2015: The summer of boys and baseball

This is the year my boys were introduced to baseball! All three of them. LOL.

Lester took Cary and Dean to their first ever O's game this month!

The Orioles won, which made the boys very happy! But Lester says they were mostly excited about the Gatorade, the popcorn and the cotton candy. Of course.

Funniest moment of the game: A very confused Cary asked Lester, "But when do they hit it off the tee?"

They learned all about tee-ball during their first baseball clinic, which went from April to the end of this month.

Lester was their coach, and there's a funny story behind that. You can read it here.
http://www.baltimoreschild.com/articles/index.cfm?fuse1=detail&ArticleID=2785

The good news is, despite auspicious beginnings, the Purple Dragons had a very successful clinic, finishing up their 2015 season with sno-balls, hot dogs and high-fives!

Cary is more interested in his frozen treat. Of course.

The boys loved playing on a team with their friends Antony and Marcus. And they made lots of new friends too!

Go Purple Dragons!!

Hooray for baseball! And hooray especially for Dads who just jump right in to help out when needed.

Is it bad that I am re-capping the weekend on Thursday?

I just can't get it together folks. It's Thursday and I'm just getting around to re-capping LAST weekend.

But better late than never, right? (If ever a motto was written by a procrastinator, that one is it.)

Last weekend, like most weekends, we had 50,000 things to do. Here are the highlights:

We went to Abby and Maya's 4th Birthday Party, which was held at the Mayfield playground, just around the corner from us. It was the perfect place for a party -- close by, shady and cool, with familiar equipment for the kids to play on. And Abby and Maya were the cutest!

When I pointed my camera at them and asked the birthday girls to hug, this is what they did. Awwww! After this, I learned to say, "Hug EACH OTHER."

They love this little playground. Look at my sweet pea!

Clair was the only one who wanted to keep her party hat on. And I had one on too. Me and my little girl -- always dressed for the occasion.

After the birthday party, we met up with our new friends the Stewarts, and their two little girls, at the Maryland Science Center for "Make-a-Mess Day."

This one LOVED making a mess.

They have no idea what they're doing with this touch-screen thing because they. can't. read.

Dean and Lester enjoyed a little show about electricity. Clair kept saying, "I don't LIKE that show!" And Cary just wanted to play with the touch screens nearby, even though ...see above photo.

Afterward, Lester went to a housewarming/networking event (with some big names in attendance!) while I took the boys to baseball and played with Clair. After that, Stephanie and Tom (my boss/friends) stopped by unexpectedly, which was really nice. And then Antwyne and Mari dropped off Antony unexpectedly, so we had an extra 4-year-old for dinner and bathtime, which was also really nice. The boys love Antony and the three of them get along famously, laughing and giggling and being super silly together. Too bad I didn't get to see too much of that silliness, because I peaced Lester out and went to Holly's 40th birthday party on her and Jessica's awesome rooftop deck, drank margaritas and ate Mediterranean food until I almost popped.

Check out the view of South Baltimore from their rooftop. Nice, right? Their rooftop deck is nicer than my entire house. Not even joking.

Sunday, Lester took the kids to church and I stayed home and cooked a huge Southern breakfast, because my parents came over for brunch -- and brought my little brother Rashad! (Oh, my heart!)
I wish I'd thought to take a real photo of my brother with the kids, but instead all I did was snap this spur of the moment photo, when all three of the kids were jumping and playing on my Dad, and laughing hysterically. I stood in the doorframe and saw three men whom I love so much, playing with my three babies, whom I love so much. And I may or may not have gotten a little teary.
 

It's almost hard to believe that's my baby brother over there in the corner, just hanging out at my house after stuffing himself with grits and sausage and cinnamon apples. God is so good! When I think about those first few weeks when he was in the hospital...I don't even know how to put into words how I feel.

And then after my family left (waaaah!), Antywne and Mari came back to get Antony's lovey, which he left behind the night before. They stayed for a nice, long time while I fixed dinner and the boys played again with Antony so well that I almost felt like they'd read my earlier post and thought, "We'll show her that she knows NOTHING!"

Seriously - they were like three peas in a goofy pod. Cary and Dean still don't always know to appropriately play with friends (Cary especially), but it was heartening to see that they can laugh and pal around sometimes, when they want to.

Thanks to those of you who commented or sent me notes about twin-closeness and friendships. You don't know how much it helps to be able to put your concerns/anxieties out into the world and have people take you seriously, even if you might just be being a little bit crazy (all the time). Thank you all! I definitely intend to try some of the things you suggested.

Happy 4th! Will post photos of red-white-and-blue-themed children next week!

Working, playing, leaving a legacy

I got to hang out with my favorite girl this weekend, Miss Super Spunky Drives Me Crazy Cracks Me Up and Makes My Heart Soar girl.

(Sidenote: My parents visited on Sunday and at one point Dad says to me, "You are so enamored with Clair," which is the second time someone has said that to me. [The other was my mother, come to think of it, when Clair was a tiny infant.] Is it that obvious how much I adore this girl? Do I need an intervention?)

We went to her tumbling class and then to the mall to buy a gift for a friend of mine who recently got married.

She loves this ball pit o' germs.

Introducing her to food court Asian food!

While we were out spending Mommy-Clairzee time, Lester and the boys went to learn about "flying things" at Science Alive at Masonville Cove.

Dean, wearing the wings he and Lester made, and looking like a young Sidney Poitier, who, by the way, is one of Lester's favorite actors!

