It's Gobbles Time!: Saving daylight

There was something different in the air this past weekend. Maybe it was the fact that it was the first time I didn't have work to do on my "nonworking" Friday, maybe it was the first time we had no plans whatsoever, maybe it was the time change just screwing us up, or maybe, just maybe it was the sheer fact that it was warm enough to be outside and enjoy the sunshine.

The week wound down with an easy Thursday at work for me and a pajama day at the kids' school. We had leftover Chinese / Japanese food from earlier in the week. The kids are now obsessed with chopsticks, with which it takes them at least an hour to eat.

Don't scrap anything. See what you can salvage.

Enjoying some crunchy noodle from Mommy's sushi plate.

Get in MAH BELLAY!

Jake shoes, Jake jacket, Jake pjs. So what if they're too small - I'm still happy!

And I'm still silly! Don't forget about me! I have Cinderalla, and beauty and the beast, and...

Sibling love

Well look at the time. ENOUGH of the time!

Friday started off a very lazy pajama day for the kids and myself because, well, we just needed one. The Lobster woke up with all kinds of drama going on between her dolls! I walked into her bedroom and this is how she explained it: Mommy she not being nice! her bite my other doll! I tell her to be nice! No bite dolly! In better news, this made me realize that I haven't gotten an incident report about the Lobster biting at school in at least 3 weeks. Whoo hoo! Phase over!

After breakfast, the kids inevitably began fighting over what to watch on TV, so I told them I would pick, and I found Mr. Rogers Neighborhood on Amazon instant. Not long after the show started, Gobbles declared This guy is weird! Mommy, Take this cd out so I can hide it and we can never watch it again!

When the episode was over the arguments were resolved and we went about our day. We straightened the house, we played games, we watched a movie, and Gobbles and I relaxed while the Lobster napped. I intended to exercise while she was napping, but she woke up earlier than anticipated, so I changed up the plan and just did yoga meltdown with the kids. Halfway through they just needed a snack so they snacked on the couch and watch me finish up, occasionally coming down to use me as a tunnel during my warrior pose.

Invigorated and not so lazy any more, I announced it was time to take the dogs for a walk so we could get out of the house. Still being lazy, Gobbles declared he'd like me to pull the wagon. I obliged because at this point the dogs were committed and wouldn't leave us alone if we changed our minds, so out we went. We made it two blocks before the Lobster decided to bail on the wagon, so around we turned (with snow still at the curbs and no sidewalks, I figured our street would be best for her to walk).

We got back as all signs of laziness faded. The kids hopped on their big wheels, then bikes, then back to big wheels. The Lobster began eating three week old snow, which was disgusting, and the sun started going down. If only we had gotten outside earlier! We went back inside, and per Gobbles' odd request, we watched Mr. Rogers! First, an episode on how to make orange juice, then one with a trip to the planetarium. When asked why he wanted to watch it, he maintained I still don't like him, but I like orange juice and I like planets. And so, we watched.

Racing

The sunset

She almost looks like a snowboarder!

Why do the people talk to the puppets?
And don't even get me started on that mailman!
Always a cynic.

Saturday hubs and I divided and conquered. Hubs took Gobbles to Lowes to build a birdhouse at his second experience with their free Build and Grow program. Hubs also purchased the necessities to replace our mailbox that the snow destroyed. Meanwhile, I took the Lobster for a long run in the jogging stroller. I loaded my phone into a case for easy Lobster handling (and dropping), put on the Disney Jr. app, and enjoyed an hour with my girl. Despite stopping a few times to change shows or adjust the sunshade, I got a good workout in and the Lobster was happy. We got back and she wanted to pull her chair out of the garage and relax in the sunshine with some pretzel fishies.

All of that riding and relaxing must have worn the my daughter out, because she went down very easily for her nap after lunch. In the meantime, Gobbles and hubs had gotten home and got right to work on the mailbox after their lunch. I love when my boys do these little projects together, Gobbles is always so proud of accomplishing something with his Dad.

After the mailbox was done and the Lobster woke up, Gobbles was still in working mode and wanted to paint the birdhouse that he had built earlier. Hubs told the story of excited Gobbles was to select his very own can of paint, and Gobbles reminded us that of course he would pick yellow, it's his favorite color! The Lobster had to paint something too so we found a piece of scrap wood in the garage for her to fool around with. We sat down with out beers to enjoy the sun-shiny sunporch and watch our kids do their masterpieces.

Too late, we realized we should not have given the Lobster the outdoor proof hardware store paint. About 35 seconds after she started painting, she went to fix her hair, wipe cheek, and finally, taste the paint. Ugh. We grabbed paper towels and water and wiped her down, including her yellow tongue. She was pissed but completely complied to drinking a large cup of water (with a splash or more of orange juice to make it go down). I found some non-toxic fingerpaint in the drawer for the Lobster to start a new painting, and calm was restored. Crisis averted.

Pez break with my best buddy!

mmm! I got a whole sleeve of pez all to myself!

Mommy, you didn't even mind the mud on my shoes, did you?

Look at me, Gobbles, I can be just like you!

You're a bit sloppier than me Lobster, look I only made two drips!

Me too! They're just on my face!

Sunday was another no plans day other than a few errands. Hubs went grocery shopping while I took the kids to pick out birthday presents for their Aunt. It was already afternoon by the time we got back since it was daylight savings, so a quick lunch was followed by a nap for the Lobster and a rigorous matching game between Gobbles and myself. It's neat to see him pull matches from memory, especially when I think he's not paying attention.

Lobster's nap was a short one, which was ok because we were ready to go out and play in the sunshine again, this time coloring with chalk. First we did shapes, then started on pictures. Gobbles decided to make a sunflower (a sun + flower. genius I tell you!), but his sister got to it with her chalk and he declared it ruined.

While the Lobster was inside in time out she found her Daddy making a special Sunday dinner of coconut dill mussels and chili teriyaki wings. The combination sounds odd, but it was basically pub fare, and it was delicious. The kids ended up with leftover chicken, even though my boy was brave enough to try the mussels, and as a bonus declared he liked them!

Back to pre-dinner, after the Lobster apologized to Gobbles for messing up his drawing she stayed inside to help hubs. Gobbles, in the meantime, began inventing a game in his head. From what I remember, the conversation went like this:

- Mommy you wanna play the pizza maker game?
- How does it work?
- You throw the chalk onto the pizza machine and it turns onto money.
- Where did you learn this?
- From my dream, I knew it before my dream could get away.

We played this game sitting on chairs tossing chalk onto one of his drawings. If it rolled through a certain part, it became money. If it had been money and you rolled it through that same part, it turned back into chalk. I'm not sure how you win or lose, but we played for at least 20 minutes.

The wind started rolling in and our hands were numb from rolling the money chalk. We retired to the sun porch for beers for Mommy and Daddy (while he ran in and out to the grill finishing up the wings) and playtime for the kids. It's weekends like these that I live for, just being with our family and watching each other grow. Little moments that will be long forgotten if not for this internet record. I wish I could hold on to moments like these forever.