Weekly Review 110

Hello, readers! Welcome to my ongoing Weekly Review series. This week felt like a quick one. It was filled with lots of Mr. O quotes, work in our basement continues to move along, and a new adventure for me. Follow along below to hear all about it!

It started on Monday. We were all up early, getting ready for work and school. As we were getting ready, the electrician came by to finish his final step in our basement. It felt great to check that off the list. Mr. O kept referring to him as “the plumber”, though, and I don’t know if he heard it or not, lol. Eventually, Lea had him ready to go to school, and as they were walking out of the door, I knelt down to give my little man a hug. He slowly embraced me, but when I wrapped my arms around him he kind of pushed himself off of me, which was unusual. “Don’t mess up my hair!”, he yelled at me. Then he kissed my shoulder (?) and walked out the door. It was a strange goodbye but I’ll take what I can get, I guess.

In the evening, we played a different Spiderman game on the PlayStation. This one was with Peter Parker, and Mr. O was thrilled. We played until dinner was done, which was helpful to me because I’ve been trying to set timers whenever we play because I don’t want him getting used to playing for long periods of time. After dinner we played and then Mr. O went to bed. I ended my evening with a brisk walk on my treadmill. Not a bad way to start the week!

On Tuesday evening, Mr. O found another toy magazine in the mail. If you recall from a previous weekly review, Mr. O found a toy  magazine in the mail, he spent two days talking non-stop about everything he wanted in it, circling all the toys, and we eventually had to tell him we mailed it to Santa (it’s in my desk). We will be making a list for Santa though, but it’s too early! Well, anyways, Mr. O found another toy magazine and was going through it again, circling what he wanted Santa to make and/or bring him. Lea eventually packed him up and took him to my mom’s so he could spend some time with his yiayia, and so we could go on a date night!

If you didn’t see my post on my Instagram, Lea and I went to R Bar in Saint John, Indiana. We were taking part in a paint and sip, which was hosted by Brushes Paint and Sip. When we arrived, we had a few minutes to eat dinner before the event began. I had a cheeseburger and sweet potato fries and I have to say, it was pretty good. I’ve never eaten at R Bar before and I was pleasantly surprised.

When the event began we put on our smocks and sat down in front of our canvases. The instructor started showing us how to paint and….I already knew I was in for a rough night. Lea is the crafty, creative one in our relationship. She took her time and her painting turned out great, but I rushed mine a bit, painted over the same spots dozens of times, and eventually said, “screw it”, and made my painting my own. I stopped listening to the instructor towards the end and created an incredible work of art! See it for yourself:

Whose painting do you like more? Mine (your favorite blogger) or Lea’s? Let us know! Mr. O, without knowing who painted them, stated he “loved” Lea’s. Now, about a week later, he is saying he likes mine more, but it’s probably because he feels bad. He’s just trying to make sure he doesn’t hurt anyone’s feelings, lol. He’s a sweet boy (most days).

On Wednesday morning, as I was getting ready for work, Mr. O was playing in our room. I was putting my shirt on and he said, “Dada, you look like a ghost”. I assumed he was commenting on my pale white skin. I would have been offended but he was right. I don’t tan like I used to. I’m also not training high school soccer throughout the summer with my shirt off anymore either, so that might be a reason why I look “like a ghost”. He’s so funny.

A few minutes later we went downstairs to play before I went to work. Mr. O, after insulting my appearance, had the audacity to ask me, “Dada, can I have ice cream every day?”. I laughed and told him ice cream is a treat. A privilege. Then I told him no, we cannot have it every day, it’s not good for you. This was followed by an, “Oh mannnn”, from a frowning Mr. O. I almost changed my mind because of how sad he looked, but I stood my ground.

When I dropped him off at school I was able to finally get his school pictures and OH MY GOSH HE IS THE CUTEST LITTLE BOY IN THE WORLD! I’m aware every parent says this about their child, but I truly believe Mr. O is the most handsome boy.

In the evening, we played and ran around before Mr. O fell asleep as I read his books to him. I tried to sneak out of his room, but after I shut the door and started walking away, I heard, “Nooooooo”, along with little footsteps running toward the door. He made me come back and lay down with him again. So we cuddled for a while before I got the courage to leave again.

On Thursday morning I was up early with Mr. O. He’s been in an “early riser” stage lately. It can be frustrating some mornings because I enjoy the quietness of our home when everyone else is asleep, but most days I enjoy his company as the sun is rising. We went downstairs to eat breakfast and watch Bluey for a little bit, then we played.

