6 Reasons Why I Still Need My Mom

#1 Tuesday - I dropped my husband (protector, companion and best friend) off at the airport and I picked up my mom (mother, gramma to my boys and my confidante).  I hate to stay alone, so I purposefully asked my mom to fly in the day Doug had to fly out for a conference.  I needed her company mostly, but have also benefited from her huge servant's heart made obvious by so much practical help around the house and with the boys.  Thanks, Mom!

The boys were of course excited to greet Gramma as well.  We were all thrilled to see that Penn made friends with her fast now that he's finally growing out of his intense stranger (meaning anyone but mom and dad) danger phase.

Gramma had promised to bring Koen his birthday present on this visit, so he was very excited to check out what it could be.  First, he got to open an Easter gift for all the boys (appropriately, "The Berenstain Bears and the Easter Story").

Of course Gramma had to bring something for all the boys, not just Koen, so she got Tav a Planes magnetic scene toy.  He was so excited to see all his favorite Planes characters!

And then for Koen's much anticipated gift.  The DVD of "Frozen!"  Yay!  He was almost in shock.  It was really cute.  He was definitely surprised.

Thanks, Gramma!  

#2 - Wednesday - We spent the day with a sick Penn Rye.  He finally came down with Tav and Koen's gross cold virus from Easter break.   That day Gramma was my advice, my extra pair of hands and breaks of laughter amidst a pretty pitiful and intense day with poor, sick Penn.  Thanks, Mommy!

#3 - Thursday - Turns out the sick drama wasn't over.  On Wednesday afternoon Koen came home from school with a fever and a painful, sore throat.  Although he bounced back quite well after some Tylenol, I was thrown for a loop with two out of three kiddos feverish, snotty and sick (especially since I just spent last week dealing with the same gunk!).  In the night it became evident his throat was a major problem and then he was unable to eat or drink on Thursday morning at breakfast, so I immediately figured it was strep and took him to the doctor's sick clinic after dropping Tav off at preschool.  Mom was my sounding board, my listener, my rock and she just let me pout, problem solve and process the situation (not to mention she babysat Penn during a long Thursday morning of a doctor's appointment and visit to the pharmacy for Koen).  Just what I needed.  So thankful you were here!

Koen rebounded amazingly quickly from the painful strep and by the afternoon was needing some special attention time, so he jumped right into his animal report work for school with Gramma.  He did not want to stop until he finished researching all the questions for the project.  Gramma was his faithful helper!

#4 - Friday - The drama continues!  Most of Thursday Penn was still not acting like himself, little appetite and fever.  It did start to break in the afternoon, but after the development of Koen having strep and some symptoms continuing (including a scarlet fever rash like the one that popped up all over Koen) I decided to spend my Friday morning at the sick clinic, but this time with Penn.  Koen was able to go to school since he already had two doses of amoxycillin, but Gramma stayed home with Tavin.  Again, she was my babysitter on the fly and quite the comforter as I tried to roll with the punches of this very odd week I had much better plans for in my head!  Thanks, Mom.

Koen came home from school happy and healthy and Penn woke up fever free and much more like himself after his Friday afternoon nap, so Mom and I decided it was the night to treat ourselves to dinner out (i.e. no prep and no dishes!).  

#5 - Saturday - On Saturday Mom (aka, Gramma) got to spend the morning with Koen as the little guys and I had plans to go to a toddler birthday party and then pick up Doug from the airport.  Gramma wasn't only a babysitter this day, but showed Koen a really, special intentional morning with some one-on-one time for them and it meant the world to Koen (and to me since K was so very much on my nerves that morning being needier than the little ones for some reason, just one of those days).  Thanks, Mom (Gramma).

#6 - Sunday - Although Doug was back home at this time, I'd barely seen him and of course with it being Sunday, he had to work so it was me and the boys, but thankfully today, also Gramma!!  We took the boys to the playground after church.  It was so nice to have her company, but also to share some typical Melder boy moments with her (since we missed so many earlier in the week with 2/3 of the clan under the weather!).  

