August 21-26

Thank goodness the past 2 weeks of sickness is finally behind us. Which meant we had some catching up to do. Sunday was the last day the pool was open for the summer. I talked Kristina into coming with us. They had a DJ and dance contest. My babies, who are notorious dancers, suddenly became shy and wouldn't dance. I had a great time watching the other kids dance. This one girl had some seriously good moves. She should have won! But, since it was for kids, everyone wins! Including my babies! Jacek got a frisbee and Luna insisted that she did not want anything because she wanted to melt down. Can you guess what happened next? Luna wanted Jacek's frisbee and Jacek was getting so mad at Luna. Kristina and Jacek played in the water together. It's hard to catch Jacek completely content and I captured a picture of it. They were in their own little worlds.

It was a nice relaxing Sunday afternoon. On Monday we did cleaned the house, played outside and went to Kelita's house to help organize baby Caleb's room. It looked so nice. On Tuesday, we kept things pretty low key. Jacek and Luna played outside with their friends for awhile and then we had pizza for dinner. It was amazing! Wednesday, things started getting crazy. Jacek had piano. He had missed the past 2 weeks due to sickness but Matt  had still been practicing with him. I was excited to hear him play and he did so well! I was so proud of him and so was Ms. Anna. She gave him 2 gold stars. Luna sat next to me and colored while we listened.  

After piano lessons we went to the grocery store and then I went and bought mulch for the yard. I came home and put the groceries away, made lunch and then mulched the yard. I was pooped but the yard looks so much better. We were running all day and then Jacek had his first soccer practice for the season. He wanted to pick out his outfit. I couldn't wait to see what he would pick out. My boy has some great fashion sense. He gets it from me, I think!

Yep, he wore a tie ti soccer practice. He was so cute and he had a great practice, too.

Thursday, Thursday, Thursday! My baby nephew was scheduled to arrive though cesarean section at 10am. My little sister Kelita was finally having her baby but because he was breach sh had to get a C-section. She was a trooper and my nephew is the cutest thing in the world! I will never forget this day for the rest of my life. I am one proud auntie, for sure!

I call him baby G. His last name is Gentry but he's also a total playa! I love me some Baby G!

On Friday, we relaxed because I had to be at work at 3. We watched Barney, woo hoo, and Johnny Test. I've had all the kids shows I can handle. It was a beautiful week and I cannot wait for Jacek and Luna to meet Baby G next week, They are really excited, especially Jacek.

*In a rare moment, I caught these 2 holding hands. They have been fighting more and more these days. They fight over the TV, food, bikes, who gets to open the door, etc. It seems never ending some days. But, I walked into my room and found them on the computer. It melted my heart!

August 14th-19th

This week was filled with a lot of diarrhea and puke. My poor babies had a nasty stomach bug. Jacek had been throwing up only at night for 7 days. I took him to see our favorite doc: Dr. DuBois. He assured me that it was just a stomach bug and that Luna would be next. Jacek had already been sick for 6 days so I was pretty sure that Luna was in the clear. Well, she was not! The first night that Jacek did not throw up, Luna did. It's so hard to watch your child vomit so hard they start gagging. Jacek had violent bouts of vomiting and Luna had violent bouts of diarrhea. Luna healed much faster than Jacek. She was only sick for 2 days. I knew something was coming but I had thought once they started preschool that they would get some sort of virus. I'm hoping that this is it for them. They need to heal. It's been 10 days of straight sickness in my house and I am throwing in the towel. Waving the white flag. Oh, and disinfecting everything possible. I've done enough laundry to last us into the next month. The good news is we are on the up swing. We can get back to our normal routine of fun.
There is something about a sick baby that bonds mother and child. I feel closer to both Jacek and Luna after this past week. It's been a tough week but we made it out together. We always will. Those babies are my world and I would have gladly taken 10 days worth of vomiting and diarrhea so they wouldn't have had to endure that sickness. But, I know it's good for their immune system and their little bodies are doing what they are suppose to be doing.
I will end this blog with this picture of Jacek. Even in sickness, he's still trying to make me laugh.

