Cincy and Cali

We have had a busy week or so since I last posted.  We took a trip to visit John's family in Cincinnati for a few days and also combined another trip to celebrate our upcoming 10 year anniversary (in September).  John's sister, Jennifer, is turning 40 this year and to celebrate she wanted to run the Flying Pig Marathon relay with anyone in the family that was willing to participate.  So, we headed up for the marathon on Sunday and had a great time running with Russ, Jennifer, Dan, Jason, John, and myself along with a few of Dan's friends.  The weather was warm and sunny and the course was lined with lots of spectators.  Most importantly, Jennifer and Russ finished the relay together and everyone enjoyed celebrating afterwards.  Happy 40th Jennifer!!

After a fun-filled weekend of festivities with John's family, we headed out of town to celebrate our upcoming 10 year anniversary.  After much deliberation on what we would/could do, we decided on a trip to the California wine country.  We landed in San Francisco on Monday and spent a couple days touring Sonoma Valley on bikes and by car.  We loved the extra sleep, uninterrupted dinners, and time to relax and actually have extended and meaningful conversations (something that often does not happen here until the boys are in bed and then we are too tired!).  The landscape is gorgeous in this part of California with mountains, valley, and lots of vineyards.  We visited the redwood forest, several wineries, and stayed in a small town called Healdsburg.  The town was quaint with several shops and great restaurants. 

We are particularly thankful to John's family for taking such good care of the boys while we were away. During the 12 hour trip back to Minnesota, Luke kept reminding us that he wanted to stay in Ohio a little longer. The highlights of the week for the boys included trips to the Zoo, a local farm, the park, McDonalds, fishing, and a couple baseball games with Aunt Jennifer, Grandma, and Grandpa. After their naps and school for the older kids, the boys enjoyed playing with their cousins Zach and Seth (and Ace, the dog). Zach taught the boys how to play Angry Birds and I am pretty sure we will soon be investing in an i-Pad since they have only asked about it a couple hundred times! Aunt Ann, Caitlin, and Ella also provided some fun playtime for the boys and took them to the local children's museum. Since we returned from Ohio, the boys have not stopped talking about going to see Caitlin and Ella very very soon. Thank you all very much for your assistance with all three boys over the week!

 Luke, AJ, and Liam with Cousin Ella and Ace (the very tolerant dog)

Practicing Angry Birds with Cousin Zach

Dinner with Cousins

The whole family (all in green shirts for the marathon relay to celebrate Jennifer's 40th)

Fishing with Grandpa and Uncle Jason

At the Zoo (dressed in their matching green shirts which Jenni agreed makes it easier to keep up with them)

Playground and a Walk with Ace

Souvenirs from the Zoo with Aunt Jennifer.  Liam's giraffe is "Ace", Luke's is "Seth", and Aiden's frog is "Puppy."  Thanks again Jennifer!

We drove around in a convertible (and no carseats!)

Crossing the Golden Gate Bridge heading to Sonoma Valley

Beautiful Coastline

 This was a super fun day, but a rather long bike ride after we kind of got lost.  We finally found the redwoods and made it back safely.  I was ready to be off the bike.

One of the wineries we visited called Ferrari Carrano with beautiful Italian architecture and gardens

Just a few wineries to visit in the Dry Creek Valley of Sonoma County (the arrows are all pointing to various ones)

Luke's Special Date

 Luke's Progression Chart for good behavior.  Each star represents good behavior/good decisions and Luke got to put a star on each ball.  It took AWHILE to get there, but we finally made it.  FYI...the next chart requires about half as many stars. 

 Luke picked to go get ice cream with Daddy!

 Liam and Luke on a big rock at the park

 AJ loves to swing

Here is what the rest of us were doing while Daddy and Luke got ice cream.  They actually love to help clean house so I wouldn't say it was "work" necessarily.  Liam is great with the vacuum.

I mentioned a few weeks ago that we recently began a very simple reward system for the boys.  They get to put a star on a progression chart when they make good decisions and show good behavior.  The stars "progress" towards a goal and then they receive a reward.  The stars are not for doing just the normal stuff like sharing, listening, picking up toys, etc..., but rather for doing things "above and beyond" what is expected of them.  For example, if they share something with their brother without having to be asked or if they picked up toys on their own without having to be reminded.  We did, however, decide midway through the most recent chart that we would have to start giving stars a little more liberally otherwise this process was going to take forever!  The first chart had 21 basketballs and the boys needed to put a star on each ball in order to move closer to the basketball goal.  It is often difficult to find things to motivate them, but they have been very motivated to make better choices with these charts and that has been fun to see.  The reward after completing their chart was to pick something they wanted to do alone with either John or I.  For example, they could go get ice cream, go to the grocery store, go to a park, read a book, play a game, take a trip to the library, etc...The goal of these rewards was two-fold:  one, it gives John and I a chance to be with each of the boys one on one; and two, it gives the boys some incentive for good behavior.  This week, Luke was the first one to reach his goal (Liam is currently one star away from his goal) so he was able to pick a reward.  He chose to go get ice cream with Dad and John said he never stopped smiling or talking the entire time. 

