Day 519 | Sick Day

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Chase is fighting some swollen, gooey eyes so I treated him to the cucumber eye treatment. He thought it was pretty funny.

Chase's first sick day. Sniffle, sniffle.

In reality, it was a pretty sad excuse for a sick day since there was no fever or projectile vomiting but I decided it wasn't worth subjecting any of his classmates or teachers to extra sick germs in order to send him. I was hoping for a restful, recooperative day for the little man. That goal was halfway successful. Here's hoping for a good night's sleep to aid the recovery and make me feel better about sending him tomorrow. 

Day 518 | Chili Time

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Another long, low key recovery day here. Unlike yesterday, though, we had a lovely evening spent with good friends and delicious chili. 

Interested in the yummy recipe that Chris has been honing over the last several years? You're in luck! He is willing to share it:

Chris's Chili

  • 1 lb ground turkey

  • 1 large red onion, diced

  • 3-4 garlic cloves, minced

  • 1 15 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed

  • 1 15 oz can light kidney beans, drained and rinsed

  • 1 15 oz can dark kidney beans, drained and rinsed

  • 4 15 oz cans of tomato sauce (or two big cans)

  • 2 10 oz cans of diced tomatoes with green chilies

  • 1-2 cups of frozen corn

  • Chili powder, ground cumin, paprika to taste

Directions

  • Saute the onion in olive oil.

  • Add the turkey and minced garlic, sprinkle with chili powder, cumin, paprika, salt, and pepper, and cook until browned.

  • Add the remaining ingredients and additional seasoning to taste. Simmer on low until you are ready to eat (we usually cook for about two hours).

Serve with some shredded cheddar, noodles (Chris's preference), and cornbread (everyone's preference) and you've got the perfect fall meal. Enjoy!

Day 517 | Black and White Cookies

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The no-plans, rainy day has dragged on and on (and on and on) today. Seriously, it's 5pm as I type this and I wouldn't be surprised if you told me it was 7pm. One of those days.

To add a little excitement to our afternoon, I offered to make cookies for Chase. I made the mistake of asking what kind I should make and after looking at several recipes/photos online, of course he settled on the slightly-too-complicated Black and White Cookies. They do look delicious, don't they? And they are one of my favorite cookies, but not when I have to muster up the motivation to make them. Instead, I opted for the much-simpler Cracked Sugar Cookie recipe and then added "black" (more like brown) and white frosting in hopes of tricking Chase into thinking they were the real cookie he requested. It worked! Maybe not the most honest version of myself but no one was complaining during snack time.

For the record, these are a very quick and delicious sugar cookie variation. Definitely recommended.

Day 514 | Bird Feeder

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Robbe and I were back at Whole Foods again today for one of the Half Pint Kids Club (his first solo class!). Although we had a lot of fun decorating wooden birdhouses and covering the roof with peanut butter and birdseed (Robbe was so so proud of his creation), we got sad news. The director of the program got laid off in the Whole Foods downsizing and the classes will only continue through October. I'm so bummed about this! I even emailed a complaint to the store...that'll teach them, I'm sure.

So, we'll try to take a couple more classes before we say farewell forever to such a fun activity. Sniffle, sniffle.

Day 513 | My Little Shadow

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Robbe has been *extra* into being close to me lately. Sometimes this is a sweet sentiment but often it's a little exhausting to be the sole object of his affection.

It's gotten to the point where he is very vocal about expressing his displeasure when I'm not able to focus all my energy on him (the thought of having to cook or clean, the horror!). And he doesn't talk yet so expressing himself means crying, loudly and frequently. 

I had a breakthrough tonight, though: while washing dishes and listening to Chris try to calm him down (unsuccessfully), I told him he could stand next to me quietly while finished the dishes. If he did that, I would pick him up as soon as I finished. And he did it! I bet it was a good five minutes of him patiently waiting a foot away from me while I cleaned up dinner. I don't think he's stood still for that long ever. 

Although there was a bit of success involved in tonight's experiment, I'm hoping this phase passes quickly. 

Day 512 | A Weekly Schedule

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As we were settling into our new routine after school starting, it became apparent that our sweet 3.5 year old was a bit confused about what was going to happen on a daily basis. Enter this simple and fun weekly schedule chart.

Chase thoroughly enjoys moving the clothespin every morning and seems to be excited about whatever the chart tells him he's doing. It's been a big success.

Day 510 | Thanks MI

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Aside from two sick babies, Michigan couldn't have treated us better. Thanks to Grace, David, and family for being such welcoming hosts. Chase just keeps saying, "I'm still sad we're not in Michigan."

That means it was a good trip. 

Note: that teeny tiny car was our "compact" rental car. Compared to the minivan, I felt like we were driving around in a matchbox car. 

Day 509 | Feeling Friendly

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These folks are just the best. Our whirlwind tour of Ann Arbor continued today as we ventured out for more entertaining outings this morning: an impressive library, a cute cafe, and a tour of sweet Rose's preschool.