*Jacek's favorite new show this week: Wipeout! We laughed pretty hard watching the same 2 episodes over and over.

*Luna's favorite show: Barney (sigh) That's all she wants to watch at all times. I was hoping it was a small phase but it has become a huge obsession. What is it about that dinosaur? 

August 10th-12th

After two fun filled days, my boy woke up on Wednesday and said he was not feeling well. I called Ms. Anna and cancelled piano lessons. As soon as I hung up the phone, Jacek threw up all over himself. I felt so bad for him. I put him in the bath and he hung out in there for at least 30 minutes. He said that he was starting to feel better so he got out of the bath and started to throw up again. It was more like dry heaving but it looked pretty painful. Matt came home for a quick stop and brought Sprite and ice cream for Jacek. Matt is such a great dad! It really made Jacek's day even though he felt like crap. I tried to get him to drink as much Sprite and water as possible but he was unable to keep anything down. He did not eat or drink anything all day. He slept a lot and I tried to be with him as much as possible without neglecting Luna. She kept wanting to wake her brother up.



I pulled out his baby blanket because I knew that would comfort him. He laid on the couch and in my bed all day. The next day I was hoping that Jacek would be feeling a little better. When I woke up I found him laying on the rug in the living room asleep.

When he finally woke up, he was feeling better but he was still not feeling well. He had stopped throwing up and I fixed him anything he wanted. I made macaroni and cheese, pizza, chicken nuggets and french fries. All of which are his favorite. He ate most of everything. I was glad to see him eating again. Luna was getting stir crazy. She was ready to conquer the world and did not understand why we had to stay inside in such a beautiful day. I drew her a bath and let her play in the water to try and burn some of her wild energy. I think she had a good time and she left Jacek alone for a  short while.

Haha, she will thank me for this one day! By mid-day, Jacek was on the mend. It was challenging to try to keep both kids happy. They wanted to fight over toys, TV, one looking at the other, etc. They were bored and I was trying to keep them busy. After dinner we went outside for some fresh air and it did wonders for us. I'm not looking forward to winter at all! By Friday, Jacek was feeling better but still not 100%. I had to work so Donna (meemaw) came and got the kids. I knew she would roll out the special carpet for Jacek. I know that he loved every minute of it.

Song of the week: Lazy song  by Bruno Mars. Luna knows every word and all the dance moves from the video.



August 8th and 9th

The weather was just beautiful! It was starting to cool off but still on the hot side. Monday we awoke and did our typical Monday rituals. Wake up, eat breakfast, lounge around for no longer than hour, put on the bathing suits, pack lunch and go to our little pool on the back patio. We swim, tell stories, eat lunch, talk with Janet. We stay outside for at least a couple of hours and then it's time to go in and get to cleaning. I work on weekends so by Monday the house always needs a good scrub. The kids either take a nap or break while I clean. Once I get the house to an acceptable level we usually head back outside to ride bikes or do whatever we want to do. Mondays are the best in our house. This Monday was no exception. We also made funny pictures from an app on my new phone. We were laughing so hard!

I decided that Tuesday was going to be hat day. Jacek and Luna picked out their hats and looked so stinking cute I couldn't stand it. I took too many pictures like I always do.

We had to go show off our new hats to Papaw and Michael. Jacek did not leave Michael's side.

                                     Jacek loves some Michael. Can these two get any cuter?


Tuesday are always great days for us as because we LOVE the Edgewood concert series. We look forward to it every Tuesday.  This week our favorite band of all summer was playing: Eight days a week. They are a Beetles cover band and they are amazing. All the kids love them, not just mine. I had fun snapping some great shots.

Movie of the week: Billy Madison. Jacek was talking like Billy all day and reciting lines from the movie. He even picked out his own outfit that he thought was Billy Madison worthy. I totally agree, little man.