In other news this week, we had what will likely always be referred to as the "maple syrup incident" in future years.  John suggested I post this on the blog because years from now we will likely forget that it ever happened and because while this may seem "normal" to us, it might be humorous to others.  Well, John was at work when the incident happened, but I am pretty sure I will never forget in the years to come!  Nonetheless, we were downstairs in the basement after lunch and trying to burn off some energy yesterday.  It was very windy and a little rainy so we had the bounce house out and the boys were jumping around.  Even though the basement is a great space to play hockey or jump in the bounce house on yucky dates, it also has a lot of areas where the boys can't play.  Aiden is tricky in the basement because he typically does not do the bounce house for very long.  Yesterday was no exception when Aiden got out after jumping for maybe 5-10 minutes and started getting into things that he is not supposed to play with.  He climbed up the shelves in the downstairs refrigerator and found large bottle of maple syrup.  Once I saw what was in his hand, it was really too late.  It was a little like slow motion as he dropped the entire bottle of maple syrup on the concrete basement floor and it broke in several pieces spilling maple syrup everywhere.  Luke was crying because he was covered in syrup (as was his beloved doggy), Liam was crying because it was so loud, and Aiden was crying because he knew he was in trouble!  Let me tell you firsthand that maple syrup makes a huge sticky mess!!!  Not that you didn't already know that, but I have no pictures to prove it. 

Liam's Continent Project

As I have mentioned in a few other posts, Liam is very disciplined in many areas including his work at school.  For the last month, he has been telling John and I about a "continent project" he has been working on at school.  By the description he gave, I honestly wasn't quite sure what he was doing.  He kept talking about using push pins to make continents.  As it turns out, they had an outline for each country and then the child uses a push pin or tack and punches along that line making very small holes until the picture just basically pops out. Then, Liam put all the pieces together to make the continent of North America. Against both my wishes and his teacher's (for fear that it might get lost or forgotten), he insisted one weekend on bringing home the "Canada" portion (in brown) because he really really wanted to finish punching it out with the push pin.   Liam was so excited about this project and so excited to bring it home when he completed the entire thing.  We were talking about his project in the car the other day and we discussed that we live in the United States.  Liam said that the United States is in North America and I said that I thought maybe it was the orange one on his map, but I could not remember for sure which color the US was.  He response was, "No Mom, the United States is actually the yellow one."  Smart kid who seems to remember every little detail! 

Backyard Baseball

Liam is climbing the tree with a "helping" hand from Aiden. AJ likes to wear his new baseball helmet backwards.

Swwwwinnnnngggggg Batter!

Checking out his new bat

We have our own baseball game every night with dinner that is complete with bases, helmets, bats, and balls. That little blue speck in the top right corner of the picture is Aiden. He is in the outfield. Way out in the outfield. His attention span for baseball is minimal.

AJ really lacks personality (for those that don't know him, I am being sarcastic). He is all wet after playing in the sprinklers and getting sprayed a little by Luke (see story below).

Running in the sprinklers with our neighbor, Jack.

Lounging with Daddy and watching some movies on a Saturday morning.

Ahh, that's a little better.

We have had a mix of weather this week and therefore a mix of activities. On Monday, we had snow flurries. Yes, I hate to admit it, but we did. On Tuesday, it was 60 degrees and sunny. On our warmest day this week, we actually ran through the sprinklers one evening. The boys have been dying to do this, but I kept telling them that we are not playing in the sprinklers until "they are wearing shorts outside." So, we had on shorts, and they remembered, of course. During the sprinkler episode, Luke went upstairs to go inside for a potty break. But, rather than going inside, he opted to pee off the side of the deck. Not a huge deal for us and probably not a bad idea since he was soaking wet. Until, that is, I turned to see what Aiden was doing and realized he was playing/walking directly underneath Luke and walked right through the stream from Luke on the deck! Yep, as our neighbor pointed out, "only at the Carrithers house would that happen." There is a legitimate reason why we take a bath every night!

The boys newest love is playing baseball, basketball, and soccer with our neighbor in the backyard. We have upgraded our baseball games over the last week. We went from plastic bats and balls to real t-ball bats, helmets, and balls. The boys are learning some of the basics of baseball. John and I have not figured out where Luke's "athletic abilities" come from. Luke can frequently be found dancing or skipping to the bases and laying in the outfield grass. Liam, on the other hand, is focused and determined to hit the ball and run the bases. The sharp contrast between the two of them makes for an interesting game. Aiden, of course, is only around for a few minutes before he finds something better to do.

