GIRL Time!

"GIRL TIME!" This is what Natalie screams anytime just the two of us go anywhere or do anything without the boys. We had 2 hours of official girl time this evening, thanks to John suggesting it. We went to eat at Chik-Fil-A (my favorite 'fast food') because Natalie wanted to play and I couldn't force myself to stomach McDonald's. Then we washed the car (why this is so fun, I'll never know) and headed to CVS. I had some pictures to develop (I know, shocker!), so we walked around while they finished printing. Here is what we found:

Is she stylin' or what?

Somedays are a Decathlon

OK, not everyday is a decathlon. Just most days. Some days I am am gung ho, ready to start the 10 event race; while other days, I feel like I am last out of the blocks. In my everyday, the 10 events could involve: numerous car trips, temper tantrums, time-outs, birthday parties, grocery store torture. It all becomes a blur. I know that this is a season of life that will morph into another sort of race... I just need to sit back and appreciate the journey instead of looking for the finish line.

On another note, well-meaning individuals sometimes say, "Oh, enjoy it while they are young, it passes by so quickly." (Usually after one or all the children have presented an incredibly embarrassing behavior.) I try to smile through my gritted teeth and thank them. In reality, I wonder, "how in the world I am going to make it through today???"

Simple Things That I Appreciate

*Children's laughter

*Peanut Butter (Peter Pan/Smart Choice)

*A full tank of gas

*A nice smile

*Willow Tree people

*Running

*A good book

*Clean sheets

*Costco cake

*Silence

*Naps

*Sweet tea

*Not changing diapers

*An empty dishwasher

*Front row joe parking

*Finding my keys when they are lost

*An empty clothes hamper (coupled with an empty washer and dyer)

*Someone holding the door open for me when I am pushing a stroller.

*When I run spellcheck, getting the "No Misspellings Found" message.

Camp Thurman

Cooper went to Camp Thurman this week. What a fantastic time he had! He was so patient to answer my 20+ questions that I had for him each day. He told me about swimming 2 times a day, wearing his bathing suit all day long, the cool crafts they did, the skit with Dr. Do-Bad, the bible stories that they learned, the bow and arrow that he got to shoot, the sandbox that he played in relentlessly, the rope bridges that he crossed and so much more. His counselor was 'Amazon' and Amazon's helper was 'Fig'. Cooper had the best time with those guys. What a great experience for a 5 year old that loves adventure!

I gave him a disposable camera to take pictures of the fort, his friends, the skit, the pool and whatever else he wanted to remember. Well, I guess he wanted to remember the skit the most because he took 19 pictures of it! I felt like I was right there...

Vacation Bible School - Round II

Natalie and Luke were lucky enough to get invited to Gram's church for Vacation Bible School - Outrigger Island. There's just something about seeing a room full of purple shirted little kids that is adorable. They did the neatest crafts and Natalie came home yesterday with a necklace holder (decorated toilet paper tube) that held all the memory verses she has been working on all week. She even said 3 of them! Pretty impressive for a 4 year old, I think. Even Luke got in on the fun, telling me all about what he got to eat at VBS and who he played with. No memory verses from him yet, but I'm sure by next year he'll be reciting them. :>)

After VBS was over today, Gram treated us to a fun lunch at Chicken Red's. Sure is nice to have her so close and able to do fun stuff on a whim!

More Swim Thursday Fun!

Here is a glimpse of the fantastic fun that we have at Swim Thursdays with Ms. Mary! It may look like there are a lot of children in the pool clamoring for Ms. Mary's attention, but in reality there were 4 other children that are NOT in the picture!!! As you can see, Ms. Mary is not a sideline participant when it comes having fun in the pool. She is the center of all the FUN! We love Ms. Mary!!!

Juggling Time

Summer really should not be any different for me (mother of preschoolers only) than the rest of the year, right? Oh my goodness, I could not be more wrong! The last 4 weeks have been chaotic with swim lessons, VBS, Camp Thurman, birthday parties, swimming and trying to squeeze in work somewhere. Last week the older 2 went to VBS, this week it is the younger 2. (Yes, Natalie gets to experience 2 versions of Vacation Bible School) Cooper is at Camp Thurman all this week. Both activities start at 9am, yet reside 10 miles apart. Huh? In theory, if I drop Cooper off early, I can almost get the other ones to their event reasonably on time. Then I get to bolt to Fort Worth to do as much work as humanly possible before I have to pick them up, squeeze in some swimming, take a nap and race up to pick up Cooper! YIKES!