 

August 1st-5th

Yep. It's officially August. I always get a little sad this time of year because I have to start thinking about the kids going back to school and being responsible. I love waking up and having the entire day to do as we wish. I love lazy days, busy days and mixtures of both. This week wasn't too lazy and wasn't too busy.

 I've been working hard with Luna and trying to get her potty trained. She has done very well and I'm so proud of her! She likes to wear Jacek's underwear when we are hanging out at the house. At one point in the week she had on 8 pairs of Jacek's underwear. One right on top of the other. It was really cute. I have noticed that with potty training the terrible twos likes to rear it's beastly head. I remember Jacek was much the same. Luna had quite the attitude this week and it was exhausting. She would go from laughing to screaming to crying to hitting to plain psycho! It seemed as if I were dealing with a hormonal teenager at times. Luna's newest irritant is me talking on the phone. I'm not sure what brought this about but the second I take a phone call she will start screaming. I have to go into the bathroom just so I can hear what the other person on the other line is saying. She will stand outside the bathroom door and continue her tantrum and kick the door. My phone calls have to be short these days. Even though at times she can be a complete bear, she has sweet tender moments that melt my heart and make me forget any/ all temper tantrums for the moment. She gives the best hugs, eh.eh. eh! And she also gives Gordy the pig kisses, which are my favorite.

Luna- "I go poop. That's a good one!"

As Luna is developing into a toddler, Jacek is maturing a lot. I have noticed a huge difference in him this week. He was so much more laid back. Luna's moods might have something to do with it but I think he's just growing up. He has been quite the helper. He has helped me clean the house, separate and fold laundry and try to keep Luna in great spirits. When she is mad he tries to cheer her up. He really is such a remarkable big brother. He led prayer every night before dinner. "Thank you lord for giving us food. Thank you lord for giving us bread, Thank you lord for watching over us. Amen. " He was so excited about spaghetti night. It's probably the cheapest and easiest meal but my kids love "sketti".

Jacek has also started fishing. He went fishing went Matt, Rodney and Luna this past week and he caught a bunch of fish. Rodney, a skilled fisherman, was so proud of Jacek. "He caught a skip-jack. He could have sold it for $5! He also caught about 5 different kids of other fish, too." I could tell that Rodney was proud and that took Jacek over the moon. He really looks up to Rodney and Matt. He went fishing with the guys. I think I am going to try and go next week.

We also went to the Florence Aquatic center. We love that place. Jacek will float around for hours. I can tell it's very relaxing for him. Luna likes to walk around with no floaties and it makes me a nervous wreck! We all got a little sun burned and we were wiped out.

Ice cream time!

We were so tired we missed our Tuesday night Edgewood concert but we are looking forward to next week's band. It's a Beetles cover band and we look forward to seeing them every year. Last year they all signed a poster for Jacek and he hung it above his bed. We kept it chill for the rest of the week. We did our usual playtime outside and we even had a picnic.

Luna has finally learned how to correctly drink from a water bottle. She used to always put her entire mouth around the bottle. After many hours with my dad, she finally got it right!

I will end this week on this picture. Luna looks so pretty but when I took this picture she was starting to pop her Luna-tude.

"Mommy, I hate you flowers!"

 

July 25th-29th

This week was a slower week for us. The past few weeks have seemed so action packed we decided to take it easy. It was a nice change of pace. We just have one short month left before Jacek and Luna will be starting preschool. I have a feeling we will be quite the busy little bees for the month of August.

We were low key this week. The kids rode their bikes, played with sidewalk chalk, went swimming and played with their neighbor friends. These are the simple things that are easy and free yet my kids are perfectly content. On Tuesday, we attended the Edgewood concert series. I forget the name of the band but they rocked. Matt and I really enjoyed the music and kids danced their little booties off.

                                                           Meet the Woods!