I even got a chance to attempt some Gramma and grandson group pictures.  Here were the best ones.  I just love my boys.  Never a dull moment (even in pictures!).

The fun didn't stop when we got home.  We had a quick lunch and then the boys (all 3) ended up playing really well together with some construction vehicles, later it transitioned (not sure how) to a Melder boy band show.  Hilarious.  The boys set up chairs for the audience (me and Gramma) and we enjoyed the show so very much.  Here's a glimpse for the readers.

Tav was singing with all his might.  Oh my goodness!

From vocals to harmonica...

...to recorder, Tav can do it all.  And did you notice who else joined the band?

If you can handle it (loud, a little off key and lots of fun), click to play the video below.

Sunday was filled with moments of enjoying the boys.  Something I long to share with my mom so many days when she is so far from here, so I was so thankful you were here, Mom, to just soak up the crazy, wonderful, loud Melder life this day.  Thanks for being here, Mommy!

#6 - Monday - After 6 days together, we've settled into co-existing, just doing the extraordinary ordinary alongside each other (literally we were laughing at how much better a kitchen would be with two sinks and two dishwashers so that we could both be productive at the same time with dinner clean-up).  My mom is the one that taught me how blessed (and not so much about how sometimes brutal) being at home with my kids can be through her faithful service of choosing to do that for me, my brother and my sister.  I love that she paved the way for me so that each and every day I do this mom thing, I have her to look to, think of and rely on for support, laughs and love as I trip, travail and triumph.  She's not perfect, but she's my mom and she's my go-to, my encourager and my example.  I love you, Mom.

Thanks for another great visit!  (And P.S. - Sorry about the cold you went home with!)

Saturday Morning with my Little Guys

With my mom in town (big post about that to come in a few days), I was able to get Tavin and Penn out to the two-year-old birthday party of Nate & Megan's, Andy.  I knew that Koen would be older than the other kiddos, so it was great that I could leave him with Gramma (and they had a blast going through the list of "fun things to do" Koen planned for them).  I, on other hand, got to enjoy my two younger ones with some of their littler friends.  The party was adorable.  Megan did a "Milk & Bookies" themed party.  Such a great idea!  It was sort of a storytime-esque party and every little one was completely into it (especially the unlimited cookies and milk snacks).  Great job, Nate and Megan!  Such a sweet party for Andy!  And of course, Happy Birthday, Andy!  Thanks for inviting us!

So, while we were there I got a text from Doug with a suggestion to go pick him up from the airport at 1pm when he arrived back in town.  Since we were already halfway there, I figured the boys and I could be up for it.  I had a little time to kill, so we stopped at a highly recommended (thanks, Aunt Megan!) playground in Emsworth.  It was a perfect stop.  Tavin, especially loved the pirate ship.

Penn enjoyed swinging (as usual!).

Tavin and Penn got their first see-saw ride ever.  Tav thought it was so fun (Penn later did it in my lap and was going back and forth between gleeful giggles and motioning all-done).

The best was that we got to leave the playground and go collect a much-missed Daddy from the airport.  Tavin spotted several Southwest planes landing on our way in (his favorite airline).  Welcome home, Doug.  So glad we got to pick you up ourselves.  Totally worth the late arrival home for naptime. =)  Tav and Penn, loved my morning with my little guys (as usual).

Easter Weekend 2014

This is always a busy weekend for us with Doug working a bunch and this year he now has the service on Saturday night at Oakland, but thankfully we still got a nice long morning family time.  The weather was gorgeous, so we decided we would spend as much time as possible outside.  We headed to Frick Park for a little hike in the woods.  The boys LOVED it.  And I loved seeing the boys enjoying nature and it was exciting to see the bright green sprouting from the grass, to the weeds, the flowers to the trees.  

Doug made up a game for the boys that they had to stand on these logs and not fall while giving each other high fives.  So cute.  The boys thought it was great.  

After awhile in the woods, we went up to the playground.  The boys played around for a little bit, but then remembered about the big blue slide and that's what they did the rest of the time and they had a blast.  

