A Week With the W. Kids

So here we are again...time is slipping right on past me, and I realize I haven't blogged E.J.'s baptism weekend yet, let alone more recent happenings. My free/hobby time has been consumed with Halloween costume preparations, as well as FINALLY putting the finishing touches on our new house. I can now say that every single box has been unpacked! Hip hip, hooray! We're just a few hung pictures away from being finished. So hopefully I can get a house tour post up this month, too!

I'll get to E.J.'s baptism posts tout de suite, but for now, let's do another quick look at what we've been up to for the past week.

Last Tuesday, we hit up my friend's consignment store and scored this adorable Minnie Mouse costume for Ellie - not for Halloween, but just in general. Actually, we're planning a Disney trip in January because Eric is running the Disney marathon (!!!), so we'll put this to use for that. And, you know, just for hanging out around the house. Mine is a child who loves to play dress-up, so this dress will get plenty of love. I mean, just look at that face:

She is so excited. I let her put the dress on in the store and then continued my shopping. After a few minutes I caught sight of her out of the corner of my eye - she was slowly twirling around, staring down at her dress, whispering, "so beautiful." 

So yeah. We bought the heck out of that dress.

E.J. refused to nap that afternoon (a rarity indeed), but aside from interfering with my planned productivity, this is not a huge issue. Needless to say, an unnapped E.J. handles himself with a bit more grace than a sleep-deprived Ellie:

He looks like he's posing for a school picture.

For comparison, you can see his sister sans nap here.

On Wednesday, I finally got brave enough to take both children to a library storytime by myself. Not only that, but we went to the storytime at the San Marco Branch, which is walking distance from our house, but I had never been there before so it was completely uncharted territory. I know, right? Just call me SuperMom.

Anyway, storytime was great. It was not nearly as crowded as at our old library (though they also don't have the awesome House of Germs and Disease play area that our old library had), so when a temper tantrum delayed our morning (how dare I remove Ellie's Band-Aid after she wore it for a mere five days!), we were able to stroll in right at start time and still find a good seat. They read books pertaining to that day's subject ("wind"), did a little "science experiment" (blowing different objects across a table), and then there was a craft. Ellie was just thrilled to use a Glue Stick. Simple pleasures, am I right?

The kids at storytime

GLUE STICK.

Showing E.J. the finished product

On Thursday, we hit the playground. We wore our most sensible playground apparel, which naturally included a set of fairy wings.

Toddlers are the coolest.

(Sometimes.)

Also completing the ensemble: stick-on earrings, a dash of glitter on the nose and those pretty blue eyes.

We also picked up some personal pan pizzas from Pizza Hut and had ourselves a dinnertime picnic at the "train park"....

If only!

...while simultaneously torturing our children. So, you know, win-win.

 VIDEO: Picnicking at the train park is a risky business.

On Friday, I braved the Barnes and Noble storytime by myself. Two storytimes in one week! Killing it. Ellie made sure E.J. felt at ease in this new situation by holding his hand while sitting on the benches, trying to give him her piece to put on the felt board, letting him hold her completed craft and offering him the coveted train from the train table during play afterwards. Big Sister of the Year!

Sitting on the bench, waiting for storytime to start

He's into it!

Putting her piece on the felt board

E.J. showing off our Q-Tip skeleton craft

On Friday night, we went to the football game at Eric's school, which left Ellie clamoring for more "big tubas" while E.J. just worried about the state of things.

He was just not really sure that this was the place he wanted to be.

On Saturday, we went to the grand opening of the new Disney Store at the St. John's Town Center, where Ellie promptly covered herself in Doc McStuffins garb before we went outside to meet Mickey - E.J.'s first Disney character encounter! (There was quite a lengthy line to meet the main Mouse, but hey, we're former New Yorkers - we can rock some long lines.)

Ellie McStuffins

Super excited to meet Mickey! Also, baby in a polo shirt.

All that waiting and Ellie looks unimpressed, while E.J. looks confused. These kids better shape up before our January Disney trip.

Also, that evening, E.J. rolled over for the first time! After realizing straight up rolling over wasn't working for him, he figured out how to get himself propped up onto his elbows so he could topple right over. Brute strength and stellar problem-solving abilities! Is he his father's son or what?

On Sunday we ran some errands, then basked in the glow of the Browns' victory over the Steelers:

A Browns win makes E.J. smile

Yesterday we did some grocery shopping and some playground-ing, then back at home Ellie nearly killed me with this sweetness:

VIDEO: Ellie sings "You Are My Sunshine" to her baby brother
***At the time of posting this, there's no default image showing on the video, but I promise, it works! Just click play!***

Playing together on E.J.'s play mat

And today, we hung out around the house and dabbled in a little arts and crafts:

Look at those adorable foot ghosts!

Looking back through this rundown reminds me of just how lucky I am to be at home with my kids all day. Some days it's really draining, and by the time they're both in bed I just collapse on the couch, physically (and sometimes emotionally) spent. But my goodness, those kids are really, really cool and we have lots of fun together. I am so thankful that I have the opportunity to be here with them, watching them grow up each and every day. It's not easy for us - this is definitely a sacrifice and puts us in a much tighter financial situation than necessary. But, it is something that is important to both Eric and me and I'm so glad we're on the same page about that and we're both willing to make it work. Because those kids...man, those kids. I'm just one lucky mama.