was coming. I probably checked my phone 1,000 times!

below: Alicia and baby Braylen

 Braxton admiring his baby brother....

Wednesday morning, while we waited around for the news, I kept busy with a long to-do list. My house was in a desperate need of a scrub, and so to put off that unappealing task, I set to work making a big breakfast. Ha! Kelsey loves scrambled eggs, so I made those for her and then egg and bacon bagel sandwiches for myself. Calla slept in too late to eat a big breakfast, but she's not big into eggs anyway. She and Jay ate cereal. (I always put eggs on Jay's tray but he likes to throw them more than eat them.)

Finally, though, the kitchen dishes were done and I had no excuse but to face the music. well, after a shower. Then I finally did get cleaning. haha. We cleaned until lunchtime, and after lunch we took a break from cleaning and went to the pool. I still had a big to-do list, but the girls were ready to get out of the house and quite frankly not much gets done when Jay is awake. He likes to make a mess as he walks along...literally.

We went to Rice pool, and had a great time. My friend Ali and her kiddos were there and we haven't seen them in forever. Calla was so happy to see them. So we got to catch up, and we both left at around 2pm. 2pm is a good time to leave Rice because they have the senseless "adult swim." I call it senseless because lifeguards beep their whistles and wave everyone out (it's a big ordeal) and then we all sit at the edge while one, two, at the MOST three adults walk into the pool and do laps. It is just laughable. But, on the other hand, it makes for a practical time to leave the pool since we are forced to be out of the pool anyway (it lasts about 10 minutes).

So Wednesday we left the pool at about 2pm, which is around the time when I got the text that Braylen was born! He was 8 pounds, 8 ounces. Those Brust boys must like symetry, because Jay was 7 pounds, 7.7 ounces. ha.

Anyway, once we got home I put Jay down for a nap and Kelsey and Calla had some rest time, which means they lay on the couch in the back room and watch a 20-minute Yo Gabba Gabba episode or some nonsense. I spent the rest of the afternoon making a meal for my friend Andrea, who had her fourth boy about five weeks ago. I am obviously a bit overdue in bringing her a meal but I told myself that a cooked meal is a cooked meal no matter how belated it was, and when the kids and I brought it over to her, I could tell she felt the same way! I got to hold Zachary for about two minutes and thirty seconds, which is how long I had before Jay got into trouble (trying to unplug one of Andrea's son's toys from the outlet).

We visited for twenty or so minutes, and then headed back home. I got dinner together just as Jonathan walked in the door.

Wednesday evening, Jonathan and I had a 40th birthday party to attend (40!), so after dinner we put the kids in their pajamas and commenced with the bedtime rituals...teethbrushing, devotion-reading, that sorta thing. Kelsey Mae was in bed before she could even ask for a drink, which sure is saying something. And then I tucked Jay in bed and got ready for the party.

Our baby-sitter arrived on time, but I had about three pairs of shoes to try on for her (I like to get her opinion! - it's what I miss about living with sisters!). The three pairs of shoes led to three different dresses, and finally I ended up right back in the first outfit I had put on. haha. Isn't that always what happens? She and Calla were cuddling on the couch when I left.

In fact, here are some pics Stefani took....

Meanwhile, my friend Julie threw the 40th party for her husband, Dutch, and it was just a fabulous time. It's always a fabulous time when you are celebrating somebody else getting older (not yourself). haha. Makes you feel young. We got home and Calla was asleep but Kelsey had just woken up to use the bathroom! Oh brother! Can't get rid of these people! haha. just kidding.

Happy weekend all.

Happy Birthday, Aunt Courtney! Happy Birthday, Uncle Caleb! Happy Birthday, Braylen! Lots of Birthdays!

Better late than never...some pics with aunt Court....

below: This pic cracks me up. Jonathan and I went out with some friends for my birthday and Court baby-sat the girls...when we got back, she was brushing teeth! ha.

below: a family pic!! Court and Kurt are on the far right, next to Jay's head (-:

Courtney holding Jay for the first time! Court I love this pic of you! You look beautiful!