Doug decided that it was time to initiate Penn into this Pittsburgh kid tradition, so he had his first slide ride with Daddy.  

He loved it!  I took a video.  It's tough to tell, but yes, he is squealing with glee!

Now, you can tell how much he loved the ride in this picture when he went down with me.  Doug caught such a great moment of sheer pleasure and fun!!

After our fun at the park we grabbed some food-to-go at Chick-fil-A down at the Waterfront and then took it down to the riverfront to eat in the grass overlooking the "Mon" (the Monongahela River).  It was a beautiful picnic (and even better since I didn't have to prepare it!).  After that we got the boys home for naps and they slept hard!  Koen and I had another relaxing afternoon (well, I multi-tasked).  I woke Tav up at 4pm and he played for a bit and then he, Koen and I did our annual Easter tradition of making Empty Tomb cookies.  I don't like the way these meringue-type cookies taste, but I love the activity of making them with the boys.  With each step there is a part of the Easter story to share from the Scriptures.  It was Tavin's first year participating which was exciting to me.  I just love these hands-on opportunities to share the Gospel with the boys.  Here are a few pictures I caught amidst the cookie-making.   This is when they "beat" the pecans with a wooden spoon.

Tav got to dump in the "sweet" sugar.

They whipped the mixture until it was "white as snow."

Folding in the nuts.

After everything was mixed, the spoonfuls of batter were dropped onto a cookie sheet (and looked like rocky tombs) and we sealed them in the oven.  Koen and Tavin each put a piece of tape on the oven door to seal it.  Then we talked about how sad the disciples and other followers of Jesus were when He had died and was buried and sealed in the tomb.  Here are the sad faces (Tavin was more serious about it than Koen obviously).

On Sunday morning, we got to open the tomb (although don't tell the boys that Doug and I made pizza after they were in bed, so we had to borrow the tomb for a bit).  

I forgot to take a picture of the empty tomb part of these cookies, but when you take them off the cookie sheet or break them in half, the insides are somewhat hollow and you can proclaim that the tomb is empty.  He is Risen!  He is Risen indeed!!

We got out of the house quite quickly this morning and it was amazing, the boys were really cooperative and pleasant (Sundays can be our roughest morning for some reason), it was a special Easter blessing for me.  I checked the big boys in downstairs and Penn stayed up with Doug (he usually hangs with me during worship before going down to nursery).  When I came back upstairs I found Penn, the cutest church greeter in the Burgh, outside with Pastor Daddy.  

We also attempted a few family photos for Easter 2014.  Here's our pre-service try.

And after service.

Then the boys ran away into the tunnel, which was a lot more fun apparently than posing with the family (big surprise).

The church service was beautiful...so reverent, so worshipful, so celebratory.  I loved it.  Oh, and Douglas had a great sermon.  =)  After church we headed to the playground as it was another glorious Spring day.  Uncle Nate and the boys joined us since Aunt Megan did nursery at the service and stayed to attend the 11am.  It was fun having him there as the boys loved rough housing a bit with him.  Here are the few pics I got during our time there running around with our 5 boys altogether!

That wasn't all our Easter fun with these friends though, for the second year in a row (we are hoping it's a new tradition) we had Easter dinner at Nate & Megan's.  Koen and Tavin were so excited to get to go to their house and be with them and their boys.  All 5 boys got along so well.  I was especially proud of Koen for playing well with kiddos that were all younger than he.  The boys came up with all sorts of total boy games outside (tearing up grass, playing with trucks, rolling down the hill, etc.).  

Alex and Andy had a really cool visitor for Easter break...their school pet...a bunny!  How appropriate!  The big kids liked it.

Penn loved it.

I missed the opportunity to take a picture of the beautiful meal that Megan prepared.  Ham, mashed sweet and white potatoes, green beans, an apple and brussel sprout warm salad and a toasted coconut carrot cake.  Yum!  Thank you, Nate and Megan, for the lovely meal, but more importantly the special time with you all.  We looked forward to it all week, getting to be together as a family with your family after such a busy season.  We love you guys!  It was a great end to our Easter weekend 2014.  Happy Easter!