Memorial Day Weekend

This past weekend was our first "official" lake weekend - with a new pier and the boat/jet ski in - it was tons of fun!

Grandpa Denny was "babysitting" Josie on Saturday morning.

 The lake was pretty chilly...but it didn't stop the kids (or the pregnant lady) from swimming.

Saturday afternoon the kids and I ran down to Fort Wayne to celebrate Greta's 3rd birthday! She had a fun party - with a BOUNCE HOUSE and some delicious food! The Printed Poppy made her decorations...so I snapped some pics. Unfortunately, I was too busy eating to snap any pictures of Greta or my kids. They were having fun, trust me.

On Sunday my parents came up for lunch and a few hours at the lake.  Tyson grilled out for us and Grandma Shirlee made some sides. My dad provided the "beverages" - which Tyson claimed "were very strong."

Sunday afternoon we ran down to Brown's Point to see the Dixon family. Josie, Maddie, and Ethan were all born within a few weeks of each other. It was toddler chaos. Neither of my kids had napped, Josie didn't feel like wearing a bathing suit (surprise, surprise)...and before we went home for bed - we stopped at Zestos. Josie REALLY enjoyed her Zestos!

Overall, such a fun weekend and after the brutal winter, I feel like the great weather was MUCH deserved. We are looking forward to a lot of lake weekends this summer!

Dear President of our HOA,

Dear President of the Homeowner's Association,

Let me start by saying we love our neighborhood. We look forward to raising our children here. Thank you for welcoming us back to Michigan.

Secondly, I apologize for my daughter's current obsession with various stages of nudity. She's a messy eater. She is also very accepting of her body {a trait we encourage}.  Despite what may have been seen on any given day over the past week in our backyard...we promise that we are NOT nudists. We hear the summer will be "hot" and we can't guarantee we can convince her to wear clothes. However, we will try to limit her nudity to the backyard.

Sincerely,

the Becker family

Things I Find Funny...

I find it funny when I find selfies of my kids on my phone or the iPads. Josie captured this one of herself.  It's not as funny when I find unpleasant pictures they've snapped of me...

I find it funny when I go to check on the kids before I go to bed and find them sleeping in weird positions. Jack was totally wonky on this night.

I find it funny when my kids do weird things with toys. TRex was draped in one of my necklaces this week...and I couldn't be sure if it was Josie's attempt at Dinosaur Drag or Jack's attempt at creating gore. Either way...I enjoyed finding him like this.

Green Thumb

Let me introduce everyone to my biggest "green thumb" accomplishment to date...my plant. We inherited this guy when we bought our house and my first thought was, "how long before I kill it?!?"  I just don't do well taking care of things with roots.  When my friend Brooke came to visit in November the plant had just moved inside...so I asked for some watering advice. She recommended once a week. Ahhhh...so I've been drowning them all these years. I'm happy to say that plant & I worked out a system all winter. He got a nice big drink every Wednesday and, as you can see, he's doing just fine. (I'm not joking...I'm really proud of myself.)

So Monday I decided to extend my "green thumb" abilities to flowers on our front porch. I had a Midwife appt {and a babysitter} so I stopped for some flowers on my way home.

Once the babysitter left, the kids "helped" me plant them.  Here is what "helped" actually means:
Jack: NOT excited to help because it's "too boring" - but in reality is actually decently helpful. 85% of the dirt he shoveled made it into the pots.
Josie: SUPER excited to help - but is actually quite the opposite of helpful. 10% of the dirt she shoveled made it into the pots.

As you can see - planting was a success {as of now}. RIP to the flowers Josie decapitated...she thought they needed to be removed from their stems to grow in the dirt. Typical toddler mistake. If you never hear about my flowers again - just assume I failed at keeping them alive. Because TRUST ME - if they are looking fab by August, you'll ALL know!

A Visit with the Carsten Family

We had some special visitors this past weekend - all the way from Fort Wayne. Josie was looking EXTRA cute on Saturday for their arrival. Little does she know...but 12 years from now, she'll be crushing HARD for the Carsten Boys!