Court and Kurt on Alicia and Stephen's wedding day last year....thought I'd give Kurt a shout out....

Haha okay Courtney this is a hilarious pic. We all look ridiculous...especially Uncle Ben (-:.... we were cutting a rug back on Alicia and Stephen's wedding day.

I AM writing this Thursday, so Monday just seems like a long time ago. Until I start to think about it, and then it seems like this week must have gone fast.

Monday morning was exciting for us because my girlfriend Julie dropped off her son, Blake, for the morning. She was taking her twins to their grandparents', so we watched Blake. Actually, there wasn't too much "watching" necessary because he just fit right in! The girls set up "Little People" for him and the three of them played and played.

It was supposed to be super hot, so I suggested we go to the park early. It was already 83 degrees.

below: Blake, Kelsey and Calla on the see-saw.

 below: This man didn't sit still long enough to do the see-saw. He likes steps. And slides. ha.


We stayed at the park for as long as we could handle the heat...once Jay got sweaty and, consequently, cranky we headed back home and I put him down for a nap. When I checked on the kids, they were playing "house" in Calla and Kelsey's room.

"I'm the mom, Blake's the dad, and Kelsey's the kid!" Calla announced. Later on I noticed that Blake was the "brother." haha. He was a very good sport about taking care of babies and pushing strollers, but I think that's because he has an older sister. He's used to playing house!

At around 11ish, we decided to eat lunch. The three kids were giggling on and on about something...I couldn't even figure out what was so funny. Perhaps they thought this was funny:

below: Jay eating like a dog.

 He was being so funny and kept doing it. I was laughing so I'm not sure if he realized he was making a joke or what. He likes mac and cheese and baked beans. yum.

At close to noon, Blake went home and the rest of us got ready to head to the pool. The timing couldn't be better...Jay was recently up from his nap and the sun was shining.

We headed to Rice pool. We saw some friends there, which always makes it more fun. Calla has not gone down the slides ever since that unfortunate incident back in June when she popped out of the slide on her belly, going head first (she is supposed to go down on her bottom). I think it made her nervous, because everytime I ask she says, "not today."

She and Kelsey spent a lot of time jumping off the side. Calla loves jumping and going under water now that she's comfortable with it. Kelsey always prefers to keep her swimmies on, which actually makes my life easier because I don't have to catch her then.

They also spent some time in the sand...they picked a shady spot which was ideal since it was so hot out. Jay loves exploring in the sand...he always stays right by me or his sisters, but he crawls and walks around in it and right into their "ponds" of water.

We ended up staying at the pool until 2:30, which was right when Jay would be due for nap #2. Sure enough, he fell asleep on the way home and I put him right to bed. Somehow Kelsey stayed awake, and so I put a half-hour show on for her and Calla so they could have some downtime. Even I was feeling kind of worn out after being out in the sun.

Well I definitely had to re-group because after Jay's nap I decided we should head to the grocery store. I usually go Monday mornings, but I certainly didn't want Blake to have to endure that so we rallied after Jay's nap and headed out!

Monday was definitely Jay's worst day at the grocery store to date...I strapped him in the car-cart but he was content in there for about two aisles. Then he wanted out. Actually, he didn't complain....he just wiggled and weasled his way out of his straps and stood up on the seat in the car and hung the top half of his body out the window. I just knew he would fall. So I tried putting him in the back of the cart and that gave me about the length of time it took me to plow through the meat section. Then he was done. Done with the cart. Unless, of course, I'd let him stand in the car-cart which seems fine except the sides don't go up high enough and he could easily fall out on his head.

So I just plopped him on my hip and tried to be grateful for the arm-strengthening. haha. I really did feel like my arm was going to fall off by the time I steered that cart to the cashier. We zipped through as fast as possible and headed home.

Thankfully for us, we drove into the driveway just as Jonathan was getting home. In fact, that blessed man offered to make dinner (just a simple stir-fry) while I emptied all the groceries. I might have to grocery shop in the late afternoon every week! haha.