On Wednesday, Jacek woke up and wanted to dress like Happy Gilmore. He pulled out every pair of shorts and every shirt in his dresser until he got the perfect outfit. I can't tell you how many times I have done the same exact thing.

After piano lessons we came home and Jacek and I practiced some songs. I was very impressed with my little man.

On Thursday we went over to Kristina's house. Jacek and Luna kept bugging Michael because he was sleeping and they wanted to play. Eventually, he got up. He wasn't even the slightest mad. He seriously has the calmest demeanor of any 13 year old I have ever met. 

All in all, it was a very low key week and that was just what we needed.

July 17th-22nd

Wow is all I can really say. This week has flown by so fast but I am making myself add a blog entry. Every year I think, where did the summer go? At least this summer will be documented on Moon Flower.

On Sunday, the kids and I went to My sister's house to hang out and have our weekly Kruskamp crazy fix. Kristina made homemade chili and it was amazing. I love her chili. We make it the exact same way, the Kruskamp recipe, but hers always tastes better. After dinner we lounged out back and Luna made Kristina a mayo sandwich on a spiderman bun. They had to taste test it at the same time! It was a great day!

On Monday, the heat wave was in full swing. We made spicy pretzels and filled up the kiddie pool. We sat outside and enjoyed pretzels poolside and kiddie cocktails. The kids made me get into the tiny pool and we splashed and laughed for hours. For once, there was no stress, no fighting. It was simple, true and genuine fun.
On Tuesday, we went grocery shopping. We were out of everything. My dad came with us to help manage the kids when they were about to blow. Thank God for my dad! Tuesday night we attended out weekly Edgewood concert series. It's so funny. We do not care who is playing or what kind of music is playing . We just love live music. This week it was swing music, which I love. Jacek entertained the crowd as usual and Luna complimented the music with her mad bubble skills. They slept well that night!

On Wednesday, it was said to be the hottest day of the year. The heat index was around 110 degrees. That's insanity! After piano lessons, we came  home and threw our bathing suits on fast as we could. We decided to head to the Florence Aquatic Center. I invited my brother, Kelton and his GF, Sam. I cannot put into words how much fun we had at the pool. For such a crazy hot day we had so much fun! And, Kelton scored major bonus points and bought the kids ice cream. It's little things that make such lasting impressions!



As if our week wasn't crazy enough, it was free queso dip day at Moe's. It's not like I was going to let that one slip by! Kristina and Michael joined the kids and myself at Moe's for some amazing food. I really love that place! After dinner, we thought it would be fun to have some planking pictures. Kristina's were the best by far but Jacek and Luna had join in on the fun as well. These pictures make me laugh every time I look at them! And once again, the kids slept great!

Kristina had taken off of work on Thursday and we had been wanting to take the kids to the Indianapolis Children's Museum. We were so excited  and Michael came along, too. We didn't realize that going to such a famous Museum on the hottest day of the year probably wasn't a great idea. When we walked into the lobby their was at least a 20-30 minute wait just buy tickets. It was insane packed! There were kids screaming/ crying everywhere including my own at times. Whatever Jacek wanted to do Luna was not interested and vice versa. I'm not going to lie, it was pretty stressful at times. Luna loved the Dora exhibit. (She had been insisting all week to wear her Dora shoes with no socks.) Jacek loved the race cars and play area. We all sang silly songs and played instruments and this made the trip well worth it in my mind. 

Side note: When did my nephew grow taller than me?

On the way home, everyone was cranky and hungry. We ended up at Denny's which I was not that excited about. We all must have been super hungry because we scarfed down our food. It was the most amazing cheeseburger and cheese fries! Just what we needed: comfort food! Even Jacek, who is quite the picky eater, gobbled down his cheeseburger.
It was quite the action packed week and it was fun, fun, fun! I know this is a super long post but that just means we had a super fun week. I hope to do it all over again next week!

*Concept of the week- Planking*