Laundry - The Ongoing Saga

I have written a previous post - Laundry: A New Strategy about how I have conquered laundry and all was going to go perfect with the new process of doing laundry. Well, all is NOT perfect, never will be perfect, and I feel like I should just give up on thinking I will ever have all the dirty clothes hampers empty for any length of time.

Here's some of the issues that make laundry so fun:

*John likes the whites to be bleached. OK. However, I have learned, through experience, not to bleach the towels that I take to the gym to wipe my sweat. Bleach + Sweat = Super stink SO, that means I have to sub sort the whites into bleach-able and non-bleach-able.

*John does not like his t-shirts to be thrown in the dryer. I can respect that because I do not like my workout shorts or sports tops to go in the dryer either. Therefore, I have to sub sort the colors into dry-able and hang-up-only. (Then I have to actually hang up those clothes under a fan for minimum 12 hours)

*The kids' hamper ends up so full, it makes 2-3 loads in less than a week! (Lights or darks are about as sub sort as those get.)

*Also, there are 4 beds of sheets to wash each week as well. Not a big deal, just 2 more loads to work into the mix...

*Now that it is summer, I am washing towels and bathing suits every day, because we swim every day, if not twice a day. (I do not like chlorine to sit in either of those items) We take 3-4 towels to the pool each time and wear 5-8 bathing suits a day. I know a bit extreme, but all in the name of fun for the summer, right?

What Can Happen in a Minute?

What can happen in a minute? OK, if we were being honest here, really more than a few minutes, you know, just long enough to blow dry your hair, or put on your clothes or change the laundry from the washer to the dryer. No more than a few minutes, huh?
Back to the question, what could happen in that brief span of time? Let me list the things that can occur if you have a curious 2 year old, clever 4 year old and dominating 5 year old:

*a child could decide that they are going to make egg whites; all by himself. Open the refrigerator, get an egg out, get a pan out, crack the egg on the pan, FREAK out and throw as much of the shell and what is left into the pan, then run to the hallway, take off the shirt with egg all over it, put on a PJ top (who'd notice in the middle of the day?) and casually walk into my room as if nothing happened. Here's what I found along with the refrigerator door still open and egg yolk ALL down the dishwasher and pooled on the floor. I must say I am impressed that he did get the egg white in the pan and the yolk... well, not in the pan. (LUKE)

*someone could decide that they are going to play 'dress up' and dress the 2 year old (boy) in a velvet top and velvet skirt. (John really frowns on this.) (Cooper and Natalie)

*a child could decide that he needs to get naked right now and strip his clothes off and get back to sitting down as if nothing ever happened. The fun part is trying to find where he put his clothes... (Luke)

*someone could decide that they would scrub the carpet with toothpaste to get it clean... yes, the toothpaste is still there and it is still not clean. (Cooper and Natalie)

*a child could decide to wash the pen marks (that he put there) off of his legs by getting up into the sink and flooding the whole bathroom. (LUKE)

*a child could decide that they are going to 'wash' their dolls' hair, body and clothes in the bathroom sink. (Natalie) (Anytime my children use water without supervision=trouble.)

*a child could decide to unroll a whole roll of toilet paper into the toilet because 'it just kept rolling, mommy!' (Luke)

*a child could decide that what she is wearing is NOT her favorite outfit and go change in 14 seconds flat and be back sitting down, leaving me to wonder if I just thought she had a dress on earlier or if she has been wearing capris all along. (Natalie)

*a child could decide that they are going to eat the Nestle Quik (powder) straight out of the container with a spoon. And that this should take place underneath the dining room table. (Luke)

These are all things that when I see the end result, I think:

How in the world did they manage to do that so fast?

Swim Thursday

One of my best girlfriends graciously opens her house, pool and refrigerator to us every Thursday of the summer. Seriously. She has it scheduled on her blackberry and clears out of the office early on Thursday so everyone who wants to can all have fun swimming, playing and laughing. Once the shade completely envelopes the pool, we clear out and get to eating. (Why does swimming make you hungry enough to eat an elephant?)