We didn't sit around long at dinner because Jonathan had a softball game at 7. He drove over there, and then the kids and I planned to bike over to the field (it's across the street). Well, it started to drippy-drop (is that a socially acceptable phrase? like over the age of 12?) and so we opted to take the minivan in case it rained, but then it never did.

below: eyes on the ball. and his dad.

 below: Awww! Jay watching Daddy through the fence. He'd put his little hand through the fence and try to reach him. Poor child must have horrible depth perception.

 below: I WANT DAD! After awhile, he'd start fussing so Jonathan would come over and talk with him.

The girls watched for about an inning, and then spent the rest of the game lining up rocks. Calla spelled out her name using rocks. She hopes it is still there when we go back there, whenever that day is.

The game only lasted about 45 minutes or so, and we packed up and headed back home. I read their devotional and Jonathan prayed with them and tucked them in. They were all asleep so fast! Watching softball makes them sleepy!

TUESDAY morning we woke up to thunderstorms. Well, the kids stayed sleeping but I woke up. I think thunderstorms are so fun to listen to. Well, until they are really close to your house and produce 90 mph winds and then the power goes out for 48 hours. But that didn't happen.

The kids ended up waking up around the same time, so we ate breakfast and decided to head over to the sports center. It's been awhile! Fortunately, Calla was looking forward to doing a craft and Kelsey was in good spirits about going as well. I handed Jay over to the childcare workers and he seemed to be cool with it. They put him in with the walkers, although they said he didn't move around too much. He was busy watching all the big kids. (He was moved up from the nursery to the "tot lot," which includes walkers up to 2 years old.)

My ankle is still tender...if I move it certain ways, it still hurts...so I thought better of running on it and did the bike instead. That may have been even more tiring. Although the bike had a TV attached which makes for a faster workout. I may need to do that during the Olympics coverage the next couple weeks. (-:

We came home and Jay napped and I did some laundry. The weather was iffy, so the pool was out of the question. It was kind of nice to sit at home and not have too much going on....the girls played and played. I interrupted them to feed them lunch, but Jay was still taking a long nap so after lunch they kept on playing.

I thought about putting Kelsey down for a nap, but I honestly didn't want to interefere. So once Jay woke up, we decided to venture out of the house on a little walk.

We parked in Wheaton and walked downtown to the candy shop. The girls each spent 50 cents on some candy, and ate it while we walked around a bit. We stopped at Starbucks and I got Calla an ice water and some cookie crumble nonsense for me. I was trying to even out that work on the exercise bike, you see.

We walked slowly, because that's the only pace my girls know, and saw three trains go by. Each one is always exciting....

below: the kids watching for the train....

After some wandering, we got back in the car and drove to the library. I thought for sure the library's children's area would be empty since it was the middle of the afternoon, but it was actually pretty full! In fact, I ran into my new friend Kacey there and we had a great time chatting. She has a daughter Fallon who is Kelsey's age and a daughter Savvy who is Haley's age. And she is pregnant with #3.

Calla, Kelsey Mae and Fallon maybe spent two minutes looking at books and then they were playing "swimming pool" in the corner. (Literally, "swimming" on the carpet.) In fact, I think Calla would have been content to stay much longer but Kelsey was getting hungry and started to ask if we could please go home. Sometimes the "no-nap" catches up with us.

We got home and I made Monterey Chicken for dinner, which was the meal that Aunt Katelyn prepared in Pennsylvania that I really liked. It is super simple. Here is the Recipe:

Ingredients:

4-6 chicken breasts

BBQ sauce

one tomato

6-8 slices of bacon

1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese

Instructions:

Cook chicken in oil on stove until it is cooked through (I didn't cook it thoroughly enough and had to put it back on). Then lay chicken in baking dish and top with BBQ sauce (as much as you'd like...I made sure my chicken was pretty well covered in it). Then top with cooked bacon (I cut mine), chopped tomato, and the cheese. Place in 350-degree oven for 5 minutes, or until cheese is melted.