Our friends Antwyne and Mari unexpectedly brought their son Antony too! So the boys had a friend to hang out with, which makes me so happy. The more friends they see having fun with science, the more likely they are to think that science is cool, right? (Or so I tell myself.)

Antony and Dean bird-watching.

Checking out a bird's nest. Mari tells me the boys were none-too-pleased that the bird wasn't considerate enough to be home while they were shaking that tree.

And on Monday, I had a day off from work because Michelle was off. So after picking the boys up from school, we all went to a playground and to lunch!

Abby and Maya came with us!

She wanted to be gently pushed without stopping, to the point where she was ever-so-slightly falling asleep in the swing. LOL.

All this great time spent with my littlest loved ones made me think that being a SAHM mom wouldn't actually be so bad, IF we could afford it. The boys are 10,000 times less crazy than they were even a year ago at this time, when I would have stabbed you in the eyes with Bobby pins if you even suggested the idea of me staying home with the children. My Monday off with them moved so smoothly -- from drop-off to pick-up to bedtime dance party, rockin' out to the Jackson 5.

I was so much more relaxed and present all day. I think that was the nicest thing -- being actually present with them, instead of running on fumes and frustration.

Being at home would also be nice, because it would be good to get to do the things *I* want to do with the children during the day, instead of hoping Michelle will do them (which, most of the time, she doesn't.)

And it would be lovely to get to spend more than two hours a day with the children I actually prayed for.

But we are committed to sending our children to private school, for many reasons (which I promise I will get to in a dedicated blog post soonest), and to giving them a life of experiences that we believe will enrich them and improve their futures. And, while we are far from wealthy, we also hope that we can do more for them financially than our parents ever could, in terms of helping them pay for school, or buy a first home. By doing so, we hope the kids as adults will be in even better positions than we are, so that their kids will be even better off coming out of the starting gate. We want to leave a legacy that maybe our grandchildren will realize -- something that happens far too infrequently in the black community, sad to say it.

So that means Momma Gotsta Go To Work. (Cue Vanessa Williams' "Work to Do.")

So I'll cram a lot of fun and Mommy-and-me time into weekends and post-work-hours during the week, and trust that a little dance partying goes a long way.

Long and full three-day weekend

Just when I think our weekends couldn't get any more packed, we went and had an extra day off. Which should have meant a day of rest, but instead meant a day of more things to do! Hooray!

Here's how the weekend went down.

Saturday, I took Sara to the vet and discovered she still has an upper respiratory thing, so I have to give her medicine twice a day from a dropper. That has not been going well. So I've just been putting it in her food, and hoping that will do the trick, because homegirl was NOT having me putting things in her mouth. No sirree.

Then, we went to visit Lester's Aunt Tootie and then to my Mom's house to bring her cupcakes for her birthday! As usual, the boys had a fabulous time running around with their cousins, eating sweets and being spoiled rotten.

There were so many cousins at Mom's house, the boys had to eat their ice cream and cupcakes on the floor.

Sunday, I took the boys to music class and then later we all went to visit our friends Doug and Denise. Denise is expecting a baby in February -- her third. She was sorta freaking out about it, in the same way I was when I found out I was carrying a third. But I don't feel too bad for her because her oldest is 8 and can do this:

Perry, making her own sandwich! And making one for her 5-year-old brother too!

Perry, her daughter, will be so much help to her. It'll be like having a third parent.

After the boys' nap, we went to our friends Antwyne and Mari's house for dinner. Their son Antony will be 3 in January, so the three boys are close in age and had tons of fun making ridiculous amounts of noise and refusing to eat.

It was impossible to get a picture of all three boys looking at the camera. They were in perpetual motion the entire night. And boy was it loud.

Monday, Columbus Day, Lester and I both had off. Lester decided to go in to work to finish some things, and I had plans to meet my friend Kelly and her daughter Naomi at the pumpkin farm.

The Pumpkin Patch Kids, starring: Naomi, Dean and Cary. Doesn't this look like their album cover?

Note: Kelly is also expecting a baby in February! Hooray for February babies! (Where were all these babies when I was preggo with Clair? She could have a bunch of friends all her same age!)

Unfortunately, the weather was crappy, crappy and I didn't dress myself or the boys properly (this is becoming a theme) so Dean was whiny ("Mommy, I am cooooold!") and the cold I was pretending wasn't actually coming got fueled by the chilly rain, so now I'm a coughing, sniffling, headachey, can barely breathe mess.

BUT...the good news is, unlike at Russy's birthday party, this time the boys actually wanted to go on the hay ride! And so here we are, riding and having a fabulous time. Can't you tell?

"Mommy, I like the tractor," they said over and over and OVER.

After the cold, drizzly day at the farm, and a quick lunch at the mall, I came home, put the boys down for a nap and promptly crawled under the covers myself.

Turns out, I could have stayed in bed all day if I had wanted to, because guess what? I realized after we got home that the boys actually HAD SCHOOL YESTERDAY! (Smacks forehead!)

I'm still getting used to the idea of my 2-year-olds having a schedule different than my own. It never even occurred to me that they'd have school on a day I was off. Whoops!

But we actually had a lot of fun, despite the rain. We fed sheep, rode on the hayride, picked pumpkins (one for Clair, too), hung out with Naomi -- who is so super cute! -- got muddy and ate cookies (not necessarily in that order).

 AND, the best thing is, I can cross "go on a hayride" off the boys' Synapse Checklist!


 Y'all know how I love synapses! Hooray!