Three Thought Thursday: Episode 24

1. Kolbe spent the night out for the first (real) time this past weekend. No exclamation point on the end of that sentence as I'm filled with mixed emotions. Thus far, Kolbe has always been very attached to his mama. Don't get me wrong; he has managed to develop many very meaningful relationships with other people, but has always been a mama's-boy at the core. He has spent nights away from me on two previous occasions. The first was for three nights when I was in the hospital having Reagan. Pretty much unavoidable. But he was still staying at our house. In his own bed. The second time happened when we were travelling down to Houston a while back and he flew down an afternoon early with my mom. The following morning Reagan and I joined them. So I wrote it off as a travel incident. But this time it was all on his own deciding. He made the choice to spend the night out. And was completely ok with it. Mark and I had a date night and Mark's mom, Miss Lora, was gracious enough to watch the boys for us. After returning to her house around 9:30, we found both boys still wide awake. Of course there was no debating with Reagan; he was headed home with Mama and Dada for sure. But Kolbe teeter-tottered back and forth between wanting to stay and wanting to go. His usual method is to say that he wants to spend the night and then as soon as we start loading up the car, he changes his mind and insists on going with Mama and Dada. But this time I tried very hard to reassure him that Mama and Dada would be back for him in the morning. That he'd get to spend the night on grandma's big bed and cuddle up real tight and in the morning we'd be there to get him. I guess he believed me and as Mark, Reagan, and I loaded up the car, he stood on the front porch with Miss Lora excitedly waving goodbye. Mark and I were both certain that we'd be receiving a phone call momentarily informing us that he was freaking out and we needed to come get him. The time passed, and the call never came. As we put Reagan to bed in the boys' room, Kolbe's empty bed sure looked lonely. It just didn't seem right without him in there. Mark asked me if I was ok with it and I told him I was. After all, he is growing up. He made the choice on his own and I have to be willing to let him have his little tastes of independence when he approaches the buffet of life. As promised, Mark was waiting at Miss Lora's house for Kolbe before he woke the next morning. Not only was he oh-so-excited that he had spent the night with "G-ma," but I'm pretty sure that it just about made Miss Lora's entire week. Totally worth it to make them both happy!

2. So that one little thought could have been an entire post, right? Sorry.
Last week kicked off the beginning of two of our summer activities that we'll be enjoying this year: swim lessons and gymnastics class. Gymnastics class is filling in to replace music class which wasn't being offered this summer as the beloved Miss Kris is on vacation. It's at one of our community centers and I signed both Kolbs and Rudy up for the class. Needless to say, Kolb is one of the class's "more elite" performers and Reagan could easily be pegged the class clown. Miss Hedi is teaching the boys how to do basic motor skills such as bear crawl, frog hop, stretches, walking the balance beam, etc. Kolbe can do them all with little effort. Reagan simply runs around snatching the rings she sets on the ground for the kids to tip-toe through. Too bad they don't offer trampolining. Kolbe is the only one I signed up for swimming classes. (Thank God, right!?!) It's a mom-and-me type class that they have at Tech. Realistically speaking, he's really not learning anything any sensible parent couldn't come up with on their own. Splashing in the water, kicking in the water, blowing bubbles in the water, jumping in to the water, going under the water. Pretty simple. But my thinking on it was that we don't know anyone who has a pool and Lubbock is pretty much horrible when it comes to community pools. I wanted him to at least get the opportunity to gain some experience in the water and have some fun swimming. Not sure if we'll do it next year or not. I definitely can't handle two in the pool without some sort of flotation device to assist me and I'm doubting Mark will be able to guarantee his attendance twice a week in the evenings. Might just have to wait till Kolb is old enough to attend the real swimming lessons and Reagan and I can go to mom-and-me. Note to self: must find friend with pool.

3. Do you ever have days where you feel like you've totally got your A-game on? I do. Rarely. But every now and then, I do. Like once a year. If that. Usually it's a steady B, occasional C or D, and the rare but still present F. Yesterday was totally an A-game day. Here's how it went:
- woke up, got the boys dressed, fed them breakfast, cleaned up the kitchen, headed outside
- pulled weeds for a good 30 minutes with my assistants who don't know weeds from grass
- fertilized the plants with my assistants who don't understand why it's bad to pour the fertilizer directly on to the plant instead of into the soil around it
- visited Miss Debbie, Kolbe's old sitter with my assistants who were oh-so-happy to run around on her hardwood floors
- stopped by Holland Gardens with my shopping assistants and picked out two lovely jalapeno plants
- returned home, fed boys a deliciously healthy lunch of turkey, cheese, and strawberries
- put boys down for nap
- listened to boys do shenanigans and giggle while sewing a new changing pad cover for our changing table
- actually got boys to sleep
- sewed a teeny tiny little dress for "baby," the doll that Kolbe carried around when we were trying to get him used to the idea of welcoming Reagan in to our family. Baby has been naked since we permanently borrowed her from Popo's house. It was only fair that she had an outfit of her own. And since "she" doesn't have to be a "he" any more and I'm out numbered 3 to 1, I decided "he" should be a "she" and made her an adorable little dress. Much easier than attempting pants and a shirt.
- put away sewing and went out and planted new jalapeno plants beside the tomato plants in the backyard. Made sure the little fence was secure around them so the animals...er, boys...wouldn't touch them.
- hosed down back of house to wash off dust from latest dust storm
- woke the boys from their nap
- changed Kolb's sheets from his unfortunate accident
- made a loaf of  banana bread with my sous chef Kolbe while Regan played with Mark who had returned home from studying
- read books with the boys
- vacuumed and cleaned up toys
- made a dinner consisting of pork chops, noodles, peas, rolls, and gravy (also with my sous chef) and enjoyed eating it with the whole fam
- took Kolb to swimming lessons and endured thirty minutes in a freezing pool while pretending I was having the best time of my life
- returned home, bathed the boys, got them ready for bed
- bathed myself (yes, it is a required step in an A-game day)
- played with kids more
- put kids to bed
- marvelled at how well the day went!
Now if only I had done it all in heals, I could have added a plus to that A! Ha ha! I love days that run smoothly like that. The other days are great too, but man, an A-game day every once in a while is so rewarding! Cooked, cleaned, gardened, shopped, and sewed all in one day!?! Sweet. I'm usually lucky to hit about two of those. So now you know what a day in my life looks like. I'll get back with you soon on the play-by-play events of a day contributing to my lower-than-4.0 GPA. It certainly won't look nearly as earth-conquering.