I actually left the cheese and tomato off Jonathan's pieces since he is not a fan of either of those things (I think that's what makes it delicious!) and he really liked it. In fact, there was an extra chicken breast that he took to work the next day for lunch, on a sandwich bun.

Tuesday evening we didn't have any plans, so after dinner Jonathan gave the kids a bath. By the time the bath was over, Kelsey Mae and Jay were so tired their eyes were almost closed. Well, not really but there was a lot of crankiness going on. (Jay had only napped once.) So Jonathan put the girls to bed and I put Jay to bed.

Then we sat and watched some Olympic trials. Have we mentioned we are excited for the Olympics?! (-:

Callaism~

~ Calla is planning every detail of her birthday. It is almost always on the forefront of her mind. She has a guest list she rattles off, she speaks about having a "family party" with just US and then a "family party" with Mema and Opa and then a "friends party" and then ANOTHER "party" with Mimi and Pops the next time we are in Pennsylvania. She mulls over game options and food ideas and present ideas and....this girl just cannot wait. I tell you it makes me a little nervous that her birthday will live up to all her hype! ha

Kelseyism~

~ Aunt Katelyn, we are loving Kelsey's haircut. I think it least once or twice a day how glad I am that we cut it!

Jayism~

~ Jay is becoming a WALKER. Every day, he walks a little more. On Tuesday he was about 50% walking and 50% crawling (today...Thursday...he's 75/25%). At the library, he would walk if he was going somewhere close (like from holding my leg to some books a few feet away) but when the girls would wander off to the other side of the children's area...several yards away...he'd drop to all fours and crawl! I think he knows crawling will get him there faster!

AND, with no further adieu, my brother Caleb's belated birthday tribute!! Caleb turned 20 yesterday! So now my parents no longer have a teenager under their roof. Pretty crazy after 16 straight years of teenagerdom.

below: Here is a pic of Uncle Caleb when he was meeting Jay for the first time!!! He looks like an expert balancing two kids ha

 below: fast-forward...this is Caleb playing with the girls at the Jersey Shore. They loved having his help searching for clams! ha

 below: Calla and Caleb facing off in a water-gun fight, in South Carolina in May....

 below: Caleb pointing out the fish to Kelsey Mae....

 below: This pic (from somebody's phone!) was from April when Caleb devoted an entire weekend with helping Pops watch Calla, Kelsey and Haley while the "mommies" went away for a women's retreat. I owe Caleb BIG TIME whenever he has a family because this was the second or third weekend he's cleared his calendar just to take care of my offspring! Brother of the year award for sure.

 below: Caleb and Haley and Kelsey....

Love you Caleb! Hope you had a great birthday!

A Summer Weekend



FRIDAY morning we were still recovering from our trip! The girls played, and I kept plowing through those piles of laundry. Sheesh. I was at the bottom of one of them when I got an email from my friend Brooke that she was heading over to the West Chicago pool.

We aren't members of the West Chicago pool, but it's only about a 15 minute drive down the road and has "Take 5 Fridays" through June and July. Take 5 is when the pool opens early, at 9:30am, for kids ages 5 and under. Then regular admission begins at 11 or so. Anyway, I went last summer a couple times with the kids before Jay was born and definitely wanted to work in a Friday this year.

Well what a great reason to leave the laundry and go play out in the sun. Haha just kidding. But it did work well into our schedule that day, because Jay was taking an early nap. So we got our pool bag packed, and our lunch bag packed (so many bags!), and as soon as Jay woke up we headed to the pool.

The West Chicago pool is about the same size as the pools in Wheaton, but there's one particular feature that I LOVE about it. It has a "mini-slide" for kids that my girls loved last year and were excited to see and remember! (Calla didn't remember the pool until we got there, and once she saw that slide she swam right over and the fun began.)

below: the "mini-slide"

We got to the pool at about 10am, and stayed almost four hours. Hahaha. I didn't even realize how long we'd been there until we were driving out of the parking lot and I checked the time. Time seems to stand still when we are having fun at the pool.