As we sat on the floor playing, Mr. O said, “I told you I was mad at you”. He never told me that. I asked, “Why are you mad at me?”. He said, “I don’t know.” I couldn’t figure out where I’ve heard that before, but it sounded so familiar to me. Hmmm.

In the afternoon, Lea took Mr. O to a free trial of a children’s martial arts class. I saw a couple videos and he looked so cute! He enjoyed it and I think we might sign him up for it soon. One thing I don’t understand is how they expect three year olds to learn their creed. It’s like a paragraph long and uses big words. I read it when they came home and I looked at Lea like, “Are they serious?”, lol.

In the evening, Mr. O and I were playing with his blocks. He wanted to see how tall we could build a building. We stacked them all the way up, almost using every block we had. I could tell he really wanted to destroy it, so I told him he could hulk smash it if he wanted to. Without any hesitation he punched it, the blocks went everywhere, and then he gave me a hug and told me, “goodnight!”, as he ran upstairs with Lea for bedtime. Leaving me to clean everything up!

I ended the night watching the Bears beat the Patriots on Thursday Night Football. The Bears are back, baby! Bear down!

Friday was a hard day for our family. It was the 10 year anniversary of my younger brother’s passing. I wrote a whole post about it. If you didn’t see it, you can read it HERE. I don’t want to talk about it much in this post since I wrote another post about it, but it was a tough day. My morning started early, and by myself. I was going through old pictures from our childhood. I was sad, but I was cheered up when I went back upstairs. Mr. O was sleeping with Lea in our bed and I thought he was still knocked out, but as I tried to sneak past to get to my dresser, I heard his cute little whisper in the morning darkness. “Hi, Daddy”, he said. Anything I was upset about instantly went away. He made my day so much better just by saying hi. I love him so much.

In the evening, I played with Mr. O a bit before I left for the movies. I was going to see the new DC Studios film Clayface. It’s a horror movie about one of Batman’s villains. It was okay. The story was interesting, the effects were disgusting, and I was reminded that the horror genre is not for me. Before Friday, I don’t remember the last time I spent half the movie covering my eyes, peeking through my fingers, and saying, “Oh my gosh!”. I guess when James Gunn said every DC Studios project will have their own distinct tones, he was not joking. I love the fact that this horror movie is in the same universe as Superman. I enjoyed the movie, but I didn’t love it, and most of that is due to me not being a horror fan. If you like horror, or just want to see a good movie, you should give Clayface a try.

On Saturday morning I was up with Mr. O. We let Lea sleep in and went downstairs to play and watch TV. Around noon, Lea and Mr. O were heading to another Trunk-or-Treat with their friends, while I was heading to an event I was invited to. The Region Life has never been invited to cover anything, so I was excited. I wouldn’t say “cover”, actually. It was more of a, “Hey, we see you write about life and local discoveries in northwest Indiana. You’re invited to come and take pictures and write a post about our event if you’d like.” Either way, I was pumped and I was so down to go and support small, family-owned, local businesses. You can read about that event in my next Exploring the Region post. I had a great time! When I left the event, I went to have lunch by myself at Schoop’s. I sat there and enjoyed the peace and quiet while I ate my burger and fries. When I was done I drove back home and started cutting the grass. Mr. O and Lea also came home shortly after and he showed me a new truck he got from the event they were at. He was so excited, lol.

When I finished cutting the grass one of my cousins came over to spend time with us. She came mostly for Mr. O, but that’s okay. He was so excited to have her here. When she left we ate dinner and hung out until it was time to put Mr. O to bed. I was invited over to my friend Toby’s house, but my eyes were so heavy and I was exhausted from the day. I decided to call it a night after I left Mr. O’s room.

On Sunday we all woke up really congested. We assume it’s from the weather. I hope so because I don’t want to go through a sick household again! We spent the day playing, doing household chores, and watching football. Currently, Mr. O is sitting right next to me on the couch watching Bluey, while Lea is upstairs doing whatever it is she does up there. The rest of the night will probably be relaxing. I’m going to make us some hotdogs and we’re going to hang out around the house. It was a great week!

A Moment I’m Still Thinking About

I’m still thinking about the event I was invited to. It may not seem like much to other people, but I am and was really excited about it. Being noticed for the effort you put in is a great feeling, but what really matters is being able to help others. I have a modest following, but I’m happy I get to expose some of these people and their businesses to my audience and give back to the community in this way. It was a great time. Please keep an eye out for my Exploring the Region post!

Thank you for reading this edition of my Weekly Review. I hope you enjoyed it!

Peter

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