Ordinary Week

The boys with their doggies hanging off the deck. For whatever reason, they think it is super cool to bring their beloved dogs outside. Its not something we do often, but its a special treat to them when we do!
Working on some school stuff with the boys

Aiden on the trapeze at gymnastics

Daddy has a new helper with mowing the yard. Aiden has joined the yard mowing clan!

Found one! Aiden hunted for Easter eggs the same way the boys did at his age. He found one egg, sat down and ate all the candy in that egg, then he moved along to something else. Luke was nice enough to share some of his eggs with Aiden.

Luke being silly and showing me his green hands after helping with the first grass mowing of the season.

Liam watching everything. After Easter as he was going to bed, he said to me, "Mom, I really really like the Easter Bunny and I had a lot of fun looking for eggs today."

Some serious egg hunting

Ready for the Easter Egg hunt

So right before we took this picture (after taking at least 10 other pictures that also did not turn out), we asked Luke to stand straight like and toothpick and be very still with his arms to his side. Well, he did listen and this was the result.

The newest activity that the boys enjoy...hula hoops. We started learning how to hula hoop earlier this year at the open preschool gymnastics. Luke has come a long way in a few months and he is so excited to be able to hula hoop.

Liam with his hula hoop

We had a pretty ordinary week. We played a lot outdoors on a few nice days and found some indoor things to do when the temps dropped and it was cold and windy. I am also posting a few pictures from Easter because I had a bunch from last week. We hope you enjoyed your week!

Resurrection Eggs and Other Egg Fun

Sweet Luke and his Bunny Face. We went to an "Eggstravaganza" at the park again on Good Friday. It was much much easier this year than last and I would like to attribute that to our good behavior and more mature age, but I am certain it was only because John was there!

Searching for Eggs

Found one!

Playing Games on a nice but chilly day

Liam is showing us the face that he saw the bunnies make when they wiggle their noses

Petting the bunnies with "gentle" hands

Easter Bunny

Ready to hunt for Eggs

Our first attempt to dye Easter Eggs. Luke said he wanted to "do this everyday"

Cheese! Yes, I striped them down to their underwear. I have learned a few things about crafts in the past 4 years.

Liam and his eggs. They had to be green or some shade of it.

And Luke's had to be purple, of course.

Getting ready to start this whole process

The Resurrection Eggs that told the story of Easter

Liam opening a resurrection egg. If they look like they just woke up, they did! Mornings are the best times to get full cooperation and listening ears (typically).

AJ and his resurrection egg

I had a moment of revelation after reading a blog that I stumbled on through a friend this week and I am borrowing some of her thoughts. Motherhood definitely has its ups and downs and quite often I feel as though I am in some type of insane asylum and I am the only sane person there surrounded by a bunch of irrational people (this is particularly true when dealing with TWO year olds!). This is how I often feel after trying to do something like a craft or a special lesson/concept, story, etc....with all three boys. This week, I wanted to introduce the boys to the true Easter story of the death and resurrection of Jesus and try to teach them that Easter is not about the Easter bunny. I ordered something called Resurrection Eggs that were recommended to me by my sister. There are 12 eggs that walk through the story of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Each egg has a small object inside that is relevant to the story. Luke and Liam loved the Resurrection Eggs and they totally "got" the story. As a sidenote, I overheard them talking about bad guys one day this week and Luke said, "He is a bad guy just like Judas." To which Liam replied, "yeah, he is a bad guy like Judas and the Easter bunny is not bringing him any candy." Luke and Liam participated, opened the eggs, listened to the story of Jesus' death and resurrection and asked great questions (for the most part). But, as I have learned in the last four years, this comes with age and Aiden is definitely not at that age yet. So, while the process was fun to watch with Luke and Liam, it was difficult to keep Aiden involved. It is moments like these where I can become overwhelmed and annoyed after trying to initiate what was supposed to be fun and memorable only to leave feeling defeated and irritated. But, I was reminded of something that hit home when I felt my attempts to celebrate Easter were fruitless. Isn't this what Easter is all about?

Who is Easter for? Is it for doting mothers who never yell and are always smiling, and children who obey always and never argue, hit, scream, or whine? Jesus didn't die for the "perfect" people. When the scribes of the Pharisees saw that He was eating with
the sinners and tax collectors, they said to His disciples, “Why is He eating and drinking
with tax collectors and sinners?” And hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not those who are healthy who need
a physician, but those who are sick; I did not come to call the righteous, but
sinners.”
Mark 2:16, 17

Jesus came for all of us. He came to make us well. He
came to make the insane asylum a place of peace and joy and
righteousness.

Happy Easter!