Several of our friends were there with their little ones, and Calla and Kelsey enjoyed being reunited with their little pals. They went down the slide with them, played in the sand with them...at one point, Calla and Kelsey Ann and Kelsey Mae were even playing "house" over at the lawn chairs. haha.

At around 11:30 or so, we took our lunch to the eating area and ate. Jay mostly ate goldfish...nothing else interests him as much as goldfish. He is a strange bird.

Jay would have probably been ready for a nap at around 1 (he'd been up since 9:30) but I nursed him on the lawn chairs while the girls did the mini-slide and that gave him another lease on life. ha. A little later he seemed tired and I nipped that in the bud with a few times down the slide. I went down with him on my lap and he loved it! It was so fun.

Eventually though Jay was ready to call it a day so we headed out. We weren't more than two minutes down the road when this happened:

 below: Bird loving his new seat.

 She loves napping in the car. She always asks me, "Can I fall asleep?" - even if we are on the way to the sports center at 8:30 in the morning haha.

We got home from the pool and I tucked Kelsey and Jay in bed. Calla and I did her reading lesson, and then she hung out while I straightened up the house and finished up the laundry.

Jay ended up sleeping until past 5! He was still snoozing when Jonathan got home from work! He woke up just before we headed out for dinner.

It was such a nice night, that I suggested we go to downtown Wheaton for dinner so we could walk around a bit. Every Friday in the summer, Wheaton has a "classic car" night where classic car enthusiasts park their cars on Front Street (the main street) and folks can walk around and check them out. They always close the street down for it and Friday they even had some music going.

We invited our friends the Westons and Roths to meet us. Jeff and Brooke and Steve and Kris have eight children between them so add that all up and we were looking for a big wait at our first restaurant of choice, a Mexican place. They said the wait was an hour. We said, "ok, that'd be great if you don't mind entertaining these eleven children in the meantime." haha.

Our second choice was Gino's East, and they could accommodate us immediately so we headed down the street for some pizza. They put us in a back room, and we set up a "kids table" and "adults/baby table" and had a great time. The pizza ended up taking a while, but there were enough coloring books and crayons to keep the kids busy.

Kris, Brooke and I got in as much conversation as possible while keeping a steady stream of goldfish and pizza pieces in the mouths of Ben (Kris'), Bridget (Brooke's) and Jay. As soon as we were all done, the kids were ready to get up and move so we headed outside into the warm night air and took a walk.

Calla was so excited about classic car night...she kept calling it "class of car" night. haha. The Classic Car night really does draw a lot of people, and the music and buzz of the crowd and little stands of face painting and what not got her so excited. "Mom, what holiday is it today?!" she asked me. haha. I told her it was just a Friday night. (-:

Jonathan did let Calla and Kelsey get their face painted (rainbows for each) and we also made a stop at the penny candy store. After we walked around a bit more, and then realized it was almost 8:30, we all headed home. The girls went to bed right away, and after stretching his legs for a bit, Jay went down to bed too.

SATURDAY was another hot day...we've been really blessed with some beautiful Saturdays this summer. Usually, I try to go to the sports center on Saturdays but I wanted to give my ankle a break since it was still a bit sore from the whole falling-into-the-septic-tank-incident. ha. So instead, I took the kids with me to hit up the French Market. It was another Wheaton staple I haven't experienced yet this summer.

We were there at around 8AM. let's just say the kids were up early that day! haha. And it turns out it was the time to go! The place was fairly empty....

There is a donut booth and so Calla and Kelsey each picked out a homemade, chocolate iced-sprinkled-donut. yum. Jay and I shared a cinnamon sugar one. He wasn't too impressed.

below: Calla and Jay watching the train. Kelsey didn't want to be in the pic ha.

We walked around the booths and I told Calla to keep her eyes open for something she'd want for her birthday but other than some adult jewelry and some kettle corn, she didn't see anything. Ha! I told her we'd look at a toy store for some more interesting things.

