What a Morning with Penn Looks Like

Thursday it was freezing and my plans for the morning got cancelled, so Doug was able to take the car and take both boys to school on his way to work.  That left Penn and I to just hang out the two of us.  Penn has been suffering with a super snotty cold this week, so he needed the extra home time anyways.  Tav goes to preschool twice a week, but often Penn and I have appointments, meetups or errands.  We rarely just have a simple morning at home.  We both just loved it.  We got a little cleaning done.

I actually got lots done just as we hung around the house, but we took lots of breaks for play, snuggles and fun.  Penn found his tiny wagon and requested a few rides around the dining room table.

He spotted the camera...cheese face of course!!

When we were up on the 2nd floor I was making my bed and Penn and begged to get up on the covers.  How could I resist some snuggles with my littlest bug?  We decided to take some selfies to send to Doug.  Penn thought it was so fun to see himself in the camera.  Here are just a few of my favorites (you know I took like 20).

This is Penn's newest expression face.  It's hilarious.  I look scary, but my making the face in the camera made him do it.  

 Then we were both laughing so hard watching him respond to me.  So funny!

Another matched funny face.  Oh this kid is so much fun!  Sorry about my scary face!

After our snuggles, I finally finished making my bed without the help of Penn.  He chose to watch from a super comfy spot on the pile of throw pillows.  Too cute.

And that's not it.  After we finished puttering around on the 2nd floor, we headed up to the 3rd floor.  At first Penn wanted to play tool man.  

But then we decided to have some chill time and read some books.  And by some I mean A LOT.  This is just a sampling of what Penn brought to me and then we read.  He LOVES books right now!

So, super special morning for We loved it.  Doug was able to swing through and pick Tavin up from preschool and Tav was super excited to see him.  Doug snapped this picture of the happy line leader on his way back into his class.

It was quite a snowy squall when they left the building.  They loved it.  Tav said it was tickling his nose.

They stopped for some groceries and a quick Daddy/son lunch date at Whole Foods.  I think Tav just keeps getting cuter. =)

Well, that's it for the pictorial overview of my splendid morning with Penn Rye and a peek at Tav's special date with Daddy.

An Olympic Snacky Dinner in Honor of the Closing Ceremonies

Yesterday I had a self-proclaimed fantastic brainstorm for a fun way to celebrate the closing ceremonies of the Winter Olympics (before boys' bedtime and the primetime airing of the real ceremony).  I was excited all day to get the boys' Olympic Snacky Dinner setup.  Here's their Olympic flag placemats.

Here are the supplies, color-coordinated in flag order.  Isn't this food pretty?  God is so good.

Blue is blueberries.  Black is chocolate chips and raisins.  Red is red pepper and strawberries.  Yellow is corn, yellow peppers and cheese.  Green is broccoli and green beans.  The boys were excited to dive in and decorate their flags with their dinner choices.

Koen was really into this activity.  I was so excited!

Check out his cool flag.

Tav had fun (and snacked along the way, whereas Koen waited until his flag was done to eat), but eventually asked me to help him fill his flag.

I hope I remember to do this next time the Olympics roll around.  Best idea I've had in awhile!

Dapper Dudes

Penn Rye was especially snuggly today.  I got to hold him close during worship time.  Then I attempted to put him in nursery.  He lasted about 15 minutes.  He screamed when I left him and clung to me like crazy.  It broke my heart to leave him, but I did it anyways.  Well, I soon saw his page number up on the screen.  He was so upset that he just snuggled, breathed deeply (snorted a little) and sucked his thumb for 10 minutes during the sermon.  As the sermon was closing he perked up and we spotted Daddy near the edge of the sanctuary, so I sent Penn over to him and Doug took him into the lobby.  Shortly after I received these selfies.  Oh my dapper dudes.  Pretty cute.

Sunny Saturday

It's been a real blessing to me this week that the winter weather has been mild since our return from Texas.  I needed the time to adjust back to wintertime.  We've been outside for a walk or playtime nearly everyday in the 40 degree weather.  On Saturday it was really windy, but very sunny and in the AM was mid-40's.  I took the little guys on a walk to run errands to the post office, Aldi and then a long stop at the playground with a picnic lunch.  All I can say is that it was delightful.  Sun, fresh air, my little guys and lots of neighbor friends we hadn't seen in months.  Here are a few pictures of the boys just having a blast playing outdoors in the Burgh again.

Perhaps you wonder where Koen and Doug were on this lovely day?  Well, our church is launching a new campus in Dormont and Saturday was a work day to get the facility (actually an old church building) ready for the May launch.  Here's my Koen hard at work.  He was quite a helper and really enjoyed himself especially since he got some special one-on-one daddy time.

Doug had to work in the late afternoon and through the evening, so after the little guys naptime I got all 3 boys back to the playground.  Again we ran into lots of neighbor friends who, like us, have practically been hibernating.  Koen really enjoyed bumping into an old preschool friend and Penn and Tav did their own thing.  It was a much-needed reminder to me about what life is like when you can get the kids outside regularly.  It's not as loud or frustrating as being stuck inside four walls.  I can't wait for when Spring really breaks.  I am so ready!  But we'll take a day like this anytime to get us through!