It is such a great time and my kids ask every day, "Is today Swim Thursday?" They know they are guaranteed a grand time with Ms. Mary, Scout and 3-10 extra playmates! Thank you for sharing your oasis with us, Mary!

Vacation Bible School

The older 2 kiddos are in vacation bible school this week. What a great program! Every day they come home all excited, can't wait to go back the next day. Gotta love that! They seem to be learning some good concepts, though they refrain from telling me too much, because I am supposed to 'wait until Sunday, mom!'

Luke is having an interesting week. He got to spend Monday with Ms. Carly and 4 other toddlers, Tuesday with Ms. Carly all to himself, today with my wonderful neighbor across the street, tomorrow he gets me all to himself and then Friday with GRAM, who he can't get enough of. Luke really loves one-on-one time, since he rarely gets it. I am excited to have individual time with him, because he gets the opportunity to talk, uninterrupted. It's very cute to see what a little chatterbox he turns into!

Car Conversations

The car (really SUV) is the location of many interesting conversations between the children. Here is a snippet:

Cooper: Mommy, where is my pencil?

Natalie: Cooper shot me with his pencil.

Cooper: No, I did not!

Natalie: Mommy, Cooper shot me with his pencil.

Cooper: I did not Mommy! What are you talking about Natalie?

Natalie: You. Shot. Me. With your pencil.

Cooper: No, I did NOT. When?

Natalie: You shot me with your pencil when we were playing doctor. You know, like how a doctor gives a shot?

Cooper: Oh, yea, I did. So?

Natalie: Mommy, Cooper's pencil is in the other car. What is 9 + 8?

(She is Queen of Random!)



Here's what happens when Luke tries to get in on all the talking:

Luke: La-li tha her thu!

Natalie: Be quiet LUKE.

Luke: Mommy! Mommy! Mommmm-mee!
LA-LI THA HER THU!!!

Natalie: Nu-uh mommy.

Luke: Mommy, La-li thuck her thumb!! Top it, La-li!!

Natalie: Luke, you're not the boss of me!

(Luke loves to tattle on Natalie about sucking her thumb.)
Yes, we are working on ceasing this habit, but it is difficult. That will be another post some day, I'm sure.

Happy Father's Day 2008

Happy Father's Day, John! You are the most awesome father that I could hope for these children! You are hands-on and 100% committed to being involved in their development and lives. You don't mind being a jungle gym for them to climb on, a lifeguard for them to swim to, a doctor to bandage their wounds, a handyman to build things with, a coach to cheer them on in their sports and so many other roles. I am so fortunate to have such a wonderful and caring husband who loves our children with all his heart. Thank you for being the great dad that you are!

The first picture is at Cabela's (isn't that where you celebrate Father's Day?). I thought the yaks in the background was a nice touch!


The bottom picture was actually taken Saturday night, because Cooper wanted 'big cookie' for dessert!

Fishing at Pa-pa and Weezie's

We went out to my dad's today to celebrate Father's Day early. The kids LOVE it out there. They have a huge pond with lots of fish, frogs, turtle, ducks and geese. So many fun things to see and feed! We brought 3 little fishing poles and set out to catch some swimming critters. It is quite cute to see the 2 year old reel in a fish only slightly bigger than his hand. Cooper was a pro this time, reeling in fish after fish after fish. He was not a big fan of actually holding the fish, only if he held it by the string. Natalie caught a few and decided she was all done and just wanted to play with Weezie, inside. The fish were good sports, they played the game of jumping on the line within a minute of each time the kids would drop it into the water. After the fishing expedition, Pa-pa and the boys set out for a tour around the pond in the golf cart. Natalie entertained Weezie with her backpack and all its wonderful contents.

Once it started raining, the kids kind of went nuts, running around the house making all sorts of noise. The kind of noise where you start counting kids, because surely 3 kids could not make that much noise??

Story time at The Ballpark

We went to story time at the Ballpark today. They have it once a month, but we only go every other month, if that. It is quite an undertaking: packing the lunch, remembering the 2 for 1 coupon, getting there on time all the while coaching the kids on behaving and listening.