We headed back home in time to watch Daddy mow the lawn. I put Jay down for a nap. Once he woke up, we decided to go to Chick-fil-A for a free lunch (recall Jonathan won a bunch of free lunch for a closet-to-the-pin this past spring at a golf tournament).

Yum. There just isn't much better than a Chick-fil-A lunch. Just doesn't get old. In fact, we even had some coupons for some free dessert so the girls and I enjoyed some ice cream sundaes. I can't think of a better way to set up some time at the pool.

Chick-fil-A is just around the corner from Rice pool, so we headed over for a couple hours. The girls swam with daddy for a bit, and then wanted to go in the sand. We don't voice much complaint about sitting in that grimy sand because we get to sit. ha. Calla and Kelsey picked a corner in the shade and brother watched them work on a sand castle.

below: Jay playing in his mud hole. Kelsey and Calla always build him a little hole in the sand and put some water in it, so that he stays out of their way! ha

 below: being silly

It definitely wasn't a four-hour pool day! Jonathan usually gets tired of the pool at the one and a half hour mark, and I can usually squeak an extra half hour out of him. In his defense, it was super hot and so he didn't have to do too much convincing to get us to leave at around 1:30 or so.

Jay and Kelsey fell asleep on the way home. This tends to be a theme these days. Saturday afternoon I worked on the weeds for awhile. Jonathan had used some weed killer the day before so I tried to put a dent in them. It was pretty hot for weeding, so once Jay woke up we didn't last long outside. Once I saw his hair getting wet with sweat, we headed back in.

Saturday evening was a pretty low-key night. Jonathan grilled hamburgers and we ate at home. Afterwards, he gave the kids a bath and I did the dishes and then we put everyone to bed. Later on, he met up a with a friend to go watch the new Batman movie and I stayed home and caught up on HGTV Design Star. Everytime I watch that shoe I get inspired to redecorate the house. Unfortunately, I always watch it at around bedtime so I take all that inspiration and head to bed. It usually has worn off by morning. ha.

SUNDAY morning Jonathan cashed in on one of his Valentine's Day coupons (I made him some coupons that he can cash in for things such as "a back rub," "a Saturday at the golf course," etc.) and one of them was for "Mommy getting everyone ready for church" because every single Sunday he feeds and gets the kids ready while I get ready in peace. (-: It usually results in a very relaxing Sunday morning prep for me and a pretty chaotic one for Jonathan!

Well Sunday Jonathan cashed in his sleeping-in-until-church card, while I got myself and the kids ready. (I showered while Jay sat in his high chair. ha) I had the added pressure of being at church in time to help in nursery, but we all ended up ready on time. Jonathan took about 7 minutes to get ready. Ha.

I help in first service childcare one Sunday a month, and in second service nursery one Sunday a month, but since I was gone for a couple weeks I missed both of those and so on Sunday I had to make up by helping in both services! (Actually the childcare coordinator later told me I could have switched it but I didn't mind just getting it "over with" in one week.)

I am on the schedule to help in Calla's class first service, but when I dropped her off there were already three adults in there so I decided to go searching for Melanie, the childcare coordinator, to make sure she didn't need me anywhere else instead. Well I couldn't find her anywhere! Finally, someone pointed me down the hall to the 1-2 year old classroom, and there she was...by herself! She was already juggling it least 15 kids, and when she saw me she said, "God knew I needed your help!"

I still hadn't dropped Jay off, so I asked her if she minded if I just kept Jay with me. I thought he might like the older kids! She said yes, and so Jay and I stayed and helped her. I enjoyed spending some extra time with Melanie...she loves kids and does such a great job. She even did a craft with all those 18-30ish month olds...she had glue and colored rice and construction paper and we just did it on the floor. It was a big mess but the kids loved it.

