Bathing with Tractors

Tonight at bath time we had a whole farm full of tractors in the tub. The boys love to play farm in the tub, but it usually turns into a fight over one tractor, even though there are 3 tractors available! Noah knows just what his tractor and grain cart are doing and the Levi tries to nab the tractor and on and on... Eventually tonight, I removed all the tractors from the tub, because they were creating more hassle then entertainment.

Noah protecting his tractor from Levi...


but eventually, Levi got the tractor (it got cut off the picture)








Blowing kisses

Sick...again

It's hard to be sick when the weather is so nice. I've got strep throat for the 3rd time in 6 weeks. Ben has strep throat for the 2nd time in 4 weeks. Noah has strep throat for the first time ever. Levi, thankfully, isn't sick but he is getting teeth.

We're a pretty sad bunch tonight. Hopefully, tomorrow will be better. Surely, tomorrow will be better.

Morning at Pages

Saturday morning, Noah and I went to Pages Bookshop in Newton. Noah loves their hot chocolate, I love thier mochas and we both love their cookies. The activity for kids on Saturday was Irish dancing. I wasn't sure if Noah would be interested in the dancing, but I knew he would have a good time at Pages regardless. I love hanging out with Noah one-on-one. He cracks me up.





Noah was fascinated by the typewriter at Pages, having never seen one, he thought it was a brand new toy.


And then the dancing started. He watched the girls for a long time. We read some books and played in the tent while the girls were dancing. He kept an eye on them the whole time, keeping track of what they were doing. Finally, he decided he could join their circle, but instead of moving his feet his stood still and watched.


Then, the girls got to put on fun skirts and dance apparel and I got Noah to wear a dragon costume. It's one of the fun items just waiting at Pages for kids to play with and it was just the ticket to get Noah involved in the activities.


Then Noah spotted the fairy wings, and once he got those on, he ran like the wind! In a circle, with a serious look on his face, he went around and around and around.

Grandpa Schrag

Ben's grandpa, Eddie Schrag, passed away last week at the age of 89. He lived a good simple life, and set a great example to follow. It's sad to me that it was after he died that I learned about some of the amazing things that happened to Eddie - stories from his days in CPS and with MCC. I just never took the time to ask him good questions. Eddie always had great stories to tell and he was so good at telling them.

Here are a few photos from our time with Ben's family.

Levi with uncle Andy


Noah took a bunch of pictures while we were at the funeral home on Tuesday evening. He almost always got photos of the ceiling because just as he was pressing down the shutter, he would turn the camera up and *flash* another picture of the ceiling. The one below actually captured Andy, Sara and Levi.


Wednesday morning we ate a fantastic waffle breakfast at Ben's grandparents' house. We all devoured waffles until our tummies were full. Thanks Mary Alice for a yummy breakfast!


Ham gravy for the waffles was a hit!


Grandma Schrag with a cheesy-smiley faced Noah.


The Schrag cousins carrying the casket.

What a day! I was outside more today then I have been in the last 3 months combined. We had a wonderful time outside all morning and most of the afternoon. The boys smelled like sunscreen and had dirt smudged on their faces. We had windows and doors open, just letting the fresh air flow through the house.

I must admit, being at home with the boys on a weekday is so much harder then going to work. It is out of routine for all of us, and it's challenging to me to figure out how to get tasks done around the house while the boys are with me. I know that sounds strange because we're together on Saturday's and Sunday's all the time. But, for some reason, it's just different on a weekday. I marvel at the fact that many women are at home with their children all day every day. I feel like I had a great day, but I'm totally worn out - but in a good way...it's hard to explain.

Here's a peak at our day together:

The neighbor's cat came to our yard for a visit. Noah mostly tried to shoo it away, but Levi was completely in awe of it - like he'd never seen a cat before. He laughed at it and pointed and kept a close eye on it until the cat went back home.







Levi's eyes were such an amazing shade of blue outside in the sun this morning. I tried to capture it with this photo, but it doesn't show like I hoped it would.



The wagon...Levi LOVES it and Noah won't stop pulling him in it. In some ways, this is a wonderful thing because it means I can simply watch Noah pull Levi around. But, twice today Noah pulled Levi around the 1/2 mile circle that we live on. Noah had to keep checking on Levi, pull the wheels through any water on the street, stop to look at this and that, and even check Levi's diaper at one point. Noah would not allow me to pull the wagon, or even touch it. It was cute, but it took forever.



Levi discovered his infant car seat this afternoon (yes, it's still out...I really need to get it cleaned up and store it downstairs). Ever since baby Rylee arrived, Noah likes to put his baby doll in the car seat, strap it in and cover it with a blanket. But, today, Levi just sat in it and rocked and held the baby.



This video is sort of a freakish deal. All of the sudden tonight, Levi started spinning circles. He was in the middle of getting changed into his jammies and apparently stumbled upon the fact that he can turn circles and get dizzy, and he just kept spinning and spinning.



I can't end this post without mentioning that we found out this evening that Ben's grandpa, Eddie Schrag, passed away today. Ben's parents and siblings are trying to figure out travel plans to come to Kansas next week. I loved to listen to Eddie tell stories and laugh - just thinking about him makes me smile.