This afternoon consisted of lots of quality playtime, singing time, and snuggles. Sounds pretty amazing, right? It was. 

We'll hang out for a bit tomorrow morning and then we're off to the airport. In time for a recovery day on Sunday before jumping back into our everyday life. Happy thoughts for a easy and uneventful travel day, please! 

Day 508 | Four Kids

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I have to say entertaining, feeding, soothing, bathing, and parenting four kids (under five) in one house has been so much better than I would have guessed. It helps that the kids are all angels, obviously. And it helps that there are two moms, double obviously.

The kids are having a total blast together. It's very sweet to see Chase and Robbe interact with children closer to their own ages-their peers-for the extended period of time. And I can't complain about actually getting to catch up with Grace. We haven't touched on everything yet but we still have time!

Oh, and the photos above? Most are from the amazing Ann Arbor Hands On Museumhttps://www.aahom.org/ here in Ann Arbor. I feel like kind of an expert when it comes to childrens' museums and I can give my five star recommendation to this one. So much to see and do. We were there for 1.5 hours and saw maybe a tenth of the exhibits. What a perfect outing!

Day 507 | We Made It

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Two under four years old on a flight with just mom?  Nailed it. Ok, so it wasn't my most favorite few hours of travel. And the boys weren't perfect by any stretch but you know what? We made it to Ann Arbor without any big problems and to that I say: success!

We spent a wonderful afternoon with my dear friend Grace and her two super sweet daughters: Rose and Paige. We're all looking forward to spending lots of quality time together over the next few days. 

Day 506 | Mr. Nate!

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He's back for another visit and we couldn't be happier! Just some quality time with Robbe and me this morning. But Chase is super excited about spending time with him next week (when we both return from trips).

Think happy thoughts for us tomorrow morning as the boys and I (sans Chris...uh oh!) head to Michigan to visit a friend. I need all the help I can get!

Day 505 | No Street Cred

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Remember that time when I would walk around with two babies and every time I'd run into a mom with similarly-aged children we could commiserate and share what the experience has been like? And remember when pregnant moms with an older child would sometimes stop me and announce their soon-to-be second child and ask how it really is having two? I swear both these scenarios happen on a regular basis.

Not anymore. Now, to the mom at the park, I'm just the mom to this adorable 18 month old in a single stroller (still not an easy task, I'm well aware!). I've lost all my street cred since Chase is no longer in tow. Devastating, I know. 

Maybe I'll make a t-shirt that explains my situation to strangers and wear it everyday. Maybe...

Day 504 | Fair-ly Amazing

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I call this, "recovery from too much apple dumpling."
It was the perfect fair day today. Seriously...perfect.

The weather was lovely (even a little cool when we arrived!) and we got to see all the highlights in exactly the amount of time we had (animals galore, tractor-climbing, 4-H exhibits, kiddie rides, and food, of course, food, all in three hours).

There were a ton of adorable photos from the day: Chase on his favorite new pastime: carnival rides (I never really understood why parents paid money for them, until now), Robbe "driving" a tractor, Chris and the boys savoring the yummy fair food (corndogs and apple dumplings = amazing!), etc. I went with the image above, though, as it was just too perfect to pass over. This gem was snapped as the boys and I waited outside one of the bathrooms. The bench was quite a hit and was one of the day's best attractions (talk about a dark horse).

Day 502 | Closing Out Summer

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It was 87 degrees in the District today. Urgh. Have I mentioned how I'm so over summer? Well, I am. Where are the cooler temps and does this mean we're going to go from 90 degrees to 40 degrees without anything in between? That better not be the case. 

In honor of the never-ending summer, I'll post my favorite warm-weather cocktail. We came up with this gem after having strawberry puréed baby food leftover when Robbe stopped needing purees. See? Having kids is totally worth it!

Here's the recipe for strawberry gin and tonics:

  • 2 oz gin (use more or less depending on your taste preference)

  • 10 oz tonic

  • *Two strawberry ice cubes (they dissolve while you drink it = delicious)

*To make the strawberry pureed cubes, just blend up some thawed-out frozen strawberries (we find they are actually a bit better than fresh ones) and freeze in ice cube trays. No extra ingredients, super easy.

Day 501 | Catch Up

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It was a recovery day around here: laundry, cleaning up, grocery shopping, house tidying, etc. That type of day, however, does not lead to a very exciting blog post so as I'm playing catch up with everything else, I'll play catch up with the blog, too, and post a photo from yesterday's outing so you're up to speed with all our latest activities.

On our way to drop my parents off (sniff, sniff) at the Dulles airport, we made a quick visit to the National Air and Space Museum Udvar-Hazy Center. No, this isn't the ordinary Air and Space Museum that we visit frequently, this is the massive wide-open facility where you can see real planes and a real space shuttle (among lots of other things with wings). We rarely make the trip out to this fantastic attraction so the special excursion was enough to let Chase play hooky from school for the first time to make the trip with us. Full disclosure, we also were going to have a hard time getting back in time to pick him up from school. It was the right call once we saw the traffic we had to contend with on the way home.