In true "boy fashion" - first we had an arm hang contest on the playset. It got crazy. Lots of sore arms.

Baby Devin was wondering how long until he could participate. He's also pretty pumped that Baby Becker will be able to join him in the fun/chaos.

Saturday night, after a rowdy lunch & naps for all, we went to an indoor putt-putt place. It was glow in the dark and a little trippy. The kids played the fastest game of putt-putt in the history of putt-putt...then it was time for some arcade games. I got $2 worth of tokens for Josie. She wasn't sure what she wanted to "play" - but we found a game that suited her. First token in - 8 tickets. Second token in - JACKPOT! She won 258 tickets.

Her winnings earned each kid a sucker & a plastic dinosaur.

Tucker made a new best friend in Devin. They were pals all weekend. Devin gave Tuck lots of "hugs" by laying his head on Tucker's rump. And Tuck proved - once again - he's the best dog ever. Nothing bothers him - not a 4 year old who can be too rough with him or a baby that wants to crawl on him.

We played outside a bit on Sunday before they packed up and headed back to Indiana.

Jack and his buddies

 Then Josie had to get in on the picture action...

And, as expected, there were tears when they left. Jack LOVES having his friends here to play! Looking forward to seeing them at the lake this summer!

Mother's Day

I had an AWESOME Mother's Day. But I felt a tad guilty...because I didn't spend the day with the people who make me a "mother." To be fair, I spend every waking moment with them - so I was actually thankful for the Mother's Day I had {not that I don't love my family...I do}.

Anyway - Sunday morning we woke up. I got some great gifts: a new candle, a teapot, some maternity clothes, and a pair of stay-at-home Mom pants {aka: yoga pants}...add in some hugs and kisses from my kids - it was already a great day. But then I packed the kids up & sent them off to the lake with Tyson (and Nancy). And I had an ENTIRE day ahead of me. I didn't know where to start.

I started with a project that began last August. This is embarrassing. Here it goes: I started painting Josie's room when we moved into our house in August. Basically - I got sidetracked...for MANY months and I also "lost" the can of paint in the garage all winter. So I decided Mother's Day was THE DAY to get that project finished. I spent the morning "framing" the baseboards, door, closet, window, etc. Then took a lunch break.

I ate lunch in a restaurant BY MYSELF - with a book. Amazing. Then I got a car wash - What's that I hear? Nothing? No screaming? Amazing. Then I vacuumed out my car - again...no one yelled at me for being too loud or that I needed to "rescue" a toy. Amazing. After that I was feeling very accomplished. I stopped at the nail salon for a pedicure. You guessed it - Amazing.

Back at home I kept working on Josie's room. Tyson called to say he'd be home around 9pm. I took the dogs on a walk, did some laundry, and vacuumed. Then I waited for the gang to arrive. Josie was REALLY excited about her finished room...and so was Tyson. And I was able to say, "See everything I can do when you give me an entire day?"

Here is the finished product. Still need to add new curtains. Maybe by...oh, next March - that will get done.

From the iPhone

We've had rain ALL week. Grrr. I'm just done. My kids need fresh air. I need my kids outside. Everyone is happier outside. The other day - despite the fresh rain - I sent them out to play. Come in wet & covered in mud...I really don't care, just GO PLAY! {is that mean?} They had fun. But then I saw them taking me seriously & rolling in mud...so I called them inside.

I stripped them both down and told them to run upstairs and put on dry clothes. I knew Jack could do this...but wasn't sure about Josie. She came down looking like this:

She was SO proud of herself. Special thanks to Aunt Kim for the tie-dye "Peace" shirt, Aunt Becky for the frilly skirt, and Grandma Nancy for the shoes. Josie paraded around the house, twirling her skirt, and flipping her hair. And I honestly had to question how we were related. Just ask Shirlee - I was never a "frilly skirt" girl...much to my mother's dismay.

I did convince Josie to let me paint her toenails for the first time ever! She agreed but under one condition - only BLUE or as she said, "Boo." If you see her toesies, make sure you compliment her "pedicure."