The storyteller, Ms. Anna, is very patient and encourages the kids to talk and answer her questions about baseball. Cooper and Natalie did great... Luke, well, we need some more practice on attending story times. That boy just can't sit still! Thank goodness there was a place for him to run around without bothering anyone or being out of my sight. After the story, the kids all do a craft. Crafts. Have I ranted about crafts before? I guess I missed the class in college (Kid's Crafts 101?) that taught you how to glue stuff together perfectly, tie things in perfect knots, wrap things tightly, manipulate glue sticks, etc. Crafts can make me feel so inept as a mother. Trying to make a Curious George out of foam, pipe cleaners and a glue stick was quite a challenge today. Especially when all three children are positive they do not need any of my help, but scream when it falls into 9 pieces... here's the finished product:

After that, we enjoyed a picnic lunch on the Home Run Porch!

Pump It Up

My kids love to jump. I mean really, they love to jump. I guess coming from my gene pool, that is kind of an understood quality.

We went to a birthday party earlier in the week where all they did was ... JUMP! Luke cannot quit talking about this place, Pump it up and all about how he shot "baa-ket-ball-all-day-long" in a basketball jump house. Luke stayed in that particular one the entire time until I fetched him out to eat cupcakes. Cooper on the other hand likes to try the whole assortment of activities. He did the boxing ring, the monster slide, the various obstacle courses and, of course, the basketball. He is my true athlete, in that he loves all things physical. Now with Natalie, she'll tolerate running around and jumping for only so long, then it is time to hang on mommy and whine, 'I-want-to-go-home! I want-to-go-home!' until I redirect her or give in to the crying and go home. (That's how she gets her nickname, No-Fun-Natalie.) Overall, it was one of the most stress-free parties that I have taken all 3 kids to AND they all took great 2 and 3 hour naps!

Swim Lessons

Tomorrow we finish the last of a 2 week session of swim lessons. Thank goodness! I ready to be all done with taking Natalie and Cooper to lessons at 8:45a.m., then Luke at 5:45 p.m.

Cooper and Natalie have really learned a lot and I really like their teacher. Cooper can swim SO good with her, so I know he has the skills. Natalie has improved tremendously and grown in her confidence in swimming. Also, Natalie can float on her back, I think it is the cutest thing!

The lesson with Luke is a parent/child class, so that means that I end up getting wet. Not just a little wet... completely soaked. Hair and all. I don't know what misconception I was under the first day, thinking I would not get my hair wet; I guess I forgot it was Luke I was taking into the water. He made sure in the first 3 minutes that I was completely covered with water splashes. As if I wasn't wet enough, the teacher comes over and tells me to practice 'bobbers' with Luke. She might as well call them 'dunkers', because BOTH of us are supposed to go completely under the water. Not a problem, since my hair is already saturated! I think we might have to 'forget' about the last class tomorrow and go to SWIM THURSDAY instead!!!

A Few of My Favorite Pictures

I love taking pictures!

Graduation!

I went to my first (of many, I'm sure) graduation program. Yes, my oldest graduated from preschool! It is pretty cute seeing a bunch of 5 year olds parade around in little graduation caps, sing a few songs and receive diplomas. Then getting to sit and watch a 15 minute tear-jerker of a video/slide show of these kids since they started the school. (Cooper has gone there since he was 10 months old.) Lots of sniffles and boxes of Kleenex passed around between the moms, especially those of us who are rookies to the whole graduation thing. I'm sure by the time Luke graduates I'll be doing a dance in the aisle.

Let the Swimming Begin!

The swimming has officially commenced! Though our neighborhood pool is not open yet, we have been swimming twice this weeekend. Once at my brother-in-law's house and today at one of John's friend's house. Lots of fun! These children of mine are born swimmers (OK, really the credit goes to John). They just have that 'gene' for not being afraid of the water and just wanting to JUMP in. Even Luke, he was hopping in before he was one year old. Now that he is 2 1/2, he is fearless! He doesn't mind drinking half the pool water, as long as he gets to jump off the diving board again. Cooper is to the point of not needing any assistance. He can tool around and get where he wants to go; it may be slow, but he'll get there. I think Natalie could swim really good if she wanted to, but she prefers to let everyone catch her, hold her and help her to the side.

All 3 kiddos are starting swim lessons tomorrow, for a 2 week session to learn some new skills to practice all summer. Let's hope the swim instructors are ready for them!