Springspiration

As if leaving family wasn't enough, we also had to leave the warmth and sunshine.  I came home overly emotional and just a tad depressed about all of that.  I looked at my winter decorations in disdain when we returned home (and was even more put off by the thick layer of dust that had collected in this old house while we were away).  I needed to 1) clean and 2) bring a touch of the glimpse of Spring we saw in Texas into the home to get me through the rest of this winter here in the Burgh.  I decided to go with muted green tones.  It's only February, so I'm not ready to bust out the pastels, but I just needed to see life and not gray!  My biggest inspiration was the random and miraculous green we were surprised with at the ends of the branches I cut off our Dogwood bushes months ago as a part of my winter decor.  They naturally transitioned to Spring, so I thought, so must I.  

Now, we've only been home a few days and I haven't had a chance to do any sort of fun, creative shopping trip, so this redecorate was going to have to all be from things I had on hand.  I quickly glanced around Pinterest for some Pinspiration and stumbled upon these knock-off Pottery Barn topiaries.  I actually had some of the green moss ball things from a few years ago in the basement.  I still have a big branch from our Christmas tree with lots of off shoots in the basement, so I cut it down for the trunks of the topiaries.  I smashed some scissors into the balls to make a hole in them and then pushed the stick in with a little hot glue on the end.  Ta-da!  I decided to change up the base since I had loads of dehydrated split peas in just the perfect hue of green.  It also dresses the topiaries up a little to have them sitting in crystal rather than wrapped in burlap or cloth.

I used the remainder of my split peas as a base for some candles in vases all gathered together as the centerpiece for the dining room table.  

It's fresh, it's clean, a tad minimalistic, but I'm refreshed by it and feel less like it's winter around here and a little more like Spring is around the corner (not to mention I also cleaned the whole first floor and having it squeaky clean is good for this neat freak's soul too!).  Why do I write a blog post about my creative activity?  Well, I'm a tad proud of myself for making something out of nothing and being happy with the outcome and also as an encouragement to those of you that claim to not be so creative.  If I can do it, you can too.

Watch Out Texas, Here We Come, Part 4

Don't worry, this is it.  I'm finally wrapping up the play-by-play on our Texas trip.  It was such a good time, filled with so many memorable moments (and I had very little free time to recap during our time there!).  Anyways, here goes on final days/thoughts.

Sunday
This was our relax and have no real plans day.  And we needed it!  After the perfect weather day before that ended with a cloudless sky and a brisk air, we woke up to a humid and warm morning.  Thankfully no rain, so we got the boys outside as much as possible (as usual).  Eventually we went on a family walk (including Gramma and Grampa) to meet up with Uncle Phil & Aunt Leah for lunch before they left for the airport.  I totally forgot to catch a few photos with Phil & Leah.  But believe me, we enjoyed a nice lunch together at Mellow Mushroom on Guadalupe, the Main Street of the UT Campus.  Doug bolted after lunch with the little guys to get them home in time for nap (still catching up after the festivities yesterday!) and Gramma and I took Koen out for a special treat in honor of his helpfulness the day before with his brothers at the wedding.  I tried to make a huge deal of his responsible and helpful behavior.  He seemed to get it.  But he also just really likes fro yo.

After naptime we again got the boys outside.  This time the sun was out and we all just soaked it up.  I originally thought we would try to go down to a playground or something, but the yard is so fun and the boys and the adults enjoy it alike, so we just stayed at the house.  The big boys played wiffle ball for a long time.  Tav was loving hitting the pitches and Koen really enjoyed playing left field.

Tav is just too cute sporting the sunglasses and striking his little batter pose (he was taking lessons from Daddy on how to stand and his effort was adorable).

When Penn Rye came out to play after his elongated nap, he got into the diggers.  Of course.  Here he is making his bulldozer noise.

Tav did some funny poses to help show off his digger parking garage that he, Koen and Doug built with natural products from the yard (behind Tav).

I think Tav was inspired by figure skating in the Olympics with this hilarious pose.

I think Penn was watching Tav's charisma and decided to get expressive too.

Koen even got into the digger story-telling with Tavin the last few days which was fun to see.  I loved that they just played simple games in the yard.  They so needed these few days of fresh air!

Tavin is laying asphalt to cover the potholes in the road he told me (yep, he's from Pittsburgh, land of potholes).

At one point, Koen asked to borrow my camera.  I went ahead and let him.  It was because he wanted to take a picture of a squirrel that was really close to a bird.  Here's the bird.  It's a grackle (super annoying squawker and they can snatch too).  They are all over Austin.

Here's the squirrel.  Doug said that he and Koen watched him for awhile and at one point the Squirrel actually ran up a tree with a plastic cup full of liquid!!