Tyson was traveling a bit this week...and, again, with all the rain we've had I just needed to get the kids out to play. So Wednesday night I loaded them in the car and set off to Jungle Java. They played - HARD! And ate a SUPER healthy dinner {sarcasm}...then played some more. I lured them out of there at 7:30....and by 8:15 my house was silent. I'll be doing that again.

This picture was taken at 11:00 at night. You'd never know because Josie looks WIDE AWAKE. She was having some belly issues and needed a Miralax cocktail...and some books. She was back in bed by 11:45.

We have friends coming to visit this weekend! Should be LOTS of fun! Happy Friday!

More Farm, More Ice Cream

Monday night I was sitting at the computer working when I received an email from Jack's teacher. It was titled: FIELD TRIP TOMORROW. I panicked. Pregnancy Brain (yes, that's a real thing) had struck again. I was SURE the field trip was Thursday. Nope. I immediately contacted Josie's sitter and  - PHEW - she was scheduled to come Tuesday. Seems I gave her a date "May 13" from the permission slip... So all Tuesday plans were scrapped and Jack & I headed to the Kensington Park Farm.

There were TONS of new baby animals to meet! Jack got to pet a baby pigmy goat and a lamb. We also saw a bunch of ducklings, piglets, and a calf.

This is the Draft Horse, Mary. She came out to say hello - but her boyfriend, Max, didn't.  Jack learned that horses wear shoes...which he thought was hilarious.

The Dairy Cow, Pearl. Fabulous name. Jack really liked her.

It was a muggy day and these pigs were enjoying the coolness of the mud. Interesting pig fact: their gestation period is 3 months, 3 weeks, and 3 days.

As we pulled out of the MetroPark there just happened to be a Dairy Queen. Jack didn't see it, but I did! We stopped for a pre-lunch treat...because Mommy & Jack dates are rare & they deserve to be special. Tyson asked Jack what the best part of his field trip was and he said, "Ice Cream!" For the record, I did make it a "teachable moment" by reminding him that ice cream comes from milk, and milk comes from cows - like Pearl. See - it was actually educational.

Busy Saturday

Saturday morning was Jack's 2nd soccer game! We were all happy to have warmer temps this time around. Jack played well and had fun! {seriously, how awesome is the pink skirt on the soccer field?}

After soccer we decided to take an adventure with Grandma Nancy to a nearby farm. We got to see lots of animals!

Nancy made friends with a llama. They chatted. I still think she should have taken him home. Denny would love having a llama friend around.

Jack got into a "conversation" with a hen & a rooster. It was hilarious. The hen would cluck, the rooster would cock-a-doodle-doo, and Jack would talk to both of them.

After a nice lunch out in Northville, we treated ourselves to some Mother's Day ice cream. Definitely a fun, but busy day!

Failures on Friday

Last Friday was one of "those days" - a day that, by noon, I was ready to hang it up, wave my white flag, beg for a margarita/beer/shot of something. It just wasn't working.

First, Jack scared the heck out of me with a tongue laceration. He was jumping on the couch and managed to bite through his tongue. If you've ever seen a tongue injury - you know, they bleed. A LOT. My initial panic was off set by an abnormal sense of reason - that told me to call someone. Tyson was first. No answer. Dr. Kassey (bff from college) was second and she picked up. Her advice was priceless. She spoke, not only as a dentist, but also as a mom - which is pretty much exactly what I needed. Her best bit of info: "I bet he's jumping on the couch again in 45 minutes." And - YES - he absolutely was...

Happy to report the tongue incident was behind us by nap time. Jack was feeling fine. After nap time - things took another turn downhill. I was preparing for Nancy to come visit...but every time I entered a room, a child was making a mess.

Seriously. What is it about a big box of very small toys that says "DUMP ME ON THE FLOOR!" ??

Then I discovered Josie's artistic talents on the wall... The teacher in me did note the straight lines, though.

And then, as I was scrubbing the wall - she "decorated" her face with mascara. Again. Needless to say, by 6pm - I was about to meltdown. It was Grandma Nancy to the rescue. She took over kid duties and sent Tyson & me to a Craft Beer Party...which was actually another form of torture - for a pregnant lady who really just needed a beer.