Jay was very independent all morning. He played and played. I kept my eye on him to make sure nobody ran him over or anything but he seemed pretty oblivious of me. He was very busy playing with all the toys, and he did a lot more walking than he does at home. Maybe he was inspired by all the big kids!
For the second service, I helped in his normal class (the "crawlers"). There were only five kids in there, and they were all very well-behaved so it was super easy. Jay ate for awhile...he was sitting at a table with a little girl namd Brylee and she kept taking all his food. It was funny to watch his face as she stole goldfish after goldfish from under his fingers. haha. I told him he had to eat fast!

After church, we planned on going right home for Jay's nap. In fact, we weren't even deterred in the parking lot when our friends Dutch and Julie asked if we wanted to do brunch with them at Danby Station. Well, we weren't deterred until about five minutes in the drive when Jay seemed wide awake and was chatting happily with the girls (which means: the girls were talking to each other and he was babbling along in the middle of them). So I texted Julie that Jay showed promise and seemed like he would be able to "make it" and we'd meet them out after all.

Danby Station is a little diner type spot (most recently, we went there with Pops on our way to the airport in April). We sat at a booth, which worked out well because I stood Jay next to me when he tired of the high chair. Calla and Kelsey remembered getting pancakes when we went there with Pops, so they were happy to order them again. They sat next to Ellie and got in some girl talk. ha.

Julie and I hadn't seen each other since the beginning of July so we caught up. It was nice to have some "fellowship" on a Sunday when I'd spent the entire morning with babies. (-: And Jay did great...he ate a bunch, sucked on some empty half and half containers, threw a bunch of stuff on the floor, and sat on Daddy's lap. Just as we finished up eating, he started voicing his displeasure and so we said our goodbyes and he fell asleep almost as soon as we put the van in drive.

Sunday afternoon was pretty restful. It was cloudy and overcast, so we stayed at home. Kelsey took a nap. Calla and Jonathan and I laid in the back room and watched some Olympic trials on TV. We also watched a TV special on "the 30 best Olympic moments" which made me excited for the Games! The #1 Olympic moment was when the 1996 Olympic gymnastics team (the "magnificient seven") won the women's team gold after Kerri Strug's vault-on-a-broken-ankle...that always makes me teary and it made Calla excited to watch gymnastics! ha

After Jay and Kelsey woke up from their naps, I did a little more weeding. They played outside a bit. It kept looking like it was going to rain but it never did. Jonathan picked up pizza at a new pizza place nearby, which offers $5 pizza. It was really good pizza for $5...even Jay had some!

I felt like the kids needed to get out some energy so after dinner I took them to the park across the street.

below: Calla usually rides her bike, but Kelsey took her big wheel for the first time. There is a sidewalk that goes around some soccer fields near the park so we took a long walk...

Shhh. jay doesn't know his car is prett girly.

We did some slides. This looks like a disaster waiting to happen:

The girls are never ready to leave the park, but after awhile bedtime rolled around so we went home. This weekend reminded me how much I love summer. It always feels good to spend so much time outdoors.

We have been reading a children's devotional book before bed each night and I've stopped "changing" Bible stories. I used to alter them for Calla....you know, instead of saying Cain "killed" Abel I would read that Cain "hurt" Abel. And David knocked Goliath with a rock and he "fell down." Well now that she's almost 5 and has more of a memory I've started to read them accurately and fortunately she's grown up and I know that we can talk about it without resulting in a bad dream! Plus, I've found that a lot of the stories she's already known accurately from church! (I can picture the following exchange: Sunday school teacher says "And then David killed Goliath." And Calla raising her hand: "Killed? What does that mean? Didn't he just knock him down with that big rock?" And the teacher saying: "What is wrong with your parents?" hahaha jk.)

I hope you all had a great weekend!!!!!

below: the girls on the slide on Friday

SUNDAY was also Aunt Courtney's birthday! Here's our little birthday tribute to our newly-25 year old aunt!

Court and Calla in September of last year....(

OKAY sorry to interrupt...oh my, Court I will have to finish this up later. Kelsey just peed the bed. The glamorous life of a mom. * I'm out *