We had a super fun surprise that evening with Aunt Abbie and Uncle Zac stopping by at the boys' dinnertime.  We actually ended up feeding the newlyweds their first dinner (well, post-reception) too.  What a fun bonus to get to see Mrs. Diltz (and Mr. Diltz too).  The boys loved it.  A sunset dinner for the newlyweds and our boys.  Not too shabby.

Well, that's it for Sunday.  Mom and Dad had gone to a family's house for dinner, so Doug and I just laid low after the boys went to bed and rented a movie and ate our own dinner of Salt Lick leftovers.  Although we had thought of going out or something that night, I was thankful that we just stayed in, relaxed and headed to bed early.  What a weekend!

Monday
Our morning was mostly efficient packing and planning for our trip to Dallas and then home.  We did get the boys outside most the morning though.  We had another fun surprise in that since it was President's Day, Abbie & Zac had off from work (they aren't going on their honeymoon until March) and they wanted to meet us for lunch on our way out of town!  I needed that final bit of Gagnon time as I had a REALLY hard time saying goodbye to Mom and Dad at the house when we checked out.  Oh how I cherish time with my family and therefore the goodbyes are often emotional and after a momentous week together celebrating Ab's wedding it was even more emotional than usual.  Thanks for a final bit of family time, Ab!  Here she is watching over the boys at the playground while Doug, Zac and I grabbed the food at the amazing Central Market in Austin (these grocery stores are awesome, but the cafe and playground are oh so family-friendly!).  

Koen and Tavin were in fine form basically Melder boys vs. everyone else (they just like to assume everyone's a bad guy).  On the one hand, it's great that they work together, team up and protect each other.  On the other hand, it's a little frustrating that they pretty much make enemies of every other kid on the playground.

Penn wanted nothing to do with the baby playground.  He was too intrigued by the big kid one (much to Abbie's chagrin...she was so nervous having to watch him!).  

Well, it was a perfect finish to a great first family experience in Austin.  The boys loved the exercise and Penn was tired enough to then sleep a good 45 minutes in the car on the way to Dallas.  I loved soaking up a few more minutes with Abbie and the casual atmosphere made the goodbye seem a little more like "see you tomorrow" than "see you in a few months, I'll be a thousand miles away."  Anyways, before I tear up...our trip to Dallas was seamless and we even stopped at the famous "Czech Stop" as recommended by a Texan friend of mine.  Ever had a Kolache?  Well, if you ever drive 35 between Dallas and Austin, you should totally stop.  Yum!  We brought them with us to Dave & Kristen's for breakfast the next morning.  I never eat pastry, but I was too curious not to and I was glad I did. =)  

We got to Dave & Kristen's right at 4pm as planned.  Olive had just woken up from her nap and joined us all in the backyard to enjoy the warm, fresh air (it was high 70's there too).  I was a little lazy with the attempt to get pics.  I wish I had made a picture happen with sweet Olive and her buddy, Penn.  They are both at such cute phases and are so adorable.  Here's just a picture of them all playing.

Our evening at Dave & Kristen's was so relaxing and felt like a home away from home.  Dave & Kristen, thank you so much for your hospitality and generosity.  We will most definitely be back again en route to visit Abbie & Zac.  Hopefully our boisterous crew didn't wear out its welcome this time around!  You guys were soooo gracious!

Tuesday
We ran the energy out of the boys as much as we could before leaving for the airport at 10:30am.  The boys were ready to head home and very ready for another airplane ride.  I'm so grateful to have such willing and happy little travelers!  Doug grabbed this shot as we walked down to security at Dallas' Love Field.  

Our flight leaving Dallas was delayed and nearly cost us our connection in Houston, but thankfully we made it with really no time to spare (they were paging our family when we were getting off the Dallas flight).  They had promised they would hold the flight for us in Houston, but we were unsure.  I was so thankful they did.  Amazingly our bags got onto the flight too.  The boys had eaten their lunch on the quick jump from Dallas to Houston, so the 2 and 1/2 hour flight from Houston to Pittsburgh was more for napping.  Penn was pretty spun up and silly for the first half hour or so of the flight and I was nervous he wasn't going to give himself a chance to nap, but eventually he just crashed in my arms with some encouragement and oh my it was some precious snuggle time with my Penn Rye.  I was relaxing and resting during the hour and 10 minutes he slept and I didn't even notice Doug took this picture.  But I'm glad he did.  Look how sweet Penn is just buried in me.  Love it!

Well, we got home in Pittsburgh on time at 6pm-ish.  We didn't arrive at our house until about 7:30pm and then it was a mad dash to get the boys into their beds digging out the bare minimum from the suitcases.  After they were in bed (didn't take too long, they were all exhausted), I rushed around unpacking as much as possible and Doug ran out for some groceries as I would be carless the next day.  Phew.  We did it.  8 day vacation, 2 cities, many friends and families visited, one sister off and married, 3 boys back home in their beds.  Family vacation February 2014 done.